The three realms of heaven and earth had their own pure and tranquil places, as well as places where demons and monsters dwelled.
Above the firmament, in the Purple Mansion of the Mystic Capital, at the place of the wondrous Dao, stood a main hall. Two Daoist boys stood on either side, dressed in Daoist robes and looking about fourteen or fifteen. Their hair hung in twin buns, and they were as finely carved as jade figurines. They had been keeping watch over the place and were about to light the candles, but when they looked up, they froze. Their expressions changed drastically.
Many characters remained inscribed on the Jade Tablet, though there had originally been only a handful of names.
Now, however, another name had begun to appear, faintly and indistinctly.
They hurried off, calling out as they went, and the entire Purple Mansion was roused.
Before long, a Daoist strode out. Seeing the shadow of another name on the Jade Tablet, barely there, seeming to exist and yet not, the two Daoist boys grew so nervous they clasped their hands tightly together. Even the Daoist, who looked exceptionally dashing, fixed his gaze on the tablet. When he first saw the character [Wei] appear, he nodded. "Wei. Very good, very good indeed."
"Reach for it, and it cannot be grasped; that is called 'Wei.'"
"To dart and soar upward, to charge left and right; to seek high and low—all are signs of the yielding wind. It seems this child's cultivation is not very advanced."
"Perhaps he cannot even achieve Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown?"
"Yet his Daoist heart still seeks high and low, so he has been granted the title Wei. Very good."
"Those skilled in the Dao are subtle, wondrous, mysterious, and penetrating, unfathomable in their depths. This character Wei carries that hope as well."
Then the Jade Tablet shifted, and the first character began to emerge, faintly.
The dashing Daoist stared fixedly at it.
The two thousand-year-old Daoist boys were so nervous they nearly clung to each other.
At last, the character appeared—
[Mystic]
The dashing Daoist suddenly burst into laughter. "Hahahahaha! Xuan—it's Xuan!"
"It's Xuan! Hahahaha!"
"Looks like Teacher has taken quite a liking to this disciple!"
"I just wonder when he'll truly make it here."
He raised a hand and calculated, but could discern only the Daoist title. He knew then that this was merely a disciple accepted in name, yet even such a disciple had been granted this title. That showed how high Teacher's hopes for him were. With a trace of expectation, he murmured, "Xuanwei, Xuanwei..."
The Daoist rocked his head from side to side. The temple was plain and simple inside, but outside, it seemed to be in an uproar.
Someone appeared to be arguing.
The argument went on until it seemed they had started fighting.
Then someone tried to smash down the door, someone held him back, someone tried to talk him down, and someone else watched for entertainment. It was just like a bustling little marketplace.
Yet the Daoist kept rocking his head, savoring the Daoist title with evident pleasure.
At last, a series of loud bangs rang out, as if the world outside had been turned upside down. They seemed so desperate to break through the gates of the Xuan Du Purple Mansion that the two little Daoist boys looked ready to go open them.
The Daoist waved a hand. "Ignore them."
The two boys exchanged a glance, then said in unison:
"You don't care, but we're only tiny Daoist boys, with a mere thousand years of cultivation. We haven't reached the realm of Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown."
"If something really happens, we won't be able to handle it."
The Daoist laughed and swept his sleeve. A golden cord flew out and bound the two boys together, suspending them from a beam in the main hall. They swayed back and forth as he drawled lazily, "Does that settle it?"
"Xuanwei, is it..."
The Daoist lowered his eyes and murmured with a sigh:
"Given Teacher's ways, accomplishing things through nonaction, what could have happened to lead you into the sect?"
"But from here on, your path is your own."
"One day, when you achieve Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown and Five Qi Facing the Origin, you may enter through this gate and write your name beneath that Daoist title."
The dashing Daoist was lost in thought, but the racket of pounding at the door outside eventually became too much to bear. He rose and opened it, sweeping the crowd with his eyes. "Who's making all that noise now?!"
Everyone fell silent.
The Daoist asked, "Who's the one who doesn't want any more pills?!"
Everyone took a step back in unison.
The Daoist asked impatiently, "Or is someone's allotted lifespan almost up, and they've come to be refined in my furnace?"
"Let's see if you'll be burned into pill ash or transformed into a primordial body!"
Everyone took another step back together, their faces changing.
