Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon

The several hundred sect rules seemed complicated, but they amounted to little more than respecting one's teachers and protecting ordinary people. The most important part of the sect guide was a map of the Azure Mountain. Most of it was marked as off-limits, with less than a tenth designated as places new disciples could visit.

There was a dining hall and a chores hall in the valley, responsible for meeting all the disciples' daily needs. Wei Yuan had been working hard all day and was a little hungry. He had a big appetite, and children his age were especially prone to hunger. But curiosity got the better of him, and he picked up the bottle of Qi Nourishing Pills.

As soon as he opened the pill bottle, a faint, sweet fragrance wafted out. Wei Yuan tipped out a pill the size of his fingertip. It was creamy yellow, with a pale blue-green line around its middle. According to the sect guide, taking one Qi Nourishing Pill would let you go three days without food, as long as you drank some clear water. But the pill did more than merely stave off hunger; it also enhanced the body's functions, somewhat like the art of harnessing fortune, though its effects weren't nearly as strong.

Wei Yuan tipped his head back and swallowed the Qi Nourishing Pill. A moment later, warmth rose in his stomach, sweeping away his hunger. His mind also grew much clearer, as if his thoughts had turned to lightning.

At dusk, Zhang Sheng hurried over, and master and disciple began their evening lesson.

For the past three years, they had spent an hour on lessons every evening after dinner, with Zhang Sheng answering questions and clearing up doubts. Today was different, though: it was Wei Yuan's first formal lesson in cultivation.

Master and disciple sat down in the cultivation room. Zhang Sheng lit a stick of incense, and its faint fragrance soon filled the room. Wei Yuan immediately felt his thoughts quicken, as if he had just enjoyed a good night's sleep. His mind felt especially lively and nimble.

Zhang Sheng said, "The world knows only that immortals are wonderful, but few understand how long and arduous the path to immortality is, or how many people fall along the way. Today, I'll tell you about the ways of immortals.

"Since ancient times, there has never been just one path to immortality. Over the past ten thousand years, our predecessors have constantly developed new approaches, and the paths of cultivation have grown ever more numerous. Our Dao Palace alone has six roads to immortality and three thousand wondrous schools. Confucianism and Buddhism have fewer, but not by much. The methods of all the miscellaneous schools are even more numerous—beyond counting."

"Along the road to immortality, the major realms can be divided into five: Body Forging, Dao Foundation, Dharma Idol, Imperial Scenery, and Return to One. The Dao Foundation realm is also known as the beginning of the road to immortality, while Return to One is the gate to becoming a True Immortal. Every school and sect agrees on this. Our Dao Palace believes that the body is a boat for crossing the sea. To form a Dao Foundation, you must first forge your mortal flesh into a Dao Sprout Immortal Embryo. That is Body Forging. Body Forging itself has several minor realms. Each school divides them differently, but they all come down to four things: flesh, blood, bone, and spirit."

"When Body Forging is complete, it naturally stirs a Heaven and Earth Resonance, bringing the Immortal Embryo into harmony with heaven and earth and forging the Dao Foundation. This is the first cornerstone laid on the road to immortality, and the true beginning of cultivation, which is why it's called the beginning of the road to immortality. Everyone cultivates different methods and possesses different fortunes, so each person's Immortal Embryo is different. On top of that, the timing, circumstances, and ley lines when the Dao Foundation is formed also vary. As a result, Dao Foundations take countless forms; you could say no two are alike. Even fellow disciples may form entirely different Dao Foundations, even if they do so only a few months apart."

"Speaking of Dao Foundations, there's quite a bit more to say. There are probably at least eight or nine hundred major types of Dao Foundation in the official records alone, and even those of the same type have subtle distinctions. Take an ancient bell as an example: whether it's purple or scarlet, whether it belongs to metal or fire, makes a difference. So do the patterns on it—birds and insects, or mountains and rivers—and each affects its power. Methods have their strengths and weaknesses, and Dao Foundations likewise differ in power. Over thousands of years, our predecessors classified the common Dao Foundations into Heaven, Earth, and Human tiers."

"Human Tier Dao Foundations are the most ordinary, and the most common. They include ordinary objects such as tables, chairs, stools, pots, bowls, and basins; the basic forms of the five elements' qi; and ordinary birds and beasts. Human Tier Dao Foundations aren't strong, but there are many kinds, and some rare ones have unusual uses in certain situations, so you can't simply call them weak. Still, one important reason common Dao Foundations are placed in the Human Tier is that the chances of cultivating a Dharma Idol from them are slim."

"Earth Tier Dao Foundations are much rarer. To be placed in this tier, a Dao Foundation must either greatly increase the chance of cultivating a Dharma Idol or have some special function. For instance, most weapons in the category of objects belong to the Earth Tier. They may not necessarily give you a high chance of cultivating a Dharma Idol, but they tend to be exceptionally powerful in battle, so they're also placed in the Earth Tier. Likewise, a Five Elements Dao Foundation becomes Earth Tier if the original qi of the five elements transforms into a spirit beast of one of those elements. Yin-Yang Dao Foundations are exceedingly rare and immensely powerful once formed, so even the basic qi of yin and yang is Earth Tier."

