met free Page 43
Page 43
After leaving Huode Sect, Zhang Yunyuan did not rush on his way.
The news that Gao Gen had joined Quanxing was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, stirring up ripples in his heart.
He recalled the calm-eyed, rational young man at Yinghe Tower seven years ago.
Why would someone who values the interests of their sect more than their personal morality make such a resolute choice that contradicts their own beliefs?
What exactly happened to him during those seven years?
Zhang Yunyuan couldn't figure it out, so he simply stopped thinking about it.
In times of chaos, the human heart is the most unpredictable.
Everyone has their own path and their own tribulations.
His purpose in this trip was to verify his own beliefs and to seek opportunities, not to save or judge anyone.
He composed himself, suppressing all his chaotic thoughts, and once again embarked on his aimless journey.
He didn't take the official roads, but instead chose to travel through remote, uninhabited mountains and marshes.
During the day, he would sit quietly by the mountain stream, listening to the water flowing over the rocks and watching the clouds roll and unfold.
Or they might practice their martial arts deep in the ancient forest, trying to find a method of application that better suits them.
At night, he would find a mountaintop with a wide view, breathe in the cool moonlight, and feel the most primordial Qi flowing between heaven and earth.
He was like a most devout ascetic, measuring the mountains and rivers with his footsteps and tempering his heart with solitude.
On this day, night fell and the sky was filled with stars.
Zhang Yunyuan was meditating atop an unnamed mountain peak.
The mountain wind was biting, making his Taoist robe flutter loudly, but he seemed oblivious, as he had entered a state of deep meditation where he was completely absorbed in the world around him.
The primordial energy within his body circulated on its own, like a sleeping dragon, slowly and powerfully absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
He suddenly opened his tightly closed eyes, his gaze sharp as lightning, instantly fixed on the night sky to the northeast.
Above the deep, inky sky, a fiery red streak of light pierced the heavens with unwavering determination!
The streak of light trailed an incredibly long, dazzling flame, like a phoenix tail, falling to the mortal world like a drop of blood and tears from the heavens.
If an ordinary person were to witness this scene, they would only marvel at the magnificence of the shooting star and make a beautiful wish.
But in Zhang Yunyuan's perception, this was no ordinary shooting star.
Just as the flames tore through the night sky, his primordial Dao Qi, which had already merged with the myriad laws of heaven and earth, actually detected a trace of an extremely special aura that had been extracted from the depths of the core of that flowing light.
That aura was ancient and pure, belonging to no known form of energy in the world.
It transcends ordinary "qi" and is closer to a kind of "principle," a kind of "law," a kind of thing that constitutes the most fundamental nature of this world...
This Dao essence was like a lingering echo squeezed out from the core of a meteor as it fell at high speed and rubbed against the rules of heaven and earth.
It was faint, yet possessed a fatal attraction, like the finest wine, like the most moving melody, causing Zhang Yunyuan's soul to tremble instantly, giving rise to a desire stemming from the instinct of life.
His mind was completely captivated by this peculiar aura.
There was no hesitation.
Zhang Yunyuan immediately broke free from his meditative state and stood up.
He gazed in the direction where the light had disappeared, his eyes shining with an unprecedented light.
He knew that the opportunity he had been waiting for had finally arrived.
With a light tap of his foot, his figure vanished from the mountaintop like a ghost, and following the faint echo captured by the Primordial Dao Qi, he chased after it with all his might in the northeast direction.
His primordial Dao Qi seemed to have transformed into the most accurate and sensitive radar.
Its sensitivity to various energies in the world is already far beyond that of ordinary people, and now, under the attraction of the same origin "Dao essence", it has been stimulated to the extreme.
That faint echo, which would have long since faded away in the perception of ordinary people, was like a bright lighthouse in his world, clearly guiding him in the right direction.
He traveled north, traversing mountains and valleys as if walking on flat ground.
When hungry, they would find some wild fruits to fill their stomachs; when thirsty, they would drink a few mouthfuls of mountain spring water to quench their thirst.
He didn't even feel tired; he had only one thought in his mind: to find the source of that aura.
Several days later, he entered the territory of the Qinling Mountains.
The sense of Dao essence became clearer and stronger here.
His target was eventually locked on the depths of the Zhongnan Mountains.
Zhongnan Mountain has been a sacred site of Taoism since ancient times, a legendary abode of immortals, a place where hermits and masters have emerged in great numbers, and where countless unknown secret realms are hidden.
Zhang Yunyuan restrained his breathing and slowed his pace.
He followed the increasingly clear guidance of the Dao, traversing through a range of mountains.
Finally, he arrived at a secluded valley embraced by a ring-shaped mountain wall.
This valley is extremely secluded, surrounded by steep terrain and jagged rocks. Unless one has a specific goal, it would be impossible for an ordinary person to find it.
