Chapter 383 - 207: Visiting the Supreme Profound

Chapter 383: Chapter 207: Visiting the Supreme Profound

"I once said that I would compensate you for your loss. Now is the time."

Xu Zhuang retrieved a Daoist Scripture from his sleeve. "You practice the *Tai Su One Qi Scripture*, so your Dao skills can be said to follow my lineage. However, you have already achieved a superior-grade Golden Core. I do not want you to simply follow my example; you must forge your own path."

A Superior Dao Skill is not a set of stairs that one can simply follow to attain the Dao. It is a key that unlocks the gate to seeking it. When cultivating the same Dao skill, different people will walk different paths. This is especially true for those who aspire to achieve the Great Dao.

"This Daoist Scripture contains various analyses of the *Tai Su One Qi Scripture*. It includes my own insights as well as excerpts from the understandings of past patriarchs. I hope you can find what you need within its pages."

Qin Dengxiao’s spirits lifted. He accepted the Daoist Scripture with both hands and said respectfully, "Thank you for your gift, Master."

Xu Zhuang nodded. "Now that you’ve formed a superior-grade Golden Core, Dengxiao, will you be holding a Golden Core Grand Ceremony?"

Qin Dengxiao replied, "Master, in accordance with the Sect Leader’s decree, I wish to postpone the Golden Core Grand Ceremony for ten years. I will first enter Dongzhen Hall to cultivate in preparation for the important matters in Nanzhan."

"Very well." Xu Zhuang waved his hand. "In that case, you may go. If you need any pills or Spiritual Truth, you can request them from the estate. Just speak to Yu Ren."

"Yes, thank you, Master." Qin Dengxiao bowed respectfully. As he was about to withdraw, he noticed a hint of weariness in Xu Zhuang’s expression and couldn’t help but ask, "Master, is something troubling you? Perhaps I can help share your burden?"

"Hmm?" Xu Zhuang glanced up at Qin Dengxiao. After returning to Chongyun Peak, he had recalled his Dharma body to learn of the changes that had occurred over the years. In doing so, he had indeed received some unwelcome news.

Two years after Qin Dengxiao began his cultivation in the Beiji Pavilion, Li Changfeng had accompanied You Jin’Er back to the Taixuan Sect. There has been no word from him since.

The Taixuan Sect’s Dao lineage was newly established, and the Taixuan Profound True Monarch often personally lectured and mentored his disciples. He would even hold a forum every ten years to impart his Dao skills, especially to his direct inheritors. This was truly a fortunate opportunity that many in the top three sects could only dream of.

’Even so, it’s not like the Taixuan Profound True Monarch holds a forum once a decade and then lectures for ten years straight, is it? Li Changfeng went and never came back, without so much as a word. Something must have happened.’

’Still, the Taixuan Sect is a dignified True Monarch Dao Lineage aiming to join the ranks of the great orthodox Daoist Sects. They wouldn’t make a move against a junior.’ Xu Zhuang already had a plan and wasn’t overly concerned, merely feeling a bit weary from the constant influx of miscellaneous affairs.

Xu Zhuang had no intention of hiding the matter from Qin Dengxiao, but he didn’t elaborate either. He offered a few words of reassurance and dismissed him. After a long period of contemplation, he finally called out, "Shang’er."

Shang’er, in her spectral form, had been waiting discreetly nearby for his command. At his call, she materialized instantly, dipping into a slight bow in a posture of listening.

Xu Zhuang simply said, "Bring Yu Ren to me."

Shang’er departed at his word. A moment later, Xue Yuren walked slowly into the side hall and bowed. "Yu Ren pays her respects, my lord."

Xu Zhuang instructed, "Send a letter and recall Hao’er to the sect."

Ever since Xu Zhuang had bestowed the Six Seal Technique upon him, Yuan Hao had shed his lazy habits. He had proactively left the mountain to quest for the three precious spiritual medicines and three Heavenly and Earthly Treasures required to form a Six-Seal Golden Core, though he remained in constant contact with the estate.

The reason Xu Zhuang was recalling him now was that he was preparing to secure a place for Yuan Hao to gather herbs in the Nanzhan Treasure Continent.

Nanzhan was a treasured continent, a spiritual land. It was an uninhabited wilderness brimming with countless Heavenly and Earthly Treasures. A single trip there would make collecting the necessary spiritual medicines a simple task.

However, Xu Zhuang wasn’t simply handing Yuan Hao a gift. If that were the case, he could have gathered the spiritual medicines himself instead of making Yuan Hao search for them. The dangers lurking within the Nanzhan Treasure Continent were as great as the opportunities it held. This, too, was a test for Yuan Hao.

Xue Yuren replied, "Yes, my lord."

