It was a day where the sky had become fully bright and clear before the red sun had risen to the middle. Two hours had passed since class had begun. The low table Wei Yuan was originally using had been switched out for an ordinary study table, and the empty book shelves that lined the side walls were now packed with bound books. The master and disciple were the ones who authored the books. One shelf belonged to Zhang Sheng, and the other Wei Yuan.

When the scholar was rescued, the only possessions he had owned were the clothes on his body. The Wei estate barely possessed any books either. In fact, they were all calendars and account books. Thus, Zhang Sheng was the one who had written the first real books at the beginning of the boy’s formal education.

Most of the books Wei Yuan had written were copies of his books. They served two functions: familiarizing him with the classics, and honing his calligraphy. Not all of them were copies, however. The boy had written a few books that contained his true thoughts and ideas.

Right now, these books weren’t sitting at the bookshelves. Zhang Sheng was going through them.

Wei Yuan’s literary works were immature as a matter of course, but a reader could tell that the author truly possessed his own ideas and didn’t fall into the pitfalls of conventions and cliches. What was even more remarkable was his ability to make a coherent argument.

Zhang Sheng could also tell that the boy’s literary works were starting to gain an edge of their own. At this moment, it was impossible to say if it was a good thing or a bad thing. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Wei Yuan sat as still as a statue while his master read his work. Some time later, Zhang Sheng finally recovered his senses and watched the disciple he had taught for three whole years closely. He said, “I have taught you the three thousand affairs of humanity. You will learn of the affairs of immortals when you join a sect. Three years, ten hours every day without fail. To be honest, I have taught you the foundation and essence of everything I learned. All that is left for you to do is to keep practicing until every minutiae is perfect.”

Zhang Sheng paused for a moment before continuing in a serious tone, “There is one thing you must remember, however. It is never easy to judge right or wrong when it comes to human affairs. The Dao of choosing what to take and what to leave behind lies within the heart. I’ve taught you how to consider every aspect and weigh the pros and cons accordingly, but you are the one who must make the final decision. This is something neither I nor any sage can teach you.”

Wei Yuan nodded in response.

Looking at him, Zhang Sheng suddenly cracked a smile and ordered, “Stand up!”

Wei Yuan returned a cry of acknowledgement and stood as straight and tall as a tree. The boy had just reached six years old, but he was already taller than your average, ten-year-old peasant boy. His eyes had also shed much of the childishness of youth and gained the handsomeness of adolescence instead. Unfortunately, he was still as taciturn as ever. It was only when he was discussing current affairs and principles with his master would he speak at length.

Zhang Sheng looked Wei Yuan up and down a couple times before letting out a sigh of wonder. “You weren’t even at my waist when I first saw you, but now, you’re already taller than my shoulders. Time really does fly.”

The boy suddenly bowed deeply and declared, “I will forever remember your kindness, Master!”

Zhang Sheng let out an involuntary chuckle and laid a hand on his head. Wei Yuan was naturally reticent and calm, so it was rare for him to say anything so directly. However, this also proved that his words came from the heart. Nothing else could have properly expressed his feelings.

Alas, Wei Yuan really had grown taller. It wasn’t exactly comfortable to pat his head now.

The scholar let out a sigh and said, “You appear cold on the outside, but are really warm on the inside. You are born with a handsome appearance, and you are extremely opinionated. I’m confident you’ll be able to handle almost anything life throws at you... except love. Sigh... Actually, why am I telling you this? You’re just six years old. I would have forgotten if I wasn’t thinking about it.

“Anyway, the lesson we just finished was your last one. With this, our master-disciple relationship has reached its culmination. The Immortal Sect Unified Examination is happening next month, and it is held only once per five years. You mustn’t miss it no matter what. When the time comes, I shall escort you to the commandery office myself.

“Anyway, I’m going to spend the next two days organizing my writings and insights from the past three years, so feel free to enjoy yourself during this time!”

Wei Yuan finally gave a brief response, “... Let me help you.”

Zhang Sheng smiled and nodded. “Why not?”

Crouching underneath a window outside the study, Wei Youchai let out a long sigh of relief before sneaking away with the baldie and the housekeeper.

After he deemed that he was far away enough, he slapped his thighs and let out another long sigh. He said, “At last, no more squatting by the wall! I swear, all this squatting has turned my legs into iron. Anyway, what have you two learned after three years of squatting?”

Old Six scratched his bald head and said, “After hearing so many human affairs, I finally understood that my old ideas were right. There is no such thing as righteousness or justice in this world. There is only the fight! If you win, then you will become emperors, kings, generals, or ministers. If you lose, then you will become bandits or dry bones. It’s that simple!”

