"Brother, brother... wake up! Wake up!!"
Hearing the call, Su Rui immediately woke up from his deep sleep. He looked blankly at the boy who called him, and then looked around. Only then did he remember the situation he was in. He had slept so deeply that his head was dizzy and his memory was a little unclear.
"Where is this?" Su Rui rubbed his eyes subconsciously and asked the boy next to him. The boy looked about eleven or twelve years old, thin and frail, and looked a little malnourished, with very pale skin.
"This is Heshan Yungu, the gate to our Heshan Dao." The boy blinked and said.
"Oh, the Heshan Dao?" Su Rui nodded. He had always been curious about the identity of Taoist Qiao San and where he was taking him. Now that he finally knew, his uneasiness eased a little. After all, he had some exposure to the Heshan Dao. He even had two Heshan Dao spells in his Dragon Diagram Bagua! He had heard from the little fox demon that the most powerful Heshan Dao technique was the longevity technique. This time, he wanted to see if he could get his hands on it.
Later, Su Rui, led by the boy, walked out of the carriage space and looked around. He found that they were currently in a small valley shrouded in clouds. Because the sunlight was blocked by the clouds, the environment in the valley was relatively dim. Su Rui always felt a chill and eerie chill on his back when he walked in it.
The valley was thick with weeds and ancient trees. A boy walked ahead when suddenly, a crimson snake, as thick as an arm, swam past them, its head tilted upward. A small bump formed on its head, clearly indicating its transformation into a dragon. The boy stopped dead in his tracks and bowed to the snake. Su Rui, following behind, unsure of what was happening, followed suit.
The red-bellied snake ignored them and walked away on its own.
After the red snake had gone far away, the boy said to Su Rui, "This is the reincarnation of the headmaster's beloved youngest son, Yao Yuan. Brother, you must pay attention to the strange insects and beasts and immortal birds in the mountain gate. They are very likely to be the backup bodies or reincarnations of the elders or uncles!"
When Su Rui heard this, he couldn't help but mutter to himself: "What kind of Taoism is this? Why would a good person choose to become a beast?"
"Brother, what did you say?" The boy asked with his ear tilted, not knowing whether he really couldn't hear or was pretending not to hear.
"Oh, I'm saying this incarnation is truly magical. I wonder if I'll ever have the chance to learn this advanced spell?!"
The boy smiled upon hearing this and said, "Although you are the elder's new disciple, if you want to practice this 'Longevity Technique', you still need to accumulate merits in exchange for the practice method of the 'Longevity Technique'! However, Elder Qiao seems to be quite resistant to practicing this 'Longevity Technique'. If you want to practice it in the future, I'm afraid you will need Elder Qiao's approval!"
"Well, that's going to be troublesome!" Su Rui felt a little sorry that he couldn't get it for free. He wouldn't bother earning any merits in exchange for practicing such a seemingly unreliable and unorthodox way. Wouldn't it be better for him to learn flying swords and fly to the Qingming Sword?
The two walked forward and came to a palace entrance with most of its part embedded in the mountain.
"This is the Deacon Hall. Senior Brother, you must first leave your name in the hall for verification. You can also receive a set of daily necessities, a cave entrance talisman, and select some little demons or spirit children to serve in the cave."
The boy led Su Rui into the palace entrance, talking as he walked.
As Su Rui entered, he saw that the palace's interior was quite large, likely hollowed out from the entire mountain. It was divided into several areas, including the Sutra Repository, the Dharma Performance Hall, the Transmission Hall, and the Law Enforcement Hall. Su Rui also noticed that the palace had several secret rooms further back for disciples to cultivate, though these could only be used by applying to the Deacon's Hall for merit, elixirs, and other treasures.
As the boy led the way, he also gossiped with him about some information, such as how most disciples of the Heshan Dao would rent the secret chambers here to attack the third level of Qi Refining, with a high success rate. For example, in the deepest part of the palace, there was a rumor that a vein connected to the Netherworld, and the secret chambers near this vein were generally provided free of charge to the elders and the headmaster for their retreat.
Under the guidance of the boy, Su Rui left the name "Su Qinghe" in a corner of the hall, received a light gray Taoist robe, a cave token, and designated two ghost maids who were about thirteen or fourteen years old, and then walked out of the deacon hall.
After going out, Su Rui looked back and felt that this hall looked a bit like the mausoleums of those emperors who loved to show off their achievements. Not only was it similar in appearance, but it was also gloomy and filled with ghosts than people!
The boy took Su Rui to the depths of the valley, and to his surprise, there was a place where he could see the sunlight outside.
It was a small platform covered with green moss. Due to the sunlight, some colorful flowers bloomed in the nearby weeds, which brought a touch of beauty to the gloomy valley.
Su Rui pointed to the stone platform in the sun and asked the boy, "What is that place?"
"That's the Heavenly Punishment Platform. Some spirits and pets that commit crimes are escorted to that platform for execution. Many innocent souls have died there!" the boy said, shrinking his head. The two spirit servants following behind him also looked at it with horror.
"It's a nice place!" Su Rui knew what they were afraid of, but looking at the cluster of sunlight, he still thought it was beautiful.
"Is there any uninhabited cave near the Tianxingtai?" It happened that he was going to look for a cave, and it would be a good location if he chose one nearby, so he asked tentatively.
The boy thought for a moment before saying, "There's a wooden house that used to be a place for outsiders entering the valley to live in. But it's been abandoned for many years. If you don't mind, you can live there!"
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