Over the next few days, news reports frequently emerged of merchants and warlords from Southeast Asia suddenly appearing in Celestial Xia to stand trial.
Everyone knew this was the work of the Taoist Sect’s Extraordinary Beings, but no one voiced any objections.
Even if there were some cynical and insinuating remarks online, they weren’t part of the mainstream discourse, and nobody paid them much mind.
During these days, Gu Zhao took two young women with him and accompanied Zhang Hang and Song Qiuqiu for some fun in Cliff City to help calm their nerves.
Once the Spring Festival holiday ended, Gu Zhao finally got down to business.
...
His first stop was Louguan Platform, on the North Slope of South Mountain in Qin Province.
Gu Zhao came soaring on clouds and mist, drifting down to Louguan Platform. There, he saw two old Daoists in their seventies or eighties leading a procession of Daoists dressed in Magical Robes, performing a New Year’s ritual.
Gu Zhao checked the date. It just so happened to be the fifteenth day of the first lunar month—the Lantern Festival.
So he didn’t reveal himself. Instead, he blended into the crowd and waited for the two old Daoists to complete the ritual. Afterward, he used his Taoist True Qi to coalesce a cloud, which began to radiate a golden light under the sun’s rays.
The golden light showered down upon all the Daoists and the tourists present. It made them feel comfortably warm, as if an omnipresent heat was seeping into their bodies, warming their very bones, blood, and organs.
"Wow! A miracle!"
"I knew it! Louguan Platform is where the Old Lord wrote his five thousand words. The masters here must be incredibly powerful!"
Some of the older people could even feel the various aches and pains in their bodies fading away, while those who were weary felt themselves filled with newfound strength.
The effects on the ordinary Daoists were one thing, but the two old Daoists in the lead were True Dao who had cultivated Inner Breath True Qi.
They both felt the Taoist True Qi contained within the golden light. After being nourished by it, their own Inner Breath True Qi began circulating two full cycles faster. They couldn’t help but exchange a look, their expressions inscrutable.
"Is it our turn?" the first old Daoist joked with a smile.
"Our luck is good," the second old Daoist nodded. "We’re ahead of that old fellow at Chongyang Palace."
They seemed unaffected, however, directing the other Daoists to clean up the area. Afterward, they each changed into simple Daoist attire and made their way to the rear courtyard of the Taoist House.
There, sitting under the old tree where they usually rested, they saw a handsome, elegant young man.
"I am Gu Zhao. Greetings, Taoist Yi Xiang, Taoist Yi He." Gu Zhao rose and smiled. "Martial Uncle Yi Hong, Martial Uncle Jing Fa, and Martial Uncle Fang De have all spoken of you often."
Although Louguan Platform was the Ancestral Court of the Wen Shi Sect, that sect had long since declined. The temple at Louguan Platform was now managed by the Dragon Gate Sect.
Louguan Platform was also a sacred site of the Taoist Sect. Taoist Yi Xiang’s and Taoist Yi He’s generational characters were close to those of White Cloud Temple; both belonged to the "Yi" generation. They also knew Taoist Yi Hong of White Cloud Temple and Taoist Jing Fa of Eight Immortals Palace.
Hearing Gu Zhao’s words, the two old Daoists’ last lingering doubts were dispelled.
"Greetings, Mr. Gu!" The two old Daoists offered a deep bow.
The rest was straightforward. As a reward for providing information about Taoist Fang De, and because they were old acquaintances of Taoist Yi Hong, Gu Zhao gifted them each a Thunder Seed. This would help them refine their Dantian Sea of Consciousness and coalesce their Innate Qi.
In addition to them, there was also Taoist Shi Kong of Chongyang Palace. His generational character was from the same lineage as Eight Immortals Palace, and he was actually a generation senior to Taoist Jing Hong and Taoist Jing Fa.
After gifting the three Thunder Seeds, Gu Zhao flew directly back to Yangcheng with the three old Daoists in tow and sent them to the Otherworld.
...
The second stop: Baopu Taoist School, by West Lake in Lin City.
Five elderly Daoists—four men and one woman—sat around a table in a pavilion by a pond, a pot of tea warming between them.
