Pure Yang!

Chapter 509 Natural Research Institute! Survival of the Catastrophe
Two days later, in Shangjing City, at Baihe Temple.

As dawn broke, a thin mist hung in the air.

This ancient Taoist temple, nestled at the hidden point of the dragon vein in Shangjing, is bathed in the pale golden morning glow. The temple complex stretches out, and the traces of time can be seen between the eaves and brackets. It exudes a profound and serene aura, as calm as a mountain and as ethereal as a crane.

In the square, a group of young Taoist priests who had just finished their morning prayers were walking in a procession toward the canteen.

"Quick...look, that's the deputy abbot."

“Vice Abbot Yuan, I heard that he is a master of the Celestial Master realm, a rare talent in this world.”

"What kind of realm is the Celestial Master realm?"

"Young man, the Celestial Master realm is just the Celestial Master realm. Why ask so many questions?"

In the distance, the group of young Taoist priests stopped and looked over, their eyes filled with deep curiosity and reverence.

After all, even they rarely get to see such people on a regular basis.

At this moment, a figure with slightly unsteady steps walked into the temple gate, breaking the dew on the bluestone. It was none other than Yuan Tiandu.

He was accompanied by a girl with pigtails.

Compared to the battle on the riverbank two days ago, this Grandmaster of the Celestial Realm was now a completely different person.

His face was as pale as paper, devoid of any color. The aura of harmony between man and nature that was originally perfect and in sync with heaven and earth was now extremely weak, like a candle flickering in the wind.

"Hmm? Something's not right. Master Yuan's aura seems a bit..."

"Don't talk nonsense, Master Yuan is... well, it seems he is a bit..."

"What happened? You look like you've been seriously ill?"

Whispers circulated among the disciples, and various speculative and suspicious glances pierced Yuan Tiandu like invisible needles, but he seemed oblivious, walking expressionlessly into the depths of the temple.

Just as he was about to cross the front hall square, a figure emerged from behind a pillar in the side hall and met him head-on.

The newcomer was dressed in a pristine white Taoist robe, spotless and upright like a pine or bamboo. He had a handsome face, but a chilling aura lingered between his brows. He was none other than the successor of the White Crane Temple…

Li Changgeng!!!
The two paused slightly at the same time.

Li Changgeng's gaze fell on Yuan Tiandu. With his keen senses, he could naturally perceive the weakness of this master celestial being. His eyes flickered slightly, as if a complex emotion flashed by, before returning to their usual calm.

"Master Yuan!"

Li Changgeng bowed respectfully, his movements precise but devoid of warmth, his voice flat and devoid of any emotion.

As soon as he finished speaking, he neither inquired about the injury nor showed any concern. Before Yuan Tiandu could even respond, he walked away without pausing for a moment, brushing past Yuan Tiandu.

"Master, why is Senior Brother Li acting like this today?"

Beside them, the girl with pigtails frowned, sensing that something was amiss.

It should be noted that Yuan Tiandu is a master of the Celestial Master realm and the deputy abbot of the White Crane Temple. Li Changgeng, as a successor of the White Crane Temple, was not simply indifferent, but almost impolite for acting in such a manner.

This is completely different from the impression Li Changgeng usually gives people.

“He’s holding a grudge,” Yuan Tiandu said calmly.

"Resentment? What resentment does he have towards his master?" the girl with pigtails asked, puzzled.

“He’s upset that I went to Yujing City and personally dealt with that young man,” Yuan Tiandu said solemnly.

"That young man? Zhang Fan?" The girl with pigtails paused for a moment, then suddenly realized.

"What? Senior Brother Li knows this person? Do you have a connection with him?"

“There’s no friendship, only deep-seated hatred,” Yuan Tiandu said, shaking his head.

"If he only has a deep-seated hatred, then why does he still harbor resentment towards his master? He should be grateful to his master." The girl with pigtails was even more puzzled.

"Because that young man can only die by his hand; no one else can even touch him."

Yuan Tiandu slightly raised his eyelids, a trace of indescribable depth flashing across his tired eyes before returning to silence, as if everything was irrelevant to him. He continued to drag his injured body toward the deep courtyard where the abbot was.

"Master... wait for me." The girl with twin ponytails, puzzled, hurriedly chased after him.

……

Deep within the Baihe Temple, in a quaint and tranquil office.

The smoke from the incense burner rose straight up, its aroma concentrated and refined.

Yuan Tiandu pushed open the door and entered; there were already several people in the room.

Sitting in the main seat was an elderly man dressed in a simple Zhongshan suit, with a thin face and gentle eyes. He wore black-rimmed glasses and looked down at the documents. Just sitting there, he seemed to be the center of the entire room and even the world outside the window.

Taoism accounts for half of the country...

Long live Jiang!
"Master Yuan!"

