Yun Qi awoke amidst the morning mist and the glow of dawn.
He had drunk quite a bit the night before, and by the time he had fallen into a deep, wine-induced slumber, the eastern sky was already bright.
However, the fine wine had not harmed him; instead, it had nourished his spirit.
Though he had slept for less than two hours, his mind felt exceptionally clear.
He opened his eyes and realized he was still in the courtyard.
It seemed he had passed out on the wine table after getting drunk the previous night.
Looking over, he saw Feng Jihu, the young Daoist, already awake and practicing a set of movements in the courtyard.
His movements were graceful, like a crane dancing or a monkey climbing.
Yun Qi watched for a while and noticed that these exercises bore a striking resemblance to the Meridian-Stretching Technique he had practiced since childhood.
They must have originated from the same lineage.
Meanwhile, He Bingkun was still sprawled on the table, snoring loudly.
Yun Qi stood up and began practicing the Meridian-Stretching Technique as well.
Whether it was due to the abundant spiritual energy on the mountain or the fact that his state of mind had changed significantly, he felt that the spiritual energy within him had grown thicker and more solid.
After completing two rounds of the exercises, He Bingkun finally woke up.
"You're up early," He Bingkun remarked.
"Just woke up," Yun Qi replied.
The three of them tidied up the courtyard, and He Bingkun hurried off to the Yingyuan Hall for a lecture.
It was then that Yun Qi caught a proper glimpse of the Thunderbird.
It was a Thunder Sparrow, its silver claws hooked into a crevice in the stone wall above the courtyard, resting with its eyes closed.
At He Bingkun's call, the bird pushed off with its claws, turned in mid-air, and took flight.
Its wings spanned three to four zhang in length.
The Thunder Sparrow was covered in purple feathers, with silver-white shafts and a dark golden beak and eyes, giving it an imposing appearance.
However, the row of white, upright feathers on its head made it look somewhat comical, as if its feathers were standing on end.
He Bingkun leaped onto the Thunder Sparrow's back, and with a flap of its wings, the bird transformed into a streak of lightning, swiftly disappearing into the distance.
Feng Jihu also stopped his exercises and summoned a cloud mount.
He turned to Yun Qi and said, "Yun Qi, I'll be leaving the mountain today. This trip will take at least half a year, possibly several years. I hope by the time I return, you'll have made significant progress in your studies."
Yun Qi bowed and replied, "I wish you a safe journey and success in all your endeavors."
Feng Jihu smiled and departed.
After the two had left, Yun Qi entered the house and carefully scanned the books on the shelves to see if they included the ones Su Kong had mentioned the previous day.
Indeed, they were all there.
"All that's missing is a class schedule," Yun Qi thought.
He stepped outside and returned to the place where he had received his robes the day before.
Seeing the old Daoist, he approached and bowed.
"Elder, this disciple would like to request a class schedule and some provisions. Would I be able to get them here?"
Yao Jianming shook his head and pointed.
"Young disciple, the class schedule is obtained from the Teaching Hall. Anything related to cultivation and knowledge is handled by them. Head up the mountain to find it. As for food, that's managed by the Kitchen Hall, located further down the mountain. Just ask around, and you'll find it. Only daily necessities are handled here by me."
Yun Qi thanked him and left.
Soon, Yun Qi found both the Teaching Hall and the Kitchen Hall without much trouble.
The class schedule was free, which pleased Yun Qi, but the food at the Kitchen Hall required payment.
The cheapest item, a plain wheat cake, cost two copper coins, while the most convenient option, a Fasting Pill, cost one tael of copper.
Yun Qi didn't dare ask about the prices of the other dishes.
The wheat cakes were made from spiritual grain, much like the Fasting Pills.
Once consumed, they transformed into pure energy and were completely absorbed by the body, eliminating the need for waste.
However, one wheat cake only sufficed for a single day's sustenance, whereas a Fasting Pill could last half a month, making it far more convenient.
Unfortunately, Yun Qi was penniless and could only borrow three wheat cakes, leaving him with a debt of six copper coins.
