Chapter 764: Pure Taoism

Chapter 757: A Pure Daoist Sect

After emerging warm from a bath, a few sips of sweet wine, tearing into a slightly charred whole roasted rabbit, and stuffing several pieces of tender, fragrant, crispy, and perfectly marbled braised meat into fluffy, white steamed buns, you could eat until grease dripped from your mouth.

Dong Rui was also famished; he could devour a meat bun in a few bites. He then grabbed some pickled sour vegetables and small cucumbers to eat, which cut through the richness and stimulated his appetite, each bite satisfyingly crisp.

He ate contentedly, sighing to the heavens, "Now, this is living!"

The hard months he’d endured previously had been merely about survival.

Aunt Zhu disliked human food; to her, it was overly processed. She preferred food in its most natural state, simply, or rather, even more simply: raw. She told the two of them, "That seventy-year cicada this afternoon, its taste was off."

Dong Rui, gnawing on his third bun, mumbled indistinctly, "It was a mutated species, so naturally, the taste was off."

"The seventy-year cicada's deliciousness is unparalleled among insects," Aunt Zhu said, drinking her wine. "In ancient times, we would never miss the feast that occurred every seventeen years. How do you humans put it? It's the taste of time." She had to slow down, or she could drain a jar in just a few breaths.

A savory taste matured over seventy years.

He Lingchuan nodded, "Right, exactly."

He also loved eating cicadas, whether roasted or baked.

"But the seventy-year cicada we encountered this evening was just too disgusting."

He Lingchuan looked sideways. Spiders were creatures that specialized in sucking fluids, and if even she found it disgusting, what kind of taste could it possibly have had?

"We're eating," Dong Rui said, waving a rabbit leg in dissatisfaction. "Don't talk about that."

He Lingchuan glanced at him, thinking, *What's he being so finicky about? This guy has tinkered with all sorts of disgusting things during his experiments. He'd even seen Dong Rui eat without washing his hands afterward.*

Still, he changed the subject: "Your ghost ape, why is it here?"

The ghost ape was also eating nearby, munching on meat, fruits, and pumpkin.

Dong Rui glanced at it. "After you injured it last time, I didn't take it to the Hanhe front line; instead, I left it in a mountain village to recover. I thought I'd be back in just over a month, but who knew I'd be away for over half a year?" At this, he couldn't help but feel melancholy. If not for He Lingchuan, that bringer of calamity, why would he have been away for so long?

"It turns out this fellow couldn't stand the loneliness and snuck away on its own, wanting to go home and wait for me. But it encountered many things in the Wange Swamp and was eventually brought back by Daoquan's subordinates…"

Before he finished speaking, He Lingchuan interrupted, "Wange Swamp?"

*It couldn't be that much of a coincidence, could it?*

Was it the Wange Swamp where he'd asked Li Qingge to send people with the Dragon Punishment Pillar?

"Is there also a Wange Forest next to it?"

Dong Rui, not suspecting anything, replied, "Yes, it's within Ju State. Do you know about it?"

"Soon after I arrived in Lingxu, I heard about strange occurrences in Wange Swamp and that many people had died there," He Lingchuan explained. "That's why I sent the Dragon Punishment Pillar to Wange Swamp. This way, the people the Heavenly Palace sent would have phenomena and intelligence to investigate, you see."

He was also giving them something to do.

Then, he asked Dong Rui, "Is your home in Wange Swamp?"

Dong Rui's lips twitched; he didn't want to answer that question. Being entangled with He Lingchuan was never a good thing.

He Lingchuan nudged him with his elbow. "We're in the same boat now."

Dong Rui simply changed the subject: "Aren't you returning to Yuan State? Why did you come all the way to Mount Rong?"

They had left Beijia territory, and a bit further southwest would lead to Yuan State, but He Lingchuan had deliberately taken a detour, saying he needed to find someone first.

He Lingchuan snatched some berries from the ghost ape to eat, disregarding its furious glare. "I can't just go back like this," he said.

