Chapter 44 - 30: Daoist Huang He’s Gift

Chapter 44: Chapter 30: Daoist Huang He’s Gift

Inside the grand hall of Yellow Crane Temple.

A young Cultivator draped in a sandy-yellow cloak sat in the seat of honor.

The Temple Master and Yang knelt before him.

The young Cultivator looked to be only in his early thirties, but in reality, his age was far greater than the Temple Master and Yang combined. As the only Daoist in Yellow Crane Temple, even the Temple Master’s master had to call him Martial Uncle.

"So, during the years of my secluded cultivation, you secretly built a Spirit Refining Array on the Spiritual Eye of Xuanzhen Peak to steal their Spirit Charm," Daoist Huang He said, shaking his head. He held a cup of clear tea and looked down at the two kneeling on the floor. "I had no idea Yellow Crane Temple was so desperate for Spirit Charm."

The Temple Master raised a sleeve to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead. "Well... Old Ancestor, although the temple isn’t in desperate need of Spirit Charm, its wondrous uses are endless. Naturally, the more, the better..."

"Heh, Gao, oh Gao. You aren’t stupid, at least. You know that the more Spirit Charm, the better," Daoist Huang He said with a chuckle.

The Temple Master naturally could tell the Old Ancestor wasn’t praising him. Fresh cold sweat immediately beaded on his recently wiped forehead.

"Let me ask you, why didn’t you report such a major matter as stealing another Daoist Temple’s Spirit Charm to me first?" Daoist Huang He slowly rotated the teacup in his hand, a yellow halo flashing fleetingly in his eyes. "Before my seclusion, I should have told you that you could decide on trivial matters yourselves without bothering me. However, if there were major issues, you were still to consult with me, and I would naturally end my seclusion.

"Gao, oh Gao, when I entered seclusion, the Temple Master was still your master. What? Did you think my instructions before seclusion were only meant for his ears?

"He passed away in meditation, and you inherited the Temple Master position, so you don’t need to abide by the instructions I gave your master. Is that what you thought?"

The Temple Master’s face turned the color of ash. He hurriedly shook his head. "No, no, no! Your grand-disciple absolutely did not mean that! I simply felt such a trivial matter was not worthy of disturbing the Old Ancestor’s peaceful cultivation..."

"Stealing another Daoist Temple’s Spirit Charm is a trivial matter?!" Daoist Huang He downed the clear tea in his cup in one gulp and lightly slammed it onto the table.

The soft CLACK of the porcelain cup hitting the wooden table sounded like a thunderclap in the Temple Master’s ears, leaving his head spinning and his mind buzzing.

The Temple Master instinctively circulated his Cultivation Technique to resist the pressure and pleaded, "Old Ancestor, please understand! At that time, Xuanzhen Temple only had White Rainbow Daoist, whose Cultivation was completely crippled, and a... a wet-behind-the-ears young Cultivator left.

"Back then, although Xuanzhen Temple was a Daoist Temple, it was far inferior to even the minor sects formed by Loose Cultivators huddling together for warmth. Naturally, they didn’t deserve to alarm you."

Daoist Huang He laughed. "Then how did you get beaten so miserably? Even Huang was captured?"

"This..." The Temple Master lowered his head in shame. "Your grand-disciple truly did not expect that in just a short decade or so, that brat from Xuanzhen Temple would become a Cultivator with such profound Cultivation."

"Listening to you, even now, you still think there was nothing fundamentally wrong with stealing Xuanzhen Temple’s Spirit Charm, do you?" Daoist Huang He shook his head.

"Old Ancestor, please understand. Not a single thread of the Spirit Charm your grand-disciple took from Xuanzhen Temple was used for personal gain. It was all for our Daoist Temple!" the Temple Master cried.

"I didn’t say you used it for personal gain. I asked if you think you were not in the wrong for stealing the Spirit Charm?" Daoist Huang He pressed.

The Temple Master lowered his head in silence.

SMASH! A porcelain cup struck the Temple Master’s forehead, knocking him to the floor with half his head buried in the floorboards.

"I have lived my entire life with an open and upright heart. How did I end up with such shameless grand-disciples like you!" Having thrown the teacup, Daoist Huang He stood up from his chair and pointed at the Temple Master, whose head was lodged in the ground, and scolded him.

