84: Ascend the Heavenly Master Altar

In an instant, dozens of auras lying dormant deep within Mount Longhu soared into the sky, like dragons and tigers, churning the clouds and wind.

However, when their Divine Thoughts swept over the mountain gate and clearly saw the thirty-six Disciples dressed in Mysterious Black Ceremonial Daoist Robes, as well as the three Elders at the head with hair and beards as white as snow and auras as deep as the sea, they all fell silent again.

The Tianshi Mansion Elder Council had arrived in person; this was no longer an ordinary matter, but a major event concerning the very foundation of their Daoist lineage.

The three Elders' faces were as calm as water, treating the surrounding uncertain and startled gazes as nothing as they stepped onto the nine hundred and ninety-nine White Jade Steps one by one.

Behind them, the thirty-six ceremonial Disciples carried a massive Green Stone Stele. The stele was not carved with a single word, yet it radiated a heavy charm that seemed to suppress the mountains and rivers.

They reached the front of the main hall, and in the center of the square where successive Tianshis received their talismans, they set the stone stele down with a thunderous boom.

The leading Grand Elder took a step forward, his fingers joined like a sword. Using his own essence blood as ink and the thousand-year Power Of Will of Mount Longhu as a guide, he carved lines of brilliant golden seal script onto the stele with flamboyant strokes.

The inscription proclaimed to the world: All 'Stall Shadow Markets' under heaven, regardless of size, originate from the Daoist arts of the Tianshi Mansion. They are now ordered to be branches of the Tianshi Mansion and must come to Mount Longhu within one month to be registered and brought under unified jurisdiction to share in the Luck of the Daoist lineage. Those who defy this shall be considered apostates!

The 'Ten Thousand Methods Returning to the Source Stele' was established!

Golden light shot into the sky, and every word of the inscription seemed to transform into a Dao seal, imprinted in the Void Realm. Following the transmission formation, it instantly spread to every corner of the cultivation world.

The news was like a massive boulder thrown into a quiet lake, stirring up a thousand layers of waves.

In a market on the northern border, the stall owners discussed for a moment and then happily packed their bags, believing that being able to lean on the great tree of the Tianshi Mansion was a stroke of immense good fortune. They set off overnight for registration.

In the desert of the Western Regions, a stall owner received a Jade Slip transmission. He only gave a cold laugh and casually crushed the Jade Slip containing the Tianshi Mansion's decree into powder, continuing to haggle with a customer over the price of a hundred-year-old Sand Datura.

The most intense reaction, however, came from Lingnan.

In a local market, several seven or eight-year-old children who had just learned to condense Qi and draw talismans heard of this. They actually used mud mixed with saliva to plaster a crooked mud stele in the center of the market, scratching out five large characters with a branch: 'I Won't Return to the Source!' Although it was a child's joke, it drew a burst of loud laughter from the entire market. That mud stele actually condensed a faint, almost non-existent collective will of the people that did not dissipate for a long time.

Su Qingzhu's 'chronicles of vows' reacted the fastest. She worked through the night to compile the reactions from all sides, accompanied by the clearest rubbing of that mud stele, and spread it through all the major markets by the next morning.

The headline of the article read: 'Daoist Lineage: Recognizing a Father, or Recognizing the Heart?' Every word was a blow to the heart, pointing directly at the essence of the Tianshi Mansion's move.

Within the Tianshi Mansion, an Inner Sect Disciple named Cui Wujiu, who was acting on orders, was currently standing on the ruins of the former site of the main stall.

His mission was simple: the Tianshi Mansion suspected that the source of Zhang Xuanyi's market was related to some ancient 'System' relic, and ordered him to come and excavate evidence.

He had already dug three feet into the ground and used up all his Magic Treasures and spirit talismans, but had only dug up that broken iron pot that countless people had complained about.

Cui Wujiu's brow furrowed. Just as he was about to take this broken pot as the sole piece of evidence, the bottom of the pot suddenly became scalding hot, like a red-hot branding iron.

He let go as if he had received an electric shock, only to see the thick layer of scorched rice inside the pot begin to melt, turning into a patch of Chaos light and shadow.

Within the light and shadow, the phantom images of ten thousand markets emerged, each one incredibly clear.

He saw someone in a market using a self-created 'Sweet Rain Talisman' to exchange for a bottle of healing Medicinal Pills; he saw someone setting up a stove, using their own True Qi as fire to boil a pot of 'Heart-Questioning Tea' that could cleanse the mind; there were even people who simply didn't sell anything, setting up a stall on the spot to preach the Dao and explain their understanding of the word 'Free and Unfettered,' drawing a group of Loose Cultivators to kneel on the ground and listen in a daze.

Every market and every stall owner was practicing their own Dao in their own way—free, casual, yet full of vitality.

Cui Wujiu's heart shook violently. This pot actually contained a world independent of all Daoist lineages!

He didn't have time to think. His hands formed seals, and Power Of Will runes engraved with 'Seal,' 'Suppress,' and 'Decree' appeared out of thin air, transforming into golden chains to completely suppress this broken pot.

At that moment, the ten thousand phantom images in the pot all froze. All the stall owners, whether they were boiling tea, exchanging medicine, or preaching, looked up at the same instant. Their gazes seemed to pierce through layers of the Void Realm, staring coldly directly at him.

"Boom!"

