Chapter 24 The Founder of Maoshan, Xuan Yi

The Maoshan Library contained a vast number of classics, and even Ye Qingmei found herself momentarily dazzled.

Fortunately, after searching for a while, she finally found the location of the Maoshan Chronicles.

The Maoshan Chronicles recorded all the major events of the Maoshan Sect from its founding to the present day. Because of this, there were a great many volumes—at a glance, no fewer than several thousand.

Naturally, Ye Qingmei was primarily looking at the journals within them.

Ye Qingmei thought for a moment; this Mountain Lord seemed to be quite famous during the Song Dynasty.

Consequently, she began to flip through the Maoshan Chronicles concerning the Song Dynasty.

"In the first year of Jianlong, the Shangqing Sect leader Wu Ke, feeling the hardships of the times and the proliferation of demons in the world, could not bear it any longer. He descended the mountain to purge demons, met his friend Chen Tuan, and together they purged demons in the Taihang Mountains, which became a celebrated story."

"In the first year of Qiande, Your Majesty invited the Shangqing Sect leader Wu Ke and the Nanhua recluse Chen Tuan to the imperial palace for a meeting. Chen Tuan gladly went, but the Sect leader refused."

"In the third year of Qiande, the Sect leader achieved the sixth-stage Heavenly Bridge realm and was humbly appointed as the leader of the Profound Gate."

...

"In the first year of Kaibao..."

Ye Qingmei read for a long time, but did not see any useful information.

Until she saw a scroll concerning Jurong County.

"In the sixth year of Kaibao, a Maoshan Disciple entered Baijun Mountain and encountered bald donkeys from the Pure Land Sect. Both sides fought, and the Maoshan Disciple was outmatched, but fortunately, he was aided by the Mountain Lord. The Disciple returned, grateful for the protection of the Ancestral Master."

Ye Qingmei's eyes lit up; she had finally found the records regarding Baijun Mountain and that Mountain Lord.

In other words, had this Mountain Lord already been enfeoffed as a Mountain God during the Song Dynasty?

"Grateful for the protection of the Ancestral Master" meant that the matter of enfeoffing the Mountain God had nothing to do with them; it was done by the Ancestral Masters.

Therefore, it must have been before the Song Dynasty.

Ye Qingmei took a deep breath; she dared not imagine how long this great white tiger had actually lived.

She would rather believe that this white tiger was merely the offspring of the tiger from the Song Dynasty, as that was easier for her to accept.

However, deep down, she subconsciously believed that the Mountain Lord recorded in the Song Dynasty Maoshan journals was indeed the one before her now.

Ye Qingmei flipped back to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, that indescribable era, to check the journals.

The history of this period was even more indescribable; the Sect leaders and Disciples descended the mountain almost every day.

Either to subdue demons or to kill corrupt officials and foreign invaders.

Ye Qingmei also saw a few words describing Baijun Mountain within them.

The general description was that an army of ten thousand Hu soldiers entered Baijun Mountain, and then the Baijun Mountain Mountain Lord displayed its Divine Might, swallowing the sun and moon, leaving all ten thousand Hu soldiers on Baijun Mountain.

It also protected several hundred households of mountain villagers at the foot of the mountain.

"In that case, this Mountain Lord is actually a national hero."

However, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, this white tiger had already been enfeoffed as the Mountain Lord.

It seemed that this Mountain Lord was very likely to have lived from the Tang Dynasty to the present day!

Consequently, Ye Qingmei searched for the Maoshan Chronicles from the Tang Dynasty.

Finally, amidst the many texts, she precisely found the passage proving the authenticity of this imperial decree.

"In the twenty-first year of Kaiyuan, in accordance with the decree of the Great True Lord Xuanyi, the restorer of the Shangqing Sect of the Maoshan Sect, the Mountain Lord of Nameless Mountain is enfeoffed as the Mountain God of Baijun Mountain. Let this decree be obeyed by all under Heaven."

