I Also Want to Enter Taichu Palace

Wei Yuan walked out of the great hall and saw Zhang Sheng and Sun Yu waiting in the plaza.

The moment Zhang Sheng saw Wei Yuan, he reached out, grabbed him, and pulled him through the air. Then they vanished.

A moment later, Zhang Sheng appeared with Wei Yuan in a secluded side hall. He set him down, circled him once, then bent over to examine Wei Yuan's pupils closely. Finally, he squeezed him in several places, asking again and again, "Any dull pain in your Primordial Spirit? Any restlessness or agitation in your mind? Have you seen inner demons springing up, or strange sights and illusions?..."

Zhang Sheng asked seven or eight questions in a row. Wei Yuan shook his head at each one, but Zhang Sheng still wasn't reassured. A beam of azure light shot from his fingertip and sank into Wei Yuan's brow. When the azure energy emerged, Zhang Sheng's face grew even paler.

Sun Yu had watched the whole thing. "Is something worrying you? My master, True Lord Ning Xi, is well versed in medicine. If all else fails, we can ask him to help once we're back at the palace."

Zhang Sheng sat down. "This has nothing to do with medicine. The otherworldly fortune I gave Yuan'er isn't enough to sustain repeated use of Heaven and Earth Madman. Yuan'er used it a little too much. He may be fine now, but I'm worried the fortune could turn on him someday, so I placed a strand of Sword Qi in his sea of consciousness first. If the fortune does turn on him, it can at least hold it back for a while."

Sun Yu was shocked. "You're taking the tribulation upon yourself in his place! How—how can you do that?"

Taking another's tribulation upon yourself was like defying the heavens. The tribulation one faced could well be several times worse than the one the other person would have suffered, and one small mistake could mean death and the dissolution of one's Dao. That was why Sun Yu had lost his composure.

Zhang Sheng raised a hand to stop Sun Yu. "I've already made my decision. There's no need to say more."

"But—!" A thread of azure Sword Qi appeared before Sun Yu and sealed away the rest of his words.

Sun Yu sighed and sat down, looking thoroughly glum.

Zhang Sheng flipped his hand, and a sheet of jade paper appeared in it. He handed it to Wei Yuan. "These are your Dao Assessment and Literary Assessment scores. Take a look."

Wei Yuan took the jade paper. The scores were far beyond what he'd expected. The Dao Assessment was one thing; he'd always been muddleheaded about it and had no idea how everyone else had done. But he'd had expectations for the Literary Assessment. Based on Zhang Sheng's past lessons, Wei Yuan had thought he'd score at least twenty-eight or twenty-nine, if not a perfect score. Surely he couldn't do worse than that. But in the end, he'd lost more than ten points. The gap between his expectations and the final result was simply enormous. Could it be... that Zhang Sheng had taught him wrong?

Wei Yuan looked up at Zhang Sheng suspiciously.

Zhang Sheng had spent three years with him, day in and day out. How could he not understand what Wei Yuan's look meant? He immediately flew into a rage. "You think I taught you wrong?!"

Wei Yuan hurriedly lowered his head. "This disciple wouldn't dare!"

"What do you mean, wouldn't dare? That's exactly what you're thinking!" Zhang Sheng was even angrier.

Sun Yu stepped in to smooth things over. "All right, all right. The boy came first in Fengyuan Commandery! Looking at the previous few examinations, this time Fengyuan Commandery's unified exam might be the only one of its kind across all of Great Tang! He's made you proud, so what more do you want? If you don't want to teach him, why not just hand him over to me?"

"Keep dreaming!" Zhang Sheng shot back, then fixed his gaze on Wei Yuan. His face twisted with pain. "I got docked three years' salary for this brat! Sigh... and my annual salary is pretty high, too."

Sun Yu immediately sympathized. "Indeed. My condolences, Junior Brother."

Zhang Sheng took the jade paper back from Wei Yuan. "Do you know why I showed you these scores?"

Wei Yuan shook his head. "This disciple doesn't know."

Sun Yu shook his head too. "You're always speaking in riddles. Can't you just say what you mean?"

Zhang Sheng looked a little awkward. He coughed, then said, "The path to immortality is treacherous, no safer than the mortal world. The vast difference between the score you deserved and the one you actually received is proof enough. If you ever face an impasse you can't overcome, remember not to force the issue. When you must yield, yield. As long as the green hills remain, there'll be no shortage of firewood. That's mortal wisdom, but it's no less useful on the path to immortality. Take me, for example. I've mastered the art of hiding my light, bending when needed and stretching when I can. Back in the day..."

Sun Yu let out a mocking laugh. "You make it sound as if you've ever yielded!"

Zhang Sheng acted as if he hadn't heard him.

After Zhang Sheng finished his advice, Sun Yu asked Wei Yuan with interest, "What was the story with those wild boars?"

Wei Yuan answered honestly, "When I used the secret art, I felt a connection not only with myself but with many things around me. I could attach fortune to them. I couldn't move around well at the time and needed a mount, so I tried attaching fortune to a wild boar. Then it grew bigger and could act according to my will."

"What did it cost you?"

Wei Yuan thought carefully. "It didn't seem to cost anything. After the wild boar died, the fortune I'd attached to it came back on its own."

Sun Yu froze for a moment before saying, "But that doesn't match the Dao taught by the Patriarch. How could controlling phantom beasts and puppets cost nothing?"

But Sun Yu knew that the art of fortune wasn't his strong suit, so he didn't dwell on it. Turning to Zhang Sheng, he said, "Yuan'er came first this time, so the child from the Yan Family of the East Sea must have been pushed out of the top spot. Junior Brother, be careful from now on."

Zhang Sheng didn't think much of it. "How many people have I offended this time? What difference does one more from the Yan Family make?"

It was already late, so Zhang Sheng told Wei Yuan to rest. They would set off for Taichu Palace early the next morning.

At that very moment, in a splendid hall of the Crimson Tide Sect, Bao Yun sat upright and serene in a chair. Her voice was soft and gentle as she said, "I don't care. I'm not going to the Great Precious Flower Pure Land. I want to enter Taichu Palace."

The young cultivator looked helpless and tried his best to persuade her. "Eldest Young Lady, this isn't something you can just switch at will. Besides, you have the wisdom of a past life, and there's already a Dharma Idol waiting for you at the Great Precious Flower Pure Land. It's been waiting for you for seven whole years! If you switch to Taichu Palace, setting aside everything else, you'll have to endure far more hardship just to cultivate, and the Daoist arts you cultivate certainly won't compare to that Wish-Fulfilling Glazed Dharma Idol."

Bao Yun wasn't swayed. "Father said that with my talent of double Heavenly Grade A, it makes no difference what I cultivate in the end. I want to enter Taichu Palace."

The young cultivator could only smile bitterly. "This isn't child's play, Eldest Young Lady! If you're still hung up on that boy who rode the pig, why don't I find a way to capture him so you can beat him and vent your anger? You can enter the Great Precious Flower Pure Land first, and then we can talk about everything else!"

Bao Yun spoke gently, without a hint of emotion. "You can't beat his teacher. Don't lie to me. I want to enter Taichu Palace."

"I can't beat him, but I can ask my master to step in."

"His teacher has a teacher too. Your master can't beat True Person Fen Hai."

"I still have my grandmaster!"

"Even he's no match for True Monarch Xuan Yue."

Bao Yun shut down the young cultivator with a few short sentences, then turned to an old man standing beside her. "Tell Father I want to enter Taichu Palace."

The old man nodded and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, he already held a beautifully sealed jade letter. "I've obtained a place at Taichu Palace. You need only write down your name and birth details."