The young Daoist spoke leisurely. "The myriad truths of the path to immortality are matters you must comprehend on your own. Even if I told you now, what you are not meant to understand would remain beyond you, and when the time comes for you to understand, you naturally will. Right now, there is an urgent matter I must discuss with you properly."
"Please speak, Senior."
Yet Wei Yuan had a sneaking suspicion: if a fish had actually taken the hook earlier, the young Daoist would not only have expounded on the principles of cultivation, but he would have talked at immense length.
Why hadn't the fish bitten, though? Wei Yuan pondered, but found no answer.
The young Daoist said, "Liuli has been in secluded cultivation for some time, attempting to advance to the dharma idol realm. Yet each attempt falls short at the critical juncture, unable to take that final step. As her patriarch, I cannot simply sit by and watch; I must make some arrangements on her behalf."
Given Wei Yuan's understanding of Ji Liuli, there was no reason under heaven she should fail to achieve a dharma idol. The reason she could not take the final step was likely that a minor flaw had emerged somewhere, rendering the dharma idol imperfect.
Much like Wei Yuan himself, who had thrice refused the True Dragon dharma idol before ultimately forging the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World.
Wei Yuan asked, "Has an issue arisen with her state of mind?"
With Ji Liuli's natural constitution, an injury that would have proven fatal to Zhang Sheng had been healable in her case. Hence, Wei Yuan did not believe her Dao Foundation was damaged; the problem most likely lay within her mental state.
The young Daoist smiled faintly. "It seems you understand her well. In that case, this matter will fall upon your shoulders."
"What should this disciple do?"
"Let nature take its course. Once she leaves seclusion, visit her often. If she needs any help that you can readily provide, just lend a hand. That will suffice. There is another matter as well: my Hall of Heavenly Secrets also has five thousand Dao soldiers that have now been withdrawn from the front lines. They will be sent to your place for training. Once their Dao Foundations are forged, forty percent may be gifted to Sky Azure Hall, which shall serve as your compensation for helping Liuli."
Wei Yuan said hurriedly, "Helping Eldest Senior Sister is this disciple's duty. I dare not accept compensation."
The young Daoist glared at him. "If I tell you to take it, take it! If you refuse the reward, there are many things I won't be able to carry out smoothly."
Wei Yuan was taken aback. He had never expected True Monarch Yanshi to be so blunt. Put that way, there was truly no room left for refusal. Furthermore, this arrangement benefited the Palace of Grand Beginning, benefited Sky Azure Hall, and benefited Ji Liuli. At most, he might have to pay a small personal price, so what reason was there to decline?
Having convinced himself, Wei Yuan agreed.
Seeing Wei Yuan accept, the young Daoist was delighted. "The flying boat and Dao soldiers are already prepared. Pack your belongings and return to Qingming. I still have a minor matter to attend to here, so I won't keep you."
Once Wei Yuan had departed, the young Daoist's expression abruptly darkened. He barked coldly, "Someone, come here!"
Several Daoists materialized beside him. The young Daoist instructed, "Prepare fish tanks and creels—prepare plenty of them!"
Immediately after, an immortal sword appeared in his grip, wrapped in lightning. Its destructive power of thunder was dense enough to tear heaven and earth asunder! The young Daoist raised his hand, poised to plunge the sword straight into the small lake.
The several Daoists were horrified and rushed forward to hold him back, pleading in unison, "True Monarch, you must not! If this thunder sword strikes, every living creature in the lake will perish. The karmic debt of annihilating all life is not something to be taken lightly!"
With everyone desperately holding him back at the risk of their lives, the young Daoist was unable to bring the thunder sword down.
Suddenly, he pointed a finger toward the sky. Several clouds of powder appeared, blending in midair before transforming into an enormous barrel that plummeted toward the lake's surface.
The Daoists panicked once again, working together to cast spells that propped up the barrel. "True Monarch, you cannot! If this barrel of Chaos Sky Thunder falls, not one in ten living things in the lake will survive! That would still incur the karmic debt of slaughtering all life!"
