"Guangling Commandery was never a major commandery to begin with, and this Wukang County is even smaller!" complained a young nobleman in luxurious robes to the elderly servant behind him. "Why couldn't you let me rest in Guangling City? Why did we have to rush all the way to this remote little Wukang County just to take a break?"
The old servant was directing the other servants and maids to tidy up a few lodgings in the Daoist abbey.
Several bona fide Daoist priests ordained by the Daoist Academy watched the entourage bustle to and fro before their carriages. Smiling affably, they pinched the golden melon seeds hidden in their sleeves, the elderly priest at their head squinting so much his eyes became slits.
"Young Master, the Master instructed that you must be cautious and discreet when heading out to assume your post."
"A major incident occurred in Guangling City not long ago... Several truly eminent figures of the Daoist orthodoxy visited Guangling, seemingly searching for something... Shortly afterward, true transmission disciples of the Daoist orthodoxy descended the mountains! It is said that as soon as they entered the secular world, several headed straight for Guangling. Who knows what earth-shattering event transpired within that grotto-heaven."
"This old servant dared not linger, precisely to avoid trouble." The old servant's tone was respectful, yet firm.
The young nobleman sighed. "If true transmissions of the Daoist orthodoxy are there, why not let me make acquaintances with one or two? I am going all alone to take up an appointment in Jiuzhen Commandery... The aristocratic clans of the south have never gotten along with our Shandong clans. Our Cui clan of Qinghe may be a prominent lineage in the north, but who will recognize who I am once I reach the south? I don't know why Father sent me to such a remote little county."
"Young Master, you only possess a third-grade Dao foundation. If you wish to associate with true transmissions of the Daoist orthodoxy, the Eldest Young Master might barely qualify to forge ties with them... But you, Young Master?" The old servant shook his head helplessly.
"Uncle Wu, are you still my mother's most trusted steward or not?" the young master surnamed Cui complained in great annoyance.
"The Madame instructed me to constantly remind the Young Master... With a third-grade Dao foundation, you are truly not worth a true transmission deigning to befriend. So rather than making futile efforts, it is better to pass through swiftly and avoid courting trouble. The Cui clan of Qinghe is an elite house of high rank in the Great Jin, but with how poor your Foundation Building was, how could you ever pass the Rectifier's evaluation? This infuriated the Madame..."
"Rather than having you stamped early on with a middling-grade status, it was better to send you south to temper yourself. The Madame specifically wrote to our in-laws, the Lu clan, asking them to look after you. Jiuzhen Commandery holds several opportunities quite suited to the Young Master's constitution. Perhaps you can temper your Dao foundation and elevate it a rank... Only if you achieve at least a second-grade Dao foundation can this old servant give an account to the Madame!"
Young Master Cui said helplessly, "Among the companions I caroused with in Luoyang, among the noble sons who show their faces in public, my achievement hardly counts as poor. A third-grade Dao foundation is still of the superior rank... Why is Mother so harsh on me? Eldest Brother must manage the family lineage, so he cultivated bitterly for sixteen years, and upon reaching his capping ceremony, he achieved first-grade Foundation Building and attained the Pure Dao Body, shocking everyone present."
"Only then did Mr. Wang Yan of the Wang clan—the 'Dragon Gate of an Era'—evaluate him as 'Vast is the Dao of Qinghe, radiant its inner brilliance.'"
"Yet I am not the heir destined to head the clan. Before Foundation Building, one cannot drink wine, one's meals must be bland, and one certainly cannot indulge in women lest vital essence leak away... In all the grand capital of Luoyang, how many noble sons could remain so vigilant? I was always meticulous, and the turbid qi in my body was minimal. Yet what can I do if my natural aptitude is simply such? What else can one do but sigh in vain?" Young Master Cui said with resignation.
"The Young Master shouldn't have consumed spirit pills..." The old servant shook his head. "The hurdle of Sensing requires profound accumulation and a natural resonance between heaven and man. You used spirit pills to force a breakthrough, which undermined your foundation. Otherwise, you would have had at least a second-grade Dao foundation!"
"After my capping ceremony, I failed to trigger inspiration for so long," Young Master Cui sighed. "My companions were laughing at me..."
