Under One Person: The Seeker of the Dao in the Lü Family

Chapter 83 The Debts of the Five Great Immortals, the Realization of the Inner Realm?

Lu Qian sat on a futon under the stone platform, watching the ashes being roasted in the oil pan and listening to the other's sorrowful words, but he was not moved.

He had heard of the legend of "two foxes from the Celestial Master's Mansion" that the other party mentioned.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhang Jixian, the 30th Celestial Master of Longhu Mountain, was meditating in the "Sansheng Hall" one day when the clear sky outside suddenly turned into lightning flashing, thunder rumbling, and dark clouds covering the sky.

The Celestial Master stepped out of the "Three Provinces Hall," calculated with his fingers, and realized that demons had appeared.

The next moment, a beautiful woman came to ask for help, saying that she was a fox spirit who had cultivated for a thousand years, was pregnant, and was about to be struck by lightning. She hoped that the celestial master would save her life.

The Celestial Master ordained the fox spirit and made her swear an oath. Then he issued a proclamation and burned it to inform Heaven and Earth, thus removing the lightning tribulation and saving both of their lives.

The fox spirit was deeply grateful and, after giving birth, devoted herself to cultivation with her offspring. It is said that she eventually attained enlightenment.

The Fox Fairy Hall on Longhu Mountain was built in honor of these two fox fairies.

It can be said that these two fox spirits and the old woman in black followed similar paths, joining the Taoist sect and eventually becoming legitimate members of the community, no longer considered mountain spirits or wild monsters.

"Sister Hei, it's not that I'm greedy, it's just that the gains are too great, and I can't resist the temptation."

Bound tightly with golden Dao patterns, the gray immortal carefully turned over in the fumes, afraid that he might fall down if he wasn't careful.

"As you know, I am a rat spirit, how could I not have any thoughts when such an opportunity comes my way?"

Lu Qian calmly watched Hui Xian's exaggerated performance without saying a word.

The old woman scoffed at Grey Fairy's sophistry and flattery, snorted coldly, and swept her whisk across the room.

The Grey Fairy, which was originally two feet away from the boiling oil, suddenly dropped another foot, and the swirling oil even splashed onto its glossy fur.

"Aww—"

The Grey Fairy howled in agony as it was scalded by the boiling oil, and its once glossy fur was instantly charred black.

"Big sister, I don't have your supernatural powers; if I keep exploding like this, I'll really be scattered!"

The gray immortal, bound by Dao patterns, struggled violently, but in the process, it got splashed with even more oil, which made it howl in pain.

"snort!"

The old woman left the gray fairy to dry for a while before scooping it up again with her whisk.

"Honestly, what are you thinking?"

"What do you mean, what were you thinking? Big sister, please don't wrong me. I just wanted to serve this little Taoist priest—no, this little Lu Zu—as a servant, to see what it feels like to ascend to heaven?"

After being fished out of the oil pot, Hui Xian smiled obsequiously at the old woman on the stone platform, her small eyes glancing at Lü Qian behind her from time to time, her tone full of flattery.

"You really think I'm blind? Before, outside your temple, the auras of the other four were faint, but my nose could smell them clearly."

The old woman forced Gray Fairy into the oil cauldron again, saying, "Still acting like chickens and dogs? Even if you don't tell me, I can guess your tricks."

"If I, this junior, do not comply, and bribery fails, you will probably resort to coercion, won't you?"

With that, the old woman threw the struggling Grey Fairy directly into the oil pot.

"Awooooo—"

As soon as Grey Fairy entered the oil fryer, its fur was charred black, and it howled incessantly.

"How dare we? How dare we?"

"Pooh!"

The old woman spat at the gray fairy turning in the oil, "Thousands of years of cultivation, who are you trying to talk riddles to?"

About half an incense stick's time had passed, and the ash fairy in the oil pot had been fried until it was completely black. Only then did the old lady take it out.

"Let me tell you, this person is protected by Master Guo and the Quanzhen School. You have to keep your thoughts to yourselves."

"But eldest sister, we have no other choice. You know the state of the world these days. There are fewer and fewer people worshipping incense and other religious practices. In a few decades, not only will our descendants go hungry, but the five of us will also suffer."

After Hui Xian came out of the oil pot, she became even more humble. "After all, we are not like you, Sister Hei. In this place in Northeast China, if Master Guo burns an incense stick, you will too."

