Chapter 966: Earth Immortal
Dragon Tiger Mountain, embracing a posture like a coiled dragon and a crouching tiger, was majestic, perilous, and steep, with peaks stacked upon peaks. There were dragons leaping and tigers pouncing, shaking off dust, and purple qi rising.
After millennia of accumulation and several cycles of rise and fall, Dragon Tiger Mountain was recognized as the foremost mountain of Daoism, serving as its birthplace and holding a prominent ancestral court status.
At this moment, Ye Fan stood right there, exchanging glances with Old Crane and the Third Valley Master. Dragon Tiger Mountain was very mysterious, the ancestral land of Daoism, and not to be trifled with.
"No wonder Daoism chose this place. Our demon clan sages were always puzzled, but now we finally understand—there is an Earth Immortal here," said the Third Valley Master.
Old Crane sighed, "Indeed. In ancient times, this place was guarded by a great formation. When the Earth Immortal's burial site was first formed, it couldn't yet affect the surrounding terrain. Now that the divine beauty has fully taken shape, it can no longer be concealed, and we can glimpse a corner of it. Daoism truly had masters, choosing this spot so early on."
Speaking of the Daoist lineage, one must mention the pre-Qin sages Laozi and Zhuangzi, but its origins go back even further, traceable to ancient times.
The Dao has existed since antiquity, elaborated upon by the Yellow Emperor and Laozi's teachings. There are many profound classics, and later generations honored the Yellow Emperor and Laozi as its founders.
Daoism existed early on, but it emerged as a true organization much later. The rise of the Celestial Master Dao, with Dragon Tiger Mountain as its ancestral court, was a landmark event.
Later, over thousands of years of rise and fall, Daoism gave birth to hundreds of sects, some interdependent, some branching off, and even opposing each other, never achieving unity.
From ancient times to the present, through many ups and downs, although Daoism has many branches, they can be broadly divided into two major schools. One is the Complete Perfection Sect, which focuses on internal alchemy and rose in the north.
The other is the Orthodox Unity Sect, which focuses on talismans, with its ancestral court at Dragon Tiger Mountain, occupying half of the Daoist world. At the same time, its origin marks the beginning of Daoism as an organized entity.
Ye Fan and his group naturally had to be cautious coming here. This was the ancestral court of Daoism, and one misstep could make enemies of the entire Daoist path.
Because the Orthodox Unity Sect had immense influence within the Daoist gate, being the result of the integration of the Celestial Master Dao, Numinous Treasure Sect, and Supreme Purity Sect.
In ancient times, the Celestial Master Dao revered Laozi, the Numinous Treasure Sect revered the Numinous Treasure Heavenly Venerable, and the Supreme Purity Sect revered the Primordial Heavenly Venerable. The Three Pure Ones revered by Daoism were born from this.
Ye Fan and the others entered the mountain, observing along the way. This Daoist ancestral land had ninety-nine mountains and twenty-four cliffs. Although the ninety-nine mountains did not take on dragon forms, they possessed the momentum of dragons and tigers.
"The essence of heaven and earth is dry, yet this place still has purple qi gathered within. Truly the beginning soil of the Dao," sighed the Great Valley Master.
However, the glorious sights of the past were no longer visible. At its peak, Dragon Tiger Mountain once had ten great Dao palaces, eighty-one Daoist temples, and thirty-six Daoist courtyards.
During the Qing dynasty's rule, Tibetan Buddhism was favored, and Daoism, primarily practiced by the Han people, was suppressed, causing this place to decline.
Later, the Central Land encountered great calamities, a century of war and fire. But when peace truly arrived, the "Destroy the Four Olds" movement occurred, and the outer mountain of Dragon Tiger was completely emptied of Daoists. The Daoist temples were all destroyed, leaving only a single Celestial Master Mansion.
Yet, Ye Fan and the others dared not underestimate. The outer mountain of the Orthodox Unity Sect had turned to smoke, but the cultivators still remained, having entered the ancient inner mountain, cutting themselves off from the mundane world.
"When the Nine Dragons pulled the coffin away and the Tai Mountain ancestral altar appeared, it attracted a fierce battle among great power wielders back then. If the old Daoist of Dragon Tiger Mountain hadn't been called upon, the consequences would have been unimaginable."
From that battle, one could glimpse the might of the Orthodox Unity ancestral court. It still had masters in charge, surpassing other teachings.
