Ji Xiang was still contemplating Yuan Huang's final warning, only snapping back to awareness when the voices from outside the mountain reached the temple.
He looked at the scroll that had suddenly appeared in his hand. This was Yuan Huang's guarantee, a divine artifact to guard against the assimilation by Christ and Mr. Gu.
Once unfurled, this treasure map would swallow winds and rain, summoning the roars of celestial dragons.
The Great Rain Dragon King Diagram.
"The Great Rain Dragon Kings are the collective title for the deities under Yuanshi Tianzun who control wind and rain, with sixty-eight recorded in the Taishang Yuanshi Tianzun Says the Great Rain Dragon King Sutra."
Ji Xiang carefully sensed the usage of the divine diagram. If assimilation occurred, he could release a dragon king from the diagram to possess him, thereby resisting the assimilation. The more severe the assimilation, the more dragon kings would need to be released.
Simultaneously, the sixty-eight dragon kings could form a battle formation army. Those who heard this sutra would receive the constant protection of the deities' divine power, bringing forth winds and rain to eliminate calamities and sins. When embodying a dragon king, one would inhale and exhale the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. The winds and rains summoned would be spiritual, not mundane. This spiritual wind would dispel all evil, and this spiritual rain would revive dead trees.
"This is a divine ability that interferes with one's own form through external forms."
Of course, the primary purpose of this divine diagram was to bring rain to alleviate drought and relieve the world's suffering. However, in Yuan Huang's hands, its power to protect oneself had been developed to its extreme. This divine diagram had already been refined by Yuan Huang. Even now in Ji Xiang's possession, he could feel that the sixty-eight dragon kings did not entirely belong to him.
The owner of the divine diagram was still Yuan Huang.
"If the Great Rain Dragon Kings are all manifestations of Yuan Huang, then by possessing the form of a dragon king, I would essentially be offering my own form to Yuan Huang. This would give him a certain degree of assimilation ability. This fellow has a clever plan, thinking of subtly assimilating me while I defend against Mr. Gu and Christ."
"However, with the diagram in my hand, I also have a way to use it forcefully under other circumstances."
That method was the "Central Jade Book."
Speaking of which, this Jade Book was itself a method written by Yuan Huang and appeared very early in the past, even being recorded in the True Spirit Registry. Ji Xiang couldn't help but think of past events.
From the past, scriptures were cast into the future, not through generational inheritance, but through sudden appearance.
Though the Dao is a foot high, the devil is ten feet tall.
But when the mantis stalks the cicada, the oriole waits behind.
"The second possibility is that he deliberately let me notice the issue of assimilation through form possession, forcing me to use the Central Jade Book to control these dragon kings. But what is the purpose of this? Could it be that the Central Jade Book itself has hidden dangers?"
He now understood that using the methods of these Yuqing cultivators always carried the risk of assimilation. Ji Xiang smiled wryly at this thought, because his own act of encroaching on other beliefs with the True Void Dual Supreme Book was essentially the same operation, just not as potent as theirs.
The True Void Dual Supreme Book still had room for improvement.
As for the divine diagram, although it couldn't be recognized as his own, how it was used was still up to him. With the Tongtian Mingyan and the Blank Divine Tablet as backups, and this divine diagram not being of the "Tianhua Immortal Treasure" level, it couldn't stir up any major trouble.
Ji Xiang did not leave the temple immediately.
The spiritual energy of Qingliu Mountain was abundant, a rare cultivation treasure land in the mortal world. The Lushanshan sect hid their sect at the bottom of rivers and mountains, creating this realm and avoiding excessive interaction with other sects in the mortal world, also because this area of mountains and rivers was extremely rich in spiritual energy.
The mountains and rivers were ancient, their aura vigorous. It was unknown if Yuan Huang had used great divine power to move a piece of land from the past. Such a feat might not be impossible.
The cultivators of Lushanshan were still clamoring about the appearance of an immortal. The next moment, with a flash of golden light, Ji Xiang's figure suddenly appeared in the main hall of Lushanshan!
The young Taoist in black clothes materialized in the hall without any warning. Several great cultivators of Lushanshan immediately tensed, raising their magical artifacts. At least in terms of aura, they did not immediately yield to Ji Xiang.
"I have heard that the methods of Lushanshan are extremely overbearing, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."
