Chapter 70: Chapter 70: White Cloud Temple Is a Worthy Dragon Gate Ancestral Court

"You’re so hard to get ahold of!" Jiang Shishi said, shoving an ice cream bar into Gu Zhao’s hand. "Always in seclusion!"

"If you don’t work hard when you’re young, when will you?" Gu Zhao replied with mock seriousness, trying to sound motivational. "It’ll be plenty of time to rest once I can fly through the air, move mountains, fill seas, and achieve immortality."

Jiang Shishi chuckled. "When you finally achieve immortality, remember to give a little boost to yours truly. My demands aren’t high—I’d be happy with just eternal youth."

Gu Zhao waved his hand dismissively. "That’s nothing!"

Speaking of eternal youth, Jiang Shishi couldn’t help but stare at Gu Zhao’s face, studying it intently.

"What are you looking at?" 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"Your face."

Jiang Shishi clicked her tongue in amazement and reached out to touch him, but Gu Zhao dodged with a grimace. Only then did she say with a hint of jealousy, "A big guy like you actually does skincare? What products do you use?"

It was one thing to be tall and handsome. Jiang Shishi was from the Yandu Music Academy, surrounded by art schools, so she had seen her fair share of handsome guys. But someone with skin like Gu Zhao’s? That wasn’t just rare—there wasn’t a single one!

Although they were all still young, they were over twenty, after all. Looking at him up close, she could tell Gu Zhao wasn’t wearing any foundation or makeup at all. His skin was simply fair, tender, and smooth. That complexion and texture...

It was just like a child’s, making you want to reach out and give his cheeks a pinch.

"Skincare products... I used to use some basic stuff, but not anymore," Gu Zhao said after a moment of thought.

"What do you use now?" Xiao Ya couldn’t help but ask.

"I don’t use anything now." Gu Zhao raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Have you forgotten? I’m an accomplished master of a Taoist Sect."

Xiao Ya’s mouth fell slightly open. "Really?"

Jiang Shishi asked in amazement, "So your skin is this good because you cultivate Inner Power?"

Gu Zhao nodded. "That’s right."

"Big Bro!" Jiang Shishi threw her arms around Gu Zhao’s arm.

"Take the Qi of the Sun Lord as your foundation. Visualize the solar disk, its rays like red fire. According to the sun’s daily position, from early morning to midday, silently chant the Sun Lord’s Curse: ’an-po-huo-luo-jun-nu-li-suo-ke.’ Inhale the azure Qi through your nose, swallowing once for every nine inhalations. Repeat this process nine times, swallowing nine mouthfuls of Qi in total. Store it high in the Celestial Court, then let it flow down throughout your entire body," Gu Zhao recited, word for word.

Jiang Shishi psyched herself up, a determined glint in her eyes. "I can perse—"

"—vere for twenty years. If you don’t see any results by then, you can give up," Gu Zhao said nonchalantly.

Jiang Shishi silently let go of his arm. "I’ll just wait for you to master flying and burrowing through the earth, and then you can grant me eternal youth."

Xiao Ya, who had been laughing on the side, was amused to see Jiang Shishi’s defeat. She teased, "Before he can fly and burrow through the earth, he needs to build up his strength. We’re planning on going clothes shopping today."

Gu Zhao feigned terror. "How many clothes are you planning to buy?"

"Lots of clothes!" Jiang Shishi raised her hand. "Not just for us, but for you too."

Gu Zhao was taken aback. "For me too?"

Jiang Shishi pleaded, "Xiaoya and I both started TikTok accounts to post videos of ourselves playing instruments in historical costumes, but that content niche is insanely competitive. Please help us, Big Bro!"

At the same time, Xiao Ya pulled out her phone. "Do you have a TikTok account? Let’s follow each other!"

So, Gu Zhao also took out his phone and mutually followed Xiao Ya and Jiang Shishi. He saw that, as expected of musicians, their usernames were quite artistic: [Yue Ya] and [Xi Shi].

"Light Shines on Sun and Moon... at first glance, I would’ve thought you were a history buff," Jiang Shishi said with a laugh.

"How so?" Gu Zhao asked.

