The Tip of the Xuanmen Iceberg

At the mention of the cold-altar rampaging soldier, Wang Daoxuan's expression changed abruptly. Li Yan had been watching him closely, and seeing this reaction, he felt thoroughly reassured. Bringing it up directly had been a stone cast to test the waters. Although Wang Daoxuan had made a favorable first impression, the man was down on his luck after all. If he had never even heard of a cold-altar rampaging soldier, there would be no need to speak of certain matters to him. "To tell you the truth, I have run into some trouble..." Having confirmed that the Daoist was an insider, Li Yan ceased beating around the bush and laid out the matter of the cold-altar rampaging soldier. Of course, the jianghu was treacherous, and one should never bare more than three tenths of one's heart to a stranger. Thus, he concealed several vital secrets. For instance, he described Widow Wang merely as a village spirit medium who later vanished mysteriously, revealing nothing of her true background so as not to cause her trouble. She and her companion were fleeing enemies, and repaying kindness with betrayal was something he would never do. He also kept quiet about the hex on the shop signboard. That involved a family feud, demanding the utmost caution; after all, the culprit behind the scenes was very likely connected to the Xuanmen. As for the substitute idol, he would not breathe a word of it to anyone. Regarding the divine sense of smell, however, he disclosed it completely. Wang Daoxuan listened with rapt attention—first looking puzzled, then frowning in deep contemplation, and finally staring at Li Yan with eyes wide in disbelief. At last, he spoke: "Sir, your Eight Characters must be exceedingly hard!" A hard fate? With a substitute idol, his life was certainly hard enough to endure. Li Yan quickly bowed with clasped hands. "I hope the Daoist Master will enlighten me." Wang Daoxuan pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "Ah, never mind. Since you have already awakened a divine ability, you have an affinity with the Xuanmen. Besides, this is hardly a secret; anyone who inquires diligently can learn of it, so there is no harm in telling you. "To speak of rampaging soldiers, one must first speak of the Xuanmen's spirit soldiers. Whether it is an orthodox sect of the Xuanmen, a local lineage, or even certain sinister paths, whenever an altar is raised to perform rites, they all maintain spirit soldiers. "These spirit soldiers come in great variety: the register soldiers of the orthodox sects, the Sheling spirit soldiers of City God and Earth God temples, the yin soldiers of the five directions and five camps maintained by local lineages, the five-route immortal soldiers of the Chuma Xian, the Wutong spirit soldiers of illicit folk shrines... "Such spirit soldiers are formless and shadowless, invisible to ordinary eyes. Masters can employ them to scour mountains and smash temples, drive away evil and capture spirits, contest spells against rivals, or even take human lives... "Rampaging soldiers hail from many sources, too complex to explain in brief, but their shared trait is a fierce and savage nature. They are unruly and difficult to discipline, yet formidable in power. "As for a 'cold altar,' it refers to lineages that have died out, leaving behind broken shrines and cold altars without disciples to carry on their incense offerings. "Many practitioners maintain rampaging soldiers, but there is a hazard: the moment their incense offerings cease, they lose control. They possess beasts or men, roaming everywhere in search of blood and meat." As he spoke, he added thoughtfully, "Across the Guanzhong plains, the Taixuan Orthodox Sect scours the mountains and tears down illicit shrines at regular intervals, so cold altars are exceedingly rare. This rampaging soldier most likely came from the Qinling Mountains. "A cold-altar rampaging soldier is comparable to a ferocious, vengeful ghost. Even though you awakened a divine ability and had someone point out the way to break its hold, the fact that you survived means your fate is undeniably hard!" Li Yan asked thoughtfully, "Are there many such spirit soldiers in the Xuanmen?" Wang Daoxuan nodded. "No one knows the exact number of register soldiers commanded by the Taixuan Orthodox Sect, but it is certainly vast. They are beings on par with heavenly soldiers and divine generals; otherwise, how could the sect stand as the foremost leader of the orthodox Xuanmen, receiving offerings from the imperial court generation after generation? "Not to mention the regional lineages. Some possess ancient inheritances with hundreds of thousands of ancestral spirit soldiers, to say nothing of countless obscure folk sects. The total number of spirit soldiers under heaven is simply beyond reckoning..." A profound shock stirred within Li Yan, refusing to subside for a long time. A single cold-altar rampaging soldier had nearly cost him his life. If there were thousands or tens of thousands of them, the mere thought was chilling to the bone. He could not help but ask, "If the Xuanmen's power is so terrifying, wouldn't ruling the world be effortless for them?" "How could it be that easy?" Wang Daoxuan let out a scoff and shook his head. "Even with countless spirit soldiers, one must possess sufficient cultivation to command them. Controlling millions of spirit soldiers requires numerous high masters to conduct massive rituals simultaneously, sometimes taking days just to prepare. "Furthermore, the Great Dao maintains its own balance, and spirit soldiers are by no means invincible. For example, if you hide inside a City God or Earth God temple with flourishing incense, small forces of spirit soldiers cannot even step foot inside... "Spirit soldiers are merely one of many arts within the Xuanmen... "Moreover, all famed mountains, great rivers, and blessed grotto-heavens gather innate astral qi. Take Mount Tai, the foremost of the Five Sacred Peaks—who would dare summon spirit soldiers to lay siege to it? "Not only would the altar explode, but the spirit soldiers would turn against their master, and it might even disturb the gods residing there..." Li Yan blurted out, "Gods truly exist?" Wang Daoxuan nodded. "Of course. However, they are nothing like the legends in folk tales. The truth is so complex that even the high masters of the orthodox sects cannot fully comprehend it, let alone a half-baked fellow like me." A spark of curiosity flared in Li Yan's eyes. "Then... what about immortals?" Wang