I want to embrace the moon for nine days

"Longquan Dao had experienced a revival in the past. Now with the presence of masters like Penglai Daoist, the fortune is really prosperous and endless. I believe that this time it will be prosperous and famous for hundreds of years."

Hu Buzhi smiled and said, "Among the gifts I brought this time, there is also a sword. I would like to ask fellow Taoist Penglai to give his comments."

The items and flower baskets held by the young men and women behind him contained the gifts he had sent. Among them was indeed a long sword with a black scabbard, decorated with plum blossom patterns in gold lacquer, the hilt was shaped like a bamboo node but slightly flat, and the tassel was apricot yellow.

Su Hanshan took it and looked at it, a smile appeared on his face.

This sword feels very comfortable in the hand, and the hilt feels cool against the palm. If there are distracting thoughts in your mind, holding this sword will make them disappear, and you will feel pure and happy.

"This sword does not have any murderous aura. It must be a Confucian etiquette sword. It has been forged for more than three hundred years, but it has never been stained with blood. It has not even been unsheathed once and used in tense and murderous situations."

Su Hanshan only pulled out three inches of the sword blade, with most of it still remaining in the sheath, but he saw a cold white light like frost and snow shining between his eyebrows.

"Zao Xue's spirit is very good. Even if you are a master in the Divine Palace realm, it would be very beneficial if you could often practice with this sword. If it is used on the battlefield, it is only a mid-grade sword, but if it is used for practice, it is definitely a top-grade sword."

There have always been many masters in Confucianism who do not practice kendo but also like to carry swords. Their swords are purely ceremonial instruments. Combined with etiquette and rituals, they can produce effects similar to Taoist rituals, such as calling the wind and rain, curing diseases and saving lives, liberating the souls of the dead, distinguishing between loyalty and treachery, and maintaining health and refining the mind. It has many wonderful uses.

After all, Hu Buzhi didn't have any real friendship with Yuandaoling. Even though both sides were powerful people from the Void Secret Realm, giving out this kind of sword as a gift during their casual interactions could be considered a "valuable gift".

But this sword is only part of the gift.

Su Hanshan could sense that there were several gifts that were obviously as valuable as this sword, which showed the generosity of the Pure Fox Clan.

He handed the sword to Bao Zheng.

Bao Zheng's predecessor was the Ghost King Zhong Kui, who was also a great expert in swordsmanship. When he got the sword, he knew its value and couldn't help but sigh.

"Brother Hu, to be honest, the world is about to be in turmoil. The Middle Earth is in a special position. Once there is a chaos, it will definitely be the worst. I came to Dongzhou to find a place to settle down. To make up for my conscience, I entrusted all the treasures on my body to my old friend in the Middle Earth."

"Now, I am a clean-handed person. Although there are treasures in the secret realm of Denggu Temple, they are only obtained by fellow Taoists. If I cannot return such a valuable gift from you, it would be too rude..."

Bao Zheng pondered for a moment, then looked at the young men and women, "Brother Hu, if you don't mind, I'll read a blessing speech for you, the younger generation. It's not a formal ceremony, just a blessing."

When a man reaches the age of cap and a woman reaches the age of hairpin, it is a sign that they have grown up and should take on responsibilities. Because local customs vary, the actual ages referred to may vary, but the format of the greetings used is often similar.

It is to summarize and point out the past character of the recipient, and then add some auspicious words of blessing.

If the person reciting the blessing is a master himself, it is as if he can bless the recipient with a spell, bringing various benefits to the recipient within a certain period of time.

It could be actual protective spell power generated when in distress, or it could be inspiration that suddenly comes during practice, or clues that are suddenly captured when encountering complex situations, and so on.

Of course Hu Buzhi would not refuse. He greeted the younger generations to come forward and said, "Confucianism is famous for its literary talent. It is their honor to receive a congratulatory speech from Brother Bao."

Bao Zheng now looks to be in his twenties, and is almost the same generation as these young foxes.

