The Ancestors' Legacy (Part 1)

Zhang Sheng and the Daoist Priest sat in the small courtyard, while Wei Yuan stood behind Zhang Sheng, listening.

The Daoist Priest stroked his beard and said, "This year's concentrated teaching has seven subjects. One subject per day, each lasting half a day. The names and contents of the subjects are all here."

Zhang Sheng took the jade slip handed over by the Daoist Priest and glanced at it. He saw that it was written with seven titles: 'General History of the Human Race', 'Tang History', 'Introduction to the Immortal Path', 'Theory of Dao Foundation', 'Theory of Heaven and Earth', 'Theory of Fortune', and 'Theory of Arts'. Each title had a detailed explanation below. Zhang Sheng was naturally familiar with these teaching contents, and he mused, "Why does the curriculum place such importance on history?"

The Daoist Priest said, "Yanshi True Lord said that understanding the past allows one to understand the present, and using history as a mirror reveals prosperity and decline. Our human race rose from humble beginnings, our ancestors toiled and endured countless hardships to achieve today's situation, and we must not forget their aspirations."

Zhang Sheng nodded and said, "The Zhi Gu Sect must be very pleased, otherwise they wouldn't have easily approved this proposal."

The Daoist Priest replied, "Yanshi True Monarch indeed put in a great deal of effort to implement concentrated teaching. If your disciple wishes to participate, he should first register and then pay the course fees."

"There are course fees too?"

"The course fee is ten taels of Immortal Silver per subject. Pay for seven sessions upfront, totaling four hundred and ninety taels of Immortal Silver. The cultivation resources needed for the classes are calculated separately."

Zhang Sheng was startled, "That expensive?"

The Daoist Priest explained, "After all, the instructors need to be supported, and the resources consumed during the courses must also be accounted for. If disciples from various halls participate in concentrated teaching, their masters can save a lot of time and energy for other matters. In the past, when each hall trained its own disciples, they didn't feel the expenses. Now that teaching is centralized, all costs are tallied, and it naturally seems expensive."

While the reasoning made sense, Zhang Sheng estimated his savings, and his expression turned a little unnatural.

When Zhang Sheng descended the mountain, he had been away for seven years with no news, making no contribution to the sect. By regulation, he received no monthly stipend. Upon his return, he was also fined three years' stipend, meaning he had no income for ten years. Zhang Sheng's cultivation had been rapid in the past, consuming many resources. Even though most of the resources were provided by the Azure Hall, he himself had not saved any personal savings.

Taking stock now, Zhang Sheng realized his remaining savings were barely enough to pay Wei Yuan's course fees for three months, and that was just for the basic courses. The cultivation courses required resources, which the Daoist Priest had said were calculated separately!

Zhang Sheng hesitated for a moment and asked, "Are there any... preferential treatments for these course fees?"

Seeing the Daoist Priest's hesitation, Zhang Sheng's face flushed, and he quickly added, "It's okay if there aren't."

The Daoist Priest sighed and said, "To be honest, Junior Brother, some disciples do receive preferential treatment for these course fees. For example, disciples of Yanshi True Monarch and Feng Yuan True Monarch only need to pay seventy percent."

The two True Monarchs were leaders of the Ding Xin Sect. They had promoted concentrated teaching, and most of the instructors were drawn from the Ding Xin Sect. It was only natural to offer some preferential treatment to their own disciples.

However, seeing the Daoist Priest's stammering, Zhang Sheng knew something was amiss and immediately pressed, "What else?"

The Daoist Priest finally said, "The key to the successful implementation of this concentrated teaching proposal was several True Monarchs from the Zhi Gu Sect. Their agreement made this concentrated teaching possible. The Zhi Gu Sect has many disciples. To encourage their participation, the two True Monarchs specifically stipulated that if a Zhi Gu Sect disciple registers, the course fee will be halved, and the consumption of resources will be the same."

