Anybody who has a slight familiarity with Taoist culture would no doubt be acquainted with Zhang Daoling.
Zhang Daoling, born as Zhang Ling and known by the courtesy name Fuhan, was a native of Feng County during the Eastern Han Dynasty. He is regarded as the founder of Taoism. Because he established the Five Pecks of Rice Daoist sect, also known as the Tianshi Daoist sect, he is also referred to as Master Zhang.
The thought of soon meeting this most famous and revered figure in Taoism, Chen Yun couldn't help but feel excited.
A beam of light shines down between the misty qing and the auspicious clouds.
Suddenly, an old voice rose from the void, "Zhengyangzi, please enter the palace."
Zhongli Quan replied, "Good."
Just as he finished speaking, the clouds beneath his feet rose up, carrying both Chen Yun and himself into the seven-colored light pillar.
A irresistible force surged through, and Chen Yun felt himself being "ascended." It seemed as if he had traversed through one world after another, continuously passing through over thirty worlds, before coming to a stop.
As his vision returned, Chen Yun found himself in a place surrounded by mist, shining with golden light, as brilliant as clouds, and covered in lush scarlet sand.
This place is rich in heavenly roots, with almost every corner offering immortals' peaches, yellow plums, fire dates, and fairy apricots.
Chen Yun watched in astonishment, though he didn't know where he was, the sheer number of celestial and terrestrial elixir roots was truly breathtaking, stunning his eyes.
Zhongli Quan, seemingly sensing his shock, initiated the introduction: "This place is Tai Qing Realm DaChi Tian Xuan Duo, where our eight marvelous palaces reside. We are in an additional palace within the eight marvelous palaces."
Hearing this, Chen Yun was even more shocked. "This is the Tai Qing Realm of Da Chi Tian, one of the Four Sacred Realms? The Palace of the Eight Marvels, the sacred place of the Supreme Taoist Ancestor?"
"Yes." Zhongli Quan slowly walked towards a purple mist-embraced subsidiary palace. "Zhang Tianshi is a disciple of the Lord, who was transformed into an immortal and has no physical body in the mortal world, so he cannot appear at will on Earth. Otherwise, his powerful divine power would crush the entire Earth if he did so. We can only meet Zhang Tianshi in this paradise. The physical bodies of ordinary people cannot ascend to this paradise, even if they manage to fly up, they would collapse. You were able to come here in your physical form because our teacher protected you with divine energy."
Ah, I see, Chen Yun understood.
Thinking of himself being in the paradise where the Supreme Elder Laojun resides, he couldn't help but feel a secret stir of excitement within his heart, musing on whether he might be honored enough to see the Supreme Taoist Ancestor himself.
The two chatted their way to the front of the hall.
As soon as they approached, the sound of bells ringing and clapper being struck, along with ethereal music filled their ears.
On the platform, an unknown divine incense was burning, with smoke rising and condensing without dispersing.
Chen Yun deeply inhaled and felt his yin-shen shake as if he had received a great blessing. Suddenly, he felt himself strengthened by a factor of over one.
"What's this? What kind of incense is this? I merely inhaled once, and my yin-shen grew to such an extent?"
He couldn't help but greedily inhale a few more breaths, and his yin-shen continued to grow stronger, soon approaching the level of the true essence.
If he continued to absorb it, Chen Yun felt that it would not be impossible for him to attain immortality.
Unfortunately, as soon as he reached the doorway, an irresistible force struck him, and Chen Yun felt himself being drawn into the interior of the palace.
The interior of the hall appeared quite plain.
Apart from a huge alchemy furnace, there were only some shelves.
The shelves were lined with various bottles and jars, but it was unclear what sort of immortal herbs they contained.
However, Chen Yun's attention was not on those bottles and jars; he stared at the alchemy furnace, a bit dazed.
The alchemy furnace before him was incredibly similar to his own small copper furnace.
The only difference was that there were no buttons for "Building the Foundation for a Hundred Days," "Refining Grains into Essence," and so on.
Chen Yun's heart skipped a beat, thinking to himself that his small copper furnace might belong to the Supreme Elder Laojun.
Before he could finish thinking, an old voice came from his ear, "Zhengyangzi, what brings you to visit me today?"
Hearing this, Chen Yun looked in the direction of the voice and saw two silhouettes appear before him.
The leader, if measured in Chinese feet and inches, was a man standing nine feet two inches tall. He had a broad forehead with bushy eyebrows, a red scalp and green eyes, a prominent nose and square jawline, a full beard with white whiskers, hands hanging down past his knees. His walking posture was like that of a dragon leaping or a tiger darting. He had three eyes, a flowing brow over his forehead, and an unusual appearance. In his hand was a staff.
