Wei Yuan stepped out of the great hall and saw Zhang Sheng and Sun Yu waiting on the square.
Upon spotting Wei Yuan, Zhang Sheng reached out and caught him with an invisible grasp, plucking him through the air, and the two vanished on the spot.
A breath later, Zhang Sheng reappeared in a secluded side hall, set Wei Yuan down, and walked a full circle around him. He then bent down to scrutinize Wei Yuan's pupils, pinched various spots across his body, and fired off a steady stream of questions. "Do you feel any dull ache in your primordial spirit? Any restless agitation in your spirit? Have you seen inner demons springing up, strange phenomena, or illusory visions?"
Zhang Sheng asked seven or eight questions in rapid succession. Wei Yuan shook his head at each one, yet Zhang Sheng was still uneasy. He pointed a finger, sending a streak of azure brilliance straight into the space between Wei Yuan's brows. The moment this wisp of azure qi emerged, Zhang Sheng's face grew noticeably paler.
Watching this from the side, Sun Yu asked, "Are you worried about something? My master, Perfected Ningxi, is well-versed in the healing arts. If push comes to shove, we can ask him to take a look once we return to the palace."
Zhang Sheng sat down and said, "This is not a matter for medicines and stone needles. That strand of celestial karmic fortune I gave Yuan'er wasn't meant to support the continuous casting of Outlaw of Heaven and Earth. Yuan'er used it a bit too much. He might seem fine now, but I worry about karmic backlash down the road. That's why I placed a strand of sword qi in his sea of consciousness first. If a backlash truly strikes, it can at least hold the line for a moment."
Sun Yu was aghast. "You're taking on his tribulation with your own body! How—how could you?"
Taking on someone else's tribulation was akin to defying the heavens. The tribulations one suffered in return could easily be several times worse than what the original person faced; a single misstep meant death and the end of one's cultivation path. That was why Sun Yu had lost his composure.
Zhang Sheng raised a hand to stop him. "My mind is made up. There is no need for further words."
"But—!" A faint wisp of azure sword qi drifted in front of Sun Yu, sealing back the rest of his sentence.
Sun Yu sighed, left with no choice but to sit down in dejection.
Zhang Sheng turned his palm, producing a sheet of jade paper, and handed it to Wei Yuan. "These are your scores for the Daoist test and the literary test. See for yourself."
Wei Yuan took the jade paper, and the numbers written upon it greatly defied his expectations. The Daoist test was one thing—he had been muddled throughout and had no idea what standard others were at. But he had possessed definite expectations for the literary test. Based on what Zhang Sheng had taught him over the years, Wei Yuan felt that even if he didn't receive full marks, he should have at least earned twenty-eight or twenty-nine points; it really couldn't be lower. Yet more than ten points had been deducted. The gap between expectation and reality was simply too vast. Could it be... that Zhang Sheng had taught him wrong?
Suspicious, Wei Yuan looked up at Zhang Sheng.
Having spent three years with him day and night, how could Zhang Sheng fail to grasp the meaning in Wei Yuan's eyes? He flew into a fury on the spot. "Are you thinking I taught you wrong?!"
Wei Yuan hastily lowered his head. "Disciple wouldn't dare!"
"What 'wouldn't dare'! That's exactly what you're thinking!" Zhang Sheng's temper flared even hotter.
Sun Yu stepped in to smooth things over. "All right, all right. The boy took first place in Fengyuan Commandery! Counting both past and future cohorts, this unified exam in Fengyuan Commandery is likely unique across the entire Great Tang! He brought you so much face—what more could you want? If you don't want to teach him, why not give him to me?"
"In your wildest dreams!" Zhang Sheng snapped right back at Sun Yu. Then, glaring at Wei Yuan with a twinge of heartache, he said, "For this brat's sake, my stipend has been docked for three whole years! Ah... and my annual stipend was quite generous, too."
Sun Yu immediately felt a surge of sympathy and sighed, "Indeed. My condolences, Junior Brother."
Zhang Sheng took the jade paper back from Wei Yuan and asked, "Do you know why your master showed you this result?"