Ji Xiang got straight to the point, reassuring the great cultivators:
"This humble one has come here not for conflict. I originally came to see a divine being, and now that the matter has been resolved, the reason I have not left Qingliu Mountain immediately is because I wish to witness the marvelous methods of Lushanshan."
"May I ask if you could impart some of them?"
The faces of the great cultivators of Lushanshan were all taken aback. One of them looked confused, "Your Excellency rode a jade dragon into the sky, entering our Qingliu territory's Lushanshan Court. Your aura is vigorous, certainly not of the mortal realm, you must be an immortal."
"Since you have already achieved immortality, why would the minor techniques of Lushanshan catch your eye? You are not of Lushanshan. To put it politely, Lushanshan's methods cannot be taught to outsiders."
"If you are here for the inheritance of Heavenly Master Xu Xun, then you have come to the wrong place. His true inheritance is not here."
The great cultivators of Lushanshan simply hoped Ji Xiang was not here to cause trouble. But when the other party asked to learn their sect's techniques, they immediately felt it was a pretext for seizing them. Thus, they were prepared for battle. Regardless of whether they could win, they could not lose their imposing manner or compromise their principles.
"Heavenly Master Xu has techniques passed down here?"
Ji Xiang was somewhat surprised. Of course, from the expressions of the great cultivators before him, he knew that even if it wasn't Xu Xun's true inheritance, it must be one of Lushanshan's core techniques, their most prized skills.
"You all misunderstand. This humble one did not know that Heavenly Master Xu had an inheritance here. And if I cannot learn the techniques, can I exchange something for them?"
Ji Xiang's mind stirred slightly, and a celestial scripture appeared in his hand.
This was merely a sixth-grade celestial scripture, one of the scriptures collected from the True Spirit Registry. Although their original texts had been sacrificed, the Mingguang Heavenly Scribe had recorded their content, which he had then copied and controlled.
An aura of battle began to spread, accompanied by bursts of celestial light, causing the great cultivators of Lushanshan to stare, their breathing suddenly becoming heavy. However, soon, someone with profound cultivation bit their tongue, forcing themselves to awaken from this daze.
"You must not!"
The great cultivator's expression was extremely vigilant. The item before him was indeed an unseen scripture, and judging by its aura, it was definitely not of the mortal realm but a treasure of the immortal path!
Furthermore, it shared commonalities with Lushanshan's overbearing methods, making it highly compatible. But he still shook his head, insisting, "This item is too precious. Lushanshan has nothing to exchange!"
"However..."
He paused there, then slightly changed his tone.
"We will not take the celestial scripture. But you, Your Excellency, are an immortal, and you have specifically come to Lushanshan, which means you think highly of Lushanshan's methods."
"Coincidentally, within Lushanshan, there is an ancient scripture. This scripture has been in Lushanshan for nearly a thousand years, and no one can learn it. If Your Excellency can master it, then you may take it for yourself, as a gesture of goodwill."
He immediately ordered someone to retrieve the scripture that no one could cultivate. In less than a moment, the scripture was completely placed in Ji Xiang's hands.
The scroll was nameless. Upon opening it, only eight characters were visible.
"Taishang is in the heavens, the Great King is in the profound."
Ji Xiang was slightly puzzled, his brow furrowed. The Lushanshan great cultivator beside him hurriedly explained, "This is truly a scripture. It has been passed down in Lushanshan for a very long time. Lushanshan is a mixed sect of Buddhism and Taoism. During the era when we practiced the methods of the Lingbao Sect, this scripture already appeared, and people have studied it for generations."
"Legend has it that during the Song Dynasty, Bai Yuchan, one of the Five Patriarchs of Quanzhen in Taoism, visited here and observed this scripture. He said that in ancient times, the methods of the shamans, initially the Pangu method, then the Lingshan method, and finally the Lushanshan method, were all shamanic arts."
"Under the talismans of the shamanic arts, people wrote 'Taishang is in the heavens' in cursive. Today's shamans do not understand the meaning of the characters, only saying 'the Great King is in the profound'."
Ji Xiang murmured, "Dao-Shamanic Arts."
A portion of ancient shamanic arts was incorporated into the earliest forms of Taoism. As shamanism transformed into the Dao, when later shamans merged with Taoism again, they could not comprehend the meaning within the scriptures, hence their inability to decipher ancient scrolls.
"No one in Lushanshan can cultivate it. If you can master it, this scripture is yours."