"Ascend to the heavens?"
I hadn't woken up from the shock of seeing an old Daoist. I was bewildered when I heard what he said.
The difference between a Heavenly Master and a mortal was like the difference between the clouds and the mud. However, using the word 'ascend to the heavens' to describe it was a bit exaggerated, especially since the one who said it was an old Daoist. To Daoists, only those who could ascend to the heavens could ascend to the heavens.
I was just mumbling to myself. However, the old Daoist turned to look at me. He swung the horsetail whisk in his hand and sneered, "To this hairless animal, getting rid of its animal body and becoming a human is no different from ascending to the heavens.
It's ascending to the heavens! "
I nodded and didn't say anything. I was still a little skeptical about the old Daoist's identity.
The old Daoist didn't bother with me anymore. His eyes returned to the snake spirit. After watching for a while, he seemed to be interested. He said, "You hairless animal, you're lucky. You've given up your body, so you must have shed your snake shell. Today, you won't have to suffer.
All right, since you've rung the Sky Bell and shed your mortal body, I'll give you a chance to leap through the dragon gate. "
As soon as he finished talking, he raised the horsetail whisk in his left hand and raised his right hand. His index finger pointed at the snake spirit. His long white beard and eyebrows fluttered even though there was no wind. His mouth made a thunderous sound as he spat out eight words.
"Hidden dragon enters the sea, true dragon ascends to the heavens!"
He spoke very slowly, and each word was like the ringing of a bell. It wasn't any weaker than the sound of the snake spirit hitting the mountain wall.
Not only that, but after he finished reciting these words, a fist-sized crystal clear seal suddenly appeared on his fingertip.
When the seal appeared, it was just as the old Taoist finished reciting the eight characters. But after the seal appeared, there seemed to be an echo in the air. The voice of "Hidden Dragon Enters the Sea, Dragon Rises to Heaven" appeared again. The seal also emitted a light-colored airflow that was like a wind. It flew swiftly from top to bottom and landed on the head of the Snake Spirit. Then, it disappeared.
Seeing this, I was even more shocked. I blurted out, "Righteous Bestowal."
According to the legends, when spirits became immortals, they needed to be bestowed Righteous Bestowal by a virtuous person.
The so-called Righteous Bestowal was a kind of recognition that spirits had to experience on their path of cultivation.
If a spiritual monster wanted to become a human, it would need the approval of a human. Similarly, if a spiritual monster wanted to become an immortal, it would also need the approval of an immortal.
There had always been such a saying in the metaphysical world. I had heard of it before, but the snake spirit had never mentioned it to me. I didn't know much about it, so I didn't think about it. Until now, when I saw the old Daoist priest's action, I suddenly understood.
The seal that appeared on the old Daoist's fingertip was sparkling and translucent. It did not look like an ordinary object, but in reality, it was the Heavenly Master Seal.
When every cultivator entered the Heavenly Master Realm, a strand of Dao Qi would be separated from their body. After being tempered, it would gradually form a stamp-like object.
On the surface, it looked similar, but in reality, every Celestial Master's seal was different.
According to legend, when demons were bestowed with the Righteous Bestowal, they needed to have the Heavenly Master's seal before they could act.
This is also the reason why I didn't help the snake spirit even though I knew about the Righteous Bestowment. Neither I nor the people around me have reached the Celestial Master Realm. Naturally, we don't have the Celestial Master Seal.
With the Taoist Master's seal as proof and his words as proof, this was the recognition of a virtuous person towards a monster. This was the so-called "Righteous Bestowal".
With this recognition, the snake spirit would have the foundation to transform into a dragon.
Although I was curious about the simple Righteous Bestowal, I wasn't that shocked. What really shocked me were the words that the old Daoist said.
When the snake spirit transformed into a dragon, it wasn't a real dragon but a flood dragon.
A flood dragon wasn't a real dragon. To put it nicely, it was just a hidden dragon. Compared to the Heavenly Master Realm, a real dragon was an existence equal to a Golden Immortal of the Great All-Embracing Heaven. The snake spirit had a long way to go before it could reach that level.
Thus, for the old Daoist to grant it the Righteous Bestowal, the words' Hidden Dragon Descends to the Sea 'were enough. The last four words' True Dragon Ascends to Heaven 'were needed for the flood dragon to transform into a real dragon.
The flood dragon needed the Righteous Bestowal from an Immortal to have an effect.
Let's not talk about whether the snake spirit needed the last four words to grant it the Righteous Bestowal or not. This old Daoist just talked about a real dragon. Could he be a True Immortal?
