Chapter 103: Taking Disciples

Zhou Qianyuan was walking toward Zheng Fa's home; over the past month, he had been coming to discuss talisman arts with Zheng Fa every few days.

In truth, the gains were not great.

He knew this was because his own talisman attainment was insufficient.

He had only just begun learning his Sect Master's talisman Dao, so there were very few things he could bring up to discuss with Zheng Fa.

Likewise, he had also seen through Zheng Fa's character—this was someone who would not let go of the eagle until he saw the rabbit.

In their exchanges, Zheng Fa was clearly holding something back.

Yet even so, he was still won over by some of Zheng Fa's ideas; Zheng Fa's words occasionally left him feeling as if he had received a sudden enlightenment, opening his eyes wide.

If it were not for fear of being rude, he would have wanted to run to Zheng Fa's home every single day.

Today, he was not alone.

"Zhou Shidi, if you have any questions, just ask us senior brothers; would we not teach you?" The Sun Daoyu beside him said with a tone of helplessness: "What is with you constantly running over to Zheng Fa's place?"

"Senior Brother, the Sect Master agreed to it."

"Yes, the Sect Master has a broad mind." Sun Daoyu nodded and said: "But not everyone possesses this breadth of heart; by doing this, you are likely hurting the feelings of the senior and junior brothers of our branch."

"..."

Zhou Qianyuan fell silent.

Sun Daoyu sighed and said: "I know that in the Sect Master's eyes, the matter between our two branches is merely play, but... the grudges and grievances of these past few decades, how can they be swept aside by a single word like 'play'?"

"Senior Brother, I do not wish to get involved in these matters..."

A trace of weariness revealed itself in Zhou Qianyuan's tone.

"I know, I know you are wholeheartedly devoted to the Dao, and I also hope that you will one day become the pillar of our branch..." Sun Daoyu grinned: "But not everyone understands you; do you know that the senior brothers of our branch already hold grievances against you?"

"..." "What are they saying?"

"They say you are eating from the inside while betraying the outside, taking the Sect Master's talisman Dao to curry favor with Senior Sister Zhang; if it were not for the Sect Master valuing you, they would likely be looking for trouble with you."

"Does Senior Brother think so too?"

"I guided you into the sect from the start; how could I not understand you?" Sun Daoyu patted him and said fiercely: "But a junior brother cannot act solely on his own will; if you do not wish to cut yourself off from the senior brothers, you should give it much thought."

"I have already made up my mind." Zhou Qianyuan raised his eyes, looking at his own senior brother: "I was taught by the Sect Master, and you, Senior Brother, have always taken care of me... as long as the two of you do not stop me, I do not care what others think."

"Junior Brother, you..."

"Senior Brother, I am not cultivating for power and status, nor am I cultivating for them."

"..." Sun Daoyu fell silent for a while, then finally spoke: "I will go again to explain things to the senior brothers on your behalf; since we are of the same branch, it is always bad to create a rift. Also, let me advise you one more time: no matter how powerful you think Zheng Fa's talisman Dao is, the Sect Master's secret transmission must not be passed on! If you pass it on, I will no longer be able to mediate for you!"

"I have already asked the Sect Master for permission; the Sect Master said the 'Void-Piercing Spiritual Eye' can also be passed to him."

"This... the Sect Master actually equates him with Senior Sister Zhang?" Sun Daoyu's face showed confusion: "Yes, Zheng Fa is number one in talisman arts for ten thousand years; I admit his talisman arts are powerful! But the 'Void-Piercing Spiritual Eye' is the Sect Master's secret transmission; he is not even twenty years old, has only entered the sect for two months, and is a dual spiritual root... does the Sect Master actually look favorably on him?"

It was he who had originally passed the 'Void-Piercing Spiritual Eye' to Senior Sister Zhang, so of course he knew what it meant for the Sect Master to pass the 'Void-Piercing Spiritual Eye' to Zheng Fa—call me Sect Master, will you?

Zhou Qianyuan looked at Sun Daoyu, knowing that this person probably felt Zheng Fa's aptitude was somewhat low—only refrained from saying it openly due to the Sect Master.

Zheng Fa's home.