When everyone saw Yuan Tiandu enter, they all bowed. Only one other man simply nodded slightly as a greeting.

This person was none other than Huo Fawang, another deputy abbot of Baihe Temple.

"You may all leave now. The Dharma King, please stay," Jiang Wansui said calmly without looking up.

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone left the office without further hesitation.

Immediately afterwards, only Jiang Wansui, Yuan Tiandu, and Huo Fawang remained in the office.

"Old Jiang, I am incompetent and have failed in my mission..." Yuan Tiandu said apologetically.

"Xiao Yuan, don't blame yourself. This trip wasn't entirely fruitless." Jiang Wansui waved his hand, but his gaze remained fixed on the documents in front of him.

"The innate spirit of Longhu Mountain... truly favored by the creation of heaven and earth, it survived such a great calamity," Jiang Wansui exclaimed.

"Being able to confirm whether she is alive or dead is already a significant achievement."

“But…that brat…” Yuan Tian hesitated, unable to finish his sentence.

“A person facing a great calamity must also have great fortune. If he could be dealt with so easily, then he really doesn’t deserve the title of Master of Wuwei Sect.”

Jiang Wansui's deep eyes remained completely calm, as if the failure of this trip was expected and of no importance to him.

“Elder Jiang, this boy is an anomaly, even more troublesome than the Great Spirit Sect King of yesteryear. If we let him go unchecked and allow him to gain power, he might just become another Three Corpse Daoist,” Yuan Tiandu said in a deep voice.

Based on what he saw on this trip, he had already regarded Zhang Fan as a major threat.

"The Three Corpse Daoist... There is never a shortage of top-tier cultivators in the world, but there is only one Three Corpse Daoist!"

Jiang Wansui pondered for a moment, then suddenly said.

“Your Majesty, please go and bring that young man back.”

"Elder Jiang, this kid's whereabouts are now completely unknown. I have already notified the Dao Alliances in all provinces, and my men are already searching for him with all their might," Huo Fawang said in a deep voice.

"Of all the places in the world, that place is the only place that can provide him with shelter."

As he spoke, Jiang Wansui put down the documents in his hand, opened the drawer, and began rummaging through them.

"Go here and block him, then bring him back."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Wansui took out a yellowed business card from the drawer, placed it on the table, and pushed it in front of Huo Fawang.

King Hof picked up the business card, glanced at it, and froze, his expression gradually becoming strange.

"What place is this?" "Remember, do not trespass without permission, and do not get into conflict with the people there." Jiang Wansui did not answer, but instead solemnly warned.

“I don’t understand.” King Hofa frowned, revealing a deep look of bewilderment.

"Is there anything you don't understand? These are the rules." Jiang Wansui waved his hand and said calmly, "Go."

"Yes!"

King Hofa nodded subconsciously, but his gaze seemed fixed on the business card in his hand, on which were written five large characters:

Institute of Nature

Below the business card is a line of smaller print: Main business: selling flowers, plants and rare stones, delivery available.

……

At this moment, on an unnamed riverbank.

As the morning mist gradually dissipated, the icy river water, like a lover's fingertips, gently caressed Zhang Fan's skin one last time, pushing him onto the pebbly shallows.

Zhang Fan's fingertips twitched slightly, and his consciousness, like a stubborn rock sunk in the deep sea, struggled to break free from the shackles of the mud and slowly rose to the surface.

"Cough...cough..."

Finally, a violent cough signaled Zhang Fan's awakening, and this cough instantly aggravated all the injuries in his body.

"vomit……"

Zhang Fan suddenly turned his head to the side and spat out several mouthfuls of river water mixed with mud and sand.

He struggled to prop himself up with his almost unresponsive arms and looked around.

What came into view was an unfamiliar riverbank, overgrown with reeds and shrouded in mist.

"Survived!"

Zhang Fan let out a long breath, his arms loosened, and he collapsed to the ground again, letting the river surge and pound against him.

At this moment, he was in a terrible state, his clothes were soaked and tattered by the river water and clung to his body.

The exposed skin, soaked in river water for a long time, appeared sickly, swollen, grayish-white, and bloodless, like a floating corpse that had been dead for a long time.

This is only the surface; his internal situation is much worse.

In the dantian, the once bright and round inner core, which had undergone five cycles, was now dull and lifeless, like a dusty, stubborn stone. Its surface was covered with dense spiderweb-like cracks, as if it would shatter completely at the slightest touch.

At the spiritual platform, the once unmoving primordial spirit was now utterly withered, curled up deep within the primordial palace, its light as faint as a flickering lamp in the wind. Where was the former grandeur of gods and demons standing side by side?

"Fuck you so much!" Zhang Fan muttered to himself, covering his face with his hand.

He has never been so disheveled or so badly injured since his debut.

