As everyone hurried outside the hall, they smelled a fragrance wafting from the air, refreshing and invigorating.

Immediately afterward, a gust of wind blew by, and a huge black shadow descended from the sky in the distance, accompanied by a strong wind, and landed right on the training ground of Shaolin Temple.

The crowd outside the hall was shocked. It was a huge blue ox pulling a luxurious carriage behind it.

Huang Jin was sitting at the carriage door, ignoring the Shaolin disciples around him who were already terrified. He turned around, lifted the curtain, and bowed as he spoke.

"Master Daoist, Your Majesty, we have arrived."

Then Li Daoyi slowly stepped out of the carriage. A gentle breeze blew by, and his robes swayed, making him look like an immortal descending to earth.

Li Daoyi descended the steps as if on invisible stairs. After he landed, Emperor Zhu Houcong emerged from the carriage, looked around in amazement, and his face darkened with displeasure when he saw four Shaolin disciples armed with weapons.

In the end, Linghu Chong was the first to react. Ignoring the people around him, he quickly leaped up and used his lightness skill to reach the oxcart.

"Linghu Chong greets the Taoist Master," Linghu Chong said, bowing.

"Kid, you're so carefree. The whole of Mount Hua is worried about your safety, and you've come to Shaolin instead," Li Daoyi teased.

"Yes, it is your unfilial behavior that has caused Master and Mistress worry," Linghu Chong said with a look of shame.

Immediately afterward, Li Dao looked ahead and immediately saw Ren Woxing in a black robe. Judging from his appearance, demeanor, and age, it was easy to guess who he was.

The people outside the hall only came to their senses at this moment. Li Daoyi's appearance was too shocking. The divine ox pulling the cart descended from the sky. It was something that had never been heard of or seen before.

"Amitabha Buddha," Fang Zheng said, pressing his palms together.

The eighteen bronze statues and a thousand monks seemed to have received a command and instantly surrounded the oxcart.

"Master Fangzheng!" Linghu Chong was stunned upon seeing this and hurriedly turned around to call out.

“Your presence here uninvited and your trespassing at Shaolin Temple is going too far,” Fang Zheng said.

Although Li Daoyi's appearance was quite sudden, he had just barged into Shaolin Temple. If nothing was done, Shaolin Temple's thousand-year reputation would be ruined.

"Slap slap slap..."

Suddenly, the monks around them began to spin, their wooden sticks rhythmically striking the ground, filling the air with noise.

"Noisy." Huang Jin snorted coldly, revealing his innate aura.

“Innate…” Fang Zheng and Chong Xu exchanged a glance, their eyes showing seriousness. There was actually an innate master.

"What? Innate?" Ren Woxing was also taken aback. He stared at Huang Jin in disbelief.

At this moment, Li Daoyi slowly took a few steps forward, made a yin-yang gesture with his hands, and bowed slightly.

"May you enjoy the highest blessings and longevity. Li Daoyi greets Master Fangzheng and Daoist Chongxu."

The emperor shook his head at Huang Jin, who immediately withdrew his imposing aura.

This made the Shaolin monks somewhat embarrassed. Li Daoyi was being so polite, and they didn't know what to do for a moment.

"The Tao gives birth to One, One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, and Three gives birth to all things."

Li Daoyi suddenly spoke, and then a strong wind suddenly swept around, swirling fallen leaves. The thousands of monks around were immediately blown backward by the force of the wind, and in a short while, the area was cleared, and the monks had long been blown away to the foot of the wall.

The people at the entrance of the hall were clearly unaffected, but at this moment everyone stared wide-eyed at Li Daoyi in disbelief.

"Master, the Taoist priest is a true immortal; he means no harm," Linghu Chong shouted again upon seeing this, fearing that the two sides would start fighting.

