Something Dawned

The night was cool as water.

In a quiet little courtyard, Daoist Fu Feng sat sipping tea. It was premium immortal tea presented by the Crimson Tide Sect, yet Fu Feng drank without tasting it. Only a few names kept turning over and over in his mind. Now, though, there was one name in his thoughts that had no business being there: Wei Yuan.

Thinking of Wei Yuan made Daoist Fu Feng uneasy. Irritably, he set his teacup on the table and prepared to take a walk around the courtyard. For such a small sect, the Crimson Tide Sect had arranged its courtyards with considerable elegance.

The moment the teacup touched down, Daoist Fu Feng's body suddenly stiffened. Then he slowly rose, forcing out a smile. "Senior Bro—brother Zhang! If you need something, you only have to send word. I would gladly come to you..."

Zhang Sheng stepped into the room. As if he hadn't heard Daoist Fu Feng's greeting, he went straight to a chair and sat down.

Sun Yu appeared in the doorway as well, calling out repeatedly, "Don't do anything rash! We can talk this out!"

Seeing Sun Yu's anxious expression, Daoist Fu Feng's heart gave a jump. He stole another glance at Zhang Sheng and was astonished. "Junior Brother, your Dao Power has recovered?"

Zhang Sheng said calmly, "Though my senior brother and I haven't had much to do with each other, you should know me well enough. I came here because I want to know one thing: how was Yuan'er's score decided?"

Daoist Fu Feng's expression shifted several times. He silently cursed his luck. What he feared most had come to pass. He had been cultivating far longer than Zhang Sheng, but sitting beside him now felt like sitting next to an unrivaled immortal sword. Every hair on his body was standing on end. He suddenly recalled Zhang Sheng's many deeds from years ago, and his heart began to pound faster.

Daoist Fu Feng forced a smile. "Why are you suddenly concerned about this, Junior Brother? The deliberations this time were reasonably fair..."

He trailed off halfway through. Looking at Zhang Sheng's calm expression, then at Sun Yu standing nearby, he grew serious. "Junior Brother, are you sure you want to know?"

Zhang Sheng said calmly, "This is a struggle over the Great Dao. I will not yield an inch!"

Daoist Fu Feng sighed, then recounted the entire deliberation process for the Dao Assessment and Literary Assessment. He also honestly admitted that he had rated Wei Yuan a little below the proper standard to keep him from placing in the top three and entering Taichu Palace.

After hearing him out, Sun Yu stamped his foot and sighed. "The main culprits were those two despicable Confucians! But Senior Brother Fu Feng, you... Ah!"

At last, Zhang Sheng said, "Thank you for telling me the truth, Senior Brother."

Zhang Sheng rose and went to the writing desk. He spread out paper and picked up a brush, dipping it until the bristles were saturated with ink. Then he said, "For the past six years, my Dao Power was sealed, and I was finally able to quiet my mind and observe the world. I had some insights along the way, but I also have the various sects and clans of today to thank for inspiring what I'm about to write."

Zhang Sheng lowered his brush. The moment its tip touched the paper, the window suddenly blazed white as lightning streaked across the night sky!

Zhang Sheng seemed not to notice. His brush swept across the page, and in the blink of an eye he had written a long, sprawling cultivation art. With every character he wrote, his face grew paler. In moments, he was white as paper. He had written only half when another crack of thunder boomed across heaven and earth. A thick bolt of lightning plunged from the sky and struck the Crimson Tide Sect's protective formation. The entire sect shuddered, and the formation nearly shattered beneath the might of heaven and earth!

Zhang Sheng gave a muffled grunt. Blood trickled from his nose.

"Junior Brother! Your injuries..." Sun Yu cried in alarm, reaching out to support him. But halfway there, his hand snapped back as if he'd touched a live wire.

Zhang Sheng acted as though he hadn't heard. His brush never stopped. After who knew how long, he finally pressed down, then flicked the brush upward, completing the final character.

A drop of blood fell and spread across the paper like a blooming flower. Flecks of starlight shimmered in the blood.

