Seeing how sensible Cui Yu was, Ji Liuli was thoroughly pleased. "If you acquire any precious medicines, bring them to me to inspect before taking them," she said. "Try to gather as many varieties as possible. Each kind of precious medicine affects your Dao Foundation differently, and the combinations vary drastically. This also concerns your future choice of Dao path, so it is of utmost importance."
Cui Yu nodded solemnly.
After checking Cui Yu, Ji Liuli went over to examine Bao Yun.
Also cultivating the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Chart, Bao Yun's visualization chart currently spanned five zhang, slightly smaller than Cui Yu's. However, her root bone was extraordinary and her karmic fortune boundless. Her visualization chart was still expanding, far from reaching the limit of its potential, and within it, extraordinary manifestations unfolded in profusion, like a realm of gods and demons.
Compared to Cui Yu and Bao Yun, Wei Yuan's progress seemed remarkably slow. Ji Liuli was quite dissatisfied and decided to administer something potent.
After class, Wei Yuan followed Ji Liuli to the Hall of Affairs as usual. Ji Liuli gathered the necessary medicinal ingredients from Xu Henshui's cabinet, casually concocted a medicinal powder, and poured it into a wooden tub. Then she said, "Strip. What are you waiting for?"
Wei Yuan gritted his teeth, stripped off his clothes, and stepped into the large tub that looked as though it were filled with blood plasma. The moment he entered, a violent shudder ran through him. This tub of blood-like medicinal broth was actually colder than an icy sea.
Two hours later, Wei Yuan's small face was completely pale and blue with cold, while the medicinal broth in the tub had turned to clear water.
Examining Wei Yuan once more, Ji Liuli let out a soft "Huh?", looking rather surprised. She circled around Wei Yuan, checking him over thoroughly.
After the inspection, Ji Liuli furrowed her brows in thought. Only after a long pause did she shake her head and say, "Strange. Why has your root bone become unsubstantial again? I should have purged quite a few impurities last time."
Ji Liuli pondered for a moment without finding any clue, so she said, "Go back for now. I'll need to consult some ancient records first."
"Is it a big problem?" Wei Yuan asked.
Ji Liuli looked up at Wei Yuan's earnest, nervous little face and said, "It's not that big a deal. It's just a bit hard on your teacher."
"Huh?" Wei Yuan didn't understand.
Lowering her head to ponder the medicinal formula, Ji Liuli waved a hand to usher Wei Yuan out of the Hall of Affairs. "This isn't something you need to worry about. Go back and cultivate properly—no slacking off!"
Leaving the Hall of Affairs, Wei Yuan did not return home immediately, but headed first to the nearby Hall of Erudite Thought. The Hall of Erudite Thought was the repository of ancient records and scriptures for the Palace of Grand Beginning, consisting of a vast, continuous expanse of palace halls. Stepping into the main hall, Wei Yuan saw several reception desks, each staffed by an on-duty disciple.
Wei Yuan walked up to the desk dedicated to issuing introductory texts, handed over his identity jade plaque, and said, "I would like to borrow cultivation insights for the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Chart."
The disciple looked somewhat surprised and asked, "That is a universal technique. Has your teacher not taught you?"
It was only a passing remark, however; he had no intention of meddling in Wei Yuan's cultivation. Taking the identity jade plaque, he hurried into the rear hall. Moments later he returned, holding two sheets of jade paper. "This one contains the insights written by True Monarch Tunyue, the creator of the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Chart, and the other contains the insights of several past disciples who achieved the highest accomplishments with it. They should be of help to you.
"You may borrow them for seven days. You may make transcriptions, but you must not disseminate them outside. The rental fee is seven taels of immortal silver, already charged to your account."
Taking the two sheets of jade paper, Wei Yuan once again keenly felt that he didn't have enough immortal silver to spend. Fortunately, he didn't have to worry about meals during his first month, but once his supply of Qi-Ingesting Pills ran out in the second month, he would have to buy more. Although the allowance Perfected Fenhai had given him seemed substantial at first glance, at the Palace of Grand Beginning's prices, it likely wouldn't last long.
Wei Yuan remembered another matter and asked, "Senior Martial Brother, do you have information on the Heart-Cleansing Pill?"
The senior brother's expression shifted immediately. "Heart-Cleansing Pills? Why are you asking about that? That's not something within your wildest dreams!"
Wei Yuan said, "I merely overheard some elders chatting and mentioning that Heart-Cleansing Pills are exceptionally precious, so I became curious. How many taels of immortal silver does one cost?"