"Above the Earth Tier is the Heaven Tier. Heaven Tier Dao Foundations are exceedingly rare, and each one is a potential Dharma Idol True Person. Every sect would prize one immensely. Vessels of State and ritual vessels in the category of objects are tied to the fortune of the human race, for example; only those blessed by fortune can obtain them. Then there are the Five Elements divine beasts, Yin-Yang anomalies, and the various Gods and Devils of the miscellaneous schools."

After saying so much in one breath, Zhang Sheng paused to give Wei Yuan time to digest it.

Wei Yuan was now in a state where he never forgot anything he read. Books that would take a child in the mortal world months to memorize, he could commit to memory after a single read. He had absorbed every word of Zhang Sheng's long explanation. Half of that was thanks to Wei Yuan's own intelligence; the other half was the combined work of the Qi Nourishing Pill, the small courtyard, and the mountain gate's formation.

Wei Yuan went over Zhang Sheng's words in his mind, then asked curiously, "Master, what is your Dao Foundation?"

Zhang Sheng smiled. "When I first entered the sect and made my offering, the Patriarch took a liking to me and bestowed two strands of Sword Qi. I gained some insights of my own while Body Forging, so the Dao Foundation I formed was three immortal swords. Ordinarily, a single immortal sword would qualify for the Heaven Tier. But my Dao Foundation isn't quite like the usual ones, so it doesn't belong to any tier."

Wei Yuan understood at once. That meant there was a level above the Heaven Tier: the transcendent grade. Zhang Sheng belonged to it. His master was as humble as ever.

After explaining the Dao Foundation, Zhang Sheng didn't go on to the next few realms, since they were still far beyond Wei Yuan's reach. Instead, he began teaching him a cultivation method.

Naturally, Zhang Sheng taught the Daoist inheritance of their own Azure Hall's True Monarch Xuan Yue. But True Monarch Xuan Yue served as the head of both Azure Hall and Water Moon Hall, and had in fact cultivated both inheritances. The Qianqing Righteous Law Imperial Time Scripture of Azure Hall was the primary method, while Water Moon Hall's Moon Radiance Myriad Forms Taiyin Chapter was supplementary.

There were more Body Forging cultivation methods than any other kind in the cultivation world. Many small sects had only one method that could barely form a Dao Foundation, and that alone was enough to establish a sect. Most Rogue Cultivators wandering the jianghu couldn't even cultivate a Dao Foundation.

Taichu Palace had countless paths, and its Body Forging methods were as numerous as the stars. But after generations of revisions, its predecessors had winnowed away the dross and forged the best into six general cultivation methods, for disciples with different foundations and fortunes. Taken on their own, these six general methods had long since surpassed the ancient methods of the individual halls. So now, disciples of every hall used a general method to complete Body Forging, returning to their hall's own inheritance only when it was time to form a Dao Foundation.

The halls of Taichu Palace weren't merely names. Each had also been adapted into an environment best suited to cultivating its particular path. For instance, when forming a Dharma Idol in Azure Hall, a cultivator specializing in the Qianqing Righteous Law Imperial Time Scripture, like Zhang Sheng, had a full twenty percent greater chance of succeeding.

Though they cultivated the same Qianqing Righteous Law, Zhang Sheng's master, True Person Fen Hai, had followed the Five Elements path and formed a Dharma Idol called Skyfire Boils the Sea, a rare anomaly where water and fire opposed one another. The benefit was astonishing combat power. True Person Fen Hai was always ready to "reason things out" with people, relying on this very ability to boil the sea. The drawback was that its power was hard to control; the slightest slip could make him hit too hard. Many of the grudges True Person Fen Hai had accumulated over the years stemmed from just that.

The six general Body Forging methods differed from one another in both their workings and effects. Zhang Sheng had spent a long time considering which one to choose for Wei Yuan. At first, he had thought Wei Yuan steady and composed, so he'd chosen the Earth Origin Scripture, which built a solid foundation but demanded the greatest patience and effort. Yet when the time came to teach it, Zhang Sheng suddenly remembered the day Wei Yuan was born. His heart gave a jolt, and he decided to teach him the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Diagram instead.

Of the six general methods, the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Diagram was most closely linked to fortune. It could draw in a portion of one's fortune and incorporate it into one's foundation, filling in what was lacking. But fortune was unpredictable, and the results could be good or bad; cultivation was far less stable than with the Earth Origin Scripture. Disciples who primarily cultivated the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Diagram usually had great auspicious fortune on their side, like Li Zhi. But Wei Yuan's fortune came from beyond the heavens, and even Zhang Sheng couldn't tell whether it was good or bad. Choosing this method was something of a gamble.