Chapter 954: Mutual Reverence
Within the ancient thousand-year Daoist temple, ancient pines stood verdant and tall, reaching straight into the sky like azure true dragons coiling toward the heavens. Beneath the trees, a group of old Daoists sat on meditation cushions, all looking over.
Guo Zhen felt quite uneasy, for he was not facing just anyone—these were experts from the Lingbao Sect, one of the strongest lineages of Daoism. As a mere wandering cultivator, when had he ever seen such a formation? To him, these were a group of land-bound immortals.
Ye Fan released a powerful divine sense, sweeping over every inch of land, searching for the Dao imprints left by ancient sages. At such a treasured site, he did not want to miss anything.
"How did you accomplish this? What kind of expert are you?" an old Daoist stared at Guo Zhen.
Upon hearing this, the group of young people exchanged glances, all startled. They no longer dared to show the slightest contempt, staring at Guo Zhen, trying to figure things out.
However, Guo Zhen himself was baffled, standing there at a loss for how to explain. He was dazed, looking at the blue-glowing metal fragment in his hand, then at his own feet.
"Hey, what's going on with you? When did you go up there? How did you get onto the Dao platform?" The group of young people grew restless, not expecting Ye Fan to have ascended the sect master's preaching platform, standing there without anyone noticing when.
Ye Fan moved about this platform, searching every corner. He had examined the entire Daoist temple but found nothing. Eventually, he sensed Dao imprint fluctuations only from the platform, so he stepped onto it.
"You ascended from the stone steps on the other side?" A dozen old men shot to their feet, utterly shocked.
On the other side, there were also stone steps, all made of green jade, also thirty-three steps, but even harder to climb, for that path was meant for Dao-cutters to ascend to heaven.
Now, where could such great divine ability practitioners be found? Seeing this, the old Daoists were dumbfounded, unable to believe any of it.
Ye Fan paid no heed. Standing on the platform, he extended his powerful divine sense to carefully sense. In a trance, he saw a passage of ancient scripture characters imprinted in the void.
"That's it—this is where their successive sect masters preached the Dao. These are the Dao waves of bygone years, imprinted into the platform." After a long time, Ye Fan nodded to himself, understanding the situation. In a sense, this platform was a treasure.
"He ascended... from the thirty-three jade steps? Representing the heavenly rank of attaining immortality and the Dao, crossing the thirty-three heavens—even the great divine ability practitioners of ancient times might not have been able to do this!"
When the group of young people understood the situation, they felt cold air rushing into their pores. How terrifying was this? Just how deep a Dao cultivation was needed to achieve this?
Everyone showed expressions of shock. What background did this wandering cultivator before them have? How could he accomplish all this, his face unchanged, as if taking a leisurely stroll?
Ye Fan stepped down from the stone steps on this side one by one, taking thirty-three steps to reach the ground. This time, everyone saw it clearly, all left speechless, mouths agape.
He paid no attention, walking around the platform with closed eyes, listening to the sounds of a thousand years past, hoping to capture the Nine Secrets scripture. But he was disappointed—though the platform had imprinted many techniques, this secret art was not among them.
"We pay respects to the senior!" One old Daoist was the first to come to his senses, bowing deeply in a grand salute, his expression both excited and somewhat flustered. In this current era, encountering a great divine ability practitioner was extremely rare, and they did not know if it was a blessing or a curse.
The other old Daoists also hurried forward, saluting together, their hearts uneasy. A great divine ability practitioner so young appearing before them was like something out of a fairy tale.
That life vitality was definitely not fake, with no trace of senility. It was hard to imagine how he had achieved this—had he reached the pinnacle and returned to youth, or was he simply not old? Everyone speculated in their hearts.
By common sense, in this age of declining Dharma, achieving such a feat at this age was as unrealistic as finding solid proof of ascending to immortality!
The dozen old Daoists acting like this left the young people even more bewildered, not daring to breathe loudly. They all bowed in great ceremony, seeing him as a living ancestor-level figure.
