https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-247-246-Elder-Lei-Chongyun-the-High-Achiever-Part-2-/12587074/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-248-247-Becoming-a-Mentor-Today-Part-2-/12587076/
Chapter 248: 247. Becoming a Mentor Today! (Part 1)
Chapter 248: 247. Becoming a Mentor Today! (Part 1)
As Lei Jun received the congratulations of his fellow sect members, within the Wanfa Zongtan, a pillar of light soared into the clouds, condensing the essence of the Dao and manifesting the images of the ancestral masters of the Daoist Sect throughout the ages.
"Lei Zhongyun, disciple of the TianShi Fu, is now bestowed with the 'Shangqing Sandong Jinglu', holding the position of observing the Yin and Yang truths and wielding the divine Jade Pivot. I approach this task with utmost reverence and solemnity, offering my sincere respects."
Lei Jun first offered a solemn prayer to heaven and earth, paying homage to the ancestral masters of the past, and then bowed to the current TianShi, Tang Xiaotang.
Turning to face his fellow sect members who were offering their congratulations outside the Zongtan, he returned half of their bows according to the ritual etiquette.
Later, Lei Jun would accompany TianShi Tang Xiaotang to the ancestral mausoleum in the rear mountains, a forbidden area, to once again offer sacrifices and pay respects to the spirits of the ancestral masters.
Before that, he sat cross-legged within the Wanfa Zongtan, his eyes closed as he silently focused his spirit and contemplated.
Countless Daoist symbols and essences swirled around Lei Jun like mist within the Zongtan.
The Three Caves and Five Thunder Registers obtained from his fourth bestowal of registers shone with brilliance, gradually merging with him.
At the same time, within the Wanfa Zongtan, Lei Jun's mind began to slowly unravel the profound mysteries of the Daoist scriptures.
These were the true and fundamental classics of the Longhu Mountain TianShi Fu, the "Zhengfa Zhiyi Daojing," Volume Six.
Only those at the Seventh Heaven of the Fulu School were qualified to delve into its secrets.
Within the Zongtan, Lei Jun calmed his mind and cultivated. His participation in the New Year ceremony had come to an end, and all that was left was for him to pay respects at the ancestral mausoleum after leaving the Wanfa Zongtan.
Outside the Zongtan, the other elders and disciples, having completed the current ritual, continued with the rest of the New Year ceremony under the guidance of TianShi Tang Xiaotang.
However, many of their thoughts remained with Elder Lei.
"In the end, Lei Shidi took a step ahead of us..." Lin Shan, who had not returned to the mountain for a long time, looked back at the direction of the Wanfa Zongtan with a sense of emotion.
He had spent most of his time in recent years teaching at the Academy in the capital, only occasionally returning to Longhu Mountain.
While teaching at the Academy, Lin Shan also took the opportunity to socialize with the aristocrats of the capital.
Among them were individuals who intended to send their children or grandchildren to Longhu Mountain to embark on the Daoist path, requesting Lin Shan to make the necessary arrangements and look after them.
There were some exceptional young people among them, and after a few years of studying at the Daoist academy in Longhu Mountain, they successfully obtained the qualifications for initiation and would participate in the upcoming initiation ceremony at the beginning of the new year.
According to the customary rules, Lin Shan would be their initiation master.
Therefore, before the New Year ceremony this year, Lin Shan specifically returned to the mountain gate courtyard, on the one hand to visit his fellow sect members, and on the other hand to accept disciples himself, planning to return to the capital after the initiation ceremony on the fifteenth of the first month.
Due to the aftermath of the Jiangzhou and Youzhou incidents, Shangguan Ning had been coordinating and communicating with the Tang imperial family, and would be staying in the capital during the New Year.
Thus, as her first disciple, Lin Shan was hosting Shangguan Hong and their fellow disciples who shared the same master.
He had also happened to witness Lei Jun's fourth bestowal of registers and his appointment to a high position.
