HSSB950: An ancient legacy
If this back hall of the Daoist temple worshipped the idol of the Lord of the Dao and Virtue, in order to identify whether it was of the Grand Clear direct lineage, one would have to look at that which was being proffered on the incense burner table in worship.
This was because besides those of the Grand Clear direct lineage, ninety percent of all Daoist lineages worshipped the Lord of Dao and Virtue.
Still, as it was the Lord of Numinous Treasure who was being worshipped in the back hall, it went beyond the shadow of a doubt that this Daoist temple was instead of the Prime Clear direct lineage.
Yan Zhaoge moved past the back hall, traversing the Daoist temple.
This place had indeed already deteriorated as it was filled with an abandoned, decaying air.
As Yan Zhaoge walked around within, he saw the skeletal remains of many predecessors.
He sighed, surveying his surroundings, “It is indeed a sect of pre-Great Calamity times.”
The disciples of this Daoist temple who had perished there had not been slain by intruders.
Instead, they had perished when the great thousand worlds of the universe had shattered by the Great Calamity.
The terrifying, frenzied tide had affected many hidden foreign dimensions or cave manors lying all around as well.
While the Daoist temple itself still remained intact, the people within had all been forcibly jolted to death.
The peak experts of this place seemed to have been absent at the time. As for those with relatively lower cultivation bases, this had hence become their burial ground.
After many long years, those protective restrictions began working again. Yet, those who had died could not be revived.
Situations like these were not rare.
After the Great Calamity, humanity who had regained some vitality had excavated the remains of former inhabited sites, developing once more.
In the process, they had often come across the remains of predecessors.
When Yan Zhaoge had still been a junior disciple of Broad Creed Mountain in the Eight Extremities World, he had once entered some ancient ruins under the leadership of some seniors. He had seen scenes like this then.
“May the deceased rest in peace,” As Yan Zhaoge walked, a massive ancestral temple appeared before him.
As he entered, he saw that there were many ancestral tablets being worshipped within. These should belong to the various ancestors of this Daoist temple.
Right on top, being worshipped alone at a higher level than the rest, was a tablet which read ‘Prime Clear Rising Profound True Descent Founder Origin Peace’.
Seeing the name on this ancestral tablet, Yan Zhaoge raised his brows, “Prime Clear Rising Profound True Descent…this refers to a third generation disciple of the Prime Clear direct lineage, a legitimate descendant of the Lord of Numinous Treasure?”
“But I have never heard of someone known as Daoist Origin Peace or Daolord Origin Peace amongst the third generation disciples of the Prime Clear lineage before? Still, the Lord of Numinous Treasure opened his doors to all and taught countless others, Immortals endlessly flocking to his tutelage. It is not that certain a thing that he does not have such a descendant, Daoist Origin Peace.”
The Three Clear lineages were already extremely distant in history, virtually being stories of legend.
There were many things that people had only come to know about from their later descendants.
Even the veracity of some things that were widely known now could not easily be confirmed.
Yan Zhaoge was not all that concerned about this. Still, browsing some of the textual records within the Daoist temple, his expression involuntarily turned even more strange.
According to these records, Daoist Origin Peace, the founder of this Daoist temple, was a personal disciple of the Lord of Plentiful Treasure.
Lord of Plentiful Treasure, known also as Daoist Plentiful Treasure.
The head of the many disciples of the Lord of Numinous Treasure, the founder of the Prime Clear lineage, he was also the head disciple of the Severing Sect in the legends of the Investiture of the Gods.
In the entire history of Daoism, he was the only person of the Prime Clear lineage besides the Lord of Numinous Treasure himself who was versed in the complete Immortal Exterminating Formation. He had once established the formation on behalf of his Master, thus blocking numerous Immortals of the Jade Clear lineage on his own.
The Lord of Plentiful Treasure was also the first of the three great bigwigs of the sword in the current widespread history of Daoism, reigning above Cultivated Deity Jade Cauldron and the Purple Tenuity Emperor.
It was just that as time passed, news on this peak bigwig of Daoism had simply gradually faded away.
There were many legends regarding him.
From his memories and novels he had read, Yan Zhaoge remembered a verse on when the Lord of Plentiful Treasure had battled with the head disciple of the Jade Clear lineage, the Lord of Broad Accomplishment. It read: One of board accomplishment and undying immortal body, one with plentiful treasure and worshipping Gautama in the west.