"Immortal silver? How could you even ask such a thing! Do you honestly think a Heart-Cleansing Pill can be bought with immortal silver?"
After tossing out a few mocking words, the senior brother saw Wei Yuan's deadpan earnestness and explained, "The Heart-Cleansing Pill possesses the efficacy to dispel mental barriers obscuring the origin soul. Not only does it elevate one's foundation, but it also enhances comprehension. It is a sacred elixir for young disciples seeking to upgrade their foundations—a single Heart-Cleansing Pill can potentially raise a Mortal Tier Dao Foundation to the Earth Tier. It is said that three Heart-Cleansing Pills can elevate an upper-grade Earth Tier foundation into the Heaven Tier. The higher the rank of the Dao Foundation, the harder it is to advance, and the fewer the precious medicines capable of having an effect. If a Heart-Cleansing Pill can even grant a boost to a Heaven Tier Dao Foundation, do you really think immortal silver can buy it?"
After speaking in a single breath, the senior brother glared at Wei Yuan and added, "The Monastery of Creation can only open a few cauldron batches of Heart-Cleansing Pills once every three years, yielding barely over a hundred pills in total. Palace regulations strictly mandate that they can only be redeemed through merits—no other means are permitted whatsoever. If measured in immortal silver, several hundred thousand would still be too cheap! Then again, if Heart-Cleansing Pills could be traded for immortal silver or treasures, do you think ordinary disciples like us would ever get a taste? This path to heaven was deliberately preserved by the palace for everyone!"
Wei Yuan had known the Heart-Cleansing Pill must be exceedingly precious, but he had never imagined it was this precious. When Zhang Sheng had produced three Heart-Cleansing Pills, he had merely mentioned the name in passing before giving them to Wei Yuan to use. Recalling this, Wei Yuan felt his heart grow heavy, truly not knowing how he could ever repay such kindness.
Upon returning to his residence, Wei Yuan immediately began studying the two records of insights in detail.
Having spent three years with Zhang Sheng, Wei Yuan understood very well what his teacher wanted: to vie for first place in everything, everywhere. To come in second was an utter humiliation. Aside from being obsessed with saving face, loving to boast, and being perpetually penniless, Zhang Sheng didn't really have any shortcomings. Or perhaps he did, but Wei Yuan had yet to discover them.
Having entered the Palace of Grand Beginning as the top scorer of the unified exam and received a bestowal from the ancestral master, Wei Yuan had originally been quite proud. Who could have known that his first step into cultivation would strike him like a blunt blow to the head? He had been unable to finish expanding a single visualization chart, let alone produce extraordinary manifestations. Half a month had passed, and far from merely being overshadowed by Bao Yun and Cui Yu who practiced the same chart, quite a few other classmates had surpassed him as well.
As the foremost among the immortal sects, the Palace of Grand Beginning gathered geniuses in droves. Even the most ordinary techniques could be cultivated into marvels here, and nearly everyone produced extraordinary manifestations. Thus, having manifestations was nothing rare; the manifestations themselves were weighed against one another to see whose was superior. Among the six universal techniques, whoever merely produced the most primitive, basic template was guaranteed to rank dead last, earning themselves a reputation for poor comprehension and insufficient talent.
Take Wei Yuan's jade toad, for example: even if a lotus blossomed atop its head, it still wouldn't squeeze into the top half of the class. Cui Yu's toad was a deep, gloomy azure from head to toe, its entire color completely altered, not to mention a Sword Udumbara growing before it and an immortal sword held in its mouth. As for Bao Yun, it went without saying—her visualization chart was an absolute frenzy of dancing fiends and demons, lavishly ostentatious.
Over these past days, Wei Yuan had come to understand: what did Palace of Grand Beginning disciples compete over? Manifestations!
Under such immense pressure, Wei Yuan had not dared to be stingy with immortal silver and had hurried to the Hall of Erudite Thought to borrow references. Even though the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Chart was a universal technique and both Zhang Sheng and Liuli could instruct him, Wei Yuan had already realized that the difficulties he encountered in cultivation seemed quite unusual, making it better to read more books.
Zhang Sheng had once said: stones from other hills may serve to polish jade; while others were certainly inferior to oneself, observing the shortcomings of others was always beneficial.
Furthermore, ever since meeting Perfected Fenhai last time, Zhang Sheng had never shown his face again, seeming as though he didn't want to see him.
Staying up all night, Wei Yuan read through both sets of insights thoroughly, and he genuinely discovered a few issues.
Chapter 43