Chapter 172 Tongtian Valley and Huadao
The following year, Murong Loushi led a large army across the natural barrier of the Yangtze River.

In the eighth year of Zhenghe, the Jin army marched south in an all-out manner, and the original Jingkang Shame was brought forward by ten years.

The capture of Emperors Huizong and Qinzong completely destroyed the last bit of luck of the Northern Song Dynasty.

A large number of people and dignitaries moved south and were blocked by Murong Ji at the Yangtze River ferry. Deng Baichuan led the army north to recover the land.

There was no decent resistance.

At the end of the eighth year of Zhenghe, Murong Loushi fought against the Jin army in Jingzhao Prefecture, but the outcome was inconclusive. Then he launched a surprise attack on Fengxiang Prefecture, and directly killed Wanyan Zonghan, the first meritorious official of the Jin Dynasty.

The following year, Murong Ji established the Great Yan Kingdom in Chang'an.

Ten years later, the country was stable. Murong Ji passed the throne to Murong Xuan and returned to Yanziwu, Gusu with his wives and concubines.

After his wife Yang Yueman passed away, Murong Ji, who was in his sixties, immersed himself in Taoism. After visiting Mount Tiantai, there was no news from him again.

Sixty years old is the prime of life for Murong Ji. Looking at his face in the mirror which has hardly changed, he feels a little emotional.

It seems like life is not enough. In the blink of an eye, I am already sixty years old.

Looking at the thin book in his hand, he felt a little emotional. He had studied for his whole life, but in the end, there was only such a thin book.

Suddenly, he remembered the words Zhang Boduan left for him, asking him to visit Qinling Mountains when he had time.

Murong Ji exhaled slowly. Qinling Mountains, that is the dragon vein of China. He always thought that it was a test question left by Zhang Boduan for him.

A test question on whether one can become an immortal.

If you ask which is the most mysterious mountain in China, everyone has a different answer in their mind, but Qinling Mountains must be on the list.

At this moment, Murong Ji wanted to take a look at this test question.

He pressed the Tianwen Sword on the nameless book and left Yanziwu at night.

Leaving behind a legacy is also a way of giving an explanation to our children and grandchildren.

Walking alone into the depths of the Qinling Mountains, Murong Ji stood in front of a giant stone elephant and slowly lifted the moss off it.

It is really a man-made stone statue.

Going deeper, many relics of ethnic minorities are revealed. Some of these relics are still quite shocking even now.

After going up the mountain, Murong Ji stood on the top of the mountain, feeling the wind. He didn't know where to go, so he glanced at the surrounding environment.

After studying formations for decades, I now have some insights. The changes in the aura, or the magnetic field, are like a trick.

As long as you take the right path, you will be safe. If you take a wrong step, you will die.

Over the years, Murong Ji has seen a lot, such as the Mihun Pond and the Yeren Valley.

Following the terrain of the mountain and determining the route, Murong Ji walked towards the depths of the Qinling Mountains and entered a valley. The high cliffs on both sides were like a dangerous place with a "line of sky".

Looking at the tomb guardian beast at the door, Murong Ji realized that this was a cemetery.

This kind of cemetery is usually built by great and virtuous people when they are in seclusion. If it succeeds, it becomes the immortal cave residence; if it fails, it becomes the burial place.

Murong Ji looked at a line of poetry written on a stone wall on one side: The Gate of Xuanpin is rarely known in the world, so don't use your mouth and nose recklessly.

It was indeed the master's handwriting. Murong Ji pushed open the tomb door and walked in. This ancient tomb was quite old and had experienced many later visitors.

Murong Ji could see traces of almost every dynasty and wrote down his thoughts.

At that moment, he had an illusion of traveling through time and space.

When you reach the end, there is a natural cave. Above the cave, a hole was created somehow, which also broke the aura and natural formation of the place.

Maybe after a few hundred years, this place will just be an ordinary cave.

