The Northwest Thirteen Barriers refer to the thirteen mountain ranges that separate the northwest prairie and the south-central hills. These thirteen mountain ranges are shrouded in clouds and mist all the year round, extremely steep, and are natural barriers. If it weren't for the Dajing tribe's help from a sacred place like the Temple of Heaven, it would be impossible to break through the limitations of nature, break through the thirteen barriers and go straight to Fancheng.
When Lu Tiantan broke through the thirteen barriers, he considered that his capital would be Fancheng in the future, and he didn't want Jingguo to be influenced by other monastic sects, so he simply cleaned up all the casual cultivators on the mountain. But the huge thirteen barriers somewhat slipped through the net, such as the ancient temple before, or the Earth Fire Gate on Mount Jueming.
Mount Jueming is the third mountain range from southeast to northwest, and the top of the mountain has already had some snow in this late autumn. The snow water melted under the noon sun, and flowed along the stream in front of the fire gate, which was clear and icy cold.
At this time, two little Taoist priests were touching fish in the stream below the mountain.
"Hey, did Qingfeng go back to study too?" A tall and thin Taoist priest sighed and threw the fish basket in his hand aside.
The other little Taoist priest was chubby and looked rather pleasing. When he saw him stop, he quickly quit: "Yes, yes, Brother Qingfeng has also returned to Jingguo to study. Brother Qingchen, why do you think we still have to do it?" stay here?"
"To seek the Tao..." Qingchen said with a sigh, glanced at the basket with only a few small fish, and couldn't help worrying about today's dinner.
"But that old Niubi doesn't teach us Taoism at all. He lets us meditate with peace of mind every day. What's the use of meditation? I want to learn the Taoism of moving mountains and filling seas!" said the chubby little Taoist with some dissatisfaction.
"Qingyuan, don't talk about Master like that, Master is naturally for our own good." Qing Chen frowned.
"Hey, he doesn't even catch fish! He even asked us to boil water and cook. He didn't want to take in apprentices at all, he just wanted to find a handyman! Brother, you are kind, I don't want to stay any longer!"
The chubby Qingyuan threw the fish basket, turned around and ran into the Taoist temple to get his luggage. When he ran out again, Qingchen was startled: "What are you doing!?"
"Go home to study and become an official. If you're lucky, you can even enter the Temple of Heaven and become a great priest!" Qingyuan walked towards the forest with his things in his arms.
"Wait, this place is thousands of miles away from Jingguo, deep in the mountains and old forests, wild beasts are infested, how can you run back alone!" Qingchen held him anxiously.
"Although I haven't learned Taoism in the past two years, my strength has indeed increased a lot. It is very easy to deal with wild beasts!" Qingyuan was not afraid, and shook his sleeves vigorously, "Brother, let go!"
"It's wrong for you to leave without saying goodbye, at least you should tell the master first..." Qingchen refused to let go.
Qingyuan was afraid of tearing off the cloth strips on the package, so he didn't dare to use too much force, so he could only stand in a stalemate with him: "Senior brother, please save yourself, didn't Qingfeng brother leave without saying goodbye? If you stay any longer, it's just a pity for that." Old Niubi's thoughts!"
Qingchen was not as strong as Qingyuan, one ran a few meters away without holding Qingyuan and disappeared into the dense forest.
He stomped his feet, ignored the fish basket on the ground, and rushed into the forest following Qingyuan.
"Qingyuan! Qingyuan! Where are you?" Qingchen shouted as he walked into the woods, and his voice echoed in the mountains.
It's a pity that Qingyuan seems to have run away, he chased for a while but didn't find his trace.
As dusk approached, the woods began to darken. Qingchen felt a little nervous, so he had no choice but to go back along the original road, wondering how to explain to the master.
"This Taoist leader..." A gentle and clear voice suddenly sounded.
Qingchen shivered, and the foxy ghost stories in those books suddenly filled his mind. It is said that it is always easy to see these strange things at dusk.
He desperately told himself that he couldn't turn back, but he was also worried about what to do if a lonely traveler really asked him for help.
