Chatpter 274: Preaching the Rightful Dharma on the Preaching Altar

Cale

September 19

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A thought flashed in Qin Haoxuan’s mind. He recalled the secret manual he had found in the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley, which was filled with characters he couldn’t recognize. After Little Gold finished reading it, the manual turned to dust, and from that moment on, it was able to cultivate.

‘It seems the cultivation art Little Gold practices is no worse than the Dao Heart Seed Demon Art. That demonic cultivation manual came from the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley, and nothing from that place is ever ordinary!’

‘Perhaps if it cultivates that demonic art, its blood won’t be so cold?’

Thinking this, Qin Haoxuan looked at Little Gold with anticipation and asked, “Little Gold, do you feel cold after cultivating?”

Hearing Qin Haoxuan’s question, Little Gold nodded repeatedly, wrapping its arms around its chest and chattering its teeth to show that it was very cold.

Little Gold’s response made Qin Haoxuan frown slightly. His master was right; the blood of all demons grows cold. Even a demonic cultivation manual from the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley was no exception. In the future, would Little Gold resort to eating humans because it couldn’t bear the coldness of its blood?

Seeing Qin Haoxuan frown with a worried expression, Little Gold became anxious. It chirped and screeched, pulling on Qin Haoxuan with one hand while gesturing frantically with the other, using its body language to tell him that it would never, ever eat people.

Little Gold’s actions made Qin Haoxuan laugh. Having spent so much time with it, he naturally understood its temperament. Although the little fellow was just a monkey, it led several hundred other monkeys to manage a large part of the Spirit Field Valley in an orderly fashion and had never done anything out of line. Moreover, Little Gold, who had started demonic cultivation long ago and already felt the cold in its blood, had never eaten a single person.

Demons needed to drink human blood as soon as their own blood turned cold, yet to this day, no disciple of the Taichu Sect had gone missing or died.

Qin Haoxuan patted Little Gold’s head and said, “I believe you won’t eat people. As long as you don’t, I will protect you and never abandon you!”

Hearing Qin Haoxuan’s words, Little Gold broke into a wide, toothy grin and brandished its small fist, as if to say it was much stronger than Qin Haoxuan.

Master Xuanji watched the close relationship between Qin Haoxuan and Little Gold and sighed internally. His heart was filled with endless worry, but in the end, he said nothing.

Qin Haoxuan was still too young. He didn’t know that cultivators in the cultivation world couldn’t tolerate the slightest impurity. The moment they discovered a demon, they would kill it without hesitation, regardless of whether it had killed people or drunk their blood. And in the long course of history, there truly had never been a demon that hadn’t drunk human blood.

In the cultivation world, demons were as notorious as the devils from the Netherworld Demon Abyss. If Little Gold hadn’t been raised by Qin Haoxuan, shared such a strong bond with him, and truly never drunk human blood, Master Xuanji himself would have slain the demon to defend the Dao.

Knock, knock!

A gentle knock sounded on Master Xuanji’s door, followed by a respectful voice from outside, “Master, it is time for the sermon.”

“Oh!” Master Xuanji awoke from his thoughts, cleared his throat, and said, “I know. You may go to the Preaching Altar first.”

The disciple outside respectfully replied, “Yes!”

“A sermon!” Qin Haoxuan’s eyes lit up. He had been in the Taichu Sect for nearly two years, spending most of his time in the Spirit Field Valley under the guidance of a Guiding Senior Brother. Although he yearned for the hall’s monthly sermon, he had never had the chance to attend. He could only pester Xing to help answer his questions. But Xing was a demon, after all. Though all great Daos lead to the same destination, Qin Haoxuan still longed to hear his master, who had been immersed in the path of cultivation for over a century, personally give a lecture on the Dharma. After all, what his master cultivated was the true and orthodox path of immortal cultivation.

Master Xuanji smiled faintly. “Since you’re here, you might as well come along. You can meet your senior brothers from the Nature Hall, and if there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask them for guidance.”

Qin Haoxuan nodded.

