Chapter 122: Chapter 121: Vajra Profound Talisman Obtained

Gu Zhao couldn’t help but chuckle. ’This old Daoist is certainly direct,’ he thought.

So he was just as direct in his reply. "Thank you for the high praise, Taoist Master, but I can’t join the Celestial Master’s Mansion. I’m actually visiting this time to ask for a favor."

Taoist Ming Yu asked curiously, "What is it?"

Yunyang also looked at Gu Zhao with curiosity. Gu Zhao had been acting all mysterious on the way here, yet seemed so confident, making Yunyang wonder what exactly he was planning.

"I want to see the Celestial Master’s Mansion’s Vajra Profound Talisman," Gu Zhao replied.

"What do you want to see that thing for?" Taoist Ming Yu was a little puzzled. "Even if you want to see it, isn’t it in the Daoist Canon?"

Gu Zhao shook his head. "I don’t want to see the superficial, conceptual stuff. I want to see the Mystical Talisman Brush Technique and the verbal formula for Conserving Spirit and Circulating Qi while writing the talisman."

The expressions of Taoist Ming Yu and Taoist Zhi Qing changed simultaneously, and their gazes turned scrutinizing as they looked at Gu Zhao.

It wasn’t that they were wary of him being a fraud. Although the Vajra Profound Talisman was a guarded secret of the Zhengyi Dao in ancient times, in the modern era, it was basically considered a feudal super... a religious belief.

Even if they didn’t want to publicize it, there was absolutely no problem with letting a fellow countryman who had also cultivated Taoist True Qi see it.

What they were scrutinizing was...

"Don’t tell me you actually want to write a real Vajra Profound Talisman?" Taoist Ming Yu asked with a laugh.

Taoist Zhi Qing chimed in, "That Qi Circulation Technique is very awkward. It’s hard to sustain."

"I want to try," Gu Zhao said with a smile.

"If you want to try, then try." Without another word, Taoist Ming Yu instructed a young Daoist beside him, "Go to the second floor of the Scripture Pavilion and bring back the latest proofread edition of the Shangqing Cave Heaven Three-Five Vajra Profound Register Ceremony."

"Yes." The young Daoist bowed to accept the order, gave Gu Zhao a curious glance, and then trotted out of the courtyard.

"Thank you, Daoist!" Gu Zhao bowed his thanks.

"It’s a small matter." Taoist Ming Yu waved his hand dismissively. "Not many people can cultivate True Qi these days. Never mind the Vajra Profound Talisman, even if you wanted to see the Supreme Zhengyi Scripture, it would be no problem."

Gu Zhao smiled. "Perhaps I’ll have to come and exchange knowledge with you more often in the future, Daoist."

Taoist Ming Yu laughed heartily. "I don’t have many days left to talk with you. In the future, you can talk more with Zhi Qing, or you can find Ming Chong and Zhi Xiu."

Gu Zhao’s eyes lit up. "Taoist Ming Chong and Taoist Zhi Xiu..."

"They’re out presiding over a Transmission ceremony, so they aren’t at the Celestial Master’s Mansion right now." Taoist Ming Yu nodded, then shook his head. "It’s a pity the Chang generation hasn’t amounted to much. The only one who succeeded in Qi Refining even ran off to study abroad!"

Yunyang, standing to the side, was also stunned. "Studying abroad?"

Taoist Zhi Qing nodded. "He said all the ghosts in the country have been caught by the seniors, so he wanted to go abroad and try his luck."

Gu Zhao couldn’t help but ask, "Where did he go?"

"Huaqi," Taoist Zhi Qing replied.

"What’s he studying?" Yunyang asked.

"Western philosophy, of course," Taoist Zhi Qing sighed. "He doesn’t have the aptitude to study STEM!"

Gu Zhao looked at Yunyang. "Envious?"

Yunyang asked, puzzled, "Envious of what?"

Gu Zhao teased, "The Western girls, of course." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Yunyang nearly fell over. "Oh, get outta here!"

The men looked at each other and burst out laughing. Noticing the scissors, red paper, and finished creations next to Taoist Ming Yu, Gu Zhao couldn’t help but ask, "Daoist, do you enjoy paper cutting?"

