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

Sun Wukong struggled to climb out of the pit.

"Bah!"

He spat out the dirt from his mouth, turned around, and saw Sha Wujing and Zhu Wuneng leaning their heads closer.

"Senior Brother, what's wrong?"

Both of them were shocked.

Sun Wukong ignored the two of them, and instead knelt on the ground, kowtowed to the sky, and shouted, "Sun Wukong greets Master." After saying that, he kowtowed several more times.

Very devout.

Master?

With a "plop," Pigsy knelt down next to Monkey King, kowtowing repeatedly, crying out, "Oh dear, Master, I've missed you so much! Where are you? Let me catch a glimpse of your beautiful face and hear your voice..."

Sha Wujing was a little slow on the uptake, being a hawk spirit with a small brain capacity, but he quickly realized what was happening and knelt down with a thud, calling out "Master."

"Snapped!"

Zhu Wuneng got slapped on the head.

I'm so dizzy from playing that I don't know which way is up.

When they came to their senses, they saw a Taoist priest in green robes standing in front of them, holding a whisk in his hand and a peach wood sword on his back.

Isn't this the standard attire for a master?

"Master, I really missed you so much! Why did you hit me? Why didn't you hit the other two?"

Zhang Zhengdao angrily retorted, "Your voice and smile? Do you think I'm dead?!"

Zhu Wuneng chuckled: "I, Old Pig, haven't read much."

"Master! You've worked so hard. Where have you come from?"

Sun Wukong eagerly stepped forward, straightened Zhang Zhengdao's clothes, and patted the dust off his body.

Ha! Do I have dust on me? What a pretentious act.

Zhang Zhengdao asked, "How many people are left in the Taoist temple?"

Sun Wukong scratched the back of his head and chuckled awkwardly, "You'll have to ask Senior Brother. I'm too impatient to do these things; Senior Brother does them all."

Zhang Zhengdao said, "Let's go take a look!"

He disappeared in a flash.

When they reappeared, they were in a side room of the main hall, which was the room where the head of the hall would rest after his duties, and where incense, candles, paper money, and ritual implements for burning incense were kept.

As soon as Zhang Zhengdao entered, Xuan Yun, who was meditating on the couch, seemed to sense it. He suddenly opened his eyes, then his body trembled. His lips twitched a few times with difficulty.

"Master...Master...Awoooooo..."

Xuan Yun opened his eyes and saw Zhang Zhengdao. For some reason, this big man suddenly felt like he couldn't hold back.

Finally, she couldn't hold back anymore, and tears streamed down her face. At first, she tried to suppress her sobs, but once she started crying, she couldn't control her emotions and ended up wailing.

Suddenly, she jumped up, hugged Zhang Zhengdao's waist, buried her huge head in Zhang Zhengdao's chest, and cried like a child.

Zhang Zhengdao reached out and patted his head, sighing, "Foolish child, foolish child!"

After much persuasion, Xuan Yun finally calmed down.

After he calmed down, he started talking about etiquette, putting on the persona of the kind, strict, and honest senior brother, and the manager of the Fuqing Palace in Qingcheng Mountain.

He first took a few steps back, bowed to Zhang Zhengdao, and said, "Disciple greets Master. I made a fool of myself just now. It was my fault. Please punish me."

Zhang Zhengdao held his hand and laughed, "You, you are just too honest. You keep so many things to yourself. You should learn to let your junior brothers and sisters share some of the burden."

Xuan Yun said, "This disciple can still do things..."

"It's not a matter of whether you do things or not. You are not the parents of your juniors, and they are not your children. In the end, you will all have to stand on your own."

Xuan Yun bowed and said, "Master's teachings are correct."

Zhang Zhengdao said, "Go and summon everyone in the temple to the main hall. I have something to say."

Xuan Yun bowed respectfully: "Yes, Master!"

I hurriedly went to arrange things.

Master is back.

This news caused an uproar throughout Fuqing Palace.

So when the eldest disciple Xuan Yun summoned them, all the disciples who were busy inside and outside the palace returned immediately, mainly the new ten demon kings and a few old demon kings.

Meanwhile, all the demon kings and lesser demons of Qingcheng Mountain, big and small, rushed towards Fuqing Palace on Qingcheng Mountain.

In just a short while, Fuqing Palace was surrounded by layers of people.

Even the distant mountains were filled with little fairies.

After all, all 100,000 demons, big and small, of Qingcheng Mountain had obtained Xuan Yun's Cloud Piercing Arrow.

Zhang Zhengdao sat in the main seat of the hall, with his personal disciples sitting at the front, followed by the ten newly promoted demon kings, then the wild demon kings, and all sorts of demons, big and small.

As soon as Zhang Zhengdao sat down, along with Xuan Yun's kneeling, 100,000 demons knelt down at the same time and bowed to Zhang Zhengdao.

"Meet the Master!"

"Meet the real person!"

……

Zhang Zhengdao said, "Now that I am returning to the Taoist temple to preach, you may listen if you understand, or you may leave freely if you do not understand. I will not force you."

"We are willing to listen!"

