Chapter 4: Human Affairs, Immortal Affairs (Part 1)

On this day, the red sun had not yet reached the middle of the sky, and the sky was bright. In the study, Wei Yuan and Zhang Sheng had been lecturing for an hour. The desk in front of Wei Yuan had been changed from the initial low table to a desk used by normal people. The bookshelves on both walls, which were originally empty, were now filled with bound books. The books on the shelves were all written by the master and disciple themselves; one shelf was Zhang Sheng's, and the other was Wei Yuan's.

When Zhang Sheng was rescued, he only had the clothes on his back, and there were not many books in the Wei residence; the few were almanacs and account books. So the books used for initial enlightenment were all written by Zhang Sheng himself. Most of the books on Wei Yuan's own shelf were copies of Zhang Sheng's works, firstly to memorize the classics, and secondly to practice calligraphy, but there were also a few that were truly his own thoughts. However, these few books were not on the bookshelf now, but were placed in front of Zhang Sheng.

Zhang Sheng was re-reading Wei Yuan's articles, and the room was silent, with only the sunlight falling into the room, as if stirring up faint sounds.

Wei Yuan's articles were naturally immature, but one could already see that the writer had his own ideas and did not follow the beaten path; what was particularly rare was that he could justify his arguments. However, at this time, the articles had begun to show sharpness, not knowing whether it was good or bad.

While Zhang Sheng was reading, Wei Yuan sat still, as calm as a statue.

After a while, Zhang Sheng came back to his senses, looked at the disciple he had been with day and night for three years again, and said: "I have already taught you the three thousand affairs of the human world. As for immortal affairs, you will naturally learn them after you enter the sect to cultivate. Over the past three years, five hours a day, rain or shine, I have actually given you the essence of everything I have learned in my life; the rest is nothing more than polishing the details."

Zhang Sheng paused and said solemnly: "But you must remember one thing: it is difficult to discuss right and wrong in human affairs; the way of giving and taking lies in one's heart. What I taught you is only how to see all aspects thoroughly and how to weigh the pros and cons, but the final decision always depends on yourself. I cannot teach you this, and the sages cannot teach you this either."

Wei Yuan nodded.

Zhang Sheng looked at him, suddenly smiled, and said: "Stand up and let your master see!"

Wei Yuan stood up as ordered, standing as straight as a pine.

At this time, Wei Yuan had just turned six, but he was already taller than children of ten or so in ordinary farming families. His eyebrows and eyes had opened up a bit, shedding much of his childishness, gradually revealing the heroic spirit of a teenager. It was just that he had been silent and spoke little since he was a child, and only when discussing current affairs and principles with Zhang Sheng would he talk endlessly.

Zhang Sheng looked Wei Yuan up and down several times and sighed: "When I first saw you, you hadn't reached my waist. Now you are actually taller than my shoulders; time truly flies."

Wei Yuan suddenly bowed deeply and said: "I will always remember your kindness, teacher!"

Zhang Sheng laughed and reached out to touch Wei Yuan's head. Wei Yuan was introverted and calm by nature; being able to speak so directly was truly rare. But precisely because of this, it showed it came from within, and not saying it was not enough to express it.

However, Wei Yuan was already quite tall at this time, so touching his head was really somewhat inconvenient.

Zhang Sheng sighed: "You child are cold on the outside and hot on the inside, born with a good appearance, and you have great ideas. What I fear most is not that, but that you will suffer in the word 'love' in the future. Sigh, why am I telling you this? If I didn't think about it carefully, I almost forgot you were only six."

"That was the last lesson just now; you and I, master and disciple, can be considered complete for these three years. Next month is the Immortal Sect's unified examination. The Immortal Sect's unified examination is once every five years, so you must not miss it. I will naturally go to the prefecture with you to take the exam. For these two days, I will pack up my insights and writings from the past three years, so you should play well for two days!"

Wei Yuan finally said: "... I will help you pack."

Zhang Sheng smiled and said: "That's fine."

Outside the window, Wei Youcai breathed a sigh of relief, bent over, and left quietly with the bald man and the steward.

After walking a few steps away, Wei Youcai slapped his thigh, breathed a sigh of relief, and said: "Finally don't have to squat under the wall anymore! Three years, my two legs have been squatted into iron rods by the master. You two have squatted for three years, have you learned anything?"

