The top of the mountain was the ninth leveled great Pagoda Square. It was said that the Pagoda was formed by cutting a piece of mysterious rock. It was one of the Jinggang Temple’s former abbot who discovered the rock in Xi Huang. Using his mana, he moved the rock to the top of the mountain.
The pagoda was also commonly known as the ‘Tower that Flew’.
The landscape of the mountaintop also flattened and thus was extremely spacious with over ten sparsely positioned canopies. Each canopy was glowing in different colors. But the glow was slightly toned down and did not overpower the glory of Baoyue the Venerable.
The canopies were firstly occupied by the monks followed by the common men who had to look for available spaces to sit on. Among them were also demons who adored Daoism as well as malicious demons and satanic cultivators who manage to deceive the experts of the Jingguang Temple. However, it was not easy to find demons or cultivator of such level in Xi Huang and the possibility of them showing up at the event was low.
Daoist Huanzhen was at the East side of the square where the moon rose/had risen. It was the best seat as he was able to enjoy the golden moonlight all by himself. It showed how much respect Baoyue the Venerable had towards the decision maker of the Guangqing Celestial Sect.
If Song Qingyi was more cultivated, it would have been him sitting at this spot.
After all, no matter how strong the Guangqing Celestial Sect was, they were still incomparable to Lu Jiuyuan’s Xuantian Sect.
Daoist Huanzhen held a horsetail whisk in his hand, oozing an air of celestialism as he radiates a dash of glow that blended well with the moonlight. That glow did not overpower the moonlight but was outstanding in its own way. Many cultivators were secretly fixated on him.
Some of the independent cultivators were in awe and had a newfound recognition towards the Guangqing Celestial Sect.
There were some disciples lined in a couple of rows behind Daoist Huanzhen. But there was no need to describe much about them.
The canopy next to Daoist Huanzhen hosted a man in a moon-white Dao robe. This middle-aged Daoist who was on his own had a distinct face with a beard that swayed with the wind.
He could not help but praised such a vibrant scene, “It’s been a while since I’ve participated in such a lively devotion ceremony. I wonder if my friend Huike would achieve Long Hua after today.”
Long Hua refers to the becoming of celestials and deities to achieve immortality. According to Daoist scriptures and Buddhist dharma, Long Hua Festival was attended by celestials.
Daoist Huanzhen took a glanced at the middle-aged Daoist and smiled, “Brother Baishi, you are in the midst of Powang and you’ve been in the secular for so many years, yet your mind remained unpolluted. Perhaps you’d be ahead of me.”
The middle-aged Daoist was the infamous non-formal cultivator who has been around for over hundreds of years and his supernatural powers were immeasurable. As he resides in an abode in the Baishi Cave that was left behind by a land immortal, he was nicknamed as ‘Daoist Baishi’.
He had many good friends all over the world and enjoyed a good relationship with Qing Xuan’s chief, Zhang Ruoxu. Because of that, Daoist Huanzhen was not too favorable of him.
Qing Xuan and Guangqing may not be in direct conflict but the Guang Qing Sect had hidden agendas.
Daoist Huanzhen was a strong headed person. Moreover, he was committed to expanding the influence of the Guangqing Sect with the objectives to replace Qing Xuan. He would not entertain people who are on the fence like Daoist Baishi just in case Daoist Baishi might turn over to Qing Xuan’s side and that would make him look really bad.
He only intended to subtly compliment Baishi’s accomplishments and did not want to be involved in other matters.
Daoist Baishi was not bothered by Daoist Huanzhen’s words and smiled, “If my heart of Dao wasn’t polluted, I would have stayed in my abode and ignored the four seasons instead of coming here to watch the debate.”
Since the heart of Dao was stained, it meant that he was involved in this matter.
He did not have to explain much and Daoist Huanzhen would naturally understand it.
Daoist Huanzhen responded, “Where would you be able to find a pure place in this world? My generation of cultivators are our own dictators and not dictated by heaven. If not, why would we cultivate Dan Dao?”
Between the lines of his words were a hidden dash of dominating arrogance. However, people were not able to blame him.
It was because he spoke the truth about the situation where Daoist who claimed that they practiced Dao in the name of heaven but in fact, they were just robbing vitality and invade good fortune. How was that not against the laws of heaven.
Once a person stepped into Dao, he should be brave to move forward. Once he was left behind, he could possible ended up being crushed.
Daoist Baishi laughed, “Speaking of Dan Dao, do you remember half a month ago when there was a surging of Qi of vitality from the southwest? Many thought that it was the birth of a Ling Bao but when the spiritual clouds came together and formed the shape of the dragon tiger, we then realize that someone has achieved Huandan. But the wind and clouds were surging and even someone like me couldn’t trace the source. Furthermore, it was a mountainous area with ever-changing Qi dynamics. It was extremely chaotic. But the heaven attracts the positive while the ground takes over the negative, and that makes it a naturally secured mountain.
The fluctuations of the Qi of vitality only subsided after nine days and nights. I went over and took a look. That place was initially a dead land where grass would not grow. Overnight, it became full of vitality and it was filled with animals. Although you can’t open a Dao school over there just yet that is a brilliant piece of land.
But there were minimal traces of the person who achieved Huandan. Considering that you’re in the know of everything, do you have any clues to who that person was?”
Daoist Huanzhen did not react too much to Daoist Baishi’s words, he said, “There are many talented unique people in this world. I am not a Daoist Master nor the Buddha, how would I know everything?”
Daoist Baishi had a spark in his eyes, “I have a gentle reminder for you. Now that you are over the top, someone who is still vigorous from achieving Huandan might come and look for you.”
Daoist Huanzhen laughed sarcastically, “Looks like Brother Baishi is trying to imply something here. Do you really think I don’t know who that person was? He’s just a young junior from Qing Xuan. Even if Chen Jianmei shows up, his sword would probably not even break my whisk. I wouldn’t be too bothered by the young junior. But since he achieved Huandan, it’s not considered as bullying if I had to tame him.”
At this moment, a strong ray of colorful lights beamed from the west as if clouds were flying in from beyond the sky.
There were eight colors of the lights and the flow of it was eye-catching. The golden moonlight seemed minor compared to this.
Cultivators who were present at the scene could not help but wondered who was this arrogant person.
His beam of colorful lights toned down as he approaches closer. It was a young Daoist who came with the wind. This person had all of the essences of Xi Huang in between his brows and had eyes like the starry little stars in the sky, and that sure caused people to be deeply mesmerized.
Anyone who witnessed the scene would praise him.
Cultivators generally have good bones as they tend to transform themselves during cultivation. They were also usually quite good looking.
But this young Daoist was of a different level. He looked elegant and was a rare sight among Daoist.
And now that he retained his colorful lights, he looked exceptional.
Inadvertently, the void approached with a calm composure. Upon his arrival, people did not feel that he was arrogant but instead was deeply convinced by him.
The only person who reacted differently was Daoist Huanzhen who yelled, “What demon are you, having the guts to come here.”
His words sounded like thunder, glorious like the power of the heaven. As he whipped his horsetail whisk, a clear light shined through as the clouds dispersed. He looked like he wanted to kill this young Daoist.