The banquet was very formal and was held in the newly built ancestral temple. There was wine and meat on the banquet, but there was no meat or spicy food. It seemed that Taoist Priest Wang Jingxuan was a righteous Taoist priest.
The old man surnamed Liu, accompanied by several village elders, invited Wang Jingxuan and others to eat and drink. During the dinner, the old man surnamed Liu raised his glass frequently to thank Taoist Wang for maintaining peace over the years.
After the banquet, the old man had someone present him with a book of ceremony, which only cost him twenty yuan.
The old man felt very guilty and said: "The years are not good, and the exploitation in the city is getting worse now. I have treated the Taoist priest poorly this time."
"It's okay." Taoist Master Wang Jingxuan didn't care at all. He collected the etiquette and stood up to take Fei Jingting and Fu Yunzhao to say goodbye.
After leaving the village, Fei Jingting couldn't help but say: "Twenty oceans is really too little."
Wang Jingxuan laughed and said: "It's just a little money, why do you care so much?"
This is the difference between Taoism and Buddhism. Since ancient times, Taoist priests have relied on their ability to eat. They may catch ghosts and exorcise evil spirits, or perform fasting rituals to pray for the villagers and eliminate disasters, or use Feng Shui techniques to set up Feng Shui bureaus for the owners of the restaurant. Anyway, They all rely on craftsmanship to make a living.
Buddhism is different. It talks empty words and reaches out to you for alms, and then deceives you with blessings in the next life.
This can be seen from the names they use for people in the secular world. Taoism calls people in the secular world great virtues, good believers, lay people, and vegetarians; Buddhist monks put their hands together and open their mouths as donors.
What is a donor? A person who gives alms. Taoism does not have such a title.
Fei Jingting secretly admired Taoist Priest Wang Jingxuan's open-mindedness. He is not short of money now, but even if he has no money, he is willing to come over to kill demons for the sake of inspiration. But two months ago, he was extremely poor. It's a lot of work to disturb the people, and for solving such a big trouble, I will give you 20 yuan, and Fei Jingting will probably be scolded.
The three of them chatted while walking, and Wang Jingxuan briefly introduced Tianmu Mountain. Today, there are Taoist temples and Zen temples on the Lotus Peak of Tianmu Mountain. There are only two Taoist temples left, one is Ziyang Temple and the other is Zhi Tao Temple; the Buddhist temple is Dajue Zheng et al. Zen temples. There are many Zen temples on other mountain peaks.
Nowadays, the Taoist sect is weak, and the two Taoist temples combined only have nine Taoists and twelve Taoist nuns. There are quite a few monks, at least more than two hundred.
The Taoist Temple is located on one of the peaks of Lotus Peak. The five peaks of Lotus Peak are connected and resemble lotus flowers, so it is called Lotus Peak.
Walking in the mountains, Wang Jingxuan felt as if he was walking on flat ground, and his steps were as fast as flying. His feet were spotless, which made Fei Jingting admire him for a while.
But in Wang Jingxuan's eyes, both Fei Jingting and Fu Yunzhao are not simple people. Judging that one is in his early twenties and the other is no more than a teenager, he has already put in ten percent of his effort. How can he expect it? The two men were not angry, their expressions did not change, and they followed closely behind.
Wang Jingxuan couldn't help but praise: "The two laymen are good at cultivating themselves."
"The Taoist Master is so complimentary. Your Taoist practice is profound. The two of us have just stepped onto the threshold of spiritual practice."
Wang Jingxuan said: "With such cultivation at such a young age, maybe you two can achieve enlightenment and ascend to heaven. But I, the old Taoist, can't do it anymore. At my old age, I can only think about ascending, but it is out of reach."
Fu Yunzhao said from behind: "Old Taoist priest, your Taoism is so powerful, maybe you can ascend to the next level after practicing for a few more years."
"Ha, I don't dare to think about that." Wang Jingxuan said: "The old Taoist entered Yangguan at the age of eleven, received the master's true teaching at the age of thirteen, and practiced for nearly sixty years. Considering that time is running out, how can he still attain enlightenment and ascend?"
"Huh? Old Taoist priest, you are over seventy years old?"
