"I have heard for a long time that the hometown of Lingbao is a pure land that all monks admire. At that time, Master Ge Hong was amazing in China, and he was one of the strongest in the history of Taoism. I came here to admire the Dharma, and I want to pay my respects to the holy land." Ye Fan said.
Guo Zhen also went forward to salute and asked for accommodation. They had no disrespect, and they came here because of admiration in their hearts, hoping to satisfy their wish.
"To pay homage to the relics of the sages, you can go to the Taoist temple outside. This secret land is never open to the public." A disciple of Lingbaomen looked cold and unhappy.
Sure enough, the friendship between the four young people and Guo Zhen was as weak as water. Guo Zhen had already followed here, but he was so ruthless.
"Although we are acquainted, this place does not allow idlers to enter." The other person was very straightforward, classifying him and Ye Fan as idlers, with a contemptuous tone.
"What kind of talent is not idle?" Seeing that Guo Zhen was embarrassed, Ye Fan asked like this. He said that he would not leave here, and Ge Hong had to watch what he said at the gate.
"Don't you really think that you are a senior?" Another young man couldn't help laughing.
The old Taoist priest next to him once said that only senior masters can come here to teach scriptures and Taoism, and can enter and leave the former pure land of Lingbao.
"There are thirty-three steps at the mountain gate, which represent the heavenly position of ascending to immortality and enlightenment. If any of you can pass the eighth step, you can barely pass the level and can enter." The old Taoist said.
Several ancient pine trees, like a dragon crouching on a coil, stand at the foot of the mountain. It is said that Ge Hong planted it himself in those days.
There are thirty-three steps there, which are different from other bluestone steps leading to the mountain. It is said that this was the most common test in ancient times. Even the Taoist who served the real person had the ability to walk over it, otherwise he would not be able to go up and down the mountain freely.
But now only the elders can go, and ordinary disciples can only go around and avoid these stone steps from the side path, which is incomparable with the ancient times.
Ye Fan wanted to go up in one go, but Guo Zhen was very stubborn. He insisted on giving it a try. He was repeatedly despised by acquaintances, and he was inevitably a little angry and hard to calm down.
One step, two steps, three steps, Guo Zhen felt very strenuous to take only three steps with his own way, and it was difficult to take the fourth step. Due to the great environment of the world, compared with the ancient monks, today's aspirants generally have low cultivation levels and it is difficult to improve.
Beside them, the four young men laughed lightly and shook their heads. Even they dared not walk up the stone steps, thinking that Guo Zhen would only make a fool of himself if he didn't understand this.
"brush!"
A cloud of blue-blue light lit up, and a blue-gold sheet appeared in Guo Zhen's hand, with a talisman engraved on it, extremely ancient, overflowing with blue-gold lights, covering him.
"Bang!", "Bang!"...
Guo Zhen took six steps in a row, and took a total of nine steps, exceeding the standard said by the old man, sweating profusely, and then jumped out of the stone steps with all his strength, and retreated.
The four young men next to him were very surprised, staring at the blue gold flake in his hand, the talismans on it were very mysterious, which made Guo Zhen behave like this all of a sudden. Under normal circumstances, these four people can't do it at all, and they can only take three steps. I never thought that Guo Zhen could do it.
The old Taoist was also very surprised, staring at the blue gold talisman non-stop, said: "Although you have borrowed a spiritual weapon, you have passed the test and can go up."
Guo Zhen took a deep breath, wiped off the sweat from his head, and carefully put away the blue and gold flakes. At his level, he couldn't hold soldiers in his body.
"It's just relying on external things, what kind of ability is this." A young man said in a low voice, and the four of them felt ashamed, so they didn't stay any longer and went up the mountain quickly.
Guo Zhen seemed to be exhausted after walking these nine steps. After returning, he hurriedly sat cross-legged on the ground to recover his energy.
Ye Fan looked at the thirty-three stone steps, walked up step by step, until he finished all the steps, and then walked down again.
