"The only point where Youming Kuang was defeated against Qingyunzi was that..."
"On the third descent from the mountain, when Qingyunzi was a hundred years old, the founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, due to his advanced age, summoned Qingyunzi to the capital to discuss the steps of refining the elixir of immortality with Master Yuanhui."
Su Turong, the young girl standing by, had been listening with keen interest at first. But as she heard about several monks and a dying emperor discussing how to achieve immortality, she couldn't help but exclaim, "Old Taoist priests, you are so boring..."
"As the leaders of the bald monks and Taoists in the Great Ming Empire, it's such a shame for you to discuss such useless things with the Emperor."
Upon hearing this, Wu Tao offered a slight smile on the surface, but sighed inwardly.
"Time is the most ruthless thing, young lady. You are still young and have plenty of time to squander..."
"Unlike me, who is like the sun setting in the west, with little time left, and could die at any moment."
"Time is the most precious thing in this world. If one could extend their lifespan, everyone from high officials to commoners would be willing to exchange all they have for it."
After a brief chat, Wu Tao and Su Turong bid farewell and parted ways.
The horse Wu Tao rode was exceptionally spirited. Despite galloping for five hundred li day and night, its speed barely diminished, with the scenery on both sides blurring past.
After three days of such travel, covering about fifteen hundred li, Wu Tao arrived at the foot of Qingcheng Mountain.
The Liu family's livelihood was running a breakfast stall. Their business was neither booming nor poor, but it was sufficient to support the family.
Neighbors and regular customers would come every morning to buy breakfast buns and eat them at the stall.
On this particular day, Liu Hai, as usual, stood at the entrance, shouting to attract customers. He couldn't help but wonder, "Which immortal is this, riding a horse into our town?"
An old Taoist priest, over a hundred years old, wearing a green robe and riding a magnificent steed, was traversing the street. This person was none other than Wu Tao!
Normally, with Wu Tao's original body and Qingyunzi's reputation, his passage through the street would not have been so quiet.
If not a bustling crowd, there would at least have been countless commoners scrambling to kneel and kowtow.
High officials, upon hearing the news, would have rushed over at the fastest possible speed, hoping to gain some fortune.
In the Taoist profession, the older one is, the more sought after they are. Conversely, young Taoist priests, no matter how skilled their arts, would not be invited to perform rituals by many.
Matters of physiognomy, Feng Shui, and rituals, along with reputation building, often take years, decades, or even centuries!
However, it was true that Wu Tao's original body, Qingyunzi, was extremely old. Furthermore, he had descended the mountain only a few times. Apart from some elderly people in their fifties and sixties, very few people recognized him.
In the distance, the imposing gate of the monastery came into view. The gate was thirty feet high, resembling a city gate.
This gate was constructed from red cedarwood and was also sheathed in iron sheets, shimmering under the sunlight with a metallic luster.
Even the city gates of frontier towns were no more grander than this.
Around the gate stood numerous Taoist priests, their bodies exuding a steady and profound aura, creating a strong sense of pressure.
Above the gate, three large characters, brushed with black ink, were deep and striking: "Qingyun Guan."
Qingyun Guan was primarily built on the mountain, but its gate was located halfway up the slope.
Wu Tao strode towards the gate of Qingyun Guan. This was his home.
Upon seeing their grandmaster, all the disciples and descendants of Qingyun Guan prostrated themselves in unison.
"We pay homage to the Grandmaster."
Not only the Taoist priests in front of the gate knelt, but also those inside. A moment later, shouts of reverence filled the air.
This commotion drew the attention of the officials and nobles who had come to Qingyun Guan to offer incense. Upon hearing the shouts, they too, along with their servants, knelt down, exclaiming their greetings to the National Teacher.
Witnessing the scene both inside and outside the gate, Wu Tao, standing atop the monastery's entrance, couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion.
With slightly parted lips, he took a deep breath and said to those kneeling on the ground, "Please rise, all of you. This old Taoist priest truly cannot bear such a courtesy."
With that, Wu Tao turned and walked into the monastery.
Both the Taoist priests within Qingyun Guan and the officials and nobles outside waited until Wu Tao had walked far into the monastery before they slowly rose.
The Taoist priests of Qingyun Guan were relatively composed, accustomed to the strict discipline of the monastery and not prone to idle gossip.
However, the officials and nobles were different.
They stood not far from the gate of Qingyun Guan, engaged in lively discussions, the most frequent topic being the purpose of Qingyunzi's descent this time.
