Chapter 44: Martial Arts Show and Quest for the Spiritual Pearl Master Zhaoming came out of the house tremblingly, holding an ochre brocade box, stroking the box from time to time, with a look of grief and reluctance. That expression was no less than that of Master Chengxin who gave away the Qiankun bag that year. Lingxiang, however, seemed as if nothing had happened. She was half lying on the armchair in the hall, with one leg hanging on the armrest, swaying from time to time. "Hey, why are you so sad, Fifth Brother? It's just a bead. In exchange for a disciple with a promising future, you have made a lot of money from this deal!" As Lingxiang spoke, she stood up and tried to take the brocade box from Elder Zhaoming. Elder Zhaoming was still unwilling to give up and exerted force on his hands, as if only in this way, Lingxiang would not take the beads away. "Oh, brother, if you like this box, just keep it. I will never take it away from you. Just give me the spiritual beads in the box." Lingxiang pulled hard and took the brocade box from Elder Zhaoming's hand. Seeing that his hands were empty, Elder Zhao Ming's face tightened. He turned his head away, closed his eyes tightly, and looked heartbroken - it was easy for him to say, but there was a bead, this was the Fire Spirit Bead among the Five Elements Beads, and there was only one in the world! To talk about the Fire Spirit Pearl, we have to talk about its origin. According to legend, in the chaos, Tai Chi was earth, which gave birth to Yin and Yang, and the two poles gave birth to four things, namely gold, wood, water, and fire. This was originally a saying in ancient times, and after thousands of years, it evolved into the theory of the five elements, namely gold, wood, water, fire, and earth. It is also said that these five elements are born from nature, originate from the stars, and are the basis of all things in the universe. There are countless various opinions, but no matter where the five elements come from, these opinions all express the importance of the five elements, and the five elements beads condense the essence of them.
Furthermore, Duobao Qilin swallowed the Fire Spirit Pearl by mistake due to its greed. It was originally a gentle creature, but because it absorbed too much spiritual energy from the body of this ancient auspicious beast, the power of the Fire Spirit increased greatly, causing the gentle beast to suffer unbearable pain. Over time, it turned into a Fire Qilin. When Lingxiang was fighting with Wu Yuan in Cangzhou City, Zhenren Zhaoming was entrusted by someone to subdue Lingxiang with the Xuanbing Formation of the Five Elements Demon Subduing Formation, and then he used some unknown magic to take out the Fire Spirit Pearl. The Fire Spirit Pearl had too much spiritual energy and it set the entire mountain on fire when it first appeared. Fortunately, Master Zhao Ming had the foresight to set up the Nine Heavens Spiritual Ze Formation early on and caused a heavy rain, thus avoiding a mountain disaster. Now, this Fire Spirit Pearl has been nurtured by Master Zhaoming using the Four Symbols Formation for a full seven days before it finally rests in peace. This really took a lot of effort on his part. However, now it was taken away easily by his junior sister. How could he not feel heartbroken! Lingxiang snatched the brocade box, twisted her handprints to break the small formation on the box, and after opening it, she saw a bead in the box, the size of an egg, glowing with fire, quietly placed on the gold and silk. She hurriedly took out the beads. As soon as she touched them, she felt warmth all over her body, as if she was out of place in this cold winter season. After a while, she even started to sweat. It is indeed an ancient magical treasure. With it, I no longer have to fear the cold winter. Lingxiang threw the Fire Spirit Pearl lightly up, then caught it steadily. She did this several times, which frightened Master Zhaoming so much that he asked her to stop. This throwing and catching was like hitting his heart. How could he not be nervous? If he missed and it dropped on the ground, he would be heartbroken. But this ancient magical treasure is not so easy to break. Lingxiang weighed the Fire Spirit Pearl in her hand and felt that it was not as heavy as it looked. Instead, it was as light as a stone. It was neither inconvenient to carry nor would people ignore its existence. "In this case, I would like to thank Fifth Brother for giving up this thing!" Lingxiang said, putting the