For the One Who Teaches

"It has nothing to do with me!" Zhang Sheng cried inwardly.

But he could no longer move or even speak. Great swaths of the Daoist arts and divine abilities in his consciousness were being erased.

True Person Fen Hai saw something was wrong and darted in front of Zhang Sheng. But the instant the flames blazing across his body met the giant bird's gaze, great swaths of them went out, exposing his chest and abdomen in the blink of an eye.

Suddenly, a gigantic hand, dozens of zhang across, reached down from the sky and seized the bird's head!

The three-headed bird let out an enraged roar. Unwillingly, it vanished within the giant hand, and at last the shadow in the full moon dissipated.

The giant hand opened. The little, ring, and middle fingers suddenly changed color, then crumbled away. True Monarch Xuan Yue gave a soft snort and withdrew the hand.

The True Persons were all shaken. They had never imagined that the fortune from beyond the heavens could be so formidable. Even a mere phantom conjured from it was more than they could withstand. True Monarch Xuan Yue himself had been injured, and badly at that. Had he not intervened, everyone present might have perished on the spot!

True Monarch Xuan Yue lowered his gaze to Zhang Sheng and asked, "Why does that fortune from beyond the heavens keep hounding you?"

Zhang Sheng was just as vexed. "This disciple doesn't know. Perhaps I'm simply unlucky?"

True Monarch Xuan Yue thought for a moment. "That's certainly possible. Go to Tian Ji Hall later and have them adjust your luck."

Zhang Sheng said, "I don't have any money!"

True Monarch Xuan Yue fell silent, and the matter was left there.

Between heaven and earth, the enormous jade toad looked coldly at the True Persons. They looked at the jade toad, then at True Person Fen Hai, then back at the jade toad, and once more at True Person Fen Hai.

True Person Fen Hai immediately flew into a rage. "What are you all looking at me for?"

Someone promptly said, "Congratulations on taking in such an excellent disciple, True Person. But I'm afraid your disciple can't cover the resources needed for Body Forging. As his great-grandmaster, you ought to do your part too."

True Person Fen Hai glared and spread his hands. "An excellent disciple is still a disciple of Azure Hall and Water Moon Hall! We should all contribute. Nobody gets to run away!"

"What does this have to do with Water Moon Hall?"

True Person Fen Hai pointed at the jade toad towering between heaven and earth. "That's a bottomless pit! How could I fill it alone? We should all pitch in. It's the least we can do for fellow disciples!"

The True Persons immediately began making excuses, and some even tried to sneak away.

No True Person lacked an eye for value. The size of a visualization image followed certain rules; it couldn't just be made as large as one pleased. Wei Yuan's image was already over a hundred zhang across. Even if its substance was insubstantial, and filling each square zhang required less spiritual energy than it would for an ordinary disciple, it would still take at least half as much. Calculated carefully, by the time the entire image was filled and Wei Yuan completed Body Forging, the resources consumed would be enough to cultivate several hundred ordinary Dao Foundations.

Even one ordinary Dao Foundation was beyond what a True Person could afford to support in the hundreds. Not even the patriarch of Taichu Palace could manage it.

This wasn't an ordinary bottomless pit, so everyone was naturally desperate to avoid it. The True Persons did their utmost to shirk responsibility, all the while eagerly waiting for True Monarch Xuan Yue to speak.

To their surprise, True Monarch Xuan Yue said, "Everyone, chip in."

Although the True Monarch had spoken, the matter was so serious that a True Person from Water Moon Hall said, "Filling out this foundation will probably take more than half of Azure Hall's accumulated wealth. But fortune from beyond the heavens is intangible. Who knows what kind of Dao Foundation it will produce? If the Dao Foundation turns out to be merely passable, won't all those years of Azure Hall's savings have gone down the drain? Granted, Azure Hall has been poorly managed these past years, spending more than it earns, its reputation in steep decline, and creditors showing up at its door every day...but even a centipede remains standing after death. It still has a little left in the coffers."

True Person Fen Hai was furious. "What do you mean, poorly managed and spending more than it earns?"

The Water Moon Hall True Person said coldly, "I mean exactly what I said. If Senior Brother Fen Hai hasn't read much, I can set aside half a day to explain it to you."

Another True Person from Azure Hall said, "Senior Brother, you keep talking about Azure Hall. Don't you know that beneath Patriarch Xuan Yue, the two halls are one? Water Moon Hall is responsible for cultivating Wei Yuan too."

A female True Person from Water Moon Hall immediately replied, "You keep insisting he's a disciple of your Azure Hall. What does that have to do with Water Moon Hall? Why not have him become a disciple under Lan Hua? Then we can consider it."

"In your dreams!"

The True Persons bickered and quarreled, each refusing to give an inch. True Monarch Xuan Yue did not appear, and no one knew what he was thinking. The True Persons of the two halls grew more and more heated, on the verge of settling things with their fists.

