Chapter 31 Exchange with Jun Lin Jue retracted his gaze and looked to the side. The old Taoist was sitting cross-legged under a pine tree, and the girl was sitting next to him, eating a piece of bread obediently. When she saw Lin Jue wake up, she looked up and stared at him. "Is the young monk awake?" The old Taoist opened his eyes and said to him, "You drank a little too much of the 'Thousand Days Wine' after all. The mountain king and his guests have long since left. They tried to wake you up in the morning but you didn't. It's not a good idea to wake you up by force. The sun is getting higher and higher. If it gets higher, it will be difficult to travel. So they can only bow to you and leave, saying that they will thank you if they meet you again in the future." When Lin Jue heard this, the scene of many monsters saying goodbye to him before leaving emerged in his mind again. It's really dreamy... After feeling around a bit, he found the Thousand Days Wine was still there, placed in the grass, which seemed to indicate that everything that happened last night was true. The bookcase was also placed on the ground next to him. The banquet itself was very casual last night. "Is the Immortal Master waiting for me?" "How dare you call me Immortal Master? Just call me Taoist Priest." The old Taoist corrected his wording first, then said, "I just woke up not long ago and had breakfast. Do you want to go down the mountain with me?" "This is best."
These two were the only two people who participated in the banquet last night and stayed by his side. Apart from any other fate, Lin Jue also wanted to go with them, as if as long as he caught them, he would have caught what happened last night. If they also left, as he walked down the mountain, perhaps even he would begin to doubt the truth of last night. "No hurry, no hurry, little monk, eat something first." “You can eat while walking.” "Let's eat first." "Alright." Lin Jue took out a piece of tart cake from his bookcase, asked them if they wanted to eat it, then took the kettle in his hand, bit and pulled it, taking a bite of the cake and a sip of water, and finished the tart cake in a few bites. Then he put on his book bag and went down the mountain. Not long after walking, there was a sudden movement below. I saw the half-human-high grass shaking, and a path was clearly opened up, as if some animal was moving quickly through it. Suddenly the bushes stopped, and a man in gray and white clothes stood up from it. "Suck it up..." The man looked at them and sniffed. Then the man bowed awkwardly and asked, "My two...fellow Taoists, are you here to attend the Shanjun's banquet?" Lin Jue knew that he was not a human, but he also knew that this was the tiger's territory and that there would not be any monsters causing trouble here. Seeing that the old Taoist did not say anything, he replied: "Exactly." "Is Shanjun's party still going on?" "You're late. It was already past last night. By this morning all the guests had left. We were the last to go down the mountain." "This……" The man froze immediately, his eyes wide open. Then he showed a look of great regret.
I think the Thousand Days Wine with the essence of the sun and the moon is indeed a great temptation for many monsters. Lin Jue could only feel sorry for him. "May I ask if Shanjun is still here?" The man still kept asking. "At least not on this mountain top. When we wake up, the mountain king will be gone." "Do you know where the mountain is?" "I do not know either." "Thank you! I have to go look for Shanjun!" "Why are you so persistent? The banquet is over and the wine has been finished. Even if we find the mountain king, there is no Thousand Day Wine with the essence of the sun and the moon to drink." Lin Jue couldn't help but kindly remind him. "Don't worry about it, my friend! I asked the mountain king for the spiritual wine to save my life!" "Ok?" Lin Jue was naturally puzzled, and he happened to be in a very wonderful and wonderful mood at the moment, so he asked: "What do you mean by that?" "No point in talking any more! I'm going to go look for the tiger!" The man spoke in a hurry, and then he fell down. A cloud of black smoke exploded, and his body was visibly deformed, turning into a big wolf. Seeing this, Lin Jue couldn't help but take a step back, but still said: "Why don't you tell me about it?" "Woo?" The big wolf paused, looked at him in confusion, sniffed, and suddenly his eyes lit up: "Do you still have any spirit wine?" "Tell me about it first." "Canopy..." The big wolf turned into a human again, his expression was excited, but he tried to hold it back and saluted him: "Fellow Daoist, you may not know that many years ago, I was just a wild wolf in the mountains. I was originally the leader of a wolf pack, but later I lost the fight with the new wolves and was expelled from the pack. I could barely survive. When I was in despair, I fortunately met a crow brother. With its guidance, I was able to find prey. From then on, we cooperated with each other. It flew in the sky to find prey, and I went to hunt. We relied on each other and gradually became old friends. "But within two years, I accidentally became a spirit. Brother Crow is smarter than me, but for some reason he could not achieve enlightenment. I looked for many natural treasures to extend his lifespan, hoping that he could achieve enlightenment and continue to roam the mountains with me, hunting and practicing together, but I could never get what I wanted. I accidentally heard that the mountain king here was having a banquet, and there was magical wine at the banquet. If ordinary animals drank it, they could achieve enlightenment and become spirits. “But Shanjun’s banquet required gifts, and I was far away. I spent a lot of time looking for gifts to attend the banquet, but I didn’t expect that I had missed it when I ran over. "But if I can't get the mountain king's magical wine, my old friend..." will have to die. The man was a man of deep affection and loyalty, his emotions changed with every word he said, and by the end he was filled with sorrow. Lin Jue did not comment, but just asked: "What gift did you prepare for Shanjun?" "A piece of earth." The wolf demon turned around and took out a green object from his body. "what is this?" "The essence of heaven and earth naturally nurtured in the mountains and forests may seem like a dead thing, but it will naturally flow away in the mountains. I spent a lot of effort to 'catch' it."
