Playing Host and Upstaging the Main Act

The fundamental principle of the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Diagram was to draw upon a cultivator's fortune to shore up their foundation. Moon Swallowing True Monarch, who had created this cultivation method, was himself a Child of Fortune. After mastering the Dao, he had decided that fortune was too insubstantial and unpredictable, liable to vanish at any moment as the tides of heaven and earth shifted. Turning it into a foundation was far more practical, so he had created this method.

This visualization method could convert roughly one-tenth of one's fortune into a foundation. The more fortune one had, the better the results; without any fortune, cultivating it was a waste of effort. The method was practically tailor-made for Children of Fortune. Over the past century, people blessed with fortune had become a dime a dozen, and Children of Fortune had appeared in droves. Only then had the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Diagram gradually caught on and become one of the six standard Body Forging methods.

The notes left by generations of disciples showed that someone with a Dao Assessment foundation of one zhang would generally have a visualization diagram spanning ten zhang. Each additional zhang of fortune could expand the diagram by another zhang. That was roughly the ratio, so eleven zhang was usually the limit, while the record left by a heaven-defying cultivator was twelve zhang. These disciples had also included images of their diagrams upon completing Body Forging, for later generations to reference.

Needless to say, those diagrams were all dazzlingly colorful, complete with all sorts of brilliant effects: dragons, phoenixes, qilin, azure lotuses, jeweled pagodas—everything one could imagine. Their colors were evenly distributed, and their compositions well balanced. At a glance, it was clear they were extraordinary manifestations. Those whose manifestations were nothing special would have been too embarrassed to include an image in the books.

While studying these visualization diagrams, Wei Yuan noticed a detail: their range was measured along the ground. The boulder and the Jade Toad did not grow in proportion, and the full moon grew even less. Wei Yuan's own diagram was only three zhang across, but every part of it had grown proportionately. That was why he still felt cramped whenever he transformed into the Jade Toad.

Could that be one reason his diagram expanded more slowly than other people's? Wei Yuan had finally found a way to console himself.

Another reason was that scions of powerful clans like Cui Yu, Bao Yun, and Xiao Yu had already had their Root Bones refined before entering the sect. Children whose Root Bones had been refined became intelligent at a very young age, and once they began cultivating, their progress was astonishingly rapid. One could tell from the Martial Assessment that Li Zhi and the others were already quite mature in how they spoke and acted. Cui Yu was actually eight years old. With several extra years of Root Bone refinement, he had forcibly raised his Root Bone from seven chi to eight, while cultivating at a startling pace that far surpassed everyone else.

As for Wei Yuan, his fortune came from beyond the heavens, and he had no idea how it had attached itself to him. It could not be measured by ordinary standards. The good thing was that it really could be converted bit by bit into a foundation through the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Diagram. The downside was that his foundation was unstable, so he had to put in extra effort to make it pure.

After reading two sets of notes, Wei Yuan realized that Senior Sister Liuli's methods for purifying one's foundation were astonishingly effective. A single medicinal bath was worth more than half a month of secluded cultivation for him. Her prescriptions must be quite extraordinary.

Still, Wei Yuan had a lingering worry. The medicines Senior Sister had prepared were probably the so-called cultivation resources, which normally came at a price. With effects this good, they surely couldn't be cheap, and his master was clearly short on money.

Wei Yuan knew there was no point worrying about it now, so he set his concerns aside and kept cultivating, drawing in and releasing moonlight without pause. Only by surpassing the others in cultivation could he give Zhang Sheng some kind of answer.

Cultivation knew no days or months. More than half a month passed in the blink of an eye. Zhang Sheng came to see Wei Yuan only once during that time, offering a few pointers before leaving in less than the time it took an incense stick to burn. Wei Yuan was left feeling strangely bereft.

A few days later, Bao Yun completed her visualization diagram as well. On the day she finished, Ji Liuli specially gathered everyone and had Bao Yun manifest her diagram in the center of Qisi Hall.

