Chapter 85 Cultivation Ceremony
The clear and melodious ancient bell rang ninety-nine and eighty-one times, resounding throughout the entire Xiuzhenmen mountain and beyond. Listening to it immediately made people feel refreshed and calm.
The sound of the bell came from a huge golden ancient bell that was more than ten feet high on a place called Wendao Rock inside the Cultivation Gate. On the Wendao Rock, which is as huge as a hill, there is an extremely huge jade mountain gate. In the middle of the mountain gate, a huge golden bell hangs in the sky.
Two crystal clear white jade ancient stone pillars, like two huge jade swords, are inserted on both sides of the huge rock behind the Jade Mountain Gate. The top of the stone pillars reaches into the cloud peaks, and it is unknown where their terminals are. Two ancient white jade stone pillars as thick as a house are engraved with lifelike patterns of dragons and phoenixes. The majestic spiritual pressure emanates from the stone pillar patterns, making those with shallow cultivation lose the courage to even look up.
These two extremely huge ancient stone pillars, with thousands of spiritual pressures, are like a door that is always open. Outside is the mortal world, and the void inside the door seems to hide the illusory eternal life that countless mortal monks have been chasing for thousands of years. place.
"Wen Daoyan, morning and evening bell, Daozhen Gate."
This is the "True and False Illusion" portal, one of the three most famous illusions in the world of immortality in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Jumping up to the Wen Dao Rock, walking past the Dawn and Dusk Bell, and stepping into the Daozhen Sect means that you are about to become a true disciple of the Xiuzhen Sect.
A steep and narrow stone path extends downward from Wendao Rock, which is thousands of feet high, and leads directly to the huge valley square thousands of feet below. This steep stone path is like a vertical stone path, with straight and steep cliffs on both sides. It is bare, except for gray-white stones, which are still gray-white stones. It is desolate and ancient. This is the "road to heaven" that must be taken in the second stage of the Cultivation Ceremony!
Xinlu Wentian!
"Embark on the journey of your heart, explore the way of heaven, and seek cultivation. Why are you here?"
At the foot of the mountain, in the huge valley, thousands of monks gathered at the moment. This group of monks were all standing quietly in the valley at this moment, looking up at the majestic and huge mountain range that suddenly emerged from the void in front of them, giving rise to a feeling that was both real and illusory.
The shock in Wu Yan's heart at this time cannot be described by any words.
One moment, there was only a vast, clear and empty abyss in front of us. The next moment the bell rang, above the empty valley and abyss, there suddenly appeared such a towering mountain that could crush people and make them breathless!
What kind of method is this?
Does the Cultivation Sect really have such unpredictable power? Then when will he, a little monk in the Qi refining stage who is as small as an ant, climb to the pinnacle that is respected by thousands of cultivators?
In front of the straight and steep path of the giant mountain, there were several rows of hundreds of cultivation disciples wearing blue robes and expressionless faces. In front of this group of disciples, stood a long-bearded old man wearing a crane cloak, a Taoist bun high up, holding a white jade whisk, and an immortal Taoist bone. He spoke to the nearly 10,000 casual cultivators in front of him who came to participate in the cultivation ceremony. : "Pindao Zhenxuzi, it is really a great blessing for me that all fellow Taoists come to my sect today to participate in the cultivation ceremony. On behalf of my sect, I would like to welcome all my fellow Taoists."
This person was actually Zhen Xuzi, the current head of the Cultivation Sect, a master monk at the early stage of the Golden Core Stage. His voice was clear and clear, like jade falling from a spring. It reached the ears of everyone present, neither high nor low. It made people feel like they were refreshed by the spring breeze, like drinking fairy wine. He showed the demeanor of an accomplished man.
"Master Zhenxunzi is so polite, but we juniors are scared!"
As if they had agreed, everyone bowed their hands to Zhen Xuzi in unison.
Zhen Xuzi smiled indifferently, waved the white jade whisk in his hand, pointed at the three foundation-building disciples of the Cultivation Sect standing in the open space of the valley square, and said: "I believe that all of you Taoist friends already know the rules of the Cultivation Ceremony. Friends with spiritual roots, alien spiritual roots and true spiritual roots of two attributes, go over there and be escorted directly to the True and False Illusion Realm by our foundation-building disciples to participate in the third and fourth levels of the Cultivation Ceremony."
After Zhen Xuzi said this, the crowd showed a commotion, and then young monks with smug faces walked out of the crowd and walked towards the three foundation-building disciples.
The monks who participated in the examination of the Cultivation Ceremony this time include not only monks like Wu Yan who came here just this year, but also casual cultivators who have been living in Jiguan Town and Jizuixia. young disciples. No matter which one you are, you must accept the assessment of three or four levels of the Cultivation Ceremony before you can become a true disciple of the Cultivation Sect.
Wu Yan stood in the crowd and looked at the group of young monks who were exempted from the second level of "Xinlu Wentian" assessment, with mixed feelings in his heart.
This group of people can be said to be the pride of heaven. They have high spiritual qualifications and a smooth path to practice. As long as they work hard and build foundations, there are no bottlenecks in forming elixirs. Unlike monks with ordinary qualifications like him, every level and every step You have to go through endless hardships and hit many bottlenecks before you have the opportunity to build the foundation and form the elixir. There is even a possibility that you will not be able to successfully build the foundation in your lifetime and will be insulated from the avenue.
