Chapter 698: Old Master
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

If the previous Netherworld was said to be a seed, then the present Netherworld had already become a seedling. It was continuously absorbing nutrients, thriving, and growing vigorously in the process.

The Temple of the Qing Xuan Heavenly Lord of Salvation from Misery also vanished in the Netherworld, as its existence was attached to the strange spaces of the Netherworld. After Shen Lian arranged his affairs, he left for the temple.

As soon as he stepped foot into the temple, he vanished. To put it another way, only the Qing Xuan Heavenly Lord of Salvation from Misery was left behind in the temple. This was a very abstruse thing, for he is still himself, yet his status was that of the Heavenly Lord of Salvation from Misery for Qing Xuan.

He completely lacked the feeling of reluctance towards this foreign status, as if he ought to have this role.

Shen Lian was not confused by the changes in his status, as he himself did not change.

The feeling he had was akin to when a Crown Prince ascended to the throne and became the Emperor. Naturally, there was a great difference between the past and the present but he was still Shen Lian.

He adapted to his new status in a short time. The Register of Life and Death that he held in his hand had countless dense threads, linking all the beings of the Netherworld. At the same time, newer threads that signified a new being appeared, while some threads broke. All in all, the beings linked together with the Register of Life and Death kept on increasing but it did not include every single being of the Netherworld.

Shen Lian sat in a lotus position on the altar and he was surrounded by black and white Qi of Life and Death. Owing to his extremely high attainment in Dao of Yin and Yang, he could control the Qi of Life and Death with such ease as to the flow of the water in the drain.

Ah Lian became a divine servant, standing below Shen Lian. Her hands held the lotus lantern that was forever glowing.

Shen Lian came to a realization that Ah Lian was his subordinate and he could accept three more subordinates as such. The function of the lotus lantern was to illuminate the road to the Yellow Springs for the purpose of receiving the dead. It also helped in the performance of religious ceremonies to enable lost souls to find peace.

As the Heavenly Lord of Salvation from Misery, one was not to become a deity that was aloof and not in touch with reality. Instead, he was to provide salvation for all beings in the boundless sea of suffering. The term ‘all beings’ encompassed every living being, not just that of the human.

Of course, the prerequisite for salvation was that the living beings who were suffering must think of him in their hearts and believe that he was able to save them. If they did not believe, the salvation would then be ineffective.

Nothing would be gained in return for the salvation, for the salvation was inherent to the mercy of the Heavenly Lord of Salvation from Misery.

At this point, Qing Xuan Heavenly Lord of Salvation from Misery had mercy in his heart, though not by much. Perhaps it was because of Shen Lian. After all, Shen Lian was neither an evil person nor a do-gooder but a person with a cold heart.

Shen Lian could feel the power of the Qing Xuan Heavenly Lord of Salvation from Misery. It was not very strong but it was not very weak either. If he were to save people from suffering, his mana would be boundless. On the contrary, if he did not, he would just become an ordinary deity.

At that instance, Shen Lian had no intention of devoting his effort to fulfill his obligation of being the Heavenly Lord of Salvation from Misery. Instead, he frantically perused the contents of the Register of Life and Death in order to find any information about his old friends that had passed away.

Finally, he found the information of one person – Zhang Ruoxu, who was in the Netherworld and had his name recorded on a page of the registrar.

After having found the answer, Shen Lian turned to Ah Lian and said, “As the Heavenly Lord of Salvation from Misery, I manage four residences. I designate here to be ‘Qing Xuan’s Abode of Immortals’ and I leave it in your capable hands.”

Ah Lian cheerfully followed the orders as she had already understood everything back at the temple. After having found out that Celestial Teacher had become the Heavenly Lord of Salvation from Misery, she knew that it was a deity of high position. Therefore, she developed herself in accordance with the situation. By improving her spiritual tablet, she was able to do many more things.