Lin Shan had long known of Lei Jun's excellence, and although he may have had some competitive thoughts initially, as Lei Jun reached the Six Heavens Dao Seal realm after only a dozen years of cultivation, catching up to Lin Shan's own decades of hard work, those competitive thoughts had faded away.
Even though their cultivation realms were the same, they were not on the same level.
Lin Shan had no doubt that Lei Jun would be able to smoothly overcome the tribulation between the Six Heavens and Seven Heavens and achieve the Upper Three Heavens realm.
He had just thought that it would take a few more years.
According to expectations, Zhang Jingzhen should have taken that step before Lei Jun.
But unexpectedly, Lei Jun was faster.
"Elder Lei is indeed a talent blessed by the heavens, just like TianShi and Elder Xu. Even without considering the future, his achievements are already enough to leave a profound mark in the history books," Shangguan Hong said softly.
As one of the disciples who entered the sect at the same time as Lei Jun, he felt this more deeply than others.
Having formally entered the sect for nearly two decades, Shangguan Hong, after the last bestowal of registers ceremony, now wore a deep red Daoist robe, signifying his status as one of the initiated disciples of Longhu Mountain. With a cultivation base at the Three Heavens Law Forum realm of the Fulu School, he was striving to break through to the Middle Three Heavens.
He was still relatively young, not yet forty, and had ample time.
As long as he could reach the Four Heavens Primordial Symbol realm before the age of fifty, he would be able to extend his lifespan and prolong his golden period of cultivation.
However, Lei Jun, who entered the sect at the same time as him, was already in a completely different situation.
While Shangguan Hong was striving to break through to the Middle Three Heavens within fifty years, Lei Jun had already... reached the Upper Three Heavens realm before the age of fifty.
Granted an extended lifespan of eight hundred years and appointed to a high position.
Whether looking at contemporaries or throughout history, he was an astonishing talent.
Moreover, Lei Jun had just established a great merit by assisting TianShi Tang Xiaotang in conquering the ancestral land of the Lin Clan, the longtime rival of Longhu Mountain in Jiangzhou.
The news had already spread—Lei Jun, who had just entered the Seven Heavens, had successfully killed Lin Chi, the Upper Three Heavens grand elder of the Lin Clan.
Everyone knew that Lei Jun was extraordinarily talented, but as he rarely showed his strength, he had seemed somewhat unreal.
However, by killing Lin Chi in the Jiangzhou battle, he had instantly solidified his image in the minds of the people.
Longhu Mountain had truly produced another monstrous genius!
"Our sect has endured internal strife and external disasters in recent years, and though it has been difficult, it has also united us and brought about a resurgence. It's exhilarating, but we must not become complacent," Lin Shan said with emotion. "Although Jiangzhou has fallen, there are still those with ulterior motives lurking outside."
Shangguan Hong nodded, "Shixiong's words are true."
He glanced at Lin Shan and lowered his voice further, "Shixiong, have you heard any news in the capital?"
Lin Shan also lowered his voice, but his tone remained calm, "After Master broke through to the Nine Heavens realm, and with Huang Laozhenren of Chunyang Palace, our Daoist Sect now has two Great Vehicle Golden Immortals. This is a good thing for the court, but... it may also arouse some suspicions from old friends."
Shangguan Hong raised his eyes to the sky above, "Your Majesty?"
Lin Shan replied, "His Majesty is wise and does not suspect our sect."
Shangguan Hong fell silent for a moment. If it wasn't the Empress, then it had to be the other imperial family members or nobles. The Shangguan clan would bear the brunt of it! He had heard rumors about some changes within the Shangguan family in recent years. Hearing Lin Shan mention it now, Shangguan Hong's heart grew heavy.
"Some of the imperial family members are uneasy," Lin Shan continued in a soft voice, "but the main reason is not because of Master Sister attaining the Ninth Heaven realm. It's because of the method Master Sister and the Sect Leader used to conquer the ancestral lands of the Lin Clan in Youzhou and Jiangzhou."
The Zhang and Tang clans were mostly pleased to see the Five Surnames and Seven Hopes suppressed, although the glorious victories achieved by the Tian Shi Fu far exceeded their expectations.
