Chapter 274: The Confrontation between Taoism and Demonism, Revisiting the Old Place

Chapter 274: The Confrontation between Taoism and Demonism, Revisiting the Old Place

Chapter 274: The Confrontation between Taoism and Demonism, Revisiting the Old Place (First Update)
The long-lost junior brother of the leader of Qingcheng Sect, Tianyizi, came out of the mountain and came to Xikang to guard against the evil sect of Dianwen. Shuijingjing, who had been in seclusion in Minshan for many years, was also urged by Madam Miaoyi to come down from the mountain and guard southern Shu.

It is not difficult to judge from Zhou Qingyun's words that, under the influence of the demonic situation, the great cultivator of the fourth realm who never easily showed up in public can no longer concentrate on his cultivation.

Moreover, he had just communicated with Master Jiang and learned that Dongfang was in the same situation.

As the Green Robe Patriarch placed the Heavenly Silkworm Fairy, the Demonic Dragon, and the two evil spirits of the South China Sea in Sanxiang and Yuyang, the Eastern Taoist sect also immediately invited out the Four Realms Xuanzai, who almost never left the mountains in their respective sects, to confront the Demon Sect in Sanxiang and Yuyang.

There is no fifth realm in the Hengshan Sword Sect today. The Hengshan Sect leader, who was at the peak of the fourth realm, left Hengshan alone with a sword and built a hut in Yangming Mountain in Lingling, which is only two hundred miles away from Jiuyi Mountain, so the two mountains are facing each other.

Dong Shouren, the deputy leader of Sanqing Mountain, led a hundred disciples out of the mountain, left Yuzhang, and came to Feixia Mountain in Yuyang to garrison against the devil and rescue Luofu Mountain.

Luofu Mountain was once the place where Ge Hongxian made elixirs and wrote books. There are also Sanqing Hall and Gexian Hall in Chongxu Temple in the mountain. Luofu Mountain and Sanqing Mountain have the same origin and are brothers. At this critical moment, Sanqing Mountain must be conquered.

In addition, all the major sects of Eastern Taoism have sent their troops out of the four borders to station themselves along the southeast coast, with defenses deployed from the eastern part of Yuyang to the northern part of Jinling.

So Cheng Xinzhan sorted it out and found that the struggle between good and evil has gone through four stages since he started practicing.

The first stage was small-scale daily frictions, such as the entanglement between Baiman Mountain and Hongmuling, such as the righteous disciples' exorcising demons in various places, and at that time the little devil Shou Daoren could go deep into the Yuzhang Poyang Lake area to cause trouble.

The second stage is the emergence of new forces and frequent demonic troubles. This is also the stage of breaking the seal of the demon leader in Emei Town, and it is also the beginning of the increasingly fierce struggle between good and evil. This stage was kicked off by the Blood God's son destroying West Kunlun, followed by Gu Chen breaking the seal and establishing the Three Corpse Island, Overseas Xinglang approaching Shenzhou, and Green Robe turning into a dragon to unify the Southern School. These consecutive events pushed this stage to its peak.

The third stage is the confrontation between good and evil, in which two completely different situations emerge in the East and the West.

In the East, the Southern Demon Cult, under the unified command of the Green Robe Patriarch, was unstoppable and made the peaceful Eastern Taoist sect a little confused.

The Miaojiang Daoists had almost no power to defend their territory and could only close off the mountains to protect themselves. The Sanxiang Daoists were defeated step by step, and the demon sect's troops were heading straight for Hengyang. The Yuyang Daoists struggled to hold on and fought bloody battles, but still lost half of their territory.

And this is the result of Ju Qushan's active preparation for the Haoran Alliance and continuous dispatch of support.

In the west, with the active preparation of several generations of Xuanmen, the Xuanmen in Shuzhong defeated the Xikang Demon Sect and made them a little confused. In two years, they quickly cleared most of Xikang and frightened the monk Chuanxin who had just broken the seal so that he dared not cross the river. If the Blood God Cult had not been in the north to coordinate and instruct the northern faction to protect the White Bone Zen Temple, Xikang would have been incorporated into the Xuanmen territory long ago.

Now, Cheng Xinzhan judged that it had reached the fourth stage, the stalemate stage.

