The woman who entered possessed an exceptionally bright, clear pair of eyes. Looking into her pupils felt like gazing into a world teeming with vitality, burning with passion, and ablaze with intensity!
Her brows were sharp as swords, her nose high and straight like an isolated peak, and her lips so tender they looked as though water might seep from them at any moment. From the slight parting of her mouth, the faint tip of her tongue was barely visible.
She wore no powder or rouge, her hair casually coiled and pinned with a single hairpin. The cut of her garments was also peculiar: her lower half was clad in something between trousers and a skirt, the legs flaring out like a sweeping hem, while her upper body wore a snug top with sleeves barely reaching past her elbows. Compared to the attire commonly worn by female cultivators of the day, this outfit was downright scandalous.
She walked over to the lecture dais and sat down gracefully. Leaning back slightly, she propped her chin in one hand. With that simple posture, she naturally radiated myriad charms, yet beneath that allure lay the biting chill of eternal frost.
Glancing sideways at the students, she said, "Starting today, I will be teaching you the Theory of the Dao Foundation and guiding your cultivation. My family name is Ji, and my given name is Liuli—Liuli as in destitute and displaced, not the liuli of colored glaze."
At once, a girl gathered her courage, stood up, and asked, "But the course outline clearly lists Xu Henshui as our lecturer. Why has it suddenly changed?"
Ji Liuli replied indifferently, "Forget about him. I already tossed him out past the mountain gates, so he won't be back anytime soon. Give up on that idea and sit down and listen to my lecture!"
The students exchanged bewildered glances, none of them knowing what to say. The feeling this woman on the dais gave off was utterly bizarre. When she smiled, it was like spring flowers blooming across the wild mountains; but when her face hardened, it resembled leaden clouds hanging low before an impending heavenly tribulation. A few among the students with heightened spiritual perception felt as though they were facing an ancient, primordial beast in her presence, trembling instinctively and unable to utter a single word.
Wei Yuan had studied poetry, rhapsodies, and songs, all filled with countless phrases describing beautiful women, yet he felt none of them applied to Ji Liuli. But to say she was not beautiful was equally untrue—among all the female cultivators Wei Yuan had seen since entering the Palace of Grand Beginning, not one could hold a candle to her.
Seeing that no one spoke, Ji Liuli nodded in satisfaction. "Since there are no questions, let us begin. You may call me Teacher, Master, Eldest Senior Sister Liuli, or Eldest Senior Sister Two Zhang Five—whatever you like. Leaving titles aside for now, let us first discuss what a Dao Foundation actually is."
*Eldest Senior Sister Two Zhang Five? What in the world is that?* Before Wei Yuan and the other students could dwell on their confusion, the mention of the Dao Foundation made them sit up straight and prick up their ears, terrified of missing a single word.
As for how to define a Dao Foundation, an established consensus had long existed throughout the cultivation world. Over hundreds of thousands of years, it had been polished to perfection, incapable of having a single word added or subtracted. Wei Yuan had just run through that definition in his mind when he heard Ji Liuli speak:
"To put it simply, a Dao Foundation is about nurturing an immortal embryo and then piling a bunch of miscellaneous junk on top of it. Once you've piled on as much as it can hold, you hammer it down solid and fuse it into a single whole. That is a Dao Foundation. It is the very first stepping stone on the immortal path, and the most crucial one. All of your future accomplishments will be built atop this foundation stone, which is why it is called the Dao Foundation.
"As for what that pile of miscellaneous junk consists of, you should all have memorized it by now. Who would like to answer?"
A boy summoned his courage, stood up, and announced clearly, "Root and bone, fortune, heavenly timing, earthly qi, the trends of the times, accumulation, and medicinal vessels."
"Very good. Knowing what that pile of miscellaneous junk is marks only the first step. How to combine them is the second. Take two people whose conditions are identical in every way: if their combination methods differ or the sequence is changed, the Dao Foundations they forge will be worlds apart. That is why this first step is truly the most important on the path to immortality. An immortal sect versus a mundane sect, a renowned master versus a mediocre hand—the Dao Foundations they bring you will be completely different. This is precisely why I have come to teach this class. Hmph! It would be bad enough if someone botched their own Dao Foundation into some harmless little flower or weed, but trying to lead others astray too?"
Another girl mustered her courage, stood up, and said, "Teacher, isn't that a bit unfair? I heard Teacher Xu is actually quite formidable in combat!"
Ji Liuli flicked her long, slender finger, and the girl flew straight into the air. A vine whip manifested out of thin air and struck down with a crisp *snap* right across the girl's backside!
With that single lash, the binding vanished, and the girl tumbled back into her seat. The instant her backside brushed the chair, however, she bounced straight back up, not daring to sit down fully. Her clothing was entirely intact without even a crease, showing that although the strike had stung, it had caused no actual harm.
Ji Liuli said, "Whether someone can fight depends on who you compare them to. You watched him curled up like a kitten in my hands, yet you still ask such a question. This lash is your punishment for being blind to reality!"
Wei Yuan pondered for a moment, then stood up boldly and asked, "There are tens of thousands of Dao Foundations. Are they all judged solely by whether one can fight?"
"What else?" Ji Liuli countered. She continued, "Since there are tens of thousands of Dao Foundations, there must naturally be higher and lower grades. And the sole criterion for judging high from low is whether you can fight! Either you can fight when you establish your Dao Foundation, or if not, you'd better be able to fight at the dharma idol stage. If even that fails, being able to fight at Scenery Command will do. Surely you can't reach Unity and still be useless in combat? What would be the point of you then? To stand on an immortal mountain as a decorative ornament? Those cultivators who look all graceful and transcendent but turn limp the moment they trade blows—even if they reach Unity, they are nothing more than wastes of spiritual qi!"
