Chapter 4: New Mission, Lesser Yang Dao Examination

At 5:00 AM, outside a secluded room in the corner of Xuanzhen Temple.

Li Yinsheng knocked gently on the door. "Junior Martial Uncle Jiang."

"Nephew Li?" A somewhat weak female voice sounded from inside, carrying a hint of faint surprise. "You usually cultivate until 7:00 AM before coming over. Why are you so early today? Don't stand outside. Come in."

Li Yinsheng pushed the door open and entered. The room was extremely simple, containing only a wide soft couch, a futon, and a desk. A woman dressed in white lay on the couch.

She looked to be under thirty with extremely beautiful features. However, her slender willow brows were exceptionally sharp, resembling two sword scars—so fierce that they inspired awe and fear. However, her completely bloodless face diluted this fierce aura.

"Nephew," the woman Li Yinsheng addressed as Junior Martial Uncle Jiang looked at him, "you seem more subdued than usual today. Are you in a bad mood?"

"Thank you for your concern, Martial Uncle. I'm fine. I've just been cultivating a bit longer recently, that's all." Li Yinsheng shook his head. He merely glossed over it with a vague excuse. Aside from the fact that the matter of the Grotto Heaven could not be spoken of to outsiders, it was also because this had long become a habit.

In her youth, Junior Martial Uncle Jiang had been a generational genius, but now her Cultivation was completely ruined. Over the years, unless absolutely necessary, he never took the initiative to chat with her about matters of cultivation, lest it trigger sad memories and add to her melancholy.

"I have something else to report," Li Yinsheng said, changing the subject. "Yesterday, someone came seeking the Dao of Immortality.

"I saw that although she lacked a Root Device, her ambition was firm and she possessed considerable perseverance. Therefore, I took it upon myself to accept her into the temple.

"By yesterday, she had already reached the Beginner stage of the Qingxuan Scripture. However, it was too late at the time, and I was worried about disturbing your rest, Martial Uncle, so I waited until now to inform you."

"All the affairs of Xuanzhen Temple entirely rely on you to manage. Even a crippled person like me completely depends on your unwavering care. You can call the shots on the temple's affairs," Junior Martial Uncle Jiang said softly. "Besides, even when my meridians were not ruined, I never understood those mundane matters in the temple anyway." She patted the empty space on the soft couch. "Don't just stand there. Come, sit down and let's talk."

Li Yinsheng sat down beside the soft couch, quietly breathing a sigh of relief in his heart. It seemed his Martial Uncle had no dissatisfaction with him teaching a Heart Method like the Qingxuan Scripture to a disciple without a Root Device who had just entered the temple.

"Although it is not impossible for a person without a Root Device to cultivate, their achievements will ultimately be limited," Junior Martial Uncle Jiang said softly. "Teaching her a Cultivation Technique like the Qingxuan Scripture was out of good intentions, but she might not be able to handle it.

"This Cultivation Technique is easy at the beginning but difficult later on, and it places heavy emphasis on the foundation. When someone with insufficient talent cultivates to a slightly profound stage, they often progress at a snail's pace. Moreover...

"Moreover, Xuanzhen Temple is about to disband. At that time, she will have no master and no one to resolve her doubts. Blindly practicing a Superior Cultivation Technique on her own will only make it easy for her cultivation to go wrong, leading to cultivation deviation."

"Rest assured, Martial Uncle, I have my own considerations," Li Yinsheng pressed one hand against the soft couch and said in a deep voice. "Xuanzhen Temple will not disband."

Previously, let alone having the confidence to preserve Xuanzhen Temple, he had not even entertained the thought. In other Daoist Temples, even the worst among them, the Temple Master possessed seventy to eighty years of Cultivation. In slightly larger Daoist Temples, there were Daoists with over a century of Cultivation.

The reason Xuanzhen Temple was facing disbandment was that, for all these years, there had been no Cultivator capable of carrying the burden. And this heavy burden was definitely not something he could shoulder previously with a mere twenty years of Cultivation.

But now... although with his current Cultivation of around fifty years, he still fell somewhat short of being able to shoulder this burden, wasn't there still a year left before Xuanzhen Temple's disbandment?

Naturally, Junior Martial Uncle Jiang did not know where Li Yinsheng's confidence came from. She reached out and gently pressed her hand over his. Her eyes, as clear as water, reflected a bit of heartache and guilt.

"Yinsheng, the decline of Xuanzhen Temple is due to the incompetence of my generation; we have failed our founders. As a junior, you don't need to force yourself to bear these responsibilities. You've already been very tired these past few years.

"Your Root Device is not bad, and you have unyielding determination. After Xuanzhen Temple disbands, there will always be a Daoist Temple willing to take you in. Your path of cultivation will not be severed. It's just... it's just..." At this point, a trace of redness rushed up her originally pale face. "It's just that you mustn't have wicked thoughts and truly fall for the bewitchment of Yue He or Yu Luan, ending up as a... a concubine Furnace Cauldron.

"Although doing so might allow you to live a life of luxury for a few days, it will inevitably drag down your cultivation. When you grow old and your looks fade in the future, it will be too late for regrets."

Li Yinsheng couldn't help but freeze. "Martial Uncle, am I that kind of person in your eyes?"

"Of course not," Junior Martial Uncle Jiang shook her head. "It's just that a few days ago, when I was helping you tidy up your room, I accidentally caught a glimpse of a piece of scratch paper. On it... on it..." She lowered her head, her gaze fixed on the edge of the bed, avoiding Li Yinsheng's eyes before she could speak the rest of her words. "On it were listed the benefits of becoming Yue He's concubine versus Yu Luan's concubine. It even compared them item by item, analyzing the pros and cons..."

"COUGH, COUGH, COUGH, COUGH, COUGH!" Li Yinsheng interrupted with forceful coughing. "Martial Uncle, let's talk about serious matters! Serious matters! For example... for example... that... uh, the Dao Examination! Yes! The Dao Examination!

"The Dao Examination at the end of next year! Ultimately, Xuanzhen Temple is being disbanded because the Temple Master's position has remained vacant all these years, leaving the entire Daoist Temple existing in name only.

"Although I am the Deputy Temple Master recognized by all of Xuanzhen Temple, unfortunately, the higher-up Dharma Vein and other Daoist Temples do not acknowledge it."

"After all, in the current Xuanzhen Temple, excluding your junior martial sister who just started as a Beginner, there are only the two of us," Junior Martial Uncle Jiang said softly. "It's not entirely unreasonable for them to refuse to acknowledge it."

Li Yinsheng pretended he hadn't heard and continued, "According to the rules of the Zhengyang Dharma Vein, only Cultivators who have achieved at least a B Class evaluation in the Zhengyang Dao Examination are qualified to become the master of a temple, to prevent the Temple Master from being someone who only has the title but no real ability."