Chapter 90
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As the voice fell, a refined Daoist was seen striding forward, carrying a pill furnace in one hand. Within the furnace, five-colored Qi swirled, as if it had just been tempered over the Six Ding Divine Fire. It seemed that he had been in the middle of refining pills when an urgent matter suddenly arose, forcing him to come in person. Yet, he was unwilling to ruin the batch of treasured elixirs, so he gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and with three wisps of fire rising from his brow, he simply picked up the pill furnace and marched over in haste.
Grabbing a pill furnace that was being tempered in [Six Ding Divine Fire] with bare hands—it was clearly scalding hot.
Though the refined Daoist wore a smile, his brows were unmistakably furrowed.
Even his laughter carried a trace of smoldering anger.
He looked as if he was about to smash that entire furnace, still blazing with Six Ding Divine Fire, onto someone’s head.
Such an imposing aura—deities and immortals passing by gave way, and even the Buddhas visiting from the west discreetly turned their mounts, pretending they were merely passing through to avoid an ill-fated encounter. His elegant and harmless appearance could be changed at will, but the [Grand Marshal of Sealing Mountains and Breaking Caves Spirit Officer] was a genuine celestial title, not something that could be fabricated in the slightest.
Three respected old Heavenly Lords, who would not even bow before ordinary celestial emperors, rose to their feet and, with a rather respectful tone, said:
“We did not realize that the Five Manifest Spirit Observance Great Emperor had come in person. What pressing matter brings you here? Why did you not first send a Daoist attendant ahead?”
“What urgent matter could it be?”
The refined Daoist murmured to himself before letting out a slow, deliberate smile. “Naturally, it is a great matter.”
His eyes swept over the jade wall without leaving a trace. With a shake of his right hand, the pill furnace crashed to the ground with a thunderous bang. The deafening impact made even the Danyang Celestial Palace, which stood above the firmament, tremble violently several times, as if it were about to be shaken straight off the clouds. The furnace had three legs, and the white jade tiles beneath it shattered instantly with a crisp crack.
Grandmaster Xuandu brushed his sleeve lightly and smiled. “This humble Daoist came for a cup of tea.”
“Would you call that an important matter?”
Danyang Miaohua Heavenly Lord took a slow breath, ignoring the damage to his palace. With a slight bow, he replied:
“If the Spirit Observance Great Emperor is in such a leisurely mood, we naturally shall accompany you.”
Grandmaster Xuandu stepped inside and casually asked: “By the way, is Uncle Master Shangqing here?”
“I haven’t seen him in quite some time.”
The three Heavenly Lords exchanged glances before sighing. There were few who could speak so offhandedly about such a figure, and the person before them was certainly one of them. “The Grand Supreme Lingbao Heavenly Venerable has always been carefree and unrestrained. Some time ago, on a whim, he took in a few disciples, but after teaching them for a few years, he grew weary of them. Finding an excuse, he went into seclusion to refine treasures. Who knows how many years it will be before he emerges again?”
Hearing this, Grandmaster Xuandu merely smiled and shook his head.
“That is indeed something Uncle Master Shangqing would do.”
“But I suspect the treasure refinement is just an excuse—what he really wants is peace and quiet, no?”
“He’s probably frustrated by his disciples’ poor comprehension, found no joy in teaching, and decided to retreat under the pretense of seclusion. And in the end, he threw those disciples to you three.”
“This sort of thing has happened more than once.”
“It must be hard on the three Fellow Daoists.”
The three old Heavenly Lords could only smile bitterly in silence.
Grandmaster Xuandu chuckled again and said: “Speaking of which, we are all disciples under the Dao Ancestor. If we were outside, it would be one thing, but how is it that when I come here just for a cup of tea, the three of you still act so formal? Calling me Spirit Observance Great Emperor and Miao Le Heavenly Venerable—isn’t that far too distant?”
The three elderly Heavenly Lords, their hair already white with age, exchanged glances, each filled with helplessness.
Yet, in the end, they had no choice but to bow in unison and respectfully say,
“Great Senior Brother, please—”
Each of the Dao Ancestors had walked their own paths of enlightenment, and thus their disciples addressed one another as Daoist brothers or fellow Daoists.
Therefore, there’s no master-disciple relationship, and the three teachings also call other disciples this way.
The refined Daoist smiled and then nodded calmly. “There’s no need for such formalities, Daoist Brothers.”
With a gentle sweep of his horsetail whisk, he draped it over his arm, his expression serene and composed.
