except the second son, Lipin, were lively and strong, and he, fragile, thin, like a girl, would blow away with the wind. Once, when Lipin was a month old, his mother took him in her arms and saw a gray spot between his eyebrows. She decided that she was dirty, rubbed it lightly with her hand, but the speck did not disappear, but turned red. It was only then that I realized that it was a scarlet mole the size of a grain of sand. And when he was one year old, there was a fire in the house. In the turmoil that began, Lipin was not followed, and he received a head burn. Thanks to the treatment, there were no large marks left, but he often complained of headaches, and this also affected his vision. Many consulted doctors, but there was no improvement. And for the mother, this has always been a matter of concern.

The Wang family with many children in the late fifties and early sixties lived extremely difficult. Liping from childhood knew conscience and duty, was polite and compliant. Of course, he took care of his younger brothers and sisters, protected them, but he treated the neighborhood kids the same way. When other children asked him for anything, he gave everything he had and was never greedy.

One day in the autumn of 1962, while the Wang family was sitting at dinner, a loud cry was suddenly heard from the street: “Give alms!” In those difficult years, Dongbei was flooded with beggars, refugees from the hungry places of China proper. Mother Wang always served them, tearing them away from her. But this time Liping, without waiting for his mother to get up, grabbed some wild vegetable cakes from the table and carried them outside. Lipin saw three elders with a mild expression on their faces. They were dressed in rags, but seemed strong, and their demeanor was cheerful. Wang Liping was alert. He thought that these three old men were not like the beggars he had seen before. But seeing how the old people grabbed the herbal cakes and devoured them greedily, without saying "thank you" or "please" but only stretching their hands forward with a gesture saying "More!", His heart skipped a beat, without thinking, he returned to the room, took a few more herbal cakes and brought them out to the old people. After eating the cakes, the elders looked at each other and walked away with light steps. Liping again thought that something was wrong here, but when he turned around to look again, the elders had already disappeared.

And Wang Liping's heart skipped a beat for good reason. The three elders were actually not ordinary people, but Taoist patriarchs who had been hiding for a long time in mountain caves for self-cultivation. And now they came down from the mountains, not to get their livelihood by alms, but to find their successor in the next generation, and such was just found out in this twelve-year-old boy Wang Liping.

Who were these three elders:

A man of Infinite Dao named Zhang Hedao, 82 years old, the patriarch-translator of the traditions of the Dragon Gate Taoist school on the Path of Perfect Truth in the 16th generation, he was a doctor at the imperial court before and was called the "Miracle Doctor" in the world.

Pure Peace Dao Man named Wang Jiaoming, 72 years old, disciple of Zhang Hedao, 17th generation Translator Patriarch. Previously, he was among the first teachers of the Wampu Military Academy, possessed high martial arts and remarkable tactical abilities, for which the world Nicknamed "Miracle Tactician".

Pure Void Dao Man named Jia Jiaoyi, his Taoist name was Yin Lingzi (Hidden Spirit Husband), 70 years old, disciple of Wang Jiaoyi and Zhang Hedao, 17th generation patriarch translator. Because he was able to treat with acupuncture without inserting needles into the body, he was nicknamed "Infinite Needle" in the world.

All three elders had already reached an advanced age and, according to the rules bequeathed by the patriarchs of the school, had to find the translator of the 18th generation, guided by the predictions made in Tui bei tu, the Taoist divination book Plans Derived from Touching the Back.

Taoism is a religion born and raised in Chinese soil, its most direct and common function among the people of the "Lower of the Three Worlds" is to know the laws of nature, nurture life, prevent disease and prolong life; to bring the development and prosperity of the nation, the flourishing of civilization and progress on the basis of harmonization of man and nature, man and society.

