When Chen Jing appeared beside her, she stared for a while before saying: "Luonang has seen the River God." At the same time, she slightly bowed her head and made a slight bow. Logically speaking, as someone who had already cultivated, she didn't need to pay respects to gods, but she still did so.
Chen Jing looked at the girl who had pulled him out of the water back then, and his heart was filled with emotions. It could be said that Chen Jing didn't even have a chance to repay her before she disappeared. This wasn't his fault, after obtaining the River God position, he had always been in a state where he couldn't control himself, as if he had already fallen into the vast currents of heaven and earth, unable to calm down no matter how hard he tried, unable to escape, being swept away by the invisible currents of heaven and earth.
"Glad to see you're okay."
At that time, Chen Jing later learned that Yan Lao had passed away and made a special trip to pay his respects. However, by then Yan Luo had already left with the woman in white, and if she hadn't, Chen Jing would have also planned to teach her the ways of Taoism. At this moment, Chen Jing wouldn't say any of these thoughts out loud, but looking at this woman who had made him feel so special back then now embarking on a path of cultivation, he couldn't help but feel a sense of the ever-changing nature of heaven and earth.
Yan Luoniang smiled and said: "As soon as it's daylight, I'll leave this place, and I don't know if I'll ever come back again."
"Traveling around the world, tempering your mind, it's all arranged by your master."
"Yes, it was arranged by Master."
Chen Jing didn't ask her who her master was or what sect she belonged to. But from the aura on her body and the fact that she had already reached a state of fullness in her Qi, with spiritual energy swirling around her, within just over a decade, he knew that her master must be extraordinary.
"I am the river god here, and I will protect all living creatures that drink from the waters of Jinquan River." Chen Jing meant to tell Yan Luoniang that Heqian Village was under his protection, so she could leave with peace of mind. Before Yan Luoniang could respond, a soft laughter echoed outside the temple, followed by someone saying: "What a big boast! What makes you think a small river god like you can offer protection?"
Chen Jing glanced at the River God Temple and didn't say anything. Yan Luonai smiled, but naturally couldn't see clearly. Just as he was about to speak, Chen Jing had already disappeared.
Yan Luoniang sighed, looked up at the statue of the god, and after a while turned around and walked out of the River God Temple.
"Sister, if we hadn't come here, we could have left behind a beautiful memory. Now that I've seen it, the River God was nothing but a lonely soul in the past. Even with divine powers, it's all just an illusion now. Not to mention he doesn't even have that, just a group of living beings relying on a heavenly decree to survive. Let alone us, there are many sects in the world that have methods to break through this kind of insubstantial mountain and river power."
"Seventh Brother, magic is just an external means, everything depends on self-cultivation. Under the same heavenly rules, some people can penetrate heaven and earth, while others spend their lives gazing up at the stars, why is that?" Yan Luonang said to Seventh Brother.
She had always been very quiet and non-confrontational in the eyes of her seniors, so when she said something like that, it drew their attention and surprise.
The senior brother looked at the temple in the morning with a slight smile on his lips, but his inner thoughts could not be seen.
That Seventh Brother, however, was somewhat angry and said: "Junior Sister, the principle is indeed this principle, but this River God will absolutely not become the kind of person you described. If you don't believe me, I can right now destroy this River God Temple, annihilate that god statue, and let him disappear into thin air."
"Heh heh, Seventh Brother, calm your mind and spirit, only then can you control the heavens and earth. After so many years of cultivation, how is it that you still can't control your temper?" The Eldest Brother said, and immediately Seventh Brother lowered his head, not daring to say anything more.
"Senior brother, senior sister, let's go back to the village." Yan Luoniang said, and without waiting for them, she turned around and walked down to the riverbank.
The eldest senior brother smiled slightly and followed him down, while the second senior sister furrowed her brow, looked at the River God Temple again, but didn't say anything else and closely followed them. The others followed behind them, with the seventh senior brother being the last one to leave, watching as they disappeared into the distance. He fell silent for a moment before heading down towards the riverbank, but after just a few steps, he suddenly turned around, pointing his finger upwards towards the sky. In an instant, all the spiritual energy in this area converged onto his raised finger.
Yan Luoniang was about to arrive at the River Front Village, she sensed that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was unusual, immediately turned around and looked towards the River God Temple, only to see Seventh Brother's hand holding a dense green light, quickly drawing a spiritual symbol in the void, followed by a soft shout, the symbol flashed in mid-air and was imprinted on the River God Temple.
Yan Luoniang knew this was a sealing talisman that could seal the spiritual energy of all things and suppress the essence and spirit of all living beings.
She didn't say anything, still turned around and continued walking towards the village in front of the river, and didn't even ask Seventh Brother to lift the seal. A sister caught up with her and asked if she wanted Seventh Brother to lift the seal. Yan Luoniang smiled at her and said: "A small seal, how can it be a threat to the River God?"
