Under One Person: The Seeker of the Dao in the Lü Family

Chapter 166 Tongtian Valley, A Journey Through Time and Space

Despite being teased by Qiu Chuji, the "Master of Changchun," Lü Qian, who had regained his youthful spirit, did not feel embarrassed.

He stood still, meeting Qiu Chuji's scrutiny, his expression unchanged.

Seeing this, Qiu Chuji nodded, "Not bad, youthful spirit, pure heart."

"I've met you, little Lu Zu, so now I, as your elder, will refrain from being a nuisance here."

After saying that, he turned and walked away into the distance. His figure moved slowly and calmly, and in the blink of an eye, he disappeared from their sight.

As Qiu Chuji disappeared, someone walked towards the direction of the temple square. It was a tall and strong old Taoist priest with white hair but a steady gait.

He walked towards the two with a smile. The moment he saw the burly old Taoist priest, the once calm Fang Dongtian trembled all over. He seemed to forget to continue walking and stood there excitedly looking at the other person.

The old Taoist priest moved with a brisk pace, arriving directly in front of the two. He looked down at the short-statured Fang Dongtian, a genuine smile spreading across his usually serious face.

"Dongtian, you did a good job."

"Master...Master!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Dongtian's eyes immediately reddened, and his youthful face was filled with smiles. He bowed respectfully to the other party, "Disciple Fang Dongtian greets Master!"

The burly old Taoist bent down and reached out to help Fang Dongtian, who was kneeling with his head down, up. "You, you really are a carefree little monkey. Now that you have manifested your primordial spirit, you can even rejuvenate."

As he spoke, the old Taoist stroked his beard, "Look, even I, your master, am stuck at the moment of my ascension."

After making a joke, the old Taoist priest's smile faded, and he looked at his disciple with a mixture of helplessness and guilt, asking, "Have you been tired of serving as the sect leader all these years?"

Fang Dongtian, now young again, seemed to have regained his youthful spirit. He smiled and shook his head at the old Taoist in front of him, "This disciple is not tired. Baiyun Temple is my home. This is the responsibility that Master entrusted to me. This disciple has not dared to slack off for decades."

"There's no need to put on airs in front of my master."

Looking at Fang Dongtian's smiling face, the old Taoist sighed, "Dongtian, I'm sorry to leave you to face the changes of the world alone."

The last century has been an era of the greatest and fastest changes in the world, and Baiyun Temple, located in the capital, has been at the forefront of these changes.

Fang Dongtian, as the sect leader, not only improved and perfected the Longmen Sect, but also successfully carried it forward. His efforts and hardships cannot be summarized by the phrase "dared not slack off".

Lu Qian stood behind Fang Dongtian, silently watching the scene of the master and disciple reuniting. In front of the old Taoist, Fang Dongtian, who had experienced many hardships in the past, seemed to have truly become young again.

As people grow up, they tend to become more mature. When facing younger generations, they seem to have no bitterness or hardship, presenting a reliable image and listening to the younger generation's sorrows and hardships.

But these elders are also human beings, and as human beings, they have emotions and desires. They also have their own sorrows and bitterness, but they have no one to confide in.

They no longer have elders to listen to their bitterness and suffering.

Now that Fang Dongtian has met his master, he, who was an elder in Lü Qian's eyes, has become a junior in front of the old Taoist.

Fang Dongtian once recounted his experience, in which he transformed from a carefree young Taoist priest into a high-ranking sect leader. The change was significant and far from as easy as he described.

"Master, why have you and my fellow disciples disappeared?"

Fang Dongtian's lips gradually curved down, tears glistening in his eyes, and the complex emotions that had been brewing in his chest ever since he met the old Taoist suddenly erupted.

His voice was choked with emotion. "That day you asked me to transmit the incantation, and the next day I led my fellow disciples out of Baiyun Temple to resist those Japanese invaders."

"I was taking care of the younger disciples at Baiyun Temple, but what I heard later was that you had all died in battle."

"I couldn't believe it, but at night I dreamt of your spirit, and you told me that it was all true, and that I would be the only one left in Baiyun Temple from now on."

