The seventh day of the sixth lunar month.
This was the date chosen by Yu Cheng Taoist.
Though turmoil had begun to brew throughout the land, Qianmu Temple was a scene of joyous harmony today. Countless distinguished guests had arrived since early morning. From the mountain gate to the outer hall, and then to the Inner Sect and the front hall, disciples continuously announced the nas of the arriving guests.
In the front hall of Qianmu Temple.
The Deans of the various courts, clad in heavy Daoist Robes, stood on either side of the main entrance, holding their famous Magical Artifacts and Dusters. Flanking them were representatives from other Daoist Temples and sects on Nanlin Road.
From his position at the very edge of the crowd, Mars Taoist, who had only recently broken into the Second Realm, surveyed the grand spectacle with a touch of lancholy. He recalled the Yongming Port incident; back then, with the backing of his sect, he had always felt rather special, even in Daoist Changqing’s presence.
A century had passed. His master and senior uncle had both entered Death Seclusion one after another, and he himself had only just barely broken into the Second Realm. Yet, Changqing was already a leading figure in the Nanlin Road Cultivation World.
Unconsciously, his gaze shifted to Qiuwang, the current Sect Leader of the Single Saber Sect. Qiuwang was speaking to one of Qianmu Temple’s Deans—one who hadn’t even entered a realm yet—with a fawning expression, his face a mask of sycophancy.
"Qianmu Temple has developed so quickly in the last hundred years. I hear Daoist Changqing is already in seclusion, attempting to break through to the Third Realm. I wonder how long it will take this ti," a Loose Cultivator from Fuming Prefecture remarked with envy.
"Watch your mouth!"
Soone warned in a low voice.
Cultivators on Nanlin Road often discussed Changqing, but on his ho turf, they had to play by the rules. So topics, however flattering, were not to be ntioned casually.
"Mr. Mars, where’s your master?" a confrontational voice sounded from nearby.
Mars turned his head to see Li Lin, whom he hadn’t seen in a long ti. He imdiately retorted, "Where’s your master?"
While the two of them lacked the intense animosity their masters showed each other, the years of their masters’ conflict had caused a great deal of resentnt to build up between them as well.
"After the ceremony ends, how about we exchange a few moves in the arena?" Li Lin suggested.
"No problem. I’ve been sitting in ditation for a century; it’s about ti I stretched my legs," Mars did not back down.
Just then, a figure erged from the front hall’s entrance. It was Liu Shuang, who had hurried back. She wore the Blue Daoist Robe of an Inner Sect Disciple, her long hair tied up by a jade coronet. Holding a Duster, her expression was impassive, giving her an otherworldly air.
When Li Lin saw her, he subconsciously wanted to step forward and greet her, but his feet felt as if they were bound by a Body-Fixing Spell, unable to move an inch.
Liu Shuang’s gaze swept over everyone present, then moved to the plaza below the steps.
Thousands of spectators filled the plaza. Standing at the very front were officials from the Nanlin Road Inspectorate and the Governor’s Office, followed by officials from the various prefectures. They all stood in such an orderly fashion, it was as if they were waiting for a morning court assembly.
After glancing over these people, Liu Shuang walked over to a slightly nervous Shen Xiaozhu and whispered sothing to her.
Shen Xiaozhu’s Daoist Robe was nearly identical to Liu Shuang’s. Her initial excitent had faded, and she now calmly accepted the gazes, both subtle and overt, that sized her up.
This was what it ant to have entered the Dao.
Her composure made even Liu Shuang feel a bit inadequate, and this feeling of inadequacy suppressed much of her own jealousy.
About fifteen minutes later, Hu Qianqian arrived with Hu Xin. Her appearance set off a wave of whispers, but Hu Qianqian paid them no mind. Hu Xin, however, seed to have trouble accepting it.
Lastly, Wang Yang stood at the very back.
As the morning sun bathed the land in its rosy glow, Wang Ping and Yu Cheng Taoist also arrived.
Yu Cheng Taoist wore the Sect Leader’s Daoist Robe. After arriving and greeting the guests, he took his place to the left of the Ancestral Master’s tablet, holding his Duster and looking out at the guests with a solemn expression.