While it did not lay it out for certain, this seemed to imply that the Lord of Numinous Treasure had later become the Gautama Buddha.
Another legend spoke of ‘old man heading west leaving Letter Valley Pass, shaving beard becoming a Buddha’. This referred to the Lord of Plentiful Treasure having entered that western cult, descending into the central Whirling World and developing Buddhism.
There were also many similar legends over here.
Still, there was no way to verify these. Also, Buddhism had naturally never admitted this in the past.
While Yan Zhaoge had been privy to much secret information as he became greatly learned through the many texts he had perused in the Heavenly Court’s Divine Palace, he too was not certain on the whereabouts of the Lord of Plentiful Treasure following the era of the Investiture of the Gods.
It was just that from the texts in this Daoist temple, especially the notes left behind by Daoist Origin Peace, Yan Zhaoge learnt a particular detail.
While it was only mentioned briefly, according to Daoist Origin Peace, he had only come under the tutelage of the Lord of Plentiful Treasure after the era of the Investiture of the Gods.
If what this Daoist Origin Peace knew and had written was true, this would entail two things.
After the battle from the Investiture of the Gods, the Lord of Plentiful Treasure had not died. At the very least, he had not perished soon after that battle as a result of it.
Moreover, it might not be true here that the Lord of Plentiful Treasure had turned into a Buddha.
It was just that the current fate and possible whereabouts of this great Heavenly Lord of Daoism were totally unknown.
The Lord of Plentiful Treasure had also not been said to have made an appearance during the Great Calamity.
After the battle of the Investiture of the Gods, the Prime Clear lineage had suffered a great blow to their vitality as it was said that of the numerous disciples of the Lord of Numinous Treasure, there was only the Incongruence Divine Mother who had emerged fully intact.
In the many years thereafter, those descended of the Prime Clear direct lineage had basically all come from the lineage of the Incongruence Divine Mother, whether this was before or after the Great Calamity.
Tracing it upwards, the lineage of the Roving Jade Heavens also originated from the Incongruence Divine Mother.
The version of the Immortal Ending Sword that Yan Zhaoge cultivated in which had previously been stored in the Martial Repository of the Heavenly Court’s Divine Palace originated from a descendant of the Prime Clear lineage who had pledged allegiance to the Heavenly Court following the battle of the Investiture of the Gods.
“Lord of Plentiful Treasure…” Yan Zhaoge ceased examining the text, pondering as he looked at the many ancestral tablets before him.
After a while, he cupped his hands towards them, walking out of the ancestral temple and heading elsewhere within this Daoist temple.
The skeletal remains were in the Daoist temple where the disciples here had once cultivated. They were definitely something he should search through carefully.
Yan Zhaoge finally made a discovery in a secluded room there.
That was a jade talisman that was used to transmit arts. Yan Zhaoge was not unfamiliar with this, knowing that martial scriptures could be stored within.
Feeling the brutal sword-intent inside the room, Yan Zhaoge knew that this was where some disciple of this Daoist temple had once cultivated.
Within this jade talisman could likely be found what he was seeking.
“There’s really no hope for the formation diagram of the Immortal Exterminating Formation. I only hope that it is not the Immortal Ending Sword or the Immortal Trapping Sword that I already have.”
Thinking thus, Yan Zhaoge infused his true essence within.
He was not in a rush as he sat cross-legged on the ground, slowly analysing it.
This jade talisman had lasted too long, also having gone through the Great Calamity. If he was not careful, it might be directly destroyed.
Even if it was not destroyed, it would still be a difficult task indeed to retrieve its contents.
Why was it that most legacies unearthed in pre-Great Calamity times were fragmented, being incomplete?
A major reason for this was that most of the bodies that housed the martial arts legacies were damaged or deficient, no longer being complete.
This was not something that just being careful alone could avoid.
Yan Zhaoge did not want an incomplete version. Thus, he had to analyse the jade talisman slowly, obtaining the contents recorded within.
Added to the remnant aura here which contained the concept of this martial art, there would be a greater hope of success.
Therefore, he could not directly take the jade talisman away from this place.
He had already long since foreseen this. Thus, he had directly instructed Ah Hu to guard the front hall, preparing to hinder any others who might come in at any time.
And as time passed, the leisurely Ah Hu who had nothing to do in the front hall suddenly sensed something as he gazed at the yellow cloth talisman on the incense burner table in front of him, “Someone’s coming in?”