"May you enjoy boundless longevity and blessings, Chongxu greets fellow Daoist." In the end, it was Daoist Chongxu who returned the greeting first to Li Daoyi, and then walked towards the square. (P.S.: "May you enjoy boundless longevity and blessings" is an ancient, authentic Daoist greeting, not "Amitabha Buddha" or "May you receive boundless blessings." These are modern misinterpretations from storytelling or folk tales. Later, Daoists accepted this honorific for the convenience of the public. "May you receive boundless blessings" is simply one of many Daoist deities.)

Fang Zheng and the others followed suit.

"Amitabha, this old monk has been rude," Fang Zheng said, stepping forward.

Fang Zheng then raised his head and carefully examined Li Daoyi, his eyes filled with disbelief. That technique was not something that could be easily accomplished with martial arts.

"And this is... Ah? Your Majesty, this humble Taoist greets Your Majesty." Chongxu looked at Zhu Houcong, paused for a moment, then quickly bowed in greeting. Wudang had always been a frequent recipient of imperial rewards during the Ming Dynasty, and had been bestowed with honors several times since Jiajing ascended the throne. Five years ago, Chongxu had even been invited to the capital to preach to Zhu Houcong, so he recognized him.

"What? Your Majesty?" Ren Woxing and the others were immediately shocked.

“This is none other than the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.” Li Daoyi smiled.

"We pay our respects to Your Majesty." Immediately, everyone bowed in greeting.

Everyone was secretly alarmed. How could even the emperor have appeared? Ren Woxing was especially uneasy, knowing that for the past hundred years, the imperial court had been suppressing the Sun Moon Sect.

"No need for formalities, everyone. I'm just accompanying the Taoist priest for a stroll today. You don't need to take it to heart," Zhu Houcong waved his hand.

"Your Majesty, Daoist Master, please step aside." Fang Zheng said.

The group then headed towards the main hall, the Mahavira Hall.

Upon entering, one is greeted by the golden statue of Buddha, along with statues of four Bodhisattvas, eighteen Arhats, and other deities, all exuding majesty, while a faint sandalwood fragrance permeates the air.

Li Daoyi bowed slightly to the statue of the deity as a sign of respect.

Jiajing and Huang Jin clasped their hands together and respectfully bowed to the statue of the deity. As mortals, they dared not show any disrespect to gods and Buddhas.

Seeing this, Fang Zheng breathed a slight sigh of relief.

At this moment, Daoist Chongxu couldn't help but step forward and ask.

"Fellow Daoist, may I ask which immortal mountain you come from?" This was also the question in everyone's mind.

“This is a divine secret,” Li Daoyi replied, pointing upwards.

Everyone paused, clearly dissatisfied with his answer.

"Daoist Master, was that magic just now?" Just then, a clear voice came from behind Ren Woxing. It was Ren Yingying. The girl was about eighteen or nineteen years old. Although her face was covered by a thin veil, her big, dark eyes seemed to speak, and she looked at Li Daoyi with curiosity.

"Yingying." Linghu Chong quickly walked to Ren Yingying's side, gently tugged at her clothes, and gestured for her not to say anything more.

"Ren Yingying, you are indeed peerless in beauty. Linghu, you are quite fortunate. Indeed, what I just did was a Taoist technique." Li Daoyi smiled slightly.

"Does the Tao truly exist in this world?" Chongxu asked.

As a member of the Taoist community, he was naturally even more curious.

Li Daoyi didn't say anything, but went straight to the incense table, took a pear from the table, cut it in half, and removed the seeds.

He walked out amidst the puzzled looks of the crowd, and everyone quickly followed.

He stopped in front of a flower bed at the bottom of the steps.

The seed fell from my hand into the soil in the flowerbed.

Li Daoyi made a hand seal, then pointed his index finger downwards.

"puff…"

A green sprout emerged from the soil.

Then Li Daoyi grabbed at the air with both hands, and a mist arose around him. The mist flew into his hands, and water droplets gradually condensed between his hands. The water droplets grew larger and larger, and Li Daoyi opened his hands.

"Splash..."

