The official date of the grand ceremony was January 15th. However, the grand ceremony formally began on the evening of the 14th, the day before.
Lei Jun didn't understand the process of the Taoist Sect's Transcension Ritual on Blue Star, the world he had transmigrated from.
However, in the Celestial Master Mansion of this world, a key task for every Tao Boy at the Tao Boy Court was to memorize the procedural rituals of the Transmission Ceremony. They had to know them well enough for perfect recitation.
On the evening of the 14th, it proceeded in four steps.
Firstly, the Water Cleansing Banishment Ritual.
This meant sweeping the Taoist grounds with serene flowing water, washing away dust, and expelling malevolent entities.
Yuan Mobai and other purple-robed Elders conducted it. The flowing water enveloped the starry sky, seemingly forming an independent barrier that turned the Taoist grounds into its own self-contained world.
Secondly, Worship the True and Pay Homage to the Dipper.
This involved lighting the Lamp and worshipping the stars under the night sky, where the lamplight could be seen dancing in sync with the stars of the Milky Way.
Then, Cultivate Austerity and Invite the Masters.
The masters and disciples together constructed the Altar. Positions for the ancestral masters of the Taoist Sect were set up in the middle, left, and right sections of this altar.
Finally, the Vigil and Commencement of Rites.
This was presided over by the High Merit Master of this grand ceremony, who would perform the ritual of prayers and invocations.
As Lei Jun understood it, this was akin to a preliminary announcement or prayer, a way of giving advance notice.
Then came January 15th, when the ceremony formally commenced upon the altar.
Offering the Ten-directions Incense, burning Summoning Talismans.
Offering incense to one's tutelary deity, proclaiming mystic incantations.
Striking the Ritual Drum, ringing the Ceremony Bell.
The High Merit Master, holding an incense burner, performed the incense offering ritual, which counted as the final preparatory work before the purification rites.
Although little Tao Boys like Lei Jun only needed to follow the procedures, this series of rituals truly tested one's endurance.
Fortunately, practicing these was one of their tasks at the Tao Boy Court.
When all the preliminary preparations were finished, and the purification Transmission Ceremony officially began, it was already the evening of January 15th.
At this time, outside the Altar, guest observers took their seats one after another, their gazes scrutinizing the new generation of true immortal seeds from the Celestial Master Mansion.
Among them were many powerful cultivators of High Realms.
Lei Jun saw some in official garb among them.
The world he now inhabited had a nominal ruler over all under heaven: the Great Tang Dynasty.
In this world where cultivators reigned supreme, the Tang Emperors of past dynasties were also formidable cultivators.
Under the rule of the Great Tang, many Aristocratic Clans had always existed, and in recent years, various Sacred Cultivation Grounds had also risen to prominence.
The relationships between these factions were intricate and complicated, difficult to describe succinctly.
For grand occasions like the Celestial Master Mansion's Transmission Ceremony, a gathering of distinguished figures to observe was expected.
However, to the Tao Boys, those observers seemed distant at that moment. Everyone was focused on proceeding according to the established rituals.
The formal ritual procedures would then be roughly divided into three parts: the Initial Offering, the Secondary Offering, and the Final Offering.
During the Initial Offering, tea and wine were presented. Declarations were announced and then burned to reverently inform Heaven, Earth, and the ancestral masters.
The Secondary Offering was the core segment. Masters and disciples faced each other in lines, and the High Merit Master presiding over the ceremony announced the Ten Precepts. This was followed by the Du Shi and the disciples performing the ritual of separating the Silver Ring and breaking the document scroll.
Separating the Silver Ring, breaking the document scroll.
The Silver Ring had specific regulations. It typically measured two and four-tenths inches in diameter, and a designated master craftsman would mark them beforehand.
The document scroll recorded the names and dharma ranks of the ancestral masters across generations, along with the basic personal information of the disciples.
Lei Jun's other information was all true. However, his physical body had transmigrated, leaving him with no place of origin to speak of. This particular item on the document had been filled in for him by Xu Yuanzhen, who had brought him back to the mountain.
The result was that no one officially questioned it, and Lei Jun himself was not inclined to mention it further.
During the ceremony, Lei Jun, along with Yuan Mobai, penned memorials and statements to reverently inform Heaven, Earth, and the ancestral masters. Afterwards, they oversaw the distribution and storage of the rings and document scrolls.
The meaning of the Ritual Instrument was significant. After the separation of the ring and the breaking of the document scroll, the Du Shi must not conceal the truth or present falsehoods. Similarly, the disciple must not betray the Tao or turn against their master.
This was known as: "Dividing the ring, the covenant must never change; tearing the scroll, the oath must not be broken."
Finally, the Final Offering of the ritual ceremony consisted of various concluding procedures:
Sending off the deities, acknowledging the officials, restoring the furnace, and exiting the hall.
The High Merit Master presiding over the grand ceremony would pay homage to the ancestral masters and deliver a valedictory address of gratitude.
After the formalities were completed, Lei Jun and the other disciples followed their respective masters out of the Altar.
Yuan Mobai smiled and gestured to Wang Guiyuan, who had been standing respectfully to the side.
Wang Guiyuan also smiled as he handed over a set of ritual attire and a Dharma Box to Lei Jun.
The ceremony had concluded, and the master and his two disciples returned together to their courtyard in the mansion grounds.
