The two brothers, born of the same parents, were worlds apart: one was the Dao Academy's favored prodigy, while the other lived in seclusion, forgotten in a corner of the Lineage.
The difference between heaven and mud was enough to drive a person mad, but there was not a trace of bitterness on Wang Changji's face. From beginning to end, he ate in perfect calm.
As though eating were the most important thing in the world.
He ate at an even pace, taking his time over every bite.
He finished all the pork trotters and greens set aside for him, then swallowed his last mouthful of rice. Only then did he look at his younger brother and ask gently, "Changxiang, what is it?"
"Nothing major. I just finished a mission and thought I'd come chat with you."
"Good boy. Eat your greens. You can't just eat meat." Wang Changji stroked the Orange Cat as it gnawed on a pork trotter, coaxing it gently. Then he turned to Wang Changxiang. "Go on. You look like something's weighing on your mind."
"We went to investigate why Small Forest Town had gone silent. When we got there, we found it completely shrouded in dense fog. Even the Breath-Blowing Tornado couldn't clear it. The whole town was crawling with Wandering Souls, arranged in a Nine Palaces Wandering Soul Formation based on the Nine Palaces... Little Orange!" At that point, Wang Changxiang suddenly barked in anger.
It turned out the fat Orange Cat had grown tired of Wang Changji teasing it with greens. It swiped at him, scratching three bloody lines across the back of his hand.
"You're so fierce." Wang Changji sighed helplessly. Giving up on his attempt to get Little Orange to eat some greens, he gently covered the wound on the back of his right hand with his left. Then he said to Wang Changxiang, "I don't understand all that about Daoist Arts and formations."
Wang Changxiang lowered his head, his voice dropping as well. "I don't know why, but I just wanted to tell you about it."
Wang Changji rubbed his forehead with a finger. "Go on, then."
"Do you know, Brother? Someone used all the living beings in Small Forest Town, along with the Wandering Souls that had gathered in Maple Forest Territory over the years, to manifest a phantom of Ghost Gate Pass and leave before City Lord Wei arrived!" At that moment, Wang Changxiang looked like a child proudly showing off a deed.
"A phantom of Ghost Gate Pass? Is it powerful?"
"After paying such a high price, of course it's extraordinary! With a phantom of Ghost Gate Pass in hand, you can communicate with the Netherworld whenever and wherever you want. The power of Netherworld Daoist Arts can be boosted by at least half! Arts like ghost-banishing can even cross rank boundaries." As he spoke, Wang Changxiang lowered his eyes again. "Who knows where that demon behind it all will wreak havoc next."
"The Criminal Investigation Bureau will handle it. If Wei Quji can't, there's the Prefecture Governor. If the City Dao Academy can't hold up, there's the Prefecture Daoist Academy, and behind that is the State Daoist Academy. Don't worry about it," Wang Changji reassured him.
By then, Little Orange had gnawed the pork trotter clean. It didn't so much as glance at the dish of greens. After licking its paws, it strutted away with its nose in the air.
Wang Changji rose to clear the bowls and chopsticks.
"I won't see you out," he said before going inside.
Wang Changxiang quietly watched his brother's back disappear into the room, then turned to leave. But as he passed the lounge chair where Little Orange was sprawled, he suddenly flicked his little finger.
A barely perceptible Wind Blade shot past.
Little Orange sprang up, looking around in alarm. Half of its long whiskers drifted to the ground.
"Scratch my brother again... Hmph." With a smile at the corner of his mouth, Wang Changxiang left.
But he remembered how, when they were little, his brother had yearned for Daoist Arts and loved that extraordinary world. Now, no matter what he brought up with him, he could no longer stir even a ripple.
It was as if he had already resigned himself to an ordinary life.
Wang Changxiang couldn't quite bring himself to walk lightly.
Today, their instructor taught the Grade-D Mid-Rank Daoist Art Flame Blade, an advanced form of the Grade-D Low-Rank Flame Infusion and one of the basic Fire Element Dao Arts.
It gathered flames into a blade, using the scorching power of fire-elemental force to strike an opponent directly. It was also quite effective against unclean things like yin spirits.
By this point, Daoist Arts already surpassed weapons forged from ordinary mortal iron.
Jiang Wang had memorized the hand seals and precautions for this art, but just then he thought of Wei Yan's long saber. Its edge was so sharp that it was no ordinary weapon. Given Wei Yan's strength, mortal iron would be nothing but a burden to him.
