I became an immortal in the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 50 Master Jin Yuan's Cultivation Notes
As Jiang She finished speaking.

The young-looking Taoist priest, dressed in a black robe with flame patterns, aged inch by inch. His skin rapidly became withered and wrinkled, and with each breath he grew older, developing yellow spots and wrinkles, and his body became emaciated.

Restored to its appearance before the incense was burned.

"Fourth Prince" has been hiding in Ruzhou for many years, bribing ghosts and gods.

All the accumulated prayers and incense offerings were drained away.

Li Bai and Yuan Danqiu watched from the sidelines, their hearts filled with horror. They couldn't help but take two steps back, yet their eyes remained fixed on the scene, unable to tear themselves away.

He held his breath and was speechless for a moment.

In their eyes, the Taoist priest aged suddenly, from his twenties or thirties to his sixties, and then rapidly grew even older.

In the end, he looked even older than the old mountain god.

His hair was gray, and his skin and flesh were stuck to his bones, gradually melting and disappearing.

In the time it takes to breathe, it turned into a skeleton.

The village boy cried out in surprise.

Yuan Danqiu then remembered that there was a seven or eight-year-old child beside him. He reached out and covered the child's eyes, whispering, "Don't be afraid."

Li Bai also took two steps forward, getting closer to the Taoist priest and blocking the village boy's view.

On the golden platform of fireworks, the solemn golden statue of the deity gradually cracked. In front of the believers and pilgrims, inch by inch, it transformed back to its pre-cast form, becoming a cracked and broken stone and clay statue.

The cracks spread to the golden platform.

With a thud, it slowly fell down, rolled off the platform, and crashed to the ground.

"Statue!"

"What's going on here?!"

The worshippers in the hall, bewildered, screamed in alarm. Those kneeling in prayer below, nearly struck, were still shaken, clutching their chests and cursing loudly.

"What happened? The temple keeper! The temple keeper!"

"How did the golden statue turn into a stone statue?"

"Did you cut corners and embezzle the donations we made?"

Amidst their vehement condemnation.

The Temple of Silangjun is magnificent and solemn.

Large swaths of vermilion lacquer and meticulously painted murals of immortals were also scraped off.

Meanwhile, the gold dust on the walls gradually crumbled away, some of it landing on several worshippers inside the hall. The rest was blown away by the wind outside the door, drifting further afield like swirling snowflakes.

The worshippers in the hall were surprised and suspicious.

I don't know what happened, but I saw some people covered in gold.

"That's strange, how come I didn't get any gold on me?"

"This wind is evil."

Some people looked at the statue that had rolled down from the high platform and was already cracked, and pondered for a moment. One of them tugged at the arm of the hand and said, "I think this place is cursed. We should avoid coming here for a while."

next moment.

Some people cried out in pain.

"my eyes!"

"This gold dust... Temple keeper! You dare to pass off inferior goods as genuine? I donated money!"

"It hurts! It hurts! What is this? Fourth Prince... Fourth Prince, save me!"

Some people who got their hands on the gold dust felt pain all over their bodies and couldn't help but crawl outside the hall, hoping to shake off the evil stuff with the wind outside.

They couldn't see what was happening inside the main hall. They were even less aware that the Fourth Prince truly existed.

In front of Jiang She and the others.

The Taoist priest had no flesh and blood left, had lost his last bit of spiritual light and consciousness, and had his incense removed by the immortals. He had lost his foundation for existence, and his lifespan came to an end at that moment.

Many seek the Way, but few attain it.

All his obsessions in life, his pursuit of immortality, have turned into gold dust and ashes in the temple.

All gone.

Only a skeleton remained.

There was a "click" sound.

A booklet fell from the drooping sleeve.

Jiang She picked it up.

It is an old, worn-out notebook with unrestrained and elegant handwriting, titled "Notes on the Practice of Master Jin Yuan".

Next to it, another line was written vertically: "Zhou Ling Brush".