Starting from today, Lei Jun would also officially bid farewell to his glorious status as a Tao Boy.
Next, he could move.
He would leave the Tao Boy Court at the foot of the mountain and move to live and cultivate in the Celestial Master Mansion's main residential area, halfway up the main peak.
The main Sect residence was brimming with Spiritual Energy. Although also located on Dragon Tiger Mountain, as a cultivation haven, it naturally surpassed the Tao Boy Court at the foot of the mountain by a vast margin.
Rows of Tao Palaces were built along the mountainside, similarly surrounded by numerous independent courtyards.
The courtyard Lei Jun chose was located near Yuan Mobai's residence, making him neighbors with his fellow disciple, Wang Guiyuan.
When he had some free time, he could go back to the Tao Boy Court to move his belongings.
For now, Lei Jun first changed his clothes. He exchanged his grey robe for an Apricot Daoist Robe and donned a dark black Taoist Crown. Externally, he had officially transitioned from a Tao Boy to a Taoist.
He recalled that during the ceremony, some of the True Inheritances from the Celestial Master Mansion wore deep red Taoist Robes.
That represented the Talisman-bestowed investiture, the second major threshold after the Transcension Ritual.
Now, having transformed from a Tao Boy into a Taoist, he could begin to look forward to the higher-level Talisman-bestowed ceremony.
After changing his clothes, Lei Jun left the small courtyard and joined Wang Guiyuan to visit their master, Yuan Mobai.
"You are from the 'Chong' generation," Yuan Mobai said with a gentle smile. "Normally, one character from a disciple's given name is combined to form their Taoist name. However, today, after I presented the memorial informing Heaven, Earth, and the Ancestors, I had an inspiration. You have an affinity with 'yun,' which means 'cloud.' Thus, I have incorporated 'yun' into your Taoist name, Chongyun for you. I hope you will master the cloud scripts of the Three Pure Cave Heavens and soon achieve the High True Realm."
"Thank you, Master, for bestowing upon me my Taoist name."
Lei Jun's expression remained unchanged, but a thought emerged in his heart:
Chongyun... 'Heavy clouds,' deep and concealing, making thoughts hard to fathom... Could Master be teasing me?
Or, to let my thoughts wander further: Lei Chongyun... 'Lei' means thunder, and 'Chongyun' means heavy clouds. Thunder accumulating within heavy clouds, unreleased, but who knows when it might suddenly erupt with a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering roar... Lei Jun halted his runaway thoughts, feeling that his master might be overthinking things.
According to the rules of the Longhu Mountain Celestial Master's Mansion in this world, only devout believers who had taken refuge in the Three Treasures and possessed a karmic affinity could enter the mountain, and even then, only as Tao Boys.
Only after undergoing the Transcension Ritual could a Tao Boy be called a Taoist. They would then officially become a True Inheritance of the Celestial Master Mansion, receiving their own lineage and Taoist name. Furthermore, they would be formally bestowed with the Sect's Cultivation Practices, Magic Artifacts, and other resources.
Lei Jun opened the Dharma Box and saw several items inside.
First was the Passport Talisman, which confirmed his identity and lineage.
Then there was the first scroll of the True Formula of the Great Way Scripture. This was the cultivation method for official disciples of the Celestial Master Mansion, a true transmission from the Taoist Talisman Sect.
And lastly, the Transcension Ritual Magic Artifact.
"Master…" Lei Jun looked at a short stick inside the box—black in color, emitting a faint golden light, measuring about a foot and a half long, thick at one end and thin at the other.
He gripped the thinner end, which fit perfectly in his hand, and took the short stick out. "I see other fellow disciples have Magic Artifacts like Dharma Commands, Dharma Rulers, Magical Swords, and so on. What's this one?"
Lei Jun waved it subconsciously.
It felt quite handy.
"That is from when Master once entered the Supreme Pure Thunder Mansion Cave Heaven. There, in a Purple Bamboo Forest, he encountered a Golden Bamboo, a specimen so rare it's seldom seen even in millennia," Wang Guiyuan explained in detail. "After Master harvested it, he combined it with many other rare treasures. Through years of ritual refining and Warming and Nurturing, it was infused with numerous marvelous properties. When you, Lei, were initiated, Master deliberated for a long time before finally deciding to bestow this Golden Bamboo upon you as your Magic Artifact."
Yuan Mobai nodded with a smile.
Lei Jun switched the direction of the short stick in his hand, gripping the thicker end this time, and took another look. "So, its original form was a bamboo shoot?"
Wang Guiyuan corrected, "It's unique in all the world—a bamboo shoot that Master refined for many years with his Great Divine Power and Warming and Nurturing."
Yuan Mobai's smile remained undiminished.
Lei Jun looked at the short stick in his hand.
Could this be the Fourth Rank Opportunity mentioned in the divination?
He switched back to holding the thinner end with one hand, gave the short stick a couple more test swings in the air, and then carefully put it away. "Thank you, Master, for bestowing the Magic Artifact."
"Today's grand ceremony has ended, and it is now late," Yuan Mobai said. "Tomorrow, Chongyun, you will move into your new residence. The day after tomorrow, I shall formally impart the teachings to you both."
He then looked at Lei Jun. "You should prepare for your Foundation Establishment."