Chapter 142: Longevity

Days passed by in such a mundane fashion. After two days, as Shi Feizhe had expected, someone from the Longevity Temple arrived.

Surprisingly, two people came from the Longevity Temple this time, and one of them was actually a True Realm expert!

At the entrance of the Qing Shan Martial Academy, Shi Feizhe looked at the Daoist priest with a bowl cut in front of him and felt troubled.

Damn it, hadn’t I heard that the Daoist priests in the Longevity Temple were only interested in longevity?

Why would a True Realm Daoist priest come all the way here for a broken-down manor?

Could it be that this manor holds secrets he doesn’t know about?

Could it be that my egg-dancing plan is about to fail?

“Don’t be nervous, I’m just passing by, on my way to Yangzhou.” The Daoist priest with the bowl cut was a little chubby, short in stature, with short legs and a small belly. Coupled with a short nose and a protruding chin, he looked a bit comical in his apricot-yellow Daoist robe.

But his eyebrows were raised high, and his eyes shone with a peculiar brilliance.

He was a True Realm martial artist, a True Realm Daoist priest.

This alone made him worthy of respect.

“Qing Shan Martial Academy? Everyone can practice martial arts, everyone is a hero?” He looked at the plaque and couplet on the gate of the Qing Shan Martial Academy and said, “That’s quite ambitious!”

His words carried the accent of southwest Liang Province.

Before Shi Feizhe could say anything, he saw the Daoist priest say to the other one, “I’ll continue on to Yangzhou.”

Then, he nodded at Shi Feizhe and continued walking east, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

The other Daoist priest bowed and said, “Safe travels, Martial Uncle Sanjin!”

???

Shi Feizhe couldn’t figure out why the True Realm Daoist priest had come. He couldn’t have just been passing through, could he?

He turned to the other Daoist priest in the blue robe and said, “I am the head of the Qing Shan Martial Academy, Shi Feizhai! Pleased to meet you!”

“This humble Daoist is Jin Yonghui, a secular deacon of the Longevity Temple. I apologize for my intrusion!” The Daoist priest in the blue robe looked to be in his twenties, with a youthful face, but he spoke with great maturity.

No one would feel intrusive after accompanying a True Realm expert.

Shi Feizhe continued, “Not at all! The presence of a Daoist priest from the Longevity Temple brings honor to our humble academy! Please come in!”

With that, he led the way, intentionally taking Daoist Jin through the training ground. He casually let him see Xiong Ba, who was sticking his butt out, plastering a wall.

Although Daoist Jin didn’t recognize Xiong Ba, a Zhoutian expert doing plasterwork…

…made his heart skip a beat.

This Qing Shan Martial Academy was not simple!

After arriving at the reception room, the strange round table and large teacups made Daoist Jin feel a bit odd.

The Qing Shan Martial Academy was truly extraordinary; no wonder they were able to take a bite out of the Demon Sect. He intentionally came two days later, partly because the temple was busy, and partly because he wanted to see the Demon Sect’s reaction.

“About the Daoist priest from earlier…” Shi Feizhe began, still wanting to figure out what the other Daoist priest was doing here.

True Realm Daoist priests were extremely rare.

He had probably killed more people than Shi Feizhe had ever met.

“That was Martial Uncle Sanjin, a renowned wandering Daoist from Liang Province.”

“He was previously staying at our Longevity Temple. Recently, he heard that the Sacred Heart Cult is causing quite a stir in Yangzhou, so he wanted to go and see for himself. As we were traveling in the same direction, we came together!” Daoist Jin took a sip of water and said.

“Indeed, even in the deep mountains, I’ve heard about the Sacred Heart Cult’s flourishing activities in Yangzhou.” Shi Feizhe said, sucking on his teeth.

Fan Jianqiang, you sure know how to play!

Now, who in the world doesn’t know the name of Old Demon Shi?!

Daoist Jin knew that the purpose of this trip was to win over Shi Feizhe, so he was happy to talk about other things to lighten the mood.

So he continued, “My senior brother in Yangzhou sent word that the Sacred Heart Cult is developing rapidly, with a vast number of followers, even sweeping through half of Yangzhou.”