The students were struck dumb once more. These words were downright scandalous, spoken without the slightest reverence for almighty True Immortals of the Unity Realm. Those were True Immortals!
Ji Liuli went on, "Besides, if you can't fight, do you really think you'll ever reach Unity? Without combat ability, every last one of you would perish halfway through your cultivation! You need remember only one thing: the world today is an era of fierce contention! You contend to survive, you contend to cultivate the Dao, you contend to break through bottlenecks—you must contend for everything!"
With that, Ji Liuli turned her gaze to Wei Yuan. "You're Wei Yuan, aren't you? I remember you. Everyone else received a blessing from the Patriarch, while you received a blessing from the rock beneath the Patriarch's feet."
A burst of laughter erupted across the Hall of Inspiring Thought, and Wei Yuan's young face burned slightly.
Just as the boys and girls were laughing their hearts out, Ji Liuli flicked her fingertips. More than half of them were hoisted into the air, and each took a lash. Amid a chorus of sharp cracks, only five people in the entire hall were spared the whip.
"A blessing from the Patriarch is a blessing regardless of its form. Those who received one can chuckle if they wish, but what right do you lot have to laugh when you didn't receive a thing? This lash is to give you some self-awareness."
After that round of whipping, most of the students grimaced in agony. Still, none of these children were fragile; they understood they were not truly injured and that the pain was merely an illusion that would pass with a bit of endurance, so not a single one broke into tears.
What puzzled Wei Yuan was that most of his classmates hailed from prominent, noble clans. During the general examination, he had seen plenty of arrogant, overbearing peers. How had they all become so well-behaved and polite in the Hall of Inspiring Thought?
Before he could puzzle out the answer, Ji Liuli's voice rang out again:
"There are over one hundred and fifty of you in this class, but only thirty-seven are sitting here. Where are the other hundred-odd students? Let me tell you: they are studying under their respective masters and do not participate in centralized instruction. Those people belong to the Traditionalist Faction, while you—whether you like it or not—are now considered part of the Reform Faction. Three years from now, at the sect minor examination, you will compete against them on the same stage to see which side has learned better. On their side, there are twenty-one disciples who received the Patriarch's blessing. Starting today, my task is to forge the most combat-ready Dao Foundations for you, and your task is to crush all twenty-one of them three years from now!"
These children were all competitive by nature, and their blood boiled instantly. Many forgot all about the stinging pain on their backsides. A boy stood up, bearing the discomfort, and called out loudly, "Does lacking the Patriarch's blessing mean we're bound to fall behind?"
Ji Liuli gave an approving nod. "Good question! Having the Patriarch's blessing is merely equivalent to getting a slight head start on the long path to immortality. Over three years, catching up might be difficult, but over the long run, having it or not makes little difference. Even within three years, plenty of ordinary disciples end up surpassing those who received blessings. There are countless precedents for this."
The path of immortality was vast and boundless; three years was merely the blink of an eye. Every student in the Hall of Inspiring Thought who had not received a blessing felt their spirits lift, rekindling their fighting will.
"Don't think it ends after the sect minor examination, either. The palace houses the Hall of Myriad Manifestations, which records every Dao Foundation that has ever appeared in history. Once you forge your Dao Foundation, a record of yours will be left there as well. When that time comes, your ranking will be plain for all to see! Do I need to explain what that means?"
Her words filled some students with burning ambition while striking secret dread into others. This was essentially hanging up a grand ledger spanning thousands of years of Palace of Grand Beginning disciples, with every single name listed. If one's name ended up near the bottom, how could they ever show their face?
Ji Liuli continued, "The Hall of Myriad Manifestations is only the beginning. Ten years later comes the sect major examination, which every Dao Foundation disciple must attend, as must those who have brought Body Casting to completion. That will be your first major examination, and there will be formal rankings. After passing the major examination, there is the Merit Board, where all Palace of Grand Beginning cultivators are ranked according to the merits they have achieved. Aside from the overall board, there is also a separate minor board exclusively for the Dao Foundation Realm."
The students exchanged looks, feeling that the road ahead was endlessly paved with assessments and rankings. A few already looked distressed.
Their reaction was entirely within Ji Liuli's expectations. Sneering, she said, "Large as the Palace of Grand Beginning may be, resources are finite—there will never be enough to go around. Who gets more and who gets less is decided precisely by these boards! I know some of you come from illustrious families and think that if you cannot secure resources from the palace, your families can provide for you. But why would your clan give you resources?
"The youngest among you is six, and the oldest is only eight or nine. What if, a few years from now, you have more younger brothers and sisters who prove even more gifted than you? Will your family still shower you with so many provisions?"
The faces of several children from noble clans drained of color.
"Therefore! Treasure every single class under my watch! As long as you are ruthless enough with yourselves, I will make you stronger! Boards or rankings be damned—you will fight your way up against the odds!"
The students' blood surged with passion once more.
Next, Ji Liuli began explaining the fundamentals of Body Casting in detail. She spoke at a rapid pace and kept her words remarkably concise. Wei Yuan felt his mind could barely keep up, committing everything to memory with all his might. Before he knew it, class had drawn to a close.
After three chimes of the chime stone, the lesson ended. Ji Liuli said, "Wei Yuan, stay behind. Come with me to the Hall of Affairs."
Chapter 38