52 Arhats of the Luo Han

  His original name was He Zhang, and he had a crush on Jiang Sangu, the mother of Situ Ping, but it didn't work out. In a fit of anger, he shaved his head and became a monk, giving himself the Buddhist name Fáyuan. He was short in stature, with a face full of scars, looking extremely fierce. He always wore a bright red kasaya on his body. He wasn't a real monk, so naturally, he didn't follow the Buddhist rules and precepts. Not only did he drink wine and eat meat, but he also made his kasaya into a magical treasure that he would wear wherever he went, unlike other temple masters who only wore it when they were lecturing on the dharma.

  Fa Yuan entered the door earlier than Xu Fei Niang, and his prestige is among the top in the entire Wutai Sect of this generation. Since Hunyuan Zushi's death and Tuidui Dashi's passing away, the Wutai Sect has been divided into four or five factions, and his fellow disciples have gone their separate ways, but he still insists on staying here, trying to find a way to unite all forces that can be used to confront Emei.

  For years, Fa Yuan had been exhausting himself to avenge his past grievances. His former fellow disciples either avoided him or hid from him, and when they encountered him, they would often make excuses to decline meeting with him. Recently, the Emei Sect had become increasingly prosperous, leaving Fa Yuan feeling isolated and unable to resonate with others. On this day, he suddenly saw Xu Fei Niang and Yue Qing leading their disciples up the mountain together, and he was overjoyed, forgetting even to take his staff as he ran out barefoot, grabbing Yue Qing's hand excitedly and saying: "Fei Niang and Qin Bin can come to help me, it's truly a great fortune from heaven! De Er, hurry up and prepare a high-quality wine table to welcome your two Shifu and wash the dust off their feet!"

  Upon entering the Wenshu Temple, everyone took their seats as host and guest. Yue Qing first pulled Liu Quan out to introduce him, and Fa Yuan heard that Yue Qing was acting on behalf of his master to accept a disciple. Not only did he not show any displeasure, but he was extremely delighted: "Mount Zhongnan is not far from here, and I often hear the great name of the White Water True Man. To be able to get such an expert to join our sect and assist us is truly a great fortune bestowed by heaven!"

  Yu Qing brought out three younger generations to meet Shifu, and Fa Yuan also called over his three disciples to pay respects to Shishu.

  Fa Yuan pointed to the first tall and sturdy young man and said, "This is my eldest disciple, named Yu De. He has a good foundation, and some days ago, the master of Dian Xi, Du Long Zun, saw him and loved him so much that he couldn't bear it. If I didn't let him go to be his disciple, it would be impossible."

  Yue Qing looked at Yu De, who had a big head and round eyes, thick eyebrows and a straight nose. He was quite handsome, but his face was pale and bloodless, looking like he had been ill for a long time. Like his master, he shaved his head and wore a kasaya, kneeling there to kowtow to him.

  Yue Qing looked at him several times: "The foundation is indeed extraordinary, but looking at your appearance, have you recently been practicing the Yin Demon Entering the Web Great Law? That's a method practiced by the Northern Demon Sect elders in the past, which requires guiding the yin demon into the body and merging with one's own primordial spirit to breed offspring demons."

  Fa Yuan said beside him: "Your master is elegant and refined, skilled in playing the zither, chess, calligraphy and painting, and also knows all kinds of anecdotes. He is erudite and talented, you should follow him to learn diligently."

  Yu De replied solemnly: "Yes, I humbly request that the master uncle will not hesitate to instruct me, and this disciple is deeply grateful."

  Yue Qing looked at him and nodded slightly: "Practicing this technique will quickly allow you to obtain the help of a possessing yin demon, gaining all sorts of magical powers. However, it is extremely damaging to your spirit. In my Daoist cultivation, essence, energy, and spirit are the three treasures. The yin demon lurking on your body specializes in absorbing these, so after a long time, your Dao power will not be able to advance even an inch, while the yin demon grows stronger day by day. On the surface, it seems like your magical powers are growing, but in reality, you are using your body to feed the demon, secretly suffering losses. The deeper your cultivation goes, the more closely your primordial spirit will combine with the yin demon. When they become indistinguishable from each other, you will have completely become a puppet of the yin demon. By then, it will be too late for regrets!"

  Yu De looked up at Fa Yuan in surprise, Fa Yuan's face turned slightly red as he scratched his bald head: "Yu De has a strong foundation, if he were to learn my techniques it would probably take ten years to see results. I remembered that the mixed yuan scripture had a method that could produce quick results, so I passed it on to him, but didn't expect there to be so many obstacles. The Ten Demon Scripture doesn't have any records of this."