"Which is why the Madame sent you to Jiuzhen Commandery. It is remote and without acquaintances, allowing you to get away from those fair-weather friends. The Madame said those are all good-for-nothing playboys. The top talents among the aristocratic clans either entered the great sects of our era early on—such as Doushuai Palace, the Taiqing Sect, or reclusive Daoist sects like Yuxu Palace and the Kunlun Sect, which require destined affinity and are beyond our flattery. But the Zhengyi Dragon Tiger Mysterious Altar, namely the inner sect of the Great Jin Daoist Academy, frequently recruits children of noble clans."
"Moreover, slightly lesser sects—such as the Luofu Sect, Mount Qingxu, the Kunming Sect... Mount Qingcheng, the Emei Sword Sect, Mount Taihua, Mount Qianyuan, the Kongtong Sect, Yunxiao Palace, Jiugong City, Jinting Yuquan, the Baicao Sect, Shennong Hall, the Danxia Sect, and the Wuyue Sword Pavilion—all recruit disciples from aristocratic clans on a wide scale."
"Even grand heterodox sects like Mount Mei, Mount Zhushan, and Mount Miaoshan, or foreign heterodox paths of the Western Regions like Manichaeism, the Star Moon Sect, and Jingang Temple, favor children of our noble families."
"Wasn't the spirit pill I used to break through Sensing a secret spirit medicine from within the Daoist Academy? I asked before taking it, and disciples within Zhengyi Dao often take this pill to break through Sensing; it doesn't hinder subsequent cultivation at all... Otherwise, how could they have charged me fifty sheng of Clear Nether Cold Spring and fifty dou of jade shavings and gui sand?" Young Master Cui muttered in complaint.
"The Madame was referring to the true transmission disciples of those sects; everyone else is beneath her notice," the old servant Uncle Wu sighed. "In any case, the Madame has already given her orders: the Young Master can forget about acting willfully again. Because you hid from the Madame to procure the spirit pills, all the attendants and maids who originally served by your side have already been disciplined and dismissed by her."
"Now that I am here, no one will dare listen to you, Young Master!"
Hearing the old servant's words, the men and women bustling about moving baggage trembled slightly. The rules of aristocratic clans were strict; though punishment by the lady of the house would not lead to death, any future prospects were utterly destroyed.
Young Master Cui sighed helplessly and obediently entered the Daoist abbey. Wukang County was cramped and remote, and with his worldly background, he had no desire to wander its streets. So he casually asked the abbey's guest-receiving Daoist priest, "Are there any extraordinary individuals, eccentrics, recluses, or worthy men nearby? This junior is on his way to assume office in Jiuzhen, and wishes to recruit a few valiant heroes or unusual talents."
The elderly guest-receiving priest replied with a beaming smile, "Wukang is remote and lacks extraordinary figures; neither have I heard of any valiant heroes or capable men..."
Young Master Cui casually slipped him a pair of spirit pearls, each the size of a longan and brimming with spiritual qi. Though not harvested from premium sea mussels, they came from a great lake pearl bed and were worth a handsome sum.
Receiving the spirit pearls, the priest's squinty eyes widened several times over.
Racking his brains, he finally recalled a rumor from the past few days. "However, last month a fellow Daoist seemed to have arrived in the county. Someone once saw a spiritual cloud rise every day from an abandoned mansion in the county seat, descending only near noon. It must be a fellow cultivator gathering qi... The Fox Grave nearby also appears to have been deserted. Word is that a practitioner of the heterodox path from Mount Mei visited in recent days... extraordinarily arrogant, but he seems to have met a bad end."
"No evil deeds have been heard of this fellow Daoist, and our Daoist Academy once observed the fox pack from the grave migrating under his care. With conduct like that, he might well be a cultivator of the righteous path. You could certainly make his acquaintance, Young Master."
Hearing this, Young Master Cui was immediately energized. He laughed and said, "If true transmissions of the Daoist orthodoxy descended the mountain and headed toward Guangling, why couldn't one pass through Wukang? Since there is such a rumor, as long as we prepare proper courtesy and pay a formal visit, even if we cause a slight disturbance, he surely won't take offense. Men..."
He summoned two servants and ordered, "Prepare gifts for me. We are going to pay a visit."
"If it is a true transmission of the Daoist orthodoxy, forming an acquaintance would be best. If it is an eminent wandering cultivator, I can still invite him to join my retinue—perhaps he could assist me in taking up my post in Jiuzhen Commandery."
Chapter 42