Carrying the class schedule and the cakes, Yun Qi returned to his courtyard.
Once inside, he immediately pinned the schedule to the wall.
The schedule was written in white characters on black spiritual paper.
According to the hall's manager, this was a basic form of talisman crafting.
The characters on the paper could change, displaying the day's classes in real-time.
Yun Qi glanced over the schedule briefly.
The classes were diverse, covering topics like cultivation techniques, alchemy, artifact identification, and spiritual herb care.
Yun Qi decided it would be best to read up on some basic cultivation knowledge before attending any lectures; otherwise, he would be wasting his time.
He then stood before the bookshelf and pulled out a thick tome titled "The Comprehensive History of Ten Thousand Years: Revised Edition of Mount Sanqing, Ming Dynasty 400th Year Edition."
As the old saying goes, "Reading history brings wisdom; reflecting on the past informs the future. Remembering past events serves as a guide for what is to come."
Yun Qi had always enjoyed reading history.
He had read secular history books before and knew that the current unified dynasty in the mortal world was called the Ming Dynasty, which had been established over four hundred years ago.
The previous dynasty was the Yuan, and before that was the Song.
However, the transitions from the Song to the Yuan and from the Yuan to the Ming were marked by earth-shattering wars.
Additionally, the Song Dynasty was said to have ruled for over a thousand years, making many events from that time impossible to verify.
Yun Qi carried the book to his desk, calmed his mind, and opened it to the first page.
The first page listed the contents:
- The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors
- Tang of Shang Overthrows Xia
- Qin Unifies the Warring States
- Han Conquers Chu
- Three Kingdoms Unite Under Jin
- Northern and Southern Dynasties
- Sui Falls, Tang Rises
- Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms
- Song Yields to Yuan
- The Radiance of Ming
This was the first time Yun Qi learned that there had been so many dynastic changes before the Song.
He then turned to the first chapter, "The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors."
This section was brief, with only vague accounts of events from that era, such as Fu Xi creating the Eight Trigrams, Shennong tasting herbs, and the Yellow Emperor casting the Nine Cauldrons.
The history speculated that the combined reigns of these eight emperors lasted approximately five to eight thousand years.
After reading carefully, Yun Qi turned to the second chapter, "Tang of Shang Overthrows Xia."
This section described how Emperor Yu, after successfully controlling the floods, gained immense prestige and established the Xia Dynasty.
However, Yu abolished the system of abdication practiced during the era of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, replacing it with hereditary succession.
Another notable difference was that the Xia emperors seemed to have lifespans similar to ordinary mortals, with emperors being replaced every few decades.
The Xia Dynasty lasted for seventeen emperors over four hundred and seventy years until Jie, the last emperor, who was tyrannical and lost the Mandate of Heaven.
Tang, the ancestor of the Shang, rose in rebellion and overthrew the Xia.
Five hundred years after the establishment of the Shang Dynasty, the reigning emperor was King Zhou, also known as Di Xin.
According to the book, Di Xin was a sage ruler internally and a powerful monarch externally, leading the Shang to unprecedented prosperity.
However, a major vassal lord, the Marquis of the West, rebelled and established the Western Zhou as a separatist regime.
The history referred to the Shang before this as the Eastern Shang.
The conflict between the Eastern and Western states lasted fifty years.
The book recorded that numerous ancient deities participated in this war, with celestial and earthly gods battling each other, causing chaos in the heavens and on earth.
One passage read: "At the climax, a sage emerged and re-forged the elements of earth, water, wind, and fire."
The book stated that the earthly gods ultimately triumphed, and the mortal world gained autonomy, with the seasons and weather no longer controlled by the celestial gods.
This was the last recorded appearance of the Three Pure Ones and the last Great Calamity.
The Shang Dynasty won the war, and the Shang emperor enfeoffed numerous vassal states and ancient deities, unifying the world.
The Shang Dynasty continued for another fifteen hundred years, known as the Imperial Shang.
By the end of the Shang Dynasty, the central government had weakened, and powerful regional lords rebelled, leading to the Warring States period.
