A Tumultuous Autumn

The road to immortality had its little embellishments, too. Bao Yun, for instance, hadn't accepted her previous defeat and had arranged another fight with the Zhi Gu Sect. This time, Wei Yuan had started Body Forging as well, so at last he could trade blows instead of just taking them.

None of the students would yield to anyone, so the only orders Bao Yun and Cui Yu could really give were along the lines of "Charge!" Even though the Ding Xin Sect was just as much a disorganized mob, once the fighting started it quickly devolved into a free-for-all.

Wei Yuan found that a chaotic brawl was completely different from the Martial Assessment. He was awkwardly out of his element. Whenever he tried to throw a punch, one of his own people would happen to be in the way; whenever he tried to dodge, someone would step on his foot. In short, nothing went smoothly, and his own side kept tripping him up.

As the saying went, when one side was in trouble, the other seven sides made things worse.

And so Wei Yuan found himself surrounded and got beaten black and blue.

But after Body Forging, Wei Yuan's body had grown much tougher. Even after a dozen or so people had pinned him down and beaten him for ages, he hadn't suffered any serious injuries. Even bruises and scrapes had been hard to come by, though the people beating him had been thoroughly worn out. Still, by the time it was over, Wei Yuan was covered in bruises, which did his dignity no favors.

After two fights, every student attending the intensive classes had been branded as part of the Ding Xin Sect, and they were now at daggers drawn with the Zhi Gu Sect disciples. Within a few months, Bao Yun and Cui Yu launched another battle for revenge. Given Wei Yuan's impressive feat of holding off more than a dozen people last time, he was unanimously chosen to stand alone against the enemy.

By now, most of the students had finished tempering their muscles and stepped into Blood Refining, while a few had already begun Bone Refining. Their physical strength had surged; leaping several yards or smashing rocks with a punch was nothing out of the ordinary. Taichu Palace was filled with gifted disciples, each with their own supernatural abilities. The moment they exerted themselves, colorful ribbons of light and rainbows streamed around them. Their actual combat strength aside, they were determined to make a grand entrance.

The group fought through the sky and across the earth, dazzling streams of light flashing everywhere. All sorts of divine beasts, immortals, and demons appeared in the air. Even back when the Three Immortals Stabilized Yunzhou, things hadn't been this flamboyant.

But no matter how ethereal and radiant it all looked at first, before long it had turned into a chaotic brawl at close quarters, with everyone tangled together. Even Wei Yuan had teammates at his side.

Then Wei Yuan ended up black and blue.

Fortunately, he ate three Peiyuan Pills every day. Compared with last time, Wei Yuan was even tougher and more thick-skinned, and he could take a punch or kick without much trouble. These arranged fights counted as sparring, so both sides fought barehanded and couldn't use anyone else's magic treasures. If someone had pulled out a sword and started stabbing Wei Yuan, he wouldn't have been able to take it. Wei Yuan also discovered that as long as no one used a weapon, even blows from someone at the Bone Refining stage didn't hurt that much.

Of course, Wei Yuan knew his limits. He understood this was reality, not an illusion like the Martial Assessment, and he didn't dare use Heaven and Earth Madman.

After the fight, Bao Yun nearly cried when she saw what Wei Yuan looked like. But by holding off more than twenty people on his own, Wei Yuan had given Cui Yu and Bao Yun the chance to sweep through the other areas, and they had ultimately won the battle. It was the Ding Xin Sect's first victory, and everyone was overjoyed—except Wei Yuan.

Afterward, Bao Yun felt so bad about it that she sought Wei Yuan out and spent a long time soothing him in a soft, gentle voice. She even forced ten thousand taels of Immortal Silver on him out of her own pocket. Wei Yuan had flatly refused at first, but Bao Yun insisted it was a loan, not a gift. She invoked their fellow-discipleship, then their shared hometown, and finally even brought up Zhang Sheng. Only then did Wei Yuan reluctantly accept. In terms of cultivation, Wei Yuan really was holding the whole class back.