There was a tattered cushion under the cave, with many mummies scattered around, all of whom were inheritors from past generations.

Murong Ji suddenly felt that there might be a corpse of Zhang Boduan among them, as if that was his destiny.

【It is also your destiny. 】

Murong Ji thought about it, walked over, and sat cross-legged on the tattered cushion. Just as he was about to meditate, he saw a few lines of words written in front of him.

"The path to immortality is cut off in this world, and we were born at the wrong time."

"It is the end of the Dharma era..."

'I've wasted my life, I'm so stupid...'

'wishful thinking!'

Until the last sentence, "What is immortal?"

This was Zhang Boduan's handwriting. Murong Ji gently brushed away the dust on it. It was carved decades ago.

Murong Ji knew that this was his test question.

If Murong Ji were to live in later generations, he would be able to give Zhang Boduan a lot of different answers by searching on the browser.

But it is no longer possible now. No matter what the answer to the three words "What is immortality" is, it is not what Zhang Boduan wants. Instead, Zhang Boduan is reminding himself of his own understanding of immortality.

It can be regarded as drawing a boundary for this closed-door disciple of mine, so that his path won't be so difficult...

Murong Ji sighed, the immortal road has no end...

Even if a human becomes an immortal through cultivation, that immortality becomes a new starting point.

Murong Ji lived here for several months and thought for several months. He was thinking about how to answer this question from his master Zhang Boduan.

'What is an immortal?' This is a very long-standing topic, because no one is sure whether anyone can become an immortal, the immortal in Murong Ji's mind.

"Well, that's the answer."

In the days that followed, Murong Ji settled down here, repaired the valley, and cut the stone walls on both sides smooth with sword energy.

The tomb passage was rearranged and rebuilt in the style of the Qiheng Palace under Mount Hua.

The Qi Heng ones store but do not discharge.

"Suwen·Discussion on the Five Internal Organs" says: "The brain, marrow, bones, veins, gallbladder, and female uterus (uterus and ovaries), these six are produced by the earth's energy, are all hidden in the yin and resemble the earth, so they store but do not discharge, and are called the extraordinary organs." In terms of spiritual practice, this is where the yin is refined and hidden.

Murong Ji was straightforward and established a formation here to promote spiritual practice, allowing it to form its own world and circulate its own energy.

In the following decades, the Ren and Du meridians were established based on this cemetery, allowing the local energy to circulate on its own.

While promoting his own cultivation, he also wanted to see whether a living being or consciousness could be born here.

Decades passed quickly. Murong Ji looked at his achievements and felt as if he was in a dream. He carved three words on the entrance of this place, "What is a human being!"

As the last stroke was made, the whole valley shook violently, and Murong Ji's heart skipped a beat with fear.

The earth dragon turns over!

After calm was restored, Murong Ji hurriedly checked the entire valley and found that the most important meridian, the Ren Mai, was broken!
Murong Ji sighed deeply. He was not sure whether it was God's will. At his level, he could already understand some things.

After coming to his senses, Murong Ji blocked the Ren meridian tightly, leaving only the Du meridian. After thinking for a few days, he opened up a new cave below the Baihui point on the top of his head in the cave.

All the inheritance left by his master Zhang Boduan was engraved in it, using the same simple drawings left by Lu Zu at that time.

Then he walked out of the cave and carved traces on the stone walls on both sides. It was a method of urging people to subconsciously circulate their internal strength, the Three Vehicles Force.

In his opinion, this kind of martial arts is evil and heretical, but to the world, it is the simplest method.

Murong Ji stretched lazily, glanced at the entire Qinling Valley, and blocked all the entrances and exits.

Then we went to Mount Emei.

There was still a group of monkeys gathered under Lü Zu's cave. Murong Ji caught a male and a female monkey and murmured, "I ruined your chance back then, so today I will give you another chance."

After throwing the two monkeys into the Qinling Valley, Murong Ji walked away with his hands behind his back like a little old man.