Zhang Sheng listened and felt increasingly wrong. He slammed the table and stood up, "Zhi Gu Sect pays half, Ding Xin Sect seventy percent! What about my Azure Hall?"

The Daoist Priest's eyes flickered as he looked elsewhere and said, "Your hall has three disciples this term, and they are not on the preferential list."

Zhang Sheng was furious, "There are hundreds of disciples this term, and only my Azure Hall disciples have to pay the full amount? This is outrageous! Such injustice cannot be tolerated! I'm going to find the person in charge to discuss this!"

Hearing the word "discuss," the Daoist Priest could only offer a wry smile and said, "Junior Brother, you may not know, but the Zhi Gu and Ding Xin sects had a fierce rivalry in the past few years. Only the Azure Hall remained neutral, 'discussing' with both sides. Although their 'discussions' were never about matters related to competing with the two factions, they inadvertently ruined many good things for both sects and incurred considerable resentment. To put it bluntly, it's already magnanimous of the Ding Xin Sect not to have quadrupled your hall's course fees."

Zhang Sheng, however, did not accept this. He sneered, "I understand. The Ding Xin Sect doesn't want my Azure Hall disciples to participate in concentrated teaching. Fine, if they don't want us to, we won't go! I can teach them myself! Hmph, those aristocratic families all have their unique secret methods for nurturing early intelligence, claiming their children are precocious. In the end, wasn't it Yuan'er who took first place?"

The Daoist Priest glanced at Wei Yuan and said, "Your disciple is indeed a gifted genius, incomparable to others. Oh, so you've decided to teach him yourself? I'll go report it now..."

"Wait!" Zhang Sheng reacted swiftly and grabbed the Daoist Priest, "Show me the list of instructors!"

The Daoist Priest reluctantly took out another jade slip and handed it over.

Zhang Sheng took it and began to understand. The first page of the list included two people he had "discussed" with before, clearly holding personal grudges. The remaining senior Daoists were venerable and learned, but in Zhang Sheng's opinion, they were just that – respected but not admired, so he had no particular interaction with them. When he turned to the second page, Zhang Sheng's expression changed slightly.

"Feng Chutang? He's also out teaching?"

The Daoist Priest said, "This is Feng Yuan True Monarch's intention, to have him contribute to the palace's endeavors. The True Monarch said that when imparting knowledge, one not only resolves the disciples' confusion but also one's own. I heard that Senior Brother Feng and you had some... discord in the past."

In fact, the Daoist Priest was being polite. Zhang Sheng and Feng Chutang's relationship was more than just discord; it was practically a mortal enmity. They had publicly dueled three times, only stopping when both were severely injured, not to mention the countless private sparring sessions.

Given their relationship, it would be strange if Wei Yuan ended up in Feng Chutang's class without losing a few layers of skin.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Sheng said, "We'll go!"

"What?" The Daoist Priest could hardly believe his ears.

"We'll participate in the concentrated teaching!"

"But, but what about Senior Brother Feng..."

Zhang Sheng snorted, "Since he dares to teach, we dare to learn! Would he really have the nerve to make things difficult for a junior? At most, he'll just assign more homework. Yuan'er, are you afraid of hardship?"

Zhang Sheng had already asked this question before. Three years ago, Wei Youcai had answered, and now Wei Yuan himself replied, "People from our village are not afraid of hardship."

Zhang Sheng said, "Very good, let's register!"

The Daoist Priest stared blankly for a moment, then sighed and said, "Then please pay the course fees, Junior Brother!"

Zhang Sheng's face instantly stiffened. "I just returned to the palace and don't have any Immortal Silver on me. Please wait a moment, I'll go back to my cave dwelling to get it."

The Daoist Priest replied, "No problem, I'll wait here."

After Zhang Sheng left the small courtyard, the Daoist Priest looked at Wei Yuan and said, "Your master will be gone for a while. Since there's nothing else to do, I'll tell you about the origin of our Taichu Palace. This is also part of the 'Introduction to the Immortal Path' curriculum."