When Wei Yuan left through the door, he immediately saw Zhang Sheng and Sun Yu waiting for him at a public square.

His master made a grabbing motion, and he felt something lifting him into the air and pulling him over to his side. Then, they both disappeared into thin air.

An instant later, the duo reappeared at a remote and quiet side hall. After putting Wei Yuan back down on the ground, Zhang Sheng began inspecting his disciple’s condition carefully. He circled around him once before bending down to check his pupils carefully. He then squeezed him here and there while firing off question after question, “Do you feel a mild pain affecting your primordial spirit? Do you feel anxious or irritated? You’re not seeing heart devils sprouting like weeds, or experiencing any sort of illusion, are you?”

Zhang Sheng asked eight questions in a row, and Wei Yuan said no to all of them. Still, he couldn’t rest easily. He raised a finger and shot a blue beam into the boy’s forehead. At the same time, his face grew a tad paler.

Sun Yu had followed the duo and so seen everything. He asked, “Is there something you’re worried about? My mentor, Trueman Ning Xi, is well-versed in medicine. If necessary, we can request his aid after we return to the Palace.”

Zhang Sheng sat still and replied, “It’s not a medicinal problem. The otherworldly fortune I gave Yuan’er is not enough for him to use Outlawed by Heaven and Earth continuously, and from what I can tell, he overused it a little. He may seem fine right now, but I’m worried that he would suffer a fortune backlash in the future. That is why I left a wisp of sword qi inside his head. If a fortune backlash did happen, then it would buy him some time.”

Sun Yu was shocked to hear this. “You’re blocking a tribulation for him!! You, you shouldn’t have done it!”

To take another’s tribulation upon oneself was tantamount to defying the heavens. The tribulation they would endure might well be several times greater than that of the person whose tribulation was being borne, and a single misstep could lead to permanent death. That was why Sun Yu had lost his composure.

Zhang Sheng raised a hand to silence him. “I have already made my decision, so do not try to change my mind.”

“But—!”

A strand of blue sword qi floated in front of the Daoist and forced whatever he was going to say back down his throat. He could only let out an unhappy sigh and take a seat.

Zhang Sheng flipped his palm around and manifested a piece of jade paper. He then handed it to his disciple and said, “This is the results of your aptitude test and literary test. Take a look.”

Wei Yuan accepted the piece of paper and looked. What he saw greatly exceeded his expectations. The aptitude test was one thing—he didn’t really understand what it was about, nor did he know how he measured up to others—but he really thought he would do well in the literary test. Maybe hoping for a perfect score was too much, but he was sure he would get at least a score of 28 or 29 out of 30. Any lower than that—at least according to Zhang Sheng’s teaching—was simply impossible. In reality though, his score was a pitiful 19 out of 30. The discrepancy between expectation and reality was so great that he couldn’t help but wonder... Did Zhang Sheng err with his education?

Wei Yuan raised his head and gave his master a suspicious look. Having lived with the boy for three years straight, Zhang Sheng understood the meaning behind his wordless look instantly. He exploded, “Are you thinking that I taught you wrongly?!”

Wei Yuan hurriedly lowered his head. “This disciple would never!”

“Like hell you are! You’re obviously thinking about it!” Zhang Sheng became even more furious.

Sun Yu stepped out to mediate things. “Enough already. The boy is the top scorer in Fengyuan, and this unified exam is probably going to be a unique case in the entire Great Tang, be it in the past or the future! He could not have earned you more face than he already did, so what else do you want? I’ll take him if you’ve changed your mind about being his master!”

“Dream on!” Zhang Sheng shot back at his senior brother before fixing Wei Yuan with a pained expression, “I was docked three years of pay for this good-for-nothing brat! Ugh... I have a pretty hefty salary, you know.”

This was something Sun Yu could deeply sympathize with. “That is true. You have my condolences, Junior Brother.”

Zhang Sheng retrieved the jade paper from Wei Yuan before asking him, “Do you know why I showed you this?”

The boy shook his head. “No, master.”

Sun Yu was also shaking his head. “Why do you always beat around the bush? Can't you just say what's on your mind?”