Down below, the old Taoist was almost terrified, tongue-tied in shock, even he could only walk halfway, but this young man seemed to be strolling in a garden. He knew that if he met a real expert, he would call senior and salute.
Ye Fan stopped him, shook his head, and then came to Guo Zhen's side, and sent a pure divine force over him, which instantly made his exhaustion disappear, and his whole body was comfortable, and he recovered as before.
"Brother Ye..." He was naturally taken aback, and quickly opened his eyes.
"Xiao Daoer, it's just an extra amount of internal energy stored with the magic weapon." Ye Fan explained with a smile.
Guo Zhen was relieved, otherwise he would have really thought that he had met a senior expert. This way of speeding up people's vitality would be very exhausting. If it was stored in the magic weapon, it would be two different things.
The old Taoist watched respectfully as they walked up a small path leading to the Taoist temple on the roof, but he himself did not move, shook his head vigorously, and continued to guard the mountain gate.
Along the way, all you can see are green pines and verdant cypresses, cranes are flying in the sky, circling from time to time, the clouds here are steaming and rosy, it looks like a fairyland, and the aura is many times stronger than that of the outside world.
On the platform of this broken mountain, the first thing they saw was a bluestone statue. This is a Taoist, with a kind of calm, Taoist and immortal style, with a feeling of calm and breezy, as if he has seen through the world everything of.
This is a statue erected by later generations to commemorate Immortal Master Ge Hong.
The Lingbao sect was founded by Ge Xuan and carried forward to Ge Hong. It plays a pivotal role in the history of Taoism and has unparalleled influence. Gezao Mountain has also become one of the three holy mountains of Taoism in the south.
Standing on the rooftop, Ye Fan looked down at the four directions, and saw the clouds and mists, the majestic mountains, the beautiful peaks and beautiful valleys, and sighed for a while, this place is really amazing.
There are several broken mountains standing side by side with this place in the distance. Although the spiritual energy has dried up, there is a wave mark left by the good fortune of the Dao, which makes his heart tremble. Is it left by Ge Hong
One of the reasons why he came to the hometown of Lingbao Sect was to pursue Ge Hong's legacy. In addition, he also wanted to verify whether a secret that was too illusory was true.
In Taoism, the reason why the Lingbao sect plays an important role and holds the leading position is that the Lingbao Tianzun in the Sanqing respected by Taoism originated from this vein. It is recorded in the history of the development of Taoism that this sect participated in the positioning of the Sanqing.
"It is rumored that in the age far earlier than the ancient times, there was a Celestial Venerable named Lingbao. I don't know if it is true or not." Ye Fan said to himself.
Lingbao Tianzun, now all Taoism is respected together, for the practice world, whether it really exists has long been unverifiable.
The fact that the Lingbao sect took such a name to establish a sect is enough to explain everything, and it also indirectly proves its supremacy in Taoism.
Ye Fan caught the ripples of the Great Dao and thought about it seriously. He had heard about the origin of the Nine Secrets when he was at the other end of the starry sky. Some people say that it was created by the lost Taoist gods. It is also said that it is a kind of secret technique left by the supreme figures of different periods in the ancient times before their death, and was combined by later generations. Some people say that the nine secrets are the result of countless people's perfection.
"Ge Hong may have one or two of the Nine Secrets, and it is not difficult to make some associations from the name of the sect. Could it be said that Lingbao Tianzun was one of the few Tianzun who created the Nine Secrets back then?"
On Duanshan, these Taoist temples are very old. Although the great supernatural powers have disappeared, everything here proves its former glory.
However, the aura of heaven and earth is too thin, these things are difficult to operate, and for some reason, they are slowly damaging themselves, and they will all be wiped out after a long time.
"Is this what you call the seniors?" A young girl stood in front of a Taoist temple, smiling lightly, with a pretty face, looking at Ye Fan and Guo Zhen, and there were some young people beside her.