The old Daoist had suddenly appeared in the Dragon Transformation Ceremony that required Heaven and Earth's judgment. It was really mysterious. From this point, he seemed to be a True Immortal that could use the judgment power on behalf of Heaven and Earth. However, after thinking about it for a while, I rejected this thought.
I didn't care about anything else. Just by looking at the Heavenly Master seal in his hand, I knew he wasn't an Immortal.
Since he had the Heavenly Master seal, he was just a Heavenly Master. I didn't know the cultivation base of an Immortal, but status and power always complemented each other. This was the truth of the world.
If he wasn't an Immortal, the four words' True Dragon Ascends to Heaven 'shouldn't have any effect on him. I didn't know why he had added the extra words.
I was puzzled, so I lowered my voice and discussed with Zhang Kanwen.
Zhang Kanwen was from Mount Wen, and he had a thousand-year inheritance. He knew more about these things. After listening to him, I knew that the extra words were actually a good karma that the old Daoist had formed with the snake spirit.
Of course, the Heavenly Master realm couldn't confer Righteous Bestowal to the snake spirit when it turned into a true dragon. However, today was the day when the snake spirit turned into a Flood Dragon. According to Zhang Kanwen, on the day when the Flood Dragon turned into a Flood Dragon, even if an ordinary person called him a dragon, he would still have a weak Righteous Bestowal. Although the extra words the old Daoist had said couldn't really confer Righteous Bestowal to the snake spirit, they could still help him in his future journey.
Of course, the old Daoist wasn't just being kind. In fact, conferring Righteous Bestowal to either a snake or a Flood Dragon would bring him a great fortune. With the old Daoist's cultivation base, he didn't care about the good fortune of conferring Righteous Bestowal to the snake spirit. However, conferring Righteous Bestowal to the Flood Dragon would bring him extraordinary fortune.
With the extra words he had said today, if the snake spirit had a chance to turn into a true dragon and ascend to Heaven, the old Daoist would be able to receive good karma.
After understanding this, I felt happy. It wasn't because the old Daoist had shown his kindness to the snake spirit. It was because the old Daoist's friendly attitude proved that he was optimistic about the snake spirit's success in transforming into a Flood Dragon.
Otherwise, the old Daoist wouldn't have needed to waste his energy on a snake spirit that he didn't think highly of.
This discovery made me relax a lot. I was interested to see what the snake spirit would do next.
After the power of conferring Righteous Bestowal fell on the snake spirit's head, it seemed it couldn't digest it. It floated quietly on the lake for a long time.
Around the time it takes an incense stick to burn, it finally moved again.
It was similar to how it had prepared to hit the mountain wall. This time, the snake spirit crazily wagged its tail and prepared to dash forward. However, this time, it didn't crazily hit the wall like a fool. Just as I had expected, after it had dashed forward for a while, it straightened its body and soared into the sky. It looked like it was going to leap through the Dragon's Gate.
That was right. No matter how I looked at it, jumping from a one-hundred-meter-tall mountain peak was much more reliable than crashing into the mountain wall.
Instinctively, I clenched my fists. As the snake spirit soared higher, I furrowed my brows and encouraged it in silence.
It was true that leaping through the Dragon's Gate was more reliable than crashing into the Dragon's Gate. However, before it could fly, it was an impossible challenge for any creature. I didn't know if the snake spirit was confident enough. Anyway, I wasn't sure.
However, I soon found that I was wrong. The snake spirit wasn't like what I had imagined. It seemed it could fly.
I didn't know how much power it could provide by wagging its tail above the lake. However, the snake spirit's body soared higher and higher at a fast speed. It didn't seem to have any intention of stopping.
When I was a kid, I used to throw pebbles into the sky. I knew that the pebbles would slow down. When they stopped, the pebbles would fall to the ground.
From this point of view, it seemed the snake spirit could really fly.
Metaphysics couldn't go against the laws of physics. It only took around ten seconds to jump one hundred meters. As I watched, the snake spirit reached the same height as the Dragon's Gate Mountain. Then, it slowly stopped and glided forward. Eventually, it fell toward the old Daoist at the peak of the mountain.
Did it succeed?
Did it just jump through the Dragon's Gate?
I held my breath and opened my eyes wide. I didn't even blink as I watched the snake spirit.
If it wanted to transform into a Flood Dragon, something strange would happen if it succeeded.
The truth was beyond my expectations. When the snake spirit landed in front of the old Daoist, I looked at it. The snake spirit still looked the same. Its body was still short, and there were no changes. There were no horns on its head.
Did it succeed or not?