As soon as the Yang Yuan Dan entered his mouth, it turned into a warm current that flowed down Zheng Fa's esophagus all the way to his abdomen.

Zheng Fa focused his divine sense on his dantian within his body and began to control his spiritual power, attempting to condense it into an Upright Shadowless Talisman according to his will.

He felt a bit nervous.

According to the 'Talisman Dao Foundation Establishment Method', this step is the difficulty in condensing the talisman diagram.

The divine sense of a Qi Refining stage cultivator is after all weak, and their ability to control spiritual power is not strong.

Drawing a talisman diagram inside the dantian is very difficult for them.

Even a genius like Senior Sister Zhang recorded considerable frustration in this step, saying she had moments where her divine sense was exhausted, the talisman diagram failed to form, and then completely collapsed.

And if this step fails, this Yang Yuan Dan will be wasted.

That is a full twenty spirit stones!

But as soon as Zheng Fa tried—eh? Just this?

He looked at the perfect Upright Shadowless Talisman inside his dantian.

Feeling his divine sense still abundant.

He could not help but feel a bit proud—hmm, why am I not considered a genius?

After the Upright Shadowless Talisman was condensed, it automatically settled into the dantian.

His own dantian was quite lively now.

Not to mention the spiritual power.

Previously, a mass of Green Yang Qi had been stationed there.

Now there was also an Upright Shadowless Talisman.

The Green Yang Qi had always been aloof, and now it completely ignored the other two.

But the Upright Shadowless Talisman, being of the same origin as the spiritual power, was now lying very intimately together with it.

In the records of the 'Talisman Dao Foundation Establishment Method', the Upright Shadowless Talisman he had just condensed was not stable.

If he now cast spells without talisman paper relying on this diagram, besides consuming spiritual power, it would also consume the diagram itself.

After three times, it would dissipate—it is not that there is no remedy; as long as the spellcasting does not exceed three times, allowing this not-fully-dissipated diagram to absorb spiritual power during cultivation, it can repair itself.

To cast spells without talisman paper without limit, like Senior Sister Zhang, one must forge a Yang Yuanfu Dao foundation.

After condensing the Upright Shadowless Talisman, Zheng Fa felt the power of the 'Talisman Dao Foundation Establishment Method'—

When cultivators cultivate, their soul and spirit will involuntarily extend outward; Zheng Fa was no exception.

This was originally nothing, but now the Upright Shadowless Talisman was absorbing corresponding talisman diagrams within the range of his soul and spirit.

These talisman diagrams entered his dantian and turned into spiritual energy.

Zheng Fa estimated that his cultivation speed had increased by nearly ten percent!

If the Yang Yuanfu Dao Foundation were to condense, wouldn't that cultivation speed double?

Only then did Zheng Fa understand why Zhang Shijie was hailed as the fastest to reach Foundation Establishment in the Baixian Alliance—she was cheating!

Just then, Zheng Fa felt the spiritual energy within his body tremble slightly.

His body was like a funnel absorbing the spiritual qi from the outside world, causing the spiritual qi above the room to form a small vortex.

Not far outside the courtyard, Zhou Qianyuan and Sun Daoyu looked up at the fleeting spiritual qi vortex in the sky and stopped in their tracks.

"Senior Brother... is this?" Zhou Qianyuan had some guesses in his heart, but was not certain.

"He broke through." Sun Daoyu fell silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Was he at Qi Refining Layer One before?"

"Yes."

"How long has he been in the sect? Less than two months, right?" Sun Daoyu thought for a long time: "Dual Spirit Roots, breaking through to Qi Refining Layer Two in less than two months? Junior Brother, how long did it take you to break through?"

"Me?" Zhou Qianyuan asked in confusion: "Don't you already know, Senior Brother? I broke through half a month ago."

"You have the Gold Spirit Root plus the Geng Gold Dao Body, which complement each other to allow such speed..." Sun Daoyu shook his head gently: "This Zheng Fa, his speed is not much slower than an ordinary single Spirit Root."

Zhou Qianyuan watched his own Senior Brother's face change, as if he were thinking of something.