However, there was a small problem.
Within the Zhang and Tang clans, there were also a large number of cultivators who practiced Confucian methods.
While they were certainly at odds with the Five Surnames and Seven Hopes, the use of extreme methods like "barbarian" and the "Confucian Lock" also made them wary.
It was true that Xu Yuanzhen's breakthrough to the Ninth Heaven, becoming one of the top experts in the Great Tang Dynasty, had made her highly prominent.
But what concerned some of the imperial family members even more was that the Tian Shi Fu, which everyone believed had fallen from grace and was slowly recuperating, suddenly rose to prominence, not only crippling the Lin Clan in Jiangzhou but also causing the Lin Clan in Youzhou to lose face.
This was not something that a single Ninth Heaven expert could easily accomplish.
Otherwise, Wei Ancheng, the leader of the Blood River Sect, would not have fled to the southern wilderness in defeat.
The Lin Clan in Youzhou and Jiangzhou had been established by two different branches of the clan, each with their own long-standing foundations, numerous experts, and a large number of ceremonial instruments and artifacts, as well as their own heirloom treasures like the Frost Sword and the Dragon-Snake Brush.
The difficulty of a head-on clash between the two sides was completely different from one side forcefully attacking the other's long-standing foundations.
Yet, within a single day, both Youzhou and Jiangzhou had been conquered.
Not counting the casualties from the previous battle in Beijiang Daheshan, just looking at the battle in Jiangzhou, including the clan leader Lin Che and the Eighth Heaven realm elder Lin Chou, a total of seven Lin Clan cultivators at the Upper Three Heavens realm had perished in this battle.
The number of injured and dead was countless.
Moreover, they had lost their clan's heirloom treasure, the Dragon-Snake Brush!
Only four Upper Three Heavens elders, including Lin Yuwei, had managed to escape.
However, with their lineage and treasures destroyed, the accumulation of their ancestral land over the years was ruined in an instant. Even with Lin Yuwei's efforts to maintain stability, the Southern Lin Clan had lost half their strength.
The fact that the Tian Shi Fu achieved such a feat without Xu Yuanzhen participating in the battle at Jiangzhou was indeed eye-catching.
"Shixiong, it is true that I am from the Shangguan clan, and I do have some contact with my family from time to time, as my father and mother are still there," Shangguan Hong said after a brief silence. "But just like Master, since I have been initiated into the Daoist path, I am a disciple of the Tian Shi Fu. My greatest wish is to be a bridge between the court and the sect."
Lin Shan said, "I understand your intentions, Shidi, and I trust you. A bridge between the two sides is indeed very important, but... when such a bridge is fragile, it may be dangerous."
Shangguan Hong nodded silently.
He suddenly looked up into the distance.
Standing there was another person.
Fang Jian, a true disciple of the Tian Shi Fu and a descendant of the Jingxiang Fang clan.
"Shixiong Fang has a firm and calm mind, and I am far inferior to him," Shangguan Hong sighed.
Lin Shan looked at Fang Jian in the distance and couldn't help but feel emotional as well.
Regardless of the Shangguan clan's true intentions and whether they were secretly plotting something, at least for now, they were all in the same boat with the court.
As for the Jingxiang Fang clan, they were now on the opposite side.
The once amicable relationship between the Fang clan and the Tian Shi Fu had officially come to an end, creating an awkward situation for Fang Jian, who had once been quite close to the Li family and worked hard to promote deeper cooperation between the Tian Shi Fu and the Jingxiang Fang clan.
However, he seemed to have made his decision early on.
The Jingxiang Fang clan seemed to have already given up on him.
The suspicious and even wary gazes and words had been going on for a long time.
But Fang Jian seemed unaffected, remaining as calm as ever, cultivating silently, accepting his assigned duties, and performing them diligently.
In fact, Fang Jian was indeed quite calm at the moment.
He had struggled with the related decisions and doubts for many sleepless nights, but once he had made up his mind and clarified his self-identity, he felt relieved.
