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

It's just a skeleton; all we know is that it's a tiger, but who knows if it's a white tiger or a black tiger?

The Taoist priest in green, resigned to his fate, uttered a harsh remark.

"The green hills remain unchanged, and the clear waters flow on forever..."

Zhang Zhengdao readily agreed: "If you don't work hard when you're young, you'll regret it when you're old."

Taoist in green: ? ? ?

Zhang Zhengdao smiled and said, "Goodbye, brother."

The Taoist priest in green robes said indignantly, "Never again!"

He turned around and stormed off. It wasn't that he didn't want compensation, but the girl was quite intimidating; he used his divine sense to probe her, and the golden light almost blinded him.

This is outrageous; I've never met anyone like this before.

Raising a new mythical beast would take decades. Alas, how many decades does a cultivator have left?

Ao Yu looked at Zhang Zhengdao and said, "Let him go? This roc has probably cultivated for over a thousand years. He even keeps a tiger as a pet. How could he even think of that?"

Zhang Zhengdao advised, "He hasn't offended us, and the White Snake even ate his tiger. Let's keep a low profile. There's no need to fight and kill every demon we see; that's not good."

The thousand-year-old demon was not actually powerful, so the Taoist in green lived a very low-key life.

If you can't win, don't force it; when it's time to back down, back down.

Zhang Zhengdao was actually a little envious.

Of course, this is all predicated on encountering someone as easy to talk to as yourself. If you run into a monkey, it might spot you with its fiery eyes and then whack you with a stick, not even giving you a chance to fart.

The town is small, with a small population and few shops.

Zhang Zhengdao couldn't buy what he wanted, but the things he didn't want were piled up everywhere. After wandering around, he was disappointed and prepared to go back.

Now everyone in the Taoist temple is familiar with Zhang Zhengdao and Ao Yu.

One stayed obediently in the Taoist temple, while the other was always out and about. So no one paid any attention to Zhang Zhengdao and Ao Yu coming and going.

The abbot had already given instructions to leave the two of them alone.

Back in his courtyard, Abbot Zhang Ling arrived first, followed by his disciples carrying a jar of wine and several meat dishes. They tentatively asked, "Abbot Zhang, would you like a drink?"

Zhang Zhengdao: "Have a drink!"

The abbot instructed that the wine and dishes be laid out, and the two knelt facing each other. All the disciples withdrew, leaving only the abbot and Zhang Zhengdao. The abbot then looked around.

"Ao Yu has gone out and won't be back tonight."

The abbot has given up hope; Ao Yu's cultivation is indeed formidable.

"Come, come, let's drink!" The abbot raised his wine bowl to Zhang Zhengdao and drank it all in one gulp.

Zhang Zhengdao didn't stand on ceremony and finished the bowl in one go.

This wine isn't very good either.

Zhang Zhengdao, being a straightforward person, asked, "Is this the best wine in the temple?"

The abbot was somewhat ashamed: "The temple doesn't actually have much money. It's mainly because it's not easy to run a shop in the city these days, and there are always thieves causing trouble, so the temple is struggling to make ends meet. A while ago, I had no choice but to send a few disciples out to make their way in the world."

This person was laid off from the Taoist temple.

Zhang Zhengdao asked, "Are you raising prices?"

I gave them forty taels of gold. Considering the price level of this era and the rarity of gold, they could probably live there for five or six years.

The abbot, Zhang Lingxian, quickly waved his hand and said, "To be honest, I plan to travel around the mortal world after a while and spread the teachings of my Taoist sect. After all, the world is about to descend into chaos, the court is unstable, and the world will be in great turmoil."

Zhang Zhengdao exclaimed in surprise, "Fellow Daoist, you can even do divination!"

The abbot, Zhang Lingxian, smiled bitterly and said, "I have cultivated for many years, and I have gained some knowledge in divination, star reading, and fortune telling. I am also saddened by the suffering of the people in this world. I also know some talismans and incantations, and I want to go and relieve the suffering of the people in the world, and at least save the common people. But I don't know how many years it will be before I can return."

Zhang Zhengdao: "Just say what you have to say!"

Zhang Lingxian said, "After I leave, I will entrust this Taoist temple to you, fellow Taoist."

Zhang Zhengdao asked curiously, "Don't you have dozens of disciples in your Taoist temple? You could just choose one to take over! Why does it have to be me?"

Zhang Lingxian said, “Fellow Daoist is an extraordinary person. If I were unaware of this, I would be incredibly foolish. Just look at your female companion; her cultivation is so profound that I have never seen anything like it in my life. Although you appear ordinary, you possess a restrained brilliance and a return to simplicity, which perfectly aligns with the supreme realm of a Daoist. I have no worries about entrusting this to you.”

How can you say that you can get a Taoist temple for free as soon as you arrive?

Could Zhang Ling be the great Zhang Tianshi of the Five Pecks of Rice sect who would later become famous throughout the world?

hiss--

Zhang Zhengdao took a breath.

It wasn't that Zhang Tianshi was particularly powerful; in Journey to the West, he was a high-ranking official in the Thunder Department of Heaven, in charge of the power of thunder. However, at this time, he hadn't yet gone to Heaven.

It is said that he ascended to heaven when his lifespan on earth ended at the age of 120.