Lao Liu touched his bald head and said: "After listening to so many human affairs, I finally understand that what I thought before was right. There is no morality in the world; it's just one word: fight! If you win, you are an emperor or a general; if you lose, you are a bandit's bones; it's that simple!"

Wei Youcai sighed and looked at the steward: "What about you?"

The steward said like an old god: "I have gained new insights into the immortal military tactics I learned when I was young. Soldiers have no fixed formation, water has no constant shape! If I encounter those refugees again, why would I need to guard the residence? I would take a dozen people with Sixth Brother and follow around the main force of refugees, lighting smoke during the day and setting fires at night, shooting arrows when there's nothing to do, and hacking them down if they dare to chase; no matter how many thousands of people there are, they will be exhausted in a few days and disperse on their own."

The bald man snorted, indicating he didn't believe it: "You really learned immortal military tactics? How come I don't see you recognizing a few more characters?"

The steward's face turned red, and he argued: "My teacher was all oral; he said the method is not passed to six ears, out of his mouth, into my ears, no need to be literate!"

The bald man sneered: "Your cheap teacher is probably also illiterate."

The two argued for a few sentences before remembering that Wei Youcai hadn't made a sound for a long time. When they looked, they saw Wei Youcai looking up at the sky, not knowing what he was thinking.

The steward and the bald man looked at each other and asked: "Big brother, something on your mind?"

Wei Youcai didn't lower his head, just blinked his eyes hard and said: "Nothing, I'm just thinking, Yuan'er has entered the Immortal Sect, I don't know when I will be able to see him again."

The steward and the bald man looked at each other and couldn't laugh anymore.

The steward tried to comfort him: "I heard that after cultivation, one's lifespan will increase a lot, the so-called one day in heaven, the human world..."

The steward was fast-talking, and by the time he realized something was wrong, he had already said half of it.

"It doesn't matter, I'm just a bit tired, I want to go back to my room to rest, you guys go do your own things." Wei Youcai waved his hand and returned to his bedroom.

Three days later, when the sky was just bright, Zhang Sheng and Wei Yuan set foot on the road to the prefecture. Besides the mounts, there were two mules carrying luggage.

Wei Youcai sent them out for thirty miles before he was willing to return. Along the way, he just accompanied them silently without saying much, and when they parted, he just waved his hand and turned away.

In the afternoon, Wei Yuan and Zhang Sheng finally left the rugged mountain path and got onto the main road leading to the prefecture.

The so-called main road was actually a road made of rammed earth, which could only accommodate two mule carts side by side; the road surface was full of potholes, with four deep wheel tracks in the middle, which looked like they hadn't been repaired for a long time. However, such a road was already a good road that Wei Yuan had never seen before; the roads in the mountains of Ye County were rugged and difficult to walk, and carts couldn't go at all, so they could only ride mules, and only wealthy families had donkeys, and there were not many.

Mules were short and slow, and their speed was not much different from that of ordinary people walking. The advantage was that they had long endurance, could carry weight, and could eat coarse feed, so they were widely distributed in mountainous areas.

Zhang Sheng intended to let Wei Yuan see more of the world outside the mountains, so they didn't walk fast.

Looking at the road ahead, Zhang Sheng suddenly felt emotional and said: "Twenty years ago, I was just like you, going to participate in the Immortal Sect's unified examination. At that time, your grandmaster saw me at a glance among twenty people. And I didn't live up to expectations, suppressing the others, not only the first in this prefecture but also having no rivals in the entire Yunzhou. Later, I achieved success in cultivation and entered the world to experience, thinking I could do something big like my predecessors, but I didn't expect to suffer setbacks repeatedly, and after many years, I actually achieved nothing."

Speaking of this, Zhang Sheng looked at Wei Yuan and smiled: "But now with you, these years can't be considered wasted. Since you are my disciple, the Immortal Sect's unified examination is easy to handle; if I don't throw the second place ten thousand miles away, it will be a loss to my reputation, Zhang Sheng. Now I will tell you about the Daoist inheritance of our lineage; although it is against the rules, it is not a big deal."

After a pause, an arrogant spirit surged from Zhang Sheng, and he said: "Your master comes from the Tianqing Hall of the Taichu Palace; after you pass the unified examination, that will also be the place for your cultivation."