Now both sides have reacted. The northern and southern demon sects want to protect Xikang at the same time, or to say, they want to fight for Xikang. The White Bone Temple in the north remains unmoved, and a new Zhuanxu Dragon Cave has been added in the south, so Emei's actions were forced to stop.

The Eastern Taoist sect also reacted. After all, the foundation of the great sect was there. The beating of drums and gongs outside had attracted the attention of the four guarding realms. So they walked in front of the beating of the drums and stared at them. As a result, the Southern sect, including some overseas movements, also stopped.

Now, the four regions are facing each other on all fronts. This is what Cheng Xinzhan called a stalemate.

At this level, fighting is not easy. Because everyone has many ways to attack, and even more ways to save their lives, it is difficult to determine the winner. If you must fight to the death, at best you will bear the consequences and find it difficult to achieve harmony with the Tao, at worst you will die and be reincarnated.

After practicing Taoism for hundreds of years and overcoming all difficulties and hardships, they have arrived in the four realms. They are all the leaders of a big sect. No one wants to lose everything in one day, so they don't fight easily.

It is for this reason that the big sects that people often refer to are those with four realms in charge. Only with four realms in charge can they not be easily wiped out and can they gain a foothold in this Chinese world.

This is why Hong Changbao of Fuxia Lake had to close the gates and break through the four boundaries. This is also why the Demon Cult chose to surround but not attack after sealing off the Miaojiang Immortal Cave, Qinglong Cave, and Fanjing Mountain.

The five families like Xuan Ana, Tianzhe, Qianzu, Tiandu and Zhijin are also well-known in the Miaojiang Dianwen area. Some of them have been passed down for hundreds or thousands of years, but without the Four Realms, they would have been destroyed. The reason why Fuxia Lake can survive to this day is because of the Blood-Transforming Divine Sword and the Redwood Formation passed down by the Red-haired Ancestor, as well as the foothold of the Eastern Dao Sect. Otherwise, it would have been gone long ago.

As for the Sejong sects above the big sects, they refer to sects like Longhu Mountain and Sanqing Mountain, which have never been cut off from the four realms and even the five realms for generations. They have gone through killing calamities and still stand proudly in the world. This is the Sejong sect.

Having said that, Cheng Xinzhan judged that this stage would continue for some time. During this stage, small-scale tests and fights at the third realm and below were inevitable. At this time, they were just waiting for a provocation to appear so that the fourth realm would not be able to sit idly by. That was when the real killing calamity would begin.

Of course, there is another possibility, which is that the stalemate will continue, and the good and evil forces will each operate in the land they have already occupied, and then the four borders will return to the mountains, and the killing will be eliminated. The so-called conflict may not appear until the next killing in a few hundred years.

However, Cheng Xinzhan thought that the second possibility was unlikely, and the root cause lay in the Blood God Son.

From the information we have learned so far, if the Blood God Son wanted, he could have ascended to heaven after breaking the seal, but he did not do so. Instead, he chose to stir up trouble in the mortal world, which was an act that damaged his lifespan and path to immortality.

He destroyed West Kunlun, unsealed Gu Chen, connected the north and the south, and allied with overseas. He spent so much effort. How could he possibly avoid this killing calamity?

It's just dense clouds without rain.

The process of dense clouds piling up is also a rare window for Cheng Xinzhan.

He had to prepare treasures to ward off disasters, find a place to survive the disaster, and wash his golden elixir for the second time. Only by improving his strength as quickly as possible could he see the light in the coming storm. After he made the judgment that the righteous and evil paths would enter a stalemate, he left the lion in Kanli Mountain, said goodbye to Wu Qingbo and Feng Jihu, and then went to Xiangxi alone.

----

Xiangxi is now a bustling place.

Originally, among the three places in Wuling, Kuizhou, Shizhou, and Xiangxi, Shizhou was the most lively. Because Kuizhou had many thunders, which made people tremble with fear, and it was also the eastern gate of Bashu, where killers from the Xuanmen sect could often be encountered. Xiangxi had many evil sects, and the ones who stole souls and bodies were too scary. It was also adjacent to the Southern Sect, so it was very chaotic.

Shizhou is located in the middle and life is pretty good there. Also, because it is in the center of the three places, it is also a place where Wuling caravans often stop and do business. The famous waterway conference is often held in Shinan.

