Last year, when the Headmaster of the Academy ascended to the sky by the Sishui River, there was a heavy rain that lasted for dozens of days. On the night when the rain stopped and the clouds dispersed, a bright moon appeared and shone on the world.
No one had ever seen the moon. Only the "Ming" Handscroll of the Tomes of Arcane had made an obscure prophecy about this. After reading the "Ming" Handscroll, Buddha made a clear declaration in his notes.
Night falls and the moon appears, which meant that before the arrival of the Everlasting Night, a thing called the moon would appear in the world. With the silver light shining on it, how could the Everlasting Night be called night?
It was inevitable for human beings to panic about the unknown. However, human beings also had a very tough or sad characteristic. When they found that some things could not be changed, they would accept it in the shortest time possible, bear it silently, and soon get used to it.
When people found that the bright moon in the night sky seemed to not disappear, they quickly accepted its existence. The Imperial Astronomer began to observe the trajectory of the moon, trying to infer misfortune from it. Poets began to write many new poems to praise this beautiful bright moon, and some people even began to worship the Moon God.
Since the moon seemed to be so stable and full of solemn beauty like everything else in the world of Haotian, then let it continue to exist in the night sky. What did they need to worry about?
All these feelings were based on the premise that the moon was stable. In fact, it was stable. From the day it appeared, it had not changed at all. It was always full and bright. When the night came, it would always appear in the fixed night sky on time, and its position had not changed.
Everything would be different from tonight onwards.
The bright moon would become dark, as if the sky was sunny and cloudy. The full moon would become smaller, as if it was missing a piece. The face of the moon was changing quietly, and everyone on the ground could see it.
The sound of firecrackers rang through the world for more than ten nights. Sparks flew in countless towns and villages. People looked at the night sky in horror and kept beating gongs and drums, for fear that the moon would fall from the sky. They did not know whether these loud sounds were cheering for the moon or emboldening themselves.
People prayed to Haotian and worshiped the Moon God. Only Ning Que, who walked in the forest, did nothing. He looked at the moon silently every night, his face full of worry.
He had seen the waxing and waning of the moon countless times, so he was not as alarmed as the others. However, he did not understand why this moon would also waxing and waning. He was very worried that something had happened to his teacher, who was fighting in the sky. Are you hurt? Can you still hold on?
…
…
Ning Que arrived at the West-Hill Divine Kingdom. This was his second time coming here. The previous time, he had only followed his teacher around in the carriage and didn't have much of an impression of this place. Thus, he still felt a little strange.
Along the way, he did not see anything worthy of praise except for the devotees who kowtowed devoutly on the mountain path. Even the food here was much worse than that in Chang 'an and the Song Kingdom.
It was not until he came to a place not far from the West-Hill Divine Palace that he saw the towering green mountain, the three cliff plateaus between the mountains that seemed impossible to be carved by human hands, and the several towering Divine Halls between the cliffs. Only then did he truly feel the unique solemnity of this sacred country.
In the world of Haotian, Haotian Taoism had unimaginable authority and resources. The Zhishou Abbey was aloof from worldly affairs. The West-Hill Divine Palace was the political and power center of this world. Even if the Tang Kingdom had appeared in the past thousand years and the Academy had appeared in the south of Chang 'an, this fact could not be changed.
There was still a long time before the Rite to Light. The West-Hill Divine Palace had become extremely vigilant. Because of the war, the believers who held the road deeds of the Tang Kingdom and the Great River Kingdom were searched very carefully. Only after passing three checkpoints could they reach the foot of the mountain of the West-Hill Divine Palace.
Ning Que naturally did not hold the road deeds of the Tang Kingdom. He used the identity of the Song Kingdom. There were Fourth Brother and Sixth Brother in the back of the mountain of the Academy, and they were the best at forging all kinds of documents in the world. What really made him a little wary was the third checkpoint. To be more precise, it was the old priest who was resting on the bamboo chair with his eyes closed.
The old priest was wearing a brown robe. He should not have a high position in the Divine Hall, but even the red-robed priest who was in charge of the inspection showed great respect to him.
This old priest was responsible for finding cultivators who tried to sneak into the Divine Hall. If he did not have some special Taoist Law, he must have entered the Knowing destiny State to find all the cultivators.
Ning Que really could not imagine that Haotian Taoism could casually find a powerhouse in the Knowing destiny State to take charge of such an ordinary task after suffering such heavy losses in this war.
He looked at the towering Divine Hall in the distance and thought that it was indeed Haotian Taoism that had ruled the world for tens of thousands of years. No one knew how many great figures were hidden in this mountain.
As he thought of this, he just walked over. The old priest in brown who was lying on the chair did not respond at all. His eyes were still closed, and he seemed to be sleeping more soundly.
During the battle with the Abbey Dean in Chang 'an, the God-stunning Array poured a large amount of Qi of Heaven and Earth into Ning Que's body. At that time, his state was raised to the peak of the Knowing destiny State in a very short period of time. After the battle, the Qi of Heaven and Earth flowed out of his body and returned to the streets of the city. His state returned to the Knowing destiny State again, but now his real combat ability was much more than that. He was a real powerhouse who was close to the peak of the Knowing destiny State.