The Warring States were eventually unified by Qin, but the history recorded that the First Emperor of Qin, after unifying the world, attempted to break the tradition of mortal emperors having limited lifespans.
He sought immortality, aiming to establish an eternal celestial dynasty.
However, this angered the gods, and after a series of battles, the First Emperor died at Shaqiu in Yan-Zhao, and the Qin Dynasty fell after only two generations.
This war also stripped mortal emperors of their authority to confer godhood.
From then on, only immortals and ancient gods existed, with no new gods being created.
This conflict was known as the First Divine Calamity.
After the fall of Qin, various lords rose again, and ultimately, the Han defeated Chu, establishing the Han Dynasty, known as the Western Han.
The Western Han lasted eight hundred years, but by its end, the dynasty was in decline.
Later, Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han restored the dynasty, establishing the Eastern Han, which lasted twelve hundred years.
Historians referred to this period as the Heavenly Han.
The book mentioned that during the early Eastern Han, the Heavenly Master Zhang Daoling arrived at a spiritual mountain in Yuzhang to refine elixirs.
When the elixir was completed, a dragon and tiger appeared, and the mountain was renamed Mount Longhu (Dragon-Tiger Mountain).
At the end of the Eastern Han, the empire was divided into three kingdoms, which were eventually unified under the Western Jin.
Although the Western Jin unified the empire, internal strife and corrupt emperors led to its collapse after only fifty years.
Later, the Middle Jin Emperor restored the dynasty, sweeping away corruption and extending the dynasty for another nine hundred years, known as the Eastern Jin.
The history recorded that during the early Eastern Jin, the Patriarch Ge Hong established a sect in Yuzhang, which became Mount Sanqing.
Ge Hong himself was revered as the Immortal Elder by the Middle Jin Emperor.
At the end of the Eastern Jin, the empire split again into the Northern and Southern Dynasties, which were later unified under the Sui Dynasty.
However, the Sui, founded through military might, imposed heavy taxes and fell after only two generations.
Emperor Gaozu of Tang rose from Jinyuan, overthrew the Sui, and established the Tang Dynasty.
The history recorded that during the reign of Emperor Taizong, the second emperor of Tang, the eight schools of Buddhism flourished.
The monk Xuanzang journeyed to the west to spread Buddhism, while the Sixth Patriarch Huineng proposed the idea of "seeing one's true nature and attaining enlightenment," greatly advancing Chan Buddhism and overshadowing Daoism.
At the time, the conflict between the eastern and western orthodoxies of Buddhism had reached a boiling point, with attacks on temples becoming commonplace.
This directly triggered the Second Divine Calamity.
The history recorded that after this calamity, no Golden Immortals appeared again.
The Tang Dynasty, after the reigns of Emperors Gaozu, Taizong, Gaozong, the Holy Emperor, and Xuanzong, reached unprecedented territorial expansion and prosperity, known as the Golden Age of Tang.
However, Emperor Xuanzong's later years were marked by incompetence and a lust for power.
He favored foreign generals, leading to internal strife and rebellion.
When the rebels attacked the capital, Xuanzong fled to Shu, nearly leading to the dynasty's collapse.
At this critical moment, Xuanzong's youngest son, Emperor Zhongzong, rose in Shu, traversed ancient paths, crossed the Ba Mountains and Qinling Range, and miraculously recaptured the capital.
The history noted that Emperor Zhongzong's success was due to the full support of the Daoist sects in Shu.
From then on, the Tang Dynasty entered another golden age, lasting an astonishing twenty-six hundred years, an unparalleled achievement in history, known as the Longevity Tang.
During this period, Daoism surpassed Buddhism, and the Daoist sects in Shu flourished, overshadowing even Mount Longhu and earning the title "Western Daoist Capital."
Famous mountains like Mount Emei, Mount Qingcheng, Qingyang Palace, and Mount Heming all rose to prominence during the Longevity Tang.
However, even the Longevity Tang eventually declined.
