Immortals Descend to Earth

The sect leader stroked his beard and smiled, offering no direct answer.

He reached out and gently touched the ground of Yuehua. A moving scene appeared out of thin air on the ground: in the square in front of Shangqing Palace on Laoshan Mountain, a hundred or so young people were lined up in a sparse queue, some carrying machetes and others carrying book boxes.

Liu Jin recognized the scene at a glance; it was the same scene he had seen when he went up the mountain to accept disciples, except that the people queuing up in the picture were not the same group he had seen today.

He was all too familiar with the temperament of these people.

The sect leader pointed to a young man in the picture who was queuing to fill out a form, holding a calligraphy brush in a strange way, and slowly began to speak.

That was the apprenticeship season in Laoshan many years ago.

One day, a group of exceptionally talented people suddenly appeared on the mountain.

There was one with an extraordinary memory, able to remember everything he saw, and able to recite any scripture fluently after reading it only once;

There is a principle that is almost like the Tao, something that can be understood instantly, and any spell can be used after only seeing it once.

There was a person whose form was so perfect that whether sitting or lying down, he was practicing meditation. Even when he was sleeping, his breathing was more standard than others'.

The sect leader was greatly alarmed, thinking that the three were celestial beings descending to earth to save them from calamity. The three were so similar to the legendary reincarnations of celestial beings. Moreover, the heavenly secrets were obscure and demons and monsters were rampant in the world. He dared not be negligent and took all three under his wing, carefully teaching them the magic of Laoshan.

"I thought they came to save themselves from calamity," the sect leader sighed softly. "And what happened?"

Those with extraordinary memory found the magic of Laoshan Mountain too slow, so they began to take shortcuts by altering the incantations. In the end, they suffered a qi deviation, their meridians were severed, and they disappeared down the mountain without a trace.

The Taoist looked down on the illusions of Laoshan, finding the "art of trapping people not satisfying enough." Instead, he studied how to directly attack the souls of others. Once, during a sparring session, he almost shattered the consciousness of a fellow disciple, and was thus banished down the mountain by the old man.

As for the third one,

He paused, then looked up into the depths of the moon, where the figure of the woman dancing with a fan was still gently spinning in the distance, as if she would never tire.

"Those whose physical form is naturally gifted are lazy in cultivating their minds. Their talents are so great that they can learn any magic spell in one go and comprehend any mental technique in one go. But they rely too much on their talents, never meditate or cultivate themselves, never temper their will, and never confront their own inner selves."

The Laoshan Illusion Technique emphasizes "entering the Dao through illusion and breaking illusion through illusion." Reaching a deeper level requires confronting one's deepest fears and strongest obsessions. He collapsed when he reached this stage, not because his magical power was insufficient, but because his mental fortitude was lacking.

He had never truly faced his dark side. When the illusion forced him to confront it, he chose to escape, creating his own illusion and sealing himself inside, never to emerge again.

That illusion expanded day by day, almost completely merging with reality. Even I, an old man, dared not venture into it rashly. A slight misstep, and I would be assimilated into its illusion, becoming a part of it.

After saying this, the sect leader turned to look at Liu Jin. His eyes, which shone brightly beyond their years, now held no pretense, only a frank and open request.

He had long known that a group of visitors from another world were scattered in various places, and today he was finally bringing up this old story that had been buried in his heart for many years.

He hoped that this Fire-Swallowing Daoist, who also came from another world but had a completely different attitude towards cultivation, could do him a favor and go take a look at that illusion.

If we can rescue the people trapped in the illusion, that would be best. If we can't, at least we should try to stop the illusion from expanding further.

......

"The sect leader's 'Inviting the Moon Goddess to Dance' is truly amazing. When others invite guests, they offer tea, food, and wine. The sect leader of Laoshan invites guests by saying: 'Come on, let's sit in the moon.'"

"To be fair, this illusion is on a whole level better than Ming Shan's 'scattering beans to create soldiers.' The paper cranes scattering beans are fake, but this moon is real; you could actually stand on it."

"When Liu Jin was pulled into the moon, his expression didn't change at all. He was as calm as if he had been invited into a private room. If it were me, my legs would have gone weak. The ground beneath my feet was transparent, the space above my head was empty, and there was a fairy dancing in the distance."

"Sect Leader: How was my illusion technique?" Liu Jin: "Not bad." Sect Leader: "...That's all?"

"Look at the scene where the sect leader pulls Liu Jin into the moon. Doesn't it look like an elder pulling a younger person to the balcony for a private chat? In the scene, the master and disciple are still drinking tea below, while outside the scene, the sect leader is already pouring his heart out inside the moon. Laoshan Illusion Technique is truly unbeatable when it comes to secrecy."

"No wonder Laoshan can become the number one sect in the world of Liaozhai. Its combat power may not be the strongest, but it has a whole service industry chain for life, such as private space for chatting, paper cranes for travel, paper figures dancing for weddings, and fox projections to scare monsters."

"But the sect leader is truly composed. He suppressed these old matters for many years, only speaking up after several rounds of drinks and while sitting under the moon. He didn't blush or skip a beat while drinking tea and eating mountain fruits earlier. He is indeed a seasoned veteran who has lived for 120 years."

"The way he looked at Liu Jin from the moment they met was strange. Others looked at Liu Jin: 'Such powerful fire magic.' The sect leader looked at Liu Jin: 'The person who can fix my computer has arrived.'"

......

Liu Jin did not answer immediately after hearing this. He looked down at his reflection in the moonlight on the ground and thought to himself that the sect leader had indeed not invited him for tea for nothing.

Three fellow Earthlings: one ruined himself by trying to take shortcuts, one was banished for playing with his spirit, and the other is trapped in his own illusion and can't get out.

He suddenly remembered Chen Xiaoman, that scoundrel who chose the Great Dao Sound, followed Wang Yaozu, and wanted to comprehend gravity from the Eight Directions.

In contrast, Chen Xiaoman is a positive example. At least he knows his own limitations and never touches things he can't handle.

He pondered for a moment, then two flames appeared at his fingertips. One was a moon-white Taiyin fire, clear and cold as frost, utterly Yin and gentle; the other was a dark red Red Lotus Karmic Fire, devoid of warmth, yet capable of absolute judgment upon the deepest sins and obsessions of the soul.

He gently held the two flames in his palm and presented them to the sect leader.

"The fire of the moon can penetrate the cracks in the soul, while the karmic fire of the red lotus can illuminate the root of obsession. The combination of the two fires is the light of the moon illusion, which can directly strike the most vulnerable part of the soul. His illusion is evolved from his inner demons and obsessions. The karmic fire can illuminate the obsessions, and the moon can penetrate the illusion. Perhaps it is worth a try."

The sect leader led Liu Jin through the backyard of Xuanqing Temple and along a stone path covered with pine needles towards the back mountain.

This path had clearly been deserted for a long time. The pines and cypresses on both sides of the stone path grew exceptionally lush, their gnarled branches intertwined, blocking out the sun. Occasionally, a few glimmers of light would drift down through the gaps in the leaves, landing on one's shoulder and turning into a faint, indistinct shadow, perhaps a half-written character or a blurry human face, vanishing in an instant.

The deeper you go, the denser the illusory light in the air becomes. At first, there were only a few scattered spots, then it turned into a fine drizzle, and later the entire stone path was shrouded in a layer of flowing rainbow light. The stone steps under your feet constantly switched between reality and illusion. When you stepped on them, they were bluestone, but when you lifted your feet, they stirred up a wisp of pale golden dust.