053 Zhōng tái · Bái lóng guà bì

  English Translation: 053 Central Taiwan · White Dragon Hanging Wall

  Yue Qing said to Fa Yuan, "The materials for refining the sword are already fully prepared by me and my sister. As for the formula for refining the sword..." Yue Qing looked at Xu Fei Niang, saw her slightly shaking her head, and then changed his words, saying, "My sister and I have also found it. This time we will open the Tian Gong furnace, not only to refine the Tai Yi yin-yang sword, but also to refine the two extreme circles, Chi Yang ring, and Ji Guang sword together. Moreover, I have already promised to give four Taoist friends from Wudang a set of eight yang jue xian knives."

  "Taiyi Tiangong Furnace!" Fa Yuan's tea cup fell to the ground, "That furnace was only opened 300 years ago when our master condensed the mixed yuan true energy. He specially invited Master Kong of the Kunlun Sect, Heart-Ming Shenni of the Wudang Sect, and Extreme Joy True Man of Qingcheng Mountain to assist. They refined many treasures for us brothers. Your pair of flying star swords were also forged at that time. I remember there were three in total, but Extreme Joy True Man took one away, saying it was a reward for his junior disciples. That furnace is not ordinary, how can we few possibly succeed? Even if we gather all our scattered fellow disciples from around the world, I'm afraid we'll still be powerless."

  Yue Qing said, "We don't have enough people, so we'll find more. Besides, we don't need to open all 64 apertures like our master did back then. Just opening the central Yin-Yang Palace and the surrounding Eight Trigrams Palace will be fine. We won't even need to open the Taiji Central Core, which means we can save on having a super powerful master as the central controller. I remember when I was in charge of the Yin-Yang Palace with my sister, and our brother had to go to the Kunlun Sect to invite Master Zhi Fei and others to come and help us control the Four Cardinal Gates. We've already talked to the four friends from Wudang and asked them to come and control the Four Anomalous Gates. We're not even refining a super powerful magical artifact like the Hunyuan One Qi Ball, so this level of skill should be enough. I'm only worried about two things: first, our enemies will find out that we're opening the furnace to refine treasures here and will come to cause trouble, especially those petty people from Emei Sect. Second, some of our fellow disciples might have ulterior motives and come back to take advantage of us, like that person from Yunmeng Mountain."

  When he mentioned Mohe Zunzhe Si Kongzhan, Fa Yuan trembled: "What to do? I'll go to Dianxi again and invite Duolong Zunzhe over. And Huashanpai's Liehuo Zushi... Ah! I remember that Xiaoyue Chan Shi is hiding in Dianxi's Arrow Furnace, if we can invite him over..."

  "We're going to reform our sect's rules and issue new laws. Those who refuse to obey will either leave the Five Peaks or be executed by the newly forged Taiyi Yin-Yang Sword! Therefore, we can't find anyone from the demonic cults first. Moreover, most of them are selfish and unscrupulous, it's hard to guarantee they won't take advantage of us. As for the Huashan Sect... although our two sects have been friendly for hundreds of years, their side is also full of darkness and chaos. It's better not to get involved with them for now. In my opinion, when the time comes, we can invite three friends from the Maoshan Sect, two from the Cangshan Sect, and two from the Taihangshan Sect. With these people working together, plus some careful planning beforehand, I think there shouldn't be any problems."

  Fa Yuan shook his head worriedly: "None of us can withstand Si Kong Zhan."

  Xu Fei Niang said: "We can go to Wudang Mountain to invite Half Edge Old Nun and Linglingzi to come over and calm things down."

  Fa Yuan's face turned gloomy: "The Wudang Sect is now hiding its light and nurturing its spirit, claiming to no longer intervene in the disputes between good and evil. The old nun from the other side may not be able to come..."

  Yue Qing said with a sigh, "Our sect is not united, after Master's passing, it has completely lost control, and they are even more lawless, doing evil without bounds. Others look down on us, but if Shifu goes to talk to her clearly, the emotional connection of these years is still there. Besides, we just need her help in keeping things under control here, to prevent anyone from harboring malicious intentions."

  Xu Fei Niang nodded in agreement: "I've discussed this with Zhuge Ying and the others. Ban Bian Lao Ni once mentioned our situation, saying that since Tai Yi Hunyuan Zu Shi left, there hasn't been a single worthy person among the disciples. The situation has only gotten worse. In private, she told the disciples to limit their interactions with us, saying that every member of the Wutai Sect is degenerate and if they don't repent and reform, but instead continue to collude with the demonic sect, they will ultimately bring about their own downfall."

  Yu Qing nodded and smiled: "That's also a fact. This is indeed the character of a half-master, it's her original words."

  Xu Fei Niang continued: "The male and female disciples of the Wudang Sect are divided, and Lao Ni has more than once forbidden the seven women of Wudang from participating in our disputes with Emei Sect. Linglingzi is a bit better, he had received great kindness from our Shifu in the past, it's not good to force him to cut off ties with us, according to what Zhuge Ying said, every time his Shifu mentions us, he can't help but sigh. Zhuge Ying also said that Lao Ni once told Linglingzi that unless a talented person like Linglingzi and Xinming Shiniang appears in the Wudang Sect, to reform the sect's rules and rebuild the mountain gate, otherwise within twenty years, the Wudang Sect will completely disappear from the world."

