If I let you become a druid, would you join the Demon Sect?

Chapter 11 Qingyun Temple, Eight Two
More than a month later.

Early winter.

After the first snow of this year, the round platform of Qingyun Temple outside Guang'an Prefecture.

Dozens of children and teenagers in green Taoist robes, arranged by height, performed a complicated initiation ceremony under the guidance of an older Taoist priest.

There were thousands of onlookers in the distance, some were pilgrims watching the fun, and some were the parents and relatives of these children.

Looking at the young children and teenagers, some older and middle-aged people showed envy: "These kids are so lucky to be able to join Qingyun Temple. In the future, they can not only learn Taoism, but also practice martial arts. After ten or twenty years, they will be associated with wealthy businessmen or powerful people. They will have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of their lives."

When others heard this, they sneered, "Brother, you've got the cause and effect wrong. It's not that you can live without worries about food and clothing by joining Qingyun Temple. You have to have enough food and clothing first, come from a wealthy and powerful family, or be born with intelligence and extraordinary talents to qualify for joining Qingyun Temple. This is the case with all good Taoist temples. Without money and power, why would you believe in Buddhism or practice Taoism?"

The older middle-aged man felt humiliated by the rebuttal and glared at him, "What did you say?"

"Stop arguing, stop arguing." An elderly man whispered to dissuade them: "If you disrupt the ceremony and upset the Taoist priests, it will be troublesome. But what this young man said is also true. You don't know that Qingyun Temple is not one of those wild fox temples in the wild mountains and forests. It is one of the most famous Taoist temples in Guang'an Prefecture. In the early years..."

Seeing that the old man was interrupting, the middle-aged man gave him an excuse and remained silent.

In fact, he knew very well the status of Qingyun Temple in Guang'an Prefecture. He just felt embarrassed because he was refuted.

Seeing this, the old man took his grandson's hand and said no more, just sighed.

Qingyun Temple accepts disciples every five years, and he originally wanted to send his grandson in. However, his grandson was young and playful, and lacked literary talent. His muscles and bones were well-maintained, but he lacked some good karma.

The main reason is that there are not enough good connections.

This fate is very important.

Knowing the right person and being introduced by someone else is enough of a destiny.

But those who are qualified are either high-ranking officials in the palace or children of aristocratic families.

His family only had a few small shops on the street in the city and a hundred acres of land outside the city. They were rich but not wealthy enough. How could he have the opportunity to meet those people?
Even if I know someone, I don’t have the nerve to ask them to introduce me to someone.

Of course, in addition to referrals, donations to show your sincerity are also acceptable.

The donation starts at one thousand taels of silver.

Then sort.

There is a quota limit for each time Qingyun Temple recruits disciples.

If you are lucky and donate less, you can get in by spending one or two thousand silver taels.

If you are unlucky, the amount will be much bigger.

The key is that I can’t get in, and the money donated to the Taoist ancestor can’t be refunded.

If you retreat, wouldn't that be an insult to the Taoist Patriarch?

This model created an invisible threshold, preventing ordinary wealthy businessmen and landlords from joining in the fun.

From generation to generation, the disciples of Qingyun Temple are either gifted and talented, or have powerful families, together forming a special upper-class network of contacts and interest chain.

Thanks to the connections of these disciples, Qingyun Temple is destined to not do too badly.

"It seems like there's no discrimination in education, but in reality, there are layers of class and shackles at every step. It's so difficult for ordinary people like us to turn things around."

The old man felt bored and simply pulled his grandson away from the crowd.

The grandfather and grandson got into the carriage waiting outside.

In the car, a girl about eight or nine years old, about the same age as the old man's grandson, was carefully keeping the stove warm.

Seeing the grandfather and grandson coming up, he quickly retreated to the corner, lowered his head and whispered, "Master, young master."

The old man didn't even look at her, but just leaned back and stretched out his legs.

The maid immediately understood and obediently placed her legs in front of her chest and began to knead them carefully.

The old man squinted his eyes comfortably and hummed an opera: "Let's go back to the city."

"Okay, sir."

Outside the carriage, the old driver sniffed, shivering as he whipped out his whip. Braving the cold wind and light snow, he drove the slow horses, accompanied by the comfortable humming of the master inside, and gradually drove away.
After a busy afternoon, the Qingyun Temple's disciple-taking ceremony finally ended.

The crowd gradually dispersed.

The new disciples, led by the old disciples, headed to the gates of their respective courtyards.

Among them, there was a young man who was as tall as an adult, with a slightly dark complexion and regular features. He was also wearing the clothes of an entry-level Taoist boy. He mingled with the other children and teenagers, and looked curiously at this huge Taoist temple built on the top of a mountain.

Interestingly, he was holding a bamboo cage in his hand.