"I still didn't believe it until a few days later, when Xiaozhan sent over your tattered clothes. Only then did I believe it."

At this point, he wiped away his tears with his sleeve. "Master, was I too foolish? Why did you keep me?"

"I've killed quite a few Japanese soldiers, so why can't I be taken to the battlefield?"

"Senior Brother Dong'an and Junior Brother Dongqing, their talents far surpass mine, so why did they leave behind someone as mediocre as me?"

The old Taoist remained silent in the face of Fang Dongtian's questioning words. After a long while, he looked into Fang Dongtian's eyes and slowly said, "Because you are the most suitable."

"Dongtian, you're not stupid. Although your talent isn't the most outstanding, your character is the best I've ever seen."

He reached out and patted Fang Dongtian on the shoulder. "The inner alchemy of Quanzhen emphasizes perseverance. People with good talent may not necessarily make it to the end, but someone like you will definitely make it to the end."

The old Taoist priest looked at Fang Dongtian with admiration, "I arranged for you to set up a fortune-telling stall at the gate to observe all the phenomena of the world. Just as I expected, you have indeed attained enlightenment from the mortal world."

"Alright, if you have any grievances, just tell your master. We'll have plenty of time for that later."

After saying that, he looked at Lü Qian, stroked his beard and examined him for a moment, then nodded and said, "What a handsome young man! We are all waiting for you to open the gates of heaven."

"Go on, young man, your cultivation on this journey is still lacking."

"yes!"

Lu Qian bowed to the two men and prepared to walk back the way he came. Just as he turned around, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Wait a moment, traveler. This is a gift for you."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a whooshing sound came from behind Lü Qian. He turned around and caught the object that was flying towards him.

"This is... a whisk?"

Lu Qian looked at the whisk with three thousand white strands hanging down in his hand, pinched the wooden handle and turned his wrist, as if a white ribbon had swept across the void.

He looked at Yin Zu, who had appeared from the void, and asked with some confusion, "Yin Zu, what do you mean by this? If it's a weapon, I already have the Peach Wood Sword that guards the mountain."

"My mind is restless and unsettled, so I sweep myself away with a whisk."

Yin Zu still looked like the same young man he had been before. He carried a sword on his back and wore a golden lotus crown on his head, which was tied with a jade hairpin. However, the whisk that used to hang on his arm was nowhere to be seen.

"This was a gift from my master years ago. It is meant to remove dust and impurities, and to encourage practitioners to constantly reflect on themselves, sweep away the dust from their body and mind, and attain purity."

"I observe that you have now broken through the barriers of your heart and your mind has returned to the state of a young man. However, your mind is easily distracted and you may lose control. I am giving you a whisk to advise you to reflect on yourself often and not lose your tranquility."

Yin Zu smiled at Lü Qian, then turned away with a flick of his sleeve, saying, "Alright, don't delay your cultivation."

"yes!"

Lu Qian rested his whisk on his arm, bowed to Yin Zu's back, and with a thought, stepped out of the inner world in the blink of an eye.

When he stood up, he was still in the same room. Lu Qian looked at Fang Dongtian sitting cross-legged on the futon and bowed respectfully to his physical body.

"Respectfully seeing off Master Fang!"

His voice was clear and resonant, reaching the ears of the people guarding outside the door.

The next moment, a group of burly Taoist priests opened the door and walked in. They looked at Fang Dongtian, who was lifeless on the futon, and their eyes were filled with sorrow.

"Respectfully seeing off the Sect Leader!"

They straightened their clothes and, together with Lü Qian, respectfully bowed in the direction of Fang Dongtian, while mournful cries occasionally rose from the crowd.

As the leader of the Quanzhen Longmen Sect, Fang Dongtian lived for over a hundred years, experienced the chaotic era of war, killed many invaders, and further promoted the Quanzhen Longmen lineage.

Although he was short in stature, he was a true and genuine cultivator!

After Fang Dongtian passed away, the entire Baiyun Temple was draped in white mourning clothes. With the consent of the Baiyun Temple, Lü Qian also participated in the ceremony following Fang Dongtian's passing.