Seeing she had made a note of it, Xu Zhuang thought for a moment before adding, "Also, prepare a generous gift. I will personally write the visitation card. In ten days, I intend to visit the Taixuan Orthodox Sect!"

Xue Yuren was taken aback, but she didn’t dare hesitate and quickly assented. Xu Zhuang simply waved his hand, dismissing her to make the preparations. He remained seated alone on the main seat, his gaze distant and profound.

Xu Zhuang rarely disciplined his disciples, but if one of them met with misfortune, how could he, as their master, possibly ignore it?

Xu Zhuang had long considered visiting the Taixuan Orthodox Sect. The only reason he had been unable to go was because of his Dharma body.

For handling worldly matters, a Dharma body was perfectly suitable. In a battle of Divine Techniques, with the profundity of his One-Yuan Dharma Body, Xu Zhuang had no fear.

But for a formal visit to a place as esteemed as a True Monarch Dao Lineage, an orthodox Xuan Sect, arriving as a mere Dharma body would be a grave breach of etiquette.

Xu Zhuang took out a brush and paper. Ink fell as he wrote: "Respectfully, from Dao Miaozhi, Xu Zhuang, of the Tai Su Orthodox Sect."

After a moment of thought, Xu Zhuang continued writing, "Fellow Daoist Jiang Han, we met once long ago at the Meteor Dojo..."

———

Beyond the Jianxia Mountain Range, the once deathly still West-Sinking Dead Sea had been dramatically revitalized.

After a century of restoration, the vast expanse of water was no longer a turbid yellow. While it still couldn’t compare to the splendors of the East Sea, it now boasted surging emerald waves and was teeming with life.

The autumn day was clear and crisp. With no fog over the sea, the view was unobscured. In the distance, an Immortal Continent came into view—a landscape of layered Immortal Mountains and competing Spirit Peaks, where celestial birds and wondrous beasts chased each other playfully through the sky.

This was the West Su Continent, the landmass tens of thousands of miles wide that the Taixuan Profound True Monarch had raised from the Dead Sea.

「A few days later.」 A visitation card from the Divine Land was delivered to the Taixuan Orthodox Sect, where it found its way into the hands of a man with his hair tied in a taiji topknot, dressed in a Cloud Robe and Feather Cloak.

His features were unremarkable, but his every action and moment of stillness carried an air of serene contentment, as if he existed in a perpetual, wondrous state of the Unity of Heaven and Man, in harmony with the natural way of the Dao.

This man was Jiang Han, the foremost direct disciple of the Taixuan Orthodox Sect since the establishment of its Dao lineage.

It was widely said that the Daoists of the Three Sects were in a class of their own, but none knew that within the Taixuan Orthodox Sect was a personal disciple of the True Monarch whose mastery of Dao skills had reached an unfathomable level.

Over the past century, Jiang Han had never clashed with others or displayed his talents like his junior brothers and sisters. Except for when the Taixuan Profound True Monarch held his lectures, he was utterly elusive. Yet, in that time, he had imperceptibly reached the bottleneck of the Nascent Soul Third Layer.

If not for this letter, Jiang Han might still be in seclusion. Instead, he now stood in the grand hall.

"Dao Miaozhi..." Jiang Han set down the visitation card. His fingertip slowly traced the surface of the paper, a flicker of reminiscence in his eyes.

Back at Junior Brother Qiao’s Golden Core Grand Ceremony, when Xu Zhuang had attended on behalf of the Tai Su Orthodox Sect, he had been a mere novice. Jiang Han, however, had already refined the Golden Mercury.

Who could have predicted that in the hundred years since, this man would cause such a stir across the Divine Land, rising meteorically through the ranks?

"First Senior Brother," a middle-aged Daoist at his side asked respectfully after he finished reading the card, "how should we proceed with this matter?"

Jiang Han mulled it over for a moment before answering, "Though it is a personal visit, Dao Miaozhi’s status is unique. We must not treat him lightly."

"Clear a path to the edge of the Taixuan Continent. We will receive him with a Divine Beast Carriage and escort him into the main sect."

The middle-aged Daoist was astonished. Clearing a path to the edge of the Taixuan Continent and sending a Divine Beast Carriage... decades ago, when the Celestial Cyan Yuan Zhenren visited the sect, he was afforded the very same level of courtesy, and no more.

He hesitated for a long moment before asking, "Isn’t this... a bit excessive?"

Jiang Han shook his head. "Do as I say."

"Yes." The middle-aged Daoist said no more. He gave a respectful bow and hurried off.

Jiang Han picked up the visitation card from the desk again, reading it word by word. After a long while, he murmured to himself, "Dao Miaozhi... what sort of karmic destiny do you possess? To actually warrant Master to issue a decree summoning you for an audience."