Mutated Tao

“The Three Emperor-Officials emerged from the chaos. Under the order of the Jade Emperor, they took on the role of the Heavenly Official, Earthly Official, and Water Official. The Heavenly Official ruled over all that is under the heavens, the major gods, the great sages, and the emperors. The Earthly Official ruled over the gods of the Five Great Mountains, the minor gods, the sages, and the enlightened ones. The Water Official ruled over the gods of the rivers, the streams, the lakes, and the Immortals. The Three Emperor-Officials ruled over their respective realms with integrity, and the beings in the realms prospered. They took pity on the mortal realm and did many things to fulfill the needs of the mortals. With their supreme intellect and compassion, they lovingly blessed and protected the mortal realm.”

The sound of chanting echoed within the large cave. Including Li Huowang, the six disciples within Zephyr Temple were sitting on a mat listening to the morning lecture of their Master.

There were no books to read from. Li Huowang was chanting as accurately as he could along with the other disciples.

Li Huowang was in the midst of chanting the scripture when he raised his head. He focused his gaze on Dan Yangzi who was sitting at the front. Hostility flashed within Li Huowang’s eyes, but he quickly suppressed it.

Facing the ugly bastard, Li Huowang wanted nothing more than to flay him and consume the flesh of this Master of his. But he endured. He knew that he was too weak right now.

His enemy was too strong, so he could not act rashly. All he could do was to endure and wait for an opportunity to arise.

While it might be really difficult, and Dan Yangzi might end up discovering his plans and kill him, Li Huowang didn’t care about any of that anymore.

When he saw Dan Yangzi shift his body sideways, Li Huowang quickly averted his gaze upward, past the three incense sticks, and focused on the three deity statues placed within an alcove in the wall of the cave. The three deities were three separate gods wearing yellow Taoist robes, their eyes neither sad nor joyful, their gaze forever gazing toward the insignificant mortals. The three deities did not have an air of holiness. In fact, they looked quite normal. If it wasn’t for the Taoist robes they were wearing, the three of them would look just like normal humans.

While Li Huowang did not recognize the three deities, he secretly etched their faces into his memories.

The sound of chanting gradually died down. After they chanted the final verse, one of the assistants pounded a red drum thrice, signaling the end of morning lectures.

All of the disciples stood up along with Dan Yangzi. They held their left thumb with their right hand and covered it with their remaining four fingers. Then, they raised both hands above their head and paid respect to the three deities.

After paying their respects, Dan Yangzi turned around slowly and looked at his disciples.

When he saw Li Huowang standing at the very end in his Taoist robes, he nodded his head with satisfaction.

“Xuan Yuan, Xuan Yang has just become an official disciple, so he would naturally know very little about what we do. As his senior brother, you should guide him.”

“Yes, Master.” A chubby man with a round face bowed toward Dan Yangzi.

“Alright. It is now past 7 am. I have nothing else to tell you. Go and have your meals.” Dan Yangzi said as he walked into an adjacent cave with his hands behind his back.

A man wearing a Huyuan hat followed Dan Yangzi, albeit with a gloomy face.

“That was Senior Brother Zheng Kun. Ever since Zheng Kan and Zheng Zhen betrayed Master, he is the only direct disciple left. Please be more respectful to him if you meet him again. His temper is even worse than Master’s,” Xuan Yuan came up to Li Huowang and explained to him about the other disciple.

Li Huowang nodded. “Thank you for explaining all that to me, Senior Brother Xuan Yuan. Does Zheng Kun also know how to use special powers, just like Master?”

While there were still many things that Li Huowang didn’t know, it was clear that Dan Yangzi could manipulate objects through the air and possessed superstrength, easily capable of picking up a stone urn weighing hundreds of kilograms.

But the thing that Li Huowang was the most wary of was the most frightening thing that his Master could do—his ability to have complete knowledge on anything happening within the cave, including the fact that he said that his Master was insignificant or knowing that Li Huowang had not agreed to run away with the other disciples.