The young Daoist recalled the barrel and snapped in exasperation, "This won't do, that won't do! What do you propose we do, then?!"
The Daoists hurriedly offered suggestions. "There is a type of net that sweeps along the lakebed. As long as the mesh is fine enough, it can catch every living creature in the lake in a single drag, ensuring not a single one escapes. When the time comes, we will seize only the ringleaders and release the rest. That will accomplish the task without incurring karma—wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?"
The young Daoist's expression softened slightly, and he nodded. "A very good plan."
The Daoists went to fetch the net and cast the massive mesh into the lake. A short while later, they hauled it up. As the net floated on the water's surface, countless fish of all sizes, along with aquatic spirits, could be seen shivering inside.
Amidst the fish, a large fish with a single golden scale atop its head was nudged forward by the others, displayed in the most prominent position.
The young Daoist suddenly made a grasping motion in the empty air. The giant net hovered three feet above the water, and in the next instant, his thunder sword plunged into the lake!
In an instant, leaping thunderfire blanketed the entire surface of the small lake, turning it into a purgatory of lightning. Within the blink of an eye, several shadowy souls rose from the water and dissipated into heaven and earth.
The young Daoist gave a cold sneer. "As expected, there were fish that slipped through the net! Did you truly think you could hide from my divine sense?"
The several Daoists dared not speak. They sprang into action, and moments later dragged the corpses of several old fish from the lakebed, tossing them onto the shore.
The young Daoist glanced at the fish in the net and commanded, "Pick out all the ones with golden scales on their heads. Release the rest."
The Daoists breathed sighs of relief. A moment later, they hauled out three large fish—one old, two young—including the plump fish that had just acquired a golden scale. The three fish were scared out of their wits and begged incessantly for mercy.
The young Daoist's expression turned grim and chilling. "You thought that just because you acquired a bit of background and learned the barest rudiments of cultivation, you could ruin my plans and make me lose face? The ancients said: 'The common people may be made to follow a path, but cannot be made to understand it.' How true that saying is! You wretches truly know too much!"
The two younger fish lacked sufficient cultivation to speak human words and could only blow bubbles frantically, begging for their lives.
In desperation, the old fish spoke in a human tongue: "This fish once kept an immortal company during a midnight drink! I heard an immortal speak aloud to the heavens! I... I stood guard for an immortal! I kept watch through the night for an immortal! If you cross me, when the immortal returns, I will speak a few words, and the immortal will never let this matter rest!"
The young Daoist mocked, "Do you truly believe you share an old friendship with the Immortal Monarch?"
The old fish braced itself and said, "This fish has lived for two hundred years. How else could that be?"
The young Daoist sneered. "There is only one reason you were able to live this long: the Immortal Monarch doesn't eat fish!"
***
Two days later, having learned that Zhang Sheng was already in seclusion digesting the medicinal potency, and with the Palace of Grand Beginning's large flying boat ready, the five thousand Dao soldiers recalled from the front lines boarded the vessel. Wei Yuan set off alongside the ship back to Qingming.
Besides the Dao soldiers, the flying boat carried ten sensible disciples from the Hall of Heavenly Craft, ten disciples from the Monastery of Creation, and Xu Henshui.
Xu Henshui's presence aboard the ship came as quite a surprise to Wei Yuan. Xu Henshui explained that he was leading these disciples to establish a branch monastery in Qingming to cultivate herbs and refine pills on-site, and would only return once everything was on the right track.
Through the previous training cycles, Wei Yuan had contributed over a thousand Dao Foundations to the Palace of Grand Beginning. With defensive pressures at the Northern Mountain Gate greatly alleviated, even newly ascended dharma idol cultivators like Xu Henshui could be deployed elsewhere.
***
State of Wu, ancestral grounds of the Bao family.
Bao Yun stepped out from her quiet chamber and looked at a flowering tree in the courtyard that bore white-gold branches and leaves alongside pale red blossoms. A few petals suddenly drifted from the tree, falling onto the fine white sand below before vanishing without a trace.