Most importantly, the Qi of Heaven and Earth in Chang 'an did not completely leave his body. After all, there was still a trace of it left in his body. For the thousand-year-old city, a trace was not enough to make a difference. But for a cultivator, the primordial Qi was unimaginably abundant.
When Ning Que had secluded himself in the precipice of the back mountain of the Academy, he had completely mastered the method of cultivating the Great Spirit. After being taught by Third Sister Yu Lian, he was even more adept at it. The remaining Qi of Heaven and Earth in his body was slowly turning into his own Great Spirit as time went by.
Now the water droplets condensed by the Great Spirit in Ning Que's lower abdomen had already become a pond. It seemed to be inexhaustible in battle. It was even easier to use it to cover his Snow Mountain and Ocean of Qi and disguise himself as an ordinary person who could not cultivate. Not to mention the old priest on the chair, even if the Hierarch of the West-Hill Divine Palace came in person, he might not be able to see anything wrong. That was why he dared to return to the mortal world alone and go straight to the West-Hill Divine Kingdom.
…
…
The imperial court of the Tang Empire and the Academy had made ample preparations for Ning Que's trip to the West-Hill. There could not be any problem with his identity. The letter in his arms was really written by the Abbey Dean of the Baiyun Taoist Temple in the Kingdom of Song.
The priest in charge of logistics in the Revelation Institute looked at Ning Que softly after reading the letter. He said, "Since it is a recommendation from my Senior Brother, it is not appropriate to reject it. You should work hard in the Book Hall, especially during this period. You must behave yourself and do not go out at will."
Ning Que thanked him and put the expensive gifts with the Kingdom of Song's characteristics in the corner of the room. He bowed to the priest and went to the Book Hall with the approval letter.
He was now a servant of the Revelation Institute, responsible for cleaning the Book Hall. The deacon in the Book Hall threw him a bunch of keys and said a few things to pay attention to. Then he ignored him.
The identity of a servant was hard to attract anyone's attention. When the other disciples of the Academy began to discuss, he chose this. He also wanted to stay in the Book Hall because it was where the Headmaster used to stay.
Many years ago, the Book Hall of Haotian Taoism played an important role on the Peach Mountain. But now it was no longer the same. It was even directly under the Divine Hall of Light and handed over to the Revelation Institute to manage.
Ning Que looked at the deserted Taoist Hall and the Classics on the bookshelves. He thought about the changes in the Book Hall and could not help but sigh about the decline of Haotian Taoism.
It was hard for the disciples of the Academy to imagine that the Book Hall was so deserted. If one did not want to study, he would naturally decline. How could a place where no one wanted to study not decline?
This Book Hall had produced many great figures. A thousand years ago, the Headmaster of Academy and the Great Divine Priest of Light who founded the Devil's Doctrine used to clean and sort books here. But what about now?
To sigh for Haotian Taoism was like worrying for the ancients. It was meaningless. He collected his thoughts and picked up a broom and a rag. After some simple cleaning, he began to read.
Ye Su had said that there were many Taoist Classics here and that he could spend some time reading. He liked reading and judging from the current situation, no one would disturb him.
Because of the war against the Tang Empire and the Rite to Light, some students of the Revelation Institute were in the Qinghe Kingdom, some were in the South Jin Kingdom, and most were busy on the Peach Mountain. Ning Que hid in the Book Hall and read for a few days. He did not meet a single person. He kept reading the books he needed.
Time passed slowly. Sometimes, he even felt that he had become a scholar. But that was not the case. When his eyes occasionally left the paper and looked at the Divine Hall on the mountain, it was very complicated.
…
…
Two girls stood in front of the Divine Hall of Light.
The two girls were still very young. They wore white clothes and their appearances were ordinary. However, those who saw them would find it hard to shift their gazes away, because they were extremely white. Every inch of their skin was exceptionally white, without a single blemish to be found. It was like snow, and their expressions were exceptionally pure like water.
In the distance, the deacons and priests of the Divine Hall who were busy looked at the two girls in white with curiosity and awe.
The two girls in white were selected from more than a hundred thousand girls in the West-Hill Divine Kingdom. According to the decree of the Hierarch Lord, they had the same status as the Saintess. Therefore, no matter how curious the people in the Divine Hall were about them or about the Divine Hall of Light, no one dared to ask.
The people in the Divine Hall rarely saw the two girls because they were always in the Divine Hall of Light. They rarely stepped out of the Divine Hall, which made them very mysterious.
But today, they stood outside the Divine Hall.
What were they waiting for?
On the mountain road at the foot of the Peach Mountain, smoke and dust suddenly rose. Several carriages were moving at an unimaginable speed toward the Divine Hall, as if they were charging.
The people in the Divine Hall were shocked. What happened?
Was the war going to start again?
…
…
(All kinds of good. Good chapter title, good plot, good pun. I like it. Hehehehe. Tomorrow's update will definitely be late at night. I don't know when the plane will arrive. I haven't bought the tickets yet.) (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian.Com to vote for me. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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