The Temple Master, his entire face smashed into the floor, remained silent for a long time. It was unclear whether he didn’t dare to speak or if the blow had knocked him senseless.

Kneeling not far away, Yang pressed his forehead to the floor. His eyes were shut tight, and he trembled uncontrollably, praying the Old Ancestor wouldn’t deign to notice him.

It wasn’t until Daoist Huang He sat back down in his chair that a muffled voice came from the Temple Master, whose face was still buried in the floor.

"Xuanzhen Temple’s Spirit Vein ranks in the top five within the Zhengyang Dharma Vein. Their abundant Spirit Charm far exceeds that of Yellow Crane Temple.

"Despite having so much Spirit Charm, they only have two Cultivators and lack a Spirit Refining Array. They couldn’t possibly use even a fraction of it. It’s like two Xiaoyu occupying a vast lake; it’s inherently a waste..."

"Oh, I understand now!" Daoist Huang He wore a look of sudden realization. "You mean, since they can’t use it all themselves anyway, rather than letting it go to waste, we might as well take it. This is what they call, ’The Dao of Heaven reduces the surplus to make up for the deficiency’!"

"The Old Ancestor is wise!" the Temple Master said.

"Wise, my ass!" Another teapot flew over, completely smashing the Temple Master’s head into the floorboards.

"So you knew they couldn’t possibly use that much Spirit Charm?" Daoist Huang He raged. "If you knew, why didn’t you go buy it from them? Is our Yellow Crane Temple short on a few coins?"

The Temple Master fell silent. In their eyes at the time, Xuanzhen Temple was nothing but meat on the chopping block. Who would want to give them money for nothing?

"You people are both wicked and stupid." Daoist Huang He shook his head repeatedly. "For so many years, you have only known how to cultivate the Dao, but not your virtue. It’s truly a waste to call yourselves Orthodox Dao."

The Temple Master finally couldn’t help but speak up. "Old Ancestor, it is precisely because you are too virtuous that our Yellow Crane Temple always misses out on opportunities to rise in power."

"Oh, wonderful! Now you’re lecturing me!"

Daoist Huang He’s brows shot up. He didn’t even refer to himself with the majestic ’I’ anymore. He raised his hand and released a yellow crane that picked up the Temple Master in its beak. It transformed into a streak of light, shot out of the hall, and danced wildly in the sky above the hall at a speed undetectable to Yang’s naked eye.

A moment later, the streak of light returned to the hall with the Temple Master in its beak and tossed him onto the ground.

The Temple Master’s grizzled hair and beard were a mess. His face was deathly pale, and his eyes were hollow.

"Hmph! Your head is full of thoughts on how to bully the weak, kick people when they’re down, and loot a burning house." Daoist Huang He wore a look of utter disappointment, as if looking at a hopelessly unteachable child. "You don’t even think about how many of the extinct Dao Lineages in the world perished due to insatiable greed.

"Disaster and fortune have no doors; they are only brought upon by oneself. Such a simple principle, yet so many people just can’t comprehend it!

"Let’s not talk about other things, just this incident alone. For that tiny bit of Spirit Charm, you offended an unparalleled genius who managed to capture Huang while barely in his early twenties. Do you know how massive a mess this is?"

"Twenty-three years old, and he captured the Vice Temple Master of our Yellow Crane Temple!" Daoist Huang He shook his head and sighed. "Such a genius doesn’t appear in every generation, even within our Dharma Vein.

"Perhaps in another eight or ten years, even I will have to address that brat as a Fellow Daoist."

The Temple Master lowered his head in shame, not daring to talk back again.

Speaking of this, Daoist Huang He’s face was filled with jealousy. "What’s going on with Xuanzhen Temple? Before that incident happened, as one of the top three Daoist Temples under the Zhengyang Dharma Vein, it was somewhat reasonable for them to produce a Sword Immortal seed like Bai Hong.

"But they’re on the verge of collapsing now, so how did they still manage to produce a genius rare even within the Dharma Vein?

"Why do all the geniuses run to their Xuanzhen Temple? Why can’t our Yellow Crane Temple snag even one?"

Daoist Huang He scratched his head vigorously, growing more annoyed the more he thought about it.

"You!" He pointed at Yang.

Yang shuddered all over.