The writing was unrestrained and free-spirited, yet beautiful, showing signs of diligent practice. This notebook must have been written by this "Fourth Young Master." "Jin Yuan Shangren" was his self-given name, and Zhou Ling was likely his actual name. Jiang She thought for a moment, then opened and began to read.

……

……

The ink has faded somewhat, and the writing is very earnest, clumsy, and crooked in a single line.

"In the eighteenth year of the Zhenguan era, my master said I was suited to enter the Daoist path, and told me to bid farewell to my parents and learn the methods of cultivating immortality. Are there really immortals in this world?"

"Mother cried."

"However, who has the talent to enter the Dao at the age of sixteen?"

The right side was mostly empty, with a few lines of text written on it.

"It turns out there were two senior brothers and one senior sister above me. They gave me gifts, saying it was to congratulate me on entering the Taoist path. I felt they didn't need to flatter me."

"If I were to become an immortal, I would travel with the moon, drink wine in the breeze, how delightful!"

……

“My master said there are no gods or immortals in the world, but the art of flying is still possible, which is not what I thought.”

……

"In the nineteenth year of Zhenguan, I saw a ghost for the first time. It looked strange and frightening, with a blue face and fangs, and a hideous appearance."

Is this how it is when you die?

"Ugly."

Jiang She turned many more pages. The Taoist loved to write things down, including all sorts of feelings he encountered during his cultivation, and even his junior brother's terrible cooking.

Talkative, but genuine.

……

"In the twenty-second year of Zhenguan, my grandmother passed away. I had not yet succeeded in my cultivation. My master said that I should not get involved in these karmas. I only went down the mountain to take a look and did not let my parents see me."

"They are getting old."

Why do you still keep the tiger-head shoes I wore when I was a child?

……

"In the twenty-third year of Zhenguan, my senior sister said that the emperor had passed away."

"Everyone dies. We, who are like immortals, have long since transcended the mortal world. Why should we be attached to these things?"

"In November, one can practice the method of flying and rise one zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) off the ground."

"This is the Taoist method I wanted to learn when I was sixteen, but I only understand a little bit of it now that I've come of age."

"The path to enlightenment is arduous, but fortunately I am no ordinary person."

……

"In the fifth year of Xianqing, I have been a Taoist for seventeen years. I am already thirty-three years old. If I were down the mountain, I would be middle-aged and should have children and grandchildren. Mortals have so many troubles."

"My father has passed away."

“I went to see him, and my eldest brother was supporting the coffin in front of him.”

"It's been more than ten years since I last saw you. My elder brother has grown old and has a grandson now. He was very happy to see me and rubbed his hands together, wanting to give me money to spend. What need does a spiritual practitioner have for gold and silver? Looking at the wrinkles on his face, I accepted it anyway."

“My master has the magic of turning stone into gold; I’ll go and learn it.”

"At that time, he won't need to scheme for money."

"Pitiful."

"I asked my senior brother to change the cover for me, and I rewrote the title. I originally wanted to call it 'A Brief Biography of Master Jin Yuan's Ascension to Immortality,' but I lost to my senior brother. So, I'll call it 'Master Jin Yuan's Cultivation Notes'!"

As Jiang She read on, the idle chatter gradually diminished.

He went from being a talkative boy to being quiet, but his self-important and unrestrained spirit remained unchanged.

……

"In the first year of Yonglong, it was the thirty-sixth year since I entered the Daoist path."

"My mother has passed away."

“I haven’t been home for a long time. It took me a long time to find a way. My older brother is old and dying. He held my hand and said a lot of things. He also said that before my father passed away, he always wanted to see me. This time, when my mother passed away, he buried the tiger-head shoes I wore when I was a child with her.”

"I've almost forgotten what happened when I was a child."

“I look like I’m thirty, younger than my older brother’s son. My older brother’s hair is already gray.”

"I regret it a little. I don't know what I was thinking when I came down the mountain, I didn't go to see them. I haven't spoken a word to them since I entered the Dao at the age of sixteen."

"After thirty-six years in the Dao, I still haven't mastered the art of turning stone into gold."

(End of this chapter)