“Please.”
The three elderly Heavenly Sovereigns stepped aside. “Senior Brother, after you.”
A pot of tea, a conversation about the heavens and the Dao—Grandmaster Xuandu, who was usually reserved, lingered far longer than expected, engaging the three Heavenly Lords in discussion for quite some time. By the time he finally took his leave, the three venerable figures felt a bit lightheaded. They escorted him all the way to the gates of Danyang Celestial Palace, watching as he leisurely departed.
Only then did they let out a long breath in unison, before immediately flying over to the jade wall.
Danyang Miaohua Heavenly Sovereign clutched his chest in distress. “That wisp of Heaven’s Mystery—completely dispersed!”
“Gone without a trace!”
“We’ll never find it again!”
“Xuandu, you—you—you…you are not worthy of being a human being!”
The three venerable Heavenly Lords stared at the vanished name, hearts nearly breaking. Even the ever-amiable Qingyang Miaodao Heavenly Lord couldn’t help but grit his teeth. “That rascal Xuandu—he came just to cause trouble…”
“Wait, could it be he’s here to [poach] a disciple?”
“He must’ve caught wind that we’ve found an exceptionally gifted student, so he came to stir up trouble!”
Danyang Miaohua Heavenly Lord roared in fury. “So that’s it!”
The two other Heavenly Lords were incensed.
But Ziyang Miaogan Heavenly Lord, who was responsible for transmitting teachings to Shangqing’s disciples, pondered for a long time before suddenly speaking in a somber tone.
“…But what if—what if we were the ones who unknowingly poached Xuandu’s disciple first?”
“And that’s why that old rascal came charging in with his pill furnace?”
Danyang Miaohua Heavenly Lord and Qingyang Miaodao Heavenly Lord both froze.
Then, as if recalling something, they exchanged glances—
And exclaimed in unison:
“Xuanwei?!”
Qingyang Miaodao Heavenly Sovereign stroked his beard, still somewhat unwilling to believe it.
“But… I vaguely recall that the name I saw had three characters.”
Danyang Miaohua Heavenly Lord frowned. “Perhaps that was just his secular name? After all, Shangqing Great Heavenly Venerable is in seclusion, so the name must have been generated by the rules he left behind.”
“This… this is quite the predicament.”
Ziyang Miaogan Heavenly Lord, however, spoke leisurely: “What’s so difficult about this?”
“He’s only a registered disciple—his name hasn’t been formally inscribed on the jade wall yet. As long as we act first, there’s no problem. When the time comes, we’ll simply declare that [Taishang Martial Uncle bestowed the Daoist title ‘Xuanwei’]. It’s a fine name, after all.”
“Whether he becomes Taishang Xuanwei True Person—”
“Or Shangqing Xuanwei True Person—”
“That will depend on our own methods.”
The elderly Heavenly Lord looked supremely confident.
Qingyang Miaodao Heavenly Lord, however, asked: “Can you even find him?”
At this, the Ziyan Miaogan Heavenly Lord’s expression stiffened. He glanced at the heavenly secrets—just now, when that Purple-Gold Eight Trigrams Furnace smashed onto the ground, it had directly refined the aura of this Danyang Celestial Palace, cleansing it thoroughly, leaving nothing behind. Clean and efficient, even if the Purple Tenuity Star Sovereign personally came, he might not be able to perceive anything. And even if he could see through it and deduce what had transpired, he would also sense the lingering aura of the Six Ding Divine Fire left by Xuandu and would never speak of it.
With a long sigh, he said: “That brat Xuandu…”
Meanwhile, in the Xuandu’s Purple Mansion Temple, the two child attendants only saw that the originally composed Grandmaster Xuandu, who had been refining pills, suddenly stormed out in a fury.
Moments later, he returned.
Looking around, he first picked up the jade ruyi but found it too light and tossed it aside.
Then, he lifted the ox-nose ring and swung it a few times, but found it unhandy.
The Seven Star Sword was too fragile.
In the end, he simply grabbed hold of the Purple-Gold Seven-Treasure Eight Trigrams Furnace and, brimming with murderous intent, stormed out once more.
He left at sunrise and only returned at dusk, looking pleased. Setting the alchemical furnace aside, he chuckled and said to the child attendants:
“The Three Masters of Shangqing actually tried to steal my little junior brother, thinking they could pry him away from me? Truly absurd! Though he may only be a registered disciple, the fact that he has been granted the title [Xuanwei] shows how highly Teacher regards him. If he perishes or loses himself while tempering himself in the mortal world, that is his own tribulation in cultivation. But I absolutely will not allow others to take him away.”
