Chapter 92

Zhang Shijie sat before the hall, Han Qi stood below it.

Han Qi kept his head down, eyes fixed on the ground, daring not to look at Zhang Shijie.

It seemed that all the courage he had mustered on his way here had vanished the moment he entered.

“What do you want with me?”

But Zhang Shijie was not one to waste time; she asked directly.

“Report, Shijie: as you instructed, I took Zheng Shidi today to collect his mission token and cultivation scripture.”

Zhang Shijie nodded slightly, listening as he continued.

“Zheng Shidi chose ‘Five Thunder Body Method’ from the Scripture Hall.”

Hearing this, Zhang Shijie fell silent for a moment, then suddenly said: “You came just to tell me this?”

“Yes!” Han Qi lowered his head, speaking softly: “‘Five Thunder Body Method’ is profound, but no one has mastered it in a thousand years...”

“Mm.”

“I just wanted to...”

“You want me to persuade Zheng Shidi?”

“Yes. If Zheng Shidi has confidence, that’s fine—but I fear he’s young and impulsive.”

Zhang Shijie stared at Han Qi for a long while, as if pondering something.

“Han Shidi,” she suddenly called him by the honorific, “you’re not this kind of person.”

“Shijie?”

“You joined Jiushan Sect fifty years ago, a dual-spirit-root cultivator with mediocre talent in talisman arts, from a minor family, often loitering in the marketplace, running petty scams...”

Han Qi lifted his head, face filled with surprise—he had never imagined Zhang Shijie knew so much about him.

Zhang Shijie continued: “You schemed everywhere, eventually joining Yuan Shidi’s sect—your reputation wasn’t good.”

“Yes...”

“Han Shidi, you’re not the type to care so much about a newly admitted junior.”

“...He gave me ten taels of gold.”

“Hm?”

A rare look of confusion crossed Zhang Shijie’s face.

“Shijie, with your celestial talent, you can’t understand the hardships of lowly cultivators like me. In this immortal sect, everyone I meet exploits power, plunders everything they can...”

“Just for this?”

Zhang Shijie frowned.

“Shijie may not know—I’m preparing to leave the immortal sect, to end my days among mortals,” Han Qi said, head bowed. “You know I came from a minor family, but you don’t know my parents are long dead, and I have no close relatives left in my clan.”

“...”

“It’s laughable—I’ve spent decades in Jiushan Sect, miserable and bitter, only to realize now that the only place I can call home is here.”

For the first time, Han Qi looked directly into Zhang Shijie’s eyes.

“Since Shijie holds Zheng Shidi in such high regard, he will surely become great one day,” Han Qi said, gazing at the ten taels of gold in his hand, then smiling: “I thought—if Jiushan Sect one day has more people like Zheng Shidi, maybe my decades here won’t have been so hard.”

Zhang Shijie looked at his slightly embarrassed face, and her gaze softened.

“...Perhaps it’s only because I’m about to leave that I realize I still hope Jiushan Sect thrives.”

Zhang Shijie nodded gently, then spoke after a long pause: “I already know. You needn’t worry.”

Han Qi bowed respectfully and took his leave.

Only when his figure faded beyond the door did a girl’s voice suddenly sound: “Tsk tsk, this Zheng Shidi really knows how to win hearts—this man was mine, yet in just a few days, he’s worrying about him left and right.”

As the voice ended, a girl of fifteen or sixteen stepped out from a side door behind the hall, leaning against Zhang Shijie’s arm.

“Yours? He’s never even seen you,” Zhang Shijie retorted lightly. “He doesn’t even know if you’re male or female.”

The girl shook her head and snorted: “Shijie, you don’t really believe him, do you?”

“Not entirely,” Zhang Shijie’s gaze drifted to the night sky outside. “But he’s not this foolish—he wouldn’t dare lie to my face.”

“Hmm...”

“Half truth, half—seeing how much I value Zheng Fa, he came to curry favor. He’s a schemer by nature,” Zhang Shijie said, gently brushing away the girl’s hand reaching for her shoulder.

“He came here for you?”

The girl paused, then understood—why care about Zheng Shidi when you could catch Zhang Shijie’s attention?

“If even half of what he said is sincere, I can tolerate him.”

“It’s just that you value Zheng Fa too much.”

“Someone’s jealous?”

“Of course,” the girl muttered. “A newly admitted disciple, and you give him two spirit inkstones and a hundred talisman papers every month—that’s the allowance of a Talisman Hall instructor! Every talisman cultivator in Jiushan Sect needs these—everyone’s envious. I bet Zheng Fa’s life inside the sect won’t be easy.”

Zhang Shijie’s expression didn’t change.

“Shijie, I know you value talisman talent because your Jin Dan lacks the talisman foundation... but others don’t know that, and they don’t know if Zheng Fa can handle it.”

“I told him.”

“Hm?”

“It’s a trial,” Zhang Shijie said.

“...Are you sure you explained it clearly?” the girl doubted, eyeing her. “Shijie, you really need to work on talking more.”

Zheng Fa had no idea what had happened in Zhang Shijie’s courtyard.

He was fully absorbed in his cultivation!

He had no mind for Zhang Shijie or Han Shixiong.

He sat in his room, five points toward heaven, eyes closed, meditating, adjusting his awareness and breath according to the first layer of ‘Chixiao Scripture.’

Why was ‘Chixiao Scripture’ safe? Besides producing balanced, harmonious spiritual energy, it was because it spoke plainly.

Its annotations were detailed, accompanied by diagrams—hard to misinterpret.

Compared to ‘Spirit Crane Body,’ it was far friendlier to newcomers.

Though he had just received the book, Zheng Fa already roughly understood the method of the first layer.

With his breathing, a strange force entered his meridians, transforming into a warm, flowing qi.

Unlike the qi from ‘Spirit Crane Body,’ which arose from within his body, this force came entirely from outside—this must be what the Xuanwei Realm called spiritual energy.

Gradually, the spiritual energy flowed steadily through his meridians along the Great Heavenly Cycle. Zheng Fa’s heart leapt—this was the sign of successful entry into ‘Chixiao Scripture!’

Just as he was about to open his eyes, the spiritual energy surged into his Dantian Palace; he felt a faint tremor in his head, and his consciousness entered a gray, chaotic space.

In the space floated a yin-yang jade pendant.

On the pendant, the yin and yang fish intertwined and flowed; within the yin fish’s eye, a short-haired boy, his face identical to his own, sat curled up like a baby, asleep.

As if sensing his gaze, the boy slowly opened his eyes and met his stare.

Then Zheng Fa’s mind filled with a memory—familiar yet alien: the time before his parents died in his modern world.

The elementary and middle school knowledge in it made Zheng Fa want to curse:

You didn’t show up when I scored single digits in middle school.

You didn’t show up when I stayed up all night memorizing textbooks.

You didn’t show up when I was starving on the farm.

Now that I’ve become a top student, entered the immortal sect, and am excelling in both study and cultivation—you show up—

You’ve got perfect timing!