She had finally found it! Looking at the words 'Great True Lord Xuanyi,' Ye Qingmei frowned slightly. Why had she never heard that the Maoshan Sect had such an Ancestral Master?

According to the timeline, it seemed to be during the period when Ancestral Master Li Hanguang served as the Maoshan Sect leader.

Then this 'Great True Lord Xuanyi' should be of the same generation as Ancestral Master Li Hanguang, or perhaps a generation or two apart.

Ye Qingmei also saw that at the foot of Baijun Mountain, villagers seemed to have built a temple to worship the Mountain Lord, but she didn't know why it could not be seen now.

She decided that when she had time, she would ask her grandfather or check some materials to see what kind of person this Great True Lord Xuanyi really was.

To be able to issue a decree for a Mountain Lord, and even dare to say it should be obeyed by all under Heaven—what kind of spirit was this!

Of course, the most important thing now was to report to the 749 Bureau that the decree received by this Mountain Lord named Jiang Bai was true and valid.

"Hello, Captain, I've found it. Yes, that's right. According to the Maoshan collection records, this Mountain Lord has truly lived from the Tang Dynasty to the present. It was also enfeoffed as the Mountain God of Baijun Mountain by the Maoshan Ancestral Master Great True Lord Xuanyi during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. Baijun Mountain was named after this."

After finishing the call, Ye Qingmei breathed a sigh of relief as if she had completed a task.

She walked outside the hall. At this moment, many Disciples were starting to head to the hall for morning and evening lessons.

"Grandfather, do you know if there is an Ancestral Master in our Maoshan history called Great True Lord Xuanyi?"

"Great True Lord Xuanyi?" Ye Shouzhen did not immediately recall this person, only feeling that the name was familiar.

Moreover, every time he tried to think deeply about it, it felt as if an invisible hand pulled his thoughts back, making him unable to recall where he had seen it.

Experiencing this feeling again and again, Ye Shouzhen finally realized that something was wrong.

This was not because his memory was bad, but because there was a problem with his memory.

As the Library Guardian Mage, he had read almost all the books in the library. With his cultivation at the Peak of Dao Entry, while he couldn't remember everything perfectly, recalling some content shouldn't be difficult.

But today, he had repeatedly forgotten certain memories, as if he had triggered some kind of taboo.

"Yes, it is said that he was a great Immortal Master of the Maoshan Sect during the Tang Dynasty, of the same generation as Ancestral Master Li Hanguang, who personally issued a decree to be obeyed by all under Heaven."

Ye Shouzhen furrowed his brows and nodded. "Hmm, this period of history must be a bit strange. Otherwise, I wouldn't be unable to recall such an Ancestral Master until now. Let me go back and study it carefully."

On the other side, having received the news from Ye Qingmei, the 749 Bureau finally began to take action.

Captain Xu Chang also arrived at the foot of Baijun Mountain as soon as possible.

"Director, has that... has that Mountain Lord not come out yet?"

The Director was a robust, middle-aged man with a square face, named Zhang Jianguo.

Zhang Jianguo said with a worried face, "No. Now, in this entire area of Baijun Mountain, neither the villagers nor the herb gatherers dare to enter, and we don't dare to let them in either. If this continues, the residents living in this area might start complaining."

Captain Xu Chang thought for a moment, his expression showing a slight struggle, but finally, he became determined, his expression as serious as if he were joining the Party.

"Director, I am willing to enter Baijun Mountain, find this Mountain Lord, and communicate with it!"

"You? Absolutely not! Captain Xu Chang, I understand your intentions, but this is too dangerous. I cannot agree."

"Director, please listen to me first. According to the news from Ye Qingmei, this Mountain Lord should be an orthodox Mountain God, and historically, it has protected humans. I think it should not harm us casually."

The Director was still hesitant, but faced with Captain Xu Chang's repeated, earnest requests, he finally agreed.

"Alright. Do you need manpower? Also, if necessary, we can set up missiles on the perimeter and provide support at any time."

Captain Xu Chang shook his head. "No need. When facing a millennial Mountain God, what difference does one more person or one less person make?"