  "Yue Qing has been cultivating the Tongxuan True Classic and the Guangchengzi Dao Book for many years, with insight and vision that are beyond ordinary people: 'To cultivate this Yin Demon Entering the Net Great Method, one must at least have the level of a Heavenly Immortal, train their own yuan Shen to pure yang without leakage, and then combine it with the yin demon. Only then can they control the demons at will and not be harmed by them. However, if one really becomes a Heavenly Immortal, who would still want to cultivate this skill? Fortunately, your current Dao is still shallow, and the loss is not severe. When you have time, let your Shifu use her Long Que Ring to drive out the yin demon on your body, and then use the Hunyuan Golden Elixir to restore the damaged yuan Shen. It won't take half a year to fully recover. The method in our Hunyuan Classic is derived from the Northern Demon Sect's Ten Demon Saint Volume. From now on, don't cultivate it anymore, just practice the Taiyi Mysterious Skill in the second volume well, and when you have a foundation in the future, I will transmit the first volume of the Hunyuan True Qi to you.'"

  Yu De was overjoyed and hastily thanked him with a big bow.

  After Yu De, there was Qin Lang, Fa Yuan's second disciple, nicknamed the Flying Night Goblin. His foundation was also quite good, and Fa Yuan personally helped him practice a set of five red spider swords modeled after his own flying sword.

  Qin Lang's physique was robust and upright, a sturdy young man wearing black clothes. Seeing his master brother getting benefits, he couldn't help but steal glances at Yue Qing and Xu Fei Nang with some expectation.

  Fa Yuan was also very pleased with this second brother: "Some time ago, I took him to Mount Hua to visit the fierce fire master. The fierce fire master took a look at him and said that he couldn't find such a good talent in his sect, and wanted him to go to Mount Hua."

  Yue Qing looked at Qin Lang for a moment: "You're okay, but in the future when I and your Master and Mistress revive the Five Towers, the first thing we'll do is rectify the rules. After all, our Five Towers Sect is the orthodox school of Xuan Dao, a renowned and powerful sect. Those acts of thievery, adultery, robbery, and bullying the weak will no longer be tolerated. If we find out about such behavior, you will be beheaded by flying sword!"

  His last two sentences were said with a stern tone and expression, not only did Qin Lang's body tremble, but Yu De also broke out in a cold sweat.

  Fa Yuan finally saw some meaning, and he secretly re-examined the two of them. He only saw Xu Fei's daughter smiling and sitting there silently drinking and eating, and surprisingly, everything was done with Yue Qing as the superior. What's even stranger is that he actually mentioned reforming the sect rules, knowing that in their generation, there were people who committed crimes and evil deeds, and even the Taizhen Hunyuan ancestors didn't manage them strictly, which is even more strange.

  After Qin Lang, there was a black monk with a face full of scars and a ferocious appearance. The middle finger and ring finger on his right hand were cut off by a weapon. Fa Yuan introduced him as Mao Tai.

  Yue Qing narrowed his eyes to look at him, his aura growing increasingly heavy. He had cultivated the Hunyuan True Qi in the depths of the Purple Cloud Palace's Underwater Eye, and his entire demeanor was vastly different from before. Even Fa Yuan found it somewhat overwhelming: "Junior brother, is there something not quite right about this disciple? He has only just entered the sect and begun practicing sword techniques."

  Yue Qing slowly said to Mao Tai, "I remember you have a nickname called 'Multi-Armed Bear'? Hmph, and also a lone-legged giant thief who roamed the five provinces of the southeast?"

  Even Fa Yuan was surprised, not knowing how he knew, Yu De and Qin Lang felt that this Shifu was unfathomable, as for Mao Tai, he had already broken out in a cold sweat.

  "No wonder our Five Tigers have been declining over the years, and are no longer as they were when our master was alive. It's said that the people of the Five Tigers are nothing but a bunch of robbers, thieves, murderers, adulterers, and fornicators. No wonder the fellow martial artists also look down on us."

  Fa Yuan's face turned very ugly, for he had also done many things to bully the weak. Moreover, in recent years, he had befriended many powerful figures from the demonic sects in order to avenge himself. Now, Yue Qing was scolding him together with them. He looked at Lu Rongbo and Si Tu Ping's three disciples and thought: Are your disciples all good people? Can't my disciples be decent?

  Yue Qing saw that Fa Yuan was not pleased, and reached out to grasp Fa Yuan's thick and sturdy hand, saying seriously: "Elder brother, I've discussed this with Elder sister, if we want to revive the glory of the Wudang Sect, we must uphold the Taoist orthodoxy and rectify our disciples. We are a legitimate Taoist sect, not an evil demonic cult. This time, Elder sister and I plan to set up a furnace behind the Taiyi Temple and smelt a set of Taiyi yin-yang swords, emulating the strict rules of the Wudang Sect's Heart-Pure Goddess of old. Can we count on your help, elder brother?"

  "I didn't expect you to say such a thing: 'That Taiyi Yin Yang Sword is one of the Ten Great Mountain-Sealing Divine Swords of the Wudang Sect, and it requires many rare treasures to forge. We're not like we used to be, how can we gather all the materials? The refining method is only recorded in the appendix of the Hunyuan Scripture, which was stolen by that traitor Zhu Hong back then! Even if you know some scattered refining methods, what's the use? And even if you manage to refine it, can you really face your former fellow disciples and clear up the sect?"