A Tale of Encounters with Immortals: A Peach Blossom Temple in the Martial World

Zhang Zhengdao woke up.

A drop of dew fell from the sky and landed in his yawning mouth.

Then he sat up abruptly. Had he slept soundly last night? He seemed to know nothing. Beside him slept a young girl, embracing a white snake.

In her previous life, the white snake at the foot of Mount Qingcheng was roasted and eaten by the disciples of the Qingcheng Sect.

Unexpectedly, there is another white snake in this life. It seems to be very thick and long, probably hundreds of years old!

The white snake, its head held captive by the girl, flicked its tongue helplessly, refusing to move an inch. Its eyes caught sight of Zhang Zhengdao, seemingly with a hint of pleading.

Beg me?

Zhang Zhengdao was taken aback.

Then I started calculating with my fingers.

It's now the mid-to-late Eastern Han Dynasty. Go back another 1000 years, and Zhang Zhengdao's eyes widened immediately. Bai Suzhen at the foot of Qingcheng Mountain!

At this moment, the girl woke up, gently touched the snake's head, sat up, looked at Zhang Zhengdao, rubbed her eyes, and said, "Master, you're awake. You slept too soundly last night. Your body was glowing..."

Ao Yu was gesturing with her hands.

The white snake still didn't dare to move.

The golden dragon's aura was too terrifying; he had no will to resist and was listless.

Zhang Zhengdao was also stunned. He didn't expect that he was sleeping so soundly, and that his body was even glowing. The light even shone through his body, which was a bit outrageous.

When the jade ruyi entered the body on Earth, it did not emit light within the body.

I tried to sense the condition inside my body.

After all, you're afraid of getting sick from eating things of unknown origin.

Zhang Zhengdao was stunned by this investigation.

The original golden core was gone, replaced by a chaotic void within the body, like the universe itself, with no bottom in sight. It was as if the universe were infinite and endless.

With a slight close of his eyes, he carefully sensed the myriad laws and mantras of the universe within his body, which seemed to shimmer like a vast galaxy. He was instantly captivated by them.

It seemed as if billions of years had passed in the Milky Way, the universe was constantly changing, and even the golden dragon and white snake beside them slowly began to decay. From being full of vitality to being old and frail, from muscles rotting into a pile of white bones, from being covered in yellow earth to the transformation of mountains and rivers, the life of the golden dragon and white snake seemed to be just a snap of the fingers, their figures as insignificant as a drop in the ocean.

All of time passed as quickly as the painting before Zhang Zhengdao's eyes.

"boom--"

A loud bang startled Zhang Zhengdao awake. He opened his eyes and felt as if he were omnipotent, yet also as ordinary as a mortal, without any supernatural abilities.

Turning his head, he saw the girl hugging the snake's head and looking at him.

"How are you? Did you eat anything that upset your stomach?"

Ao Yu looked at Zhang Zhengdao with curiosity.

Zhang Zhengdao suddenly realized that what had just happened was only a moment, but he felt as if he had experienced billions of years. It was too amazing.

The two jade ruyi scepters merged into one, but then vanished without a trace, dissipating into the body.

This……

Has my skill level improved or regressed?

untested.

“Let’s go!” Zhang Zhengdao said to Ao Yu.

Ao Yu: "Do I still want to turn into a white horse?"

Zhang Zhengdao was surprised: "It's a change, otherwise, if we go to the Taoist temple and they don't want women, how will you get in? Unless you don't want to follow me anymore."

Ao Yu sighed helplessly, "Fine!"

Zhang Zhengdao's earlier words had terrified her. He said it could be skinned alive, and countless powerful beings could easily destroy it. She felt that this golden dragon, in this world, was nothing more than a spicy snack in the eyes of those powerful beings.

How could I not be afraid!

"Can I take this snake with me?" Ao Yu looked at Zhang Zhengdao pitifully. "Seeing it reminds me of my past self... I used to be a snake too..."

Zhang Zhengdao: "You used to be a female snake."

Ao Yu: "This white snake is female too!"

Zhang Zhengdao: "How do you know it's female?"

Ao Yu: "Because I used to be a female snake too!"

Okay, that seems to make sense. The White Snake is a female snake, perhaps the future Bai Suzhen from Qingcheng Mountain. But Zhang Zhengdao still disagrees with having such a large snake by his side.

"Please!" Ao Yu had learned to act coquettishly.

Zhang Zhengdao's face darkened: "No means no. However... I'll give it a chance and see what fate brings it. If it has enough good fortune in the future, we'll meet again someday."

As Zhang Zhengdao spoke, he suddenly pointed a finger at the white snake's forehead.

A beam of light suddenly entered the white snake's brain from the fingertip, flashing and disappearing in an instant.

Suddenly, the white snake's head stood up, its eyes wide open, and miraculously, a new tooth that Ao Yu had knocked out grew back.