As the spiritual qi above the Zheng family's sky gradually calmed, Zhou Qianyuan knew that Zheng Fa had exited cultivation.

He walked to the courtyard gate and knocked on the Zheng family's courtyard door.

"Zhou Shidi, you have come." Zheng Fa did not look surprised to see Zhou Qianyuan, but he greeted Sun Daoyu behind him with some surprise: "Sun Zi?"

"We happened to see Junior Brother you breaking through outside just now, and came specifically to offer congratulations." Sun Daoyu clasped his hands and said to Zheng Fa with a smile.

The smile on his face was much more sincere than when he last saw Zheng Fa.

"Thank you, Senior Brother, for your kind intentions." Zheng Fa invited the two into the courtyard and looked at Zhou Qianyuan.

Zhou Qianyuan looked at Zheng Fa, then at Sun Daoyu.

He felt a bit hesitant in his heart—he wanted to speak about the "Void-Piercing Spiritual Eye," but he also understood that Sun Daoyu was opposed to this matter.

With Sun Zi present, he was a bit at a loss on how to bring it up.

"Zhou Shidi?"

Zheng Fa asked softly.

"Ahem!" Sun Daoyu coughed lightly and suddenly interrupted: "Zhou Shidi is clumsy with words and cannot speak well... let me say it instead. Zheng Shidi, my Master intends to take you as his disciple!"

Zhou Qianyuan slowly turned his head to look at his own Senior Brother: "?"

How can someone steal my lines?

Don't you know why I was hesitating?

"True Person Pang?" Zheng Fa could not help but be startled.

Zhou Qianyuan explained: "Yes, Senior Zheng Shidi. After I exchanged talisman arts with you, I mentioned your insights to my Master several times... Master greatly appreciates your attainment in the Talisman Dao and intends to take you into his sect."

Zheng Fa nodded.

He did not look surprised.

At this moment, Sun Daoyu spoke again: "Zheng Shidi, do you know that Master has already bestowed the 'Void-Piercing Spiritual Eye'? This is Master's secret transmission."

Zheng Fa fell silent for a moment, then suddenly asked:

"Does True Person Pang intend to take me as his disciple?"

"Yes!"

"Then I dare to ask one question: under Zhang Shijie's fury, what should I do? Can you, Senior Brother, protect me?"

"Zhang Shijie... will exercise some restraint, right?" Sun Daoyu stammered.

"... Then do all disciples under True Person Pang receive the same level of importance as Zhou Shidi?"

"... Ahem, Zhou Shidi is, after all, astonishingly talented."

"... Then I am probably destined never to obtain this 'Void-Piercing Spiritual Eye'."

Walking out the door, Zhou Qianyuan still frowned as he looked at Sun Daoyu.

"Senior Brother, why have you changed so quickly?"

"This Zheng Fa has good talent; he cultivated to Qi Refining Layer Two in less than two months."

"Does Senior Brother love talent?"

"Love talent?" Sun Daoyu smiled lightly and looked at Zhou Qianyuan: "Zhou Shidi, you... I simply do not wish for another capable general to join Zhang Shijie's branch. Junior Brother, Master's favor is never everything; moreover, how much favor he truly holds for Zheng Fa, I cannot say for sure."

"..."

"What a pity, this person is a clever one."

Zhang Shijie's courtyard.

"You refused True Person Pang?" Zhang Shijie asked Zheng Fa.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"How easy is it to be a traitor?"

Zheng Fa answered honestly.

If not for the sect rules, these two branches would have fought with real fire.

True Person Pang already has Zhou Qianyuan as a beloved disciple; how much favor could he possibly hold for me?

Zhang Shijie's protection of me is seen by the entire Jiushan Sect; if I were to become True Person Pang's disciple, Zhang Shijie's branch would likely hate me deeply, and True Person Pang's branch would probably think I am ungrateful and disloyal.

In the end, I would end up with no friends on either side.

"The 'Void-Piercing Spirit Eye' technique is quite famous within the Baixian Alliance."

"..."

"You don't want it?"

"I don't."

"Oh, then I won't give it to you."

Zheng Fa was stunned; he looked up and saw Zhang Shijie holding a jade slip, a faint smile on her lips as she watched him.