"Come, come! I just bought some roast chicken and braised meat from West Capital!"
Gu Zhao gestured for the returning members to take their seats. Turning to Yunyang, he added, "I also brought you a braised meat sandwich."
"Haha! Thank you, Sect Leader!" Yunyang took his seat without standing on ceremony. He took a massive bite of the meat sandwich, let out a satisfied sigh, and mumbled, "That’s the flavor!"
Taoist Fang De and Taoist Wu Zhi cultivated in South Mountain. They had also been to West Capital and eaten meat sandwiches before.
On the other hand, Taoist Qing Ye had never been to the Northern Lands in his life. As he ate, he commented, "The bun is crispy and the meat is tender. The broth has soaked right into the bread, and the pork has the perfect ratio of fat to lean. It smells incredible! Delicious!"
While they ate and drank, the Five Thunders Order in Gu Zhao’s Sea of Consciousness absorbed another wisp of Evil Qi.
At the same time, Changyi from the Celestial Master’s Mansion’s voice echoed in Gu Zhao’s ear. "Sect Leader, Sect Leader! Has the typhoon been resolved yet? If not, leave one for me!"
Gu Zhao raised an eyebrow. "You’ve broken through as well?"
"I did, I did!" Over in the Otherworld, Changyi nodded repeatedly, his face full of anticipation.
"Not bad." Gu Zhao nodded in satisfaction before adding, "However, the typhoon issue has already been resolved."
"Ah!" Changyi immediately sounded downcast.
Rendered speechless, Gu Zhao could only console him, "Abnormal weather events are increasing. There will be plenty of opportunities to show off your divine might in front of others in the future."
"I’d rather not have to show off frequently for reasons like this," Changyi said, showing a strong sense of the bigger picture.
Gu Zhao shook his head. Even they were powerless against planetary-level meteorological changes that operated on a scale of millions of years. Thus, he asked, "How is Yangshuo doing?"
Changyi had joined quite early. Although his Dao Practice wasn’t high when he first entered the Daluo Palace, he had the boost of the Thunder Seed and later made up for it using Evil Qi. He had finally broken through the five-hundred-year Dao Practice threshold.
Although Yangshuo joined after Changyi, he had entered the palace alongside Taoist Yuan He, meaning he had actually been a member for quite some time. Back in the day, he and Changyi were collectively known as the "Daluo Dual Spirits, Starlight Sword Immortal" and enjoyed immense fame in Jiangzhou.
Having roamed the martial world together with Changyi, any gap between them wouldn’t be too large.
Sure enough, Changyi replied, "Yangshuo has also reached the threshold. He should be able to break through very soon!"
Gu Zhao nodded. "Then help Yangshuo break through first. Afterward, head to the Southern Border to assist Martial Uncle Zhi Qing, Martial Uncle Yuan He, and the others."
"Will do!"
Ending the conversation, Gu Zhao found himself in an excellent mood.
Since Taoist Gu He of the Fengyue Sect, as well as Taoist Zi Hui and Taoist Zi Ting of Qingcheng Mountain—who had joined around the same time as Taoist Qing Ye’s trio—were all Daoists of the younger generation, he had assumed it would be a while before the rest of them managed to break through.
To his surprise, while those middle-aged Daoists had yet to break through, Changyi and Yangshuo, two of the youngest generation, had successfully done so.
Since that was the case, he might as well find them another companion!
At this thought, Gu Zhao looked at Taoist Fang De and Taoist Wu Zhi. "If you two Martial Uncles have nothing else to do, accompany me for a trip to Ji Province."
Typically, Gu Zhao rarely brought anyone along when recruiting new members.
A thought stirred in Taoist Fang De’s mind, and he asked, "Is it another inheritance of Ancient Daoism?"
Gu Zhao smiled and nodded. "It’s a situation similar to yours. Discovering that grandfather and grandson duo was a complete accident."
Taoist Qing Ye asked curiously, "What kind of accident?"
"The information was provided by Taoist Fa Ben of the Cyan Cloud Temple in Ji Province. He’s also a Daoist who has cultivated Inner Breath True Qi," Gu Zhao explained. "Two years ago, during a fast and offering ritual held at the Cyan Cloud Temple, an elderly person suddenly suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. An old practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine used silver needles to guide the blood flow and saved the person’s life."
"Is that old doctor a cultivator of Daoism too?" Yunyang asked.