In the following decades, he traveled to famous mountains and rivers.

Murong Ji was somewhat surprised that Quanzhen Taoism became the state religion of Dayan, because Emperor Taizu of Dayan learned from Quanzhen master Zhang Boduan.

As for Murong Ji himself, he was portrayed as a supernatural being. Some said that he had ascended to heaven like Zhang Boduan, while others said that he had entered the Qinling Mountains and established an immortal sect. Murong Ji himself was terrified when he heard this.

He prayed secretly that those bastards would not lose the official history! He didn't know whether the unofficial history was true or not, but it was definitely unofficial!

After many twists and turns, Murong Ji returned to Mount Tiantai again. When he entered the mountain gate, no one recognized him anymore.

Murong Ji sat cross-legged in the room where his master Zhang Boduan used to live. He was in a daze, as if he had turned into a spirit. When he looked up again, what he saw was not the roof, but endless void.

Above the void, countless sages are singing praises.

"Observe the way of heaven, follow the way of heaven, and that's all. There are five thieves in heaven, see them..."

"The Tao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Tao..."

"Restrain yourself and return to propriety..."

"When the world is ruled by the Way, sages emerge; when the world is ruled by the Way, sages are born..."

……

Endless, without end. At this moment, Murong Ji knew that he had reached that realm, that sacred realm...

As long as I get rid of that stinking body now, I can live forever...

Murong Ji looked at his hands, then touched his face. At the same moment, he understood why his master Zhang Boduan died on the road.

Murong Ji looked up blankly, as if he saw Zhang Boduan...

"Master, this is not the immortal I want. This path lacks freedom."

Murong Ji stuffed his soul back into his body. With both his life and his life saved, how could he abandon this body? !

【Fool, idiot! 】

It was not known who was sighing or scolding, but Murong Ji waited for a long time but did not hear his master Zhang Boduan say a word.

In this way, Murong Ji knew that he also agreed with him.

What the unknown senior said was very right. This world is in the Dharma Ending Age. It is as difficult to attain enlightenment and ascend to heaven with a physical body.

How big is the difference between immortals and humans?
In Murong Ji's understanding, life originated in the sea, and it took hundreds of millions of years for life to develop from nothing to life. How many years did it take for mononuclear organisms to transform into animals?

From sea to land, from ape to man.

This is the distance between humans and immortals, even immortals of the lowest standard...

Thinking of this, he suddenly understood that he was destined not to become an immortal.

How can I, with just a hundred years of cultivation, surpass the hundreds of millions of years of evolution of living things? How can I reach the sky in one step?
This is unreasonable and unfair.

I let out a long breath and looked up at the sky. What I saw was the vast universe. Then what were these sacred sages before me?
It could be anything, except an immortal, not even a living being.

[It is the Tao, the Tao they left behind. If you choose to follow them, you will become the Tao.]

Murong Ji came back to his senses, lowered his head and stroked the diamond bracelet, and asked the same question he had asked many years ago, "I can still go to other worlds, right?"

This time, the Diamond Bracelet was more straightforward. [Are you leaving now? You should know that the greatest kindness I can give you is to let you die peacefully in every world.]

Murong Ji nodded. Without his good friends, wife and son, there was really nothing left in this world for him to miss.

【get ready.】

The next moment, the Vajra Bracelet hummed softly, and Murong Ji's body instantly turned into blood mist. It seemed that some energy was separated from the blood mist and sank into the Vajra Bracelet.

That night, it rained in Tiantai Mountain, but there were dark clouds in the sky from time to time, reflecting the stars. No one knew where the rain came from...

When Murong Ji woke up, he saw a vast expanse of white. There was nothing here. His current state was somewhat strange, giving him the illusion that he was between life and death.

Uh... not dead yet...

"where are we going?"

[Finding a new world will help you lay the foundation. 】

(End of this chapter)