With a loud bang, the broken iron pot could not withstand the will of those ten thousand gazes and exploded!

Countless fragments mixed with hot air waves flew in all directions. Cui Wujiu was shaken back several steps, his blood and Qi churning.

And in the center of that explosion, a wisp of blue smoke curled up, slowly condensing into a line of words in the air: "The Dao lies in one's own stall, not on the register."

In the small courtyard on the back mountain, Zhang Xuanyi was leisurely flipping skewers, the aroma of cumin and chili powder permeating the air.

Su Qingzhu rushed in with a freshly printed copy of 'chronicles of vows': "The Tianshi Mansion has issued an ultimatum. In seven days, they will hold a 'Return to the Source Grand Ceremony' and have specifically invited you to ascend the altar as the lead officiant."

Zhang Xuanyi picked up a skewer of golden-brown chicken wings, blew on it, and said without looking up, "I don't receive incense, and I don't sit on high platforms."

"But they say you are the 'Source of All Stalls,' the beginning of it all. As long as you ascend the altar, this matter will be legitimate." Su Qingzhu's tone was somewhat urgent.

He took a bite of the chicken wing and grinned indistinctly, "Source? I'm not even a faucet."

As soon as he finished speaking, the seemingly ordinary patch of earth in the corner of the courtyard suddenly arched slightly, and a tortoise shell covered in weathered patterns, the size of a millstone, slowly broke through the soil.

The Old Earth Vein Turtle!

It had actually awakened from its slumber.

Even more shocking was that on its tortoise shell, golden inscriptions identical to those on the 'Ten Thousand Methods Returning to the Source Stele' appeared, the handwriting clear and the charm vivid.

Su Qingzhu gasped. However, in the next moment, those golden inscriptions were like snow under the sun; every word slowly faded, becoming void from the edges, finally transforming completely into four ancient characters: 'Return to Formlessness.'

The Old Turtle opened its mouth and gently exhaled a wisp of extremely pure Earth Qi. The four characters dissipated with it, and the tortoise shell returned to its simple and unadorned appearance.

Seven days later, the Return to the Source Grand Ceremony was held as scheduled.

Bells and drums chimed on Mount Longhu, and auspicious clouds swirled.

The Grand Elder, dressed in Purple-Gold Ceremonial Robes and holding a Jade Tablet, stood atop the high altar, about to read the decree and proclaim it to the Three Realms.

At that moment, a sudden change occurred!

From the direction of the market at the foot of the mountain, a pillar of green flame shot into the sky without warning. Immediately after, a second, a third... a total of thirty-seven Stall Shadow Markets that had once been lit, whether far or near, all ignited with raging green fire at the same time!

The flames were not hot, but rather carried a sense of tranquility and determination.

In the firelight, identical phantom images of broken cloth slowly emerged, exactly like the one Zhang Xuanyi used when he first set up his stall.

The thirty-seven broken cloth phantoms swayed in the wind, flapping loudly between heaven and earth like ten thousand banners, declaring a silent resistance.

The Disciples on the altar were pale with shock, and they all prepared to cast spells to suppress it.

The Grand Elder, however, suddenly raised his hand and strictly stopped them.

His pupils contracted because he clearly saw that on every single swaying broken cloth, the same flamboyant character slowly emerged: 'Xiao' (Free)!

Thirty-seven 'Xiao' characters and thirty-seven green flames connected into a line of fire that pierced through heaven and earth, its endpoint pointing directly at the peak of Mount Longhu!

That line of fire actually produced a faint resonance with the dormant Dragon Vein of Mount Longhu, causing the entire ancestral home to tremble slightly.

The ceremony was forced to a halt.

That night, the moonlight was as cool as water.

The Grand Elder went down the mountain alone and came to the former site of the main stall.

He saw Zhang Xuanyi squatting on the ground, holding a grass root and teasing a stray dog that had come from somewhere with great interest.

The Grand Elder remained silent for a long time before finally letting out a long sigh. "If you do not ascend the altar, the hearts of the world's stall vendors will be like rootless duckweed. How can the Daoist lineage be attached?"

Zhang Xuanyi looked up, the moonlight illuminating his young face. He grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth. "Daoist lineage? Elder, look at that dog." He pointed at the stray dog that was warily watching the grass root. "If it wants to lie here, it lies here. One day if it doesn't want to stay, it tucks its tail and gets the hell out. This is what's called the Dao."

The Grand Elder's body shook, and he remained silent for a long time.

He looked down at the Jade Tablet in his hand that represented the authority and law of the Tianshi Mansion. Finally, with a forceful exert of his hands, he snapped it into two pieces with a crisp 'crack.'

He gently placed the broken Jade Tablet on the ground and didn't look at Zhang Xuanyi again, turning and walking away with heavy steps.

The moonlight quietly fell upon the ruins and the two pieces of the broken Jade Tablet.

The night wind blew, and within the crack of the Jade Tablet, a tender green sprout, thinner than a strand of hair, actually broke through the jade. The shape of its unfurled tender leaves was like a small stall cloth.

Everything returned to silence, with only that new sprout swaying slightly under the moonlight.

Suddenly, the ground beneath Zhang Xuanyi's feet, along with the ground where the half-broken Jade Tablet lay, let out an extremely faint, almost inaudible hum, as if the deepest heartbeat of the earth was slowly awakening.