If Li Huowang wanted to fight against Dan Yangzi, he needed to know the details of this ability.

“Zheng Kun is a direct disciple, so how would I know what he has learned from Master?” said Xuan Yuan.

Li Huowang realized that there was a hint of jealousy within this statement.

The strength of a single person is way too weak here. Should I find an ally within the Zephyr Temple?

Just as Li Huowang had this thought, he immediately erased it out of his mind.

Those who would have tried to stand against Master were most likely already eaten by the Black Taisui. The remaining people were either those loyal to Master, or those who were extremely afraid of him.

“Let’s go. We can talk as we walk.” Xuan Yuan turned around and guided Li Huowang toward the kitchen. “I know what you are thinking. Don’t try to learn Master’s method of becoming an Immortal. In terms of seniority, you can be considered the youngest. All you need to do is follow Master’s orders. When the time comes, you will naturally learn about it.”

They had just arrived in the cave that was used for eating meals. The rest of the disciples were already here and eating congee.

Li Huowang recognized three of them. One of them was Xuan Yin, while the other two were Chang Ming and Chang Ren. The two of them had a sword strapped to their backs. In addition to Xuan Yuan and himself, all five official disciples of Zephyr Temple were gathered here.

“One of the rules of Zephyr Temple is to not speak while it is time to eat or time to sleep. I will teach you the rest after our meal.” Xuan Yuan had just finished informing Li Huowang about the rule before he too sat down to eat the congee.

Li Huowang followed suit and drank a mouthful from the black ceramic bowl. All the while, he was silently observing the other official disciples.

Their faces were distinct but average, neither ugly nor nice. Li Huowang felt something was off, wearing the same Taoist robe as them and sitting at the same place.

When Xuan Yang was blowing his nose, his snot falling onto the ground, the other two official disciples frowned. Li Huowang finally realized what was weird, it was their aura!

Some of them had a dignified aura like that of a scholar, while some of them were rough, almost as if they were born to do menial labor.

Where did Dan Yangzi find the other four official disciples? Did he promote them from among the guiding drug ingredients?

After their meal, the other disciples set down their empty bowls and left without even looking at their new junior brother.

Meanwhile, Xuan Yuan guided Li Huowang throughout the Zephyr Temple and explained about the different sectors to him. From Xuan Yuan’s explanation, he understood that the other four official disciples were in charge of different parts of the Zephyr Temple.

Some of them were in charge of the assistants, while others were in charge of collecting and buying raw materials from the outside. Some of them were even given the responsibility to feed the Black Taisui. Those with more experience even had to do multiple jobs. However, it hasn’t always been so busy for them. Ever since the last batch of escapees were killed, they had to take care of all the extra responsibilities.

Li Huowang was responsible for the same task as the previous Xuan Yang, which was to manage the Preparation Room. The main goal of the official disciples was to assist their Master in becoming an Immortal.

After talking for an entire day, Li Huowang gained a much deeper understanding of the Zephyr Temple through Xuan Yuan’s explanation. He did his best to remember as much as he could. This was no longer a hallucination that he could just leave freely. All of this information might come in handy when killing Dan Yangzi. His relationship with Xuan Yuan was also slightly closer than before. Both of them were walking back.

“Junior brother Xuan Yang, there is no need to be so nervous. You probably won’t have much to do, since Master does not refine pills every day.”

“Huh? Could you explain that to me in more detail?”

“Refining pills highly depends on the weather and the time. Some of the ingredients to refine pills can only achieve their strongest effect at certain times. For example, today is not a good day to refine pills, but the day after tomorrow, between 11 pm–1 am, would be an excellent time to do so.”

Chacha and Char’s Thoughts

This is an amazing fanart depicting Dan Yangzi, once again drawn by @格子的乱七八糟 on Douyin!