Embarrassed, the scholar let out a cough before starting, “The path to immortality is no less dangerous than the treachery of humanity. The fact that your deserved score and your actual score are so different is proof of this. Should you ever encounter an unresolvable conundrum in the future, you must not allow stubbornness to reign over your good senses. If necessary, endure.

“There is a common wisdom among mortals that goes something like this: While the green hills last, there’ll be wood to burn. It is applicable to one walking the path to immortality as well. Take me, for instance. I am pretty good at keeping a low profile and adapting to the circumstances if I say so myself. Back in the day, I—”

Sun Yu scoffed. “As if you’ve tolerated anything ever in your life!”

Zhang Sheng pretended that he couldn’t hear him and continued to lecture Wei Yuan. When he was finally done, the Daoist asked a question that had been bugging him for a while, “How did you control and empower those boars?”

Wei Yuan answered honestly, “When I channeled the secret technique, I could feel myself becoming connected to many things in the surroundings beside myself. I realized that I could imbue them with fortune. My mobility was hampered at the time, and I needed a mount to make up for it. So, I tried imbuing a mountain boar with my fortune. It grew big on its own and responded to every thought like an extension of myself.”

“Did it strain you to perform such a feat?”

The boy thought long and hard before answering, “Not really? In fact, the fortune I imbued the boars returned to me after they perished.”

Sun Yu was speechless for a second. “That doesn’t match the founder’s teachings. How can puppeteering a phantom beast cost nothing?”

That said, he was aware that the art of fortune didn’t fall under his expertise, so he dropped the subject and turned to Zhang Sheng. “Since Yuan’er took first place, the child from the Yan Clan of the Eastern Sea most likely failed to achieve their objective. Do be careful, Junior Brother.”

The scholar paid little regard to his concerns. “Do you know how many people I’ve offended at this point? One more family wouldn’t change a thing.”

It was getting late, so Zhang Sheng sent Wei Yuan to his room to catch some rest. They would be departing for the Palace of Absolute Beginning tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile, in a magnificent hall of the Scarlet Tide Sect, Bao Yun was sitting poised and serene on a chair and declaring in a soft, gentle voice, “I don’t care. I don’t want to go to the Exquisite Blossom Pure Land anymore. I’m joining the Palace of Absolute Beginning.”

The younger cultivator—the one who graded the candidates in the examiner hall—begged with a helpless expression, “Miss, this isn’t something you can change just because you want to. Besides, you’re born with innate wisdom[1], and there is an existing Avatar in the Exquisite Blossom Pure Land that you can inherit right away; one that has been waiting just for you for seven years! But if you transfer to the Palace of Absolute Beginning, the cultivation journey alone is going to cause you much pain, not to mention that the result will definitely be inferior to the Ruyi Veluriyam Avatar.”

Bao Yun was unmoved by his persuasion, though. “Father once told me that it doesn’t matter what I choose to cultivate. With my double Heaven-A talent, it’ll all turn out the same in the end. I’m joining the Palace of Absolute Beginning.”

The younger cultivator let out a pained chuckle. “This really isn’t something you can change as you please, Miss! Is it because of that boar-riding boy? I can capture him and let you beat the crap out of him. All I ask is that you enter the Exquisite Blossom Pure Land first!”

Bao Yun replied, “Please don’t lie to me. You can’t beat his master. I want to join the Palace of Absolute Beginning.”

“It’s true I can’t beat his master, but I can ask my shifu to step in.”

“His master has a master too, and your shifu can’t beat Trueman Fen Hai, can he?”

“What about my grandmaster?”

“He’s no match for the True Lord Xuan Yue either.”

That shut the younger cultivator right up. With that done, Bao Yun looked to the old man standing dutifully beside her and said, “Please tell father that I wish to join the Palace of Absolute Beginning.”

The old man nodded and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, a beautifully sealed jade letter appeared in his hand. He said, “We’ve obtained a spot in the Palace of Absolute Beginning. Simply write your name and Four Pillars of Destiny, and it shall be done.”

1. In Buddhism, it means wisdom or knowledge that is inherited from one’s past life. ☜