"It should be this place. Look, even the outer mountain's stone cliffs have hanging coffins, all ancient artifacts from over two thousand years ago, let alone the inner mountain," said the Third Valley Master.
The cliff tombs of Dragon Tiger Mountain were mostly coffins from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, a unique wonder of China. It was said that Daoism took root here and truly flourished because of the divine power of these hanging coffins.
Old Crane said, "Thinking about it now, Daoism was truly calculating. They knew the Earth Immortal was hanging in a coffin here long ago, arrived before anyone else, and occupied this place. Even if we go in now, we might not be able to find the Earth Immortal."
For thousands of years, as the ancestral land of Daoism, the mundane world could never know the inner mountain. The demon clan, Western traditions, and others had never managed to break in.
Even if there were world-shaking secrets here, outsiders could not know them. Ancient great power wielders guarded the place personally, making it extremely mysterious.
Ye Fan's return from outside the star domain could be said to be a rare opportunity. In this age of the end of the Dharma, with his level of cultivation, he should be able to enter and exit, and the Orthodox Unity Sect would find it hard to stop him.
The three of them turned left and right, nearly touching forbidden formations several times, before finally arriving at the divine soil of Daoism and seeing the true Dragon Tiger Mountain.
"It's even more dragon-like than the ninety-nine peaks outside. This place is extraordinary!" exclaimed the Great Valley Master.
The mountain's momentum was majestic, as if about to leap up and charge into the clouds. Dragons and tigers coiled around each other, intertwining. In this age of the end of the Dharma, faint purple qi was rising, a rare sight in the world.
In ancient times, this place was definitely a first-class divine land. No wonder it became the beginning soil of Daoism—grand and magnificent yet not lacking in beauty.
Peak after peak stood majestic, wrapped in purple qi. There were flying waterfalls and flowing springs, immortal cranes dancing, Daoist children gathering herbs, and old Daoists sitting on cliffs breathing and exhaling—a very artistic conception.
The temples were orderly, with soaring eaves and beautiful beams reflecting in the mountains and waters; lofty terraces and deep pavilions winding through the forests. The ancient scenic beauty was finally reappearing.
This place had the grand momentum of dragons and tigers leaping and pouncing, about to charge into the sky, but the ninety-nine ancient small dragon mountains were not seen, empty and absent.
They were very cautious. Ye Fan led the way, avoiding one Daoist temple and purple qi peak after another, walking deep into the forest, not approaching the important sites of the Orthodox Unity Sect.
"It's not simple. There are sect leader-rank figures here, likely very ancient people," Ye Fan thought about climbing the mountain to visit the Daoist temples.
But Old Crane and the Third Valley Master quickly pulled him back, telling him not to show up. This place could not be recklessly entered. If discovered, they might face severe punishment.
"No, how can it not be here?!" They searched for hundreds of li, but the ninety-nine ancient small dragon mountains were nowhere to be seen. Where the Earth Immortal was buried was unknown.
Auspicious light gathered on a few ancient Daoist temples on Dragon Tiger Mountain. Purple qi was dense, rising upward, stirring the heart. Aside from that, the vast uninhabited area showed no anomalies.
Old Crane and the Third Valley Master were anxious. They couldn't stay long in this place. They knew well the terror and power of the Orthodox Unity Sect. If discovered by a hidden great power wielder, they would be in deep trouble.
Ye Fan calmed his mind and focused, opening his Source Heaven Eye. His body merged into the beautiful scenery of Dragon Tiger Mountain, as if about to disappear. Endless earth qi surged into his body, and he saw the clues.
"What astonishing methods. They almost fooled even my Source Heaven Eye."
His expression was solemn. In this age, aside from him, no one could detect that there were mountains beyond mountains, a world beyond the world. Outside the ancestral court of Dragon Tiger Mountain, there was an ancient formation, which should be the Earth Immortal's bone-burial site, and also the fundamental reason Daoism chose this place.
This path was very difficult. It wasn't a slaughter formation, but a setup that cleverly used the mountain and river terrain to make it impossible to approach. If Ye Fan weren't a member of the Source Heaven Master lineage, he would never have been able to enter. Even so, it took him a great deal of time, leading the two for three days before they got inside.
"Ancient sages are unfathomable, with heaven-reaching methods. At that level, the terrain formations they set up can rival a Source Heaven Master."
As soon as they entered this secret land, Ye Fan and the other two immediately felt a vast and desolate aura, as if a host of dragons were rising.
