Monk Wufa actually knew little about the Immortal Dao, or at least his understanding was not very deep. Even at the Dragon-Transformation Banquet in the North Sea all those years ago, he had had little contact with practitioners of the Immortal Dao, for the affairs of Dragonkind alone had left him with more than he could take in.
But precisely because of that, Monk Wufa's own perceptions were not clouded by the legends of Grotto-Heaven worlds circulating among practitioners of the Immortal Dao. His awe remained just as intense, yet his spiritual intuition could touch the essence more readily, rather than having his impressions led astray by established knowledge.
Yi Shuyuan glanced at Monk Wufa and merely smiled, offering no response to the monk's praise.
Once they entered the Mountain and River State Map, winter passed without their noticing.
Abbot Wufa of the Great Autumn Temple had been missing for so long that the dignitaries of the An Kingdom were more anxious than the temple's monks. During the New Year festivities, people frequently questioned the senior monks, but naturally, none of them could provide an answer.
The New Year had already been over for some time, yet Mount Great Autumn remained cold. Perhaps ever since that blizzard many years ago, its winters had lasted a little longer than elsewhere. Still, both Mount Great Autumn and the surrounding Dao Xing Prefecture enjoyed auspicious snowfalls every year.
A white-bearded old monk passed a guest lodge in the rear courtyard. Two young eunuchs stood shivering and stamping their feet outside its door, knocking as they called to the person within.
"Eunuch Gao, are you awake? Oh, you are? Then I'll fetch some hot water for you to wash!"
One young eunuch remained where he was, while the other hurried off to fetch hot