By then, the class's shared fund of one hundred thousand taels of Immortal Silver had nearly run dry. The results, however, were plain to see. With enough cultivation resources and pills, most of the Ding Xin Sect students had progressed far faster than expected, and on average they had already pulled ahead of the Zhi Gu Sect.

After spending more than a year together, Wei Yuan had gained some firsthand sense of the clans' wealth. He no longer entertained the strange notion that Bao Yun pulling out tens of thousands of taels of Immortal Silver would have any effect on her life.

After taking Bao Yun's ten thousand taels, Wei Yuan's personal debts now exceeded thirty thousand taels. Of that, six thousand taels were for class-related cultivation resources, and fifteen thousand taels had been borrowed from the shared fund. Ever since his debt had passed a thousand taels, Wei Yuan's attitude had subtly changed. The money he owed seemed like nothing more than a number; he no longer worried himself awake at night, and he borrowed with far greater ease and composure.

After winning the fight, the Ding Xin Sect students' morale soared. A few days later, Cui Yu announced that he would put another fifty thousand taels into the shared fund. Bao Yun promptly matched him with fifty thousand, and Xiao Yu followed with another fifty thousand. Everyone's morale reached unprecedented heights—except Wei Yuan's.

Wei Yuan breathed in the moonlight.

Time always passed somehow. Before he knew it, another year had slipped by, and it was the third year.

According to the Heaven and Earth Theory teacher, this year an invisible great star would move between several other equally invisible great stars, heralding calamity and upheaval. As for how he knew how an invisible star was moving, the teacher spent three whole classes explaining it. He listed piles of Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches and drew countless shapes that were supposed to be circles, but Wei Yuan hadn't understood a thing. No one else in the class had, either.

The Fortune Theory teacher said that the great fortune of heaven and earth was beginning to ripple, that fortune would decline after reaching its peak, and that the nation's fortunes would be turbulent while people's fortunes would rise and fall dramatically. He, too, listed piles of Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, and no one understood him.

Senior Sister Liuli of the Dao Foundation Theory class said that those who formed their Dao Foundation this year would receive an additional boost to their killing power. The students were thrilled and volunteered to put in extra practice after class.

Finally, the Theory of Techniques teacher was replaced. Instead of discussing pills and artifacts, the new teacher devoted the lessons to witchcraft, divination, Curse Techniques, and Poisonous Arts. Suddenly, far fewer people meditated through class, and everyone listened with particular attention.

Wei Yuan used the divination technique he had just learned to tell his own fortune. The result was: financial loss.

Wei Yuan felt that he hadn't properly learned the Theory of Techniques.

Still, to be on the safe side, he decided that when he had time, he should go find Yan Ming of the East Sea, catch up properly, and make a friend of him. After all, they were both from the same hometown.

In short, the twelfth year of Longwu under the Great Tang was destined to be a tumultuous autumn.

Not long after spring began, Wei Yuan sensed that the atmosphere within the sect had grown a little strange.

It was time once more to cleanse and temper his foundation. As usual, Wei Yuan went to the Administration Hall. The moment he entered the courtyard, he saw Senior Sister Liuli sitting in the room, turning an orchid over in her hands.

The orchid was breathtakingly beautiful, suffused with an almost spiritual, immortal aura. Wei Yuan found himself staring at it, and the longer he looked, the more he felt it was no ordinary flower. Then he noticed a detail: the orchid had no roots. The end of its stem continually scattered into countless brilliant specks of stardust, which then vanished. Its beauty was beyond compare.

How could such an orchid exist in the world?

Before Wei Yuan could finish marveling, Ji Liuli said, "Hurry it up! What are you dawdling for?"

Ji Liuli wasn't speaking to Wei Yuan. Only then did he notice someone else in the room, busily sorting through the medicine cabinet and placing bundles of prepared herbs into their proper slots.

The man, fair as water, was so striking that, though Wei Yuan had only ever seen his profile, he still recognized him: Xu Henshui.

At that moment, Xu Henshui was holding a few sprigs of herbs between his fingers, hesitating to put them into the cabinet. Ji Liuli gave a cold laugh, ran her hand up the orchid's stem, and finally closed her fingers around the flower.