Episode 63

  All the immortals entered the Taiyi Female True Person's like-one pavilion, where Master Big Dipper looked at the gate and said:

  "You who can ride on clouds, come after me yourself! The disciples of the Refining Body stage can follow me and go together!"

  "Yes!"

  The masters of the Fa Ti period all had difficult expressions on their faces, slowly walking out like a cloud, reciting Buddhist scriptures and riding on clouds. Several masters in the Ruyi Pavilion covered their mouths and smiled. Chang'er saw this and her curiosity grew, asking:

  "Tang Shixiong, why are you laughing?"

  "This place is over 3,000 miles away from our sect's main gate. Even if the brothers outside the pavilion ride on clouds to return, it would still take them at least two days or more. If you don't know, riding on clouds and flying in the sky can't be compared to sitting leisurely in this pavilion. Firstly, it greatly consumes one's spiritual energy and original power, and there is also the suffering of wind and rain from the heavens. Although they may not eat food, rising high up into the air, their consumption of spiritual energy is not comparable to ordinary times. If they don't take the 'Increase in Merit Immortal Pill', how can they ride on clouds and fly? The 'Increase in Merit Immortal Pill' may be ordinary, but it's not something that poor disciples like us can afford to waste!"

  "So it seems that fellow disciples outside the palace have suffered quite a bit?"

  "Indeed! Suffering is secondary, this time the elixir consumption will likely require two or three months of hard work to recover!"

  Insufficient sat quietly beside, not speaking, but in fact had a general understanding of the mountain gate he was about to enter. He knew that low-ranking disciples needed to do hard labor in exchange for immortal pills to aid their cultivation, and that even the lowest-ranking immortal pills such as Yuanli Dan and Bigu Dan were difficult to obtain! No wonder the disciples who drove clouds back to the mountain during the Fa Ti period were like those who had climbed a knife-sharp mountain!

  "Tang Shixiong, why don't you refine the Dan medicine yourself?"

  "Self-refining? Ah, no! You're like a junior sister, you're not cultivating, you're just playing around! Not to mention that refining is an advanced technique, ordinary cultivators can't even refine, they'll go crazy just hearing about the method of refining! And where would you get the divine materials and elixirs for refining? How would you learn the formation method for refining, even if you learned it, without those expensive divine materials and elixirs, how could you set up the formation? Without a formation or materials, how can you refine?! Besides, if you had that many divine materials and elixirs, your value would be sky-high, why bother refining yourself, wasting cultivation time, just buy them!"

  "What you said is absolutely right! I, a young woman, have learned from it!"

  Chang'er giggled and said.

  "Tang Shixiong, where did the elixir from our sect come from again?"

  Insufficient, quietly ask.

  He stared blankly like an idiot, and Tang Shixiong was shocked and looked over, saying:

  "Feng Cheng, my junior brother, don't you even know this? The reason why various schools and sects can prosper is not because of any heavenly mandate or human unity, but because they can gather the power of all practitioners to support and assist each other in their cultivation. Each school has its own cultivators who specialize in the principles of alchemy, the wonders of formation arrays, and the methods of refining instruments. As for low-ranking disciples, they are just like ordinary people in the mundane world, only suffering hardships and toiling to meet the needs of the sect. If one has good fortune, excellent innate qualities, and encounters a wise teacher, and their cultivation is successful, then they can rise directly to the heavens and become a superior being! As for you and others who have entered the sect as disciples, in my opinion, it's half good and half bad."

  "I'd love to hear more about it!"

  "The benefit is that you have a master to teach you the way of professional practice, so you can avoid going astray! The drawback is that for the rest of your life, you will be bound to the sect, and from then on, you will no longer be free! The rules within the sect are strict, whatever they say goes, and if you slightly disobey, you will be punished. As for cultivation, it's not even a required course anymore!"

  "It's still better to be a hermit!"

  "This is wrong again! Among the wild cultivators, there are also powerful ones, but they are rare and can't compare to the various sects. The biggest problem with wild cultivation is the lack of methods and resources for cultivation. Sects are different, with a vast array of methods and endless resources. As long as one has sufficient opportunity and exceptional talent, they won't worry about being unable to achieve the Great Dao!"

  Chatting like this, before I knew it, the pavilion had already risen into the air. It's not enough for people to live inside and there is no awareness of it, this thing is really extraordinary! Turning my head to look outside, what enters my eyes is that the peach forest is gradually far away, only the Ling Mountain is towering into the clouds, and can still be seen clearly. Being in the apricot forest, I didn't know that the peach forest was so vast, now from a thousand feet high, looking down at the ground, I see the peach forest stretching for thousands of miles, falling on top of many mountains and hills, forming a wonderful shape. Although I have some feelings, but not very clear, so I withdraw my gaze and look forward.

  The scenery changes greatly in just two days. The mountains are low and short like hills, stretching out in layers as far as the eye can see. On the ridges, there are mountain tea trees, with green grass and shrubs layered on top of each other, a sight that seems to have no end. Under the clear sky, the clouds are light and pale, seemingly endless. At this moment, my heart suddenly feels a pang of melancholy, but then a surge of heroic spirit arises, and I involuntarily whisper:

  "Ten thousand zhang of emptiness is hard to reach the sky, Lingqiu green island can be home."

  All his life he said that a thousand mountains were crossed, leaving home was just borrowing the convenience of a long wind.

  Her husband travels to places of extreme danger, yet he returns as if from a stroll in the garden.

  "The beautiful scenery is not to be deceived, after chanting for ten thousand years, it's just as usual."

