By the time Liang Yan returned to the dormitory, it was already evening. Sun Qianli and Li Dali had also returned earlier. Sun Qianli was the same as ever—the door tightly shut, snoring away in the dormitory—while Li Dali was in the courtyard practicing and circulating his qi. When he saw Liang Yan return, he immediately stood up and said warmly, “Brother Liang, you’re finally back. I was thinking that if you didn’t return soon, I would have gone looking for you.”
“Oh?” Liang Yan said curiously. “May I ask what Brother Li wanted me for?”
“Brother Liang, you’ve only just entered the sect, so you probably don’t know that tomorrow is the Dao-Preaching Assembly for us Miscellaneous Duties Disciples, right?”
Liang Yan frowned. “Dao-Preaching Assembly?”
“Exactly. Although we Miscellaneous Duties Disciples cannot enter the Technique Transmission Pavilion to read the sect’s arts and divine abilities, every half year the sect sends one of the top outer sect disciples to preach the Dao and resolve our doubts. This Dao-Preaching Assembly is a piece of good fortune as big as the sky for us. I was afraid you might not know and miss it, so I came to tell you.”
Liang Yan felt warmth in his heart and said gratefully, “Many thanks for telling me, Brother Li.”
Li Dali waved his hand. “You’re too polite. We Miscellaneous Duties Disciples already have the lowest status in the sect, and in the Formation Meridian there are only the three of us, so we must support each other all the more. If you ever have any difficulties, just tell your old brother. If I can help, I definitely won’t refuse.”
Liang Yan thought: ‘This Li Dali’s cultivation isn’t high, but he’s warm-hearted and generous. He’s someone worth befriending.’ So he smiled and said, “Brother Li is forthright. I admire that. I’ll be troubling you from now on.”
The two looked at each other and smiled. Li Dali said, “Actually, Brother Liang, you’ve been pretty unlucky too, ending up assigned to this Formation Meridian. Back then I also had no choice but to choose this bird place.”
Liang Yan said, “It doesn’t matter. I like quiet, and this place isn’t bad.”
“Brother Liang, you may not know, but in our sect’s resource allocation, inner sect disciples get eight spirit stones and three Spirit-Gathering Pills each month; outer sect disciples get three spirit stones and one Spirit-Gathering Pill each month; and we Miscellaneous Duties Disciples actually also get one spirit stone each month and one Spirit-Gathering Pill every half year.”
“Oh? Is that so? Then why have I never received any—” Before he finished, Liang Yan understood. “Could it be Wang Yuan?”
Li Dali glanced at him and nodded. “As long as Brother Liang knows. We Miscellaneous Duties Disciples have no real status in the sect, so even if we filed a complaint at the Law Pavilion, no one would necessarily pay attention. Besides, Wang Yuan has a younger sister with excellent talent who was taken in as an outer sect disciple and now also works at the Law Pavilion. There’s no way we can fight against him.”
Liang Yan nodded and sank into thought. He still had the spirit stones the old monk gave him, plus the ones he had taken from Chen Chong and the others, roughly more than three hundred pieces. He did not lack spirit stones. But with such a large sum on him, and people’s hearts being hard to predict, he should be careful and must not reveal it.
Li Dali saw him looking down and silent and thought he was depressed, so he consoled him: “Brother Liang, you needn’t be so disheartened. You have to understand that the path of immortality is hard to foresee. We who vainly attempt to cultivate against heaven are doing something extremely difficult. Now that we work in a sect, it’s still better than common folk in the secular world—some don’t have enough to eat, some suffer the ravages of war and don’t know if they’ll survive the day. Our cultivation isn’t high, but we can stay in this precious cultivation land rich in spiritual qi. That is thanks to the sect’s blessing. To live a hundred years without illness or pain and die of old age is the dream of who knows how many mortals.”
Liang Yan smiled breezily. “Brother Li sees things clearly.” But he had great ambitions and the murder of his father to avenge. He had never thought of muddling through his life here, so he was unwilling to discuss the matter further with Li Dali. After a few hasty words, he returned to his room to rest.
The next morning, when Liang Yan pushed open the door, he found Sun Qianli and Li Dali already waiting in the courtyard. Sun Qianli glanced at him and said impatiently, “Everyone’s here. Can we set off now?”
Li Dali laughed simple-heartedly. “Let’s go, the three of us together.”
