The Sect Leader's Invitation

From beginning to end, his master favored him. Not the kind of favoritism that was spoken of, but the kind that was silent, unspoken, yet ever-present.

He cultivated the Threefold Reversal of Life too quickly, and Zuo Ruotong said, "I don't know how to teach you anymore," but the next day she still sat in the lecture hall as usual to explain the theory to him.

He wanted to go down the mountain to borrow fire from the Zhuge family, and Zuo Ruotong nodded without even asking why.

When he broke through to the third level in the martial arts arena and made such a commotion, Zuo Ruotong stood on the steps to shield him from all possible interference, and never asked him "what that fragment is" from beginning to end.

He has traveled so far in this world, seen the golden light of the City God's merits, seen Ming Shan's ability to turn beans into soldiers, and seen the Black Mountain Demon's red lotus karmic fire.

But Zuo Ruotong's pale white Taoist robe, tinged with the light gold of the sunset, and the steaming cup of tea in the lecture hall, still represent his most original understanding of the word "spiritual practice."

Some people cultivate to become stronger, while others cultivate to achieve immortality. But Zuo Ruotong laid a foundation for his cultivation: cultivation is about first understanding oneself, and then helping others to understand as well.

He stood on the mountain path for a while. The mountain breeze passed through the pine forest, blowing the hem of his gauze robe, but it couldn't dispel the faint warmth in his heart.

Mingzhen and Mingshan walked quite a distance before realizing he hadn't followed. Mingshan turned around to call out to him, but Mingzhen gently tugged at her sleeve.

The old Taoist priest looked at Liu Jin's expression as he gazed at the group of woodcutters. Although he didn't know what the young Taoist was thinking, he was very familiar with this expression, which was the kind of expression that only appeared on the faces of wanderers who had been away from home for many years when they occasionally stopped.

The headmaster of Laoshan Sect personally stood at the entrance of Xuanqing Temple to wait.

When Liu Jin saw the figure in the distance, he paused involuntarily. It was an old Taoist priest with white hair and beard, thin and slightly hunched, wearing a faded gray robe and leaning on a rattan cane.

Standing next to Mingzhen, they looked like brothers, not in age, but in temperament.

They all had the kind of faces that would blend into a crowd and be hard to spot, and they all had the kind of gentle temperaments where the corners of their eyes wrinkle first when they smile. But their eyes were different; they were brighter than an old man's, and they were fixed on Liu Jin from a distance, as if they had seen some rare treasure.

"What a temper." The sect leader spoke the first words when Liu Jin reached the entrance of the temple, his tone a mix of admiration and teasing. "Last night, I was observing the stars on the mountaintop when I saw a cloud of fire rolling in from the southwest. I thought it was the birth of a drought demon and almost rang the bell to summon the elders of all the temples for a meeting."

This morning, Mingzhen sent a message back to the mountain, only to find out that it was Master Liu from Sanyi Temple who had arrived. It was a false alarm, but not really; your inner fire is no less potent than a drought demon's.

Liu Jin bowed slightly and said, "Junior Liu Jin greets the Sect Leader."

The sect leader waved his hand and stepped aside to make a "please" gesture. Xuanqing Temple was not large, with three courtyards, paved with bluestone and lined with pine and cypress trees.

Upon entering the backyard, a low table and three cushions had already been set up in a bamboo pavilion.

On the low table sat a pot of tea, two or three dishes of wild fruit, and a small dish of neatly trimmed roots of some unknown plant, which gleamed faintly in the afternoon sun.

After taking their seats, Liu Jin briefly explained the origins of the Sanyi Temple, the cultivation of the Samadhi True Fire, and the process of joining forces with the City God to annihilate the Black Mountain Demon.

As for the origin of the name Sanyi Temple, he only said that his sect was far away in another place, and that what he had learned was not from this world, without saying more.

The sect leader simply nodded slightly, without pressing for details. However, he listened particularly closely to the part about the Black Mountain Demon being suppressed by the Golden Bell of Merit, and at the end, he stroked his beard and smiled.

"The City God owes you a great favor this time. The City God's token in your hand is much more valuable than you think. I have dealt with the City God for decades and have never heard of him voluntarily giving away a City God's token."

After several rounds of drinks, the sky gradually darkened. The sect leader suddenly put down his teacup, stood up, walked to the open space outside the bamboo pavilion, and looked up at the sky. Today was the new moon; the moon was thin as a hook, and the stars were exceptionally numerous.

The sect leader took out a scroll from his sleeve and slowly unfurled it on the open ground. The scroll depicted a full moon, meticulously painted with undulating mountains and swaying osmanthus shadows within it. In the lower right corner was a line of small characters: "Inviting the Moon Goddess to Dance."

The moment the scroll was unfurled, the surrounding air trembled slightly. The moon on the scroll emerged from the paper, slowly rising into the sky, growing larger and brighter until it finally transformed into a flawless, full moon hanging above Xuanqing Temple.

Moonlight spilled onto the bluestone ground, onto the pine and cypress branches, onto the eaves of the bamboo pavilion, illuminating the entire backyard as if it were daytime.

A slender woman's figure could be vaguely seen in the moonlight, holding a round fan and dancing gracefully. As her sleeves fluttered, shimmering silver light fell, transforming into a faint floral fragrance upon touching those around her. It was an illusion, so realistic that it was almost impossible to distinguish reality from illusion.

The sect leader walked back to the bamboo pavilion, extended his hand to Liu Jin, and smiled so much that the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were squeezed together: "Daoist Liu, please accompany this old man upstairs for a while."

Without hesitation, Liu Jin reached out and grasped the thin, withered hand. The sect leader pulled him along, taking a step into the air. The two figures flickered slightly in the moonlight and were already within the illusory moon.

Inside the moon disc was an extremely spacious area. Underfoot was a floor paved with transparent moonlight, above was a deep blue void, behind was the green tiled roof of Xuanqing Temple shrunk to the size of a bonsai, and in front was an endless expanse of silver light.

The dancing woman's figure still twirled gracefully in the distance, scattering starlight with a wave of her fan. The starlight fell on the moonlit ground, making a tinkling sound, as if someone were playing a zither in the far distance.

The sect leader sat cross-legged on the moonlit ground and patted the spot next to him, gesturing for Liu Jin to sit as well. After Liu Jin sat down, the sect leader turned his head and scrutinized him for a long time, his eyes filled with curiosity, scrutiny, and a hint of barely perceptible emotion.

"You are not from this world, are you?"

Liu Jin was silent for a moment, then nodded. He wasn't surprised that the sect leader could see through it. The City God had seen it the first time he met him, and Ming Shan had also seen it. There was no reason why the sect leader of Laoshan, who had lived for over a hundred years, wouldn't be able to see it.

What surprised him was their attitude. The City God saw through it but didn't expose him; instead, he offered him a way out. Ming Shan saw through it but didn't press the matter, only regretfully saying that he couldn't teach him anything.

Now the sect leader has also figured it out, but it was only after several rounds of drinks, while sitting in the Illusionary Moon, that he asked the question in the most casual tone. These cultivators of this realm seem to have an unusually high acceptance of the "visitors from outer space".

"Master," Liu Jin said bluntly, "I didn't want to press for details before, and since the City God didn't point it out and Daoist Mingshan didn't pursue it further, I didn't explain further. But I've always had a question in my mind: why are the cultivators of this world so accepting of visitors from other worlds?"