Frowning slightly, she felt an inexplicable sense of loss. Right there on the spot, she cast a divination with Water inside and Mountain outside, obtaining the hexagram of Meng. Beholding this hexagram, Bao Yun felt that the water flowed past while the mountain remained behind, bringing an abrupt surge of melancholy.
This hexagram carried another interpretation: an insufficiency of predestined affinity.
Just then, a knock sounded at the courtyard gate, followed by Zhao Fusheng's voice from outside: "Zhao Fusheng of Mount Qiong requests an audience."
Bao Yun went to open the gate, showed Zhao Fusheng into the guest hall, and had him take a seat. She then asked serenely, "We have not met for days. Has the Young Island Lord come to get handsy again?"
Zhao Fusheng looked somewhat awkward and waved his hand dismissively. "Speak no more of that! On that day, Zhao was indeed overconfident. I thought my sincerity was enough, and I held no regard for the rest of the world, believing dealing with a Peacock Buddha Mother would be a trivial matter. Who could have known so many unforeseen events would unfold within the secret realm? Since I lost, Zhao will naturally honor his word. Until the one-year term expires, I will never overstep any bounds!"
"I trust the Young Island Lord will keep his word."
Zhao Fusheng said, "Since my defeat in the secret realm, I returned to my island for half a year of secluded cultivation to reexamine my original heart. In doing so, I unexpectedly discovered something."
"What is it?"
Zhao Fusheng sat bolt upright. He drew a deep breath like a whale inhaling the sea, stared straight into the empty space ahead, and enunciated each word: "I. Like. You."
The moment the words left his mouth, a burst of dragon fire erupted from the crown of his head with a resounding boom, scorching a patch of the guest hall's ceiling.
Blood rushed to Zhao Fusheng's face as flames continually spouted from his head. He sat as stiffly as a stone statue, not daring to move a muscle.
Seeing this, Bao Yun could not help covering her mouth and letting out a soft chuckle. It seemed that making the Young Island Lord utter those words was harder than forcing him through a heavenly tribulation.
At her laugh, the fire atop Zhao Fusheng's head blazed even fiercer, looking as if it were about to burn straight through the roof.
Bao Yun quickly stifled her laughter and sat upright with proper decorum. Only then did the dragon flames atop Zhao Fusheng's head gradually subside.
"The Young Island Lord must have other things to say, surely."
Having bypassed the topic, Zhao Fusheng finally regained some composure. "Several days ago, my elders divined the heavenly secrets for me, some of which involved you. It showed that you might brush past an important opportunity in the near future, but it can still be salvaged now. That is why I came specially to discuss it with you, hoping I might offer some assistance."
Looking at Zhao Fusheng's earnest expression and recalling the hexagram she had just cast, Bao Yun sighed silently. If this fellow knew what kind of opportunity that was, she wondered if he would still come knocking so eagerly to help.
Collecting her thoughts, Bao Yun said, "I appreciate the Young Island Lord's kind intentions. To make up for such an opportunity would undoubtedly require a tremendous price. I cannot accept gifts without merit."
Zhao Fusheng said, "Mere worldly possessions—if they are used, so be it! I can always earn more in the future!"
It had to be said that as long as he was not confessing his feelings, the Young Island Lord conducted himself and spoke with considerable composure and magnanimity.
Bao Yun smiled faintly. "I have naturally witnessed the Young Island Lord's graceful demeanor before, and more than once at that. There is no need to make a deliberate show of it."
Zhao Fusheng's face flushed crimson once more. "L-last time was indeed Zhao's fault! Uh, how should I put it... I underestimated your worth..."
Bao Yun said, "I am not speaking of last time; that is already in the past. Rather, I obtained an object by chance, through which I witnessed the Young Island Lord's graceful demeanor once again. It is this very item."
Seeing Bao Yun offer a stone, an ominous premonition surged within Zhao Fusheng's heart. When he took the stone and activated it with his Dao power, his hands were actually trembling. Then, an image materialized before his eyes.
It was a profile shot taken from great distance. Above a bottomless chasm of ten thousand fathoms, Zhao Fusheng was carrying Monk Peacock in his arms, soaring across.
Chapter 422