Chapter 24: The Grand Sacrifice Approaches, Storms Begin to Rise

Jiang Sheng spoke!

Hearing Jiang Sheng's words, Tian Mingan shuddered violently. Forcing himself to stay composed, he said, "This junior will continue to kneel."

"Have you never considered that even if I eventually take you in, I might teach you nothing at all?" Jiang Sheng asked again.

Tian Mingan replied, "This junior seeks the Dao with a single-minded heart; this heart shall not regret."

"Truly no regrets?" Jiang Sheng asked.

Tian Mingan gritted his teeth and said, "No regrets!"

Jiang Sheng smiled. "Then continue kneeling."

The excitement that had just flared in Tian Mingan's heart sank once more. Yet, he continued to endure, kneeling for an entire day until evening, when he finally rose with difficulty and stumbled down the mountain.

Watching Tian Mingan's retreating figure, Jiang Sheng's eyes held neither sadness nor joy.

On the ninth day, Tian Mingan ascended the mountain again. Even though Tian Guofu was heartbroken and wanted to have several men carry him up, and even though his mother wept and begged him to give up, Tian Mingan still made the climb.

Leaning on a tree branch, he arrived before the Taoist temple and knelt motionless on the ground in the depths of winter. Eight days of exposure had ravaged his body, yet Tian Mingan knelt down heavily nonetheless.

At the hour of Chen, Jiang Sheng slowly opened his eyes and looked at the figure kneeling motionless in the freezing wind outside the hall. "Do you still have breath left?"

Tian Mingan murmured, "This junior is still alive."

"Mm, that is good."

As Jiang Sheng's voice fell, Tian Mingan suddenly felt the freezing wind around him dissipate. A warm aura filled his surroundings, restoring a bit of temperature to his stiff, frozen limbs.

"Can you stand up on your own?" Jiang Sheng asked again.

Tian Mingan gritted his teeth and scrambled up from the ground. "This junior can."

Jiang Sheng nodded again. "Then come in."

Tian Mingan's heart throbbed with excitement. Suppressing his emotions, he entered the hall, only to find it incredibly warm—a complete contrast to the freezing, desolate environment outside.

Jiang Sheng opened a scroll of Taoist scripture and spoke slowly, "Is there anything you wish to ask?"

Tian Mingan asked tentatively, "Is the Daoist Master willing to accept this junior?"

Jiang Sheng nodded. "Mm, your attitude is acceptable."

Tian Mingan froze, then asked with confusion, "Master, this junior often reads stories. In them, when a great master takes a disciple, they look not only at sincerity but also at the heart of seeking the Dao, and the disciple's temperament and comprehension."

"Why did the Master not test why I seek the Dao?"

Jiang Sheng glanced at him. "Why you seek the Dao has nothing to do with me. I merely see that your heart is sincere."

Tian Mingan was stunned. Indeed, what did one's reason for seeking the Dao have to do with others? As long as one's heart was sincere and one's pursuit of the Dao was steadfast, why bother explaining it to anyone else?

Jiang Sheng continued, "In truth, I do not expect much comprehension from you, but your temperament is indeed good. Stay by my side for now. Every day when I recite the scriptures, you shall come and listen."

Tian Mingan hurriedly replied, "This disciple will remember."

After a moment of thought, Jiang Sheng added, "Those who practice cultivation must first temper their bones and body. You are currently far from being able to cultivate. First, temper your physique well, then we shall discuss sensing the vital energy and guiding it into your body."

Tian Mingan nodded repeatedly. "This disciple will strictly follow Master's teachings."

"Find a place to sit," Jiang Sheng said, before beginning to slowly recite the Taoist scriptures.

Tian Mingan found a prayer mat, sat cross-legged, and listened quietly to the recitation.

He listened for an entire hour.

By the hour of Si, Jiang Sheng looked at Tian Mingan, who was still immersed in the scriptures, and did not force him awake.

It wasn't until the hour of Wei that Tian Mingan regained his senses. Seeing the sun high in the sky, he felt a sense of daze. "A single scroll of scripture actually allowed me to become so immersed that I lost track of time for over two hours."

Jiang Sheng chuckled softly. "The path to the Dao is long and arduous. In the future, you will need to live in seclusion in the mountains for years on end. Can you endure the loneliness?"

Tian Mingan's expression was firm. "This disciple can endure it."

Jiang Sheng replied noncommittally, "I shall take your word for it for now. Go down the mountain first. Go back and inform your grandfather and parents, then come back tomorrow."

"Enjoy your reunion today; it will not be easy to reunite in the future."

Tian Mingan smiled and said, "This disciple thinks that once I achieve success in cultivation, I should be able to bring my family together. Perhaps I can even help my grandfather, father, and mother extend their lives."

"Heh, having something to look forward to is not bad. Go on, down you go," Jiang Sheng said with a wave of his hand.

Tian Mingan rose, bowed respectfully to Jiang Sheng, and then descended the mountain in high spirits.

Watching him go, Jiang Sheng thought of the kind old man who had cared for him until his death. Looking out at the snow-capped mountains beyond the hall, he sighed softly. "The Great Dao, immortality. To attain eternal life, to watch the cycle of the mortal world, and to live eighteen thousand years—what of it? In the end, one finds that the child wishes to provide for the parents, but the parents are no longer there."

"In the future, this boy will have reason to weep."