The biggest difference between a sect cultivator and a rogue cultivator was that sect disciples had the guidance and instruction of their seniors. Every month, a senior with profound cultivation would preach the Dharma. Rogue cultivators, on the other hand, had to rely entirely on their own comprehension and research.

Each of the five halls in the Taichu Sect had its own Preaching Altar, and it was the most sacred place in the entire hall. Disciples who had joined recently or lacked seniority were not qualified to enter the Preaching Altar to listen to the teachings.

For the numerous disciples of the four great halls, if they were not especially favored by their masters and kept by their side for constant instruction, the monthly sermon personally hosted by the Hall Master was the only unmissable opportunity to have their questions answered.

Although the disciples of the Nature Hall could usually seek out Master Xuanji to resolve their doubts, no disciple would ever miss the monthly sermon.

The Preaching Altar was not only a place for the master to preach, but also a place for many senior and junior brothers to exchange their cultivation insights. On the path of cultivation, everyone’s understanding was different, and it was possible for a cultivator of dull aptitude to grasp something that a genius had not yet comprehended.

Qin Haoxuan followed behind Master Xuanji to the Nature Hall’s Preaching Altar.

The Preaching Altar was located behind the main building of the Nature Hall, a separate, auditorium-style structure. Above the entrance hung a plaque with three powerful, vigorous characters: “Preaching Altar.”

Two rows of strong, straight green pines were planted at the entrance, and between them was an exquisite stone-paved path. Beyond the path lay a lush green lawn that surrounded the entire Preaching Altar, creating a scene full of life and pleasing to the eye.

From a distance, Qin Haoxuan could feel a majestic aura emanating from the Preaching Altar. This aura was not as grand as that of the Taichu Main Hall; unlike the imposing pressure of the Main Hall, it was gentle and serene, making one’s heart feel refreshed and relaxed.

Qin Haoxuan was secretly astonished. ‘The Taichu Main Hall is the core of the sect’s protective grand array, so it’s understandable that it emits a heaven-shaking aura. Could this Preaching Altar also be an important node in the array?’

As if sensing Qin Haoxuan’s confusion, Master Xuanji smiled and explained, “Do you find it strange that this ordinary-looking Preaching Altar can emit an aura similar to the Taichu Main Hall?”

Qin Haoxuan nodded in confusion, looking at Master Xuanji.

“This Preaching Altar existed back when Nameless Peak was still the original foundation of the Taichu Sect. The founding ancestor once preached here, and it later became the place where generations of Nature Hall ancestors gave their sermons. After accumulating for several thousand years, it naturally contains a trace of the Heavenly Dao’s meaning!” Master Xuanji’s eyes glinted with infinite longing as he said, “Legend has it that even an ordinary mountain cave where an immortal has lived for a long time will become imbued with immortal energy and turn into a grotto-heaven.”

Qin Haoxuan’s mouth fell open, and he stared blankly at Master Xuanji. So the Preaching Altar before him was actually the place where the founding ancestor of the Taichu Sect had preached. He couldn’t help but touch the Dragon Scale Immortal Sword that had transformed into a protective mirror on his chest, thinking to himself, ‘This was also an immortal sword used by the founding ancestor… to sever Emperor Peak with a single strike, what realm had his cultivation reached!’

Following Master Xuanji into the Preaching Altar, Qin Haoxuan gave it a cursory glance. Although the Nature Hall was the weakest of the five great halls, it was, after all, where the foundation of the Taichu Sect lay, so the Preaching Altar was built to the highest standards.

The altars of the four great halls were 33 feet high and 1,000 feet in circumference, but the Nature Hall’s altar was 44 feet high and 5,000 feet in circumference, large enough to accommodate ten thousand people listening to a sermon at once.

In the center of the Preaching Altar was a small, lotus-shaped Dao altar. It was three feet high, and on top of it was a very ordinary-looking bamboo-woven cushion.

Before the Dao altar stood a black iron incense burner shaped like a tiger and leopard, from which wisps of fragrant smoke curled upwards. Although the incense used was not as fine as Elder Yu’s, it was still a high-grade incense that Master Xuanji was usually reluctant to use.