Azure Hall had produced talented disciples one after another over the past hundred years, but the cost had been high. It truly spent more than it earned. Though it ranked high among the twelve halls, it was riddled with hidden troubles. Water Moon Hall, by contrast, took a steady approach and ran a surplus year after year, growing a little stronger every two or three decades. Though it ranked last among the halls, its upward momentum was clear. In terms of Immortal Silver income, Water Moon Hall far outstripped Azure Hall.

Filling Wei Yuan's bottomless pit would not be a burden for just one or two True Persons. It would greatly affect the cultivation of every True Person in the hall. After all, Taichu Palace as a whole cultivated only a little over a hundred Dao Foundations every five years. So the True Persons of Azure Hall wanted to rope Water Moon Hall in, while Water Moon Hall was determined to wash its hands of the matter.

At last, after remaining silent for a long time, True Monarch Xuan Yue said, "Zhang Sheng, he's your disciple. What do you say?"

Zhang Sheng walked silently to the center of the hall, knelt, and touched his forehead to the ground. "This disciple is willing to stake his Dao Foundation and immortal future on it. I beg the patriarch to give Wei Yuan a chance! Whatever Wei Yuan achieves in the future, I will repay the resources he consumes!"

"What if I refuse?"

Zhang Sheng was silent, then said, "Then I'll earn the resources myself. Whatever I have, he'll have too."

True Monarch Xuan Yue sighed. "You clearly have a path to immortality that reaches the heavens. Why put yourself through this?"

"As his teacher, this is only right!"

True Person Fen Hai's eye twitched. He stepped beside Zhang Sheng and bowed deeply. "This disciple is willing to offer all his resources too. Whatever I have, Wei Yuan will have!"

Unexpectedly, a giant hand descended from the sky, grabbed True Person Fen Hai, and tossed him aside. "Azure Hall has been spending more than it earns all these years, and aren't you the main reason? Your salary has already been withheld until fifty years from now. What resources do you have left?"

The True Persons stared sharply, and in the midst of their schadenfreude, they all noticed that the hand descending from the sky was the left one, not the right one that had just seized the bird's head.

True Person Fen Hai stood there awkwardly, at a loss for words. The main reason Azure Hall had spent more than it earned over the years was the compensation paid to people injured by True Person Fen Hai.

True Person Fen Hai looked at Zhang Sheng, still prostrate on the ground. Gritting his teeth, he dropped to his knees with a thud. "This disciple is willing to serve the palace for a hundred years, to brave fire and water without a word of complaint! I beg you, Master, give him a chance!"

At this, every True Person was shaken.

Dharma Idol True Persons held exalted status. Within Taichu Palace, they were not required to kneel except on a handful of occasions, such as their master's birthday or ceremonies honoring the palace patriarch. True Person Fen Hai was a peerless fighter and held great standing within Taichu Palace. Yet now he had knelt!

True Person Fen Hai was as hot-tempered as a flame. He would never kneel for his own sake. He had knelt half for Zhang Sheng and half for Wei Yuan.

Hearing the word "Master," True Monarch Xuan Yue fell silent for a long while. True Person Fen Hai was his last disciple; he had watched him grow up. In a haze, both of them had grown old.

True Monarch Xuan Yue sighed. "When you first joined the sect, you were only seven, a skinny little boy. In the blink of an eye, you have a disciple's disciple of your own. Get up."

A gentle force lifted True Person Fen Hai and set him aside, leaving only Zhang Sheng kneeling where he was.

True Monarch Xuan Yue said, "Zhang Sheng, since you're willing to stake your immortal future on this, I'll ask you once more. Whatever kind of Dao Foundation Wei Yuan cultivates in the future, you and he will share the cost of the resources. This is no small matter. Are you willing?"

Zhang Sheng answered without hesitation. "This disciple is willing!"

"So be it. From now on, the hall will do its best to provide whatever Wei Yuan needs, and the expenses will come from the public treasury. If the hall doesn't have something, everyone can contribute from their private stores."

Every True Person felt the gaze from above fall upon them, including the three True Persons from Water Moon Hall. Since True Monarch Xuan Yue had made his decision, the True Persons, however pained, raised no further objections. The matter was settled. Now, when the True Persons looked at the jade toad, they found it less pleasing to the eye.

Someone suddenly said, "This visualization image doesn't seem to have any strange phenomena?"

True Person Fen Hai snorted and said coldly, "It's already this huge. What more do you want?"

The True Persons had no answer to that. After all, no matter how wondrous an ant might be, an elephant could still crush it underfoot.

The jade toad still faced the full moon above, but in its eyes, Zhang Sheng's kneeling figure was reflected.

With the matter settled, True Monarch Xuan Yue's presence faded away, and everyone dispersed.