At this moment, under the interaction of Qi, Ji Yuan's Dharma image looked into the distance and then looked towards Tiandao Peak, as if he saw through the restrictions of the peaks and saw Zhao Yu, the head of Jiufeng Mountain, in the head of Jiufeng Mountain's villa.
At this moment, Ji Yuan did not seem to be doing two things at once, but rather he was thinking at two levels at the same time. One level below was concentrating on the derivative book, and the other level above was thinking about the situation in the distant mountains and Jiufeng Mountain.
The head of Jiufeng Mountain has profound Taoism and unfathomable cultivation. Even if the phantom of Ji Yuan's Dharma image should exist at the level of his own mind, it would not surprise Ji Yuan that Zhao Zhangneng discovered it. After all, the higher the Taoism, the more unfathomable and magical it is.
But the head of Jiufeng Mountain was a little uneasy. He was slightly surprised by Ji Yuan's virtual form and wondered what kind of magical technique it was. He didn't expect that Ji Yuan's virtual form could actually sense him and even look at him.
You know, Sect Leader Zhao has a relatively clear view of Xianlai Peak, but the Tiandao Peak, especially the Sect Leader's quiet room, is isolated by formations and restrictions, but they don't seem to have any effect.
However, Master Zhao did not make a fuss about it. It was normal for a Taoist master like Ji Yuan to have some strange skills. But the situation in the distant mountains was quite interesting.
Seeing that Ji Yuan's Dharma image had withdrawn his gaze, the head of Jiufeng Mountain Fuxu thought for a moment, and with an idea in mind, he had already sent out a message, ready to instruct the right person to go to the mountain below to take a look.
As for Master Zhao himself, he would just read as long as Ji Yuan took to write. Of course, he would not read the content of the book, but would watch the changes of the Dao of Impermanence from afar.
Somewhere in the Tiandao Peak Dojo, two monks from the Jiufeng Mountain were sitting cross-legged in the courtyard. There was a low table between the two cushions. In addition to tea, there was also a slightly worn old book on it.
The two were discussing the meaning of an old Taoist canon. Most of these old Taoist canons were found in places like Xiangang Market. This one might be too old and its divine meaning had been lost, so they could only discuss the contents recorded in it based on the literal meaning. What was certain was that what was written on it must be interesting and was not a book made up by mortals.
Just as the two were arguing about a sentence in the Taoist Canon "Heaven and Man Control the Dao", one of them suddenly paused and heard the voice of the headmaster in his ears. He concentrated for a moment, then stood up, bowed towards a direction in the mountain, and whispered.
"Accept the order!"
The fellow monk next to him also stood up and asked.
"Junior Brother Jin, what happened?"
"Brother Li, the headmaster just sent me a message, ordering me to go to the lower world in the cave to take a look. It seems that there are people in the mountain who have come to ask for immortality, and their faith is quite strong."
The monk next to him nodded.
"Oh, let's go together?"
"Okay, let's get going!"
The two men put away the books on the low table, then flew away from Tiandao Peak together on the wind and flew towards the south.
…
In the mountains of the cave world below Jiufeng Mountain, which is widely called Qingtian Mountain by mortals in the cave world, it is currently experiencing windy, rainy, and thundering weather.
The sky was completely covered by dark clouds, and we were in the mountains, so it should have been daytime, but it was completely pitch black.
"Boom..."
The lightning briefly illuminated the mountains and the earth. Aze saw the surrounding trees swaying, like monsters with bared fangs and claws in the wind and rain.
A flash of lightning suddenly fell a dozen steps away and hit a tree.
"Crack... Boom..."
The strong lightning stimulated Aze's eyes, and the huge thunder almost made him deaf. Aze curled up in a small hole in the mountain wall where he was hiding, and covered his ears with his hands.
Aze was just a teenager, no more than fifteen or sixteen years old. Of course he was afraid of the weather, but after trekking for some time, the intelligent boy also vaguely felt that there was something special.
Before, when Aze and his companions were walking towards the mountain, the weather was very good, with sunshine and wind, and the road seemed easy to walk on. But when he went deeper into the mountains, he found that the weather became worse the deeper he went. And it was not just this time. When he took his companions into the mountains before, the weather was more bad than sunny.
"Grandpa once said that situations that are too abnormal are often abnormal."
Aze was now cold and hungry, his clothes were all wet, but with an obsession to keep his family alive, he was determined not to look back. Since he had entered the Qingtian Mountain again, Aze never thought of returning empty-handed, even though he knew that he was more likely to die in the mountain.
With this almost desperate obsession, Aze, who was originally cold, hungry and scared, clenched his fists and shouted towards the mountain.
"I'm not afraid! I'm not afraid! I know this is a test from an immortal, I'm not afraid—!"
Aze's shouting naturally could not be heard far amid the heavy rain and thunder, let alone reach the ears of the immortals in the upper realm, but it helped Aze vent some of the fear in his heart.
