Chapter 129 - 126: Heroes Emerge, Who Will Be King
However, Zhang Jiao acquired the "Essential Arts for Peace" taught by Zhuang Zhou, and although the method of becoming immortal was excluded from the "Essential Arts for Peace," the Taoist arts were all-encompassing within it.
Having obtained the book, he studied diligently both day and night, earnestly learning until he made considerable progress.
After about a year, he had mastered Taoist arts to the point of being able to summon wind and call rain. He took the Taoist name "Taiping Daoist," established the "Taiping Sect," and comprehended the "Essential Arts for Peace" along with his two older brothers. However, Zhang Jiao was the one aligned with the Heavenly Dao, possessing stronger fortune. Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang, on the other hand, fell short. Their cultivation in the Taoist arts was nowhere near as formidable as Zhang Jiao’s.
The "Essential Arts for Peace" is divided into three volumes: one discusses the Way of governing a country and cultivating oneself through non-action, one discusses the cultivation of True Qi, and the last discusses the application of Taoist arts. Zhang Jiao revered the book as if it were a deity, and although he knew it inside out, he would still read it daily before he could sleep.
By the first month of the first year of Zhongping, it was New Year’s, and an epidemic broke out. In Jizhou, snow blanketed the ground, and although epidemics mostly spread in warm weather, the fortunes of the Great Han had run out, and strange events occurred yearly. With ghosts causing disturbances here and demons wreaking havoc there, an outbreak of the plague amidst the frigid weather was not a rarity. The three brothers of the Zhang family thus used their Taoist arts to enter the world, aiding the common folk by performing spells to treat diseases. They were hailed as the "Great Benevolent Instructors," the Taiping Sect flourished, and Zhang Jiao gathered five hundred disciples who learned some Taoist arts from him.
Zhang Jiao’s reputation as a sage among the people grew ever larger, ready to rise at the right moment.
Daoist Equal to Heaven arrived in Julu of Jizhou, where the Taiping Sect had already grown immensely. The main altar had been established, and all followers wrapped their heads in yellow turbans, foreshadowing the upcoming Yellow Turbans army.
Daoist Equal to Heaven approached the main altar, and a sect follower guarding the gate saw him and challenged, "Where does this Taoist come from? Are you here to join our Taiping Sect?"
Daoist Equal to Heaven replied with a smile, "No, no! I have long heard of the Taiping Daoist Friend’s great renown and simply wish to catch a glimpse of him at the Taiping Sect’s main altar."
Seeing that Daoist Equal to Heaven had the bearing of a stern and handsome youth but carried an extraordinary demeanor, the follower feared he was a highly moral figure and dared not belittle him. He said, "State your name, and I will ask our Sect Hierarch if he wishes to see you."
Daoist Equal to Heaven mockingly laughed, "Zhang Jiao came from humble beginnings, yet now that he has gained power, he’s put on quite the airs."