Compared to Shen Lian, she had a much more merciful heart. In addition to her background of suffering, as she had acquired a great strength, she wished to do many kind things to enrich the coming years ahead of her.

After finishing what he wanted to say, Shen Lian left. Then again, the Qing Xuan Heavenly Lord of Salvation from Misery was still in the temple, and it could even be said that he never left.

Once Shen Lian was out of the temple, he felt a very mysterious feeling.

In the temple, he was the deity. Out if it, he was Shen Lian. Both of these feelings were different and even their line of thought was dissimilar. An ordinary person would have gone mad long ago but Shen Lian was no ordinary person. Naturally he did not go mad and in addition, he managed to learn something from this.

All these were not as important to him as he had another matter to attend to.

…

Peach Mountain was formerly known as Seven Peaches Mountain. It was later on changed to Peach Mountain. In the past, there was a renowned Daoist here by the name of Liu Mengde. He was formerly from Xia Kingdom’s Xuanzhen Hall who later became the State Preceptor of Xi Kingdom. Perhaps not many people of the present knew of Xia Kingdom but it was the first country to be annihilated by the Zhou Kingdom.

After that, Liu Mengde cultivated in Zhou Kingdom’s Mount Jieyang, forming a closer association with the Zhou Kingdom.

As of late, Liu Mengde was nowhere to be found. However, Peach Mountain prospered and churned out countless intellectuals, many of which were among the best that were chosen to be officials by Yi Zhi.

The common practice of attending school here was flourishing. Take any mountain village at the foot of the mountain, and one will find a private school there.

One of those private schools were particularly renowned. The teacher who instructed them was an Old Master of great age.

The season had gradually turned into autumn as the autumn wind rustled, with golden leaves spreading themselves in the village likes bars of gold. The sound of books and the pure voices of the children in this golden wind was akin to a clear flowing stream, baselessly emanating warmth in the cold autumn weather.

The sun rays shone at an angle and there were a number of Eurasian jackdaws; sounds of children reading disappeared in the twilight.

Many children were secretly spying on a simply and neatly clothed young person that was seated outside the house. The young man was punctual when there were classes and left when class ended. This continued for ten days.

Old Master was a person who placed great importance on rules. When he was giving a lesson, he would always refrain from doing anything indifferent or insignificant. Therefore, he never sought out the young person to chat during the class.

This was the reason for a lack of interaction between Old Master and the young man even though ten days had passed.

In the beginning, the children who attended school surmised that the young man might be a ghost. After all, he arrived and left in a questionable manner. Not a trace of him could be found in any part of the village,

Initially, the children were afraid but after the ten days, oddity had become normality to them.

The children looked at the young man secretly because usually, at this hour, the young man would have disappeared. On that day, however, he had yet left.

Old Master finally walked to the door and asked him, “You have been outside the door for some days now. What exactly are you up to?”

The young man raised his clasped hands in greeting and replied, “Old Teacher has vast knowledge. I was outside your door these few days because I was listening to your lessons, benefiting from them.”

Old Master said, “From your look, you are either a cultivator or a something oddly similar. I am but an ordinary person, mere common folk. What could I possibly teach you? Tell me, what is your real purpose in coming here?”

The young person displayed a reverent expression, chuckling, “Old Teacher, it appears that you know. In that case, I shall not conceal anything from you. Recently I have acquired a page of scripture. I pray that you forgive my ignorance as I still remain perplexed even after prolonged pondering of it. Therefore I would like to ask for your help.”

Old Master shook his head, “I am but a humble teacher of this village. I do not have much knowledge.”

“Old Teacher,” the young person said, “there is no need to be humble. I know that you have taught many good students. How could you know that you would be of no help when you have not even seen the scripture that I speak of?”

The young person was taller than Old Master by a head. The latter had to raise his gaze to meet with the eyes of the former. As he saw the young person’s gaze, so pure and uninfluenced with evil, he finally nodded, “Come with me.”

Having said that, he brought Shen Lian back to his home at the rear court of the private school.