"Prince Daoist, please stay." This time, the voice was much younger, but it was calmer than the one just now.
This voice doesn't sound like a fox, could it be that someone really asked for help
Qingchen turned his head and saw a girl who was as gorgeous as a peach blossom with spring water in her eyes standing in the shade of the dense forest, and a big man slowly walked out from the shadow of the trees, and a blind girl in complicated sacrificial attire sat on the shoulder of the big man.
"You... you are?" No matter how you look at it, Qingchen thinks that these people are not right. This place is deep in the thirteen barriers, and there is not a single family. Where did the children come from
The blind girl jumped off the big man's shoulder, and when she landed, black flames were faintly lingering under her feet. Qingchen wiped his eyes, the black flame had disappeared, he couldn't help but wonder if he was wrong.
"We are wandering people, please inform your master that we would like to take advantage of your place for a short rest."
"This..." Qingchen was still worrying about his junior brother, and now a few practitioners with unknown origins came, and he didn't know what to do for a while.
"If there is any inconvenience, there is no need to force it. The leader of the small road will show us the way to get out of the mountain." Yun Qing said politely when he saw that he was in a difficult situation without forcing him.
"No, no, it's not inconvenient. It's just that the door is quite cold, and I'm afraid I'll neglect some of the guests." Qingchen is also honest. He saw a delicate girl among them, and a blind man Even the children with eyesight, dare not let them hurry on the road in the middle of the night.
"People who practice Taoism naturally don't care about these things." The blind girl smiled gently, but Qingchen felt that this smile was not as real and vivid as the other girl.
After thinking about it again and again, he still said to several people: "Come with me, Tianhei Mountain Road is not easy to walk."
"Thank you, Xiao Daoist." The girl followed him, and the beautiful girl and the big man seemed to be led by her, and they quickly chased after seeing her.
"My name is Yun Qing, this is Aman, and the one behind is Zheng Zhenzhen. Haven't you asked the name of the Taoist priest yet?" Yun Qing walked not slowly, and easily followed behind Qingchen.
Qingchen's face was embarrassed, he had never been asked his name in such a serious manner: "My lord, no, the poor Taoist name is Qingchen, and he is a disciple of the Huomen in this mountain."
"What is Dihuomen?" Zheng Zhenzhen asked suddenly.
Qingchen was even more embarrassed. He naturally knew that his sect was not well-known, but when asked by this beautiful girl suddenly, he didn't know how to answer.
"One of the three thousand ways, and the same lineage as the Tianhuo sect among the eight hundred side sects. It began with the ancient sun real person. The technique of using fire to refine alchemy in the "Fire Classic" is very profound and has its own unique features. However, it is not the same as Tianhuo. Zong's art of cultivating fire and refining heart is a small way in comparison." Yun Qing replied lightly.
Qingchen was dumbfounded, he didn't even know these things. There are only two or three big cats and kittens in this fire door, but according to the girl, it is actually an ancient Taoist door!
"This... uh, Fellow Daoist, you really know our Fire Sect very well!"
"Is the Earth Fire Gate ahead?" Yun Qing said suddenly.
"Yes, let me lead a few people in." Qingchen took a look, and unknowingly walked to the edge of the stream, and was about to lead a few people in but was stopped by Yun Qing.
Yun Qing shook her head and said: "I'm afraid the little Taoist priest has just started? It's not so easy for foreign practitioners to worship the mountain and get them in. Let's listen to what your master has to say."
Qingchen felt that this girl was really knowledgeable, and she didn't know what it was, so she glanced at her in admiration and ran into the mountain gate.
The Huomen here is built on the mountain, and a part of the whole mountain is hollowed out to be used as a place of practice. Earth fire, that is, the natural fire from the center of the earth, is also good for refining tools and making pills.
Qingchen ran into the master's alchemy room and took a look, seeing that there was no flash of fire, he knew that his master was not making alchemy at the moment. So he knocked lightly on the door.
"Master, disciple Qingchen has something to ask for advice."