“They only seemed to suffer a setback when they encountered the Southern Demon Sect in southern Yangzhou.”

“Now, the Sacred Heart Cult is expanding northward, and instructors from the Sacred Heart Cult have even appeared in Xu Province!”

“The Sacred Heart Cult advocates ‘A Saint is Born in the Heart, Nothing is Forbidden,’ attracting many people from other sects and Jianghu heroes. Once they completely take over Yangzhou, they have the potential to sweep across the Nine Provinces!”

“That’s why Martial Uncle Sanjin went there.”

✿✿✿

Daoist Jin spoke slowly, making Shi Feizhe frown. This was a bit beyond his expectations.

With Fan Jianqiang’s personality, he probably couldn’t pull off something like conquering the world!

But the current development trend of the Sacred Heart Cult was undeniable.

Could it be that Fan Jianqiang also went crazy and cultivated the 《Sun Moon Concentric Art》?

No, that couldn’t be right. He should know the consequences of forcibly cultivating the 《Sun Moon Concentric Art》 without sufficient talent!

Something was fishy!

“Indeed, being secluded in the mountains and focusing on teaching, I’ve lost track of these Jianghu happenings. Please excuse my ignorance.” Shi Feizhe said with a chuckle.

The Sacred Heart Cult sweeping across the Jianghu… wouldn’t there still be True Realm experts to stop them?

But thinking back to that incident in Qiuyang City, the ice disaster that covered half the city and the innocent civilians, Shi Feizhe felt uneasy.

Fan Jianqiang, you’re playing a bit too big this time.

“Not at all! We at the Longevity Temple also spend our time chanting scriptures! We’re all the same!” Daoist Jin began to reveal his intentions, saying, “Headmaster Shi, do you have aspirations for the Great Dao, do you yearn for longevity?”

“Longevity?” Shi Feizhe thought about the nine weaklings in the Nine Dragons Wall and said, “Can anyone truly achieve longevity?”

“Of course not!” Daoist Jin shook his head and denied, “Throughout history, no one has ever achieved immortality!”

“The eternal life of the physical body is a mere delusion!”

“Huh?” Shi Feizhe didn’t expect the Daoist priest from the Longevity Temple to view longevity this way.

He had only heard that the Daoist priests of the Longevity Temple were rather laid-back, taking a hands-off approach to the tri-border area. He really didn’t know why the Longevity Temple was called the Longevity Temple.

Daoist Jin spoke more and more earnestly, saying, “But the longevity of thought can be achieved.”

“Dragon Pearls?” Shi Feizhe asked tentatively.

The longevity of thought, wouldn’t that be preserving consciousness using Dragon Pearls?

“Headmaster Shi is quite knowledgeable!” Daoist Jin glanced at Shi Feizhe and continued, “That’s not longevity, that’s ghostly existence.”

“Some people would rather become ghosts just to stay alive! But that’s not what the Longevity Temple is about!”

“Headmaster Shi, do you know about the founder of our Daoist lineage?” Daoist Jin looked at Shi Feizhe and asked.

“I don’t.” Shi Feizhe replied honestly.

In his previous life, he could have searched on Baidu for the founders of various Daoist sects.

But in this world, who the hell would know!

“This humble Daoist doesn’t know either!” Daoist Jin said frankly.

“The founder and ideals of our Daoist lineage may have originated from the ideas of a certain individual or group of people in ancient times, even earlier than we can imagine!”

“Why do people live, what is the meaning of life? The first person to ask these questions, long ago, was our founder.”

“Who was he? Because it was so long ago, his identity has been lost to history.”

“But his ideas inspired those who came after him, and those people inspired even more people after them!”

“Generations of people have passed down these ideas, to this very day!” Daoist Jin stood up and said loudly:

“We have inherited these ideas, this legacy!”

“As long as knowledge and ideas remain, the wisdom of our predecessors, the ideals of our founder, they will always be with us!”

“They will always be alive!”

“This is true longevity!”

I’ll say it for you, be bold! （The stage is set, time to go crazy! Give me some monthly tickets!）