  Everyone fell silent for a moment, and after a while, someone came in to report that the banquet was ready.

  Everyone continued to discuss at the wine table, Yue Qing told Fa Yuan his own ideas, and also suggested that it should start with rectifying the teachings, just like the Wudang Sect did in the past. Liu Quan was very much in favor of this point, while Xu Fei Niang expressed indifference. However, since Yue Qing had killed Zhu Hong to avenge Taiyi Hunyuan Zushi and had also passed on the Tongxuan True Classic to him, making him his personally appointed successor, Xu Fei Niang would unconditionally support him regardless of whether he followed the orthodox Xuanmen path or thoroughly demonized and restored the Northern Demon Sect to its former state.

  But Fa Yuan was not quite convinced, thinking that he was just following the Emei School. Although he frowned repeatedly, he didn't directly express his opposition: "As long as it can revive Wutai and restore its former glory, I will support it. It's just that other fellow disciples might not be so easy to convince."

  Yue Qingdao said: "Shixiong is highly respected in our school, as long as you are willing to help, everything will be easy."

  Fa Yuan, Yue Qing and Xu Fei's daughter jointly wrote a letter and sent it to various places with flying swords to summon the scattered old fellow disciples to return to the mountain for a reunion.

  The Wenshu Temple where Fa Yuan lived was on the East Taiwang Hai Peak. Apart from three direct disciples, there were only more than thirty monks who swept and cleaned under him. He sent all of them to Zhongtai Mountain, starting from the mountain gate, sweeping Huanglong Palace, Qixing Palace, Xiantian Pavilion, all the way to Huangji Palace. Those who should shovel grass shoveled grass, those who should wipe dust wiped dust. Yue Qing even used his magical powers to divert the clear spring water from the mountain stream to wash the white jade staircase.

  After entering the mountain gate, it's not far to Huanglong Palace, which is the largest of all the palaces in Wutai. The palace has many houses and stretches for five miles along the mountain. This was where the disciples of Master Tudun lived. In the past, when Monk Zhongtong presided over the temple, anyone who wanted to visit Master Tudun had to pass through here. At its peak, there were three thousand followers studying Taoism here, but now it's in ruins with broken tiles and walls, and weeds growing everywhere. Yueqing told Liuquan to take some silver and hire villagers from below the mountain to come and clean up, especially Huanglong Palace, which must be tidy and clean. In the future, guests from other places will be arranged to stay here.

  Behind the Yellow Dragon Temple, there is a cliff painting of Longquan, which is a steep cliff over 10 meters high and smooth as a mirror. At the top, there are twelve springs that form a white dragon hanging on the wall, creating a rare sight. In the past, when Taiyi Hunyuan Zushi opened up his Taoist temple on Mount Wutai, he drove away Buddhist believers and even invited 12 senior monks from the Buddhist sect to engage in a battle of magic. After a fierce fight, it was not until the Extreme Joy True Man from the Taoist side and the Reverend Shengsheng Chan Master from the Buddhist side jointly intervened that the conflict was resolved. Taiyi Hunyuan Zushi then used his magical powers to move mountains and change the water flow, altering the feng shui of Mount Wutai. As a result, only one Buddhist temple, the Manjusri Temple, remained on the East Peak's Wanghai Peak, while all others were destroyed and rebuilt.

  This cliff was originally a huge reef rock that had been transported from the South China Sea, and after millions of years of being pounded by sea winds and waves, it became as hard as iron and smooth enough to reflect light. It weighed tens of thousands of catties. The Taizhong Hunyuan Patriarch went deep underground and brought up twelve mountain springs to form a waterfall. In those days, the great master Tudun taught hundreds of his disciples under this cliff, and even Yueqinbin came to listen to him.

  Now the mountain spring has dried up, and the stone wall is covered with green moss, wisteria hangs down, and wild flowers are in full bloom. Although it's desolate, it has another kind of quiet elegance.

  Everyone walked past the White Dragon Wall and arrived at the Seven Star Palace. This is the main palace of Zhongtai Mountain, where Master Tuo lived for many years. He was the eldest master of the Wutai Sect, and after Taizhen Hunyuan's defeat by Huang Shan, he returned knowing his life was not long. He called his main disciples to his side and announced that he would pass on the orthodox teachings to Master Tuo, letting him take charge of the sect after his death. Unexpectedly, less than a month later, Master Tuo also died from practicing the divine magic of the Great Law, causing his body to spontaneously combust in flames.

  The Qixing Palace is extremely grand and majestic, with a total of seven palaces connected together. In front of it stands the Ziwu Beifang Fatai. Whenever there are major events or external invasions, Master Toutu would stand on the platform to preside over the situation.

  Yue Qing told Liu Quan: "This place must be well-prepared, on the eighth day of next month, when all the fellow Taoist brothers arrive, we will discuss matters related to the life and death of the Wudang Sect's future here. It is possible that we will have to take action, so let Shifu Xie help you complete and activate all the array formations and restrictions here."