The early spring chill still lingered in the air. Being in a coastal province, the air was plenty humid, but the dampness made the cold feel rather unpleasant.
This chill, however, had no effect on the five old Daoists.
Though they weren’t dressed in light summer clothes, they wore only thin, cotton-padded jackets. Their faces remained ruddy in the cold wind, and after taking a sip of hot tea, a wisp of white vapor would even rise from their heads.
"Soaring Clouds and Mist, Refining Sword into Silk."
"So the Pure Yang Sect really are Sword Cultivators. This Flying Sword Technique of theirs... it’s not recorded in any Tao Scripture. Don’t tell me he learned it from the concepts in web novels, did he?"
An old Daoist, his hair and beard still black but his face wrinkled enough to trap a fly, said as he scrolled through a video on his phone.
"And this Taoist Yunyang, the Dharma Aspect he manifested is clearly Lü Zu."
"I hear he cultivates *Zhong Lü’s Inner Alchemy Collection*. For his Primordial Qi Inner Power to be strong enough to manifest a Dharma Aspect... it must be truly profound!"
Another middle-aged Daoist—one with a hairpin holding his topknot, sharp eyes, and the air of a handsome older man—pointed to a video on his phone. It showed Taoist Yunyang manifesting the Eight Immortals Dharma Aspect and destroying an entire industrial park with a single sword strike.
Yunyang’s identity had, of course, been recognized. As a junior of Taoist Jing Fa from Eight Immortals Palace and a genius rarely seen in the Taoist Sect, his popularity on the internet was off the charts.
After all, he was the first young-looking Extraordinary Being from the Taoist Sect.
A kindly-smiling old Daoist with graying hair and beard next to him pointed to the second half of the video. "To be able to manifest the Taoist Divine Prison, now that is profound cultivation."
In the video, Taoist Jing Chun hovered high in the sky. His hands were held as if cradling a ball below his abdomen, his face was expressionless, and his body was still. Yet in the air before him, a small Hell-like world, several miles in diameter, took shape.
Within this small world were eight Divine Prison Ghost Generals. They were dressed in red robes and black garments, powerfully built and imposing, with green faces and protruding fangs. Each one wielded a different weapon.
At first, this Divine Prison appeared semi-corporeal, and people thought it was just an illusion, something like a mirage.
But then the Ghost Generals let out a great shout. The Divine Prison plummeted, smashing the industrial park below into rubble. An endless, ghostly wind then swept through the area...
...and everyone fell silent.
It was also at this time that netizens from Mountain City learned that this Taoist Jing Chun, who had revealed his identity during the Golden Mountain delivery incident, was actually an heir of the Fengyue Sect of Zhengyi Dao!
The comment section exploded into chaos.
"Ahhh! Those Divine Generals are so cool! Just like how they’re described in the *Black Law Spirit Book*!"
"Which Divine Prison is that?"
"It looks like the Copper Pillar Prison. Look at those big pillars inside."
"I heard Taoist Jing Chun already let the people he captured go. He should’ve let them ’enjoy’ themselves in the Copper Pillar Prison for a while."
"Then they wouldn’t be able to confess their crimes alive. We still need to recover the stolen money."
"Killing them would be for the best!"
After a glance at the comments, the middle-aged Daoist switched back to the video and sighed wistfully. "It’s a shame Taoist Shen Hao never revealed his techniques. I can only imagine how immense the power of that Shangqing Sect elder must be when he acts."
An old woman in Daoist robes with a kindly face, sitting opposite him, smiled. "Perhaps you’ll be able to witness it yourself in a few days."
At her words, the eyes of the other four Daoists all turned to the one sitting at the head of the table—a rather portly old Daoist.
This portly old Daoist stroked his beard. "My junior brother called me. He only told me to find four fellow Daoists, but he didn’t say when this Grotto Heaven Master would arrive."
The old Daoist had barely finished speaking when they saw a young man strolling in through the courtyard gate. He was smacking his lips as if savoring a recent meal. "That West Lake Vinegar Fish," he said, "really lives up to its name."