Xiao Ya smiled. "The characters for ’sun’ and ’moon’ combine to form the character for ’Ming,’ as in the Great Ming Dynasty. There are a lot of Ming Dynasty fans these days."

Gu Zhao raised an eyebrow. "I didn’t realize you two knew your history so well."

"Are you looking down on us?" Jiang Shishi puffed out her chest proudly. "We play traditional Chinese instruments. To understand the heritage of our music, we naturally have to study history."

While Jiang Shishi was talking, Xiao Ya was scrolling through Gu Zhao’s videos. When she saw his latest one, she was a little dumbfounded. "Palm Thunder?"

"What Palm Thunder?" Jiang Shishi asked. Then she saw the video for herself, her head snapping up in shock as she blurted out, "Is this for real?"

Gu Zhao remained unfazed, simply pointing to the button in the bottom-right corner of the video. "Look at the comments. The tree I struck was Small-leafed Purple Sandalwood. You tell me if it’s real or fake."

After opening the comments section and reading the messages, Jiang Shishi and Xiao Ya finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Knowing that Gu Zhao had cultivated Inner Breath True Qi, making him strong and fast, and that his Enlightened Talismans could heal and promote health—that was all still within the realm of comprehension. But Palm Thunder was just too over-the-top.

"Speaking of which, a Daoist friend of my grandfather’s has also cultivated Inner Power," Xiao Ya said to Gu Zhao.

"Oh?" Gu Zhao raised an eyebrow. "How do you know?"

"He was the one who figured out that my grandfather’s recovery was thanks to your Celestial Spirit Protection Talisman, proving you deserved the credit." Xiao Ya was still a little angry, pouting as she said, "My mom refused to believe it before and kept saying it was because of her good care."

Xiao Ya briefly recounted the story Su Lei had told her, relaying how Taoist Yi Hong had admitted he was inferior to Gu Zhao, but she omitted the part where Su Lei later encouraged her to date Gu Zhao.

"The Yandu White Cloud Temple... as expected of the Quanzhen Dragon Gate Ancestral Court," Gu Zhao remarked with a sigh.

Taoist Yan Song had lived on a mountain for decades, with a pure heart and few desires, ignoring worldly affairs. Free and unfettered, his Dao Heart progressed smoothly, which was how he cultivated his Inner Breath True Qi.

The White Cloud Temple, however, was located within Yandu City. Despite its revered status, it was burdened by worldly affairs, making it difficult to focus on cultivation.

Yangcheng’s Yuanfa Palace was a case in point. When Gu Zhao walked through it that day, his Five Thunders Order hadn’t stirred at all.

’In that case, there are probably quite a few Daoists in the country who have cultivated Magical Power,’ Gu Zhao mused. ’Qingcheng Mountain and the White Cloud Temple both have them. There must be True Daoists in those smaller Taoist Temples too. And those who can purify their minds and cultivate quietly in a small temple have a much higher chance of being recognized by the Five Thunders Order.’

HISS—Gu Zhao sucked in a sharp breath. ’There’s no telling how many hidden little Taoist Temples there are scattered across the country. Don’t tell me my future is just going to be an endless journey of finding and visiting them!’

’But I have to go. Setting aside empty words about reviving the glory of The Three Pristine Ones and spreading the teachings of the Taoist Sect, just finding one person means having someone who can fight on my behalf in the Otherworld and earn Evil Qi. I have to make an effort to recruit talented individuals!’

Setting his thoughts aside for the moment, Gu Zhao looked at Xiao Ya. "The important thing is that your grandfather has recovered."

Xiao Ya shook her head repeatedly. "But she still shouldn’t have wronged you!"

"Let’s go, let’s go! Time to buy clothes!" Jiang Shishi linked arms with Xiao Ya and asked Gu Zhao, "I hear clothes in Yangcheng are super cheap. We’ve been here for days and haven’t bought anything yet. We have to do some serious shopping today."

Gu Zhao was a little baffled. "The clothes there are just normal clothes. As for whether they have historical costumes, I’ve never paid attention."

"It doesn’t matter! We need to buy seasonal clothes too!" Jiang Shishi’s voice was filled with excitement.

"Mhm!" Xiao Ya nodded eagerly, her eyes shining.

A sudden, ominous premonition rose in Gu Zhao’s heart.