Then he thought of the sword Li Jianqiu always wore at his waist. Surely that was no ordinary blade, either.
The thought made him envious. His own sword had been nearly ruined after he used it to hack apart the Resentful Ghost last time. When he got back, he'd spent his money on a replacement, but it was still an ordinary steel sword. He couldn't afford a truly formidable sword, and he had no connections to get one.
He wondered what kind of power the weapons wielded by great Martial Men who entered the Dao through martial arts possessed.
He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice the atmosphere in class. Only when Ling He quietly nudged him did he snap back to his senses.
The instructor was an old man close to sixty, stern and rather rigid. His surname was Xiao. The students privately called him Iron-Faced Xiao.
Iron-Faced Xiao had just finished teaching the techniques and was randomly selecting students to demonstrate them. When Fang Heling was called, he managed to perform the art, stumbling through it. The flames of his Flame Blade wavered, but he had completed it all the same.
Even Iron-Faced Xiao seemed somewhat satisfied. But then Fang Heling suddenly said, "Senior Brother Jiang Wang opened his meridians before I did. Why not have him try this art too? If anything gives him trouble, he can ask our instructor for advice."
Iron-Faced Xiao's gaze fell on Jiang Wang, who had been daydreaming.
I'm done for, Jiang Wang thought. He rose from his cushion and honestly said, "I haven't completed my foundation yet."
Fang Heling, who had entered the inner sect at the same time as him, could already perform Daoist Arts, while he still hadn't completed his foundation. The other students looked at him rather strangely.
"Does not having completed your foundation mean you don't need to pay attention in class?" Iron-Faced Xiao demanded, glaring at him. He hated students who shirked their duties. They had clearly embarked on the path to the extraordinary, yet didn't know how to treasure it, treating it only as a means to show off before ordinary people.
"I was wrong." Jiang Wang readily lowered his head and admitted his mistake.
Iron-Faced Xiao said coldly, "Go back and copy the Purple Void Scripture one hundred times. You're not to attend my class again until you've finished."
"Yes." Jiang Wang lowered his head and agreed, groaning inwardly. The full title of the Purple Void Scripture was the Purple Void Sublime Supreme Scripture. It was the fundamental Dao Canon of the Yujing Mountain lineage, and every Daoist of that lineage knew it by heart. There was absolutely no need to copy it. Iron-Faced Xiao was simply punishing him.
More importantly, the scripture was nearly thirty thousand characters long... How long would that take to copy?
But he knew he had to agree. Otherwise, given Iron-Faced Xiao's temper, the man might roll up his sleeves and beat him right there.
Jiang Wang forced himself to focus for the rest of class, not daring to slack off in the slightest. At long last, Iron-Faced Xiao left with his hands behind his back, and Fang Heling came swaggering over.
"Oh, Senior Brother Jiang, I'm terribly sorry. I had no idea you still hadn't completed your foundation!" In the cultivation world, where years counted for little and seniority went by cultivation level, Fang Heling had naturally switched from calling him Senior Brother to Junior Brother. He sounded deeply regretful. "After opening my meridians, it took me fifty-three days to complete my foundation. I thought that was already terribly slow and felt ashamed. Given how formidable Junior Brother Jiang used to be, I figured you must have finished long ago... Ah, what a mess this has turned into."
The Return to Origin Formation, the standard Foundation Array Diagram used by the Zhuang Kingdom's Dao Academies, had eighty-one formation points. At two Pulse-Openings per day and a yield of two Dao Essence, taking fifty-three days to complete one's foundation could hardly be called slow. That was without even accounting for delays caused by mistakes when shifting between formation points.
The current record for completing one's foundation at the entire City Dao Academy belonged to Zhu Weiwu. He had done it in just nine days, surpassing every record from previous generations. Given that unfathomable speed, his Dao Vein True Spirit could not possibly be on the same level as Jiang Wang's Earthworm True Spirit. But its exact grade was private information, impossible to find out.
In any case, under ordinary circumstances, students at the Maple Forest City Daoist Academy took sixty to ninety days.
No wonder Fang Heling was so pleased with himself.
He made no effort to hide the challenge in his eyes. He wanted to see this proud fellow lose his temper in humiliation. He had even begun picturing how he'd use a dazzling Daoist Art to defeat this country bumpkin, who could rely on nothing but swordsmanship.
But Jiang Wang only smiled and turned away.
Not angry in the slightest, not caring at all.
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