beads in her arms, and skipping out of Diancang Palace - she actually kept the brocade box. Master Zhao Ming sat down dejectedly, stroking the empty brocade box, with a melancholy look on his face, as if the Fire Spirit Pearl would fly back on its own if he just touched the box. Just when he was heartbroken, he saw Lingxiang coming back again. Master Zhaoming thought: Could it be that this girl still has a conscience and saw that his fifth senior brother was so old and couldn't stand the pain of losing the treasure, so she deliberately sent the treasure back? However, the truth was that he was overthinking it. After so many years, when did Lingxiang have such a realization? He and Master Chengxin had the most magic treasures in the entire sect. How could they expect to see the treasure return after asking for it? Only the sound of the silver bell on Lingxiang's waist was heard coming from far away. When she arrived in front of him, she stretched out her hand directly to Master Zhaoming. "This...what do you want again? Don't be greedy!" Master Zhao Ming felt a chill in his heart, fearing that Lingxiang would take something away from him again. "Of course it's a transformed thing." Lingxiang said as if it was a matter of course: "I can't fly a sword, and this Yucang Peak is quite far away from my Qingwei Peak!" Master Zhaoming didn't know whether to be angry or amused. He took out a piece of yellow paper from his arms, casually threw it to Lingxiang, and then covered his chest and waved his hand to signal her to leave quickly. "Senior brother, your craftsmanship is becoming more and more exquisite," Lingxiang said with a smile while holding the paper crane in her hand, "Then I, junior sister, will leave first. I will come to bother you again when I have time!" After saying that, she ran out of Dian Cang Palace. This sentence made Master Zhaoming feel nervous, and he hurriedly instructed Lingxiang, who had already left the temple: "Don't come and play if you don't have anything to do! I, your senior brother, am very busy! I'm not around often!"
Finally, he emphasized twice: "Hey! Did you hear that? I'm busy!" …… "Don't be blinded by wisdom, don't be confused by heart. A clear heart is like water, and water is the heart. There is no breeze, and there are no waves... My heart is pure, and God rewards the diligent. My righteousness is awe-inspiring, and ghosts are all frightened. My feelings are overflowing, and the world is at my heart. My ambition is high, and the wind is rising!" In the Hufeng Hall, Taoist Master Donghui was preaching, but Han Yang was seen standing outside the hall gate with two Taoist boys. “That’s all for today. When you go back, you can comprehend the ‘Qing Xin Jue’ together with the ‘Gui Yuan Jing’, and you will get twice the result with half the effort.” After Master Donghui finished speaking, the boy behind him struck the small bell next to it. Just as everyone was getting ready to get up, they saw Han Yang quickly walk into the hall and bow to Master Donghui, while the Taoist boy behind him asked the outer disciples to sit for a while. "In compliance with the master's order, I come here today to announce the location for the martial arts performance in ten days." Han Yang said to himself, then waved his right hand, and a mirage immediately appeared in front of everyone. "This is Yinyu Peak, which is under the jurisdiction of the two spiritual elders Yuanqing. You fellow disciples will have a competition here in ten days. This is where the sect's spiritual beasts are raised. Although the two uncles Danyang and Danzhu have driven the spiritual beasts elsewhere, when the competition comes, I hope you can treat this place well and not ruin the feng shui and spiritual plants. After the competition is over, many spiritual beasts will return here." As Han Yang spoke, he took out a scroll from his sleeve. "The questions for this exam are in the scroll. I will hang it in the Hufeng Hall. You fellow disciples can familiarize yourself with it in the next few days in preparation." He then handed the scroll to the Taoist boy behind him. "The martial arts performance will last for one day and one night. There will be some details, which will be announced in detail by the two elders Danyang and Danzhu before you enter the mountain. The above is what I want to tell you today." As he spoke, he clenched his fist and saluted to the outer disciples. After the disciples returned the salute, he followed Zhenren Donghui and left the Hufeng Hall. (End of this chapter)
