Chapter 1 The Disciple's Residence

A few young Daoists quietly lit the lamps.

After the first lamp was lit, a shadow naturally appeared behind the round-faced young Daoist. This was normal, but Lin Ling'er couldn't muster any enthusiasm. She turned to stare at Zhang Xiaoyu, seriously contemplating how to stick the yellow talisman from her little pouch onto Zhang Xiaoyu's forehead.

The round-faced young Daoist softly said,

"You Huang."

The previously swaying shadow suddenly stabilized.

The young Daoist lit the second lamp, and something astonishing happened to the other young Daoists. Behind the young Daoist, a second shadow appeared. This shadow was more unstable than the first, swaying left and right. The young Daoist exclaimed,

"Wangliang!"

The shadow then stabilized, transforming back into the image of the young Daoist.

Lin Ling'er turned her head, watching the scene in astonishment.

The round-faced young Daoist looked triumphant, and then lit the third lamp, all the way to the ninth. Each lamp corresponded to a direction, and the shadows appeared one by one behind the young Daoist. They weren't as well-behaved as the first shadow, but when their true names were spoken, no matter how much they swayed and fidgeted on the wall, they would become obedient.

One You Huang, two Wangliang, three Xiejieshu, four Chifu, five Suoguan, six Ponu, seven Zao, eight Hailingtai...

Lin Ling'er was engrossed in watching. A voice next to her asked, "Want some?"

Zhang Xiaoyu took out some shredded squid that the Water Ghost had given her and offered it to Lin Ling'er.

Lin Ling'er subconsciously took it and politely said,

"Thank you..."

Her expression froze.

Zhang Xiaoyu's eyes curved into a smile, and she replied, "You're welcome."

Lin Ling'er had no choice but to turn her head away, puffing out her cheeks. She watched the shadows appear one by one, seemingly unwilling to accept the favor. While chewing, she said, "Did you know? We rely on talismans to cast spells, but in Sakura Island, they have a tradition called Onmyōdō, which also relies on incantations to exorcise ghosts and regulate qi."

"The most orthodox lineage produced a great Onmyōji called Abe no Seimei, but I always feel like he wasn't just an Onmyōji, it's not that simple. That lineage of Onmyōji worships the Taishan Fujun, the main deity of our Divine Continent, and their most powerful incantation is called the Taizan Fukun-sai."

"He once said that a name is the shortest incantation."

"Western demons also seem to be afraid of having their true names called out."

"Many things in the cultivation world share similar principles. I always feel like these shadows are a bit evil."

Lin Ling'er thought for a moment and said, "But since we know their names, there shouldn't be any problems."

With the ninth lamp, the last shadow also appeared. The round-faced, cute young Daoist waved his hand and loudly proclaimed,

"Ninth Shadow, Yu Quanshi Bubian!"

But that shadow didn't stabilize at all. Instead, it became even more enraged. The young Daoist was stunned and shouted again, Yu Quanshi Bubian! The shadow suddenly raised its head and roared, baring its fangs and claws. Then, it actually raised its hand to strike the young Daoist. The young Daoist was frozen in place, and Lin Ling'er kicked him onto the bedding, dodging the shadow.

She was furious and shouted,

"Yu Quanshi Bubian isn't its name! It means the part of the name was eaten away by bookworms! The later recorders also noted this reason! You must have been dozing off during your classical Chinese class!"

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the shadow suddenly slipped out of the window. Lin Ling'er ran out in large strides. The other young Daoists were a bit scared, and only Zhang Xiaoyu followed. The night sky was clear tonight, with a bright moon in the sky. You could see the shadows of the trees and the mountains. The ninth shadow mixed into the shadows of the mountains, and the mountain shadow suddenly broke free.

It turned into a huge monster.

Like a snake or a dragon, it let out a huge, scolding sound. Its body had the characteristics of a jackal, with a human face and wings on its back. Perhaps it was an illusion, but the moisture in the air seemed to thicken.

It relied on the shadows to break free.

Then, this shadow flew toward the mountain range on the side of the Weiming Sect's mountain gate.