Wei Yuan was shocked, although he was always calm: "Taichu Palace? One of the four great Immortal Sects, Taichu Palace?"

"The head of the four great Immortal Sects, Taichu Palace." Zhang Sheng corrected.

Wei Yuan looked at Zhang Sheng suspiciously and said: "You said that in our remote small prefecture, except for the local Chichao Sect, only one or two third-rate sects come to recruit disciples all year round. Taichu Palace is high above, how could it come here?"

Previously, Zhang Sheng had already told Wei Yuan the basic common sense of the Immortal Sect's unified examination. The countless sects participating in the unified examination recruitment were divided into four grades. Fourth-rate sects could only recruit disciples in the local prefecture, such as the Chichao Sect. Third-rate sects were called Blessed Lands and could recruit disciples in one state, occasionally going to other states to recruit disciples, but the quota was strictly limited. Second-rate sects were called Grotto-Heavens and could recruit disciples within the country.

The highest were the four great Immortal Sects, which could recruit disciples throughout the Great Tang. It was just that the four great Immortal Sects were high above, and the recruitment quota for each session was extremely small. Over the past 50 years, the four great Immortal Sects had come to Feng Yuanjun Prefecture three times, giving a total of five quotas.

That was why Wei Yuan asked this question.

However, Zhang Sheng smiled slightly and said slowly: "Don't worry, other Immortal Sects may not, but Taichu Palace will definitely come. But there is no need to be attached; you have already obtained my true inheritance, and if others are extremely talented and very diligent, they might reach 70% of your level."

After studying hard with Zhang Sheng for three years, Wei Yuan learned one thing, which was not to believe blindly, including Zhang Sheng.

At the moment, his doubts were not dispelled, and he continued to ask: "But I still don't understand, why would Taichu Palace give our prefecture a quota?"

Zhang Sheng finally waited for him to ask this question, and said lightly: "Your grandmaster's Daoist name is True Person Fenhai, one of the three True Persons of the Tianqing Hall of Taichu Palace; the Supreme Grandmaster Fenhai Zhenjun Xuanyue was the Hall Master of Tianqing Hall two hundred years ago. The grandmasters value Daoist inheritance the most, so after you enter Tianqing Hall, there will naturally be many benefits for you. However, he values face, so you must display all your learning in this unified examination and sweep away the others, so that it won't be a loss of face for him."

Wei Yuan listened with suspicion; his teacher had such a big background? And listening to Zhang Sheng's implication, it was because he took a student in Feng Yuanjun Prefecture that Taichu Palace would make an exception to give a quota.

Wei Yuan didn't know what the rules were in Taichu Palace, but he felt that Zhang Sheng, as a grand-disciple of a Hall Master of Taichu Palace, couldn't seem to do such a big thing.

And he didn't know how many disciples and grand-disciples Fenhai Zhenjun Xuanyue had. History books say that before Northern Qi, princes specialized in recruiting talents, recruiting all kinds of people, and as a result, they recruited three thousand retainers. Cultivators live a long time, and if Fenhai Zhenjun Xuanyue also liked to have peaches and plums all over the world, maybe there were more than three thousand disciples and grand-disciples.

Zhang Sheng naturally didn't know that Wei Yuan was secretly arranging him in his stomach. At this moment, he was looking into the distance, his mind already flying to the prefecture. Just as he was feeling refreshed, sudden rapid horse hoofbeats came from behind, and several knights galloped wildly, rushing from behind.

The warhorses under those knights were all one zhang high, dark green, and their iron hooves stepped on the ground like thunder, with soaring flames. They seemed to have urgent matters, galloping at full speed, rushing past Zhang Sheng and Wei Yuan like the wind. The horse hooves, which were as big as drum surfaces, stepped and kicked on the main road, digging up large piles of sand and dust, pouring them onto Zhang Sheng and Wei Yuan's faces.

The road was narrow, and Zhang Sheng couldn't dodge in time, and his Dao power was sealed, so he was solidly covered. The original immortal style and light clouds and gentle breeze were all covered clean by this piece of dirt.

Looking at the gray-faced Zhang Sheng, Wei Yuan suddenly felt that even if Taichu Palace really gave Feng Yuanjun Prefecture a quota this time, it should have nothing to do with Zhang Sheng.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 5 =====