Zhang Sheng made no move to hide what he'd written, so Sun Yu and Daoist Fu Feng both looked at the blood-stained cultivation art. Sun Yu glanced at it, and the four opening characters stabbed at his eyes.

Heaven and Earth Madman!

Daoist Fu Feng's cultivation was higher, so he kept reading. Every character, every sentence struck his mind like crashing thunder and flashing lightning. He had read less than half when he couldn't help asking, "This is a secret art of fortune? But it's so wild and domineering. Who could use it?"

"Yuan'er can."

Sun Yu said, "This... I'm afraid that won't work, will it?"

Daoist Fu Feng added, "I've met Wei Yuan. He's truly gifted, but he's still a little short of being able to wield a secret art of heaven and earth like this. Your secret art is unprecedented, Junior Brother. But that's precisely why, if his fortune is even slightly lacking or he makes the slightest mistake in using it, he'll meet a terrible end—his body destroyed and his Dao extinguished!"

Zhang Sheng raised a finger. A wisp of black qi slowly emerged from its jade-white tip. The instant it appeared, Sun Yu and Daoist Fu Feng's expressions changed completely, as if they had witnessed their own instant annihilation. The sensation was so real that even their steadfast Dao Hearts trembled instinctively.

Zhang Sheng said, "This thing sealed my Dao Power for six years. With it, Yuan'er will be able to wield Heaven and Earth Madman."

Looking at the wisp of black qi on Zhang Sheng's fingertip, Daoist Fu Feng was both envious and afraid. "What kind of fortune is this? How have I never heard of it?"

Sun Yu said, "This is a supreme treasure of heaven and earth! If you used it yourself, your cultivation would advance by leaps and bounds for at least three years. In the future, cultivating a Dharma Idol would be as easy as reaching into a bag! Using it to let someone else wield a secret art of fortune is such a waste."

"It's only an external possession. What's there to regret?" Zhang Sheng picked up the cultivation art and vanished into the night.

Sun Yu felt his waist suddenly grow lighter. His token, the one that let him come and go freely, had disappeared without a trace. Daoist Fu Feng gazed toward the doorway where Zhang Sheng had vanished, thoughtful. "Junior Brother really does dote on this disciple."

Sun Yu asked, "What are you planning to do tomorrow, Senior Brother?"

Daoist Fu Feng smiled wryly. "I was still hesitating, but now that I've seen Heaven and Earth Madman, I'll do everything I can tomorrow."

"Are you not afraid those families will blame you?"

Daoist Fu Feng spread his hands. "At worst, I'll return the immortal silver and treasures I took, then pay them back with everything I own. I'll lose a little money, that's all. But one person here wrote Heaven and Earth Madman, and another can wield it. My immortal path still stretches far ahead. Do I really need to think about which side to choose?"

Sun Yu sneered, "You people from Tian Ji Hall are all slippery, always trying to sit on the fence!"

Daoist Fu Feng laughed without a trace of shame. "I call it going with the flow of heaven! There's no explaining it to you feng shui idiots from Xuanming Hall. We're on different paths, so we can't walk together!"

Sun Yu could do nothing about Daoist Fu Feng's shamelessness. All he could say was, "Then I'll be counting on you tomorrow, Senior Brother."

Daoist Fu Feng said, "Don't worry, Junior Brother! The Martial Assessment depends most on how you perform in the deliberations. Just watch what your senior brother can do tomorrow!"

But after saying that, Daoist Fu Feng suddenly remembered Heaven and Earth Madman. His expression turned strange. "Though... maybe you won't need me tomorrow."

Sun Yu seemed lost in thought. Suddenly, he sighed. "What a pity!"

Daoist Fu Feng felt the same way; every inch of him hurt. "It really is a pity!"

In the dormitory, many examinees were still hurrying back and forth, forging alliances and making one last push for the next day's Martial Assessment.