With that, Jiang Sheng swallowed a Yuan-Gathering Pill and continued his cultivation.

He intended to raise his cultivation to the late stage of Foundation Establishment before the Great River God Sacrifice began, so that he would have enough certainty to deal with the demons in the river.

The next day, Tian Guofu brought his son, daughter-in-law, and Tian Ming up the mountain. First, the three of them bowed to Jiang Sheng and presented a tuition fee; then, Tian Mingan formally knelt and kowtowed three times to Jiang Sheng.

After Tian Guofu and his family left, only Jiang Sheng and Tian Mingan remained in the mountain temple.

For a moment, the temple felt even more tranquil and solitary.

Tian Mingan had a good temperament; after only a brief moment of melancholy, he regained his spirits. He continued to listen to the scriptures by Jiang Sheng's side, then took over cleaning the temple, practicing martial arts, and cooking.

Although Jiang Sheng had reached the stage of *bigu* (fasting from grains), Tian Mingan had not. He had to fetch water, chop wood, and cook every day, as well as clean the temple and practice martial arts to strengthen his body.

Such a life was undoubtedly heavy for a twelve-year-old, yet Tian Mingan persevered and even seemed to find joy in it.

Every day, Jiang Sheng would also set aside time to instruct Tian Mingan in martial arts.

Watching Tian Mingan practicing his forms in front of the hall, Jiang Sheng said, "You must remember: a cultivator must cultivate the heart, the temperament, and the body."

"The physical body is the precious vessel for traversing the world, containing essence, qi, and spirit. Once a cultivator senses the vital energy and guides it into the body, they do not become significantly stronger immediately."

"Fists, feet, blades, and swords still play a vital role during the Qi Refining stage."

"Even a cultivator in the late stages of Qi Refining can face fatal danger if caught off guard by a powerful bow or if a body-refining cultivator in the middle stages of Qi Refining closes the distance."

"Cultivation in Penglai is not just about practicing methods, but also about tempering the body. Only by cultivating both life and nature can one follow the true path of Penglai."

Tian Mingan replied loudly, "This disciple has noted it!"

Jiang Sheng said no more and continued watching Tian Mingan practice. This process reminded him of when he was eight years old and the old man was teaching him martial arts.

This scene of one generation passing to the next gave Jiang Sheng a deeper understanding of the word "inheritance."

In the days that followed, Jiang Sheng's daily instruction of Tian Mingan shifted to once every three days, and eventually to once every seven days.

Tian Mingan's talent was good, allowing Jiang Sheng to save much time. Furthermore, this instruction served as a verification of Jiang Sheng's own cultivation, faintly reflecting his own path.

Time passed day by day.

Unknowingly, the deep winter passed, and the final month of the lunar year was nearing its end.

As the time for the Great River God Sacrifice drew closer, the atmosphere in Qingshan County became increasingly strange.

Jiang Sheng's slaying of the Eight Wolves of the Eastern Commandery had indeed intimidated the evil cultivators for a time. However, after several daring probes, the evil cultivators realized that as long as they did not approach Qingping Mountain, they would not draw out the terrifying Daoist Jiang. Thus, they became active once more.

This time, Xu Xiao was determined. Using the talismans she had purchased from Jiang Sheng at a high price, she tracked down the traces of several Foundation Establishment evil cultivators.

Subsequently, Xu Xiao, along with the Foundation Establishment rogue cultivators Wang Tianfang, Li Hao, Han Li, and Qian Ming, took action together, successively slaying four or five Foundation Establishment evil cultivators.

Following Jiang Sheng's example, they hung the corpses of these evil cultivators in front of the county magistrate's office, using the bloody reality to once again intimidate the wicked.

Although the movements of the evil cultivators were suppressed, rumors began to spread through the city.

At first, it was only local gossip, claiming that the reason Magistrate Zhang wanted to kill the River God was that he was dissatisfied with the sacrifices having nothing to do with him; in truth, he wanted a share of the spoils during the Great River God Sacrifice.

As the rumors spread, it turned into the claim that Magistrate Zhang wanted to create a golden idol of himself to enjoy the incense offerings in pursuit of immortality.

As they spread further, it became a claim that Magistrate Zhang had long since made an agreement with those rogue cultivators: after killing the River God, they would divide the people of Qingshan County—the Magistrate would take the county town, and the rogue cultivators would take the various towns.

By then, the entire Qingshan County would become their independent kingdom, where they could kill at will for amusement.

The rumors grew increasingly absurd, yet many ignorant people believed them: originally, the Great River God Sacrifice only required the sacrifice of six pairs of young boys and girls every year to ensure favorable weather; why would the Magistrate go through such trouble to kill the River God?

Was it not simply to take his place!

As these rumors spread, many gentry and wealthy merchants even began to doubt Zhang Qingyun's intentions.

Coupled with the frequent disturbances caused by evil cultivators lately—murders for cultivation methods and bloody incidents involving lost limbs and mangled flesh—the horrific scenes had indeed terrified the gentry.

Consequently, the gentry and merchants all wanted an explanation from Zhang Qingyun, the County Magistrate.

With the gentry and merchants leading the charge, the common people, hearing the wind of change, felt even more that the Magistrate harbored ulterior motives. They also began to petition, hoping the Magistrate would not disrupt the Great River God Sacrifice.

Before Zhang Qingyun could even act, he found his hands and feet tied by the very people he ruled.