So Sun and Li led the way, with Liang Yan following closely behind. They walked for nearly half a day. When it was near noon, they finally arrived before a lush green mountain. At the foot of the mountain stood a stone tablet carved with three characters: “Mystic Mechanism Peak.” The group climbed the stone steps. The mountain was low, and before long they reached the summit, where an enormous white jade plaza appeared before Liang Yan’s eyes.
The white jade plaza was several dozen zhang across, square in shape. At each of its four corners stood a jade-carved statue: a young man holding a writing brush, a woman playing the qin, a middle-aged man holding a painting scroll, and an old man deep in thought before a Go board. In the center of the plaza were laid out several hundred meditation cushions, more than half of them already occupied.
Liang Yan swept his gaze over the crowd. Most were at the second level of Qi Refining, a small number were at the third level, and there were almost none at the first level. Everyone wore gray robes of similar style, but the details differed. Some had a pill furnace drawn on the chest of their outer robe—clearly Pill Meridian disciples—while others had a talisman drawn in the same place—clearly Talisman Meridian disciples. As for Liang Yan’s group of three, what their clothes bore was an octagonal formation disk.
Liang Yan silently counted. There were actually more than eighty Pill Meridian Miscellaneous Duties Disciples in the square, and around thirty Talisman Meridian disciples. As for the four paths of qin, Go, calligraphy, and painting, each had over fifty. Only their Formation Meridian had the fewest: just three people.
Liang Yan gave a bitter laugh in his heart. He followed Li Dali and Sun Qianli to sit on some empty meditation cushions. Next to them sat a female disciple of the qin path. When she saw the three of them sit down, she frowned, glanced at them with clear disgust, and then moved her cushion a few inches away.
They heard the surrounding people whispering. A round-faced female disciple said, “See that? Those are the two most useless people among our Yi Xing Pavilion Miscellaneous Duties Disciples. I heard they’ve been in the sect for more than three years and are still at the first level of Qi Refining.”
Another female disciple with a rather sharp-looking face added, “That’s right. Although we Miscellaneous Duties Disciples have low status in the sect, Yi Xing Pavilion is the largest sect in the Yue Kingdom. Even Miscellaneous Duties Disciples are naturally a cut above rogue cultivators outside the sect. Those two have low aptitude and don’t even try to improve. They’re simply not worthy to be with us. They really make us lose face.”
Then a male disciple said, “That kid next to them looks unfamiliar. Is he a new Miscellaneous Duties Disciple in the Formation Meridian?”
“Hmph. As the saying goes, things gather by kind and people divide by groups. Anyone with those two wastes is naturally a waste too.”
“Hahaha, Brother Liu speaks rightly!”
These people chattered one after another, thoroughly mocking the three from the Formation Meridian, as if being born into the qin path made them naturally noble, utterly beyond compare with the three.
Though their voices were not loud, they did not deliberately lower them, so every word reached Liang Yan and the others. Li Dali and Sun Qianli both had angry expressions. Liang Yan, however, only smiled faintly, not minding at all. He sat cross-legged and nourished his spirit, eyes on his nose and nose on his heart, looking as composed as an old god.
Just as the crowd was still whispering, a sudden scent of sandalwood drifted in from afar, like an orchid in an empty valley, sweeping away all restlessness from the heart. Then a scholar walked up the mountain path. He wore a moon-white long robe, a Confucian scholar’s cap, and a sharp sword at his waist. In his right hand he carried a censer, in which a red stick of sandalwood incense stood.
“He’s here! This is Senior Brother Zhuo Bufan, ranked in the top three among the outer sect disciples. His cultivation has reached the peak of the seventh level of Qi Refining. He’s the one giving this Dao-Preaching.” The topic in the square immediately shifted to the newly arrived scholar.
“He really is a fine-looking man. I heard his own uncle is one of the Inner Cabinet Elders, with extraordinary power. This man’s future is boundless.”
Some female disciples even had lovestruck looks and murmured to themselves, “Zhuo Bufan, Zhuo Bufan—truly extraordinary.”
Zhuo Bufan took in the expressions of everyone in the square, his own face completely unchanged. He leaped onto the lecture platform, set down the censer in his right hand, and said, “Junior brothers and junior sisters, I, Zhuo, am untalented and unworthy to be this time’s Dao-Preaching Disciple. During the lecture, if you have any questions, please feel free to raise them. I will say all I know.”
Then he pointed to the censer beside him. “What I’ve brought is Spirit-Calming Incense. It helps with comprehending the Dao. Such an opportunity is hard to come by, and I hope you all treasure it.”
“What? It’s actually Spirit-Calming Incense!”