When he read the blessing, there was a smile on his face. It didn't sound like an elder disciplining or giving responsibilities to the younger generation, but rather like a blessing given on the spur of the moment between friends of the same generation.

"Your character is dignified, your body is virtuous. Your heart will never change, your teeth will grow old. Your hair is made of red brocade, your shoes are made of blue silk. Your conduct is made of red and stone, and you push everything to perfection..."

The little foxes originally looked very respectful and serious. As they listened, their snow-white ears appeared between their black hair and trembled slightly.

That feeling of being well-behaved and reserved faded away, some were noticeably more lively, while others remained dignified, showing their true nature.

The more I read this article, the longer it gets, and the calmer I feel.

Bao Zheng held the long sword at an angle as if holding a bamboo, and the sound of his chanting while sitting cross-legged spread from this hilltop to the surrounding hilltops unknowingly. Every word penetrated into people's hearts and seeped into the void.

Hu Buzhi originally didn't care about the other party's return gift, but now he was moved and responded seriously.

"I didn't expect that Bao Zheng is such an honest man. He spent a lot of effort to write this blessing and run the foundation..."

Hu Buzhi was thinking secretly in his heart.

Su Hanshan is powerful, has a casual attitude, and has a bad reputation for killing Deng Gusha with a sword.

Ma Jiugong is a man of simple appearance and reserved spirit, like jade, dark and obscure, and he keeps his true colors hidden, so it is difficult to see his true heart.

Among these three people, only Bao Zheng made Hu Buzhi feel that he was truly loyal.

Moreover, Bao Zheng's cultivation level is the lowest among these three people. It seems that he just broke through to the realm of heaven and man not long ago.

With Hu Buzhi's cultivation, he thought it would be much easier for him to tell whether such a person was sincere or not.

With this breakthrough, it will be easier to consider how to make friends with these three people, how to determine the distance between them, how much to use them, in what aspects to use them, and how to appease and give feedback to them afterwards.

Hu Buzhi was thinking these things in his mind, and the look he gave Bao Zheng became more and more friendly.

However, as Bao Zheng continued to read his article, it seemed as if raindrops were dancing in the space around him.

The tiny raindrops collapsed into mist, and each small piece of mist formed a word.

All the words exactly matched what Bao Zheng recited.

The more you read, the more these words will pop out.

Hu Buzhi let out a light exclamation, opened his palm, and saw a few words jumping into his palm.

These words are actually made up entirely of fragrance.

It was a similar principle to when he came here by boat before, and the fragrance of the dreamy flowers naturally formed into flower shapes.

No, it's not similar, this is actually the real fantasy, its accomplishments are even purer than Hu Buzhi's own!
"Where does this fragrance come from?!"

Hu Buzhi's heart was shaken and he looked up.

Ma Jiugong also showed a look of great surprise, and cried out: "Why do I feel such a strong Confucian cultivation, as if there is a secret realm of my Confucian predecessor, a great master, nearby?!"

Su Hanshan seemed to be thinking: "Could it be that the predecessors of this Yuandaoling lineage left behind some treasures?"

Bao Zheng had also finished reading his article at this time. The little foxes in front of him also smelled this strange yet familiar fragrance, and they were a little at a loss, looking around.

Suddenly, about three feet above Bao Zheng's head, the space seemed to be like a cloud of mist, which suddenly fluctuated and spread out in a circle.

A bronze incense burner with three legs and two ears and animal face patterns emerged from the clouds.

The carved decoration on the front of the incense burner is a fox head made of white jade. The fox head has two narrow and eerie eyes. It is obviously a dead object, but it exudes an inexplicable sense of elegance and sacredness, and also emits a clear green light.

"Blue-eyed white fox!!"

Hu Buzhi just had some waves in his heart, but now even his expression changed.

The blue-eyed white fox is an image that can only be manifested by those in their pure fox clan who have an extremely high talent in the art of fragrance.

