The next day, Sheng Xuan woke up a bit early although he did not want to. It was going to be a busy day so he had to prepare. Before even freshening up, he headed toward the kitchen. His eyes landed on the back of a familiar figure, draped in green-white robes. Her pear-green hair was tied in a bun. She was stir-frying greens at the moment.
Silently, he walked behind her and hugged her, sniffing her.
Wei Lan cried out, "Young Master!" She reflexively squirmed in his embrace like she wanted to escape but she did not use any force. It only made him hug her waist even tighter, and bury his face in her neck, kissing.
"I did not get to see you yesterday," he said. "You know what happened?"
"You had your talent test, right?" she softly said, placing her soft hands over his hands on her belly.
"Mm."
Hearing no follow-up questions, he asked, "Are you not curious how it went?"
"Of course I am. I am waiting to hear from you." She met his eyes.
In a calm voice, he said, "Well, I have some unfortunate news for you. I have no talent for cultivation."
Wei Lan stared straight at his face for a while. "It's okay. I will take care of you."
"No, seriously, I have no talent."
"I believe you."
"Are you not disappointed?" he curiously asked.
She tilted her head. "What is there to be disappointed about? You are still my young master."
"Such flirtatious words. If you talk like that, how do you expect me to control myself?" He brought his face closer.
Wei Lan's cheeks reddened but she continued to meet his eyes. "I don't know."
Sheng Xuan took in a deep breath, suppressing his desires. "Well, I still have yet to sense the spirit qi and become a true cultivator. So, we will have to wait a bit more."
"So, you lied?" She frowned.
A blank look crossed Sheng Xuan's face. Lied?
"About?"
"That you can cultivate. Why did you say you can not?" she sounded aggrieved.
"I was kidding. I can actually," he softly clarified.
"That was a terrible joke. I was so sad!" She angrily looked at him.
Sheng Xuan raised his eyebrows. Things were going a bit out of control?
"Why were you sad?" he softly asked.
"Don't you get it? You will get old fast, leaving me all alone!"
"Wow. You imagined a lot of things," he said. "Come here, hug me properly."
He turned her toward him and pulled her into a full embrace, her face pressed against his chest.
"Don't worry. I have some talent. I can bother you for a long time." He kissed her forehead.
"Mm."
"Did you not know I was kidding?"
"I knew but I got sad thinking."
Sheng Xuan was speechless.
"You are so silly."
"You are so mean!"
Although risky, he kissed her on her lips, taking her by surprise. It was not their first time and they had kissed numerous times before but a lot of times, Sheng Xuan was not satisfied with just that. Sometimes, Wei Lan had to push him away lest he lose control.
Time trickled by. Wei Lan knew she had to push him away. As a cultivator, her mind was clearer. But it really did hurt her when she imagined him being old and weak while she was only middle-aged.
Sizzle!
A burnt smell wafted out, entering their nostrils, waking them up from their amorous mingle. Their lips quickly separated.
"Oh, no!" Wei Lan jerked her head to the stove. Some veggies were starting to turn black. She quickly began to stir them again, adding some water.
"I will go freshen up." He had to calm his raging desire.
Without turning, she softly said, "Alright. Breakfast will be done soon."
After freshening up, Sheng Xuan ate breakfast with her before he headed out.
The Dao Art Tower was located deep in the clan estate. The quiet environment was broken by the chitter-chatter of young men and women. The fifty-something clansmen were divided into three cohorts, each led by a steward. Sheng Xuan curiously watched his surroundings and the grand and elegant tower. If it could transform into a woman, surely she would look stunning.
He followed behind Steward Zhang into the tower. The interior was similar to a library, rows upon bookshelves filled the space. His eyes were drawn to a white-haired elder sitting behind a desk. Sheng Xuan suspected he was a hidden expert. Perhaps he could bribe him with some beer and snack. He seemed like a lazy person.
After Steward Zhang clarified why they were here, Elder Mu gave his permission, only saying to be mindful and not ruin things. Sheng Xuan immediately broke off from his group, rushing to the bookshelves. He took one randomly, beginning to read, only to scrunch his face the next moment seeing the boring, repetitive nonsense on it.
'Tsk. Bad pick.'
He picked another. This one was more interesting. It talked about some Old Man Ken's journey through the hundred sect mountain range, meeting fellow daoists, righteous and demonic cultivators, and a variety of races. Sheng Xuan rarely went out too far from his parents because they worried someone malicious would harm him. He agreed with it. Some villainous lady surely would kidnap him to keep as a boy toy. Just look at how handsome he was. Hence, he had a particular interest in tales of journey. In the past he had read Old Ghost Sang's, Elder Ren's, and Old Demon Mo's. He had some impressions of each. He particularly enjoyed tales of demonic cultivators, much to the dismay of his parents.
"Young Master Xuan!" Steward Zhang hurriedly called out, appearing concerned. "Please come back. You need to select your dao arts. We don't have time to waste on these books."
Sheng Xuan looked to his left and right, noticing the few who had rushed had returned to Zhang's side. Some cast looks like he was a fool, displeasing him.
"Old Zhang, did you have to call on me last?" Sheng Xuan retorted.
Steward Zhang put on a difficult expression. "Ai, young master, if I had called you before, you would have pointed at the other person."
"Pfft!"
Some juniors laughed.
Sheng Xuan's face darkened as he scanned Zhang up and down. "Alright, Zhang, I will keep this in mind."
Despite being a mid-stage cultivator, Steward Zhang shivered. "I did not mean it, Young Master Xuan." He regretted blurting out his true thoughts.
