Hidden Moth-Chapter 446 - 253: The Sect Pursues Jianji (Part 2)
Just as the conversation reached this point, a hint from Li Xiuyuan suddenly echoed in He Kao’s primordial spirit: "Ask him if he has ever heard of the ’Sovereign of Jianji Palace, Li Siran’.
He Kao voiced the question like a megaphone: "Fellow Daoist Zhang, have you ever heard of the Sovereign of Jianji Palace, Li Siran?"
Zhang Jingui, surprised, replied, "That’s my grandmaster! My master mentioned his name, how do you know the title of the Sovereign of Jianji Palace?"
Receiving another divine thought from Li Xiuyuan, He Kao inquired further, "Fellow Daoist Zhang, do you know Zhou Yuandan?"
Zhang Jingui answered, "Ah, that’s my master!"
He Kao: "Didn’t you just say your master was called Zhou Zhidan?"
Zhang Jingui explained, "That was the name he changed to later in life; when he was young, he was called Zhou Yuandan because he was born on New Year’s Day... he mentioned this to me."
’Yuandan,’ originally, meant the first day of the New Year, which was the first day of the lunar year in ancient times. After the establishment of the New Eastern Country, the Gregorian calendar was promoted, and January 1st was set as Yuandan, a legal holiday, while the first day of the lunar year continued to be called the Spring Festival by tradition.
Zhang Jingui’s master was born before the liberation, and his parents gave him this name. But after the establishment of the New Eastern Country, it no longer matched the legal holiday Yuandan and sounded less progressive, so he changed his name to Zhou Zhidan as an adult.
He Kao came by car and initially didn’t plan to drink, but at this moment, he couldn’t help but call the waiter to open a bottle of Maotai, and poured a cup personally for Zhang Jingui, saying, "Senior Brother Zhang, it turns out you are a lineage of the Jianji Palace; let me down this one first in tribute!"
Zhang Jingui was somewhat dumbfounded, "What is the lineage of the Jianji Palace?"
This term, Jianji Palace, holds great significance within the Magic Sect. It’s He Kao’s first time hearing about it today. It’s both a ’lineage’ and a ’sect’; as a lineage, it refers to a branch of the Xingshen Sect, and as a sect, it refers to a faction within the Magic Sect.
The ’Sovereign of Jianji Palace, Li Siran’, mentioned earlier, is the master of Li Xiuyuan and is still alive today at the ripe old age of 101, with Tier Five cultivation.
Jianji Palace was originally a time-honored Daoist temple in Lujiang but was destroyed around the liberation period, leaving only ruins today. Although the foundation of the Magic Sect’s inheritance lies in Phoenix Tail Town, various factions have formed across different regions in history, and Jianji Palace was one such branch.
The Magic Sect has clear records that since the Ming Dynasty, sorcerers have served as Daoists in Jianji Palace. Later, many sorcerers also successively cultivated in Jianji Palace, and the inheritance gradually became prominent, forming the Jianji Palace sect.
Back in the day, it wasn’t just Xingshen Sect sorcerers cultivating in Jianji Palace; nearly every major Magic Sect had some presence there. Even until now, many disciples of the Magic Sect can trace their lineage back to Jianji Palace.
Although in recent years, few deliberately mention which faction they belong to, within the Magic Sect, where inheritance is central, the shadows of various traditional factions still loom, with the spiritual leader of this faction undoubtedly being the Sect Law Hall Elder Li Xiuyuan.
The Daoist temple of Jianji Palace has long since declined. Li Siran was the last observatory master before its destruction and secularized after the establishment of the New Eastern Country. He hasn’t found a way to breakthrough to Tier Six, dually practicing Observing Body Skill and Alchemy Cauldron Skill, mainly for health maintenance. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖
Li Siran has long reached the age of retirement and rarely inquires into the affairs of the Magic Sect. He once held an advisory position in a health institution and now spends most of his time quietly cultivating in Fengyu Grotto Heaven.
The first disciple he taught in his early years was called Zhou Yuandan. Later, Zhou Yuandan went to the countryside as a young intellectual, at which point he also left Lujiang to wander around and later accepted several more disciples, among whom Li Xiuyuan achieved the highest level of cultivation.