The storm was not over yet, but night had already fallen. I curled up in a cave in the mountain wall, looking at the pitch-dark environment outside. I felt drowsy but didn't dare to sleep.
Above the mountain wall where Aze was sleeping, an old face slowly appeared on the rock. His appearance was exactly the same as the old man who had dried clothes for several teenagers and delivered mushrooms to them at night.
The storm passed without anyone noticing, and Aze also didn't know when he fell asleep. Someone came riding on the breeze in the night sky and slowly landed on a nearby hill. It was the two monks from Jiufeng Mountain.
The situation in the distant sky immediately attracted the attention of the old man on the cliff. He felt something in his heart and immediately slowly disappeared.
"Good boy! You even attracted the immortals to come down to the mortal world to take a look!"
There was no one else in this mountain with a hot temper, so the two of them spotted Aze at a glance when they were far away in the sky. At this moment, looking at the curled up and sleeping young man, the monk named Jin shook his head.
"Still a child!"
The fellow disciple next to him was also shaking his head.
"It's not easy to get here, but this dead aura doesn't seem like seeking immortality, but rather like seeking death..."
At such a close distance, how could the two Jiufeng Mountain masters not see that the young man’s condition was worrying. It was not only a problem of his physical limits, but also the changes in his aura.
After a quick calculation, the monk surnamed Jin realized that the young man in front of him had been in the mountains for quite a long time, at least for a mortal, especially for a mortal boy, it was quite a long time, and he was still under the test of such a harsh environment. In such a situation, it can be said that the days are like years.
"Brother Li, what do you think?"
The monk surnamed Li waved his hand.
"Junior Brother Jin, this is what the headmaster has told you to do. There is no need to ask for my opinion. Just do your best."
Upon hearing this, the cultivator surnamed Jin looked towards Aze in the distance, and then looked towards the direction of Jiufeng Mountain. From where the young man was, he could not even see the Nine Peaks of the Sky, let alone climb one of the nine peaks. Although the young man had been in the mountain for a long time, he still had a long way to go because of the wrong direction and his speed.
"It seems like the child has no intention of turning back. If he continues like this, he will surely die in the mountains, Senior Brother Li..."
"Hey, Junior Brother Jin, you decide."
"Okay then, let's observe him for a while and then decide whether to take him to Jiufeng Mountain."
"Um."
…
It was another heavy day, and Aze woke up from the heaviness and pain again. He no longer blamed himself for falling asleep again. He struggled to stand up, and the first thing he did was to take off his clothes and struggled to wring out the water with his hands.
Why are there so many wild beasts in the mountains? I have heard terrible roars of beasts not far away many times, but they just don’t attack me. I am obviously very weak now and can be easily caught as food.
Why haven't I fallen down yet? If I fall down, won't I be able to go see my grandfather and parents? I heard that there is a world for the dead after death, and there will be ghosts to take them away. Even if it is in the mountains, I should be able to go there, right
Aze felt a little numb, but the obsession in his heart became stronger and stronger. He couldn't tell whether it was the obsession to find the immortal to save his family, or the obsession to die in the mountains to see his family.
Another three days passed. During these three days, Aze had not eaten anything decent except for a small amount of raw plant roots and wild fruits and drinking some water. It was even more impossible for him to have the strength to live.
It was noon that day and it was raining again. Aze couldn't find a suitable place to hide from the rain. He kept moving forward, one step deep and one step shallow, searching. He knew that once it started to rain, it would get dark very quickly.
Suddenly, his feet slipped and the boy fell directly to the ground, with his face hitting the stone hard. It should have been very painful, but Aze didn't feel it much.
His vision was a little blurry, and Aze realized that he had reached his true limit. This time it was not the limit of his physical strength, but the limit of his life.
"That's good too..."
In his blurry vision, Aze seemed to see two figures approaching. As expected, before a person dies, there will be ghosts to pick him up.
"What's your name, kid?"
As these words came, Aze felt that his consciousness was clearer. He turned over and lay on his back, looking at the two people in the rain beside him. The rain around them seemed to avoid them.
"My name is Aze, Zhuangze... Are you the ghost messengers?"
"Ghost messenger? Haha, a ghost messenger won't come here. If he died in the mountains, he would be a wandering ghost."
"Then who are you?"
The monk named Jin bent down, reached out and held Aze's hand, and gently lifted the boy up, making him stand up on his own. He also sent a stream of spiritual energy into his body to help ease his pain.
"I think you should have heard of my name, my humble name is Jin Changdong."
Aze was stunned for a moment, and then his body trembled immediately.
"Jin Changdong? Lord Changdong!? Are you the Immortal Changdong Lord Changdong!?"
Jin Changdong nodded, then waved his sleeves, and clouds appeared under his feet. He and his senior brother slowly rose into the sky with the young man.
"Come back to the mountain with me first!"
Flying on the clouds was countless times faster than Aze’s arduous journey. Before long, the excited young man, together with the two immortals, broke through layers of clouds and mist and saw nine huge peaks towering into the sky in the distance.