So he asked, "Fellow Daoist, are you making arrangements for your final days?"

Zhang Zhengdao shouldn't have asked that question, but he did anyway.

Zhang Lingxian laughed and said, "There's nothing I should or shouldn't ask. I'm almost a hundred years old. If I go into the martial world, I really might not be able to come back. If I can't walk anymore in the martial world, I'll find a place right here and stay. I'll live out my remaining years there. Come, let's drink."

The two drank a few more bowls of wine.

It is said that Zhang Tianshi ascended to Heaven at the age of 123, which means he has more than 20 years to live.

So Zhang Zhengdao stopped trying to persuade them, and the two drank bowl after bowl of wine.

Zhang Lingxian was also trying to please him. He knew that the Taoist priest liked wine, and in order to ensure that the Taoist temple was not entrusted to the wrong person, he could only test him in this way.

When the world is in chaos and the people are suffering, he naturally cannot bear it and will try to save as many as he can.

Zhang Lingxian left in a drunken stupor.

Zhang Zhengdao was also quite drunk, and he went back to his room and lay down.

Early the next morning, Zhang Lingxian led his disciples to bid farewell to Zhang Zhengdao in the main hall. This time, he took almost all the disciples from the Taoist temple with him, wanting to spread good deeds throughout the world as much as possible.

"The Taoist temple is right here. Fellow Taoist, you don't need to go to any trouble. You can stay as long as you like, or abandon it if you can't. We Taoists don't care about these external things."

Zhang Lingxian gave repeated instructions.

"There are also some creatures around Qingcheng Mountain that have gained opportunities and become powerful. I can suppress most of them and they usually don't dare to cause trouble. I believe that you have a high level of cultivation, so it shouldn't be a problem."

Zhang Zhengdao nodded: "Don't worry."

Zhang Ling led his disciples down the mountain. They were all breezy and seemed like immortals, and soon they disappeared into the mountain paths, turning a few corners before they were no longer visible.

This journey will surely be an opportunity for Zhang Tianshi, and his future attainment of immortality will also come from this merit.

Zhang Zhengdao watched for a while before returning to the main hall.

It feels strangely deserted once everyone leaves.

He didn't stay in the side hall anymore, but went straight to the abbot's bedroom. The room wasn't big either, about the same size as his own. It seemed he lived a rather frugal life.

In this vast place, I was all alone. It was so empty. If Ao Yu hadn't brought the white snake to stroll around the temple from time to time, I would have wondered if I was back in the same situation when I first arrived at Peach Blossom Temple.

As the sun rises and sets, Zhang Zhengdao has now spent another three months here.

It's autumn, the season when leaves fall.

Zhang Zhengdao had nothing to do all day. He was sitting on a futon in the main hall of the Taoist temple, dozing off with a Taoist scripture in his hand. You could fall asleep while reading that.

A hundred miles away from Fuqing Palace in Qingcheng Mountain, there is a cave dwelling.

Two little lizard fairies, carrying weapons, cautiously patrolled the area around the cave, climbing up and down with great effort.

The king ordered them to patrol the mountains, so they should at least make a good impression.

It's said that... the old Taoist priest from Fuqing Palace has left. And he's been gone for several months now, and hasn't returned. This time he must have been murdered outside and won't be coming back.

Isn't this the opportunity?

King Black Tiger invited the demon kings of all ten caves in Qingcheng Mountain to come and discuss matters.

The black tiger spirit was indeed very dark-skinned, even its claws were black. Having only recently taken human form, it already dared to call itself king. The rest, large and small, sat together, ten in total.

Black Tiger was in the very center, while the other spirits—fox, white deer, water snake, wolf, hawk, leopard, wild ox, wild boar, and spider—sat on either side, all staring intently at Black Tiger.

These are either newly formed human forms or have only formed human heads. For example, the water snake spirit can only use the body of a snake to support the head of a beautiful woman.

"Clap clap clap!"

The black tiger spirit tapped the table and said impatiently.

"Stop arguing, we're having a meeting. This is important. We can talk about arguing and fighting over territory later. Let's discuss how we can take over that Taoist temple."

"I've heard that the Taoist temple has many treasures, including a whole cabinet full of elixirs of immortality." The wild boar demon was quite excited. He even stood up while speaking, almost knocking over the table.

"Immortality? That old Taoist priest himself has white hair and beard. His pig brain is no good. What we want is not elixirs, but cultivation techniques, authentic Taoist Xuanmen cultivation techniques. That is our true treasure."

There's some knowledge in this. The one speaking is the white deer spirit, and she speaks in a soft, gentle voice.

“What to do!”

The black tiger spirit tapped on the table again.

"Just rob him!" the bison demon grumbled. "Now that the old Taoist priest is dead outside, the remaining Taoist is young and easy to bully. If we all rush in, are we afraid he can stop us?"

The wild boar spirit nodded: "We outnumber them and have the upper hand, what are we afraid of?"

The Black Tiger Spirit had some concerns: "If this Taoist priest dies, what if the old Taoist comes back to settle scores with us?"

The spider demon said, "We're not going to kill him. I just need to wrap him up with my silk, and then we can do whatever we want, ahahaha..."

At this point, the spider demon suddenly burst into laughter. "I won't kill him, but sucking some of his juices shouldn't be a problem, right?"