"what's the function?" "The essence of earth and wood, the spiritual essence of the five elements, can help you comprehend the spiritual charm of earth and wood. I heard that although the mountain king absorbs yin and yang energy, he is good at the magical power of earth. That's why I brought it here, hoping to impress the mountain king." "give it to me." When the wolf demon heard this, his eyes suddenly widened. "A gentleman helps others achieve their goals. I don't dare to call myself a gentleman, but I just happened to receive an extra cup of 'Thousand Days Wine' from the mountain king. It just so happens that this wine works best the first time you drink it, but it will be much worse the second time you drink it. I'm afraid you won't be able to get what you want if you go to the mountain king now. Why don't we exchange it?" "really?" "How dare you lie?" Lin Jue took down his bookcase and took out a small porcelain bottle. He reached out to take the piece of earth essence and handed over the porcelain bottle. The exchange was completed while the wolf demon was still in a daze. "Hiss! What a delicious smell! That fellow Taoist really didn't lie to me! Thank you so much, fellow Taoist!" "polite." That's just perfect. Lin Jue accepted it without saying anything, and said to the wolf demon: "I heard that although the spirits in the world follow the Yin-Yang Road, they absorb a lot of Yin energy, so it is not easy for them to come out and act during the day. You should go back quickly." "Okay! I live in Zhoushan. If you come to Zhoushan, you can come find me! Goodbye!" "Don't..." The monster was straightforward. It swallowed the porcelain bottle, changed back into its original form, turned around and left. In the blink of an eye, it disappeared in the sea of wind, waves and grass. Seeing this, Lin Jue calmed down his guard, put his book back on his back, looked back at the old Taoist priest, and continued walking forward. "The young lay Buddhist has a kind heart." "It's just a good exchange." The old Taoist priest was still walking behind him. He just smiled when he heard this, but asked, "I think your method of nourishing qi is quite authentic, better than many sorcerers and magicians in the world. I wonder where you learned it from?" "I got it by chance." "It's fate." "I wonder where he lives in the immortal mountain cave where he practices?" "The Taoist temple is at Fuqiu Peak." "Fuqiu Peak..." "What about the young layman? Where are you going next?" "I originally planned to visit Mount Qiyun and then Mount Yi." Lin Jue was unsure for a moment and had to tell the truth. "Qiyun Mountain is a famous Taoist mountain, and Yishan Mountain is very remote. As a scholar, why did you go to these places instead of looking for famous academies and great scholars?"
"To be honest..." This old Taoist priest was not just an ordinary person, he was also very likely the Taoist master he was looking for. They had come to the mountain king's banquet and drank the Thousand Days Wine, so naturally there was nothing to hide from him, so he told the truth: "I happened to see a monster in the ancestral hall of the neighboring village. After seeing the wonders of the world and the magical arts, I no longer cared about fame and fortune, but only wanted to seek immortals and learn magic. In addition, the monster told me that my soul was a little unstable and I needed to find a way to calm my soul. My uncle and aunt could no longer support my studies, so I did not hesitate and left home to travel far away to seek immortals and learn magic." "But why did the young layman seek immortality and learn magic?" "It is like living a carefree and long life." This was Lin Jue's sincere inner thought, and he had his own sufficient reasons, so there was naturally nothing to hide. What is is what is, say what you have. The old Taoist nodded when he heard this, without commenting, and just said: "Most people in the world who seek immortality and the Way cannot do without the four words 'free and easy longevity'. However, the vast majority of people, whether they are princes and nobles, emperors and generals, or those literati and poets who are destined to be passed down through the ages, do not have the fate of immortality. Even if they climb famous mountains to search for them, they only climb a mountain and leave a few poems." Who said no? This made Lin Jue fall into deep thought. This was the question he had been thinking about since yesterday - Although I have ancient books and can learn magic, magic cannot be learned by just looking at it. Now it seems that I must either let the opponent's magic be cast on myself, that is, receive the magic, or I must roughly see how the opponent's magic works. Both of these bring limitations. At the same time, ancient books only contain techniques, but no practice system beyond the techniques, no accompanying knowledge, and cannot help one understand the practice system of this world and truly enter this world. Therefore, it may still be necessary to have a master. At least help yourself complete the first part of the journey. This is not a reckless thing to do. Should I continue to go to Qiyun Mountain and Yishan Mountain as I had planned before? Or should I just ask this Taoist here if I can become his disciple? Can I find the immortal path I want by going to Qiyun Mountain and Yishan Mountain? If I don’t go to Qiyun Mountain and Yishan Mountain, will this Taoist Taoist be willing to accept me? (End of this chapter)