The Teaching of Perfect Truth was created at the beginning of the Jin Dynasty (XII-XIII centuries). During this period, three religions - Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism - developed their own characteristics. But their essence was the same. The Teaching of Perfect Truth honors Wang Xuanpu, Zhong Liquan, Liu Haichan, Wang Chongyang as the "Five Northern Patriarchs", and the seven direct disciples of Wang Chongyang - Ma Yu, Tan Chuduan, Liu Chuxuan, Qiu Chuji, Wang Chui, Chi Datong, SunBuer—revered as the "Seven northern perfect." QiuChuji, nicknamed the Penetrating Mystery, by the Taoist name of Eternal Youth, in the world called the True Man of Eternal Youth, was the founder of the Dragon Gate School of the religion of Perfect Truth., 18 generations of patriarchs-translators.

According to the rules of Taoism, “a person who follows the Great Tao is called a “Man of Tao”, he is “body and soul subject to the principle, follows only Tao, considers following Tao his service, therefore he is called Taoist; Taoists in ancient times were divided into 6 steps: 1. True Heavenly Daoists; 2. Taoists - Holy Celestials; 3, Taoists living as hermits in the mountains; 4. Taoists who left their families; 5. Taoists living in the family; 6. Taoists offering sacrifices with wine. The Taoists also have names corresponding to how they follow the Tao. Roughly, Taoists can be divided into three categories: Taoists who live as hermits in mountain caves. predominantly work on melting down and comprehending the Tao, turning their body into an object of experiments, summarizing the experience of achieving longevity and the laws of change of all things in the cosmos; Taoists contemplating Tao, they are like researchers in modern scientific institutes, their main task is to store, put in order and study Taoist classical books, to study the theory of Taoism from books; Taoists living in families, also called lay people, they cultivate at home and, due to various social obstacles, naturally cannot be compared in skill with Taoists living in the mountains.

Let's return to our story. The Man of Infinite Dao Zhang Hedao and his two disciples have been cultivating in the mountain caves for many years, their outer and inner mastery has reached the highest limits, so only an unusual Taoist could become their successor. The place where they cultivated was Laoshan, the sacred mountain of the Taoists.

Mount Laoshan is very unusual. East and south side. it goes out to the sea, as if rising from it. On top of it there are many cliffs and giant stones, an abundance of various herbs and trees. The waves of the sea are splashing on the foot of the mountain, white clouds encircle it in the middle. The contemplation of the sea and the sunrise from the top of the mountain gives a special, enormous and unusual energy; indeed, this is a precious place for perfecting the truth and nurturing the inner nature. Many famous Taoists cultivated on this mountain throughout history, and the number of Taoist buildings on it grew, there were nine temples, eight monasteries, seventy-two shrines. There are many holes high in the rocks, these are the caves of the immortals. they are hidden by the foliage of trees, it is difficult to find a trace of a person here, the laity rarely know about them.

Three elders lived in one of the caves of the immortals, called the Cave of Eternal Youth. Calculating from the book "Tui bei tu" transmitted within the Dragon Gate School that the eighteenth translator of the traditions of the school had already appeared in this world for ten years, they figured that now was the time to find him, pass on his skills and teach Tao. Each of the three elders guessed independently, but their results coincided.

One day On a beautiful summer night, when the moon was clear and the sea breeze was blowing, three Taoist elders in the Cave of Eternal Youth were meditating on the moon. For a full four hours they sat in the lotus position. At the end of the meditation, the Man of Infinite Dao called both disciples to him and said to them: “Since last year, we have been guessing more than once about the search for the eighteenth patriarch, the results coincided with the predictions made in the Plans Inferred by Touching the Back. Let's guess even more carefully today, let's see what happens? The two students nodded in agreement. The elders again took the lotus position and plunged into peace. They dulled their sight and hearing, looked at each other only with the eye of wisdom. A thin, weak boy appeared before their eyes. All three memorized what they "saw", and when they returned to the cave, each wrote a piece of paper. All three entries matched:
The sign of thunderstorm fire, the fire is bright, the earth is heavy,
The place where thunder lives, on the western slope of Changbai.

The elders looked at each other. The insights came together. A smile appeared on their faces, and all at once involuntarily said one