Starting Cultivation During a Trip

Fang Changle leaned over to check the car’s condition.

"Let’s walk over," Li Miaoyin said in a low voice.

At this moment, she didn’t want to wait even a second longer. Given their cultivation, walking might not be much slower than driving.

Beep beep beep...

Just then, a honking sound echoed, and a pair of glaring headlights shone from the distance.

The group turned to look and saw a black car slowly driving over, stopping on the emergency lane not far behind them.

"Friends, what’s going on?"

A clear voice inquired from inside the black car.

Hearing this, Fang Changle hurried over, "Our car broke down, can you give us a lift?"

Walking to the side of the black car, the window slowly rolled down. In the driver’s seat, a young man rested one hand on the steering wheel and the other against the window.

He turned his head to look, and the moonlight shone on his face.

Fang Changle was taken aback.

"Taoist Brother Fang, long time no see."

"Zhang Wang!?" Fang Changle snapped out of it.

Zhang Wang was a young man he and Zhang Fan met in Huizhou Province. Due to the Qin Family affair, he got involved.

On that day at Tusk Mountain, Monkey appeared, the Qin Family was destroyed, and after all the changes, Zhang Wang vanished without a trace.

For this, Zhang Fan searched for him for a while, but there was no news.

Who would have thought they would meet again here?

"What are you doing here?"

"Just passing by, get in the car."

"Everyone, come over."

Fang Changle waved his hand, motioning for Yu Hua and Li Miaoyin to get in the car.

The car’s engine roared to life, a beam of light illuminated the road ahead, and then it sped away, leaving a trail of dust.

"You finally show your face. Where on earth did you go? Zhang Fan and I have been looking for you for quite some time."

In the car, Fang Changle couldn’t help but ask.

"After the Qin Family was done for, I left Huizhou, wandered around wherever I wanted," Zhang Wang said, driving and smiling.

"Didn’t you say it was best to leave quickly, or trouble would come knocking."

"You really listened," Fang Changle sighed in relief. As long as he was fine.

Back then, Zhang Fan even blamed himself for a while, fearing he had implicated this honest little brother.

"Junior brother, who is this..."

Just then, Yu Hua spoke up.

"Oh, this is a friend I made earlier in Huizhou Province, you could say he’s a Daoist too," Fang Changle smiled.

Strictly speaking, Zhang Wang was also a cultivator, but recalling his strange cultivation methods, like handstands, drawing circles, Fang Changle didn’t know where to start explaining.

"How long have you been in Jiangnan Province?" Fang Changle asked.

"Not long, I originally wanted to climb Maoshan and see the sights of the Shangqing Ancestral Court," Zhang Wang said, looking at the road ahead.

"Then you’ve really come to the right place, my senior brother and I are from Maoshan."

"Then you must be from a renowned sect," Zhang Wang said with a smile.

"Speaking of which, the last time I went to Maoshan was many years ago, back then the ticket was only sixty yuan, has it gone up now?"

"Now it’s a hundred and twenty," Fang Changle chuckled.

"That year, there was a big snowfall, I even stayed on the mountain for two days..." Zhang Wang recalled.

"A big snowfall? When was that?" Fang Changle pursued.

In Jiangnan Province, it rarely snows.

"I can’t remember, a Daoist invited me for a cup of tea back then..."

"A Daoist? What was his name? I might know him," Fang Changle said casually.

He was a Maoshan inheritor, he naturally knew all the Daoists on the mountain.

"His Daoist name was Zhuqing," Zhang Wang said quietly.

"What?" Fang Changle was taken aback, even Yu Hua in the back seat couldn’t help but show a special gleam in her eyes.

"You know my master?"

Chen Zhuoqing, also known as Taoist Zhuqing, was the current sect leader of Maoshan.

"Taoist Zhuqing is your master?" Zhang Wang’s gaze turned serious, he said softly, "That’s quite a coincidence."

"My master rarely shows himself, being able to have tea with him is truly a great fate."

Fang Changle couldn’t help but say, "Someday you should come back to the mountain with me, if he still remembers you, perhaps you’ll have a chance to join us at Maoshan and practice the proper way."

There was another sentence Fang Changle kept in his heart, unspoken.

"Better than practicing that Wild Fox Zen of yours."

"Alright."

Zhang Wang nodded: "Speaking of which, my connection with Taoist Zhuqing goes back many years. If you return to the mountain, help me convey my regards and say..."

"Someday, I will surely visit!"