After living for such a long time, Wang Jingxuan has long been open-minded and agreed: "Yes, the old Taoist is twenty-two years old this year and is buried up to his neck in soil."
Fei Jingting couldn't help but ask: "I just saw that the Taoist Master's swordsmanship is superb. Could it be that the Taoist Master has mastered the art of sword control?"
Wang Jingxuan said: "The layman is very knowledgeable, and he is indeed a master of sword control. It is a pity that the old Taoist is not good at learning and has not cultivated enough, so when he painted a tiger, he could not turn out to be a dog, which made the layman laugh."
It’s really a swordsmanship! Fei Jingting was secretly surprised.
We had just met, so I was afraid that it would be inappropriate to ask someone for sword control skills for no reason. Fei Jingting was thinking about what to exchange with Wang Jingxuan. Don't even think about joining the contract. His cultivation level is profound, and he is afraid that he is not inferior to him. He has practiced for sixty years.
In the coming year, even if you obtain the Shen Tong Contract, you will not be able to change your skills;
I guess Taoist Master Wang doesn't care about spells and the like. After a lot of calculation, it seems that only the Yunlu Array in Yuhuli is left. At this time, he has mastered two arrays, and he doesn't know if Taoist Wang also thinks highly of them.
Can you appreciate it?
After thinking about it, he left the mountain road and turned to a narrow path, twisting and turning over a mountain. He walked on the mountain road for another two hours. It was not until dusk that Wang Jingxuan pointed to the Taoist temple on the mountain and said, "This is the Taoist temple."
.”
The gate to the Taoist temple is not big. Go up the steps, turn around the gate and go inside. You will see that the founder Xu Jingyang is enshrined in the main hall.
Fei Jingting had replenished a lot of Taoist teachings in the past few months and knew that he had thought wrong. This Wang Jingxuan was probably not from Taiyi, but from the declining Jingming Tao.
Jingming Taoism has Xu Jingyang as the founder of the sect, and its teachings focus on using talismans, forbidden spells, and curses to drive away evil spirits and subjugate demons, and to observe a fast and a ritual ceremony to cultivate immortality and save people.
The strange thing is that I have never heard that Jingming Dao is good at flying swords. Where did this Taoist Wang Jingxuan get the skill of flying swords?
After entering the mountain gate, they saw several young Taoist priests sweeping the house. When they saw Wang Jingxuan leading people up the mountain, they hurried over to greet them.
"Master-uncle!"
"Supreme Lord, I have met two good believers."
Wang Jingxuan said: "These two are not simple believers, but practitioners."
The young Taoist priest glanced at the two of them in surprise, then changed his title and said, "I have seen two lay people."
"How are you, Chief Taoist?" Fei Jingting greeted him.
Wang Jingxuan shook his hand and handed over the twenty oceans he had just received: "Fa Ming, take it to buy some food."
Fa Ming took it and counted it, and said with a wry smile: "Uncle Master, this is only twenty oceans, I'm afraid it won't last long."
Wang Jingxuan sighed: "In a few days, I will go down the mountain to see which big family needs a wedding ceremony, and if I earn some bookkeeping, I can survive this day."
After a pause, he then ordered: "These two laymen are afraid that they will stay here for the night. You can go and clean up the two quiet rooms in the back and make some camellia."
"Yes, great uncle."
The young Taoist priest retreated, and Wang Jingxuan led the two of them into a quiet room at the back. After Fa Ming served the tea, Wang Jingxuan greeted him: "This tea is wild tea picked randomly on the mountain, and the water is good mountain spring water. It is a bit crude.
, I also ask the two laymen not to dislike it."
"What did the Taoist Master say?" Fei Jingting took a sip and said, "This tea is fragrant, I'm afraid it's no worse than famous teas like Longjing."
They each took a sip of tea. The little white snake in the bag could not bear to crawl out and hissed. Fu Yunzhao said, "Little Baibai wants to go for a walk. I will take her around."
Fei Jingting said: "She can just go by herself. What are you going to do with her?"
Fu Yunzhao looked at Wang Jingxuan warily and said, "I'm afraid some Taoist priest will stew her into snake soup."
