Daoist Master of Qing Xuan

The moment he left, Shen Lian lost an opportunity. This opportunity would allow him to become Taiyi.

At this stage, the sensation of an outbreak would not be wrong. However, for Shen Lian, the missed opportunity also meant that he had one less trouble.

He had enough trouble.

With lesser problems, Shen Lian’s heart became brighter, just like a mirror. The body was the bodhi tree, the mind was like a bright mirror’s stand. At all times, he must strive to polish it, and must not allow dust to collect.

Up to this moment, the heart of Dao had to be practiced timely in order to achieve the perfect mirror stage. To reach the stage of ‘nothingness left no dust’, one had to practice and cultivate the heart of Dao to the most satisfactory stage.

This was because ‘Dao’ not only needed to be understood but also to be proven.

Without prove or experience, ‘Dao’ was just a theory. The Sixth Patriarch Huineng who quoted ‘nothingness left no dust’, did not need to lower himself to the mundane world and experience it.

Zimu River was flowing while the tree in the middle of the river remained unmoved. However, the gloomy vital force caused the leaves to be greener. Chen Jing who was talking to Shen Lian noticed the odd situation too.

She could not sense the changes of Qi of heaven and earth but the large trees could. Just like when the east wind blew, thousands of pear blossoms bloomed. Hence, as a spiritual tree, it had sensitivity.

A dim light blended into Shen Lian’s body. The spiritual form returned. Due to that little realization, his body became different. However, the others did not notice it.

Shen Lian smiled and said, “How about we return to Xiliang?”

Chen Jing responded, “Great. It suddenly became cold. I have to be careful not to let Ke Er catch a cold.”

Li Yuanliang would not disagree. Fortunately, his master-uncle arrived at the right time. Otherwise, the danger would be unpredictable and he would break the trust of his master-uncle.

As they were about to leave, a tender and lovely voice of a little girl rang.

“Celestial, can I ask you for a favor?”

Chen Jing was shocked while Li Yuanliang pulled a stern face. Shen Lian was the only one unbothered and looked towards the source of the sound.

By the trunk, stood a little girl wearing a dress similar to the color of the leaves. She looked like a tender flower bud, while she bit her lips pitifully.

Shen Lian gently said, “The being with the toughest path of attaining Dao is the Silvan Elves. If the birth of spiritual body is known, it will mean extinction for them. You should be careful as you just manage to condense your spiritual body. There is no need to risk the danger looking for me.”

He was not lying. Once the Silvan Elves managed to form the spiritual body, they had the potential of becoming the immortal spiritual medicine. This would naturally gain attention by the greedy cultivators.

Hence, very few Silvan Elves dared to show their spiritual body. This was because spiritual grass and wood were a rarity, not to mention, those that could be formed spiritual bodies.

This large tree had the ability to condense spiritual bodies. However, due to limited Qi of essence around Xiliang, it was hard to outbreak the last step. Coincidently, the mysterious Qi of Yin from the netherworld infected the tree, enabling it to pass the obstacle and form a spiritual body. From then onwards, it was able to move its body and search for a secretive spot. Then, it shapeshifted. Of course, the waiting time would take hundreds of years but once it was found by the humans, it would almost lose the hope of attaining Dao. Otherwise, it could gather the essence and entrust to the care of the spiritual body. This was the case for Daoist Liu Mengde.

For the phoenix tree in Diqiu, it got help from Shen Lian to blend its spirit into flesh and blood, transforming into a human. This opportunity was rare and only materialize once in a thousand lifetime.

However, spirits were unlike the spiritual body, weak in nature. The heavenly immortals had to be capable of blending the whole spirit into the flesh and blood in order to produce new life.

“Celestial had a pure Qi of Dao so you will not be demonic. This is a hard-to-come-by opportunity. I will seek for your kindness to hand down to me the technique of entering Dao. By this, I am willing to listen to your commands,” she said carefully.

Shen Lian smiled apologetically and spoke, “Mother, Yuanliang, let’s leave.”

Shen Lian stretched his sleeves, formed a cloud and disappeared.

Upon reaching Xiliang, Li Yuanliang recalled the pitiful Silvan Elf. Although he was a master celestial of sword which had a strong heart, he sympathized her.

He questioned, “Uncle-master, it is not easy for the Silvan Elf. Since it is psychic, its leaves could be made into spiritual medicine and subsequently, we could use it to supply the army. Why don’t you keep her if there are such benefits?”

Shen Lian smiled and queried, “Mother, do you know why?”

Chen Jing replied, “Her speech was too orderly. Besides, she knew about ‘pure Qi of Dao’. An unmovable Silvan Elf will not be able to recognize this as she will not have this sort of experience. Moreover, her new spiritual form is a figure of a little girl. She must have seen Ke Er so her figure was intended to scheme us.”

Li Yuanliang suddenly understood.

Shen Lian explained, “Yuanliang, if you purely practice sword techniques, you need not care about the schemes. However, your weakness is the lack of purity. You are not as refined as your master and Yanying. If you want to improve, you have to experience life. The same goes for your junior apprentice-brother.

Next, I am going to form an army with Four Symbols. Four of you will take each army and become their general. You will gain tremendously later.”

It was rare to have geniuses like Chen Jianmei and Fang Yanying who purely indulge in swordcraft. Li Yuanliang was nothing if compared to the both of them. Hence, even though he practiced for many years, constantly building strong mana and improving his swordcraft, it was hard for him to improve qualitatively. He could become a Martial arts expert but to become a master, training itself was not sufficient.

Chen Jianmei understood this. However, going through life and realizing the teachings by heart was hard to teach and explain. Therefore, he needed the help of Shen Lian.

Having said so, Shen Lian could only point a direction, give tips and provide guidance. It still boiled down to the person’s good luck.

Although Shen Lian achieved the Taiyi state, he could not help them to break away from whims and obtain longevity.

However, with these tips and guidance, they were luckier than most cultivator. This was the purpose of the Dao celestial school.

Moving forward, Shen Lian stayed a few days in Xiliang to declare his existence. At the same time, his doings in the Xia Kingdom were spread to the whole country. Even the whole Kong Sang knew about it.

Although there were no actions from Xiliang, Kong Sang was on pins and needles.

The Xia Kingdom was not something that these small countries could imagine. Being the State Preceptor of Xia Kingdom, Shen Lian was even feared by the neighboring countries. A point had been made; Xiliang was not an easy target.

Among the higher rulers, they knew Shen Lian killed Feng from Dongyi and retreated safely from Emperor Xia and Guan Longzi. ‘The world’s three saints, Qing Xuan is number one’ was the slogan passed among the celestials and the Great Demon.