Seven days later, Lü Qian, carrying a wooden sword on his back and a whisk draped over his arm, rode a white crane and flew straight southwest when no one was around.

High in the night sky, the bright moon hangs high, and the stars twinkle, making the clouds appear dreamlike and light.

"唳~"

Amidst the drifting clouds, Lü Qian and Bai He moved swiftly through the swirling clouds, their figures appearing even more ethereal under the moonlight and starlight.

"Alright, Master Fang was a virtuous man who fell on the path of seeking enlightenment. There's nothing to be sad about. You don't need to comfort me."

"唳~"

Lu Qian and the white crane beneath him seemed to be communicating, their calls echoing one after another, creating a harmonious atmosphere.

"We're going through a calamity this time, and I don't know when we'll be back."

As they spoke, the man and the crane traversed countless mountains and rivers in the sky, flying towards the Qinling Mountains.

Lu Qian's destination this time was the Twenty-Four Heavenly Valley in the Qinling Mountains, a place where the atmosphere was independent between heaven and earth and outside of time.

The world is composed of both inanimate and living things. The Qi formation is a special pattern formed by inanimate objects forming its shape, and living beings generate innate Qi that circulates within its shape. It can also be regarded as an independent microcosm.

The so-called "Feng Shui" is an application based on the Qi (energy) distribution.

Feng Shui believes that a person is also a kind of precise energy field, independent of the large energy field of heaven and earth.

Zhou Sheng's "Feng Hou Qi Men" also applies this principle. By mastering the Qi of the human body, it makes it independent of the overall Qi of heaven and earth. The seventy-two transformations and the avoidance of the three calamities are based on this principle.

As the night passed and the bright moon disappeared into the void, the crimson sun rose from the eastern horizon, and the brilliant clouds painted the sky with dazzling splendor.

Lu Qian looked down from the crane's back, his eyes flashing with golden-red light as he clearly observed the mountains and lands belonging to the Qinling Mountains, carefully sensing the flow of feng shui within them.

"We've arrived, let's descend."

He stared at a forest in front of him, then rode a white crane and landed outside the Qi Ju (a specific location/situation).

"This Tongtian Valley has truly suffered many disasters."

The Twenty-Four Sections of Tongtian Valley were originally left by Zhang Boduan, one of the Five Patriarchs of Quanzhen Taoism, also known as the "Ziyang Zhenren". Among them are his Taoist scriptures, including the "Wuzhen Pian", which is known as one of the "Kings of Alchemical Scriptures".

As for whether there were any other legacies, apart from the nine of the thirty-six thieves, no one knows.

The "Wuzhen Pian" was also completely scrapped away by Wugensheng, a troublemaker, and all the Taoist scriptures of the predecessors were destroyed.

"Damn it, I'll definitely settle accounts with the descendants of the Thirty-Six Thieves someday! The legacy left by my Quanzhen patriarch has been completely ruined by these beasts!"

Lu Qian, cursing and swearing, led Bai He into the Qi Bureau, constantly deducing the path ahead based on his Fiery Eyes and the Feng Hou Qi Men.

Upon reaching the depths of the aura, Lü Qian did not encounter the monkey troop he had first met in the original story. His eyes flashed with golden-red flames as he examined the surrounding aura for a moment. "Something's not right. This aura feels a bit different."

"Master Ziyang, you wouldn't have given me a trial too, would you?"

He realized that he seemed to be walking towards the outside world again, gradually moving away, and immediately looked up at the void and asked.

"Hahaha, pilgrim, I see that your karma is not yet cleared, so I will send you on a long journey to settle your karmic debts."

A cheerful voice seemed to echo from the void, and then the scenery around Lü Qian changed, and he had arrived in the outside world.

"What kind of long journey is this?"

Looking at the unusual scenery around him, Lü Qian immediately realized something was wrong. When he came in, it was already early summer, but the scenery around him now looked like early autumn.

The leaves have a touch of autumn yellow.

He focused his mind on the inner vision and asked a question.

"What year and month is it now?"

"The year of Gengwu? 1930?"