Wei Youchai let out a sigh before looking at the housekeeper. “What about you?”

The housekeeper declared calmly, “I have gained deeper understanding into the immortal’s art of war I learned when I was a child. Just as water retains no constant shape, in warfare there are no constant conditions! If those refugees attack us once more, there would be no need to guard the estate at all. I, Sixth Brother, and a squad of a dozen people will simply hound the refugee group. During the day, we’ll start a couple of smokes and give them a scare. At night, we’ll set fire to their stuff. From time to time, we would loose a couple of arrows into their group, and if they dare to chase us, we’ll simply outrun the main group and kill the stragglers. Doesn’t matter if there are a couple thousand of them. They’ll fall apart on their own in a matter of days!”

The baldie grunted with obvious doubt. “Really? You learned the immortal’s art of war? Why are you practically illiterate then?”

The housekeeper turned beet red and argued, “My Master taught me verbally. He said that a method should not be heard by a third pair of ears. What came out of his mouth went straight into my ears, so there is no need for me to be literate!”

The baldie let out a derisive laugh. “I bet your poor man’s master is also illiterate.”

The duo would argue with each other for a little while until they suddenly noticed that Wei Youchai had been silent for a long time. When they looked, they saw the master looking up at the sky and thinking about god-knows-what.

The two men exchanged glances with each other before asking, “What’s the matter, Big Brother?”

Wei Youchai did not change his posture. He simply blinked hard and said, “It’s nothing. Just wondering when I’ll get to see Yuan’er again after he joins an immortal sect.”

The housekeeper and the baldie exchanged glances with each other again. This time, neither of them could muster a smile.

The housekeeper tried to console him, “It’ll be fine. I heard that cultivators experience a massive increase in their lifespan. You know the saying, ‘a day in the heavens equals to—’”

The housekeeper spoke faster than he thought. By the time he realized his mistake, it was already too late.

“I’m fine. Just feeling a little tired. I’m going to head back to my room and rest. You guys should go do whatever it is you need to do.” Wei Youchai dismissed them with a hand wave and returned to his bedroom.

On the first light of the third day, Zhang Sheng and Wei Yuan set off for the commandery seat. Alongside their mounts were two pack mules carrying their luggage.

Wei Youchai accompanied them for thirty li straight before he was finally willing to turn around. On the way, he didn’t say much and simply kept Wei Yuan company. There wasn’t any fanfare when they parted ways either. He simply waved his hand and left just like that.

By afternoon, Wei Yuan and Zhang Sheng finally put the rugged mountain paths behind them and set foot on the main road leading to the commandery seat.

The so-called “main road” was really just a rammed earth road wide enough for two mule carts to travel side-by-side. The road surface was pitted and uneven with four deep ruts running down the middle. Clearly, it had been neglected for years.

Still, the road condition was better than anything Wei Yuan had ever seen in his life. In Ye County, the mountain roads were craggy and difficult to navigate even with one’s two feet, much less any sort of vehicle. The only other viable mode of transportation was a mule or a donkey.

Only wealthy families could afford to own donkeys, and even then, they only had a few. On the other hand, mules were slow and barely outpaced an ordinary human being, but their stamina was way better. They could also carry weight and survive on coarse fodder. That was why they were fairly widespread in mountainous regions.

Zhang Sheng wanted Wei Yuan to see more of the world beyond the mountains, which was why they weren’t travelling quickly. As he gazed down the road ahead, he suddenly felt a surge of emotion and said, “Twenty years ago, I had left my home to participate in the Immortal Sect Unified Examination just like you. Your grandmaster had spotted me in a group of two dozen instantly, and I lived up to his expectations and took first place not just in the commandery I was taking the exam in, but the entire Yun Province.

“After I had attained success in my cultivation, I stepped into the mortal coil thinking that I would be able to achieve many great things just like my predecessors. Instead, I encountered setback after setback and ended up accomplishing nothing despite many years.”

Zhang Sheng paused for a moment and gave Wei Yuan a look. Smiling, he continued, “But now that I have you, these fruitless years no longer feel wasted. Since you are my disciple, I expect you to take the Immortal Sect Unified Examination by storm. My name will suffer if you are not leagues ahead of the first runner-up. Now, I will teach you our orthodoxy and lineage. It’s technically forbidden, but it’s not a major issue.”

Pride surged out of Zhang Sheng’s body as he declared, “I belong to the Skyblue Hall of the Palace of Absolute Beginning. That is where you’ll be cultivating when you have passed the exam.”

Wei Yuan was naturally calm, but even he couldn’t help an exclamation of surprise when he heard this. “The Palace of Absolute Beginning? One of the Four Immortal Sects?”