Inside the cage, a dark and slender puppy was lying limply at the bottom of the cage in a spread-eagle position, twitching from time to time, spitting out acid bubbles, and looking very weak.

Seeing this, the young Taoist boy accompanying him couldn't help but ask out of curiosity, "Brother, why are you still able to bring a dog in?"

The young man rolled his eyes when he heard this: "It costs money."

"Does it have a name?"

"Yes, eight taels."

"It looks black, why isn't it called Blackie?"

The old and the young started chatting.

The Taoist priest leading the way heard the noise and turned around to glare at the two of them.

The child was so frightened that he lowered his head and dared not ask any more questions.

The young man smiled at the Taoist priest who was leading the way and said, "Senior Brother, before I went up the mountain, I brought some wine brewed at home. When you have time, why not bring the brothers in the courtyard over to appreciate it?"

Hearing this, the leading Taoist priest's eyes fixed, without saying a word, he just focused on leading the way again.

It’s not that he was greedy for the wine, but the message conveyed in the other person’s words made him not want to offend the other person over such a small matter.

The rules on the mountain are very strict, and newly initiated Taoist children cannot easily go down the mountain.

It seems this new disciple is very familiar with the situation on the mountain. He was able to bring his pet and wine up here, which means he has acquaintances in the Taoist temple. I wonder whose connections he took.
Qingyun Temple is very big.

There are courtyards nested within the layers of buildings, and each hilltop has different areas.

However, they are all newly initiated Taoist children and cannot go to those places.

After walking for about half an hour, a group of people gradually dispersed into the Taoist temple.

The young man carrying the dog and the little child were the last group of people who did not separate.

Led by the Taoist priest, the three of them went deeper and deeper, and finally stopped in front of a group of buildings built against the mountain.

Someone has been waiting here for a long time.

Seeing the Taoist priest leading the way and his men coming, he hurried over to greet them.

The two of them first exchanged a greeting: "Greetings, Brother Dao."

After the greetings, the Taoist guide made way and said, "These are two new Taoist children. I'll leave the rest to you, Taoist brother." He glanced at the young man carrying the dog and said, "We'll drink wine when we have the chance. I'm going back to the Taoist temple first."

The young man nodded: "Take care, senior brother."

There are many rules in Qingyun Temple. He has just entered and is still a Taoist boy, so it is not appropriate to call him Taoist brother.

Wait for someone to leave.

The young Taoist priest who greeted them took out the list and asked, "Who is Gu Yan?"

The young man carrying the dog stepped forward and smiled: "Hello, senior brother, I am Gu Yan."

The young Taoist nodded and looked at the other child: "So you are Lu Jin?"

The child, estimated to be only five or six years old, nodded somewhat nervously.

The young Taoist priest didn't care. "I'm Tongshan, a Taoist priest in the Xunzhaoyuan. You can call me Brother Tongshan. Lu Jin, you are young. I will have someone take you to the children's hall later to learn about writing and etiquette. There are little Taoist children of the same age as you there, and you should be able to get used to it."

Lu Jin was obviously not an ordinary child. He was very polite and bowed to express his gratitude: "Thank you, Senior Brother Tongshan."

"Hmm." Tong Shan smiled and looked at Gu Yan. "Gu Yan, you are already fifteen, can read and write, and look strong. You don't need to go to the kindergarten. I will take you to the Taoist Children's Court later and let the servants familiarize you with the rules and environment. I know that you entered the Taoist temple through the path of Uncle Ning Cheng, but when you come to the Taoist temple, practicing Taoism and martial arts is the real business. The head of the temple also values ​​you very much, so don't make the mistake."

Gu Yan bowed: "I will follow your instructions, Senior Brother."

It was another busy day, collecting stored supplies and familiarizing myself with the terrain.

By the time Gu Yan returned to his residence and lay down, it was already evening.

"Going into a Taoist temple is so tiring. It's even more tiring than wandering around and purifying those mass graves for over a month."

After feeding the dog, Gu Yan lay on the bed and stretched.

Finally, we successfully entered the Taoist temple.

Ever since he got the relics of Taoist Nian Yun, Gu Yan found that although there was a method, it was difficult to practice. He realized that his cultural level was still too low and he had no social status, making it difficult for him to access the secrets known to the upper class.

As an ambitious person, he learned from his mistakes and looked for a force to rely on.

A Taoist temple that can issue ordination certificates is naturally the first choice.

However, there are many temples in Guang'an Prefecture, but there are not many Taoist temples. Most of the existing ones are descendants' temples, or illegal wild fox temples. There are even fewer that can meet Gu Yan's needs.

He could only sweep the mass graves in the mansion and the ancestral tombs in the villages and towns while gathering information.