What kind of affairs could compel the foremost Taoist of the realm, Qingyunzi, to descend the mountain, especially considering he was now over a hundred and twenty years old?
Taoism advocated for simplicity and elegance, so the interior of Qingyun Guan lacked the opulence of elaborate decorations.
There were only the towering statues of the Three Pure Ones and essential structures for rituals. All the plants within the monastery were trees, and they were all ancient, towering trees.
It appeared that the youngest among them had at least a century of growth. In short, a tour of the monastery left visitors with an impression of majesty, solemnity, and gravity.
Wu Tao walked slowly at the forefront. Wherever he passed, all the Taoist priests knelt.
Even after walking for fifteen minutes, Wu Tao's pace remained unhurried.
However, during this walk, he noticed something peculiar: more than half of the disciples within the monastery were missing.
Moreover, a portion of the remaining disciples bore injuries of varying degrees.
The main hall of Qingyun Guan was remarkably spacious, with two rows of redwood chairs on each side. At the front, there was a single imperial chair made of huanghuali wood.
Wu Tao sat on the main chair. He not only discovered that his personal disciple, Xing Jun, was absent, but also that several other highly cultivated juniors were missing.
Recalling the scene he had witnessed earlier within the monastery, Wu Tao immediately questioned Xing Yun.
In response, Xing Yun stammered, unable to utter a word for a long time.
Seeing Xing Yun's evasiveness, Wu Tao sighed, realizing that they must have undertaken a significant endeavor and made a grave mistake in his absence.
With this thought, Wu Tao, in anger, kicked Xing Yun to the ground and declared furiously, "Xing Yun, what exactly did you and Xing Jun do while I was away from the monastery?"
"Speak! If you don't, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
Xing Yun knelt on the ground, a bitter smile on his face, and said, "This disciple deserves to die. I failed to stop my junior brother Xing Jun from leading over six hundred disciples of the monastery to trouble the Shaolin Temple on Mount Song."
Upon hearing this, Wu Tao's heart jolted, and he urgently asked, "When did they leave? Where are they now?"
Xing Yun, hearing this, kowtowed several times until blood appeared on his forehead, before mustering the courage to reply again, "Two days ago. They should be nearing Henan Province by now."
Xing Yun continued, "Master, we received news from our lay disciples that you were besieged by the monks of Shaolin Temple. We were all greatly incensed."
"Xing Jun took more than half of the Taoist priests from the monastery, vowing to destroy Shaolin Temple if they did not apologize within a day."
Although Wu Tao felt a sense of warmth in his heart that his disciples and descendants were so devoted to him, willing to wage war with Shaolin Temple for his sake.
One had to realize that Shaolin Temple was the foremost Buddhist monastery in the Great Ming Empire, and even Tianshan and Emei dared not provoke them lightly. Engaging in a war with them involved immense risk.
After a pause, Xing Yun spoke again, "This is not all. Who knew that other branches of the Taoist sects, upon hearing this news, also descended from their mountains and cleared out the branch temples of Shaolin Temple."
Upon hearing this, Wu Tao was nearly shocked speechless. Was this the prelude to a full-blown war between Buddhism and Taoism?
If so, the trouble would be immense. Shaolin Temple's influence within Buddhism could not be underestimated, and in the Great Ming Empire, there were at least over a million monks.
Although the number of Taoist priests was smaller, there were still hundreds of thousands. Moreover, compared to monks, Taoist sects were more united.
A bloody conflict between the leading forces of Taoism and Buddhism, once it began, would not cease until a victor was determined.
Unless a powerful force intervened to forcibly stop it, the enmity between Shaolin Temple and Qingyun Guan, once established, would be extremely difficult to resolve.
Xing Yun thought for a moment and then added, "The abbots of the Tianshan Sect and the Emei Sect have also arrived here, likely to mediate and reconcile between our Qingyun Guan and Shaolin Temple."
Upon hearing this, Wu Tao let out a cold snort, his eyes gleaming with a sharp light that caused Xing Yun to unconsciously lower his head, clearly feeling ashamed.
...
Infuriated, Wu Tao stood up and struck the huanghuali chair he was sitting on, shattering it into pieces.
Clearly, a considerable amount of anger had accumulated in his heart. Following this, Xing Yun endured a barrage of verbal reprimands.
"Do you think your hot-tempered junior brother, or those old bald donkeys at Shaolin Temple, will listen?"
"Based on those two useless individuals, Jie Feng and Hui Xin, their words are worth nothing. If they truly get bloodthirsty, even the Great Luo Immortals wouldn't be able to stop them, let alone them."
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