There was another uproar below. Spirit-Calming Incense was a precious treasure of no small value. It had the effect of calming the spirit, soothing qi, and assisting cultivation, and it was of considerable help in breaking through bottlenecks and nourishing the soul. Let alone Miscellaneous Duties Disciples, even outer sect disciples usually could not get even a single stick. Yet Zhuo Bufan was actually willing to share it at a preaching assembly.
The disciples in the square were all stirred, and their admiration for Zhuo Bufan was boundless. At that moment, an older Miscellaneous Duties Disciple from the Pill Meridian coughed and said, “Senior Brother Zhuo’s cultivation and character are both unmatched. We are all in admiration. Now let everyone be quiet and listen respectfully to Senior Brother Zhuo preach and teach.”
With those words, the square instantly quieted. Zhuo Bufan nodded with satisfaction toward that Pill Meridian disciple, then slowly began to speak: “We cultivators cultivate by going against heaven. The road is perilous, and only those with great willpower can succeed. The path of cultivation is none other than refining essence into qi, refining qi into spirit, and refining spirit to return to emptiness; then essence unites with qi, qi merges with spirit, and spirit hides in emptiness. Thus all living things, the root of all beings, rely on refining qi and nurturing spirit, advancing step by step.”
A gentle breeze blew, and the incense smoke curled. On Mystic Mechanism Peak, Zhuo Bufan preached while the crowd listened in silence. A falling pin could be heard. The three hundred plus Miscellaneous Duties Disciples were spellbound, and time passed without anyone noticing.
“…Therefore, qi refinement requires regulating the mind. If the state of mind is unstable, there will be many dangers in future cultivation. If inner demons invade at the moment of breakthrough, in mild cases cultivation will regress and it will be hard to advance an inch in this life; in severe cases one will suffer fire deviation and demonic possession, never to recover for ten thousand eons.” By the time Zhuo Bufan said this, it was already dusk. Only then did the crowd come back to their senses, all feeling they had benefited greatly.
Even Liang Yan felt he had gained much. In the past, although the old monk had taught him, it was mostly urging him to memorize incantations and diligently cultivate the Dharma Form. The old monk had not elaborated much on foundational knowledge for entering cultivation. Senior Brother Zhuo’s lecture, however, resolved many questions he had encountered in his cultivation.
At that point someone asked, “If inner demons are so powerful, can one avoid them by cultivating talismans and other methods to calm and nourish the spirit?”
The questioner was a disciple of the Go path. Zhuo Bufan shook his head and answered, “We cultivators should put our own realm first. The higher the realm, the longer the life, and the greater the divine abilities. You are only at the second level of Qi Refining. Your first task is to raise your cultivation before considering these side doors and left paths.” Hearing this, the Go path disciple nodded in shame and sat down.
Then a tall man from the Pill Meridian stood up, saluted, and asked, “Senior Brother Zhuo, after I reached the peak of the third level of Qi Refining, I clearly felt my progress slow and stagnate. The art I cultivate is the Supreme Harmony Departing Fire Art. May I ask what problem has occurred? Please give me some pointers.”
Zhuo Bufan smiled gently. “Actually, this is not a hurdle unique to Junior Brother Tang. I said earlier that a cultivator’s journey goes against heaven and is not tolerated by the world. There are three great hurdles in the Qi Refining stage. The first is breaking through from the peak of the third level to the fourth level. The second is from the peak of the seventh level to the eighth level. The last, naturally, is breaking through from the peak of the ninth level to the final step, Foundation Establishment in the Numinous Platform.”
“The difficulty of the first two hurdles is not much different. Those with slightly better aptitude only need to practice diligently and will eventually break through. Those with poor aptitude may need pills to assist them. As for the last hurdle, it is said to be harder than ascending to heaven. Only after establishing one’s foundation does a cultivator truly count among the ranks of immortals. We Qi Refining cultivators are only slightly stronger than the top internal martial experts of the mortal world.”
“So that’s how it was.” Many third-level Qi Refining disciples below looked suddenly enlightened.
Then a beautiful female disciple from the qin path suddenly asked, “I have long heard that Senior Brother Zhuo is peerless in both qin and sword, a dragon and phoenix among men. Would this little woman be fortunate enough today to catch a glimpse of Senior Brother’s qin and sword grace?” After she finished, she lowered her head and eyes, not daring to look at him. A shy blush spread across her face, adding to her charm.
At her words, most of the female disciples chimed in, all wanting to see Zhuo Bufan’s qin and sword skills. Zhuo Bufan frowned slightly, then relaxed. He sighed and said, “Very well, I’ll let you have a look.”