Qin Haoxuan knew that although his master’s cultivation realm was not high, his status was still there. Out of respect for his position, the sect would still allocate some incense beneficial for cultivation. But Master Xuanji was reluctant to use it for himself, instead saving it for the monthly sermon. This incense could help the disciples of the Nature Hall calm their minds and immerse themselves in the teachings more quickly.

There were only about three hundred disciples in the Nature Hall. At this moment, apart from those in secluded cultivation, everyone else was gathered below the lotus Dao altar, sitting on the floor around the incense burner, chatting softly and exchanging cultivation insights.

When they saw Master Xuanji walk into the Preaching Altar, their expressions turned solemn. They stood up respectfully and said in unison, “Greetings, Master!”

Master Xuanji smiled faintly, his wrinkled face filled with endless kindness as he looked at his several hundred disciples. He seemed less like the Hall Master of the Nature Hall and more like a benevolent elder. He said gently, “At ease!”

With a light leap, Master Xuanji sat cross-legged on the lotus Dao altar. All the Nature Hall disciples bowed in unison, then walked up to the altar one by one, holding various medicinal herbs in their hands.

“Master, this is a fifty-year-old He Shou Wu that your disciple found. It is said to be beneficial for one’s health after consumption.”

“This disciple happened to obtain a hundred-year-old spirit fungus. I ask Master to please accept it.”

“Master, this disciple has found a ten-year-old Black-Red Flower to honor you with. Please accept it. Perhaps it can help extend your life.”

…

For a moment, all kinds of medicinal herbs, none of them particularly precious, were presented to Master Xuanji. The senior brothers of the Nature Hall looked at their master with pleading eyes, hoping he would accept their offerings and, through them, extend his lifespan.

Qin Haoxuan was slightly astonished. He had long heard of the poverty of the Nature Hall disciples. Even Senior Brothers Ye Yiming and Pu Hanzhong, who were among the strongest in the hall, had nothing of value, let alone these junior brothers who were only at the Spirit Sprout Realm of a few leaves. Their cultivation resources depended entirely on the barren spirit fields they cultivated each year. If they could obtain a few dozen low third-grade spirit stones in a year, it would be considered a bountiful harvest.

It was clear that they had gone to great lengths to gather these medicinal herbs.

Qin Haoxuan sighed in his heart. ‘Although the Nature Hall is dilapidated and weak, it has a warmth that the other four great halls could never possess! The other halls could never be as united and of one mind as the Nature Hall.’

The disciples’ actions moved Master Xuanji’s heart. He smiled warmly, his eyes filled with even more kindness, and said, “Then I shall accept them!”

Master Xuanji took the items from his disciples’ hands one by one. Qin Haoxuan looked at his master with some surprise. He keenly noticed that there was something unusual in his master’s eyes. Every time he accepted an item, he would carefully look at the disciple who presented it, as if to commit both the herb and the disciple to memory to avoid any confusion.

Looking at his master’s eyes, Qin Haoxuan had a gut feeling that although his master had accepted these things, he would definitely not use them. If he were to pass away one day, these items would be returned to the senior and junior brothers of the Nature Hall.

Because Qin Haoxuan had learned from Xing that extending one’s lifespan was no simple matter. Even though he possessed Spirit Liquid that could extend life, it had to be refined into a pill to have any effect. How could these herbs, whose medicinal properties were a hundred and eight thousand miles away from Spirit Liquid, possibly have the effect of extending life? Otherwise, Master Chi Lian would not have pursued him so relentlessly to seize the Spirit Liquid, and the sect would not have placed such importance on it.

Xing understood this logic, as did Qin Haoxuan. It was impossible for Master Xuanji not to understand. Therefore, Qin Haoxuan became even more certain that his master would not consume these things!

After Master Xuanji finished accepting the various medicinal herbs from his disciples, a disciple who didn’t recognize Qin Haoxuan spoke up and asked, “Master, who is this junior brother behind you?”

Many of the Nature Hall senior brothers who did not know Qin Haoxuan looked at Master Xuanji. Qin Haoxuan had been brought to the Preaching Altar personally by Master Xuanji, which clearly indicated that his status in their master’s heart was far from ordinary.

(End of Chapter)