Today's calamity is even worse than that dark night.

"The elixir of immortality is a calamity... Who the hell said that?" Zhang Fan gritted his teeth, the image of Baihe Temple and Yuan Tiandu flashing through his mind.

His eyes were cold; this hatred and resentment were already etched in his heart.

However, he also knew that this was not the time to dwell on gains and losses or grudges.

"Just you wait."

Zhang Fan gritted his teeth, enduring the excruciating pain and weakness throughout his body, and struggled to crawl away from the riverbank. He found a sheltered and secluded reed bed and sat down cross-legged.

Although his inner core and primordial spirit had suffered severe damage to varying degrees, his cultivation level was still intact. As far as his eyes could see, he could see a sign on the roadside in the distance that clearly read: Hengshui County, Jiangzhou City.

"They've drifted this far already?" Zhang Fan murmured to himself, instantly confirming his location.

He drifted down the river and is now four or five hundred miles away from Yujing City.

"It must be over a thousand kilometers from here to Changbai Mountain," Zhang Fan said thoughtfully.

At this moment, all he could think about was the escape route Zhang Lingzong had left him—the dusty number in that Nokia phone.

That night, after he dialed the number, a woman answered. She didn't ask any questions or say much, but simply gave Zhang Fan an address and told him that no matter how big the problem was, as long as he could come over, he could survive.

This address was like a lightning bolt in the darkness, the only chance of survival in a desperate situation.

Its location, however, is far in the northeast, near Changbai Mountain.

"Northeast China...Changbai Mountain..."

Zhang Fan's gaze seemed to pierce through layers of mist and mountains, landing on that ancient and mysterious land.

In his understanding, that vast black soil had a very special feng shui layout. It was the place where the last dynasty rose to power, and it was filled with royal aura. The mountains were like dragons coiled and tigers crouching.

According to folklore, when the Ming Dynasty was established, Zhu Yuanzhang sent Liu Bowen to search the world and cut off all the dragon veins of the land to ensure that the Zhu family's empire would last for thousands of years and never be defeated.

So Liu Bowen obeyed the imperial decree and eliminated ninety-nine out of ten dragon veins in the land. However, he did not expect to miss a wild dragon outside the Great Wall. More than two hundred years after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, that wild dragon outside the Great Wall gained power and seized the Ming Dynasty's throne.

As for the Changbai Mountains, they are considered sacred mountains in local legends, with dragon veins manifesting and ever-changing weather, containing endless secrets and opportunities, but also accompanied by unpredictable dangers.

The hidden realms within Changbai Mountain are among the most renowned in the world, and their secrets lie beyond the foot of Ailao Mountain.

The road ahead is long and arduous, stretching for thousands of miles, and fraught with danger at every turn!
"call……"

Zhang Fan exhaled a long breath of stale air, but a faint yet determined flame ignited in his eyes.

We can't sit still and wait for death!

This can be considered his only way out at present, the way out left to him by Zhang Lingzong.

"Modern transportation is no longer an option," Zhang Fan murmured softly.

Don't even think about taking a plane, train, or long-distance bus. The Dao Alliance's surveillance is no joke; it's all over the place. If he were to take a plane or train now, it would be like walking into a trap.

What's more, he doesn't even have a cell phone with him now, which means he's back to square one.

The only way to survive is to trek through mountains and rivers, measuring this vast land with our own two feet!
Only by deliberately choosing to travel through desolate mountains, forests, and dangerous shoals, relying on the complex terrain and one's own faint sense of the natural energy, can one avoid all possible sights and sounds.

"Going to Northeast China... I never thought I would have to go to Northeast China one day."

Zhang Fan muttered to himself, these three words seemed to carry a heavy sense of historical destiny, as well as his determination to burn his bridges.

"Let's recover some first."

Zhang Fan sat cross-legged in meditation, circulating the [Divine Demon Holy Embryo] alchemy technique to regulate his primordial spirit and cultivate his inner elixir.

Given his current condition, without any help or miraculous cures, it's uncertain when he'll be able to recover to his peak.

In fact, there are two shortcuts for Zhang Fan to recover as quickly as possible.

First, there's the incense offering. Through the method of the Divine Demon Holy Embryo, he can absorb the spiritual power of incense offerings and refine golden substances.

That thing was comparable to the creation of a dragon vein in the heavens and earth, and even the black iron sheet coveted it. It could definitely repair the damage to his inner core, primordial spirit, and even flesh and blood in a short time.

Unfortunately, incense offerings are a rare and precious commodity, and the Taoist sect launched nine campaigns to destroy mountains and temples in order to obtain them.

Given Zhang Fan's current situation, where can he find any support?
Besides, another shortcut is the primordial spirit...

Replenishing the primordial spirit!

(End of this chapter)