In Luo Jing, not far from the east side of the palace, there was a simple yet luxurious Taoist temple.
This was where the main altar of the Gui Zhen sect was located. Because the Xu family got their start from here, so after the country was established, it was built near the palace to show respect to the Gui Zhen sect.
But now the huge Taoist temple was empty. Clothes, tables, chairs, incense burners, ceremonial utensils, etc. were scattered on the ground. The doors of the courtyards and rooms, no matter if they were good or bad, or if they were upright, were all wide open. It was as if there had been a war. Plus it was very late at night, it was quite desolate, deserted and messy.
The emperor Xu Chenggao looked at the scene in front of him. The bitter smile on his face deepened. He said to the empress and the little eunuch who followed him, "I thought only those officials were spineless. They would follow whichever side is stronger. I didn't expect that the Gui Zhen sect is also like this. It's hard to see any loyal people."
"The strong wind knows the strong grass, the swaying board knows the loyal officials. Your majesty doesn't have to be so worried. There must be loyal people in our Da An dynasty." The little eunuch still had tears on his face.
There wasn't even a guard along the way. From the palace to the Gui Zhen sect, he saw the other palace maids and eunuchs running away. He actually calmed down slowly.
Xu Chenggao laughed, "You are really well-read. Hmm, you can accompany me and the empress all the way here. You can be considered a loyal person. Oh right, what is your name?" While talking, he and the empress supported each other and continued to walk towards the Patriarch Hall.
"My name is Wei Jing." The little eunuch supported the other side of Xu Chenggao and answered in a low voice.
The three of them passed through the courtyard and quickly arrived at the Patriarch Hall. When they saw the Patriarch Hall shining with lights and the quiet and solemn atmosphere, they couldn't help but hold their breath. They let go of the hands supporting each other and walked lightly and carefully into the hall.
Although the footsteps were soft, they caused a series of echoes in the incomparably quiet Ancestral Hall. So when Xu Chenggao, Empress Ruan Shi, and the little eunuch Wei Jing had just taken a few steps into the hall, they felt three pairs of eyes looking at them with some surprise.
It turned out that there were two men and one woman dressed in yellow, quietly and devoutly kneeling in front of the Patriarch statue. They only woke up when Xu Chenggao and the others came in and broke the silence.
"I Zhou Wei greets Your Majesty." Among them, the thirty-something-year-old yellow-robed cultivator had seen Xu Chenggao when he visited the Ancestral Master Hall every year, so he got up and cupped his hands.
"This humble Daoist, Wan Xue, greets Your Majesty." "This humble Daoist, Xu Hongda, greets Your Majesty." The other two cultivators in their twenties naturally followed Zhou Wei and bowed.
Xu Chenggao was startled, he didn't expect there to still disciples of the Patriarch Hall. He was stunned. He didn't expect that there to be disciples left.
"I can only Wan and Junior Brother Xu, but I Sect's Patriarch." I, I, Patriarch of the sect, Patriarch. I, I, Zhen, I Sect. I, I, Sect, I, Sect, I, I, I, I, I Sect, I, I, but I sect, I, I, but, I, I, I, I. Junior Junior, I, but, I of., I, and I, I, I, I, they,., I., I, I, I, I,., and I, I, I, I, I,, I Sect, I,, I, I Zhen., I,.,.,
Wan Xue and Xu Hongda said at the same time, "I, Wan Xue and Xu Hongda, am not the kind of person who would run away in the face of danger."
After a pause, Xu Hongda said, "Although I am a distant relative of the royal family, my family died a long time ago. It was the sect that raised me. How can I run away now?"
Wan Xue nodded. "I, too, grew up in the sect. The world is so big, I can only feel at ease here. Moreover, there are some brothers who left to carry on the sect's legacy. I, too, am not missing."
Xu Chenggao laughed. "Good, good, good. With loyal disciples like you, the Sect of Guizhen will definitely rise again in the future." Xu Chenggao's eyes became moist and he was very emotional to be able to see such loyal people at the end of the road.
"May I know why Your Majesty is here?" Zhou Wei asked Xu Chenggao.
Xu Chenggao thought of himself and smiled. "The ministers and generals are all waiting for the army of the Sect of Dongyuan to come and surrender. I have to come to the Ancestral Hall to see if I can ask the Ancestral Masters to show themselves and help us get through this."
Ask not the common people, ask the ghosts and gods. For some reason, this sentence appeared in Xu Hongda's mind. But in the blink of an eye, he felt relieved. This crisis was not caused by the common people, but by the ghosts and gods. It was understandable to ask for the Ancestral Masters. However, the Sect of Guizhen had been established for more than three hundred years. The only time the Ancestral Master Shi appeared in Luojing was 260-270 years ago. After that, there was no news of him. It was almost impossible for him to show himself.
Zhou Wei, Wan Xue, and Xu Hongda were not like Xu Chenggao, who was only at the Body Refining Stage. They had already started to practice the visualization method of the Scripture of Returning Truth and were familiar with all kinds of Daoist scriptures. They knew that the so-called Ascension was only advancing to the Qi Gathering Stage. There were many other stages above that. Only then could one achieve immortality and achieve the Primordial Spirit to become a real celestial being.
Moreover, even if the Ancestral Masters were still alive, they were practicing the orthodox Daoism and not the Shinto Path. They could not respond to other people's prayers. How could there be such a coincidence?
But at this time, they did not want to destroy Xu Chenggao's last hope. They stepped aside and gestured for Xu Chenggao to kneel in front of the Ancestral Masters and beg, "Your Majesty, please."