……………………

"It's a Huas She." (mythical serpent)

Wei Yuan, who sensed the changes in the disciple's residence, observed the strange beast through the altar.

He recognized the true form of the shadow.

Huas She, a water beast, with a human face and a jackal's body, wings, moving like a snake, its voice like a scolding, bringing great floods.

He was very familiar with this thing.

He just didn't expect to see it in this era. He suddenly remembered seeing in the Weiming Sect's Daoist canon that the Weiming Sect's founder was originally a master from Dragon Tiger Mountain. When he traveled the world to subdue demons and eliminate evil, he discovered a huge snake demon in this area causing floods in the river and harming people.

So he set up an altar and, with the help of the Celestial Master's Mansion, captured it.

But he couldn't find a good way to take this demon's life for a while, and he was worried that if he recklessly took its life, it would stir up the water veins before it died, causing widespread destruction. The master locked it in a place under the mountain and refined it with the earth's yin fire. He also established a mountain gate nearby, with disciples as a branch of the Zhengyi sect, responsible for guarding this creature.

Wei Yuan subconsciously treated it as a legendary story.

Many sects and Daoist temples would fabricate stories for their founders to attract pilgrims.

But he never expected that this was also documentary literature?

Wei Yuan couldn't help but complain in his heart.

Could these ancestral masters please differentiate between bragging and documentaries?

It's very tiring for later generations to read.

At this moment, there was already chaos outside. He immediately picked up the sword case and zither case and quickly walked out. When he ran out, he saw Weiming Sect Daoists already rushing to stop the shadow of the Huas She. The disciple's residence was far from this library. Wei Yuan was worried that he wouldn't make it in time. After thinking about it, he reached out and took out Zhang Daoling's Dharma sword from the bottom of the sword case.

While everyone was running towards the direction of the disciple's bureau, he walked into a small forest on the side.

Hiding in the shadows.

The Celestial Master's Mansion actually also had methods similar to flying swords, but they also required setting up an altar and performing rituals. It was common to see a demon in a river somewhere, and the Celestial Master from the Celestial Master's Mansion would perform a ritual, slapping a talisman on a peach wood sword, and the wood sword would fly into the river. In an instant, the river water would surge and churn, stained with blood.

Usually, they used peach wood swords or thunderstruck wood swords.

But Wei Yuan felt that the sword in his hand should be more in line with the specifications.

Fixing the earth as an altar, Wei Yuan took a few pebbles and stacked them up, treating them as a Dharma altar. He already knew that the Dharma altar ceremony was used to increase the connection with the vast power in the sky, and because of special reasons, the talisman on the back of his hand was the core of mobilizing the power. Some rules could be simplified.

Stepping the Yu steps, chanting the true words.

Taking a talisman, but in the end, Wei Yuan discovered that the flying sword Dharma altar ceremony recorded in the Daoist canon was missing the last part of the true transmission.

This was probably a secret part that each sect and school had.

Most Daoists knew this common knowledge and wouldn't try it rashly, but Wei Yuan didn't know. Now that he was in this situation, he had no choice but to bite the bullet.

Gritting his teeth, he made the Three Mountains Hand Seal and shouted,

"Expedite as the statutes command!"

With a whoosh, the yellow talisman actually ignited on its own.

The Dharma sword in his hand rang and whistled, flying out of its scabbard, circling once, and then flying towards the mountains.

Wei Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and quickened his pace to follow.

……………………

The Daoists wearing Daoist robes were originally discussing how to deal with the people of the Cultivating Way of Peace today, but suddenly sensed that the seal outside seemed to be loosening. Shocked, they all came out and discovered that the snake demon that had been suppressed for hundreds of years had somehow escaped again.

It seemed to be exerting influence, enticing the younger disciples to try some shadow-revealing methods.

Then it seized this shadow, planning to rely on the shadow to open the seal in the mountain from the outside and refine it.

In this era, those young Daoists were the lifeblood of every Daoist school. Daring to have designs on these young fellows directly angered all the Daoists. An old Daoist with white hair and beard cursed loudly and was about to rush to the ancestral altar to set up an altar and hack the thing to pieces, but was barely held back. Xuan Yi and Zhao Yi were slightly shocked and, relying on their youth and strength, quickly ran down.