"That's right, this is the person who has broken through the nine green stone steps. You may ask for more advice later." One of the four young monks who had known Guo Zhen before said with a smile.
A few people immediately laughed when they heard the words, they were all junior figures who came here with the elders of the master, and they obviously knew each other long ago. Ye Fan patted Guo Zhen on the shoulder, telling him to calm down, there was nothing to worry about, and he pulled him to the Taoist temple together.
"You really go in, that's where the elders take their turns, and you still want to give me a lecture?"
Seeing this, a group of people followed in. The courtyard was covered with green grass and towering ancient trees. Not far away, there were more than a dozen old people sitting cross-legged on futons, discussing the Tao, and some young people were listening.
Ye Fan pulled Guo Zhen to find two futons on the edge and sat down. Some young people suddenly showed strange expressions and all looked over.
"You really... really regard yourself as a master of Taoism, and dare to sit here?" The four young people who knew Guo Zhen were no longer contemptuous, but showed sympathy.
From the looks of many people, even the elders were a little surprised that they had noticed this place.
"What's wrong?" Guo Zhen was a little puzzled.
"Look at who I'm waiting for who dares to sit down, don't they all stand here respectfully and listen to the true Fa?" One person was gloating.
"Aren't they also young people, sitting there too." Guo Zhen pointed to the dozen or so young men and women in front of him suspiciously.
"Guo Zhen, you are so naive. Can the two of you compare with them? They are both core genius disciples who came out of secret soil."
The standing young men and women were both envious and jealous of those people, and shook their heads at Ye Fan, especially the four people earlier showed a sneer and looked like they were watching the fun.
Guo Zhen was at a loss, and was about to stand up, but Ye Fan held him back, saying that he had already sat down, and there was no need to get up again.
"Who are you? Why are you sitting here? Who invited you in?" asked a core disciple sitting on a futon.
Ye Fan took a closer look and found that these young people are not bad, they are all above the realm of Mingquan, and compared with other people, they are indeed extraordinary.
"They came up on their own by stepping on nine stone steps." Someone quickly told the story.
A dozen or so old people were startled, and they looked at the two of them seriously, making Guo Zhen feel uncomfortable all over. At the same time, Ye Fan was looking at them. These masters were all above the secret realm of the Dao Palace, and they were indeed very powerful in this era. There were even three of them in the secret realm of the four poles.
"Really, I came up by myself, let me try to see if I am qualified to sit here." A core disciple of the Lingbao Sect stood up from the futon, and was in the late stage of the Mingquan realm.
"Didn't you already try the way down below? Why continue?" The disciples of this sect can't afford to provoke a living great supernatural being.
"The test path at the mountain gate is too simple. Anyone with a decent cultivation level can walk up to the eighth or ninth step. It's nothing. If you can walk up to the fourth step on that ladder, I have nothing to say. OK." The young man pointed to the tallest platform, where there were also thirty-three stone steps leading straight to the platform.
Others turned pale when they saw this, what is this place? It was the place where the headmaster preached on the stage in ancient times. Can anyone still go up there now, even if there are very few people who go up a few steps.
"I once heard that Master Ge Hong of the Lingbao Sect once wrote a Daoist book on the Nine Secrets. If we can go up there, we won't force others to do so. We just need to tell you the origin of the Nine Secrets." Ye Fan said.
He came here for the Nine Secrets, and his purpose was very clear, he wanted to ascertain whether the Lingbao Sect really had such one or two secrets!
Many people laughed, only a dozen old Taoist priests changed their expressions, but they relaxed after looking at Ye Fan, and they didn't notice any profound Taoism.
"Do you really think that you can compare to the ancient Supreme Master?"
"Even if there are people with great supernatural powers today, they may not be able to complete the thirty-three steps. Is it just you?"
Many people laughed, sarcastically, thinking that it was too unreliable, and a few people who knew Guo Zhen shook their heads, they really sympathized with these two people.