Zhang Sheng and the Daoist took a seat after stepping inside the building. As for Wei Yuan, he stood behind his master and listened attentively to their conversation.

The Daoist began while stroking his beard, “The centralized learning curriculum comprises seven subjects. One subject will be taught per day, each lasting half a day. The names and contents of the subjects are all listed here.”

The Daoist handed Zhang Sheng a piece of jade paper, and he gave it a look. The subjects were: A Comprehensive History of the Human Race, A History of Tang, Foundational Studies of the Path to Immortality, Dao Foundation Theory, Heaven and Earth Theory, Fortune Theory, Technique Theory. Each title was followed by a detailed description of the subject.

The scholar was naturally familiar with the contents of these subjects. He pondered for a moment before asking, “Why does the curriculum place such emphasis on historical studies?”

The Daoist replied, “True Lord Yan Shi once said that only by understanding the past can we comprehend the present. Only by learning from history can we discern the ebb and flow of the cycles. The human race had begun from humble origins, and it is only thanks to our ancestors blazing a trail through unimaginable hardships and enduring countless trials that we are able to reach our present state. Thus, we must never forget the aspirations of our forebears.”

Zhang Sheng nodded. “The Traditional Party must be very pleased. Otherwise, they would not have approved this motion so readily.”

The Daoist said, “It is true that True Lord Yan Shi spent a tremendous amount of energy to implement this new curriculum. If your disciple wishes to participate, all he needs to do is register first and pay the full tuition fee later.”

“There’s a tuition fee?”

“The tuition fee is ten immortal silver per session. You are expected to pay for seven sessions in advance, so that’s four hundred and ninety immortal silver in total. The cultivation resources needed for the classes are calculated separately.”

Zhang Sheng exclaimed in surprise, “That’s quite expensive!”

The Daoist explained, “The instructors teaching the class deserve to be compensated, and the resources expended during the classes must be accounted for as well. Still, this is a good thing for you. After all, if your disciple chooses to participate in the centralized learning, then you, his shifu, would be able to spend all that time and energy you would have spent on tutoring him elsewhere.

“Previously, many expenses had gone unnoticed while each hall was training their disciples independently. Now, the classes are conducted collectively, and every cost is tallied as it is—naturally, it seems expensive.”

His words made perfect sense, but Zhang Sheng could not help but feel a little awkward when he recalled how meager his savings were. Seven years ago, he had completed his cultivation and descended the mountains. He then went missing for seven years straight and made no contributions to the sect whatsoever during this time. According to the rules, this meant that he wasn’t qualified to receive his monthly stipend. As if that wasn’t enough, he was penalized with a three-year-suspension of his salary upon his return, effectively leaving him without income for a full decade.

In the past, he had cultivated at breakneck speed and consumed a vast amount of resources in the process. Even though most of the cost was borne by the Skyblue Hall, he still wasn’t able to save up even a single coin during this period.

Now that he was taking stock, the scholar realized that his remaining savings were barely enough to cover three months of Wei Yuan’s tuition. This was just the tuition fee as well. Cultivation subjects naturally consumed resources, and the Daoist had made it clear that all these expenses would be charged separately!

Zhang Sheng hesitated for a moment before asking, “Are there any sort of... discounts or special offers for the tuition fees?”

Seeing the hesitant look on the Daoist’s face, he felt his own cheeks heating up with embarrassment and added in a hurry, “It’s fine if there isn’t.”

The Daoist let out a sigh. “In fact, some of the disciples were given preferential treatment. For example, the disciples of True Lord Yan Shi and True Lord Feng Yuan only needed to pay seventy percent of the full cost.”

The two True Lords were the leaders of the Reform Party. They were the ones who proposed the centralized learning curriculum and supplied most of the instructors who would be teaching the classes. It made perfect sense that their disciples would receive preferential treatment.

Zhang Sheng realized that something was up the moment he saw the hesitant look on the Daoist’s face. He pressed, “Continue.”

The Daoist finally said, “The successful implementation of this motion owes much to some of the True Lords heading the Traditional Party. Without their approval, it would never have gone through. Also, the Traditional Party boasts numerous disciples. To encourage participation, the True Lords specifically stipulated that all disciples of the Traditional Party will receive a fifty percent discount on their tuition fee. The same applies to the consumables.”