Behind the old man, there was also a child who looked to be about seven or eight years old.
Zhongli Quan bowed and greeted, "I am Zhongli Quan."
Chen Yun hurriedly bowed in return, "Chen Chongyun pays respects to Master Zhang."
"Your teacher and disciples don't need to be so polite," Zhang Daoling smiled and said: "Qi Wen, bring some immortal fruits to entertain Zhengyangzi and Chen Xiaoyou."
The child said respectfully: "Following the ancient ancestors' edicts."
With that, the child left the palace.
Zhang Daoling invited Zhongli Quan to sit down in front of the long table.
As for Chen Yun, who was Zhongli Quan's disciple, he understood the principle that his master was sitting to discuss with others, and he had no right to sit down. So he stood behind his master on the left side, listening to his master and Master Zhang discussing old times.
Zhongli Quan said, "Master Zhang, Qingcheng Mountain is one of your places of practice. Today, I dare to ask for a cave as a place for my disciple to cultivate, which is quite impertinent. I hope you will overlook it."
"Qingcheng Mountain is not just my place of practice, why did you single me out?" Zhang Daoling smiled and said.
This point Chen Yun was well aware of. Qingcheng Mountain, as a renowned Daoist mountain, was home to many deities. It was said that during the time of Emperor Yuanhuang, Ning Fengzi lived and practiced Daoism on Qingcheng Mountain. He once imparted to Emperor Yuanhuang the "Longji Art," which enabled one to ride the clouds. Impressed by his achievements, Emperor Yuanhuang built an altar and dubbed him "The Grandfather of the Five Mountains." Therefore, Qingcheng Mountain was also known as Grandfather's Mountain in later times, and an observatory was constructed in his memory.
At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, one of the "Eight Immortals of Shu" known as Yin Changsheng went to Qingcheng Mountain to practice Daoism.
However, it was Zhang Daoling who truly established Qingcheng Mountain's reputation as a Daoist sacred mountain.
At the beginning of Emperor Xun's reign in the Eastern Han Dynasty, he went to practice Daoism on the Hemei Mountain and established the Five Pound Rice Dao, also known as the Tianshi Dao.
Hemei Mountain and Qingcheng Mountain are part of the ancient Minshan Mountains. Zhang Daoling first came to Qingcheng Mountain from Hemei Mountain, settled there to spread his teachings, and eventually transformed into an immortal on the mountain.
Therefore, Qingcheng Mountain gained a great reputation.
However, despite Qingcheng Mountain gaining prominence because of Zhang Daoling, there were not only one but many sacred places established by deities in the mountain. It could be said that Zhang Daoling's place of practice in Qingcheng Mountain only occupied a small part of the land.
Therefore, Chen Yun did not understand why his master had exclusively sought out Master Zhang to ask for a cave for him.
Zhongli Quan glanced at Chen Yun and then smiled, saying, "My disciple has incurred the wrath of the Yinshan Sect's founding patriarch in the mortal realm. In my previous practice, only Zheng Wenxiong could restrain Xie Wuyang, who was not yet an immortal. However, since Wenxiong has attained immortality, he is unable to interfere with mortals due to Heavenly Regulations. That's why I am afraid that no one in my practice can protect my disciple. That's why I wanted the Heavenly Master to temporarily reside in the later generations of Qingcheng Mountain to take care of him."
Zhang Daoling chuckled, "My son Qi Wen is only seven or eight years old. You want him to take care of your disciple?"
Qi Wen?
Zhang Jiwen?
The 23rd Tianshi?
Chen Yun was startled upon hearing the name. He couldn't believe that the child he had just seen was actually the 23rd Tianshi, Zhang Jiwen.
Zhongli Quan burst into laughter and said, "Your son Qi Wen, although only seven or eight years old, is often taken by you into the Paradise of Immortals, taking various immortal pills, and his cultivation level is just half a step away from a True Immortal. If he cannot take care of Chongyong, I really can't think of anyone in the mortal realm who can take care of my disciple."
Master Zhang laughed and scolded, "Zhengyangzi, I fear that you have impure intentions. It's not as simple as asking Qi Wen to take care of your disciple."
Zhongli Quan blinked and said, "You know and I know, isn't that perfect?"
Master Zhang said, "Indeed."
Chen Yun was somewhat confused by the riddle being played between the two immortals. He really didn't know what they were talking about.
