"Hm?" Tengqiu True Person suddenly opened his eyes outside the hall. He looked at the Patriarch's statue, a hint of shock on his face.
Inside the hall, an elderly Daoist held a brush in one hand and a register in the other. Now his eyes were wide, and he hardly dared to let his attention wander. His special duty was recording the Patriarch's gifts. In the past few decades, he had seen an unusual phenomenon this momentous only once before: when Zhang Sheng joined the sect twenty years ago.
The Patriarch's statue suddenly came to life in its eyes. The whole statue seemed to stir, lowering its head to look at the disciples kneeling before it.
Tengqiu True Person seemed calm, but one hand had unconsciously tightened around his sleeve.
Light flowed over the Patriarch's statue. Suddenly, a glimmer flew from its waist and sank into Yan Ming of the East Sea.
The result left everyone stunned, including the Yan family members outside the hall. Those who didn't know better might have thought Yan Ming was a disciple of Taichu Palace like the others. But the Yan family knew the truth: Yan Ming was currently a disciple of the grotto-heaven below, merely studying at Taichu Palace. They had planned to find a way to enroll him in the sect proper a few years later.
But now Yan Ming had suddenly received the Patriarch's gift. That changed everything. It was as good as being personally chosen by the Patriarch!
The Yan family's head was a tall, powerfully built man, and Yan Ming's father. When he realized what had happened, he was so delighted he could barely contain himself. He dug a fistful of pearls from his waist pouch, ready to scatter them among the crowd.
Fortunately, he quickly remembered that this was Taichu Palace. Most of the people around him came from prestigious families, and the Yan family of the East Sea wouldn't even rank among the top ten, let alone the top three. If he scattered those pearls, he'd offend who knew how many people. Luckily, he caught himself in time and quietly put his hand away.
The old Daoist keeping the records had seen everything clearly. The glimmer had come from the jade pendant at the Patriarch's waist. Unlike the crown, that pendant was a magical treasure with a bit of a story behind it, so its gift was naturally no ordinary one. The old Daoist made a mark beside Yan Ming's name and murmured, "This one's got a lucky hand with money."
Several young disciple-officials nearby had been listening closely. Now they quietly committed Yan Ming's name to memory.
Next, two more glimmers flew from the statue, one from the jade thumb ring and the other from the book in its hand. Each sank into a different young man. These two objects had even more illustrious origins, especially the book, which could further enhance one's comprehension. In the later stages of cultivation, it was immensely helpful when weathering tribulations and breaking through. This was a true prodigy, and the old Daoist carefully recorded every detail, filling page after page.
But the Patriarch's gifts weren't over yet. As the crowd marveled, an immortal sword suddenly lit up, its blade blazing with light. Then a sword intent shot into Xiao Yu!
The Patriarch possessed many treasures, but when it came to killing power, the four immortal swords were peerless. This sword intent was clearly a weightier gift than the ones that had come before.
The burly man slowly broke into a broad grin and let out a hearty laugh. Turning to Zhang Sheng, he said, "Well? My grandson Xiaonian's not bad, is he?"
Zhang Sheng nodded gravely. "He really is! He only got one fewer immortal sword than I did back then."
Xiaonian's smile froze. The words he'd been about to say caught in his throat.
He looked Zhang Sheng up and down, clicking his tongue. "No wonder they say every disciple of Azure Hall has peerless combat strength! If your disciples weren't so strong, I doubt they'd survive more than a few months out there."
Fengyuan Commandery already had four people who had received the Patriarch's gifts, yet the strange phenomenon surrounding the statue still hadn't faded. The onlookers began to stir. Then, a beam of light shot from the statue's brow and sank into Bao Yun!
Tengqiu True Person's brows rose, and shock flashed across his face.
The old Daoist in charge of the records twitched, nearly dropping his brush. The space between the brows was the sea of consciousness, where Imperial Scenery would be achieved. It was one of the most important parts of the Dao body. The gift from the statue's brow had to be extraordinary.
But the old Daoist racked his memory, searching high and low, and couldn't think of anyone who had received such a gift. In other words, the gift from the statue's brow might well have appeared for the first time.
The Bao family were people of discernment, and they were ecstatic. Even the old man, who never showed his feelings, stroked his beard and smiled—a rare sight. Bao Yun's gift was probably even more important than Xiao Yu's immortal sword. But whether it was better or worse than Zhang Sheng's two immortal swords was hard to say.
Yet even after Bao Yun received her gift, the strange phenomenon surrounding the Patriarch's statue still hadn't disappeared! Everyone's eyes fell on Wei Yuan.
Among those present were no shortage of people with vast influence and far-reaching connections. Many knew something of Fengyuan Commandery's unusual circumstances. Wei Yuan had defeated the scions of numerous prestigious families and broken through the encirclement in the fiercely competitive Fengyuan Commandery, proof of his extraordinary talent. And everyone knew Wei Yuan's only backing was Azure Hall—which was as good as having no backing at all. That made his first-place finish in the unified exam all the more impressive.
Everyone was curious to see what gift Wei Yuan would receive, and whether he would surpass the record Zhang Sheng had set twenty years ago. If he did, the master and disciple would become the stuff of a fine tale.
At that moment, high in the void, two terrifying presences had been locked in confrontation for who knew how long. Wei Yuan's consciousness was caught between them, unable to move. The gaze from above no longer scrutinized Wei Yuan, but instead watched the vast, ancient thing. That colossal entity seemed to exist in another world. It was slowly drawing closer, as if trying to find a path into this one.
A sigh seemed to drift down from the heights. Wei Yuan's consciousness was no longer bound and returned to his body like a swallow to its nest. All the illusions vanished.
By then, everyone had long since finished reciting their invocations. But as long as the strange phenomenon around the Patriarch's statue persisted, this batch of disciples had to wait. When Wei Yuan opened his eyes, he saw a patch of gray mist rise from the massive stone beneath the statue's feet and sink into his body.
Tengqiu True Person looked puzzled. The old Daoist keeping the records was stunned too. This time, he was certain: he had never heard of a gift that came from the massive stone beneath the statue.
A young ceremonial Daoist whispered to his companion, "Isn't that stone part of the natural ground? Could it be part of the Patriarch's statue too?"
His companion hesitated. "The statue's the statue, and the foundation's the foundation... right?"
It wasn't just the young Daoists who were confused. The old Daoist keeping the records was also troubled, unsure whether this counted as a gift from the Patriarch. He knew very well that the massive stone beneath the statue wasn't a separate boulder, but part of the whole mountain. Most of it actually lay beneath the hall's floor tiles. In other words, the stone was part of Empty Valley Hanging Green, and the Patriarch's statue did not include it.
But then Tengqiu True Person seemed to remember something. He suddenly called out, "All six disciples from Fengyuan Commandery have received the Patriarch's gift! Next batch."
With a True Person's word, there was no room for dispute. The old Daoist's brush flew across the page, and Wei Yuan was recorded as having received the Patriarch's gift. But just as he finished the final stroke, the old Daoist suddenly remembered something, and his brush trembled.
Three thousand eight hundred years ago, when the Patriarch came from the west with a single sword and founded Taichu Palace, the Boundary Stone he had set down seemed to be right beneath the statue.
This time, all six disciples from Fengyuan Commandery had received the Patriarch's gift—a number that even surpassed the combined total from the four great provinces before them. Now no one dared question how many places Fengyuan Commandery had been allotted. They could only marvel at the great clans' vast influence and far-reaching designs.
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