Discovering A World

Taihe Mountain, with its continuous peaks, forests of vegetation, and swirling clouds and mist, resembled a celestial mountain. The solemn Purple Heaven Palace atop Heavenly Pillar Peak, illuminated by the rising sun, flickered in and out of view amidst the clouds, appearing like a palace from another realm.

Compared to Heavenly Pillar Peak, with its numerous palaces, Qixia Peak was merely an insignificant spot among Taihe Mountain's many peaks. However, nestled on this Qixia Peak was an ancient Taoist temple.

The temple was not large, consisting of only a few courtyards front to back, occupying an area of just a few mu.

As the morning sun rose, the temple's abbot, True Person Datong, was burning incense and praying for blessings in the True Warrior Great Hall. The hall was filled with the aroma of incense, and several divine statues exuded solemnity, majesty, and sanctity amidst the swirling smoke.

Though also located on Taihe Mountain, Xunzhen Temple, unlike the Wudang lineage, was not as prosperous in terms of incense offerings. However, it had been passed down for several hundred years. Legend had it that Xunzhen Temple was established even earlier than the Wudang Taoist temple.

Yet, after hundreds of years of inheritance, the Xunzhen Temple lineage had become increasingly weak. Fortunately, in the past twenty to thirty years, with the nation's development and the liberalization of thought, major temples and Taoist temples across the land had benefited from this wave, and their incense offerings had gradually become more prosperous.

As the foremost sacred site of Taoism, Taihe Mountain's major Taoist temples almost exclusively enshrined Profound Heaven Supreme Lord and True Warrior Great Emperor as their main deities, with secondary deities such as the Tortoise and Snake generals, and Golden Boy and Jade Girl.

However, things were different now. Those who came to burn incense and pray for blessings believed that more was always better, and politeness was never amiss. The more deities a temple enshrined, the more prosperous its incense offerings would naturally be.

Therefore, in the side halls of Xunzhen Temple, many golden statues of deities and Buddhas had been added. For example, Guan Gong, who held numerous divine titles, such as the statue of Holy Lord Emperor Guan, the statue of Jialan God Guan Gong, and the statue of God of Wealth Guan Gong. There were also statues of Guanyin Who Sends Children for those seeking offspring, and the statues of the Three Star Gods of Fortune, Prosperity, and Longevity.

It had to be said that since Xunzhen Temple began enshrining these statues, coupled with the boom in modern tourism and the spontaneous promotion by some travel vloggers and Douyin streamers seeking out hidden gems, Xunzhen Temple, which had gained a small following due to its remote location and excellent scenery, had seen its incense offerings become increasingly prosperous.

The rear halls of Xunzhen Temple comprised several relatively independent small courtyards, which served as the residences for True Person Datong and a few of the temple disciples. As the temple was not very large, the entire temple, including Abbot True Person Datong, consisted of only ten people.

With the arrival of pilgrims who came specifically for its fame, the entire temple, amidst its tranquility, gained a touch of the bustling mortal world.

True Person Datong and his disciples also became busy with the arrival of these pilgrims.

In the main hall, while guiding several pilgrims in burning incense and praying for blessings, True Person Datong seized a moment to quietly ask his disciple Chen Wei, "How has Xiao Jiu been these past two days? If he can't handle it, tell him to go down the mountain to see a doctor at the hospital. This isn't something to just endure!"

Chen Wei quickly smiled and replied, "Master, don't worry. I brought him some fever-reducing medicine this morning. He seemed quite energetic, so he should be fine."

As he spoke, Chen Wei handed a lit stick of incense to a pilgrim and whispered, "Besides, no one can avoid this virus. Compared to the symptoms everyone online had in the first half of the year, Xiao Jiu's reaction is mild. In my opinion, in another two or three days, once the fever breaks, he'll be fine."

A slender woman, dressed rather revealingly and appearing to be around twenty years old, offered her incense, respectfully placing it in the censer. After finishing, she seemed to have overheard Chen Wei's words and couldn't help but laugh, "Daoist priest, they say Taoist practices have talismans that can cure all illnesses, but it seems they can't ward off this virus!"

Her companion couldn't help but chuckle at her words. However, neither True Person Datong nor Chen Wei took offense. It was clear to everyone that the woman was merely making a casual joke.

True Person Datong cupped his hands and smiled, "We don't have talismans that can cure all illnesses, but we do have mung bean soup that can cool you down and relieve summer heat!"

The young pilgrims were impressed by True Person Datong's open-mindedness and humor. One of the more social among them jokingly said they wanted to try the mung bean soup True Person Datong mentioned.

Meanwhile, Xiao Jiu, whom True Person Datong was concerned about, was none other than True Person Datong's last disciple, Huang Huai. As he was ranked ninth among the disciples and was the youngest, True Person Datong and his senior brothers called him Xiao Jiu.

Huang Huai's living quarters were a separate courtyard. It was definitely an exception for one person to live in such a courtyard, but Huang Huai's status was special.

Huang Huai was a distant nephew of True Person Datong. Furthermore, Huang Huai's father had generously offered millions in incense money, requesting only that his cousin, True Person Datong, accept Huang Huai as a lay disciple who would reside at the temple for a few months each year to recuperate. Even with True Person Datong's disposition and self-control, what else could he say in such a situation?

Although the entire courtyard looked quite ancient, the rooms inside were decorated in a completely modern style.

At this moment, Huang Huai was carefully examining his attire in front of the mirror. Once he confirmed everything was in order, he looked seriously at his reflection, as if reaffirming his resolve, and softly said, "Fortune favors the bold, and the timid starve. It's an unknown world, a heavenly bestowed opportunity. Aren't you curious about what kind of world it is!"

Having made up his mind, Huang Huai reached for a backpack on the table in front of him and slung it over his shoulders. He instinctively touched the stab-proof vest hidden beneath his loose clothing and the sharp dagger concealed within his sleeve, close to his arm. His previously tense mind relaxed a little.

Although this was his second time entering that world, compared to his previous tentative stay of only a dozen breaths, a fleeting glimpse had confirmed it seemed to be an ancient world. Beyond that, his understanding of that world was practically nil.

This time, Huang Huai had made up his mind. Since he didn't want to miss this fortuitous opportunity, whether it was a blessing or a curse, he intended to stay in that world for as long as possible, unless he encountered danger, so he could gather more information about it.

As he thought, Huang Huai saw an ancient portal gradually appear in the void before him. It took several breaths for this ancient portal to materialize and solidify.

Since this was not the first time he had witnessed such a miraculous scene, Huang Huai remained quite calm. However, as the portal gradually solidified, even though he had made up his mind, Huang Huai still felt a sense of nervousness.

But soon, Huang Huai glanced back at everything in the room behind him, took a deep breath, reached out, pushed open the portal in the void, and stepped through. In an instant, Huang Huai's figure vanished without a trace along with the portal, leaving behind only an empty room.