Chapter 32: The Ancestor

Whether one gains the Ancestor’s favor is the most direct display of a disciple’s talent. But Wei Yuan stood for a long time, watching five or six groups enter, and only one person received a gift.

At this moment, Zhang Sheng stood at a distance, speaking with Sun Yu. By regulation, he could only stand ten zhang outside the main hall, among the elders of the new disciples.

Zhang Sheng glanced at the number of new disciples and said, “This year’s new disciples are indeed more numerous.”

“Seventeen provinces together admitted one hundred fifty, fewer than ten per province—not many.”

“My cohort had only eighty-four.”

Sun Yu said, “Zhenjun Yan Shi’s stance is to open the sect widely, teaching all without discrimination. In my view, taking more disciples isn’t necessarily bad.”

“I hope so.”

A new group of disciples entered, and the Ancestor statue changed again—a beam of light shot from the jade crown atop the Ancestor’s head and entered a young girl’s body. Nearby, an old man burst into wild laughter, crying, “Good, good, good! This gift is supreme! My family, Jiao, shall rise again! Ancestors, open your eyes! Ancestors, open your eyes!”

The old man wept and laughed, drawing stares from all around. Someone nearby sneered at his companion, “Do you know what this crown signifies?”

The man replied, “Of course not!”

“The crown is a treasure, yes, but it’s neither the Ancestor’s true body nor a weapon like the Immortal Sword. It’s like clothing—a daily tool, prized for its finesse. Those who receive this gift usually advance easily in alchemy, treasure crafting, or supportive arts. In short, when fellow disciples charge into battle, she’ll be back there fixing magic treasures.”

After this sarcastic remark, the old man’s face flushed red and pale. He shouted, “Whatever it is, it’s the Ancestor’s grace! Better than nothing!”

The sarcastic man snapped, “What did you say? My child hasn’t even entered yet—how dare you say ‘nothing’?”

The old man pointed to the hall. “Didn’t she just go in?”

Among this group was the sarcastic man’s child. But by the time the rites ended, the Ancestor statue remained utterly still. The man, humiliated and furious, could no longer bear the old man’s taunts and hurried away.

At that moment, a Daoist officiant called out from afar: “Yongzhou, Fengyuanjun, Wei Yuan; Fengyuanjun, Bao Yun; Fengyuanjun, Xiang Xiaoyu; … Fengyuanjun, Yan Ming.”

As this string of names rang out, a stir erupted among the crowd.

“Why so many from Fengyuanjun?”

“Exactly! Our Ganzhou province got only five new disciples—this one prefecture has six!”

A cloth-clad old man stepped forward suddenly and shouted, “Chu Province is one of the empire’s great provinces, yet we have only eight slots. Yongzhou is a remote land—how can one prefecture have six? If there’s no trickery here, I won’t believe it! Tai Chu Palace, as an immortal sect, acts so unjustly—how can it command respect?! I refuse!”

The old man’s cry drew many responses. Even some from Yongzhou said, “Yongzhou has nine prefectures—combined, the other eight got only one disciple. Why should Fengyuanjun get six?”

The Daoist officiants called for silence several times, but the crowd grew louder. The old man jumped up and down, wailing that his beloved grandson had nearly been accepted—if Tai Chu Palace were truly fair, it should reallocate Fengyuanjun’s slots to Chu Province so his grandson could enter.

Zhang Sheng glanced left and right and saw the burly man and the Bao family elder. The elder’s expression was blank, as if nothing could shake him; the burly man stood with arms crossed, smirking. Seeing Zhang Sheng look his way, he walked over and said, “Why don’t you go argue?”

Zhang Sheng replied coolly, “This man targets your noble families—what’s it to me? But how can your Xiao family allow such audacity?”

The burly man grinned. “This is Tai Chu Palace’s affair. If he names your Xiao family directly, I’ll act. But he dares not.”

