On the eighth day of February, another heavy snowfall fell in the Northlands and the whole of God’s capital was covered in snow, making it a snowy city.
In this freezing weather, only the soldiers who were guarding the divine capital were still walking outside.
The three feet of snow caused the soldiers at the gates to start clearing it early in the morning, and they finally managed to clear it by midnight.
“This weather, the snow keeps falling, I guess it will be half an hour before we have to clear the snow again.”
Kuang San, who was guarding the door, sighed as he twisted his body to move his muscles, “If only I had superior martial arts skills, I could melt the snow with one palm and my body would not fear the cold.”
“Come on, Kuang Lao-san, if you had such skills, why would you need to guard the city gates?” A soldier next to him laughed.
“I’m not happy about it,” Kuang San scolded with a laugh, “even a floor sweeper over there is a Xiantian master, if I have that kind of ability, why can’t I keep guarding the gates.”
“Hey,” another person laughed playfully, “the sweeper over at the Qintian Prison is also a Daoist master, a Daoist priest under Daoist Master Qing Yu, can you compete with them?”
“Ding bell…”
A few people were talking and laughing when suddenly there was the sound of a crisp bell coming.
The sound of the bell was very clear and crisp, as if it was ringing in the ear, and it had a tranquil quality to it that made those who heard it feel a sense of calm.
It was strange that the bells, which had to be moved to ring, brought peace to the people. Even Kuang San and the others, who were talking and laughing earlier, unconsciously put away their smiles and had a peaceful look on their faces.
“Amitabha Buddha, it was the old ca*sock who could not control his qi and caused the several masters to be affected, it is really a sin and a sin!”
An old but powerful voice rang out from not far away, and when Kuang San and the others looked forward, they saw that at some point, there was an old monk wearing plain monk’s clothes and a wide bucket hat with two small strings of bells hanging from his head in front of the city gate.
The sound of the bells was coming from the two small strings of bells hanging from the big hat.
The old monk’s face is rosy, and his skin is not creased as it should be for an old man, but rather has the smoothness of a young man. Without the snow-white eyebrows and the nearly three-foot-long white beard, Kuang San and the others would have thought that this was a man in his prime.
After all, on this snowy day, Kuang San and the others were wearing cotton coats and it was still cool, but the old monk was only wearing a thin monk’s coat. The cold wind blew and the monk’s clothes moved, but the old monk’s body stood straight and did not shiver a bit.
With Kuang San’s eyesight, this was the only thing he could notice that was unusual. He could only guess that this old monk should be a martial arts master, a figure he could not afford to offend.
“You are very kind,” said Kuang San, hastily putting his hands together, “is the master looking for a place to hang his order? There are no temples within the divine capital. If you want to find a temple, you must go to the Pu Shan Temple over there.”
As he said this, Kuang San reached out his hand to show the old monk the direction to Pushan Temple.
During these two years, there had been more and more monks in the divine capital, and Kuang San had also shown the way to many of them, so he was considered to be well versed in his business.
However, in recent days, the number of monks in God’s capital had gradually decreased, and many faces that were familiar no longer appeared in Kuang San’s eyes.
“Amitabha Buddha, the monk did not take into account the old ca*sock’s faults, his heart is really generous.”
The old monk chanted another Buddhist hymn and said, “However, the monk has guessed wrongly, the old ca*sock is not here to ask for directions.”
“Master Wu Nian-”
Within the city gates, a middle-aged man in brocade clothing stepped forward and said with an arching hand, “I am Xu Heng, ordered by Daoist Master Qing Yu to welcome Master into the city.”
“Amitabha Buddha,” said the old monk Wu Nian, “I am grateful for the generosity of Daoist Master Qing Yu in allowing Master Xu, the ‘Soul Snatcher with a Thousand Ropes’, to welcome me.”
‘Thousand Soles Soul Snatching Spear’ Xu Heng, a famous scattered practitioner of the Jianghu Lake twenty years ago, was now an imperial consecrator of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. His arrival showed that that Daoist Master Qing Yu had already grasped the whereabouts of the old monk, and also showed that the power of that Daoist Master could be tilted towards the court.
In the former case, the old monk had expected this. After all, he had not hidden his tracks on his journey, nor had he deliberately concealed his purpose.
The latter, however, made the old monk realise the status of Daoist Master Qing Yu.
Historically, only the emperor’s orders could be used to move the imperial offerings. Even the emperor himself would not be too rude to them, and they were all well provided for.
The fact that Qing Yu could make the imperial guards come to the city gates to receive the guests was not only based on their status.
Old Monk Wu Nian gently pressed down his bucket hat and said, “Please also ask Master Xu to lead the way.”
“Master, please.”
Xu Heng was in front, followed by Old Monk Wu Nian, and the two seemed to be slow but fast, stepping out with a few steps, but disappearing before the eyes of Kuang San and the others.
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As the wind and snow swayed, the towering statue of Tongtian stood in the square in front of Taihe Hall, seemingly a giant god that had never moved in the past, but also a great devil that was sinister.
Since the day the New Year arrived, the statue has been swallowing more and more Yuan Qi, and a golden aura has been spreading out from the ground, seeping into the statue and nourishing someone in it who is in seclusion.
“Master, we have arrived.”
Xu Heng led the old monk, Wu Nian, to the giant statue of the Tongtian, and left straight away, not daring to stay one more step.
As for Wu Nian, the old monk, he tilted his head and looked up at the wind and snow drifting and dancing in the sky, and it was hard to hide a hint of awe in his vicissitudes and wise eyes.
“Gulping in the essence of heaven and earth, taking in the dragon veins in one’s body, combining yin and yang, accessing the power of the mind, Daoist Master Qing Yu’s attainment of the Dao is not far off.” Wu Nian sighed softly.
Although his voice was soft, the white-haired Daoist in the giant statue heard it completely.
“There is still a gap in the sky between the realms of the gods, and although I am confident that I can cross it, it is a bit of an exaggeration to say that it is not far.”
The wind and snow that drifted and danced with this voice seemed to be separated by an invisible wall, and could no longer fall into the surrounding area.
“You, Master Wu Nian, are not far from the end of your gong. Within seven days, the Nirvana will arrive, and the success or failure of your life or death will be in seven days.”
“Amitabha Buddha, the Taoist Master has a discerning eye, I admire him.” Wu Nian said.
The old monk was a disciple of the Dharma Sangha three generations back, the senior brother of the contemporary Abbot of the Dharma Sangha, and was nearly three hundred years old this year.
The result of the gong he performed was to live out his life in nirvana and to be born in gong. In each realm, one travels to the end of one’s life span and attains a new life in the final nirvana of life and death.
This requires great patience, great restraint, and a superb state of mind. Only in this way can one hold back the rising thoughts and take that step at the end of one’s life span.
In seven days’ time, the old monk will reach the end of his life, and it will also be the time of his nirvana.
On the eighth day, whether or not the old monk has achieved success, the first place on the Earth Ranking will be vacated. Because at that time, the Numinous Divine Monk of the True Dan realm will no longer exist.