"In a bit, accompany this worthless Martial Uncle of yours, bring enough talismanic coins, and go ransom those embarrassing fools back for me. Also, try your best to buy back their Magical Artifacts, if they can be bought.

"Remember, no forced buying or selling... Never mind, you don’t even have the capability to do that anyway." Daoist Huang He shook his head.

"Old Ancestor!" The Temple Master widened his eyes. "Do we really have to yield and pay that brat?"

"What else? When you offend someone, you either resolve the grudge or pull out the roots to eliminate future troubles." Daoist Huang He threw his hands up. "If you have the capability to pull out the roots, then go ahead. I won’t stop you. Go on."

"Your grand-disciple is incompetent," the Temple Master said, still not giving up, "but if you were to personally make a move, Old Ancestor..."

Daoist Huang He looked at the Temple Master as if looking at a pig. "If we only teach him a lesson without killing him, we will gain a formidable Daoist enemy in the future. And if we kill him...

"The Daoist of Yellow Crane Temple personally made a move and strangled a young genius within the Zhengyang Dharma Vein who would very likely become a Daoist before the age of forty." Daoist Huang He’s mouth twitched. "If Jade Altar Temple spreads the word about this, just wait for the Dharma Vein to come and plow Yellow Crane Temple into the ground!"

"This..." The Temple Master had no choice but to lower his head.

"Furthermore, that girl Bai Hong is said to have her Cultivation completely crippled, but in reality, it should just be her meridians collapsing and her Sea of Consciousness sinking. Therefore, she possesses Cultivation but cannot utilize it.

"However, if she forsakes her life and fights to the death, she could probably temporarily recover seventy or eighty percent of her combat prowess." Daoist Huang He chuckled. "Otherwise, why do you think so few people have gone to run wild at Xuanzhen Temple over the years? Because they’re as kind-hearted as I am?

"A Daoist, a Sword Cultivator... if she puts her life on the line... tsk, tsk, tsk... taking two or three Fellow Daoists down with her wouldn’t be an impossible feat."

The Temple Master had nothing to say.

"Enough, go. You have until nightfall to clean up your own mess," Daoist Huang He said, waving his hand.

"Your grand-disciple takes his leave." The Temple Master stood up.

"Wait. Aside from the talismanic coins that must be paid, bring a small gift for that boy on my behalf. Consider it forging a good karmic connection."

Daoist Huang He tossed his hand, and a pale yellow bird egg, two sizes larger than a fist, landed in the Temple Master’s hands.

The Temple Master’s hands trembled, his face full of disbelief. "This is... this is from your pair of Yellow Spirit Cranes..."

"This won’t do, Old Ancestor!" The Temple Master fell to his knees, cradling the egg. "The Yellow Spirit Cranes are Spirit Beasts, they are the foundation of our Yellow Crane Temple! Not a single Crane Egg can be allowed to flow outside..."

"It won’t hatch. It’s a sterile egg where Yin and Yang failed to harmonize. Otherwise, could I bear to give it away?" Daoist Huang He waved his hand dismissively. "I’m not giving it to him as a Spirit Pet. It’s meant to be eaten."

"Eaten?" The Temple Master’s eyes widened.

"That’s right, for eating," Daoist Huang He explained. "The Yellow Spirit Cranes are Spirit Beasts. Although this sterile egg cannot hatch, it still contains a great deal of pure Primordial Energy.

"Eating it won’t increase one’s Cultivation, but it can bolster Primordial Energy and strengthen one’s foundation, surpassing even Miracle Elixirs.

"I reckon that since the boy has such powerful Cultivation at a young age, he must have pursued aggressive and rapid advancement during his training, leaving his foundation somewhat unstable. This Crane Egg is exactly what he needs to nourish it."

"Giving such a treasure to that brat, isn’t it a waste? Why doesn’t the Old Ancestor bestow it upon a junior in our temple?" The Temple Master was still reluctant to part with it.

"I wanted to reward it to an outstanding junior in the temple, too, but as for all of you... not a single one satisfies me." Daoist Huang He shook his head and sighed. "Tell me, who exactly is this ’outstanding junior’ you speak of? Where are they?"

The Temple Master of Yellow Crane Temple glanced behind him at his subservient, trembling junior surnamed Yang, and fell into silence.