Chapter 189 — The True Man Claims Mounts (Part Two)

"The plan will work. Hearing you all, I see plainly that our Daoist tradition has indeed withered. Monsters have stormed our sacred Kunlun, rained blood to foul our grotto-heaven, and abducted our sect master, Yuanyan. Such a thing has not happened in several thousand years. It is truly hateful. These fiends are formidable besides, and I alone could hardly contend with them. Calling together the various peaks is only sensible. By your account, the highest cultivation among Maoshan, Shushan, and the Tianshi sect is barely early Return-to-Void, but they have a number of powerful dharma treasures and many people. So long as they hold the fiends at bay, I can pick them off one by one!"

Yuanyuan Zhenren deeply approved of Ling Yan's plan. After a moment's thought he at once gave his orders: "My good nephews and nieces, restoring our Kunlun grotto-heaven is now the pressing matter. Go forth, each of you, and make contact with the sects."

"Grandmaster, the other sects will be easy enough to summon," Ling Fei said quickly. "Only Shushan is troublesome. They have lately obtained the many dharma treasures, secret manuals, and elixirs their elder Liu Xia left behind, and their strength has surged. They have grown ever more provocative toward us. I fear our uncles will meet with some difficulty."

"With fiends abroad in the world, does Shushan think it can stand apart and keep its skirts clean? You Cen, that Dharma King Xuanyuan, was their sworn enemy in the old days. This matter requires me to guard the Jade Void Palace, so it is not well for me to go in person. Lingxu of Shushan is my junior; when his master was alive, he had to perform the disciple's rites before me. He is a sensible man and knows where the sharpness of the blade lies. There should be no great obstacle. When the Daoist sects of the world are gathered, we shall all go up to the Great Freedom Palace together to borrow their treasure. The palace master is of our Daoist lineage too, and knows well the great cause of slaying fiends and vanquishing demons!"

Now that Yuanyuan Zhenren had broken the precept against killing and lifted the prohibitions, he acted with the speed of wind and thunder, and he had his calculations too. If they went blundering up to the Great Freedom Palace to borrow the treasure and the other party made some excuse to refuse, it would be awkward to ask again. A sect's great treasure, after all—how could it be lent lightly? Were anyone to come borrowing the Apricot Yellow Flag, Yuanyuan Zhenren would sooner die than agree. And this matter concerned the very survival of Kunlun's grotto-heaven, weighty beyond measure. Of course everything must be properly prepared; not the slightest carelessness was permitted.

"This nun too will do her part," said Wuzhen Laoni, invoking the Buddha's name. "Since Shushan bears some grudge against your esteemed sect, there may be trouble; they will not exert themselves fully. Let me bring my disciples and go with you all, to play the peacemaker, and the business will be all but certain. Once these overseas fiends are slain, the various sects may even open grotto-heavens of their own overseas. A matter of benefit to both sides—You Cen's seas are rich in produce, abundant in spirit herbs, and beneath the waters lie countless grotto palaces and rare treasures left by water immortals, all as yet unopened. It is the finest opportunity for our Daoist tradition to flourish and expand. You must explain this reasoning to the various peaks as well."

Wuzhen Laoni chanted the Buddha's name and offered several more suggestions. The assembly was delighted. Where profit drives, matters become easy. Why should the great sects of the Central Plains not wish to open grotto-heavens overseas? Once the word was out, even sects with no grotto-heaven of their own would likely come to plant a foot in. The more people, the surer their grip on the fiends. Even if Shushan were stubborn and unruly, with Wuzhen Laoni and several Return-to-Void disciples to hold the line, could it overturn the heavens?

Thereupon several dozen old Daoists, at Yuanyuan's command, formed groups of three or five and went to summon the various peaks. Wuzhen Laoni set out for Shushan with a dozen old Daoists and several disciples—a dozen mid-to-late Spirit-Transformation cultivators, five Return-to-Void nuns, and Wuzhen Laoni herself at late Return-to-Void. So formidable a company the Daoist sects of the Central Plains could scarce assemble. Thus all the old Daoists were full of confidence; they had the means to persuade Shushan, even to make it submit. After all, Yuanyuan Zhenren stood behind them.

Kunlun was Kunlun, after all—the orthodox line of the ancient Expositionist teaching, the accumulated awe of several thousand years, the savings of dozens and hundreds of generations. In the end no isolated peak sect could compare, not even Shushan. Ling Yan and Ling Fei exchanged a glance, well pleased, and followed Yuanyuan Zhenren into the Jade Void Palace.

Yuanyuan Zhenren had always been rather fond of Ling Yan, and seeing her quick and clever, he meant to pass on some Daoist methods to them over these few days, and to use Kunlun's secret immortal elixirs to temper their primal foundations, the better to meet any sudden turn. Of the low-generation disciples of Kunlun, these two were now the most outstanding, and many affairs would require the younger generation to step forward. It would not do, whenever trouble arose, for a pack of old Daoists to go charging in. Qianji Laodao was dead, and the seat of Kunlun's sect master stood vacant. Yuanyuan Zhenren reckoned that on this expedition against the fiends he would let the brother and sister show their mettle, establish their prestige, and then pass down the seat of sect master. For the older generation, quiet cultivation and the gathering of strength was the proper course.

The office of Kunlun's sect master was open to either sex; through the generations there had been several women sect masters, and some had even ascended to the heavenly realms. Yuanyuan Zhenren was no fool, and he had his calculations.

"Originally our Kunlun had another dharma artifact, the token of the sect master's office, called the God-Beating Whip. It has always been in the hands of each generation's sect master, and it is a dharma artifact of tremendous power. But your master was slain by the fiends, and no doubt the God-Beating Whip has fallen into their hands. That artifact must be recovered—mark my words!" Yuanyuan Zhenren sat cross-legged on a red jade cushion and instructed the two before him.

Ling Yan and Ling Fei both nodded. Back then, when Qianji Laodao fought Zhou Xuan, Ling Yan had been knocked senseless at first sight of him and knew nothing of what followed. Qianji Laodao had seized Yiyunzi's body, and of course would never speak the truth. Ling Yan knew only that Yiyunzi had been killed by Zhou Tan, and so she hated Zhou Xuan to the marrow.

"Ling Fei! The sword arts you have practiced are a side branch of our Kunlun secret methods, not the orthodox line—and that was your own choice; you cannot blame others. To take up the orthodox heart-method now is possible, but it would cost much winding about, and is not advisable. I have here a gourd of the quintessence of the five metals, which I gathered roaming the eight directions in my younger days. Go into seclusion and dissolve it into your own true essence. Here is also a pill; swallow it with the rest, and temper your primal sword qi."