On the horizon, great mountains stretched, lush and verdant, wrapped in dragon qi. Numerous dragon mountains danced, as if about to break through the sky!
"Found it. This is the place, where the Earth Immortal is buried!" They were very excited.
Revered as an Earth Immortal, one must have heaven-defying methods. This person had obtained the secret of the ninety-nine ancient dragon mountains, touched upon forbidden domains, and must have left behind earth-shattering secrets.
"The Daoist people must have come here. I wonder if anything is left," said Old Crane.
The Daoist sages chose Dragon Tiger Mountain as their site, surely seeing something. They regarded this land of dragon and tiger wind and cloud as their ancestral court and guarded it for so many years. If they hadn't obtained the Earth Immortal's secret, no one would believe it.
The mountains danced, the terrain was earth-shattering. This was a group of dragons, lofty and majestic.
Suddenly, Ye Fan stopped in his tracks. He saw a corpse, wearing a Daoist robe, that had been sitting in meditation for several hundred years. Its form was undecayed, sitting cross-legged on a rock, as if guarding the mountain gate leading to the dragon mountain range.
"A Dao Protector of the Orthodox Unity Sect!" Old Crane saw at a glance a flying immortal diagram on its robe, unique to Dao Protectors.
All Dao Protectors were extremely powerful, even surpassing sect leaders. They were accomplished Daoists who guarded the lineage.
There were a few lines on the ground, in pre-Qin bird seal script. The group sighed after reading them, left by the old Daoist. The gist was that he had guarded the forbidden land for two thousand years without a replacement. The world was dry, and Dragon Tiger Mountain had no one who could sever the Dao to enter, truly lamentable.
"This is a king who severed the Dao, sitting in meditation and passing away several hundred years ago. He guarded the Dao here all along. It's shocking," marveled the Third Valley Master.
"Then the Earth Immortal's secret is still here. They didn't touch it. Otherwise, they wouldn't have sent someone to guard it," Old Crane said with a start, involuntarily looking at Ye Fan. Only a king who had severed the Dao could enter. Didn't that mean the person before him was terrifying to the extreme?
"Don't look at me like that. I only have a rough understanding of some formations and haven't severed the Dao," Ye Fan said with a smile.
They walked forward. As soon as they reached the first dragon mountain, they saw a bone stele, white as jade, over one person tall. After so many years, it remained undamaged, with oracle bone script on it.
Ninety-Nine Dragon Mountains!
Only these few words were written, but a Dao aura pressed down from all directions, overwhelming. Old Crane and the monkey took one look from afar and immediately coughed up blood, unable to face it directly.
"An Earth Immortal, worthy of the name. Even ordinary words carry such power," sighed the Great Valley Master.
Ye Fan was silent, but a storm raged in his heart. Even he felt unsettled looking at these words. This was definitely a peerless expert!
He muttered to himself, "No killing intent was left behind. It's just normal carving, leaving only a trace of the Dao."
As soon as they entered the mountain, the Third Valley Master showed joy and shouted, "Found it! I didn't expect it to be so smooth."
At the foot of a cliff, a large crack opened wide. Thousands of hanging coffins were densely packed, wrapped in dragon qi. It was like the great mouth of a dragon mountain, opening wide, holding ancient coffins in its teeth.
Among them, deep in the dragon's mouth, a jade coffin was faintly visible, flowing with dust-covered light, undecayed from ancient times to the present.
"The Earth Immortal's dwelling, half on the cliff with thousands of hanging coffins."
"Clouds say it's an immortal's bone burial."
A fragrant scent came, though very faint, but it made the body feel light, as if about to ascend with rosy clouds. Ye Fan was shaken. This was definitely an immortality pill.
At the Earth Immortal's hanging coffin site, could there be such a heaven-defying thing? He felt he had underestimated this place. The Earth Immortal was more mysterious and powerful than he had imagined.
The fragrant scent came from the large opening under the stone cliff, deep in the dragon's mouth. He opened his heavenly eye and saw that the dust-covered jade coffin's luster had dimmed, but the Dao marks were undamaged. And there was a branch, green and sparkling, fresh and tender, with a rich fragrance.
"Immortal Divine Tree!"
Ye Fan was astonished. This place was extraordinary. Was it just a branch, or a whole immortal tree? He hadn't seen the Earth Immortal's true form yet, but he had already encountered such a thing.