Zhou Yuandan is considered Li Xiuyuan’s senior brother, but he lost contact. After going to the countryside as a young intellectual, he severed all contact, later changed his name to Zhou Zhidan, and moved several times.
It is very likely that Zhou Zhidan himself didn’t achieve a high level of cultivation. When he passed the techniques to Zhang Jingui, he was merely a Tier Two Angler, and by then already not young.
Who would have thought that many years later, Zhang Jingui would come to find He Kao in front of Li Xiuyuan and have already broken through to Tier Four cultivation?
He Kao briefly introduced the lineage of Jianji Palace, all passed to him via divine thought by Li Xiuyuan, and then said, "Li Siran is your grandmaster and is still alive, now over a hundred years old!
And he has a direct disciple named Li Xiuyuan, who’s now the elder of the Sect Law Hall and the sect leader of the Xingshen Sect."
Zhang Jingui sat there dumbfounded. All along he thought he was just an independent cultivator of the Jianghu and never expected he had such a lineage. Holding the cup, he momentarily forgot to drink.
He Kao asked again, "You’ve clearly broken through to Tier Four cultivation, and you surely would feel the Grotto Heaven summon. Once you return to the sect and accept the secondary inheritance, all these matters would become clear. So why haven’t you gone back?"
Zhang Jingui sighed, "How would I know these? If only I had met you earlier! If what you’re saying is true, then I must have been swindled, always in doubt and not daring to go!"
He Kao: "Who was it, and how did they deceive you?"
There’s something off here. Zhang Jingui, being a Tier Four Flower cultivating the Spirit Awakening Skill, would typically be the one misleading others, so how could he be swindled? The source of the matter actually traces back to his grandmaster Li Siran.
Zhang Jingui has never seen his grandmaster, but his master handed him a handwritten journal by his grandmaster, containing the Spirit Awakening Skill technique, signed by ’Sovereign of Jianji Palace, Li Siran.’
Technically, transmission often values oral teaching and personal lessons, and the journal used many secret words. These secret words are also part of the inheritance, which outsiders can’t understand or practice from.
In fact, Zhang Jingui didn’t need to read the journal, as his master had already made him memorize all the techniques, but the journal is a memorabilia of the sect’s lineage, carefully preserved by him.
After practicing entry-level independently, Zhang Jingui hadn’t met other sorcerers to exchange knowledge with for many years. He’d spent a few years mingling on various online cultivation forums but found most discussions there mystical and difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood.
He even met some forum friends offline, but the meetings were disappointing.
About five years ago, he took a photo of his grandmaster’s journal and posted it on a forum, trying to see if anyone could recognize its origin? Surprisingly, he did catch a fish.
A moderator from the forum deleted the post and then sent him a private message, warning him that authentic secrets of technique couldn’t be casually transmitted this way, or it might invite trouble and even result in being hunted down by the Magic Sect.
Even their private chat records and emails that mentioned cultivation should be deleted in time, to avoid hassles... basically, hiding in the world for cultivation, it’s best to remain cautious.
The moderator hadn’t heard of the Sovereign of Jianji Palace Li Siran but recognized that what Zhang Jingui posted was indeed genuine secret technique content.
The counterpart showed great mystery, not revealing their real-world identity online, only using the alias ’Moderator’ during private chats. The moderator’s words were quite frightening, yet they particularly appealed to the psychology of independent cultivators like Zhang Jingui.
More importantly, Zhang Jingui found through communication that the other really understood cultivation techniques, which pleased him greatly. His master only taught him the fundamental heart method of Spirit Awakening Skill, and many applied techniques were not passed on, needing his own exploration.
The moderator offered him plenty of guidance in cultivation, including introducing several applied techniques. The techniques relying on one’s sect-based cultivation were actually not hard to grasp; one only needed someone to clarify them, and Zhang Jingui felt he gained much.
He didn’t know any other sorcerers; nearly all relevant info came from this person. The moderator also gradually introduced him to the current state of the Magic Sect and the spread of cultivation techniques.
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