"Since ancient times, medicine and Daoism have always been inextricably linked. Sun Yao King was a Daoist who had achieved great success in Qi Refining. If he were in the modern era, his talent would far surpass all of ours," Taoist Wu Zhi said with a laugh.
"Indeed. That old doctor utilized True Qi while saving the patient, which was noticed by Taoist Fa Ben. The two of them subsequently became friends." Gu Zhao chuckled. "Can you guess which Daoist Technique that old doctor cultivates?"
Hearing this, the three old Daoists all smiled.
"Although there are many Daoism Sects, they all stem from the Jin, Sui, and Tang Dynasties. There aren’t many Ancient Daoism branches," Taoist Qing Ye remarked with a smile.
"Counting only the pre-Qin and the two Han dynasties, there’s Wen Shi and Shaoyang in the Northern Lands, and Zhengyi in the south. These are the more famous ones," Taoist Fang De said, counting on his fingers.
The Wen Shi Sect traced its lineage up to Oldzi, the Shaoyang Sect paved the way down for Pure Yang, and Zhengyi Dao had been passed down to the present day. Therefore, they held widespread fame within Daoism.
However, this didn’t mean that these were the only branches of Ancient Daoism.
"Is it the Five Sects of Oldzi’s Teachings, or the Four Masters’ Inheritance?" Taoist Fang De guessed.
The so-called Five Sects of Oldzi’s Teachings were Daoism Sects formed by integrating the philosophies of Guigu, Zhuangzi, Liezi, Sunzi, and Mozi into the theory of the Taoist Family. However, they had existed for an extremely short period of time, and even their ancient texts had been severely lost.
Yet, what this school studied was more akin to philosophical theory rather than Cultivation Methods.
A novelist on Blue Star had once written this school into a novel, naming it the Two Factions and Six Paths of the Holy Gate, which ironically gave it a renewed burst of life in the modern era.
In addition, there was the Four Masters’ Inheritance, whose fundamental text was the True Scripture of the Four Masters. Although this title was established during the Tang Dynasty, the inheritance itself dated far back to the pre-Qin era. It was also recorded in the Daoist Canon, making it unequivocally a legacy of an Ancient Taoist Sect.
But Gu Zhao shook his head and smiled. "Neither."
Taoist Fang De blanked for a moment upon hearing this. He exchanged a glance with Taoist Wu Zhi and Taoist Qing Ye, a sudden thought welling up in his mind.
"If it’s none of those..." Taoist Wu Zhi tugged at his beard. "A branch of Ancient Daoism with an inheritance dating back to at least the Han dynasties, located in Ji Province..."
Taoist Qing Ye was somewhat incredulous. "Could it be Taiping Dao?"
Gu Zhao clapped his hands and laughed. "Exactly. It’s Taiping Dao!"
"Good heavens!" Taoist Qing Ye exclaimed. "The Taiping Scripture is a complete set of texts covering everything from theory to Cultivation, and from governing people to governing the world. The versions passed down to later generations have long been incomplete, with all the Cultivation Methods entirely missing."
"How did he successfully cultivate it?" Taoist Qing Ye asked in disbelief.
Gu Zhao spread his hands. "How should I know?"
Taoist Fang De chuckled. "Due to the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Taiping Dao was suppressed by almost every subsequent dynasty. It’s already quite fortunate that its remnant texts could be included in the Daoist Canon to serve as a memento."
Taoist Wu Zhi ventured a guess. "Could it be that precisely because Taiping Dao was suppressed, its scriptures couldn’t be circulated openly, so they flowed into the secular world and were passed down to this day?"
Pointing to himself and then at Taoist Fang De, Taoist Wu Zhi added, "Isn’t that exactly how our Wen Shi Sect and Shaoyang Sect were passed down?"
Taoist Fang De smiled and nodded. "Exactly, exactly!"
The two old Daoists had passed down the Cultivation Techniques of Wen Shi and Shaoyang. Now, not only had they left their inheritances in South Mountain, but they had also left behind ancient texts at the Louguan Platform, taking in several talented young Daoists as disciples.
At the same time, they had also accepted disciples in the Otherworld, two of whom had even successfully cultivated Inner Breath True Qi.
It could be said that the Wen Shi Sect and the Shaoyang Sect, which had practically vanished in the long river of history, had been revitalized in both worlds by their hands.
Taoist Qing Ye sighed with emotion, "The Taoist Sects are truly thriving. Even the heir to the Taiping Scripture has emerged in the world."