By the end of the Tang, warlords divided the empire, leading to the chaotic period known as the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.
Later, Emperor Taizu of Song unified the empire, establishing the Northern Song.
The Northern Song lasted one hundred and seventy years before weakening and shrinking.
When the emperor fled, Emperor Shizong restored the dynasty during his escape, extending the Song Dynasty for another fifteen hundred years, known as the Continued Song.
During the Song Dynasties, Daoism thrived.
The Daoist master Wang Wenqing established the Shenxiao Sect at Bingfeng Mountain in Yuzhang, opening a new lineage for Daoist practitioners.
At the end of the Song, northern tribes invaded, sweeping across the land and establishing the Yuan Dynasty.
The Yuan lasted a hundred years before the people's discontent led to the rise of Emperor Taizu of Ming, who drove the northern tribes to the North Sea and unified the Central Plains, establishing the Radiance of Ming.
Now, the Ming Dynasty had ruled for over four hundred years, and the world was at peace, enjoying prosperity.
Yun Qi closed the book and exhaled deeply.
A wave of hunger struck him, and he instinctively reached for the cakes on the table, only to find them gone.
He looked up and noticed that the cakes had been eaten, and a lamp had been lit on the table at some point.
The lamp was beautiful, its body a milky white, resembling stone.
It was shaped like a standing white crane, one foot on the ground with toes spread, the other foot raised with toes curled.
The crane's wings were folded, its neck long and curved, its head lowered, and its beak holding a long-necked bottle filled with clear lamp oil.
The flame hovered just outside the bottle's mouth.
The lamp's light was bright yet soft, casting a white glow as if the full moon had been brought indoors.
Yun Qi suddenly realized that it was already late at night.
He stood and walked to the window.
The moonlight was brilliant, complementing the lamp on the table.
As he gazed at the moon, which had witnessed countless generations, his mind was still reeling from the grand narratives of history.
Upon reflection, it seemed that every rise and fall of a dynasty bore the faint shadow of mountain sects, though the connection was always vague and unclear.
Even his own sect's founder seemed to have deep ties to the establishment of the Eastern Jin, but these ties were always shrouded in mystery, as if they were not to be spoken of openly.
Even now, in the Ming Dynasty, the imperial family held a peculiar reverence for Mount Wudang and the Three Pures, bestowing titles upon titles, each longer than the last.
Looking back at those entangled in dynastic struggles—the ancient gods of the Shang and Zhou, the celestial dynasty of Qin, the Buddhist-Daoist conflicts of Tang—these great beings eventually vanished without a trace.
The most recent example was Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, who led Daoist forces out of Shu to reclaim the empire.
However, the history noted that after Emperor Zhongzong left Shu, the region experienced six months of continuous rain, and a sacred mountain withered.
The Daoist forces that entered the Central Plains were never heard from again.
The implications of these events sent a chill down Yun Qi's spine.
He resolved to tread carefully in the mortal world, avoiding court politics and worldly conflicts, and minimizing his entanglement in karma.
But his mother's surname was Zhu...
"Yun Qi!"
A voice interrupted his thoughts.
He turned to see He Bingkun standing in the courtyard, the door wide open.
He Bingkun inhaled deeply, drawing in a mist of lunar essence from the air.
He smiled and said, "You're finally awake. Do you know how long you've been reading?"
Yun Qi was puzzled.
"From morning till night, right?"
He Bingkun shook his head.
"No, it's already the third evening."
Yun Qi was shocked.
Had so much time passed?
"If you hadn't woken up soon, I would have had to wake you. Prolonged reading can harm the spirit."
Yun Qi nodded.
"Since you enjoy reading, I'll give you that lamp on the table. The method to refine it is written on the paper beneath it. Try refining it once you've mastered Qi absorption."
Yun Qi was surprised.
"Brother, I can't accept such a gift without merit."
"Merit or not, just take it. It's not worth much. Consider it a welcoming gift."
Yun Qi accepted it with gratitude and bowed in thanks.
Contract offer received.
*New book presented.
Please leave comments and feedback.*
(End of Chapter)