The Beacon of Kyushu

In the evening, on the hillside of Yuntai Peak.

The setting sun was as red as fire, shining obliquely into a wide stone cave in the mountains. The cave looked quite ordinary from the outside, but inside the cave stood a natural strange stone, which looked like a lotus bud about to bloom, so it was named Lotus Cave.

At this moment, three middle-aged Taoist priests were sitting on one side of the cave, leaning against the stone wall. The Taoist priest on the left was dressed in red, with a golden gourd containing elixirs on his waist. He looked ethereal and yet majestic. The Taoist priest on the right was dressed in blue. He did not look like a Taoist priest like most other Taoist priests, but rather a teacher. He held a very small armillary sphere in his hand, playing with it from time to time while discussing with two fellow disciples. The person sitting in the middle, wearing a moon-white Taoist robe, holding a whisk and carrying a long sword on his back, was Chen Tafa, the Taoist priest who upheld the most respect in the righteousness of Chen Tuan. The afterglow fell on them, making the three people who were already like gods even more extraordinary.

The Taoist in red glanced at the Taoist in blue and said indignantly, "Junior Brother Fan, I admit that my martial arts are not as good as Master and Junior Brother Hongmeng, but if we exclude these two, I can be said to be the best in Yuntai Temple. Looking around the world, there are also only a handful of people who can beat me, Hong Yunzi. Although I have never met Junior Brother Jianfeng, he is Master's beloved disciple and my brother. How can I stand idly by when my brother is in trouble!"

The Taoist in blue ignored the anger of the Taoist in red and continued to play with the armillary sphere. "Brother Hongyun, can't you change your temper? I have been talking for so long, when have I ever said that I would not help Brother Jianfeng? But there are ways to help. As the saying goes, it is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish. We can certainly help him today, but can we help him for the rest of his life? The only way is to let Brother Jianfeng master martial arts and be able to support himself in the future. This is in accordance with the will of heaven!"

Hong Yunzi disagreed and sneered, "Junior Brother Fan, if you say so, then isn't it also against the Way of Heaven that we have gone through so much trouble to refine elixirs in an attempt to achieve immortality? But why do Tianshi Zhang, Patriarch Chunyang, and Master all tirelessly refine elixirs? Are they all so stupid that they don't understand the principle of teaching a man how to fish rather than giving him a fish?"

Fan Xia shook his head and said, "Brother Hongyun, your words are a bit far-fetched, aren't they? These are two completely different things. You deliberately confuse the two. Are you trying to slander me for defaming Master and the ancestors?"

Hong Yunzi said, "How are these two different things? If, as you said, only hard work and practice can lead to success, then if one wants to become an immortal, one must concentrate on studying the classics. Why do so many ancestors take a different approach and become immortals by taking elixirs? By the same token, Junior Brother Jianfeng doesn't necessarily have to study hard and practice hard. As long as he has a good fortune, he can also achieve great success in the future."

Fan Xia smiled bitterly and said, "Haha, Senior Brother Hongyun, you and I always quarrel every time we meet. Now that so many years have passed, you still haven't quarreled enough? People all praise Master for his wisdom and ability to teach students in accordance with their aptitude. It's really true. If he taught me to make pills and taught Brother the divine art, I'm afraid you and I would both go astray!"

Hong Yunzi nodded slightly, "Junior Brother Fan, what you said is right. If Master had taught us the wrong thing, you and I would never have achieved enlightenment in our lifetime, and we might even have been driven crazy by the techniques we learned when we first started."

Seeing the two quarreling, Chen Tafa finally slowed down and said, "Two brothers, the time to give Junior Brother Jianfeng a reply is getting closer and closer. Have you made up your mind?"

Hong Yunzi and Fan Xia shook their heads at the same time. The four of them looked at Chen Tafa at the same time and said, "Brother Chen, every time Master goes into seclusion, he asks you to take charge of the overall situation. Over the past few years, there has never been any mistake in the important matters of the temple. This shows that you have foresight. Why don't you decide on this matter?"

Chen Tafa waved his whisk and said thoughtfully, "Brother Fan, I think what you said makes more sense, but in my opinion, all martial arts are profound and it is impossible to achieve anything in a short time. If Junior Brother Jianfeng is willing to stay in Huashan for a few years, I believe that with his intelligence and wisdom, he can learn martial arts from each of us. But he is eager to go to Tokyo, so this method is not feasible. Brother Hongyun's method is more suitable for the current situation." Fan Xia thought for a while and said, "Well, Junior Brother Chen is right. I was busy considering the heavenly art and thinking about Junior Brother Jianfeng's future, but I ignored that this method takes too long and is not suitable for the current situation."

Hong Yunzi raised his thumb and said, "Junior Brother Chen, you are indeed insightful. Junior Brother Fan and I have been arguing for a whole hour, and I didn't expect that you would wake me up with just one sentence. As long as you give it time, your martial arts may not reach the level of Master, but when it comes to managing the affairs of the temple, you will definitely be better than Master!"

Chen Tafa smiled faintly, "Thank you for your praise, senior brothers. I just want to say something but I don't know whether I should say it or not. If I say it, I'm afraid you two will get angry. But if I don't say it, I'm afraid I'll miss something important."

Hong Yunzi said, "What do you mean by should I say it or not? We have been in the same sect for decades, and our friendship is closer than that of brothers. Moreover, Junior Brother Shouzheng is so knowledgeable, so how can what I want to say be useless nonsense?"

Chen Tafa said, "Brother, I heard from Junior Brother Jianfeng a few days ago that none of the people who wanted to kill us at the foot of the mountain were unknown people, and Sima Wuming was an extremely powerful master of the evil ways. If Junior Brother Hongmeng was on the mountain, we would certainly not be afraid of the Chaos Cult, but if we only had three of us, we might not be able to defeat this thief. Even if we win by chance, how can we deal with so many other evil ways?"

Hong Yunzi said disdainfully, "Sima Wuming is just an old blind man who is bewitching people. With my Dragon-Catching and Tiger-Catching Skill, I can make a dragon coil up and a tiger lie down. As for the other villains, I'll leave them to you two to deal with."

Fan Xia said, "Brother Hongyun, you have never used weapons, so I'm afraid you are no match for Sima Wuming. Let's ask Brother Chen to use his Shouzheng sword to cut off Sima Wuming's green bamboo staff, and we can deal with other evil ways better."

Hong Yunzi rolled his eyes at Fan Xia, "Junior Brother Fan, you look down on me as your senior brother, is that also a divine technique? Who says that masters must use weapons? As long as the internal strength is trained to perfection, flying flowers and falling leaves can hurt the enemy. Haven't you heard that Murong Yanyun used falling leaves to cut off the sword in Murong Yanzhao's hand in Longzhou in the past?"

Fan Xia asked in return: "Brother Hongyun, your Dragon-Collecting and Tiger-Capturing Technique is a grappling technique, not a method of cultivating supreme internal energy. How can it be compared with Murong Yanyun of the past? If Murong Yanyun had not died with hatred in his heart, but lived to this day, even Brother Hongmeng, a martial arts prodigy that is rare in a century, would probably not be his opponent."

Hong Yunzi said, "Brother Fan, are you implying that internal strength is better than grappling? The Xiaotian technique you practice is an internal martial arts technique that is no less powerful than the Zhixuan technique. If you can defeat my Shoulong Qinhu technique with the Xiaotian technique, I will admit that grappling is not as good as internal strength. Otherwise, you are not allowed to contradict me about martial arts again!" (End of this chapter)