Like rain, water droplets fell onto the flowerbed.

“Long, long, long…” Li Daoyi muttered to himself.

The seed was growing at an extremely fast speed. It was first as thick as a finger, then grew to the thickness of an arm, and finally grew to about ten feet tall and as thick as a thigh. Green leaves sprouted on its branches, and soon a lush pear tree appeared before everyone's eyes.

"Go out!" Li Daoyi shouted towards the big tree.

As if balloons were being blown up, pears slowly grew from the branches, and soon the whole tree was covered with pears.

"Ding..." The system notification sounded again.

This amazing scene astonished everyone around, and Chongxu couldn't help but step forward and pick a pear.

“It’s true…” Chongxu murmured, looking at the pear in his hand.

“This is the Way of Wood,” Li Daoyi said softly.

Ren Yingying couldn't resist reaching out and picking a fruit, then putting it in her mouth and biting into it, causing juice to splash everywhere.

"It's so sweet!" Ren Yingying exclaimed.

"This is truly an eye-opener, a truly eye-opener." Zhu Houcong was also extremely surprised, as it was the first time he had ever seen Li Daoyi use this method.

“Little Dao’er.” Li Daoyi shook his head.

Then he looked at Ren Woxing, who was in a daze. Ren Woxing's heart was filled with complex emotions at this moment. The impact that Li Daoyi had brought him was too great.

"Your days are numbered," Li Daoyi said, shaking his head as he looked at Ren Woxing.

Ren Woxing was startled, but he managed to remain calm and bowed to Li Daoyi.

"Master, I am perfectly fine, how can I be said to be near death?"

“Your Tanzhong and Yingchuang acupoints have turned black, and you suffer excruciating pain every fifteenth of the month. Before, when you had no true energy left, you could still endure it for a few years, but since you escaped from West Lake, you have been recklessly absorbing the internal energy of others. In my opinion, you will explode and die within three months at most,” Li Daoyi said, shaking his head and sighing.

"Amitabha Buddha." Fang Zheng couldn't help but chant the Buddha's name upon hearing this.

"Taoist Master, please, save my father!" Ren Yingying immediately knelt down on the ground.

Ren Woxing's face turned pale and then red. What Li Daoyi said was all true. His two acupoints did indeed cause him unbearable pain every fifteenth of the month, but he never expected that he would only have three months to live.

“Alas, Sect Leader Ren, I warned you back then that the Star Absorbing Technique is an evil art, and practicing it will only harm yourself and others,” Chongxu said, shaking his head.

"Have you ever heard of the Northern Darkness Divine Art?" Li Daoyi asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

“In the Northern Ocean there is a fish, its name is Kun. Kun is so large that no one knows how many thousands of miles it is. It transforms into a bird, its name is Peng. The back of Peng is so large that no one knows how many thousands of miles it is. When it flies in anger, its wings are like clouds hanging from the sky. This bird, when the sea is in motion, will migrate to the Southern Ocean. The Southern Ocean is the Heavenly Pool.” Li Daoyi suddenly recited a passage from Zhuangzi’s Free and Easy Wandering.

“Several hundred years ago, our Taoist sect had a divine skill called the Northern Darkness Divine Skill, which could absorb the internal energy of others for one’s own use. As the saying goes, ‘the sea accepts all rivers.’ The Star Absorbing Technique originated from the Northern Darkness Divine Skill. Unfortunately, this skill only absorbs, but does not retain. The absorbed true energy cannot be refined. Over time, these true energies become incompatible and run rampant in the body, causing irreparable damage. Fellow Daoist Chongxu’s description of it as an evil skill is not an exaggeration,” Li Daoyi explained.

"Hiss, I see." Everyone gasped upon hearing this, and Ren Woxing almost lost his footing. Xiang Wentian quickly helped him up.

At this moment, Ren Yingying was still kneeling on the ground, pleading with tears streaming down her face.

"Taoist Master, you are a deity, please have mercy and save my father."