"We only heard that he seemed to have taken another disciple. The Emperors witnessed the Daoist title [Xuanwei], so we came on their orders to offer our congratulations."
"Yes, yes."
The Daoist smiled. "Congratulations? Certainly, certainly. And where are the gifts?"
"Surely you didn't come all this way empty-handed?"
They looked at one another. "Well, this is awkward..."
With no choice, they took out all sorts of treasures. Those with a Jade Ruyi set one down; those with a magic sword laid theirs aside.
Two scales were plucked from a passing Dragon God disciple, and a qilin nearby left behind five drops of blood.
Even a passing Luan bird had three tail feathers snatched from it.
About the time it takes to burn two incense sticks later, the Daoist sauntered back inside. He dumped the weapons, swords, armor, and many pills onto the floor. Clouds of rosy light rose up, and then he leisurely began to sort through the haul. Whenever something caught his eye, he tucked it into his robe without the slightest courtesy. The two little Daoist boys dangled and swayed overhead, exchanging glances but not daring to speak.
The main gate was shut.
The people outside looked at one another.
In the end, they could only disperse.
"Forget it, forget it. Looks like he's only a disciple accepted in name."
"There haven't been many such disciples, though over the long years there have been a few. But in all these years, no one has actually made it here."
"Yes, yes."
"It's just that the character Xuan gave us a shock. That lineage has only twelve disciples, which is already very few. They're even stricter with their disciples than the others: strict in accepting students, strict in cultivation. One must cultivate on one's own, save oneself from hardship, and sever one's own karmic ties. Ordinary cultivators need only complete a thousand merits in practice; even with past transgressions, they can still ascend on rosy clouds and become immortals. But in this lineage, one must attain eight hundred years of cultivation and complete three thousand merits before entering the inner chamber and receiving the true teachings."
"Over such a long stretch of time, there have been disciples accepted in name, but only one has ever made it here."
"If you can't reach this Purple Mansion on your own, in the end it all comes to nothing..."
"Should we still prepare our gifts?"
At that, everyone fell silent for a moment. One of them sighed. "It may be incredibly difficult."
"But if he truly succeeds, his status will be extraordinary. Calling him a Saint of the Mystic Gate would be no exaggeration."
"His seniority will surpass both yours and mine."
"If he can't make it here, so be it. But if he truly does, and he belongs to the Xuan generation, then he'll be the second such unparalleled figure in all history. How could we not prepare a gift?"
"We'd best be prepared. I'll go find some peaches that have grown for a good long while."
"I'll prepare something, too."
"If it comes to nothing, then so be it. But if he truly makes it here, we can't afford to be discourteous."
"Let's go together!"
The dashing Daoist in the Xuan Du Purple Mansion sat on the floor, resting his chin on one hand as he idly toyed with a pill furnace. "Coming to nothing? How absurd. Is meeting not a matter of fate? Is knowing one another not worth cherishing? To care only about the final reward and ignore the slow journey along the Great Dao—no wonder your cultivation hasn't advanced in a thousand years."
"But now that I think of it, how many has this been over the last few thousand years? Let me see... I've lost count. Ah, I wonder if I'll finally be able to give this furnace away this time..." He toyed with the furnace, which had three legs and a dusky bronze hue, inlaid with the Seven Treasures of the Daoist school and gleaming with radiant light.
After playing with it for a while, he slipped it into his sleeve. Resting his chin on one hand, he looked at the two characters Xuanwei on the Jade Tablet and suddenly smiled.
"Only those who cultivate themselves to Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown and Five Qi Facing the Origin, and complete three thousand merits, may enter this place. At that time, the two characters Supreme may be added before their Daoist title."
"Then you'll be addressed like this."
His voice paused, then he recited gently, " [Yuyu Miluo, Miao Miao Fan Qi, Kaiming Sanjing, Xuanli Wuchang]."
"[Supreme Xuanwei True Person, You Sheng Miaofa True Lord]."
"That sounds rather nice."
"Your senior brother will keep this honorific for you. Let's see if you can claim it within a thousand years."
"Don't end up like your previous junior brothers and sisters, with nothing but a brief brush with fate."
The Daoist sighed deeply and rose. His cloud-patterned sleeves fell, and his gaze was cool and serene.
Like the turning of the Great Dao.
Along the road to immortality,
nothing but corpses.
"Before we've even met, you've already withered away."
"What a pity."