Underground Street, in front of the coffin shop.
Daoist Yizhen stared at the wobbling spherical unknown creature walking into the shop, and it took a while for him to react.
Could this be a chicken naturally raised by the Five Elders Temple?
Daoist Yizhen even doubted for a moment whether he had mistaken it; maybe this chicken wasn't the one from the Five Elders Temple...
But which proper family's chicken would grow into a shape like a pig?
Having been away from home for 'over half a year', Golden Simurgh looked at Daoist Yizhen as if seeing a family member, with tears welling up in its eyes.
However, the first thing Daoist Yizhen asked was, "Where's Junior Brother Xu?"
After speaking, the Daoist bypassed Golden Simurgh and hurriedly stepped outside to look around, but unfortunately did not see any sign of Xu Qing.
Golden Simurgh muttered endlessly, and upon hearing that Xu Qing still had matters to attend to, Daoist Yizhen felt inexplicably disappointed.
Besides Master Jingxu and the deceased Hu Baosong, she only knew Xu Qing as her cheap junior brother.
When Golden Simurgh mentioned being with Xu Qing in the Yin River for over half a year and missing the mortal world dearly, Daoist Yizhen was puzzled and said:
"Over half a year? Weren't you in the Yin River for seven years?"
Seven years? No, no, it was clearly seven months, Xu Qing said so; he wouldn't lie, how could it possibly be seven years...
Upon confirming that seven years had indeed passed in the mortal world, Golden Simurgh fell silent for quite a while. Logically, it should have been angry, but for some reason, it didn't harbor any resentment towards Xu Qing, even feeling that he had its best interests at heart.
Golden Simurgh vaguely felt as if it had been put under some human spell, but being a divine bird capable of resisting all curses, what spell could possibly confuse its mind?
It must be an illusion. Though Xu Qing deceived it, his intentions were actually kind-hearted. It must be so, as Master Jingxu often told Daoist Yizhen...
Under the peach tree in the backyard, Master Jingxu was preaching and passing on her teachings.
In front of the little old lady, immortals from the Immortal Hall often came to the coffin shop to listen to teachings and learn Dao.
Previously, Master Jingxu was subjected to heaven's punishment for casually casting divinations, and it was fortunate that Tao Sanmei, fearing death, threw out a hundred thousand incense offerings to protect everyone at the coffin shop.
Master Jingxu no longer had a physical body, and her out-of-body Primordial Spirit feared the Supreme Yang of the Celestial Thunder, especially since it targeted Primordial Spirit True Men.
Having no other choice, though the little old lady was usually somewhat indifferent, she understood good from bad, so she often preached and taught in the coffin shop to compensate the Peach Tree Demon.
Of course, this was also partly because she couldn't repay those hundred thousand incense offerings.
As the Sweeping Hall immortal, improving the personal quality of immortals was Tao Sanmei's duty. Therefore, whenever Master Jingxu wanted to hold a teaching forum, she instructed Transmission Hall Huang Xiaoliu to send out messages, inviting all available immortals from various halls to attend the lessons.
In the past, such free-spirited immortals would certainly not take it seriously, but ever since joining Sect Leader Xu's hall, with an annual bonus of at least fifty thousand incense offerings and various hall benefits, the immortals constantly felt that if they didn't contribute more to the hall, they would be letting down Sect Leader Xu and Lady Qingqing's nurturing!
As a result, each hall worked harder without requiring supervision!
In the eyes of immortals, how much virtue must one have accumulated in a past life to receive the fruit of practicing Dao at the Immortal Hall and Bao Sheng Temple in this life?
Now, even without Xu Qing's presence, immortals from each hall remain diligent and responsible, perhaps even more so than when Xu Qing was around!
It can be said that if anyone were to threaten the Immortal Hall, immortals from each hall would risk their lives in its defense the next moment!
In short, heads can be severed and blood shed, but the Immortal Hall must not fall!
Under such an atmosphere, upon hearing of a Primordial Spirit True Man's teachings, even if the words were harsh and somewhat discriminatory towards beast-like immortals, they came thick-skinned.
Moreover, each immortal learned more actively than the last!
Gray Immortal Gu Zixu oversaw the Feng Shui Hall, and members of the Gray Immortal type were inherently sensitive to changes in the earth's veins. Gu Zixu, considering himself the supervisor of the Feng Shui Hall, felt obliged to be responsible, to lay a solid foundation for the main hall, to ensure that no trouble would arise from his Feng Shui Hall, and to fortify it like an impregnable fortress!
Gu Zixu listened to Master Jingxu's teachings on the doctrines of heaven and earth's geomancy with utmost seriousness, diligently consulting ancient books and seeking Tao Sanmei for explanations when encountering confusion, who would then leverage the old favor of a hundred thousand incense offerings to ask Master Jingxu to clear the doubts.
Besides the Feng Shui Hall, Protector Hall, Transmission Hall, Circle Hall, and Suppression Hall did the same.
During Master Crow's absence on a mission, the Suppression Hall selected an acting Hall Master from the immortals.
Crows were renowned for their intelligence, and among Master Crow's descendants, a mutant white crow stood out as the most intelligent. Currently, the Suppression Hall was led by this white crow, known as 'White Gentleman'.
In these Five Filthy Evil Worlds, where few Cultivators adhere to the Righteous Path, Master Jingxu, witnessing the steadfastness of the local immortals in guarding the Righteous Path and accumulating virtue, gradually set aside her prejudices and developed a desire to guide them.
These immortals, in today's world, were almost akin to endangered species requiring protection.
Master Jingxu felt an inexplicable sense of regret at the thought of these little creatures possibly becoming extinct under the relentless wheel of the Great Catastrophe one day.
Enough! Since they are so diligent, she might as well enjoy being a guide for once.
Teaching them for three to five years, she would eventually pay off the favor of the hundred thousand incense offerings.
Master Jingxu lacked nothing, but had numerous Daoist texts and scriptures.
From geomancy and prognostications to the Medical Dao, alchemy, and artifact refining, the Five Elders Temple had a wealth of lineage in various arcane arts and Daoist practices.