Zhang Sheng corrected him, “Not ‘one of’. We are the head of the Four Immortal Sects.”

Wei Yuan looked at Zhang Sheng suspiciously. “Didn’t you say that our county is small and remote, Master? That, excluding the Scarlet Tide Sect of our commandery, only one or two third-rate sects would come here to recruit disciples? The Palace of Absolute Beginning is a lofty existence. Why would they come here?”

Zhang Sheng had already explained the basic knowledge about the Immortal Sect Unified Examination to Wei Yuan. Countless sects were participating in the exam to recruit disciples, and they could be divided into four tiers. Fourth-rate sects such as the Scarlet Tide Sect could only recruit disciples within their own commanderies. Third-rate sects were known as “blessed lands” and could recruit disciples within their own province. They could recruit disciples from another province if they wanted to, but they must obey a strict quota.

Second-rate sects were known as grotto-heaven. They could recruit disciples within their own country.

Finally, the Four Immortal Sects were the greatest sects of them all. They could recruit disciples from any corner of Great Tang. However, the Four Immortal Sects were lofty existences that recruited only a handful of disciples every term. Over the past fifty years, the Four Immortal Sects had only visited Fengyuan Commandery three times and granted them a total of five spots. This was why Wei Yuan was asking.

A small smile crossed Zhang Sheng’s lips. “Relax. I can’t make promises for another immortal sect, but I promise you that the Palace of Absolute Beginning would show up. There’s no need to be caught up in appearances, however. You have mastered my true teachings after all. Another person would have to be extraordinarily talented and hard-working just to reach two-third of your level.”

If there was one thing Wei Yuan learned after studying hard under Zhang Sheng for three years, it was that trusting or obeying someone blindly was folly. Not even his master was an exception to the rule.

Thus, he pressed, “That still doesn’t explain why the Palace of Absolute Beginning would give us a spot.”

Zhang Sheng was waiting for him to ask this. He replied casually, “Your grandmaster’s Daoist name is Trueman Fen Hai[1]. He is one of the three Truemen of the Skyblue Hall. Your founder is True Lord Xuan Yue. He became the Hallmaster of the Skyblue Hall two centuries ago.

“There is nothing more a grandmaster cares about than their orthodoxy and lineage. They will shower you with benefits once you have joined the Skyblue Hall. That said, your grandmasters also care about their pride a lot. That is why you must demonstrate all of your learnings and outshine all your competitors to the utmost degree during this unified examination, lest you bring shame upon them.”

Wei Yuan wasn’t sure whether to believe him. He never knew that his master was such an important figure, not to mention that Zhang Sheng was implying that he was the reason the Palace of Absolute Beginning made an exception for Fengyuan Commandery.

He might not be familiar with the internal processes of the Palace of Absolute Beginning, but he didn’t think that the grand disciple of a Hallmaster would possess the power to make such a decision.

He also wondered exactly how many disciples and grand disciples the Xuan Yue True Lord had. According to the history books, there was a prince in Northern Qi who enjoyed recruiting all sorts of talents. Literally, he would accept even rogues and thieves into his ranks. Over time, he had a total of three thousand retainers under his name.

Cultivators lived longer than your ordinary human being. If Xuan Yue True Lord’s personality was similar to the prince’s, it was entirely possible that he had more than three thousand disciples and grand disciples.

Zhang Sheng had no idea that Wei Yuan was secretly disparaging him behind his back, of course. The scholar was gazing into the distance with a far-off look on his face, his thoughts having fled toward the distant commandery seat a long time ago. He was still thinking when suddenly, the rapid clatter of hooves echoed from behind.

The noise came from their rear, and it belonged to several horsemen. Their mounts were one zhang tall, deep black-colored warhorses. Their iron hooves struck the ground like thunder, and they looked imposing to say the least.

They seemed to be in a hurry as they were riding at a full gallop. They blew past Zhang Sheng and Wei Yuan like the wind. The hooves of the horses were comparable to that of a small drum, so they kicked up a massive amount of dirt when they struck the ground. It flew straight toward the master and disciple!

The road was narrow, Zhang Sheng’s Dao powers were sealed, and he wasn’t given enough time to dodge out of the way. As a result, the dirt struck him squarely from head to toe. If before he looked elegant, immortal, and refined, now he just looked... dirty.

Looking at his dirty, flabbergasted master, Wei Yuan suddenly thought that the spot given to Fengyuan by the Palace of Absolute Beginning probably had nothing to do with him.

1. I really want to just translate their titles, but some of the words don’t carry any meaning. In the end I decided to just transliterate them and add a footnote when necessary. ☜