Xu Chenggao straightened his clothes and walked in front of the Ancestral Masters. There were three lifelike statues on the stage. The one in the middle was an old man with white hair and white eyebrows. He wore a black robe and held a horsetail whisk in his hand. On the left was a young man in his twenties. He wore a green robe and a crown. His face was ordinary, but he exuded an aura of elegance. He stood on a green lightning. On the right was a young lady with a solemn and holy aura. She wore a red robe and had a gentle smile on her face.
After lighting nine joss sticks, Xu Chenggao kowtowed nine times and inserted the joss sticks into the incense burner. He then knelt in front of the Ancestral Masters. He kowtowed and prayed, "Ancestral Master Xu Chengye, Ancestral Master Shi Xuan Shi, Ancestral Master Xu Jinyi, descendant Disciple Xu Chenggao sincerely prays. Currently, the evil cultivators are attacking our cities and territories. The country is declining and on the verge of collapse. If the evil cultivators succeed, the Da An Dynasty will no longer exist and the Gui Zhen Sect will not survive. The orthodoxy will be severed. Please show yourself and save the Da An Dynasty and the Gui Zhen Sect from this disaster."
Xu Chenggao knew that the survival of a dynasty in the eyes of immortals like the Ancestral Masters was a normal thing. They would not come down to the mortal world because of this. Only when the Gui Zhen Sect involved the orthodoxy of the Ancestral Masters would the Ancestral Masters show themselves. Therefore, he focused on the evil cultivators and orthodoxy.
A gust of wind blew, causing the smoke in the incense burner and the burning joss sticks to sway for a while. Unfortunately, nothing happened after that.
Although Xu Chenggao had fantasized about the miracle of the Ancestral Masters appearing as soon as he prayed, he also knew that this possibility was very small. Therefore, after a little disappointment, he continued to kowtow and said, "Please show yourself and save the Da An Dynasty and the Gui Zhen Sect from this disaster."
He knew that the most likely one to show himself was the Ancestral Master Shi Xuan Shi. After all, he had shown himself once. However, at this time, he could not completely forget the possibility of the other two Ancestral Masters showing themselves. Therefore, he did not specifically refer to any Ancestral Masters.
Thump, thump, thump. Xu Chenggao's head hit the praying mat. After a while, his head was already red and swollen. However, Xu Chenggao did not care and continued to kowtow, "Please show yourself and save the Da An Dynasty and the Gui Zhen Sect from this disaster."
The Ancestral Masters still did not respond.
Xu Chenggao's forehead was already broken. Blood flowed out and dyed the praying mat scarlet. He gritted his teeth and did not stop kowtowing and begging, "Please show yourself and save the Da An Dynasty and the Gui Zhen Sect from this disaster." There was only one thought in his mind. Even if he had to die here, he would not give up. Therefore, he gradually called the Ancestral Master Shi.
Seeing this bloody and miserable scene, the Empress Ruan Shi and the little eunuch Wei Jing held back their tears and covered their mouths. They also knelt down and kowtowed behind Xu Chenggao. However, in front of them was not a praying mat, but a green brick.
"Please show yourself and save the Da An Dynasty and the Gui Zhen Sect from this disaster." Their voices gradually overlapped with Xu Chenggao's voice.
Affected by this pious scene, Zhou Wei, Wan Xue and Xu Hongda looked at each other and walked to the side of the Empress Ruan Shi. They also knelt down and kowtowed and begged, "Please show yourself and save the Da An Dynasty and the Gui Zhen Sect from this disaster."
In the dead of the night, this voice echoed in the Hall of the Ancestral Masters. It was like flowing water.
…
On the second floor of Tianya Haijiao, Shi Xuan was sitting cross-legged. The blood-red lines on his body were faintly discernible. One time they went deep into his body, the other time they came out of his skin.
After more than thirty years of slowly assimilating the blood, it was now the crucial moment for Shi Xuan's two bodies to merge into one.
Shi Xuan silently used a secret method. His body emitted a pure and fresh light that carried vitality. With the rise and fall of the red lines, Shi Xuan's face seemed to be constantly changing between two faces and one face.
When the red lines went deep into his body, Shi Xuan's face and body were no different. But when the red lines came out of his skin, another face appeared on Shi Xuan's face and his body became four arms.
Suddenly, countless talisman characters appeared on Shi Shuan's body. One character appeared on each of the red lines. Then, there was a burst of bright light, and Shi Shuan seemed to be wrapped in a dense cocoon of bright light.
After a while, a purple light broke out of the cocoon. Then, the light dimmed and gradually disappeared.
The purple light landed on the ground and revealed Shi Xuan's figure. Shi Xuan looked relaxed and happy as he checked his body. Now, his body was full of power. It was even stronger than an Orifice Refinement Grandmaster who cultivated his body. Even if a first-level Taoist technique hit him, it would not be able to hurt his body at all.
Before Shi Xuan passed the Heavenly Tribulation, there was no need to worry about the problem of his body. Therefore, Shi Xuan walked leisurely back to the cattail hassock. He sat down and closed his eyes to rest. But at this moment, Shi Xuan felt that someone was calling him.
'This feeling, it should be someone praying devoutly in front of my statue with his real name?' Shi Xuan thought.
Normally, only the Jinxian Daoist could sense his name when someone thought of it. Ordinary practitioners of the Divine Path could at most sense the prayers of their own devout believers.
The Yang God Immortal, who had passed the first Heavenly Tribulation and could feel his name, could not sense it when others called his name. After all, he was not a practitioner of the Divine Path. Only by praying devoutly for a long time could he arouse a weak Sudden Inspiration.
But now, Shi Xuan indirectly had this Sudden Inspiration through the Primordial Eight Trigrams and the Tai Chi Diagram.