The burly man remained unmoved. The young Daoist officiants, inexperienced, grew flustered, trying to calm and block the crowd. But the old man, seeing their hesitation, grew even more frantic, screaming only for fairness. The young Daoists sweated, helpless, unsure how to proceed.

Suddenly, a Daoist appeared on the square. As soon as he materialized, a massive, fearsome dragon coiled above his head—an invisible pressure instantly engulfed the entire square, freezing all below the Law Form in place, quelling the chaos.

All the Daoist officiants bowed immediately. “Greetings, Teng Qiu True Person!”

The Daoist coldly asked, “What is the commotion?”

A young officiant quickly recounted the events. The True Person’s expression darkened; the invisible pressure tripled. The old man froze in place, as if crushed by a mountain—unable to move or speak, his face filled with terror.

Teng Qiu True Person rebuked, “The number of disciples admitted per province is decided by the True Juniors—how dare you speculate? To cause a disturbance before the Ancestor’s hall demands punishment.”

The Daoist reached out, and a lightning whip materialized in his hand. He swung it down, striking the old man’s head.

Immediately, a screen rose from the old man’s scalp, bearing a plum tree in full bloom. The whip struck—the screen cracked, petals rained down like a storm, vanishing in seconds. The old man collapsed, his hair instantly whitened half, his face deeply wrinkled, as if aged by decades.

Many onlookers drew sharp breaths. Teng Qiu True Person’s whip had shattered much of the old man’s Dao foundation—decades of cultivation wasted.

Teng Qiu True Person retracted the lightning whip. “This whip is but a minor punishment. Considering your grandson’s youth and ignorance, I spare you expulsion—downgrade you to a recorded disciple. Remain within the palace, cultivate with the others, and prove your worth.”

The old man could not speak, only spat blood, carried away by his family and disciples.

Having settled the disturbance, Teng Qiu True Person did not leave. He stood on the square, watching the new disciples enter the hall to pay homage to the Ancestor.

Sun Yu sighed softly. “That man merely sought opportunity for his descendants—but he chose the wrong method, and now he’s ruined his own Dao path. He once had a chance to attain Law Form.”

Someone nearby said, “Cultivators from small clans have no resources—they must fight for everything. Always fighting, everywhere fighting—until they fight even at Tai Chu Palace’s door. For such families, even one descendant entering Tai Chu Palace is leaping over the dragon gate. Yet they still want more—greed knows no bounds.”

At that moment, Wei Yuan followed the Daoist officiant’s guidance into the Ancestor Hall. Before the towering statue—dozens of zhang high—both new disciples and officiants seemed like ants.

Under the Daoist’s direction, Wei Yuan knelt on the cushion before the Ancestor’s statue and began his worship. After seven bows, he silently recited the liturgy—and suddenly felt a gaze descending from infinite height, piercing his entire being in an instant.

In that instant, Wei Yuan felt his consciousness ripped from his body, rising to infinite heights. Below, the Ancestor Hall shrank to the size of a palm. Yet the gaze still watched him from even higher—Wei Yuan could not perceive its origin at all.

Wei Yuan grew suddenly anxious, looking around—only empty void stretched in every direction.

As the gaze from above settled upon him, his inner destiny stirred, awakening. Then he sensed an invisible entity appearing above, standing opposite the gaze’s source.

That entity was impossibly vast, ancient, and desolate—its end could not be perceived. It seemed linked to Wei Yuan’s destiny, yet the connection was faint, uncertain—was it real at all?

Wei Yuan’s consciousness hung alone in the heights, trapped between two unknown beings—like an ant standing between two mountains, crushed unnoticed.

No matter how he struggled, he could not move. He could only watch the figures below in the hall bow again and again—as if the real world had severed all ties to him.

Suddenly, faint music echoed through the hall. A beam of light descended from the sky, illuminating the Ancestor statue. Within the beam, countless petals rained down like a storm.

(End of Chapter)