Chapter 386 - 202: Sect Daochang

Chapter 386: Chapter 202: Sect Daochang

The floor was made of light-colored spirit wood planks. Other than a wide cloud bed meant for meditation, the room was bare. The walls were plain white and the ceiling remained high, with two tall, rectangular windows that overlooked the azure sea and boundless sky.

Qin Huaiming walked to the center of the room and nodded. "Hm, not bad. This room is suitable for setting up an auxiliary cultivation Array for the Marrow Cleansing Realm—especially the ’Bing Fire Li Palace Meridian Forging Array’ required for the Fourth Transformation, ’Blood Essence Rebirth.’ As it happens, I have a decent set of Array Bases and the accompanying Spiritual Liquid extracted from a ’Nirvana Flower.’ However..."

He looked at Yang Wenqing. "We can set these things up for you after we’ve paid our respects to the ancestral masters and are officially settled in. For now, follow me to the main hall."

"Yes, Master," Yang Wenqing replied solemnly.

The two went downstairs again. Lan Ying was in the middle of a grand time playing. Seeing them emerge, she reluctantly flew back to Yang Wenqing’s shoulder, her small chest heaving slightly. She had clearly enjoyed her flight to the fullest.

After leaving the pavilion, Qin Huaiming led Yang Wenqing along a steep bluestone staircase, shrouded by ancient trees, toward the summit of the verdant peak at the island’s center.

The higher they climbed, the denser and purer the Spiritual Qi became, as if they were walking through a river of it.

Along the way, they occasionally spotted the entrances to cave abodes carved into cliffsides or nestled deep within the woods. Most of their stone doors were sealed shut; these were the places of quiet cultivation for the seniors of the Three Sects whose lifespans were drawing to a close.

After about half an hour, the master and disciple reached the top of the staircase, where a vast, artificially flattened mountaintop platform came into view.

In the center of the platform stood a great hall.

It was even more majestic and vast. If the grandeur of the pavilion on the mountainside still carried the human scale of a residence, then the main hall before them had a magnificence that transcended the bounds of ordinary architecture, taking on an air of the sacred and eternal.

The entire structure was built from colossal stones, white as jade. Its lines still followed the simple, square, and straight style favored by the Yuqing Lineage, but its sheer scale was immense.

The hall was at least twenty zhang tall. Standing at the foot of its steps, a person was like an ant gazing up at a mountain.

The hall was nine bays wide and five bays deep, a configuration that alluded to the imperial ’nine-five’ number. Each of its veranda pillars was so thick it would take several people to link arms around it. The pillars were smooth as mirrors, devoid of any carvings, yet they exuded a profound weightiness, as if holding up the very sky.

The massive doors to the hall stood open. They were nearly five zhang high and over three zhang wide. From the outside, one could only see a profound darkness within.

An indescribable, solemn gravity, like an invisible tide, washed over the entire mountaintop platform. Even the lively Lan Ying now clung tightly to Yang Wenqing, her faint voice echoing in his Spirit Sea, ’Qingqing... it feels... so heavy here...’

Qin Huaiming adjusted his robes, then ascended the nine-step staircase paved with enormous slabs of white jade. Yang Wenqing followed quietly behind.

Soon, the master and disciple crossed the towering threshold and entered the hall.

The space inside the great hall was even more staggering than it appeared from the outside. There wasn’t a single pillar within; the entire, immense expanse was supported purely by some mysterious architectural design and the power of an Array. The floor was made of black Spirit Jade, as deep and dark as the night sky.

At the far end of the hall was a wall made entirely of Spirit Jade, upon which was depicted the magnificent Daoist image of the supreme being—Saint Changqing.

But this image was completely different from the one Yang Wenqing had seen in the small hall at his master’s residence.

Here, in this mural, Saint Changqing appeared less as a person and more as an embodiment of the universe’s dawn, the very source from which all Daos flow. His vague outline was woven from endless, chaotic, profound light. Around him, the sun, moon, and stars were born and extinguished in a constant cycle. Mountains, rivers, earth, flora, fauna, and even the faint, miniature specters of countless cultivator civilizations all seemed to circle that profound light in worship.

Gazing at it felt less like looking at a mural and more like directly confronting a living cosmos of the Great Dao as it evolved. Before this image, one’s own consciousness shrank, becoming more insignificant than a speck of dust, leaving nothing but the most primal awe and shock.

Directly in front of this miraculous Spirit Jade mural stood four massive golden statues.

The centermost and tallest statue was that of the Sea Guardian Daoist.

His expression was majestic yet compassionate. His eyes looked straight ahead, as if gazing upon both the vast sea beyond the doors and those who entered, while simultaneously guarding the mural behind him that represented the source of the Great Dao.

Flanking the statue of the Sea Guardian Daoist below and slightly forward were three somewhat smaller golden statues.

These were the founding masters of the Three Sects: Beixuan, Yunji, and Xuanyue. Each had a unique posture—one holding a sword, one cradling a book, and one forming a hand seal. Their expressions were, respectively, solemn, peaceful, and free-spirited. Together, they stood in attendance to their grandmaster above them, symbolizing the shared heritage of the Three Sects—split from a single origin, yet united in their reverence for the Great Dao.

Before the statues stood a massive bronze censer, from which incense smoke had curled unceasingly for a thousand years. In front of the censer were several large prayer cushions.

Aside from the mural, the four golden statues, the censer and cushions, and the massive runic Arrays on the floor designed to aid in Gathering Spirit and stabilizing the space, the great hall was utterly empty.

Qin Huaiming said nothing. He simply walked to the censer, took three large incense sticks—each as thick as a child’s arm and emitting a fragrance that cleared the mind and soothed the spirit—lit them from an ever-burning lamp, and respectfully placed them in the censer.

He then took a few steps back, knelt on one of the cushions, and performed the grand rite of three kneelings and nine kowtows before the statues of Master Sea Guardian and the three founding masters.

Naturally, Yang Wenqing and Lan Ying followed suit.