Regarding Yan Luo's answer, the senior sister was obviously somewhat unhappy. For her, this seal belonged to a very powerful spell in their school. Although she knew that they had only scratched the surface of it, she didn't think there were many people who could break it, at least not the River God of Jinghe Xiu Chunwan.
Looking from afar, Seventh Brother had already descended the riverbank. The River God Temple seemed unchanged, except that the woman digging at the corner of the temple wall was now scooping up large clumps of mud with her hoe, several times more than she had dug in an entire day.
Seventh Brother returned and said to Yan Luonang who was meditating: "Junior Sister, I only cast a sealing spell. If the River God has real abilities, he won't be able to do anything about it. Otherwise, when we leave tomorrow, what you'll see is a collapsed River God Temple."
Time passed quickly, the village elder came to ask Yan Luonang if he wasn't going to eat, Yan Luonang naturally shook his head, all of them had already abstained from food, swallowing the heaven and earth's primordial energy was enough.
Night falls, the moon rises in the east.
Yan Luoniang suddenly heard the faint hum of mosquitoes in her ears, not the whispers of villagers, but drifting from the direction of Jinghe River. Yan Luoniang listened carefully for a while and confirmed that it was indeed the voice of the river god, and not only did she hear it, others also heard it similarly.
"Hehe, this river god is quite capable... Hmm, it seems to be a lecture, let's go and listen." The eldest master tilted his ear to listen for a while, smiled and said, then led the way towards the River God Temple, with others following closely behind.
But someone whispered: "He's talking about the Tao, what Tao is he talking about? The master once said that those who talk about the Tao must have already understood the profound meaning of the Great Tao. They can communicate with heaven and earth through spiritual intention and make sounds that allow listeners to unknowingly understand the mystery of the Tao."
On the slope extending from the river embankment, on the threshold of a River God Temple built with carp scales as tiles and a carp backbone as the main beam, sat a figure condensed from mist. His hands were clasped over his knees, revealing a clear face.
In front of the River God Temple, there was a large red shrimp squatting, about the size of a 200-pound pig that someone had raised. On the left side, there was a green shell, about the size of a millstone, with a whole body of cyan and green, surrounded by a group of water mist. Directly opposite was a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl sitting on a long strip of brick stone that had been moved from somewhere else. Next to her lay a large water buffalo, its two curved horns almost connected together, forming a full moon. In addition, a little further away, there was a crab that had crawled out of the water, as big as a rooster, still wet on its body, quietly watching the misty person sitting on the threshold of the River God Temple. In the grass thicket on the riverbank, a small black and white snake was coiled, and an nightingale stood quietly on a large tree beside the temple.
"In the world, from birth to death, most living beings are in a state of spiritual awakening. Living beings have spirituality from birth, without distinction between strong and weak, this spirituality is just an instinct, confused and ignorant. Some living beings spend their entire lives in this stage, when some living beings begin to leave this stage of confusion, it is called spiritual awakening. Human spiritual awakening is achieved through education and learning after birth, while the spiritual awakening of demons can also be like this, but the vast majority have no such opportunity throughout their lives, so the spiritual awakening of demons must be accompanied by opportunities."
The voice of Chen Jing floated in the air above the temple, and the sound was drowned out by the waves crashing against the shore. Only within a certain space in front of the river god temple could it be heard. Of course, this only applied to ordinary living beings. Those with cultivation on their bodies could hear it from afar, just like Yan Luonang could hear it in Heqian Village.
It has been several months since the big red shrimp asked, and some of the nearby awakened creatures somehow knew that Chen Jing was preaching in front of the River God Temple. They would come to the River God Temple every night to listen to Chen Jing's sermon or ask questions about their own doubts, and then Chen Jing would answer them one by one.
Although the boundaries they discussed were not profound, what Chen Jing said was already known to the Taoist disciples, but before Chen Jing, no one had taught him these things, and those who had just opened their spiritual gates did not know them either. This question-and-answer process can be said to be a win-win situation for both parties. They could dispel the confusion in their minds through questioning, while Chen Jing clarified his understanding of the things he had learned over the years by answering, allowing him to understand the aspects of cultivation more thoroughly.
Nothing in life is calm and peaceful, opportunities are everywhere, and unexpected guests often come.
As soon as Chen Jing finished speaking, a faint laugh echoed through the air, followed by another voice: "I thought you were talking about something profound!" As the sound of the voice faded away, the nightingale on the branch took to the sky, flying into the darkness. The black and white snake slithered into the grass, while the crab as big as a rooster scurried into the river. The large red shrimp stood up, producing a gleaming sword from nowhere, and the green turtle shell turned around, with the small white dragon sitting up straight to gaze downstream. Only the water buffalo remained fast asleep.
A line of people walked along the riverbank, men and women, each looking refined and elegant with a subtle charm. The clothes they wore were all made from the finest materials and woven into magnificent robes.