As usual, Wei Yuan kept his door shut and devoted himself to studying the Southern Vermilion Bird Unclear Technique, occasionally getting up to practice it. Though the cultivation art said that secret arts of fortune couldn't be used too often, Wei Yuan found that no matter how much he used it, the formless thing inside him—the fortune mentioned in the art—remained completely unaffected. It was still exactly as plentiful as before. He had no idea what the Southern Vermilion Bird Unclear Technique was drawing on. The art also stressed that it consumed a tremendous amount, and now Wei Yuan understood even less where that consumption was going.

While he was practicing, Wei Yuan suddenly sensed something. He turned around and saw Zhang Sheng standing in the room, though he had no idea when he had appeared.

He hurriedly bowed. "Why has Teacher come?"

Zhang Sheng had already been watching him for a while. "You've made good progress with the Southern Vermilion Bird Unclear Technique, but the situation has changed. You need to switch to this art."

Zhang Sheng handed Heaven and Earth Madman to Wei Yuan. Then a wisp of black qi drifted from his fingertip. "This fortune from beyond heaven sealed my Dao Power for six years. It is overwhelmingly powerful, making it ideal for unlocking Heaven and Earth Madman. I'm giving it to you now. In a moment, you'll suffer all kinds of pain—your divine sense will be torn apart, your body consumed by blazing fire, demons will torment your mind. You must endure it."

Wei Yuan nodded. "This disciple isn't afraid of pain."

Zhang Sheng knew Wei Yuan's temperament, so he pressed a finger to Wei Yuan's brow and sent the wisp of fortune into him.

Wei Yuan felt a trace of coolness enter his mind, then spread through his limbs and bones. It was like a drop of water falling into the sea, disappearing without a trace.

Under Zhang Sheng's anxious gaze, Wei Yuan simply stood there. Nothing happened.

"Was your divine sense torn apart?"

"Did karmic fire burn your heart?"

"Did delusions arise in your mind? Did demons begin to dance?"

Zhang Sheng asked again and again, but Wei Yuan only shook his head.

Zhang Sheng had imagined countless possible outcomes. He had even prepared to protect Wei Yuan's Primordial Spirit at any cost if things turned dangerous. But he had never imagined that nothing would happen.

Still, no matter what, nothing happening was a good thing. Though Zhang Sheng remained puzzled, he set the matter aside for the moment and explained Heaven and Earth Madman to Wei Yuan.

This secret art of fortune fused everything Zhang Sheng had seen and felt during his six years walking among ordinary people. The many injustices he had encountered had stirred him to create it, tempering heaven and earth's indifference with wild, unrestrained violence. It demanded an immense amount of fortune and could easily affect the practitioner's temperament and state of mind.

Zhang Sheng explained it in detail until Wei Yuan had fully grasped it.

Wei Yuan had been precocious from a young age. Zhang Sheng had said the situation had changed, but never explained what had changed, so Wei Yuan hadn't asked. Only after Zhang Sheng had finished teaching him Heaven and Earth Madman did Wei Yuan ask, "What am I supposed to do in tomorrow's Martial Assessment?"

Zhang Sheng stood with his hands behind his back. "Flatten them all for your teacher!"

"Who are they?"

"Everyone!"

By the time he left the dormitory, Zhang Sheng's face was as pale as paper, and the faint metallic tang of blood had returned to his nose. He had been injured when he broke through early, and creating Heaven and Earth Madman had stirred the workings of heaven's secrets, worsening his injuries on top of his existing ones. Now he was barely holding on. As soon as he had finished teaching Wei Yuan, he returned to his room to meditate and recover. At dawn, master and disciple would each face a great battle.

By morning, Immortal Mountain had brightened once more. Several ten-zhang-long immortal cranes circled the distant peaks, while the examinees filed out of the dormitory and headed for the examination hall at the Daoists' urging.

Several hundred meditation cushions had already been laid out inside the hall. A huge serpent coiled around each of the four corner pillars, its glazed eyes lazily watching the examinees enter.

As before, every examinee found their number and took their seat.

The elderly Daoist stood at the head of the hall. He struck the small bronze bell beside him with all his strength, then called out in a loud, drawn-out voice, "The Martial Assessment begins!"