“He has the roots of the Great Dao.”
“If he does not refine pills but instead refines artifacts, would that not be a pity?”
One of the child attendants lamented: “What a waste of this entire furnace of pills.”
Then, they saw Grandmaster Xuandu sitting back on his meditation mat. He said: “I was refining pills when I suddenly sensed a shift in the heavenly secrets. At first, I thought I could simply wait here for my junior brother to return. Who would have thought that in his worldly trials, he would stir up such a mess? It’s truly vexing—I spent an entire day wrangling with those three old fellows.”
The two child attendants were in awe. “The Three Heavenly Lords of Shangqing…”
Xuandu sneered: “They are merely three True Lords, their status is exalted, hence they are honored as Heavenly Lords.’”
“Your teacher can still handle them.”
“Not to mention just those three—even if the Twelve Sacred True Ones of Yuqing came, your teacher would remain unperturbed.”
“But, Little Junior Brother, you had best not cause any more trouble. You have yet to engrave your name into the records, yet you are already making your senior brother toil so much—do you think that is appropriate?”
“I fear even Teacher did not anticipate that the effect of the wooden hairpin would almost not be enough.”
Upon hearing this, the child attendants became even more reverent. “The Grand Dao Ancestor is vast in divine abilities—surely He foresaw this.”
Xuandu merely waved his hand. “Enough, let’s refine this batch of pills first. That [New Taishang Laojun] over in the Tusita Palace has sent word again, saying he has been tasked with refining pills for the Jade Emperor. Had I known this earlier, I wouldn’t have found it troublesome when the old man left—I should have just taken over his position as the Taishang Laojun myself.”
The ranks and positions of celestial officials in the Heavenly Realm differ.
In the early days of the Heavenly Court’s establishment, the Taishang Great Heavenly Venerable once held the position of the Laojun, responsible for refining pills. But later, he departed to wander among the clouds.
However, the position of [Laojun] remained.
Grandmaster Xuandu, claiming that he sought secluded cultivation, declined this responsibility.
Speaking of which, the true disciples of the Three Pure Ones were never stationed in the Heavenly Palace. The celestial divisions overseeing the stars and constellations in the Heavenly Court were mostly Star Lords born from the spiritual essence of the stars. As for those in charge of clouds, rain, flowing winds—each had their own reliance. But for those who practiced secluded cultivation, though their Daoist temples and palatial abodes were also situated within the Thirty-Six Heavens, they were actually far removed from the Heavenly Court.
It was much like the difference between an imperial palace in a mortal dynasty’s capital and the Daoist temples deep in the mountains where reclusive cultivators resided.
The Three Purities and the Four Imperial Lords were distinctly separate, with clear boundaries between them.
Grandmaster Xuandu sighed. “All my painstakingly refined pills have gone to waste.”
“Little junior brother.”
“You must not stir up any more trouble, lest others set their sights on you and try to take you under their tutelage.”
“Your senior brother does not wish to waste another furnace of celestial pills.”
In the Shangqing Library Pavilion.
Yun Qin had just completed an assessment with her teacher and had come to fulfill an agreement.
For some reason, the Qingyang Miaodao Heavenly Lord, who was always present here, was nowhere to be seen today. Thus, she had no choice but to search for the various ancient texts on her own.
She silently recalled the appearance of that bird egg in her mind.
After searching through all the texts on the first level of the library pavilion, she still could not find anything that matched. There were always discrepancies—either the patterns were incorrect, or the size was slightly off. The bird egg she was looking for did not match any of them. Yun Qin had spoken boldly earlier, yet now that she could not find what she was looking for, anxiety welled up in her heart. She could only wonder if she had not searched carefully enough and decided to go through everything once more.
With her thoughts preoccupied and the old Heavenly Sovereign, who usually presided over this place, absent—
Unknowingly, the young girl wandered—
Into the second floor, which was currently unguarded.
PS:
During the Shanghuang Tribulation, the celestial being Taiqing Shenbao Xianjun, known by the title Dongshen Yuanshi Tianzun, expounded the Twelve Scriptures of Dongshen and transmitted the teachings of the Taiqing Twelve Immortal Heavens.
These teachings originate from the Daoist scripture “Shangqing Taishang Kaitian Longjiao Jingjuan”. In this text, Yuanshi Tianzun’s Twelve Disciples are described, forming the basis for their roles in the novel.
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