Finally, Qingyun Temple was chosen.

Qingyun Temple is one of the most prestigious Taoist temples in Guang'an Prefecture. The entire Qingyun Mountain Range is the temple's fiefdom. It owns countless fertile fields and products, and the people who come and go are all big merchants and officials in the prefecture, which perfectly meets Gu Yan's needs. The key is that Qingyun Temple accepts disciples every five years, and he is lucky enough to be waiting for it.

After that, it’s all about buying information and spending money.

It's not easy to spend money.

You are a mountain villager with no roots, and you don’t even know where to send money.

Even if you give it to someone, they might think it's dirty.

The key is to show off your wealth, which can easily lead to unnecessary trouble.

Fortunately, Gu Yan is not really a 15-year-old country boy.

He quickly found a suitable person from among a bunch of information dealers, and then spent thousands of silver taels and an "ancestral" wine-making recipe to please the person and get in touch with the family of the chief steward of the three cities and five masters of Qingyun Temple. After some operations, he got an introduction and was able to get in smoothly.

There were also waves when I came in.

Being recommended by someone only means you are qualified to come in, but whether you can succeed or not still needs to be assessed.

There are two types of assessments.

One is identity, the other is qualification.

His identity was not bad. Although Gu Yan was originally a mountain villager, he had never committed any crime and his identity was clean. Only the origin of his money was described in a Spring and Autumn style.

This matter can be big or small.

But he was taking bribes, not donations, so it was not easy to say it openly.

Just say hello and leave.

Qualifications are the main reason why Gu Yan was able to come in smoothly.

His martial arts talent is incredible!

When learning martial arts, aptitude is very important.

The qualifications for learning martial arts first depend on age.

When you are too old, your muscles and bones are fixed and you can’t train anything.

Therefore, no more than 16 years old.

Gu Yan touched his bones and found that he was only 15 years old, which was consistent.

The second thing to pay attention to is the innate muscles and bones, that is, whether the bones have grown crooked, whether the body is healthy and strong, and whether there are any special talents.

For the former, normal children from wealthy families can basically achieve this as long as they have no congenital defects and are well fed and well clothed.

The latter really depends on fate.

Gu Yan was not very talented, but he lifted a 500-jin millstone with one hand. His "natural strength" shocked the whole audience and caused chaos at the test site. The middle and high-level people in the Taoist temple started to fight with each other. In the end, the head of the Xunzhaoyuan was more skilled and knocked down all the brothers and snatched Gu Yan away.

If it weren't for the injury on his face that damaged his appearance, the person who would have received Gu Yan when he entered the hospital just now would not have been Senior Brother Tongshan, but the dean of Xunzhaoyuan.

When Gu Yan thought of the scene at that time, he felt like laughing.

He lay in bed, legs crossed, shaking his head: "Hey, it's gold, it can shine anywhere. Life is really without any challenges, lonely as snow."

"Hululu"

The snoring sound coming from under the bed interrupted Gu Yan's narcissism.

He felt unhappy and glanced at it, but he saw that Balian was full and sleeping soundly with his legs up in the air.

Thinking of the little dog who had been bothering him all this time, Gu Yan silently withdrew his finger-snapping magic.

Forget it, it's still young, just over a month old. It's normal for dogs not to understand the ways of the world. As an adult, I won't hold a grudge against the puppy, so let it go this time.

When he grows up, he still needs to be disciplined properly.

Ba Liang, who was sleeping soundly, seemed to feel something and shuddered. The little bird lost control and rushed out an arc of water column, hitting its own mouth.
Apparently, at just over a month old, Ba Liang could neither control his emotions nor his bladder.

Gu Yan: This stupid dog.

Damn, eight taels of silver is too expensive.

Damn profiteer!
Thanks to book friend 'Meng Wanyan' for the reward of 2,100 book coins, and thanks to the boss. I wish the boss a happy life and all the best!
Thanks to the book friend 'Xi Chen Yue' for the reward of 2,000 book coins, and thanks to the boss. I wish the boss a happy life and all the best!
Thanks to the book friend 'xin crystal xin' for the reward of 2,000 book coins. Thank you, beautiful lady. I wish you a happy life and all the best!
Thanks to the book friend 'The Newspaper Painter' for the reward of 1,000 book coins, and thanks to the boss. I wish the boss a happy life and all the best!
Thanks to the book friend 'Tsutsui Caimeng Ayame' for the reward of 888 book coins, and thanks to the boss. I wish the boss a happy life and all the best!
Thanks to the three book friends 'Waiting for You with Wine', 'Fairy-like Bai' and 'Reading Books with Salted Fish' for their rewards. Thanks to the three bosses. I wish the three bosses a happy life and all the best!
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(End of this chapter)