One hundred thousand demons rose to answer, their voices sweeping across the entire mountain from the main hall of the Taoist temple like a tornado, even filling the trees with demons eager to hear Zhang Zhengdao's sermon.

Zhang Zhengdao slammed his gavel and said, "After this lecture, it will be several years before you can give another one. You all must cultivate yourselves well."

"We understand!"

Without wasting words, Zhang Zhengdao began, "This lecture will discuss the evolution of the Heavenly Dao..."

"The Way of Heaven is like water, formless and without appearance, flowing ceaselessly. Its evolution is not something to be forced, but rather a natural process. You living beings, in your cultivation, should not strive to defy Heaven and change your fate. Instead, you should understand your own origin, like plants that know their seasons, and follow the opportune time, favorable place, and harmonious relationships. Guard your heart and maintain righteousness, perceive the rhythm of Heaven and Earth, and when your spiritual light naturally appears, that is the opportunity to attain the Way. What you cultivate is a free mind, not brute force..."

The moment the Taoist spoke, the world changed color and the wind and clouds surged.

The sky also began to darken.

The celestial tribulation lightning seemed to have been summoned in response to the times, continuously gathering power above the Lingxiao Palace and other halls...

The Jade Emperor frowned and rebuked his ministers, saying, "Where is Puhua Tianzun of the Thunder Department? How can these tribulation lightning bolts have come to the Lingxiao Palace in Heaven? What kind of behavior is this? If you don't want to do it, then don't do it."

At this moment, Puhua Tianzun staggered in.

"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened..."

Venus stepped forward and rebuked, "What kind of behavior is this, all flustered and disorderly? Aren't you afraid of offending His Majesty?"

Puhua Tianzun quickly said, "This is really terrible!"

The Jade Emperor frowned and asked, "What exactly happened?"

Puhua Tianzun said, "Those tribulation clouds and lightning are out of control, even I can't control them. Suddenly they're condensing in large quantities, I don't know what they're going to do..."

Upon hearing this, the Jade Emperor immediately panicked.

If the tribulation lightning becomes uncontrollable, then... if it strikes the Lingxiao Palace, wouldn't that be utterly disastrous? Although there are many people here who can endure tribulation lightning, there are not many who can resist it.

"Quickly, quickly summon Laozi! Thousand-mile eyes and wind-following ears, go and see where, besides the tribulation lightning here, there are other tribulation lightning bolts gathered and causing trouble..."

The all-seeing and all-hearing birds accepted the order and left.

Before long, he hurried back and reported: "These tribulation lightning bolts all went to Qingcheng Mountain in the Southern Continent. We don't know why... Qingcheng Mountain has always been shrouded in celestial chaos. We can't see or hear it clearly."

Qingcheng Mountain?

Immediately, everyone in Heaven had the same thought.

Qingcheng Mountain has been absent from the discussions among the people in Heaven for a long time, and it is rarely mentioned even in casual conversations, simply because the big boss of Qingcheng Mountain is no longer here.

As for Xuan Yun, although he is also Zhang Zhengdao's eldest disciple and is proficient in Taoist magic, I've only heard that he's very powerful and has no rivals. I don't know if he's just bragging, but I've never actually fought him, so I just treat it as a joke.

As attention waned, people gradually stopped discussing Qingcheng Mountain.

I never expected it to cause such a big commotion today.

"Could it be... that Taoist priest has returned?"

The Jade Emperor tentatively addressed his ministers.

At this moment, Nezha jumped out and said, "Good, good, perfect! I haven't seen my father for so long, Your Majesty. Why don't you send me down to ask him?"

The Jade Emperor nodded: "Since you have this intention, that's perfect. Go and meet him!"

Nezha accepted the order and proudly prepared to descend to the mortal realm.

Only Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, looked somewhat unwell.

Once Nezha left, the Jade Emperor dismissed the assembled officials. After they departed, Laozi approached and, looking at the Jade Emperor, asked, "Does Your Majesty wish to inquire about the matter of Mount Qingcheng?"

The Jade Emperor nodded: "That's right, but what about that Taoist priest..."

Laozi laughed and said, "Exactly. It's perfect timing. I'm going to see an old friend. Why don't I go down to the mortal realm with Nezha, the Third Prince, to have a look?"

The Jade Emperor said, "If it really is a Taoist priest, please take some gifts with him for me."

Social skills and interpersonal relationships are definitely essential.

When Zhang Zhengdao wasn't here, that was one thing. But now that he's back, he's a big shot on par with Laozi and Buddha, or even bigger.

Laozi smiled and nodded, then took some fine wine, jade liquor, and immortal peaches and fruits and headed towards Mount Qingcheng.

At that moment, a fairy hurriedly headed towards the Great Sage Palace.

The Taoist priest has returned.

This huge piece of news must be reported immediately.

Those who arrive early receive a considerable amount of tips.

If you're lucky, you might even get a magic pill.

That's an elixir refined by Laozi. Although it's not the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir, it's still a wonderful thing that can grant immortality just by smelling it!

The fairy rushed headlong into the Great Sage Palace, followed by several other fairies who wanted to deliver the message!

They all rushed in together!