Chapter 101 — Kongtong and Kunlun

"This fellow Daoist is Illusory Void, true man of the Kongtong Sect. For many years he has paid no heed to worldly affairs, devoting himself wholeheartedly to cultivation. This time I made a special trip to drag him out of the Kongtong Grotto-Heaven, so that he might witness the splendor of Mount Shu!" Seeing the astonishment plain on Lingxu's and Daoist Tianyi's faces, True Man Kaiyang could not help but explain with a look of smug satisfaction. The gaunt old Daoist in black robes astride the immortal crane—this Illusory Void of Kongtong of whom Kaiyang spoke—hearing himself introduced, straightway leaped down from the crane and made a Daoist salute to Lingxu and Daoist Tianyi, saying, "Mount Shu is worthy of its name as a sect of a thousand years! To behold such a personage among fellow Daoists is truly Illusory Void's great fortune! An eye-opener, an eye-opener indeed!" This old Daoist Illusory Void was small and slight of frame, yet his voice was incomparably booming—the contrast between the two was utterly jarring.

Hearing the old Daoist Illusory Void's words of flattery, Lingxu not only failed to take any pleasure in them—his expression actually grew colder by degrees. The Kongtong Sect's history was so ancient that, apart from Kunlun, it could be said no other sect could compare with it, and it stood far above Mount Shu besides. Only, the Kongtong Sect had never emerged into the world, hiding itself away within the Kongtong Grotto-Heaven to cultivate in seclusion, just like those scattered cultivators beyond the seas. They received no visiting fellow Daoists from other sects either, and were mysterious in the extreme; as time went on, the Daoist sects of the Central Plains had all but forgotten the sect existed. Mount Shu's grand founding ceremony this time had not invited Kongtong—not for want of willingness on Mount Shu's part, but because they simply could not find Kongtong's gate.

Consider that Kongtong's founding patriarch, Guangheng, foremost of the Twelve True Immortals of the Chan Teaching, possessed powers that reached into the mystic; the grotto-heaven blessed land he opened up was wondrous beyond imagining, so well concealed that even an immortal descended from Heaven would likely fail to find it. This was the fundamental reason the Kongtong Sect had been able to enjoy such peace and quiet for so many years. "Since when has Maoshan become entangled with Kongtong?" Lingxu wondered doubtfully. He did not believe for a moment that this old Daoist of Kongtong had hurried all the way to Mount Shu merely to say a few words and watch the grand ceremony of the Shuyue Sect. The Shuyue Sect's grand ceremony had been held eight or nine times already, and according to the records, Kongtong had never once sent anyone. Now suddenly someone had come, and old Daoist Lingxu felt a secret alarm stir within him: "Could it be that Kongtong can no longer bear its solitude, and means to come out and stir up wind and rain as well?"

Though such thoughts turned in his mind, the expression on old Daoist Lingxu's face shifted at once from icy cold to beaming smiles—one could not help but marvel at how swiftly these grandmasters changed faces, and at how masterfully they commanded their emotions; truly they were grandmasters in name and in truth. "So it is Illusory Void, true man of Kongtong—I have long admired your name, long admired it." Old Daoist Lingxu made a few polite remarks, though in truth he had never once heard the name of this old Daoist Illusory Void, let alone long admired it. "In truth, we have not come today for any other purpose. Three of our Maoshan disciples have died without cause, and along with them Daoist Chenkong of Ailao Mountain. I imagine all of you are already aware of this matter!" Old Daoist Kaiyang, dispensing with pleasantries, came straight to the point and laid bare the purpose of their visit.

Many thoughts turned in Lingxu's mind. He had supposed that having broken through to the realm of Return to Void, and armed with the magic treasures left behind by Mount Shu's forebears, he would win glory for himself at this grand founding ceremony and make Mount Shu overshadow Kunlun, becoming the foremost Daoist sect under Heaven. How was he to know that each of the four grandmasters who shared his renown had advanced greatly in cultivation, every one of them now his equal—and that old Daoist Kaiyang of Maoshan had, on top of that, drawn in Kongtong and produced this Illusory Void, a true man whose powers seemed even deeper than his own? This forced Lingxu to revise his plans once again.

Seeing that old Daoist Kaiyang had made their purpose clear, Lingxu nodded and said, "We too have heard something of this matter. We have taken this opportunity to gather everyone here precisely so that we might discuss a countermeasure. I have long suspected that the man from back then did not die. Thirty years have passed, and that man's demonic arts overawed the world even then; surely he is fiercer now. I have personally written an invitation to True Man Qianji of the Qincen Sect, but for some reason he has not yet arrived. As for the affair of those years, everyone here knows it well enough—save for True Man Illusory Void, perhaps—and I need not say more." Hearing Lingxu's words, old Daoist Illusory Void could not help saying, "Fellow Daoist Kaiyang has already told me of this matter in detail. Although my Kongtong enjoys its peace and quiet, it is still one branch of the Daoist fold. Since a master of the demonic path has appeared, then in the matter of vanquishing demons and guarding the Way, we must of course do our part." The words were noble and high-sounding, full of righteous indignation—yet every grandmaster present privately sneered at them. If Kongtong truly harbored such intentions, why was no trace of them seen thirty years ago? Now they crept out to vanquish demons and guard the Way—who would believe it?

Of course, such things could not be spoken aloud. Of the four grandmasters, only Qianji of the Qincen Sect had yet to arrive, and everyone silently wondered: "Can it be that old Daoist Qianji truly means to tear all pretense with Mount Shu, and will not come even for a matter of such consequence?" Old Daoist Qianji of Kunlun had already attained profound mastery of the Dao thirty years ago, a cut above the rest of them, and was hailed as the foremost master of the Central Plains Daoist sects. Since they had all entered the realm of Return to Void, old Daoist Qianji could hardly have fallen behind. Especially since Kunlun's cultivation methods were mysterious and profound, the most orthodox of all Daoist scriptures—there was no reason he should have suffered deviation in his practice.

"Can it be that Patriarch Qianji has met with some mishap?" A sudden warning rose in Daoist Tianyi's heart, and the words escaped his lips. Back then, none of the four of them had been a match for Wen Yanlan; now, though they had all made breakthroughs, if Wen Yanlan truly had recovered his demonic powers, then in single combat not one of them would likely be his match. At Daoist Tianyi's words, everyone's heart tightened—but then they relaxed again. Fierce as Wen Yanlan was, he was but one man. If he truly meant to trouble Qianji and the two came to blows, Qianji might not be his match, but Qianji could surely still flee; to kill old Daoist Qianji outright was probably still somewhat impossible. True, fleeing in the role of a grandmaster might seem a little shameful—but it also depended on whom one fled from, did it not? Yet try as they might, none of them could have imagined that it was Zhou Xuan who had sprung up along the way, destroying the very fleshly body of that Qincen Sect grandmaster of cultivation, forcing him to seize another's body—how could he possibly have come?