Daoxuan sighed. "Longevity is an illusion, and the immortal path is faint and distant. Though legends of immortals exist, most are names heard without a trace ever seen. I dare not speak recklessly of them." Li Yan asked again, "Then after cultivating, can one soar into the heavens and dive into the earth, pluck stars and chase the moon? Or extend one's lifespan by several centuries?" Wang Daoxuan was rendered somewhat speechless. "Even the head of the orthodox sects lacks such power. When their time comes, they must go see the Dao Ancestor just like anyone else." Feeling thirsty, he picked up the cold tea beside him and took a sip. Li Yan was silent for a moment. Though disappointed, he still inquired, "Daoist Wang, since I have awakened a divine ability, could you introduce me to enter the Taixuan Orthodox Sect?" Pfft! Wang Daoxuan spat out a mouthful of tea, coughing violently for a good while before shaking his head. "Sir, having a hard fate does not mean you should indulge in pipe dreams. "Cultivating in the Xuanmen requires spirit preservation and visualization. The older one gets, the more scattered one's thoughts become, making entry exceedingly difficult. That is why both orthodox sects and local lineages mostly recruit young boys to foster. "When folk lineages perform rituals and occasionally encounter a boy who has awakened a divine ability, they do everything they can to take him into their fold. As for the orthodox Xuanmen sects, they possess their own exclusive channels and never lack disciples." With a bitter smile, he added, "There are also plenty of people who awakened late in life, like myself. Unwilling to accept my lot, I forced my way into the Xuanmen. Over ten years, I squandered my family fortune, going from Shopkeeper Wang of old into Wang Laonian. "After bitter toil, I finally gained entry. Yet despite calling myself Daoxuan, in the eyes of my peers I remain a laughingstock, unworthy of polite company. "If you merely wish to resolve your troubles, that is simple enough. I know the temple keeper of the local City God Temple; I can have him perform a ritual for you to seal off your Yang Six Roots divine ability. At the very least, you will be able to live as an ordinary person without being preyed upon by evil entities. "If you truly insist on running off to the Taixuan Orthodox Sect, you can, but they too will seal your divine ability and make you a menial Daoist who sweeps floors and burns incense. Spending your days chanting the Yellow Court Scripture in quietude would also count as entering the Dao and escaping the red dust." Li Yan went quiet for a moment, then raised his head. "I do not wish to accept my lot!" "Refusing to accept one's lot is a good thing." Wang Daoxuan stroked his beard and said, "If everyone in the world simply resigned themselves to fate, how could the mortal realm turn, dynasties change, and humanity forge ahead rather than walking into a dead end? "I possess a method of spirit preservation. Though not from an orthodox sect, it has been passed down through a millennium-old lineage. If you succeed in spirit preservation, you will be able to command your divine ability freely, and perhaps even learn a few simple spells." Filled with gratitude, Li Yan asked hurriedly, "Daoist Master, how much do you charge for this method?" He had already seen that while Wang Daoxuan was down on his luck, the man harbored righteous thoughts and treated people with sincerity. He certainly would not use a bogus art to cheat someone of money. "How much?" Wang Daoxuan sighed with emotion. "Back then, I exhausted my family fortune begging people everywhere. I gained no true art, only falling prey to fraud after fraud. Just as I fell into utter despair, I encountered an itinerant Daoist on the verge of death. He bestowed this true method upon me, asking only that the incense lineage not be broken. "How could I take money for passing on this strand of incense? Besides, whether it brings you fortune or disaster remains unknown. If you fail to achieve spirit preservation and end up targeted by sinister things, wouldn't I have brought harm upon you? "I dare not accept such money." With that, he rose, retrieved a booklet from the bookshelf behind him, and said, "This is a secret copy. I have hand-copied several volumes and checked them carefully, so there are no mistakes. If there is anything you do not understand, feel free to ask, and I will answer truthfully." Li Yan still found it somewhat hard to believe. "Daoist Master, are you not afraid that I might be a wicked man who will use this art to commit evil?" Wang Daoxuan chuckled. "You are a man of the jianghu. Learning ordinary martial arts is enough to kill a man, but do you dare kill indiscriminately? "The Xuanmen has its rules as well. The Law Enforcement Hall of the Taixuan Orthodox Sect is no joke, and the laws of the Great Xuan Dynasty must be obeyed by practitioners of the Xuanmen all the same." Li Yan breathed a sigh of relief. Accepting the booklet, he saw the words *True Scripture of Xixuan Dongming* written across the cover. Opening it, he found densely written text: *In the way of spirit preservation, associate not with alien kinds; retreat to a deep chamber away from worldly affairs, let the essence roost and tread upon the void; visualize with mind and eye, subtly guarding the serene emptiness; steady the soul and calm the form, and myriad harms shall not injure, a hundred ghosts shall scatter and flee, and a thousand demons shall be barred from walking...* His head swam from reading it, so he put it away for the time being and spoke up: "I also came here today on another matter of business. Daoist Master, do you remember Sha Lifei?" "Sha Lifei?" Wang Daoxuan was thoroughly bewildered, knitting his brows as he searched his memory. *That rascal was indeed bragging!* Li Yan had anticipated this. He described, "A big bald man with a fleshy, brutal face, a full beard, fond of boasting and spouting nonsense..." "Oh!" Wang Daoxuan came to a sudden realization. "I remember now! Some years ago, I met Layman Sha once, and we had quite a delightful conversation. "I recall it was one spring when he invited me for drinks at the Zuihua Brothel in Chang'an, even hiring quite a few girls. In the end, while I was dead drunk, he slipped away all on his own. "I was nearly beaten half to death! Fortunately, the brothel happened to be troubled by a sinister entity, so I performed an exorcism ritual to clear the bill... "What, is Layman Sha here to repay the debt?"