The more Zhang Sheng listened, the more his bad feeling grew. He slapped the table beside him and rose to his feet. “The Traditional Party gets a fifty percent discount, and the Reform Party gets thirty?! What about the Skyblue Hall?”

The Daoist avoided his gaze and replied, “As your hall only has three disciples this term, it is deemed that you do not qualify to receive preferential treatment.”

Zhang Sheng exploded when he heard this. “There are over a hundred disciples this term, and only the disciples of the Skyblue Hall need to pay the full amount? What absolute nonsense! There is no way I’m going to stand for this injustice! I will debate with the steward myself!”

The Daoist could only let out a wry chuckle when he heard the word “debate”. “You don’t know this, Junior Brother, but the Traditional Party and the Reform Party have been arguing rather fiercely for the past couple years. Unfortunately, the Skyblue Hall is the one hall that has ‘debated’ both parties. Although the matters they argued about had nothing to do with the conflicts between the two parties, it remains a fact that they had inevitably ruined much of the factions’ interests and garnered a ton of grievances as a result. Forgive me for being blunt, but you should be thanking your lucky stars that the Reform Party didn’t triple or even quadruple your tuition fee.”

Zhang Sheng didn’t accept this explanation, however. He sneered, “I understand now. The Reform Party doesn’t want to accept a disciple of the Skyblue Hall as part of their new ‘curriculum’. Fine then! Worst case scenario, I can teach him myself! Hmph. Those aristocratic families all possessed their own unique awareness awakening secret arts that they used to awaken their children sooner, but in the end, who was the one who bested all of them? My Yuan’er!”

The Daoist cast a look at Wei Yuan before replying, “I’ll admit, your disciple is quite the capable genius. Anyway, you’re planning to register him for self-directed learning, right? In that case, I’ll report it—”

“Hold it!” The scholar grabbed the Daoist at lightning speed. “Show me the name list of the instructors!”

Exasperated, the Daoist had no choice but to produce another piece of jade paper.

Understanding dawned upon Zhang Sheng the moment he saw the first page. Two of the instructors were people he had “debated” against. There were definitely some personal grudges here. The rest were definitely venerable, deeply learned seniors, though in his eyes, they were merely respectable, not truly admirable. It was also why he had little interaction with them.

His expression shifted slightly when he turned to the second page, however.

“Feng Chutang? He’s decided to become an instructor as well?”

The Daoist replied, “True Lord Feng Yuan is the one who demanded him to contribute to the Palace. His exact words are this: ‘To teach is the act of imparting knowledge, teaching skills, and resolving doubts. While doing so, one resolves not only the doubts of one’s disciples, but also their own.’ I have heard that your relationship with Senior Brother Feng is a little... strained.”

He was putting it tactfully. Back then, Zhang Sheng and Feng Chutang’s relationship was far from merely strained—it bordered on mortal enmity. The duo had clashed openly in battle three times, and each time they fought until both parties were gravely wounded. God only knows how many times they had privately “sparred” against each other.

One thing for certain, Wei Yuan was definitely going to receive “preferential” treatment if he attended Feng Chutang’s class. Any other outcome was simply unimaginable.

To everyone’s surprise, Zhang Sheng declared, “We will attend!”

“I’m sorry?” The Daoist could not believe his own ears.

“We will attend the centralized learning curriculum!”

“B-but Senior Brother Feng...”

The scholar let out a grunt, “If he dares to show his ugly mug, then why would we be afraid to attend his class? It’s him who would be shaming himself if he does anything to a junior. At worst, he would give him extra homework. Are you afraid of hardships, Yuan’er?”

Zhang Sheng had asked him this question a long time ago, and his answer was exactly the same as Wei Youchai’s from three years ago. “We folks from the countryside aren’t afraid of hardships.”

The scholar nodded in satisfaction. “Well said! Now then, let’s get the registration over with!”

The Daoist was stupefied for a few seconds. Finally, he let out a sigh and said, “Alright. Please pay the tuition fee!”

Zhang Sheng’s face stiffened for an instant. “Er, I just returned to the Palace, and I didn’t bring my money with me. Give me a minute to retrieve it from my abode.”

The Daoist replied, “No problem. I’ll be waiting right here.”

After Zhang Sheng left the building, he looked at Wei Yuan and said, “It'll be a while before your shifu returns. Since we have some time, allow me to tell you the origins of the Palace of Absolute Beginning. It’s also part of the Foundational Studies of the Path to Immortality.”