The saint of their generation is a blue-eyed white fox, so at a young age, she has already cultivated to the realm of heaven and man, and has great potential. She is proficient in several secret methods that have been lost in the clan and no one has mastered them for hundreds of years.

That is why, this time, taking advantage of the ancestor's birthday banquet, the Pure Fox Clan spread the news of selecting a son-in-law, which attracted so much attention.

This incense burner is obviously a magical weapon cast by a senior master, and it is integrated with his own secret realm.

The image that this magic weapon can manifest is probably the characteristic of that senior's secret realm. In other words, that senior was also a blue-eyed white fox when he was alive.

"I see!"

Ma Jiugong slapped his thigh and stood up, as if he had suddenly realized something. "I once heard that the last head of the Yuandaoling lineage seven hundred years ago was from the fox clan."

"I guess that during this period of time, Brother Bao has been trying to revive the Taoist tradition here, which has triggered the induction of the Void Secret Realm left by the predecessors."

"He has put a lot of effort here again today. I sincerely hope that the descendants of the Fox Clan can lead this secret realm to appear in the world faster and recognize him as the master."

At the end of the Qin Dynasty, Lingzhou was in chaos and the pure fox clan suffered heavy losses.

Although the fox clan vaguely knew that the White Fox Dean did not die in the encirclement and suppression of the Qin army's eastern expedition, but went to Middle-earth, they were not clear about what happened afterwards.

Besides, the dean was not very close to the Pure Fox Clan when he was alive.

No one would have thought that this dean, who had accepted the training of an alien race, could actually transform into a "blue-eyed white fox" and master the art of incense. He was able to preserve his own secret realm and connect it with the Taoist tradition of Yuandaoling.

Hu Buzhi suddenly felt a strong sense of unwillingness in his heart.

That senior dean must have gone crazy from reading too much. Even though the academy had been destroyed, he didn't even bother to return his last legacy to the Pure Fox Clan and leave it to the clan's children.

Now, such a large and complete secret realm has fallen into the hands of outsiders who have no relationship with the family.

But they are a few outsiders with tough tactics!
"That's the secret place of the Blue-Eyed White Fox..."

Hu Buzhi couldn't help but mutter aloud, his eyes full of longing.

Bao Zheng stared at the incense burner for a moment, exuding a noble and elegant aura, as if he had received a lot of information from the incense burner.

"If you are interested, Brother Hu, why not come with me and take a look inside."

Bao Zheng smiled and said, "Although it is the support that the senior left for Yuan Daoling, it appeared today when I blessed the fox clan. It is also a fate."

Hu Buzhi wanted to be polite, but he had already agreed. Of course, Su Hanshan also wanted to go in and check, but before he stood up, he pulled out a green sword from his sleeve and stuck it into the ground.

Hu Buzhi was startled and collected his thoughts.

The four great masters transformed into four streams of light and flew into the incense burner.

Black land, clear water, green and yellow reeds, and white reed flowers.

As soon as they entered the secret realm, everyone looked up from the sky and saw only an endless reed marsh.

The scenery was very simple, but it made everyone feel a chill in their hearts.

The Void Secret Realm is limited in size. With the cultivation level of Su Hanshan and the others, even if they enter the Great Void Secret Realm, they should be able to see the edge at a glance.

But these reed marshes gave them a feeling of boundlessness, which must be the effect of a superb formation.

"The Great Array of the Black-eyed Divine Reeds!"

Several people thought of this formation at the same time.

This formation is very famous. When Wu Xushan was young, he relied on this formation to escape from the pursuers of the ancient Chu Dynasty and fled to the State of Wu. During the Chu-Wu War, this formation also performed remarkable feats.

Even when he was ambushed and killed by the new Emperor Wu, he used this formation to escape and regained his foothold in Dongzhou.

Unexpectedly, Dean Baihu also comprehended this formation thoroughly. The formation he set up in his own secret realm has been running continuously for more than 500 years and its power remains the same.