"Come in." A slightly vicissitudes of voice said lightly.
"Master..." Qingchen saluted, but couldn't speak for a while. Should I tell Master that Junior Brother has run away first, or should I tell about those wandering people
"But it's about your junior brother?" A middle-aged bearded Taoist priest in a white Taoist robe with a flame pattern printed on the back was meditating in front of the alchemy furnace.
"Yes... not all..." Qingchen panicked when he heard this, he was afraid that Master would punish Qingyuan Junior Brother.
The middle-aged Taoist priest still looked calm, but the fire in the alchemy furnace became more and more irritable: "Everyone has his own ambitions. It is his own choice to abandon this great way and seek wealth and honor in the world. You don't have to." Take it to heart."
"Yes, master." Hearing what the master said, Qingchen couldn't explain anything more, he continued, "There are a few wandering monks who want to borrow us for a while, let me ask the master respect you..."
"Friar You Fang?" The middle-aged Taoist stroked his beard and frowned. They belonged to a mountain gate that is not in the world, and they may not see a visiting cultivator for hundreds of years, and they don't know how the other party found this place.
"That's right, the other party's cultivation base is good, and he's quite particular. It just looks like he's in trouble." Qingchen expressed his guess.
"You go and ask them, what is the way of enlightenment, and what is the method of participation." The middle-aged Taoist raised his hand and drew a Taoist talisman from the void, and handed the talisman to Qingchen.
Qingchen nodded and retreated, then ran down the mountain and gave the talisman to Yunqing.
Yun Qing silently glanced at the content on the talisman, added her answer at the back, and handed the talisman to Zheng Zhenzhen.
It was Zheng Zhenzhen's first time seeing this method of worshiping the mountain gate, and she couldn't help but be a little curious. She had just cultivated her true energy, and answered her answer in a not so proficient manner. She handed the talisman back to Qingchen, and said with a smile, "I'm sorry."
It was actually Qing Chen's first time experiencing this, and Zheng Zhenzhen's face turned red when she saw it. Not daring to read the contents of the talisman for a moment, he quickly ran back to the alchemy room and handed the talisman to the bearded Taoist priest.
"These two have a lot of background..."
Qingchen didn't know how to tell from these few questions that the other party had a lot of background.
"Invite them to come to my place for a talk." The middle-aged Taoist thought for a while, and agreed to a few people to come in.
Qingchen was about to break his legs from running at both ends, and finally brought Yunqing and others to the door of Danfang.
"Several please."
This alchemy room is very large, and there is a huge hole in the middle, surrounded by black meteorites to form a magic circle, and the ground fire is taken from this hole. A huge bronze tripod hangs above the ground fire, and the body of the tripod is engraved with simple flame patterns.
Beside the alchemy stove, a middle-aged Taoist priest with a beautiful beard looked at them with some surprise: "So there are three of them, but I thought there were only two fellow Taoists after reading the invitation."
Yun Qing heard that the other party was slightly dissatisfied, she frowned, and explained: "Indeed, they can only be counted as two. Amon is a spiritless thing."
The middle-aged Taoist priest was even more surprised. He glanced back and forth at Amang several times before saying, "I was reckless. Please sit down."
As soon as he finished speaking, two futons with flames appeared in front of them.
Yun Qing thanked her, Shi Shiran sat down, the flames couldn't get close to her.
Here Zheng Zhenzhen made a mistake, the color of the flames on the futon was crimson red, and a burst of violent heat was approaching. If he just sat down like this, his butt would not burn out
"This is an open door to discuss the law, you just sit down, I have my own way." Just when Zheng Zhenzhen didn't know what to do, Yun Qing's voice came into her ears.
Zheng Zhenzhen gritted his teeth and sat down. Unexpectedly, this futon is not hot at all, but has a jade-like coolness.
Yun Qing himself cultivates the Great Sun Hei Tianlun, which is famous for its ferocity and violence. He has been in contact with the Great Sun Demon Flame on weekdays, and it is more than enough to suppress this bit of earth fire. So it's okay to be a little distracted and use a Xuanyuan Huayu technique to help Zheng Zhenzhen.