Wang Jingxuan laughed loudly, and Fei Jingting hurriedly apologized: "The little girl talks without restraint, Taoist priest, please forgive me."
"It doesn't matter, it's just innocence and true nature. Little girl, please rest assured, the old master will not take action. I am afraid that there is no one on Tianmu Mountain who can subdue this...spirit snake."
"Anyway, I'm bored here. You guys chat while I go out for a walk."
After saying that, Fu Yunzhao led the little white snake away with a skip and a jump.
Fei Jingting and Wang Jingxuan were the only two people left in the quiet room.
After taking a sip of the fragrant tea, without waiting for Fei Jingting to say anything, Taoist Master Wang Jingxuan said: "We are both practitioners, I am afraid that lay people have many questions in their minds, right?"
"That's exactly what happened. Fei Jingting, a junior, stepped into the threshold of spiritual practice by chance. Only then did he realize that the world and the world in this area are completely cut off. Most practitioners are wasting their time in the world of mortals. There are very few people who can step into the threshold. As a Taoist master, he has such profound spiritual practice.
Or, there is not even one."
Wang Jingxuan nodded and said: "Ling Ji... Qi, this statement is correct. In ancient times, Qi refiners ate wind and drank dew, swallowing the Qi of heaven and earth. Later, Qi refiners disappeared, Zhang Tianshi established a Taoist system, and people in the Taoist sect practiced internal and external elixirs.
In the Song Dynasty, Wang Chongyang, a real person, understood the masters of the three religions and established the Quanzhen Taoism. He only practiced inner elixirs, did not perform fasting rituals, and did not know how to catch ghosts and exorcise evil spirits."
After a pause, Wang Jingxuan said again: "It can be seen that the energy of heaven and earth is getting increasingly thinner. If it were not for a coincidence, the old Taoist would never be able to step into the threshold of cultivation in his lifetime."
Fei Jingting asked: "Old Gao Gong has profound Taoism. I just saw Xu Jingyang enshrined in the main hall. I guess the Taoist Master is also from the Jingming sect. He should be good at fasting rituals and forbidden spells. Why did he just break through the Yin evil in the earth's veins?"
The commander is actually the art of flying swords?"
Wang Jingxuan said: "Who said that the Jingming Sect can no longer use the flying sword technique? There are more than one swordsman practicing in this world."
"Oh? Please ask the old master for advice."
Wang Jingxuan slowly narrated, and then Fei Jingting realized that there were so many factions of sword immortals.
It is rumored that the art of sword immortality was passed down by the Yellow Emperor. It is recorded in the classics that "I made fifteen magical swords to control the nine states."
During the Warring States Period, it gradually became prosperous in the Yan State. Sword cultivation in the Yan State was divided into martial swords and Taoist swords. The martial swordsman had a tangible sword, made with a special method to resist foreign aggression; the Taoist swordsman had an innate spirit.
Also, it is the formless and formless energy of Taihe that nourishes the heaven and earth.
Fei Jingting understood as soon as he heard it. Isn't this the outer sword and inner sword in the novels about cultivating immortals? The outer sword controls the visible sword and kills enemies with flying swords; the inner sword, also known as sword pills, hurts people with sword energy.
Hard to guard against.
It turns out that the novel is not nonsense, it actually exists!
Wang Jingxuan continued to say that this swordsmanship reached its peak in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and Chunyang Master Lu Dongbin was one of the leaders. But at this time, it is not known whether it is because of the weak energy of heaven and earth, or because the Taoist sword technique has been lost.
Most swordsmen nowadays use magic swords.
Chunyang Zhenren actually left a text saying that the swordsman was divided into magic swords and Tao swords.
By the time of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Sword Immortal became increasingly weak and gradually declined. Even today, only a few factions remain.
According to the geographical division, there are only South, North, East, West, Wudang, Jingming, Jingaishan, Yiyang and other sects. In terms of swordsmanship, there are Huashan, Emei, Qingcheng, Songshan and Nangong sects.
Therefore, the Jingming Sect has the skills of the Sword Immortal. Coincidentally, Wang Jingxuan is the only remaining descendant of the Sword Immortal of this sect!