In thirty-nine days, Bao Yun had expanded her diagram to eleven zhang. Though it still fell short of the twelve-zhang record set by the senior who came before her, her Jade Toad was surrounded by rainbows, while countless Gods and Devils flickered in and out of sight within the full moon above. Each one seemed eager to squeeze to the front and show off. Clusters of azure lotuses grew atop the boulder, their roots wreathed in chaos. On top of that, a golden figure sat cross-legged on the Jade Toad's head, its bearing ancient and its presence utterly imperious.

The Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Diagram should have been serene and elegant, but Bao Yun had turned hers into a scene of an Immortal Venerable descending into the world. The various manifestations stole the show, reducing the Jade Toad—supposedly the undisputed protagonist—to a mere mount.

Such a remarkable manifestation caused quite a stir throughout Taichu Palace. Several elders from the Bao Household came in person to see it, and it was said that several True Lords had also secretly come to view Bao Yun.

Looking at Bao Yun's Immortal Venerable Descending diagram, Wei Yuan felt his heart grow heavier.

Wei Yuan's diagram was now only six zhang across. It did have a manifestation of sorts: a thin red line ran along the Jade Toad's back, though it was practically invisible unless one looked closely. Even that line had only appeared thanks to a blast of True Person Fen Hai's true fire. What was more, Wei Yuan's progress was one step forward, one step back. The ground he had painstakingly opened up would shrink by nearly half after Senior Sister Liuli washed and soaked him.

Though Wei Yuan's rate of drawing in moonlight was slowly improving, Senior Sister's medicine was growing more potent by the day. By comparison, Senior Sister was still the more ruthless of the two.

Only the shadow within the full moon overhead remained unchanged. No matter how Wei Yuan tried to draw from it, it neither grew nor diminished, neither moved nor vanished.

After class ended, Wei Yuan didn't go straight home. Instead, he went to the dining hall, bought three hundred jin of rice, and packed it into a huge barrel.

The rice served at Taichu Palace wasn't ordinary rice, but spirit rice rich in spiritual energy. Spirit rice was also a main ingredient in the Qi Nourishing Pill; just one small bowl could keep someone from feeling hungry for a whole day. And within Taichu Palace, a barrel of rice could sit for ten years without spoiling.

Wei Yuan planned to save the money he spent on Qi Nourishing Pills. The money he spent on them in a month could buy enough rice to last a year. With this barrel on hand, he could even save the time he would otherwise spend going out to find food.

Wei Yuan steeled himself. Apart from attending class, he would devote every moment to cultivation and waste not a single second. Drawing in and releasing moonlight required no thought, so he didn't need the clear mind that Qi Nourishing Pills provided.

He still had to sleep, of course, but he could draw in and release moonlight even while sleeping!

A few more days passed. Wei Yuan had finished class and was drawing in moonlight when a soft chime suddenly rang by his ear. Someone had come to visit.

Wei Yuan stopped cultivating, got up, and opened the courtyard gate. One of his classmates stood outside. Seeing Wei Yuan, he cupped his hands and said, "Miss Bao Yun has made great progress in her cultivation. Tomorrow evening, she'll host a banquet for her classmates at Zui Feng Lou. You'll also be discussing how to prepare for the sect's minor examination in three years. Junior Brother Wei, you must be sure to attend."

Wei Yuan naturally had no reason to refuse.

It was just that when they had first started school, almost everyone had called him Senior Brother. Now they were calling him Junior Brother Wei.

At dusk the next day, a light carriage stopped outside Wei Yuan's courtyard and took him to Zui Feng Lou. It sped along like the wind, yet rode with extraordinary smoothness. The dozens of li passed in the time it took to drink a cup of tea, and Wei Yuan barely felt the carriage move at all.

When he stepped down, Wei Yuan couldn't help marveling at the Bao Household's extravagance. This carriage had been sent just for him. With more than thirty classmates in the group, did that mean they needed more than thirty carriages?

Happy holidays to everyone again! I'll be posting extra chapters at irregular intervals today!