After a while, the white snake's head moved, then cautiously approached Zhang Zhengdao and nuzzled his arm with its head, seemingly expressing its emotions.

Zhang Zhengdao isn't a snake, so he doesn't know what it's trying to express.

But Ao Yu knew, and she said cheerfully, "Xiao Bai said it's very grateful to you and wants to treat you to something to eat."

Zhang Zhengdao: ...

Suddenly, the white snake twisted its body and disappeared into the woods.

Just as Zhang Zhengdao was getting ready to transform Ao Yu into a white dragon horse, the white snake slowly slithered back, its belly bulging as if it were pregnant.

Upon seeing Zhang Zhengdao, it immediately wagged its tail, and then the bulging thing in its belly slowly moved towards its mouth. Soon after, a clump of mucus and the entire gazelle were expelled from its mouth.

The white snake seemed quite cheerful, swaying its tail and pointing at Zhang Zhengdao one moment, and then at the completely dead yellow sheep it had vomited up the next.

This means...

Ao Yu immediately helped with the translation.

"Master, what Xiaobai means is that this is a gift to thank you, and it hopes you will accept it."

Zhang Zhengdao: ...

"roll--"

Unable to contain himself any longer, Zhang Zhengdao roared and with a flick of his sleeve, the white snake vanished instantly.

The White Snake only saw Zhang Zhengdao flick his sleeve, and suddenly she was as if she were in a cloud. When her body touched the ground, she looked around and found herself in a completely unfamiliar place.

Because snakes that big all have their own hunting territories.

This place is completely unfamiliar to me!

Ao Yu exclaimed, "Ah!" and called out, "Master, where is Xiao Bai?"

Zhang Zhengdao: "It's two hundred li away."

Throughout the journey, the white dragon horse kept complaining, saying that it just wanted to find a playmate, but it didn't expect the abbot to be so heartless, leaving its playmates two hundred miles away.

Its incessant chatter annoyed Zhang Zhengdao, who then silenced it.

Finally, at noon, we arrived at the Taoist temple, which was fairly ordinary.

The Taoist temple wasn't very large; compared to the newly built Taoist temple complex on Peach Blossom Mountain, it was just a corner of the Peach Blossom Mountain Taoist temple complex. It consisted of a simple main hall, a backyard, two side halls, and living quarters.

Zhang Zhengdao saw it clearly at a glance.

They had already arrived at the entrance in front of the main hall when a young Taoist priest came over and bowed to Zhang Zhengdao.

"What brings you here, fellow Daoist?"

Zhang Zhengdao asked, "Are you still hiring here?"

Seeing that the young Taoist priest was a bit confused, he explained, "I mean, do you still accept people to cultivate in your temple? I don't care about seniority in your temple, I just want to stay here. You can cultivate yours, I'll cultivate mine, just give me a courtyard to live in."

After saying that, he patted his pocket and said, "I'm rich!"

The young Taoist priest was clearly undecided and said, "I'll go ask my master."

After saying that, he dashed inside.

Zhang Zhengdao and the white dragon horse waited outside.

After a while, a middle-aged Taoist priest came over, bowed to Zhang Zhengdao, and said, "Fellow Daoist, may I ask your honorable title?"

"Peach Blossom True...Taoist name Peach Blossom."

Zhang Zhengdao was very cautious; in this world, he could no longer claim to be a true person.

The middle-aged Taoist priest was taken aback. It seemed rare to see someone use peach blossom as their Taoist name.

"I asked the patriarch, and he said he could grant your request. However... staying overnight is possible, and food and lodging can be arranged, but there will be some expenses..."

"I have money!" Zhang Zhengdao immediately took out several gold ingots from his pocket.

The two gold ingots, judging by their purity and size, would amount to approximately forty taels.

The middle-aged Taoist priest immediately beamed and quickly accepted the money, gesturing for it to be taken. He said, "We Taoists shouldn't ask for money from fellow practitioners, but since we haven't achieved enlightenment, we can't escape these worldly things. Oh... I forgot to introduce myself. My Taoist name is Xuancheng."

The two chatted as they walked into the main hall.

Inside the main hall stood an old Taoist priest with white hair and beard, a robust build, and a ruddy complexion. Upon seeing Zhang Zhengdao and the white horse parked outside the hall, his eyes narrowed.

This Taoist priest is quite strange; his origins are completely unclear, and he seems no different from an ordinary mortal.

But the white horse seemed exceptionally handsome, with golden light emanating from its body.

If you stare directly at it, the golden light is so bright that you can't open your eyes.

Zhang Zhengdao asked in surprise, "Fellow Daoist, why are you crying?"

The white-haired old Taoist almost cried out in protest, "Was that crying? The golden light was too dazzling; it brought tears to my eyes."