Wang Ping was dressed in a Magical Robe, with the majestic Yu Lian circling around him. Upon his arrival, he stood to the right of the Ancestral Master’s tablet, holding a formal declaration and reciting it in an extrely slow cadence.
Then it was Shen Xiaozhu’s turn. Amid a sea of jealous and envious gazes, she walked to the Ancestral Master’s tablet and stopped. She ford a Spell unique to Qianmu Temple with her hands, held it for several breaths, and then respectfully knelt to perform a kowtow.
After performing three kneelings and nine kowtows to the Ancestral Master’s and Saint’s Tablets, she held up the prepared Apprenticeship Letter. Then, she perford another grand rite of three kneelings and three kowtows to Wang Ping.
At that mont, Wang Ping finished reciting the declaration. He took the Apprenticeship Letter and read it word by word. anwhile, Yu Lian used her vertical pupil to fixedly observe the kneeling Shen Xiaozhu, seeing her current state with perfect clarity.
"Serve the tea!"
Yang Hou announced in a loud, resonant voice.
Liu Shuang imdiately brought over a cup of tea at the perfect temperature. Shen Xiaozhu accepted the cup and presented it to Wang Ping, who had just finished reading the Apprenticeship Letter.
Wang Ping took the teacup and, under the gaze of thousands, took a sip. He then stepped forward to carefully tie up Shen Xiaozhu’s hair and adjust her coronet. Afterward, he gave Shen Xiaozhu the Daoist na ’Yu Xi’—a common and easily understood na.
The scene reminded Wang Ping of his own apprenticeship ceremony. His gaze instinctively drifted to Yu Cheng Taoist beside him. Master and disciple exchanged a look, and everything was understood without a word.
Next was the reading of the precepts, every one of which Shen Xiaozhu had already committed to mory.
...
The commotion ca and went quickly.
After today, the talk of Nanlin Road had a new topic besides the war in the north: Qianmu Temple’s disciple-acceptance ceremony.
Wang Ping, on the other hand, was busy with the construction of his Alchemy Room. The very first task for the Golden Armored Puppet he had created was to bend over and trace the connecting Array lines along a pre-drawn path.
The project wasn’t large, but it was incredibly tedious.
Yu Lian hadn’t been by Wang Ping’s side for the past few days. She was busy with matters concerning Shen Xiaozhu’s new Dao Field. Wang Ping had allocated five hundred thousand taels of silver for it, and the temple had contributed another five hundred thousand taels.
It wasn’t that Wang Ping was neglectful; it was that Yu Lian was overly diligent, wanting to manage every single detail herself.
At the end of the year, Wang Ping received another letter from Xia Yao. This ti, the letter was a request to purchase Power Pills. He wanted two million of them right off the bat, at a unit price of three taels of silver, and he would even send his own people to pick them up.
’What a great deal!’
Wang Ping agreed imdiately.
After that, his days of cultivation beca even more "fulfilling."
After the Spring Festival, he received another guest: Wu’an, a Direct Disciple of Yuan Zheng. Wu’an was an orthodox Alchemist from the Upper Dan Sect who had just recently entered the realm.
He had co to find Wang Ping, of course, to collect the paynt for improving Shen Xiaozhu’s root bone last year.
When he saw the Alchemy Room that Wang Ping was building, he imdiately asked, "Senior, are you in need of any more Alchemists here?"
And so, Wu’an went from being a creditor to a worker in the blink of an eye.
In their subsequent conversations, Wang Ping learned that an Alchemy Room on the scale of the one he was building was sothing only a Second Realm Cultivator would be qualified to use in the Upper Dan Sect.
「A few months later.」
For reasons unknown—perhaps sothing Wu’an wrote in his letter to Yuan Zheng Taoist—Yuan Zheng Taoist dispatched another twelve disciples. They ca for one reason and one reason only: the soon-to-be-completed Alchemy Room.
This was a pleasant surprise for Wang Ping, and he had no reason to refuse.
In the end, Yu Cheng Taoist stepped in to handle the matter, establishing a formal partnership with Yuan Zheng Taoist’s faction.
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