Just as he had remained calm when watching Lei Jun enter the Wanfa Zongtan, Fang Jian was equally composed now.
His emotions had fluctuated when he heard that Lei Jun had attained the Upper Three Heavens realm, but after the storm came peace.
As for psychological disparity...
Twenty years ago, when Lei Jun had first entered the sect, Fang Jian was a personal disciple of the previous Tian Shi, Li Qingfeng.
But six or seven years ago, he had become a disciple receiving the registers while Lei Jun had already become an elder of the sect.
The disparity had already existed back then.
Now, witnessing Lei Jun attain the Upper Three Heavens realm and become a high-achieving elder, Fang Jian felt more joy for the recovery of the Tian Shi Fu than sadness about the gap between them.
If anything, he even had the heart to consider his fellow senior disciple, Zhang Jingzhen.
The two of them had gone through their fair share of difficulties...
Compared to Fang Jian, Zhang Jingzhen, who had been preparing for the tribulation between the Sixth and Seventh Heaven realms over the years, would need to adjust her mentality and stabilize her state of mind if she were to witness her junior disciple, Lei Jun, surpassing her.
Fang Jian even felt relieved that Zhang Jingzhen had been in closed-door cultivation and cut off from the outside world for the past few years...
The spectators all had different thoughts and emotions.
Within the Wanfa Zongtan, Lei Jun was fully focused and immersed in his cultivation.
He quietly contemplated the mysteries of the sixth volume of the Zhengfa Zhiyi Daojing, a volume that was not transcribed onto paper, but rather comprehended through individual interpretation.
With his heightened enlightenment, Lei Jun swiftly absorbed the myriad of Daoist symbols and essences swirling around him, incorporating them into his being.
After completing this process, he finally rose to his feet and once again offered sacrifices to the heavens, the earth, nature, and the spirits of the ancestral masters.
In addition to the Daoist scriptures, one was also supposed to be imparted with divine abilities and talismans.
However, Lei Jun had already gained fame throughout the world for his mastery of the Life Fate Talisman through his own efforts.
As the Heaven Master Seal was temporarily kept a secret, the official narrative was that he had learned it from Yuan Mobai.
According to the rituals and regulations of the Fu, Lei Jun learning the Life Fate Talisman first was somewhat out of order.
However, considering the previous decisive battle against their arch-nemesis, the Lin Clan of Jiangzhou, no one brought up this discrepancy.
As Lei Jun left the Wanfa Zongtan, the New Year ceremony outside had already concluded.
He joined Tang Xiaotang, the current TianShi, and together, they headed towards the forbidden area of the ancestral mausoleum in the rear mountains to once again offer sacrifices and pay their respects to the spirits of the ancestral masters.
Although it was not publicized, Lei Jun had separated his spirit from the Heaven Master Seal, causing it to shine once more. Thus, during this ceremony, he would not miss the opportunity to pay homage to the ancestral masters.
At this moment, the spirit tablets of the ancestral masters within the mausoleum began to glow faintly before the light gradually faded away.
"Later, there will be an initiation ceremony. This time, you will officially open a mountain and accept disciples. Although the disciples are already prepared, you still need to make the necessary preparations."
After leaving the forbidden area of the ancestral mausoleum in the rear mountains, a certain TianShi spoke with a cheerful tone, her words carrying a sense of weight and sincerity, resembling a respected elder.
However, Lei Jun didn't need to look at her expression to know that this playful junior sister was clearly looking forward to the show.
"Junior Sister, what about you? Do you have any plans to take on disciples?"
Lei Jun asked in return, "At present, our sect can be said to be without a TianShi's personal disciple. Although there are precedents in history, such a situation is not meant to last too long."
Tang Xiaotang waved her hand dismissively, "Not yet. This trip has been rushed, and I haven't had the chance to look around properly. Next time I descend the mountain, I'll search thoroughly."
Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she continued, "I've never taken on a disciple before, but I won't settle for anything less than the best. I will definitely find the most outstanding disciples and teach them well.
(End of Chapter)
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