The conversation ended, and a sudden silence filled the car, as if everyone’s thoughts had abruptly halted. Only the vehicle continued to drive, the wind howling outside, and the Great Moon hung like a disk in the sky.

"Where are you headed?" Zhang Wang’s voice sounded again.

"Qin Ancient Town!" Fang Changle replied.

"Qin Ancient Town..." Zhang Wang murmured softly, savoring the name.

"It’s a nice place."

Buzz...

In the deep darkness of the night, on Route 203, the black car sped away, gradually disappearing into the distance at the end of the road.

...

Qin Ancient Town, Zhang Family Ancestral Mansion.

Inside the ancient building, it was empty and barren, the staircase covered in dust, and a thick layer of cobwebs in the corners.

Since the fall of South Zhang, this small building had been deserted. For many years, no one showed interest, not even a single mouse could be found.

Zhang Fan stepped onto the staircase, heading straight to the highest fifth floor.

Here too had been cleared out, the walls mottled, showing signs of mold, and the floorboards had become loose, creaking underfoot.

Looking up, there was only a broken plaque hanging there, inscribed with four characters: "Honor the Ancestors with Technique."

Back in the day, at the end of each year, disciples of the South Zhang lineage would gather here to keep vigil, honor their ancestors, and cultivate the teachings of the Daoist sect.

"The building is deserted, no longer as it once was..." Zhang Fan sighed softly.

This building was already empty; what could still be here?

But since Zhang Tianyang allowed him to enter, there must be a deeper meaning.

With this in mind, Zhang Fan used his Primordial Spirit to scan, yet inside the small building, it remained empty, with nothing to be found.

"Hmm!?"

Just then, Zhang Fan suddenly looked up to see that the old plaque revealed vague marks as his Primordial Spirit swept over it.

"Can’t see clearly!"

Zhang Fan’s Primordial Spirit leaped from the Spirit Platform, approaching the old plaque. As his Primordial Spirit drew closer, the blurry marks became clearer.

It turned out to be a hexagram, with Upper Kun (Earth) and Lower Li (Fire), this is...

"The Mingyi Trigram!?" Zhang Fan recognized it.

Light enters the ground, obscured. The sage uses darkness to illuminate.

This hexagram signifies that when light is hidden underground, it represents an unclear path, requiring one to conceal their brilliance and bide their time, waiting for the right moment.

Buzz...

Zhang Fan’s Primordial Spirit, like a flash of fire, illuminated the hexagram.

At this moment, that peculiar hexagram began to change, inverting and gradually transforming into a new hexagram.

"Upper Li, Lower Kun..."

"Fire Over Earth, Advance!"

"Is this the Jin Trigram!?" Zhang Fan’s eyes focused, feeling an unusual disturbance.

The Jin Trigram is the opposite of the Mingyi Trigram, like the sun rising over the earth, signifying the perfect timing, representing brightness and prominence.

Rumble...

As the Jin Trigram appeared, the traces on the hexagram started to dissolve like a cipher, gathering mystical light, which slowly emerged and landed in front of Zhang Fan.

The light was incredibly transparent, as radiant as glazed brilliance, akin to the Great Moon’s glow.

"This is... a Mind Thought!?" Zhang Fan said in a deep voice.

A Mind Thought is the most mystical power in the mortal Red Dust. Through it, a Primordial Spirit enters extinction, the Daoist seeks Longevity, and Immortal Gods comprehend the Infinite...

That day, it was due to a Mind Thought from the Golden Radiance Treasure Box that Zhang Fan succeeded in Divine Fusion.

He was intimately familiar with the aura of a Mind Thought, and the glow before him indeed was a Mind Thought, left by an extremely powerful figure.

"Grandfather!?"

Zhang Fan guessed uncertainly, associating it with the previous two hexagrams, perhaps this was the Mind Thought left by Zhang Tian Sheng.

For others, they would naturally not dare to touch it rashly, as Mind Thoughts are a taboo for cultivators. But Zhang Fan was different; he cultivated the Divine Demon Holy Embryo and dared to explore even the Three Corpses Primordial Pill.

Buzz...

Zhang Fan’s Primordial Spirit slowly approached and merged with the radiant Mind Thought.

"Does the Ninth Method truly exist in this world?"

"Perhaps it does, and someone has even mastered it..."

"However, in the vastness of heaven and earth, throughout ancient and modern times, only one person could achieve it."

At that moment, countless lights and sounds burst in Zhang Fan’s mind.