Other stewards exchanged glances, some gloated inwardly, and some were relieved.
"Let's go. Let's go. Why are you holding up the line?" Sheng Xuan said, expressionless.
Steward Zhang could only compose himself and lead the pack.
Sheng Xuan scanned his eyes over the group, noting the laughing faces, planning to take a bit of revenge later on. But then he thought he, as an awakened one, should be more mature and not be petty. It was not very CEO like. But he was displeased and someone had to be accountable for it like in the past.
'Anyway, let's focus on choosing my dao arts. I got to pick the best.'
The room adjacent to bookshelves was large and spacious. There was no window. White lamps brightly illuminated the area. Here bookshelves held onto small books serving as introduction to various dao arts. The stewards stood outside the room, waiting for people to finish choosing and come out.
Sheng Xuan did not bother lingering in the single-intent bookshelves for long, he headed straight for the bookshelves holding dual-intent dao arts. At that time, he noticed a lonely bookshelf some distance away, embedded in the wall.
'Triple-intent dao arts should be in that bookshelf...' he cast a covetous glance, then pulled his focus to the nearby dual-intent bookshelf. He wanted something powerful but it also could not be brutish. So, he chose a book that seemed elegant and strong.
'Golden Sea. Its intents are Purity and Vast. If I use this to cultivate, my spirit qi volume will be above average and the purity will be higher too... not bad. It's just the intents could be a little better. And if you changed one term for another, you would find yourself a kink. Convenient.'
'Mountain Storm. Its intents are Storm and Stability. Unlike the harmony present in Golden Sea, this is contradictory, so the spirit qi will have a trace of this contradiction and be quite potent... but it sounds suitable for a brute. I would rather not farm savage aura.'
'Withering Serenity. It is somewhat poetic. The intents are Decay and Serenity. Surely, it was at some point used by monks too. The intents are pretty strong but it seems like it has an attitude which I quite like. This is a decent pick.'
Sheng Xuan read one book after another and summarized in his notes. This was recommended by his father, so he could keep track of his developing comprehension of Spirit Intents.
With hundreds of years of foundation, the clan had large reserves of dao arts. Sheng Xuan suspected this was just the tip of the iceberg, highly vetted dao arts with good potentials. Although stage and realms difference made up the big and enormous power difference between cultivators, if you maxed out every inch there was, the quantity would lead to quality leap. Sheng Xuan firmly believed that motto too.
A few hours passed, some young folks were overwhelmed, finding it difficult to continue. Some saw blurry, some had a headache, some wanted to sleep. These were not normal books. One by one people made their choices and returned.
Having awakened his memories, Sheng Xuan fared much better. He did not push himself hard since he still had his greedy eyes on the triple-intent arts.
After putting down the last book, he stepped toward the final bookshelf. There were several others with similar thoughts, looking at the final shelf like some sort of treasure. However, in between them stood a blue transparent light screen floor to ceiling. No one dared to test it.
Sheng Xuan was curiously analyzing it when Elder Mu stepped forward from a corner, scanning the dozen strong crowd.
"Whoever wants a triple-intent art, raise your arm," he calmly said.
Sheng Xuan's arm shot up, followed by the others.
Elder Mu gave a nod, then waved his skinny arm. A dozen lights shot out, landing on everyone's hands.
'A scroll?' Sheng Xuan curiously examined a pale-yellow scroll, larger than a palm, held by a black rope.
Elder Mu explained, "These contain insights from dual-intent arts from these 10 shelves. Out of the 10 insights, you must match at least 5 to the correct art to get a chance to view triple-intent arts. When you are done matching, come find me."
'Not a bad test. I thought it would be something more boring.'
"Does anyone have any questions?" Elder Mu scanned the crowd.
A few raised their hands, asking clarifying or curious questions. Finally, Sheng Xuan raised his, "Elder Mu, are there extra rewards for the most correct answers?"
Elder Mu's languid gaze turned subtle.
"Yes, there are."
The crowd's attention rose up a notch.
"Whoever gets the highest will get a special reward. So, all of you, do your best," Elder Mu said.
"Thank you, Elder Mu!" Sheng Xuan cupped his fist, followed by the others.
Elder Mu nodded and left.
Sheng Xuan unscrolled the scroll, studying the black lettered rows of paragraphs.
[The Sun sets, the sky falls. The sea waves twinkle, the cliff mourns]
'This is considered insight? Is this not just a poem?' Sheng Xuan was speechless.
[It spreads like spilled water atop the mountain top. It finds a path along the little valleys, trailing slow, sometimes fast. It cools under the autumn chills. It is unfortunate but it's the path I have chosen]
'Hm. Is he talking about raining on mountains?' Sheng Xuan's frown deepened. As he continued to read the rest, he realized they did not make a lot of sense and appeared to be off-hand comments, poems, or random tidbits.
'For the second one, Mountain Storm could be its soulmate. The first one could be the Sky Soaring Sword Art which is a spirit art. Out of these 10 insights, not all are cultivation arts.'
'Should I go confirm with the old man? Let's do it.'
And the old man waved him off.
Sheng Xuan brought out a small stool to sit on. He scanned the busy room, whispers ringing out here and there. His eyes darted to the single-intent rows.
'There are still quite a few people there. I could get their thoughts on these excerpts and narrow down my searches but I should note down my observations first.'
Sheng Xuan pulled his focus back to the scroll. Talking with a few others, he learnt everyone received a different set of excerpts. What a cunning old man.
Sheng Xuan noted five main plausible intents for each and stored them in a storage ring alongside the scroll, so he could compare with others' insights later on.