"Do you want to gather a large group of people and return with a grand fanfare?" Dong Rui asked, puzzled. "What would happen if you just went back directly?"

He Lingchuan thought for a moment. "I'd probably meet a terrible end, wouldn't I?"

His casual remark stunned Dong Rui.

This kid had navigated the multiple crises in Lingxu City with such ease, so how could he possibly meet a terrible end upon returning to his own country?

"Then you're still going back?"

"Some things need to be investigated to uncover the truth," He Lingchuan said calmly. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to rest or eat peacefully."

When he was being judged in the Heavenly Palace, the gods revealed that the master of the mark in his mind was Narakuten. This was not just a Heavenly God, but a righteous god with boundless power!

Since He Lingchuan had arrived in this world, he had not interacted with any other Heavenly Gods besides Mitian. Therefore, this mark must have been planted during the time of his original body, which had always been firmly controlled by his father.

In other words, there was a ninety percent chance that the Narakuten mark in his sea of consciousness was inextricably linked to He Chunhua. What good intentions could a Heavenly God have by planting a mark in a human's mind? Ever since he had seen the tragic fate of Lu Shishi after she was possessed by the God of a Hundred Battles, He Lingchuan always felt uneasy.

When would this mark be activated?

He didn't want to follow in Lu Shishi's footsteps, so he had to eliminate this major hidden danger!

Since both the Heavenly God and He Chunhua might harbor ill intentions toward him, he couldn't just return so carelessly, empty-handed, and foolishly unprepared.

"Coming to the Rong Mountain Sect to borrow people is a good idea," Aunt Zhu said. "Daoist sects dispatch their disciples every few years."

The Rong Mountain Sect was a relatively pure Daoist sect.

What was meant by 'pure' was that it aligned with He Lingchuan's previous image of an 'Immortal Sect': their residences were located on mist-shrouded mountains, disciples diligently studied and practiced, far from worldly affairs.

In contrast, Daoist sects like Songyang Prefecture were too deeply embedded in worldly affairs; after all, Li Qingge herself held a noble title.

Mount Rong belonged to no single nation; it had its own territory, its own borders, and was respected by surrounding nations. Whenever a disciple completed their studies, they would descend the mountain to enter the world and undergo the tempering of the mortal realm.

This was a very traditional practice; it was how Immortal Sects, the predecessors of Daoist sects, operated. The difference was that in the past, Immortal Sect disciples would descend the mountains, flying on swords, either slaying demons and devils or establishing their own cave dwellings, living a truly free life in the human world. Now, however, before descending, they had to consider which power to join, whether there were prospects for advancement, and even the specific amount of their salary.

When He Chunhua had just taken up his new post, the Cloud-Piercing Pavilion, a local Daoist sect in Xiazhou, immediately sent Elder Liang to his door to recommend its disciples to the new Governor of Xiazhou.

To put it plainly, cultivators needed to find jobs.

The Rong Mountain Sect's reputation far surpassed that of the Cloud-Piercing Pavilion, and many of its members served as generals and officials in various states. Among the officials He Lingchuan had dealt with in Lingxu City, Chi Yan, Baisha, and Jue, there were disciples of the Rong Mountain Sect.

With talented individuals constantly emerging from its ranks, the Daoist sect naturally held a high status.

In contrast, Yuan State was plagued by internal strife and steadily weakened; the Rong Mountain Sect even disdained to treat it as an equal.

That's why Aunt Zhu said He Lingchuan had come to the right place. After all, Rong Mountain disciples would eventually descend the mountain to "sell themselves"—no, to serve in official capacities. So if Abbot Xue assigned a few of his prized disciples to follow He Lingchuan, wouldn't that be a perfect match and a win-win situation?

What's more, He Lingchuan had come with Fang Canran's token, so the personnel assigned to him by Rong Mountain would have to be the best of the best and couldn't be treated lightly.