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She first went to her mother-in-law's courtyard, and then the whole group waited together at the entrance for her aunt and the others to arrive. Xie Zhao and the others arrived very punctually, and before long, the two families set off together for Mystic Temple.

It was said that the previous dynasty's emperor believed in Buddhism and extensively built Buddhist temples, using the national treasury to support monks, to the extent that the number of temples and monks across various regions grew rapidly. At that time, the national population was barely ten million, yet there were hundreds of thousands of monks, not even including those who remained unregistered. The labor force decreased, while ordinary people's harvest from a year of hard toil was used to support monks who engaged in no production. Coupled with consecutive years of drought in the late years of the previous dynasty, the common people had long been brimming with grievances, and peasants everywhere rose in revolt. From the outcome, monks also became a contributing factor to the previous dynasty's swift march toward ruin.

Therefore, after the founding of the new dynasty, Jing Gaozu utterly detested Buddhism and instead championed Taoism. Under this guidance, the common people naturally honored Taoism and belittled Buddhism as well.

There were many Taoist temples on the mountains around Zhaojing, but--

Shen Lantang asked curiously, "When was this Mystic Temple established? How come I've never heard of it?"

Because the entire populace revered Taoism, Shen Lantang had also been taken up the mountain by her mother to worship in her childhood. At that time, the ones with the most flourishing incense offerings in Zhaojing were White Cloud Temple and Green Ram Palace, and there seemed to be no such Mystic Temple.

Lan Xin explained, "This White Cloud Temple appeared just over half a month ago. The temple abbot holds the religious title of Xuanxin, and he was formerly a wandering Taoist priest who traveled the four quarters, passing through Zhaojing half a year ago. His mastery of Taoist arts was profound, and at a "Pure Talk" scholarly gathering hosted by the Fourth Prince, he overpowered all the Taoist priests to achieve instant fame. He was treated as an honored guest by the Fourth Prince, and it is said that even His Majesty deeply admires his supernatural powers. This Taoist temple was built for him by the Fourth Prince."

Shen Lantang: Hm... Why does this story sound so familiar?

However, Shen Lantang only gave it a passing ear. She neither believed in Buddhism nor religion; she belonged to the occasionally superstitious dialectic camp. Simply put, if her left eye twitched today, then her financial luck today must be exceptionally good. Her right eye twitched?

To hell with feudal superstition!

Mystic Temple was located on Taihang Mountain. The closer one got to the Taoist temple, the more people could be seen—male guests and female guests accompanied by children, which showed how flourishing the incense offerings were. The Chen and Xie families were not ordinary households, and as soon as they arrived at the Taoist temple, someone was assigned specifically to receive and guide them.

"Xie lay practitioner, fellow lay practitioners, this way please." A Taoist priest in green robes led everyone into the hall.

Xie Zhao and several others followed his footsteps. Xie Zhao asked, "Is Daoist Master Xuanxin in the temple?"

"Xie lay practitioner has arrived at the right time. The abbot happens to be in the temple today, and today the abbot will open an altar to lecture on scriptures at the arena, praying for blessings and averting disasters for all lay practitioners."

Hearing this, Xie Zhao said excitedly:

"In that case, we have arrived at the most fortuitous time!"

"Ever since I was fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of the true one's Taoist arts at the Fourth Prince's Residence several months ago, my heart has been profoundly shaken, and I have never dared forget it since. To be able to witness divine miracles once again today is truly great fortune."

She turned to Xie Madam beside her and said:

"Daoist Master Xuanxin's Taoist arts are profound. If we could obtain even a tiny bit of guidance, it would be a blessing for this lifetime."

Xie Madam also said excitedly, "I, too, have heard the divine name of the true one. I myself don't matter, but if the younger generation can receive such shade and protection, I am willing to serve the Three Pure Ones for the rest of my life."

That green-robed Taoist priest said, "The abbot holds all living things in his heart and has received pointers from the Three Pure Deities. In this life, he only propagates the Way and righteousness. Since the lay practitioners have the Way in your hearts and always keep the teachings in mind, the Three Pure Deities will naturally protect the lay practitioners."

"That stands to reason, that stands to reason."

Everyone muttered and mumbled, and seeing the unfathomable appearance of the Taoist priest before them, Shen Lantang always felt it was a bit strange, finding it somewhat difficult to look straight at the scene in front of her.

She attributed this to the fact that she had not yet fully integrated into the ancient background. After all, faith in deities was a unique universal culture of ancient times, and their trust in it was just like modern people believing the Earth is round; it was completely normal for her, an outsider, to be out of place.

Since she had come to the Taoist temple, she had to burn incense and kowtow. Although Shen Lantang did not understand Taoist scriptures, Taoism was so prevalent that learning how to bow to Taoism had already become a culture. After all, Shen Lantang came from an official's family, and following behind the crowd, she did not show any timidity.

After the kowtowing ended, the guiding Taoist priest once again led everyone to a pavilion, and after ushering them into their seats, the Taoist priest said:

"Please rest here for a moment, fellow lay practitioners. The abbot is about to open the altar and lecture on scriptures very soon. When the time comes, this humble Taoist will come to guide you all."

Xie Zhao nodded and said, "Daoist Master, go tend to your busywork."

After that Taoist priest left, everyone had free time. Fortunately, there were many people, and everyone chatted about daily family matters, so time passed quite quickly. I don't know how much time passed before that Taoist priest appeared once again.

Xie Zhao: "Could it be that the true one's scripture lecturing has begun?"

Taoist priest: "Indeed. The abbot invites the esteemed lay practitioners to move to the arena, and seating has already been arranged for you."

The location where that True One Xuanxin lectured on scriptures and performed magic was in the central plaza in front of the Hall of Lingxiao. The temple monks had long since set up a platform, and several members of the Xie family were arranged in seats closest to the platform. The line of sight from here was just right, looking precisely like VIP seating.

Upon learning that the abbot was going to lecture on scriptures, the believers swarmed over one after another with excited expressions on their faces. Even Xie Madam beside Shen Lantang rarely revealed a nervous expression, whereas Madam Zhou looked quite calm and composed.

Shen Lantang was spacing out when there was suddenly a flurry of noise from behind. She looked closely and saw that it was none other than the legendary True One Xuanxin taking the stage.

This True One Xuanxin was dressed in a dark-colored long robe, wearing a jade crown on his head with long beard fluttering—what a truly immortal and ethereal appearance. As soon as he appeared, the commotion below grew even louder.

Good grief, this was an outright ancient fan-chasing scene.

True One Xuanxin waved his hand, and only then did the crowd calm down. He slowly began to speak:

"Thanks to His Majesty's immense grace and the favor of my disciples, today I, Xuanxin, am able to open an altar and lecture on scriptures before the Hall of Lingxiao at Mystic Temple, expounding the profound mystery of the Great Dao..."

"The Great means vast; the Supreme means honored... Constant Purity and Tranquility—this elucidates the principle of purity and tranquility..."

He began to expound the "Scripture of Eternal Purity and Tranquility Spoken by Taishang Laojun", also known as the "Scripture of Eternal Purity and Tranquility". He spoke with fluent reasoning up above, while Shen Lantang listened down below until she grew drowsy. This was not a matter of whether it sounded good or not; this was simply... you know what code is? Code is a string of numbers and letters that have special meaning when linked together, but in Shen Lantang's ears, it was just ABCD1234.

Shen Lantang forced herself to perk up, making herself look at least as if she were listening attentively, while in reality her mind had already flown to the nine heavens. Along with the boundless golden light, she began to daydream about next year's flagship products and whether she should develop some new business...

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