"I watched my mother do it when I was a child, and I just picked it up." Taoist Ming Yu picked up the scissors and red paper again. "As a boy, I’d cut window decorations for my family. When I grew up, I even sold them for money. Later, after I joined the Celestial Master’s Mansion, I would cut out Divine Soldiers and Generals."

"Every time I cut paper, it’s like going back to my childhood." Taoist Ming Yu smiled. "When you get old, you tend to reminisce about the past."

Taoist Zhi Qing nodded, clearly moved, but Gu Zhao and Yunyang had yet to experience such feelings.

"But I hear paper cutting has kept up with the times," Taoist Ming Yu said, deliberately breaking the slightly somber mood. He picked up his scissors and red paper. SNIP, SNIP, SNIP. After a few cuts, he asked, "Do young people these days like this?"

Gu Zhao and Yunyang looked up and saw a pointy head with egg-shaped eyes.

"Ultraman?"

"So you know it, eh? It really is something young people like." Taoist Ming Yu chuckled. "I’ve seen kids who visit the Celestial Master’s Mansion carrying these. And this one..."

SNIP, SNIP, SNIP went the scissors again.

Gu Zhao and Yunyang looked at the lifelike silhouette and easily recognized the paper figure’s identity. "Naruto Uzumaki."

"But the most famous one right now seems to be this..."

"Nezha!"

Taoist Ming Yu put down his scissors. "Finally, something of our own."

Yunyang reassured him, "There will be more and more."

Taoist Ming Yu nodded, then looked at Taoist Zhi Qing. "In the future, if there’s anything new, remember to burn it for me."

Taoist Zhi Qing sighed. "But we don’t know how to do paper cutting."

Taoist Ming Yu harrumphed. "Who said it has to be a paper cutting? Can’t you just burn a photo!"

Taoist Zhi Qing nodded repeatedly. "Of course, of course! We’ll even burn the action figures for you!"

"That’s more like it." Taoist Ming Yu was finally satisfied. "It’s a rule passed down by our ancestors. Things are only useful if you burn them. Those who just put out a photo or display a model—that’s for the living to see. How are the people in the underworld supposed to see it?"

Everyone was speechless.

Just then, the young Daoist from before returned with a book and handed it to Gu Zhao.

Gu Zhao took it and saw that it was a modern-bound edition. The cover featured a landscape of Dragon Tiger Heavenly Mountain, with the title "Shangqing Cave Heaven Three-Five Vajra Profound Register Ceremony" printed in the upper left.

Flipping it open, he saw that the inside was also printed. The font wasn’t small, and it followed the modern reading habit of left-to-right, top-to-bottom.

Taoist Zhi Qing explained, "The layout and script of the original ancient text are very difficult to read. This version was compiled, cross-reviewed, and typeset by Martial Uncle Ming Yu and a dozen or so other seniors before being finalized. There are absolutely no issues with the content."

Gu Zhao nodded repeatedly as he began to seriously flip through it.

Taoist Ming Yu waved his hand. "Take it back with you to read. I’ll have them make another copy. Besides, there are other books in the Scripture Pavilion. You can go take a look, and just take whatever you want."

Gu Zhao raised an eyebrow and asked, "These are all the secret teachings of the Celestial Master’s Mansion. You really don’t mind at all?"

Taoist Ming Yu waved his hand. "You’re not an outsider."

Gu Zhao thanked him sincerely. "Thank you, Daoist."

"You’re welcome." After talking for a while, Taoist Ming Yu grew tired. Although he possessed True Qi, it was too little. At this point, it was faint, barely there, making it difficult to resist the failings of his body and his illness.

"Go ahead and look around," Taoist Ming Yu said. "I’ll have someone prepare two rooms for you. You can stay here tonight."

Gu Zhao closed the book. "Can I stay for a few more days?"

"Stay as long as you like," Taoist Zhi Qing said with a smile. "If you decide to stay permanently, I’ll clear out a private room for you in the back courtyard."

"No, no," Gu Zhao said, waving his hands dismissively. "Just for a few days. I’d like to properly explore Dragon Tiger Heavenly Mountain."

Gu Zhao and Yunyang bid farewell to Taoist Ming Yu. After they left the small courtyard, Taoist Zhi Qing called over Chang Ning. "It’s easier for you young people to talk to each other. Have him show you around. We’ll all have dinner together tonight."