  Chang'er heard his soft voice and hummed, her spirit was drunk and her heart was bewildered. She stared blankly at the insufficient, feeling that her heart was like a mountain, her will like a sea. However, the road ahead was treacherous, and she couldn't move by herself. What could she do? She also hummed softly in harmony:

  "Virtuous gentlemen, my heart is at ease."

  Day by day they draw near to it, yet know it not.

  Softly humming and gently singing, without seeing the visitor arrive.

  Words cannot express it, secretly hurting my heart.

  The sound of the zither is just for you to sing.

  The song is endless, but the remaining sound is faint and weak.

  Your voice is weak, I am sad for you.

  A sorrowful song chokes in my throat, hard to express all I feel.

  When I was born, you were not there yet.

  The gentleman is elegant and refined; I will take my leave and go.

  Alas! Alas! In the end, it cannot be cut off."

  The song ended, tears suddenly welled up. Insufficiently, she gently wiped away the teardrops on Chang'er's face with her hand and sighed. Chang'er leaned lightly against her, letting the tears flow without wiping them away.

  It's truly remarkable, the speed of flying is not fast, but it wins in stability, it's really like walking on flat ground! Moreover, its changes can be adjusted at will. In the apricot forest, it was only a small room, but now it has expanded to over 20 meters in size. Inside, there are several dozen people practicing meditation, some sitting or standing, two by two or three by three, yet it doesn't appear cramped! The windows in the pavilion can be opened for viewing without blocking the view. Clouds and mist naturally gather and disperse, swirling around the outside of the pavilion, truly a magical skill of the immortals!

  "We're here!"

  Someone shouted. Insufficient to accompany the moon girl, also looked out. Only saw a cloud under an island, three sides surrounded by water, one side connected to the mainland like a bridge. From a height of ten thousand feet, overlooking it, the mountains, rivers, valleys, plains, and highlands inside the island were all green, like a jade pearl inlaid in the sea. There are several wonderful places that are even more obscured by thick fog, and the line of sight is blocked, unable to see clearly! This island is exactly where the Yixiu Gate is located. With an area of thousands of miles, it cannot be fully seen. This land forms a semi-island hazard, located in the inland sea, with three sides of water, deep and rough waves. The ancient demon tribe was born in the sea, with strong magical powers and unmatched magic. Even the flying immortals encountered them, and it was difficult to deal with! The terrain on the island is complex and rugged, with ravines and valleys, rivers and mountains all growing disorderly, or deep gorges connected to flat lakes, or mountain ridges connected to river lands, smoke and water vapor blending together, thick clouds and dense forests entwining each other. This land is indeed a place belonging to the immortals, like a small world!

  As if the clouds had descended, all the disciples of the various sects emerged from the pavilion. The disciples of the Fa Sect also descended, and everyone was exhausted, their faces pale, sitting on the ground to rest, as if they had consumed a great deal of spiritual energy. Insufficient to support him, Gao Wu Yu's senior brother also came out of this magical instrument. Seeing him, Master Taiyi, a true person, smiled slightly and said:

  "You three come with me to see the master of the house, the rest of you disperse!"

  "Yes! Master Bo."

  The crowd responded in unison and dispersed. Some of the disciples of the Easy Caretaker Sect also gathered around, asking this and that. There were also those who discovered Xing'er's appearance, shocked as if they had seen a celestial being, and exclaimed:

  "Good heavens! Who is this beautiful woman? And who is that man? How did they come with Master's wife?"

  Someone immediately told everything inside as if they were insiders. The crowd watched straight at the group entering the mountain gate and going far away before dispersing.

  The mountain gate of Yixiu is grand and majestic, built with huge stones, over 50 meters high and more than 110 meters wide. On both sides are four pillars, each with a circumference of one meter, on top of which are placed two dragons, carved in the shape of two dragons playing with a pearl. The dragon is about one meter in diameter, and the pearl is shaped like a flame, under which there is a plaque with the words "Yixiu" written on it. On the inner pillars of the mountain gate, there is a couplet, the upper line of which reads:

  "The divine law of the ocean, those who succeed are very rare."

  The lower line says:

  "The one and only great way is to pursue what is permanent."

  Inside the mountain gate there is a stone staircase of ten thousand levels, each level goes straight to a distant place.

  Insufficient and Chang'er supported Gao Shixiong, Wu Yu followed Taiyi Female True Person along the stone steps, turning left and right, walking for half a day before arriving at the foot of a small stone peak. The peak was no more than 100 meters high, but its wall was as sharp as a knife cut, and the peak was like a sword pointing to the sky, which was also quite astonishing. On the left side of the peak, there was a narrow path, which was very dangerous to climb. Taiyi Female True Person said:

  "Go up the small path and you can reach the Yixiu Xianfu! I have other things to attend to, so it's not convenient for me to go to the main hall. Be careful not to hurt yourself, as the carriage cannot be driven to the top of the cloud. You two carefully help him up and that will do! Also, the law array in this place is very mysterious, you can't use great magical powers, I won't be able to help you, so you're on your own!"

  "Yes, Master."

  The three of them carefully made their way back. They saw Master Bo's figure drifting away, and then they stared at this steep and dangerous terrain. Insufficient said:

  "Older brother Gao, someone is coming up behind you! Xing'er, you go first and be careful, don't be afraid or hesitant!"

  "Alright, don't worry about your brother. You should be careful too!"

  Chang'e continued talking and boldly went up.

  "Feng Shidi, thank you for your trouble!"

  Gao Wu Yu sincerely expressed his gratitude.

  "What's the point of saying this, brother? I'll just take it as is and go!"

  Having spoken, he took his leave and departed.