Ma Jiugong and Hu Buzhi were both sincerely admiring this formation, but Su Hanshan was looking into the void.

Even though he was also affected by the formation, what he could perceive was far beyond that of others. He could vaguely feel the operation of the five immortal magical powers.

There are many requirements for practicing in the secret realm of the void.

In the human world of the Abyss Realm, the seventh-rank strongman tried to comprehend the three immortal magical powers, which were to guard the past mind, the present mind, and the future mind respectively.

To put it in the simplest terms, it means to ensure that you do not forget your past memories, that your present reactions are not slow, that you maintain your curiosity about unknown things in the future, and that you do not lose interest in life.

In this way, one can have a lifespan of more than a thousand years under the invisible constraints of heaven.

According to Buddhism, it is very easy for ordinary people to retreat from their aspirations. Even monks and nuns, Vajra warriors, guardian gods and dragons, and heavenly kings may also experience retreat from their aspirations.

But the bodhisattva’s heart will never regress.

For a warrior of the seventh stage, to suppress the three kinds of immortal magical powers respectively is to achieve the bodhisattva mind at each level.

But suppression alone is not enough, because suppression is a kind of blockage, and where there is blockage there will be leakage.

The method of suppression simply shows the tough side, which is not in line with the nature of the Heavenly Dao that is both hard and soft.

Therefore, there must also be a fourth kind of immortal supernatural power, which corresponds to the mysterious heart and is the pursuit of the great way, which can maintain the pleasure of pursuing the great way and the happiness of pursuing positive results.

The fifth kind of immortal magical power corresponds to the heart of the underworld, which is the tolerance of the mortal heart.

The mysterious above and the mysterious below form a comprehensive cycle, which allows the past, present and future minds, and things that are not completely suppressed, to be guided and continue the cycle.

Buddhism talks about the mystery of reincarnation, which is to go on reincarnating in order to avoid loss, reduction, and extinction.

Taoists, however, call these steps "the correct way of Zhou Tian". They are like the rotation of a wheel, which does not stand still but moves towards the sky in a repetitive cycle.

In the early Middle Ages, when hundreds of schools of thought converged and the names of the various realms of mainstream martial arts had not yet been completely determined, many people habitually called the seventh and eighth levels "Bodhisattva Heart" and "Zhoutian Dao".

The White Fox Dean was at the peak of the eighth rank, a great master of the Five Qis and the Zhou Tian Zheng Dao. The most rare thing was that although he was dead, the secret realm was still well preserved.

How to place the five kinds of immortal magical powers separately, coordinate their operation, and integrate them with the Great Void Secret Realm can give Su Hanshan a lot of inspiration.

But after a few people traveled together for half an hour, Su Hanshan had to admit it.

The core of this secret realm is no longer just the five immortal magical powers.

In a sense, the existence of the Divine Reed Array is more important than the entire secret realm.

"It is said that a complete divine reed formation requires 720 items of talismans, including 36 treasures from heaven and man, and 8 divine weapons forged by powerful void masters."

Hu Buzhi watched this secret realm and praised it highly, "I don't know if this formation is in its most complete state yet."

"But Brother Bao, who is in charge of this formation, is probably capable of competing with a seventh-level expert, and may even gain the upper hand and possibly lock the opponent in the formation."

The more he saw the benefits of this secret realm, the more regretful he felt.

Su Hanshan also nodded: "Let's not talk about anything else. For someone of Deng Gusha's level, Lao Bao is in charge of this formation, which is enough to injure and repel him."

Bao Zheng picked up a reed flower, twisted it gently, and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, which one do you think is better, this formation or this secret realm?"

Ma Jiugong thought for a moment and said, "Look at the secret realm and the formation separately... In any secret realm, the traces of the original owner are the deepest. Even if you are recognized, when you control the secret realm, you can only slightly compete with the seventh-level strongman, which is definitely not as strong as your control of the formation."

Su Hanshan looked up at the sky, then at the reed marsh under his feet: "This secret realm has lost its original owner. If the purpose is to destroy it, I can cut it through in less than three sword strikes, but I can't really see through this formation for now."