"The two of you are really amazing. I brought the fire from the center of the earth, and even the meteorite will turn into molten iron. You are unexpectedly unscathed." The middle-aged Taoist smiled, but he couldn't hold back.
Baimen asked, and opened the door to discuss the law.
This can be regarded as a common trick among casual cultivators. It is nothing more than the desire to compare and compete for strength, and want to show their strength to those who worship the mountain. These are almost invisible in the orthodox monasticism. The orthodox monastic sects don’t even have time to understand their own Dao. Where does the time come from to fight with others casually
"Thank you for taking me in. I still don't know what to call him?" Yun Qing ignored his slightly sour compliment.
"I'm going to Dahuo Daoist." The middle-aged Taoist's face became more and more ugly, and he felt that Yun Qing was arrogant.
Every generation of the suzerain of the Dihuomen is called the Daoist of Dihuo.
"My name is Yunqing, this is Amang..."
"My name is Zheng Zhenzhen!" This time Zheng Zhenzhen finally kept up with the rhythm of the conversation.
The middle-aged Taoist priests became more and more dissatisfied, thinking that they didn't even report their Taoist names, so they must be some people who hide their heads and show their tails.
"I've been bothering you a lot this time, and I would like to ask you a few more things." Yun Qing knew from the expression on the Dahuo real person that he had a bad temper and was not a person who could concentrate on the Dao, so he lost the interest in communicating. Ask straight to the point.
"Please tell me." Earthfire Daoist managed to put on a kind look.
"May I ask how the mountain gate of Mianfenglang can be reached?"
Of the seven holy places, only the Temple of Heaven is in the world. The Lutian Temple cultivates humanity and needs to be in constant contact with the world, so the Lutian Temple is also very easy to find. The other sects are not involved in the world, and there is absolutely no other way to find their sects except for someone to lead the way.
When Master Earth Fire heard the other party asking about the Seven Great Sacred Lands, he felt that Yun Qing and the others were making fun of him.
"This... poor people don't know."
Yun Qing was a little disappointed. Originally, she thought that the Earth Fire Sect was an ancient inheritance, so it should have some connection with the Seven Great Sacred Lands, but when she came here and read it again and again with the heavenly scriptures, she found that it really had nothing to do with it. Moreover, this Dihuomen has fallen to such a state somehow, except for the Qing Chen whom I met at the beginning, the others are just mortals in the skin of monks, whether they are good-natured or aptitude, they are all in a mess.
This Daoist Earth Fire is even more narrow-minded, full of small calculations but no intention of Daoism, who occupies the position of sect master but does not even have the cultivation base of Daoism.
"In that case, let's take our leave first." Yun Qing stood up.
Anyway, this person doesn't know anything, so it's better to go straight to the Northwest Plateau than to stay here, maybe he can get some clues.
Yun Qing was eager to find an inheritance that could continuously nourish her soul and reduce the trauma caused by using the heavenly book. Now the national teacher pointed out a way for her, which is the concept of lotus heart and void storage in Guiling Temple. However, it is impossible for such a top lineage to give it to someone of unknown origin, not to mention that Guiling Temple does not accept female disciples. Therefore, in order to obtain this concept of the lotus heart and the void, there is only a detour.
So Yun Qing took the idea of Mianfenglang, an old neighbor and deadly enemy of Guiling Temple. Mianfenglang and Guiling Temple are considered to be the most fought among the seven holy places, but one is a peaceful and compassionate Buddhist holy place, and the other is a sect of cultivating immortals composed of women who have nothing to do with the world. This has always surprised the monks .
As long as you find the Sleeping Phoenix Corridor, you have found Guiling Temple, and maybe you can take away the idea of the lotus heart and empty space while they are fighting with each other.
Just when Yun Qing turned around to leave with Zheng Zhenzhen and A Mang, the beautiful bearded Taoist said loudly: "You two fellow Taoists stay, I have something to ask!"