However, he could vaguely hear that his teacher bringing him to Qingcheng Mountain was not only to avoid Xie Wuyang but also for other reasons.
As for the purpose, he didn't know.
As they were talking, Zhang Jiwen walked in with a jade plate in hand.
Chen Yun couldn't help but glance over, only to see that there were several red dates on the jade plate.
His heart was filled with a surge of excitement. Red dates are one of the key ingredients for refining the Grand Tao True Essence soup, and now Master Zhang was going to offer them for him to eat?
"Grandfather," Zhang Jiwen respectfully raised the jade plate over his head, "Son's stature is short, and he couldn't reach other immortal fruits. He has only picked a few red dates to relieve the hunger and thirst of Master Zhengyang and Comrade Chongyong."
"You've already reached the level of a half-step immortal, and who would believe that you can't reach other immortal fruits just because you're short?"
Chen Yun immediately realized that this was an excuse from Zhang Jiwen. He probably knew that this was something Master Zhang had instructed beforehand.
As expected, there were only four red dates on the jade plate, but Master Zhang said, "Take three for your Comrade Chongyong."
"Okay." Zhang Jiwen came to Chen Yun's front, "For Comrade Chongyong, please take these red dates."
Chen Yun's hands were trembling with excitement, ready to express his gratitude.
But then, Master Zhang suddenly stopped him, saying, "Wait a moment. The red dates cannot be eaten alone; they need to be soaked in immortal wine. Unfortunately, my immortal wine has just been finished recently. Comrade Chongyong, as a guest coming from afar, I shouldn't trouble you with anything. However, I haven't tasted any immortal wine for a long time. Why don't you go to the mortal realm to fetch some divine spring water for me to make some immortal wine?"
Zhongli Quan sat there, smiling without speaking, as if he had already foreseen such a situation.
Chen Yun dared not contradict Master Zhang's intention, bowing respectfully and replying, "Comrade Chongyong will follow the edicts of the Heavenly Master. However, I am unsure of the location of the divine spring water."
Master Zhang looked at Zhang Jiwen, "Qi Wen, you take Comrade Chongyong to fetch the divine spring water."
Zhang Jiwen blinked and said, "Grandfather, there are three pools of Misty Water in the area, but they are occupied by a ferocious beast known as FeiHǔ. This beast has the bloodline of a divine beast, Qiongqi. I am only an eight or nine-year-old child, how can I defeat such a fierce monster?"
Master Zhang pointed at Chen Yun, "You, Comrade Chongyong, are a bit older than I am, and you should be able to defeat that fierce beast."
Zhongli Quan also spoke up at this moment, "Comrade Chongyong, since Master Zhang wants to drink immortal wine, why don't you go with Qi Wen for a trip?"
Zhang Jiwen, who is only a half-step immortal, couldn't defeat the ferocious beast FeiHǔ. How could I, a seven-level cultivator, possibly overcome it?
This is obviously an excuse!
Chen Yun assumed that this was a test by both Master Zhang and his teacher, though he didn't know what the test was. Nevertheless, he respectfully bowed and said, "Very well, my master. Comrade Chongyong will go with Qi Wen to fetch the divine spring water."
Only then did Zhang Jiwen put down the tray and say in an old-fashioned manner, "Comrade Chongyong, come with me."
"Very well."
Chen Yun followed behind, walking slowly outside.
Looking at the backs of the two, Master Zhang shook his head helplessly to Zhongli Quan and said, "You, you. People come to practice under you, and you want to find ways to torment your disciples. Why didn't you just fetch the divine spring water directly when you came to the Paradise of Immortals? That's really confusing."
Zhongli Quan said enigmatically, "My disciple has a tremendous talent and seems to be a reincarnation of some high truths, so I have high expectations for him. I want to cultivate him from the very beginning so that he understands that both his cultivation and means come at great difficulty and must be earned through his own efforts. Otherwise, one day when I perish like you, Master Zhang, he will be like a young bird waiting for food with an open mouth. What a waste of talent! Therefore, I want him to earn these three red dates on his own."
"Descendants have their own blessings," Master Zhang disagreed with Zhongli Quan's approach to cultivation. "My Tianshi Tao line has been passed down for more than twenty generations. Whenever there is a talented individual, I bring them to the fairy realm and give them immortal medicine. Hasn't there been a succession of immortals?"
Zhongli Quan replied with a question, "How many are left today?"
With this statement, the Tianshi fell silent, unable to find any counter-argument.
(End of Chapter)