Guo Zhen was somewhat dazed. How had his wandering cultivator friend, who had traveled with him, suddenly become so unfamiliar, giving off an unattainable aura? Even the Lingbao Sect experts were awed, making him feel as if he were in a dream.
As for the four young people who had known him earlier, their faces turned pale, their bodies trembling. Having mocked him several times, they felt they had incurred a great disaster.
At the same time, they were filled with immense regret. Back on Mount Tai, Ye Fan had originally wanted to travel with them, but they had dismissed him and handed him over to Guo Zhen, missing a tremendous karmic opportunity. This could have been a great fortune.
The four regretted and hated themselves, but now it was too late to say anything. They could only tremble in fear, awaiting an unknown fate, terrified that Ye Fan would bring disaster upon them and strike them all dead.
Their worries were, of course, unnecessary. How could Ye Fan bother with the likes of them? At this moment, he left the platform and fully came back to his senses. Seeing this, he said, "All of you... rise."
"Swoosh"
Just then, Little Pine, hidden in Ye Fan's spatial artifact, sensing the atmosphere had eased, lively jumped out and climbed the ancient pine in the courtyard to look for pine nuts.
"A purple squirrel!"
"A little squirrel shimmering with purple light, crystal clear—it's... that person's pet, a great divine ability practitioner!"
Everyone was stunned. Both the older generation and the young were shocked, immediately recalling a recent rumor. The Great Xia Sparrowhawk clan had four main branches, and not long ago, someone had nearly wiped out one of them.
Recently, all the sects in the Central Land had been discussing this, causing a huge uproar. It was said that the main branch of the Great Xia Sparrowhawk had an undying old demon who was specifically investigating the matter.
A lively purple little squirrel, a mysterious young man—both matched the characteristics of that great divine ability practitioner. These people felt dizzy; indeed, a great figure had descended here.
They bowed in grand ceremony once again, making Ye Fan somewhat uncomfortable. A group of old Daoists far older than him—he had never received such treatment when roaming the Big Dipper.
He told them to rise and then told Guo Zhen to continue their friendship as before, without any worry. He was not some ancient relic who had lived for ages.
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately caught the meaning. This was clearly a modern person, not a great divine ability practitioner who had survived from ancient times. Achieving such accomplishments made it even more astonishing.
Guo Zhen slowly relaxed. The four acquaintances sighed inwardly, deeply realizing that opportunity was sometimes just a turn away, and they had missed it so plainly.
The dozen old Daoists unanimously stepped forward, begging Ye Fan to preach the Dao, to resolve their doubts, and to pass on some cultivation methods. Ye Fan, being called "senior" left and right, especially by these people two or three hundred years old, felt a bit embarrassed himself. Therefore, he ascended the platform, earnestly preached the scriptures, and used what was at hand, inscribing the Dao imprints he had just captured into the void. The scriptures filled the sky, every character shimmering with divine radiance.
"Could this be the fifth volume of the *Lingbao Red Book Jade Formula Wondrous Scripture*? How is it even clearer and more complete than what is recorded in our sect's secret grounds?" The Lingbao Sect people were astounded, waves of shock surging in their hearts, unable to calm down.
Ye Fan frankly stated that this was an imprint he had discovered within the platform, that it was originally their possession, left behind by ancient sect masters when they preached the Dao.
"Please, senior, you must come to our sect's secret grounds and pass down the lost scriptures." Several Daoists excitedly bowed.
Ye Fan nodded. He had intended to do so anyway. He had carefully searched this place and found no Nine Secrets. Perhaps the Lingbao secret grounds truly did contain them. At the same time, he wanted to ask them about the demon god bloodline. This time, no matter what, he had to thoroughly clarify the mystery of whether Pang Bo was real or fake!
Today, I saw a news story: Little Pine has already been sold to the United States. Please send *** to rescue it. I'll go redeem it. If you don't believe me, search the news keywords: "American couple accidentally captures a purple little squirrel." This is real. Request *** support, save Little Pine, a major operation.
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