Tao: The Uncanny Immortal

"Only the Three-in-One Saint is like a small Taiji.He receives the fates of the world through endless catastrophes and is highly praised with boundless merits...Bestowing blessings and relieving misfortunes,saving both the living and the dead.His Tao surpasses all heavens,and his kindness spreads across the Three Realms.Great in compassion and vow,holy and merciful..."

The cadenced chanting of scriptures echoed continuously in the spacious cave.All six disciples of Qingfeng Temple,including Li Huowang,were sitting cross-legged on the futons,following their master in the morning service.

There were no scriptures in front of anyone.Li Huowang could only vaguely follow his senior brothers in chanting the morning service content.

While chanting,Li Huowang looked up,his gaze fixed on Danyangzi sitting at the front.The hostility in his eyes emerged briefly but was quickly suppressed.

He loathed this disgusting guy so much that he wished to eat his flesh and skin him alive.However,Li Huowang knew that he was still too weak and definitely no match for him.

The opponent was powerful,so he couldn't act rashly.His top priority now was to endure and secretly look for opportunities.

This might be fraught with difficulties and he might even be discovered by Danyangzi and end up in a miserable state,but Li Huowang didn't care about anything.

When he saw Danyangzi turn slightly sideways,Li Huowang quickly shifted his gaze upwards.It passed over the three tall incense sticks and landed on the three divine statues placed in the hollowed-out rock wall.

The three gods with different looks were wearing yellow Taoist robes and holding fly-whisks in their arms.Their eyes were neither sad nor happy as they stared down at the tiny mortals below.

They didn't have the slightest air of immortality.Instead,they looked ordinary.If it weren't for their Taoist robes,they would just seem like three large-sized ordinary people.

Of course,Li Huowang didn't know who these three gods were,but he firmly engraved their appearances in his mind.

At this time,the chanting began to slow down.After the last short passage of the scripture was uttered,a young attendant beside them struck the red drum heavily three times,marking the end of the morning service.

All the disciples stood up following Danyangzi.At the same time,they pinched the thumb of their left hand with their right hand,placed the four fingers of their left hand on top of the fingers of their right hand,and raised their hands above their heads to pay homage to the divine statues.

After paying homage,Danyangzi slowly turned around and sized up the disciples behind him.

When he saw Li Huowang,wearing a Taoist robe,standing calmly at the very end of the group,he nodded in satisfaction.

"Xuanyuan,Xuanyang has just joined our sect.He must have a lot of things he doesn't understand.As his senior brother,teach him."

"Yes,Master."A middle-aged man with a round face and a slightly plump expression bowed to Danyangzi.

"Alright,it's past the Mao hour.There's nothing else to do.Go and have your meals."After saying that,Danyangzi put his hands behind his back and walked towards the nearby cave entrance.

A young man wearing a Hunyuan scarf with a gloomy expression followed him out.

"That's Senior Brother Zhengkun.Since Senior Brothers Zhengkan and Zhengzhen defected,he's Master's only closed-door disciple.Remember to show him respect if you meet him in the temple later.He's not as good-tempered as Master."

Xuanyuan walked up to Li Huowang and explained the identity of that person.

Li Huowang nodded."Thank you,Senior Brother Xuanyuan,for clarifying.Can he also perform the same supernatural powers as Master?"

He didn't know much else,but he knew that Danyangzi had the ability to control objects with his mind and was incredibly strong,able to lift a stone urn weighing hundreds of catties.

But these weren't the most worrying things.What really bothered Li Huowang was that Danyangzi seemed to know everything that happened in the cave,whether it was his muttering that Danyangzi was a nobody or his previous refusal to escape together.

If he really wanted to deal with Danyangzi,he had to figure this out.

"He's a closed-door disciple.How would I know what he's learned from Master?"Li Huowang detected a hint of jealousy in the other person's words.

"One person's strength is too weak.Should I look for other allies in Qingfeng Temple?"A thought flashed through Li Huowang's mind,but it quickly faded away.

Those with the will to resist were probably eaten by the Black Tai Sui last time.The remaining ones,even if they weren't completely devoted to Danyangzi,were probably timid and cowardly.

"Let's go.We can talk as we walk."After saying that,Xuanyuan turned around and led Li Huowang towards the kitchen."I know what you're thinking.Don't keep thinking about Master's method of attaining immortality.You'll be the last one in line."

"Just focus on your work.Do whatever Master tells you to do.When your turn comes according to seniority,it will naturally be your chance."

By this time,they had arrived at the cave where they had their meals.Some senior brothers who had arrived earlier had already started drinking porridge.

He recognized three of them.The two Taoist priests carrying long swords were Changming and Changren,and there was also Xuanyin,whom he had met once before.

Together with Xuanyuan beside him and himself,Xuanyang,the five registered disciples of Qingfeng Temple were all gathered here.

"According to the rules of Qingfeng Temple,we should not talk during meals or sleep.I'll teach you other things after the meal."After saying that,Xuanyuan sat down and started drinking porridge.

Li Huowang sat down,picked up a black pottery bowl,took a sip of porridge,and silently observed the behaviors of his senior brothers.

These people had different looks,neither extremely prominent nor extremely ugly.But when they sat together in their Taoist robes,Li Huowang always felt something was off.

When he saw Xuanyin pinch one side of his nose and blow his nose hard on the ground while the other two senior brothers frowned slightly,Li Huowang finally realized that their temperaments were different.

Some of them had more of a scholarly air,while others had thick joints on their hands and feet,looking like they were used to doing rough work.

"Where did Danyangzi find these five disciples?Could it be that they were selected as medicine ingredients like me?"

One by one,the empty bowls were put down.The other senior brothers didn't even glance at the new junior brother,Xuanyang,and strode towards the door.

After the meal,Xuanyuan continued to introduce Li Huowang around Qingfeng Temple.From him,Li Huowang learned that the five registered disciples were responsible for different parts of the temple.

Some were in charge of managing the young Taoist boys,some were responsible for going out of the temple to make purchases,and some were in charge of raising the Black Tai Sui.Even the more senior ones had to take on multiple tasks.

It wasn't supposed to be this busy,but unfortunately,after so many people died before,their responsibilities had to be divided among the remaining disciples.

Needless to say,Li Huowang was responsible for everything in the food storage room.All the tasks these disciples did were to assist their master in attaining immortality.

After wandering around the whole day,Li Huowang finally got a detailed understanding of the entire temple from Xuanyuan.

Li Huowang firmly memorized all these things.This was no longer an illusion that he could leave at any time.These pieces of information might come in very handy if he wanted to kill Danyangzi.

After a day of getting along,the relationship between Xuanyuan and Li Huowang became a little more relaxed.The two were walking back from Zhengyi Hall.

"Junior Brother Xuanyang,there's no need to be so tense.Your work won't be that busy.Master doesn't refine pills every day."

"Oh?Please clarify this for me,Senior Brother Xuanyuan."

"Pill-refining is closely related to celestial phenomena and time.Some pills can only achieve their maximum effect when refined at a fixed time.For example,it's not suitable to refine pills today and tomorrow,but the midnight of the day after tomorrow will be a very good time."