Some of the true disciples of the Weiming Sect rushed to the disciple's residence to confirm that the younger disciples were okay, while the other part went straight to the location of the seal, surrounded the Huas She shadow, and without a word, launched a Palm Thunder one after another. This spell wasn't as powerful as the orthodox Five Thunder Spell, but it was extremely fast, just raising a hand.

More than a dozen Daoists here launched Palm Thunders together.

It could be considered a grand display of power.

If it had really moved against the disciples in the mountain gate, it might have been directly served with the Five Thunder Dharma.

As a branch of the Zhengyi sect, there was a truly meaningful, generationally inherited Dharma altar here.

The shadow was instantly shattered and returned to the shadows of the mountains and lakes.

Among the Daoists, there was one with a dignified face, a full beard, and eyes like a tiger. He reached out and grabbed a young Daoist's shadow from the shadows. The shadow still wanted to struggle, but after being glared at by the Daoist's tiger eyes, it immediately became well-behaved.

This Daoist had a deep-seated prestige, and even the young Daoist's shadow was afraid of him.

The tiger-eyed Daoist put the shadow back into a gourd, to be replenished later.

Many young disciples were in the disciple's residence and didn't dare to come out.

Only the Maoshan Lin Ling'er and Zhang Xiaoyu were bolder and followed behind their elders, seeing this wonderful scene. They were both a little dazed. Lin Ling'er was fantasizing a bit, while Zhang Xiaoyu looked at her paler-than-normal palms, a look of loneliness on her face.

Living corpses naturally couldn't wield the Daoist sect's thunder methods for exorcism.

Lin Ling'er reached out and patted Zhang Xiaoyu's head.

Then, with the force of a mountain peak, she pulled out a talisman with her right hand and slapped it towards Zhang Xiaoyu's forehead.

Zhang Xiaoyu dodged it.

Now there was no time for sadness.

Just as everyone thought the matter was resolved, Xuan Yi suddenly realized something was wrong and said,

"No, this Huas She has deep cultivation and has fought with our predecessors. It's impossible for it not to know that it would gain nothing by acting today."

The tiger-eyed Daoist was stunned, then his expression changed drastically and said, "It's a feint to lure us away from the mountain! The seal!"

The Daoists rushed towards the place where the ancient Huas She was sealed. After running a few steps, they saw the bright moon hanging high in the sky, and a flying shadow quickly passed over the ground, flying straight towards the sealed place. Everyone's eyes were tearing apart, and it was too late to cast spells. They could faintly hear a rampant laughter:

"Daoists, are you satisfied with my surprise?! Hahahaha..."

Suddenly, a sword rang out, and a simple long sword in its scabbard fell from the sky, heavily embedded in the ground.

It pinned down the shadow almost perfectly.

It pierced through the shadow just as it was about to descend.

The laughter stopped abruptly, as if someone had grabbed its throat, and then became confused, followed by an angry voice:

"Who is it?!"

"Which stinking Daoist?!"

Wei Yuan hid in the shadows, watching the long sword fly and whistle, and the Huas She coil and roar angrily. After thinking about it, he stepped out. The moisture was dense here, and he used the power of water to surround his body. As he stepped out, he refracted and transformed through the water flow, changing how he appeared to the naked eye.

If there were ordinary people here, they would see him step out of the shadows.

As if crossing a long period of time.

The black hoodie on his body turned into a simple Daoist robe, his short hair lengthened, turning into a Daoist bun with a jade hairpin. The sneakers on his feet also changed. His face was blurred, transforming from a modern youth into an ancient Daoist. The Daoist robe avoided the styles of both the Quanzhen and Zhengyi sects. Among the Daoist robe styles that Wei Yuan had seen, only Zhang Daoling's from the year he entered Shu remained.

His footsteps were light and slow, and he slowly said:

"I never thought that there would still be a Huas She in this era..."

ps: Today's first update... three thousand four hundred words~

I originally wanted to combine two chapters into one, but after thinking about it, I'll post one chapter first...

The other chapter is already partially written and will be posted around twelve o'clock if possible~