After a moment, no one in the crowd came out. Wu Yan counted silently in his mind and found that there were fifty-four people in this group. Zhang Feng was also among them. Seeing Zhang Feng wink at him, Wu Yan responded with an encouraging smile.
The three foundation-building monks each sacrificed a high-level banana leaf boat weapon and threw it into the air. Then they each carried eighteen disciples in an orderly manner, soared through the air and flew towards the towering mountain top. Escape.
The unknown Taoist Mountain in front of you exudes huge spiritual pressure. It is obvious that the Cultivation Sect has set up a powerful prohibition circle. If you don't know how to open the prohibition, it is impossible to fly here.
The remaining group of them had to walk step by step along the straight and steep stone path to the top of the mountain without using any magic power.
After this group of monks with outstanding qualifications were picked up, the remaining group of monks looked at Master Zhenxunzi quietly, waiting for his next arrangement.
Zhen Xuzi smiled slightly, pointed towards the steep stone path that was so high that the top could not be seen, and said to everyone: "The children below who are participating in the second level assessment, regardless of their qualifications, as long as the basic skills have reached the tenth level, please come here. Bian Lai lined up and started the journey to the Heavenly Road. You guys must think clearly whether you really want to join this sect. Pindao would like to remind you that this Wentian Road on Wendao Mountain is by no means an ordinary rock. There are true and false forbidden laws laid down by the founder of our sect personally on the path. If you are inconsistent with your words and harbor evil intentions, once you set foot on this path, you will be noticed by the forbidden laws. Even a poor person will be unable to do anything about it. If you encounter danger and lose your life, it is your own fault. Those who have not reached the tenth level of martial arts should not take any chances. This path to heaven cannot be completed by monks below the tenth level."
After saying these words, Zhen Xuzi stepped aside.
When everyone heard what he said, many people changed their expressions, and even some guys who were originally taking chances turned green with fright. I had never heard before that this second level of assessment was life-threatening.
Wu Yan's heart also skipped a beat, and he felt his heart beat a few times unsatisfactorily. However, thinking of the goal he was pursuing and looking at the rocky path, Wu Yan secretly said in his heart: What are you afraid of? I sincerely want to join the cultivation sect, and I have no evil intentions towards this sect. Besides, my physical strength After a long period of training, he is no longer the weak boy he was before. What does this little journey mean?
Thinking of this, Wu Yan followed the crowd and walked to the Taoist Mountain. He lined up neatly and waited for the journey to the sky.
The person standing at the front of the team has already stepped up. The man walked up step by step calmly, and nothing happened. Many of the people behind him breathed a sigh of relief.
Before he reached the stone path, Wu Yan silently turned around and took a look and found that there were more than 4,000 people who were qualified to board this path. The more than 5,000 people left were all monks whose cultivation realm was less than ten levels.
Wu Yan was a little confused. Since everyone knew the rules of the Cultivation Ceremony, why did these people come here? Do you want to observe it?
Zhen Xuzi did not keep a monk like him puzzled for long. Zhen Xuzi waved his fly whisk and said to the remaining monks: "Since you guys have traveled thousands of miles to come to this sect, I will naturally not let you come in vain. Now I invite the remaining guys to follow the Deacon Academy. Disciples, go to the Deacon Academy to take the outer disciple assessment. Those who pass can become the outer disciples of this sect. As long as you practice Taoism wholeheartedly and think about the sect wholeheartedly, you will naturally have the opportunity to become the core of the inner sect in the future. disciple."
There were a lot of discussions among the crowd, and soon they followed another group of Cultivation Sect disciples in the valley and walked to the west of the valley.
"It turns out that the Cultivation Sect also recruits outer disciples. No wonder these monks came here even though they knew they were not eligible to participate in the Cultivation Ceremony." Wu Yan suddenly realized in his heart and secretly said.
After arranging these things, Zhen Xuzi ordered more than a hundred Xiuzhen disciples standing at the foot of Dao Dao Mountain: "Xu Zhen disciples, protect the mountain!"
This group of disciples agreed loudly, and then uniformly launched their flying swords. After stepping on them, they started flying one after another. From the bottom of the mountain to the top, every twenty feet there is a disciple with a flying sword floating beside the path.
The disciples on the road to heaven are like a long colorful dragon, slowly climbing up the mountain from the bottom of the mountain. From a distance, it looks extremely spectacular.
At this point, the opening ceremony of the Cultivation Ceremony came to an end. Immortal cultivators are not like ordinary people in the secular world, who are in awe of ghosts and gods. Every grand event is held, there must be a grand ceremony to worship gods and ghosts first. Immortal cultivators emphasize the pursuit of the Tao and believe in the true self. Everything is aimed at cultivating the truth and seeking the Tao. Naturally, they will not engage in such illusory things.
Zhen Xuzi took one last look at the cultivators who were ascending the Heavenly Road, and smiled calmly. The light under his feet lit up, and then he soared into the sky and fled towards the Dawn Peak in the center, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Wu Yan had already climbed up the straight and steep stone path. He looked at the direction where Zhen Xuzi disappeared with envy on his face and thought to himself: Sooner or later, I can be like him!