Wei Yuan shook his head. "Disciple does not know."
Sun Yu shook his head as well. "Always speaking in Zen riddles. Can't you just say what you mean?"
Zhang Sheng felt a moment of awkwardness and cleared his throat. "The immortal path is treacherous, not a bit kinder than the mortal world. The vast gap between what you should have scored and what you actually received is clear proof. In the future, if you encounter an impossible predicament, remember never to act rashly or force your way through. When necessary, endure what must be endured. 'Where there is green mountain, there will be firewood to burn' is mortal wisdom, but it never goes out of style on the immortal path. Take your master, for example: I have mastered the essence of biding one's time and bending so as not to break. Back in my day—"
Sun Yu let out a cold snort from the side. "You say that as if you've ever endured anything in your life!"
Zhang Sheng pretended not to hear.
Once Zhang Sheng finished his lecture, Sun Yu asked Wei Yuan with keen interest, "What was the deal with those wild boars?"
Wei Yuan answered honestly, "When casting the secret technique, beyond my own body, I felt a connection with many things around me and could attach karmic fortune to them. At the time, my movements were restricted and I lacked a mount, so I tried attaching karmic fortune to a wild boar. Then it grew huge and could move according to my will."
"And the consumption?"
Wei Yuan pondered carefully. "There didn't seem to be any. After the wild boar died, the attached karmic fortune returned on its own."
Sun Yu froze for a moment before remarking, "This doesn't match the Great Dao taught by the patriarchs. How could there be no cost to commanding illusory beasts or puppets?"
Yet Sun Yu knew that karmic fortune arts were not his specialty, so he didn't dwell on it. Turning to Zhang Sheng, he said, "This time Yuan'er took first place, which means the child from the Eastern Sea's Yan clan was probably pushed out. Be careful in the future, Junior Brother."
Zhang Sheng paid it no mind. "Have I offended few people this time? One more Yan clan won't make a difference."
By now the sky had darkened, so Zhang Sheng had Wei Yuan rest. Early tomorrow morning, they would set off for the Palace of Grand Beginning.
At that very moment, in an opulent hall of the Red Tide Sect, Bao Yun sat gracefully and quietly in her chair, speaking in a soft, gentle voice: "I don't care. I'm not going to the Great Treasure Radiance Pure Land. I want to enter the Palace of Grand Beginning."
A young cultivator wore a helpless expression and pleaded, "Eldest Young Miss, this isn't something that can just be swapped at will! Besides, you possess innate wisdom, and a ready-made dharma idol awaits you at the Great Treasure Radiance Pure Land—it has been waiting for you for seven whole years! If you switch to the Palace of Grand Beginning, to say nothing of anything else, your cultivation alone will involve far more hardship, and the dao methods you cultivate will certainly fall short of that Ruyi Glazed Dharma Idol."
Bao Yun was unmoved. "Father said that with my Double Heavenly Grade-A aptitude, no matter what I cultivate, the end result will be the same. I want to enter the Palace of Grand Beginning."
The young cultivator could only offer a bitter smile. "This truly isn't child's play, my Eldest Young Miss! If you're still brooding over that pig-riding boy, how about I find a way to capture him and let you beat him up to vent your anger? You enter the Great Treasure Radiance Pure Land first, and then everything will be easy to arrange!"
Bao Yun replied placidly and softly, "You can't beat his master anyway, so don't try to fool me. I want to enter the Palace of Grand Beginning."
"I can't beat him, but I can ask my master to step in."
"His master has a master too. Your master is no match for Perfected Fenhai."
"I still have my grandmaster!"
"He is no match for True Monarch Xuanyue either."
With a few words, Bao Yun shut the young cultivator down completely. She then turned to an elderly man standing beside her and said, "Tell Father that I want to enter the Palace of Grand Beginning."
The old man nodded and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, an exquisitely packaged jade letter had appeared in his hand. He said, "The spot for the Palace of Grand Beginning has already been secured. You need only write your name and eight characters of birth."
Chapter 24