But now things are very different. Xiangxi has become the most lively place in Wuling.

This change is due to the fact that Tianshao Mountain and Shihun Gorge, which had been entrenched in western Hunan for many years, were eradicated by the Taoist masters from the East. The saying "The corpse does not leave western Hunan, and the soul does not leave the stream" that has been passed down for thousands of years is no longer used.

Tianqiao Mountain was renamed Tianqiao Mountain and became a branch of the Haoran League. Shihun Gorge was renamed Jinshui Gorge and is now the headquarters of the Wuling Merchant Gang.

On this day, a young Taoist priest came to Jinshui Stream.

The Mengdong River, which was gloomy and cold in previous years, has now been widened and deepened. It is clear and sparkling, completely different from its previous gloomy appearance.

The golden pebbles on the riverbed were specially found by the Wuling Merchants. They are called "Golden Treasures". They are a kind of rain flower stones collected by the Wuling Merchants from Jinling. They are very expensive. Now they are used as the bedrock of a river, which really shows off their wealth.

This river is now called Jinshui River, which means making money. Because the river shines golden and twists and turns, it is also called Jinlong River. Today, "Golden Dragon Lying on the Waves" has become one of the eight scenic spots in western Hunan.

The Taoist priest went upstream along the Jinshui River and soon saw the thousand-foot-high cliff.

However, at the first sight, he thought he saw a mirage and rubbed his eyes quickly. But no matter how he looked at it, it was that scene, not an illusion. He only saw:
Caves, hanging pavilions, cloud towers, and plank roads are densely packed on the steep cliffs, with people coming and going, as if a very prosperous and bustling market town has been built.

The entire mountain wall looks like a huge shelf. When people stand on the ground and look around, they can see the signs of various shops at a glance, and the original appearance of the mountain wall is almost invisible.

"It's convenient this way."

Cheng Xinzhan burst out laughing.

Looking at the wall from here, you can recognize the signs of inns, teahouses, wineries, alchemy pavilions, weapon shops, and medical clinics. You can choose any one you want. It is much easier than looking for a shop on the ground after flying to the sky.

There was only one place without any shops on the wall. There, the original stone wall was exposed with words engraved on it. Originally, it was the blood-red words "Lost Soul", but now, it was four golden gilded Yunli characters:
"Gold and Water Association".

Cheng Xinzhan's eyelids jumped and he quickly looked away, not daring to look any longer. He thought that the next time someone came to him to write an inscription, he would definitely ask clearly where they were going to put it.

He looked at the huge crack at the edge of the word. At this time, there was no green mist or evil spirits in the crack. The crack was shining brightly, and people were coming and going. It was very lively. There were also fully loaded merchant ships flowing out of the crack, flowing along the Jinshui River into the Youshui River, and then sent to various places in Wuling. Of course, there were also merchant ships with extremely deep drafts going upstream, sending their full loads of treasures into the crack.

It seems that they made the Jinshui River so wide and deep not just for the sake of beauty.

It is also worth mentioning that the egrets here do not seem to be afraid of people at all. When they are tired of flying, they rest on merchant ships and eaves. No one drives them away. They are used to it. Some people even pass some food to the egrets' mouths.

He continued walking along the Jinshui River and soon arrived in front of the gap.

At this time, a man stationed on the river bank came forward to stop Cheng Xinzhan. This man was tall and thin, and looked to be in his forties or fifties. He looked very mature and said very politely,

"Sir, I'm not sure if there's anything you like in the shops outside. I'd like to apologize to you. If you tell me, I'll ask someone to change the shop. But if you want to go in and take a look at the shops inside, I'm sorry, but you have to get a sign from our Chamber of Commerce."

"Easy to say, easy to say."

Cheng Xinzhan responded and probed into the cave stone with his spiritual sense. He searched on the shelf where tokens were placed and soon found the golden token. He took it out and handed it to the man.

When this person saw Cheng Xinzhan take out the golden token, his eyebrows jumped. He carefully took the token and looked at it. There were four words on each side of the token:
"Golden waves surge with jade, and the water palace welcomes the immortals."

The man's hand holding the sign began to tremble.

(End of this chapter)