The meaning is also very obvious.

Hu Buzhi sighed and said, "If I were to choose, I would rather choose this secret realm. I'm sure you all know the status of the Blue-Eyed White Fox."

"A blue-eyed white fox who has cultivated into the Great Void Secret Realm, observing his secret realm will surely give you enlightenment on the way of incense."

Hu Buzhi bowed to the three people and said, "Three of you, we, the Fox Clan, have always loved doing business."

"I would like to negotiate a price with you. I would like to ask my pure fox clan to send a few outstanding members to come and observe this incense burner regularly. Is that possible?"

Bao Zheng looked at him and saw that he was full of sincerity and did not avoid his gaze. He suddenly smiled and said, "Ha, Brother Hu, have you forgotten the purpose of your visit today? You are here to deliver an invitation..."

When Hu Buzhi saw that he changed the subject, he knew that he was going to refuse politely. Feeling regretful, he wondered if there was any other way.

But Bao Zheng said again: "We want to celebrate the birthday of the Pure Fox Ancestor, and we are in need of a great gift, so how about giving this secret realm to us?!"

"what?!"

Hu Buzhi was surprised and happy, almost suspecting that he had heard it wrong, and then became alert.

"Brother Bao, we can't decide in advance who the Saint chooses. We have to let her choose her own husband first..."

Bao Zheng was stunned, and coughed lightly: "No, no, no, I have no such intention towards the Saint, not for this."

Hu Buzhi's expression became even more suspicious.

Such a big and heavy gift, what else could it be for unless it is for the Saint?
Marrying a saint would bring endless and immeasurable benefits, so it can be said to be a good deal.

If they really said it was to celebrate a birthday, even a three-year-old child from the fox tribe wouldn't believe it.

"Deng Gusha's actions yesterday made us realize that moving here will inevitably lead to resentment. When a catastrophe comes in the future, it will not be safe enough for the three of us alone."

Bao Zheng bowed and said, "I am sending this gift only because I want to form an alliance with the Pure Fox Clan. I would like to ask at least two masters of the Void Secret Realm from Brother Hu's clan to use their own blood and sacrifice to raise this statue and send it to our Yuandao Ridge!"

The sacrifice and refinement of the Heart and Blood Statue requires a lot of consumption, and only those who have reached a certain realm for a long time and are strong people from powerful families will have this habit.

Wherever there is a statue of heart and blood, a large amount of power can be transmitted through the air, and there are very few means that can hinder this kind of support.

Driving the statue to fight can have half the strength of the real body. If necessary, at a certain price, it can be even stronger.

If this is the exchange condition, Yuandaoling is not at a disadvantage...

Hu Buzhi's doubts subsided a little, and he asked tentatively: "Then this formation..."

"The formation is naturally separate from the secret realm."

Bao Zheng said, "I will tell this formation not to resist later. Please work together to move the formation carried by this piece of mountains and rivers to the outside world."

“Then, we will find some suitable locations around Yuandao Ridge, cut through the void, and open cracks so that we can place these mountains and rivers in them and connect them with the original mountains and rivers.”

Only after hearing these words did Hu Buzhi feel completely relieved.

"Okay, then it's settled!"

He was extremely happy in his heart. Although he had reasonably shown his importance to the secret realm before, in fact, the secret realm of the Blue-Eyed White Fox fell into the hands of the fox clan, and its real use was not as simple as he said.

"I can make the final decision on this matter. I will send the statue to you immediately after the birthday banquet."

Hu Buzhi saw that Su Hanshan and Ma Jiugong only had smiles on their faces. Although they did not object, they were obviously not too enthusiastic. Then he looked at Bao Zheng who was happy and delighted, and he felt even more pleasing to this loyal and honest Confucian descendant who lacked some scheming.

"Brother Bao, if you don't mind, how about I become your sworn brother?"

(End of this chapter)