Chapter 552 - The Test

Another day had passed, the young lad did not understand why he would be kneeling down, however, he could not stand up anymore.

He wanted to move, but he realized that he had lost the ability to do so.

Later on, he lost in his thoughts. He was not aware of how much time had passed and when he opened his eyes, he was soaking in warm spring water. There was a warm current flowing in his entire body.

At the same time, he felt that his face was very sticky. What came into his sight was a long red tongue sticking out from a gigantic mouth.

The tongue retreated back into the big mouth which closed. He witnessed a black tiger's head. At this moment, his mind had gone blank. He was not even afraid and he only dazed.

"You're awake. Get dressed and come with me," the black tiger could speak like human beings and his voice sounded like the strike of precious metals and it wasn't really scary.

The young lad gradually recovered and he finally remembered that he came all the way here to look for the celestial teacher in the Qing Xuan Cave to pursue Dao and there was a black tiger beside the Celestial Teacher. He was filled with joy when he could recall things. Finally, he was going to meet the celestial teacher. Hence, he carefully got dressed and realized that the water in the puddle where he was lying in had turned black and it even stank.

As for his body, he felt way lighter. When he walked, he felt as though he was about to fly.

The black tiger was waiting for him and it snorted. Thus, the young lad quickly followed behind it. After a few rounds and turns, they entered a well-illuminated stone room.

This time, he discovered a strange thing. There was no torch or any source of light in this cave, but it looked as bright as daytime, especially the stone room which was brightly lit.

The first time he met the Celestial Teacher, he looked almost alike to the portrait in the temple. The only difference now was that the Celestial Teacher right in front of him was alive.

The young lad simply kneeled down and said, "Guzhu is here to pay a visit to the celestial teacher."

"Why are you here for?" Shen Lian's voice was not loud but it reached directly to the heart.

Guzu said, "I'm here to pursue Dao."

"I do have 'Dao' here but unfortunately, there's no 'Dao' of yours," Shen Lian seemed to be slightly apathetic and he looked cold.

Guzu hesitated for a second and continued saying, "I want to be someone like the Celestial Teacher and I desire for the 'Dao' like yours."

"You're not pursuing Dao, but dharma. I only have one type of Dao here, but there's a variety of dharma. I can't pass on my Dao to you but you can have two types of dharma since you've been kneeling down here for two days and two nights. But once you get the dharma, you should leave here," Shen Lian said.

He pointed his fingertip at Guzu and there was a turbid current surrounding his fingertip that went into Guzu's glabella in the end. Later, Guzu felt that he was in a vast space and he had spotted many Celestial Teachers. Some of them could swallow the wind and kiss the rain, some could shoulder the mountains and chase after the moon. There were some who were as fast as lightning and some who could perform Bean-Soldiers Transfiguration. All the techniques and supernatural power that he could imagine were all presented right in front of him and there was also a lot of those which he could not have imagined.

Guzu was dazzled by the sight of these but he soon realised that the countless Celestial Teachers assembled together to form light spots which were flying towards him. He hesitated for a second but he did not grab the light spots which were passing by him.

The light spots which were transformed from the Celestial Teachers became more and more. Gradually, he could not see the Celestial Teacher who had the supernatural power to shoulder the mountains and chase after the moon. He also did not know the Celestial Teacher which was represented by each of the light spots. He got anxious and randomly grabbed two light spots.

These two were magical techniques whereby one was the Golden Touch and another one was the Five Elements Fleeing Method.

Later on, he got away from this vast world and reached the foot of the mountain.

All that had happened previously seemed to be like a dream. However, he could hear Shen Lian's voice in his ears, saying, "Don't come up to the mountain anymore in the future. Don't even tell anybody where and how you get these techniques. Or else no matter how many thousand miles away you're from me, I will take your life. Bear in mind of what I said."

Guzu kept closely of what Shen Lian said in mind. Although he failed to formally become an apprentice to Shen Lian, he managed to return to his life after death and obtained two magical techniques. He was filled with gratitude towards the Celestial Teacher, thus he bowed with hands in front of his chest towards the direction of Qing Xuan Cave and left after some time.

Inside Qing Xuan Cave, the black tiger was filled with confusion and thus he asked, "I thought that master will make him your disciple since you've even let him used such precious spiritual item, the stalactite. I didn't expect you'd only pass him two techniques. What's happening?"

Shen Lian said, "You are having more and more questions."

The black tiger was wondering if its master had gotten angry but when it looked up, it saw its master smiling.

Shen Lian said again, "The fact that you have a lot of questions means you're curious about things. This is a good thing. It'd make me feel irritated if you only eat, sleep, and repeat every day."

Instantly, the black tiger felt relieved. It thought that it must be boring its master. However, it realized that its master's temper had turned out to be significantly better lately. Could his temper improve due to the fact that his master had practiced the True Samadhi Fire?

It said, "What's the true meaning of this matter for master exactly?"

Shen Lian said in a carefree tone, "You have been following me for some time. You must've realized that as your master, I'm not someone without any background. I came from a very famous school of cultivation. Your master, I, being considered as one of the most capable ones. However, in my school, when we train our disciples, we prioritize a person's temperament as compared to the natural qualities. Since Guzhu came, I might as well test him. The fact that he could kneel down in a world of ice and snow for two days and two nights clearly showed his perseverance. Nonetheless, this only indicates that he has the potential to cultivate, it doesn't necessarily mean that he can pass the temperament stage."

The black tiger seemed to have been enlightened, "Looks like master wants to test his temperament." At the same time, it was talking to itself. It ate a lot but never worked and all it knew was to toady his master. Did it mean that it will fail the temperament stage? At the thought of its master might abandon it, it started to feel uneasy.

Shen Lian smiled and said, "Absolutely. Now he has the Five Elements Fleeing Method and the Golden Touch. I've left my meaning in these two supernatural powers. Hence, he can master it easily and should successfully practice it in a short time. I'd like to see what he'd do with these two supernatural powers, now that he'd obtained them."

The black tiger said, "Master is so smart, you can see his characters through this way. If it was me, I definitely would not think of such method."

Shen Lian said, "You should stop trying to flatter me. When I go back to the school of cultivation in the future, you'd also have to go through some tests."

The black tiger's face was filled with resentment while staring at Shen Lian. It seemed to be asking his master to not abandon it.

Shen Lian said, "Do you know that there are already two mounts in my school. I think they've already become divine dragons. With your little cultivation experience, you'd only embarrass me. If you can't pass the tests, you'd have to look for a way out yourself in the future."

The black tiger did not expect that aside from that dumb horse, there were still two divine dragons as its competitors. Suddenly, the black tiger felt hopeless and that it would most probably have to leave its master in the future.

It was such a kind-hearted tiger. If it left its master, it would definitely be badly tortured by the rest.

The black tiger was very depressed, what a difficult life.

Feng had once again visited the celestial mountain which Wupeng was living in. Halfway up the mountain, Feng met Wupeng's young apprentice who said that his master was not around. He had left for home to collect some herbs.

This time, Feng was not in a hurry and thus, he waited somewhere nearby. Ten days later, he was informed by the young apprentice that his master had returned.