What's even stranger is that the valley entrance was right in front of him, but in Zhang Yunyuan's perception, it was shrouded in an invisible barrier, isolating it from all the auras inside and outside.
He reached out his hand, tentatively reaching out to touch it.
Where the fingertips touched, there was nothing, but moving forward seemed to hit an invisible wall, flexible yet firm, making it impossible to advance an inch.
Zhang Yunyuan immediately understood.
This is not a killing or trapping formation set up by brute force, but an extremely sophisticated barrier that perfectly combines illusion and concealment formations.
It does not produce any strong Qi fluctuations; it simply distorts light and interferes with people's five senses and consciousness, so that even if outsiders pass by it ten thousand times, they will subconsciously ignore the place and be unable to discover its existence.
Such masterful skill is almost akin to the "Tao".
Zhang Yunyuan did not attempt a direct attack.
He knew very well that any brute force would be futile against an ancient formation of this level, and might even bring unpredictable backlash.
He stood quietly in front of the formation and closed his eyes again.
He slowly activated the primordial Dao Qi within his body.
That primordial chaos, which encompasses all things and devours all laws, did not unleash any astonishing power. Instead, it transformed into countless black threads, finer than spider silk, silently penetrating towards that invisible barrier.
The essence of Hunyuan Daoqi is to devour and assimilate.
It doesn't care what form of energy you are, or how stable your structure is.
Before it, all laws return to oneness, all energies return to their origin, and ultimately all will become a part of itself.
The black Qi threads gently adhered to the array barrier without causing any energy conflict.
They are like the most patient drops of water, gradually "eating up" the smallest energy nodes that make up the array barrier.
This process is subtle and gradual, with no excess energy leaking out.
From the outside, Zhang Yunyuan simply stood there quietly, like a stone statue.
But that invisible barrier is being quietly dismantled by him from its most fundamental structure.
The space in front of Zhang Yunyuan suddenly rippled gently like water.
A gap, barely wide enough for one person to pass through, with its edges constantly twisting, appeared silently on top of that invisible barrier.
Zhang Yunyuan slowly opened his eyes, looked at the entrance to the unknown fairyland, and stepped in without hesitation.
In a flash, his figure disappeared at the mouth of the valley.
Behind him, the gap slowly closed up, restoring the seamless appearance as if nothing had ever happened.
Chapter 50 Fairy Gushe, Jade Spring
Passing through the ripples of space, the view suddenly opened up before my eyes.
A warm aura, a blend of the fragrance of a hundred flowers and rich spiritual energy, swept over Zhang Yunyuan, instantly dispelling his fatigue from days of travel.
Outside the valley, it was still late autumn; the grass and trees were withered and yellow, and the chill was growing stronger.
But inside the valley, it was warm as spring and full of life.
The air was filled with a refreshing fragrance, and every breath felt like inhaling the purest nectar, bringing comfort to every part of the body.
A passage from "Zhuangzi: Free and Easy Wandering" involuntarily came to mind for Zhang Yunyuan.
"On Mount Miaoguye, there dwells a divine being, whose skin is like ice and snow, whose grace is like that of a maiden, who does not eat grains, but drinks only the wind and dew..."
Could this place be some secret realm left behind by the legendary fairy Gusha?
Zhang Yunyuan's gaze passed over the magnificent sea of flowers and landed at the very center of the valley.
That was his destination, the source of that ancient Taoist essence.
In the center of the valley, there is a small spring, no more than ten feet square.
The spring water is not the usual clear and transparent, but has a warm, milky white luster and a viscous texture, like the finest mutton fat jade melted into a nectar.
Bubbles bubbled out of the spring from time to time, and each time a bubble burst, an even richer spiritual energy was released, forming visible pale white ripples in the air.
This spiritual energy was extremely pure, even surpassing the quality of the spiritual spring at Longhu Mountain by several levels.
This is the legendary Jade Spring, which gathers the essence of heaven and earth and the spirit of the sun and moon, and takes a thousand years to form a single drop!
Beside the spring, there is an even more peculiar stone statue.
It is a seated female statue formed from a single piece of naturally formed white marble.
The stone statue's carving is not refined; in fact, it can be described as somewhat rough, and the specific facial features are not clearly visible.
Yet this blurry stone statue exudes an otherworldly, ethereal aura.
It was as if she were not an inanimate object, but a true immortal sitting there in meditation, her eternal form frozen by time.
Pure and exquisite Dao essence emanated from every corner of the stone statue, perfectly blending with the surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth, forming a natural Dao essence.
Zhang Yunyuan was shocked. He finally confirmed that his guess was true!
Since Zhuangzi left behind that fleeting description, for thousands of years, from Emperor Wu of Han to Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, countless emperors have sent alchemists to search for immortality and the secrets of immortality, but all have come up empty-handed.
Throughout history, many eminent Taoist masters have made it their lifelong ambition to visit Mount Gushou, traversing countless mountains and rivers, only to ultimately leave behind a sigh.