"Furthermore, although you have a demonic body, you are still on the path of the Golden Core by following Master Guo in your cultivation. You have achieved the proper status of a Ghost Immortal, and there is even hope that you can become an Earth Immortal."

"Unlike us five wandering ghosts, whose true forms dare not leave Changbai Mountain on ordinary days. It is only by relying on the protection of the dragon vein's earth energy that we can live in a state of neither immortal nor ghost."

As Hui Xian finished speaking, she glanced at the unresponsive old lady in black and Lü Qian, and let out a long sigh.

"These days are getting harder and harder. Sister Hei, you've already made it ashore, why don't you lend a hand to us who are struggling in this misery?"

"Pah!"

With a flick of her whisk, the old woman sent the trapped gray fairy tumbling about in mid-air.

"How can you be the same as me? We are fundamentally different people."

"The karmic burden of your incense offerings is too great, it's a huge hole that even a truly virtuous cultivator like Lü Zu might not be able to fill."

"Trying to pull you ashore? You should be grateful you didn't drag us down!"

The old woman rolled her eyes; this gray fairy really did talk a good game.

The five families were too deeply entangled with worldly affairs to be easily swayed.

They participated in the change of dynasties back then, and although they successfully enjoyed the benefits for over two hundred years, every sip and bite was predetermined.

A hundred years ago, the world was transformed. All the things we enjoyed became debts owed to us on earth, turning into karma!

Although these five families turned their attention to ordinary people and relied on the incense offerings of countless households to extricate themselves from their ties with the royal family, this also completely bound them to the secular world.

It's just like jumping from one sinking ship to another!

This isn't a one-off deal. If you want to cultivate in the long term, you have to do things for them after you've received their offerings!

Want to owe money and not pay it back? Fine, as long as you're capable enough!

Unfortunately, none of the five great immortal families have this ability; they are bound by the karma of incense offerings.

Moreover, the world is changing too fast. It is foreseeable that in the next few decades, all these supernatural and ghostly things will be swept into the corner.

Ignoring Grey Fairy's desperate pleas, the old woman with the black hair waved her whisk at it again.

"Your situation is so dire that even a celestial being descending to earth couldn't salvage it."

"Go back and tell those guys that this young Taoist priest is one of my Quanzhen disciples, so don't get any funny ideas!"

With a flick of the whisk, a sudden gust of wind swept through the cave, blowing the gray fairy in mid-air away without a trace.

The old woman scoffed, "Five huge holes, aren't they afraid of burying people alive!"

After saying that, she looked at Lü Qian, who was deep in thought below the stone platform, and asked, "Boy, you're not tempted, are you? Let me tell you, those five families are a mess."

"They are different from my two old friends. My two old friends, like me, are hermits in the mountains and forests who basically do not interfere in worldly affairs and have no debts for you to bear."

Upon hearing the question, Lü Qian immediately shook his head, "This junior naturally understands. The Five Great Immortals are too complex for a humble Taoist like myself to meddle in."

"I'm just thinking about one thing, about the [interior] I was in last night and where I am now."

"Oh, tell me about it!"

Lu Qian paused, then his eyes flashed with a divine light. "There is a saying that the [Inner Vision] is the sum of the collective thoughts of all things in the universe."

"Guo Zu must have extracted and gathered his own existence from the thinking of all things, which is how the Nine Peaks Iron Mountain where we are today was formed."

"In other words, Guo Zu directly melted and separated all the fragments that belonged to him in the inner world, and refined them into a [Cave Heaven] with himself as its essence."

"Those fragments not only came from Guo Zu, but also from all the things and people in this world that are related to him."

At this point, Lü Qian's face revealed an expression of shock and admiration, "Gathering countless waters to form rivers and seas, truly great magical power!"

"This place is both the Nine Iron Peaks Mountain and not the real Nine Iron Peaks Mountain."

"Guo Zu refined the illusory into the real, merging this secluded [Cave Heaven] with the real world, which is the true nature of our current position."

"As for why Guo Zu said this place doesn't solely belong to him, it's because this 'Cave Heaven' hasn't truly become a world yet; it still exists within reality and the inner landscape!"

"From the 'illusion' of the 'interior' to the 'reality' of reality, Guo Zu's next step is not yet complete, is it?"

"True transcendence is the true evolution of this 'grotto-heaven,' which is essentially itself!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a golden light suddenly exploded.

"Young man, you truly possess the potential to ascend to immortality!"

"But it's still not quite there!"