Content with the Ordinary

The two blood brothers—one the pride of the Dao Academy, the other living in seclusion at the edge of the family.

The gap between heaven and earth, cloud and mud, might drive a man mad, but Wang Changji's face showed no trace of resentment or gloom. From start to finish, he ate his meal with perfect calm.

As if eating were the most important thing in this world.

His pace was steady, his movements meticulous.

Only after finishing every last bit of his pig trotters and greens, and swallowing the final mouthful of rice, did he look at his younger brother and speak in a gentle voice: "Changxiang, what is it?"

"Nothing major. I just finished a mission and thought I'd come chat with you, brother."

"Be good, eat your greens. You can't just eat meat." Wang Changji stroked the orange cat gnawing on a pig trotter, coaxing it softly, then turned back to Wang Changxiang: "Go on. You seem troubled."

"We went to investigate the loss of contact with Small Forest Town, but when we got there, we found the whole place shrouded in thick fog, so dense even the Breath-Blowing Tornado couldn't clear it. The entire town was filled with wandering souls, arranged into a Nine Palaces Wandering Soul Formation based on the nine palaces... Little Orange!" At this point, Wang Changxiang suddenly snapped in reprimand.

It turned out the fat orange cat, annoyed by Wang Changji's constant teasing with the greens, swiped back at him, leaving three bloody scratches on the back of his hand.

"You're so fierce." Wang Changji sighed helplessly, giving up on his efforts to make Little Orange eat vegetables. He gently covered the wound on his right hand with his left, then said to Wang Changxiang: "You talk about these Dao techniques and formations—I don't understand them either."

Wang Changxiang lowered his head, his voice dropping as well. "But somehow, I just wanted to tell you, brother."

Wang Changji rubbed his forehead with a finger. "Go on, go on."

"Do you know, brother? Someone used the lives of everyone in Small Forest Town, gathering all the wandering souls of Maple Forest City over the years, and condensed a Ghost Gate Pass phantom before City Lord Wei arrived, then fled!" In that moment, Wang Changxiang looked like a child seeking praise.

"A Ghost Gate Pass phantom? Is it powerful?"

"With such a cost, of course it's extraordinary! With a Ghost Gate Pass phantom in hand, one can communicate with the Netherworld anytime, anywhere. The power of Netherworld Dao techniques can be boosted by at least half! Techniques like ghost-driving can even cross ranks." Having said this, Wang Changxiang lowered his brows again. "I wonder where that villain behind it all will cause havoc next."

"The Criminal Investigation Bureau will handle this. If Wei Quji can't, there's the prefect; if the City Dao Academy can't hold, there's the Prefecture Dao Academy, and behind that, the State Dao Academy. Don't worry yourself." Wang Changji comforted him.

By then, Little Orange had licked the pig trotter clean, didn't spare a glance at the plate of greens, licked its paws, and strutted off haughtily.

Wang Changji stood up to gather the dishes.

"I won't keep you," he said before stepping inside.

Wang Changxiang 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 flicked his pinky.

A barely perceptible wind blade shot past.

Little Orange bolted upright, looking around in startled confusion. Half of its long whiskers drifted to the ground with the breeze.

"If you scratch my brother again... hmph." With a smile on his lips, Wang Changxiang left the place.

But he remembered how, when they were young, his brother had been so eager for Dao techniques, so in love with that transcendent world. And now, no matter what he said in front of him, he could no longer see that spark.

It seemed he had resigned himself to such a life.

Wang Changxiang's steps, in the end, could not be light.

Today's lesson was on the Ding-grade mid-rank Dao technique Flame Blade, an advancement of the Ding-grade low-rank Flame Infusion and a foundation of fire-element Dao techniques.

It condensed flame into a blade, directly using scorching fire-element power to injure an opponent, and was also effective against foul things like ghosts and spirits.

In truth, at this level, Dao techniques already surpassed ordinary mortal-forged weapons.

Jiang Wang had already memorized the hand seals and precautions for this technique, but his mind wandered to Wei Yan's long saber—that blade was exceptionally sharp, far from ordinary. Given Wei Yan's strength, mortal steel would only be a burden.

He also thought of Li Jianqiu's sword, always hanging at his waist, and figured it must be extraordinary.

His eyes grew hot with envy. His own sword had been half-ruined after cutting down the vengeful ghost last time; he'd bought a replacement when he got back, but it was still just common iron. A truly powerful sword he couldn't afford, nor did he have the connections.

He wondered what kind of power the weapons of those great martial artists who entered the Dao through force wielded.

He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice the classroom atmosphere until Ling He quietly nudged him.

The instructor was a nearly sixty-year-old man, rigid and strict, surnamed Xiao. The students called him Iron-Faced Xiao behind his back.

At that moment, Xiao had finished explaining the technique and randomly called on a few students to demonstrate. When he called Fang Heling, the latter stumbled through the Dao technique—the flame of the Flame Blade flickered unsteadily, but he completed it nonetheless.

Even Iron-Faced Xiao seemed somewhat satisfied, but then the brat spoke up: "Senior Brother Jiang Wang opened his meridians before me, so why not let him try this technique too? If anything goes wrong, he can ask you for guidance, Teacher."

Iron-Faced Xiao's gaze fell on the distracted Jiang Wang.

I'm screwed, Jiang Wang thought. He rose from his cushion and said honestly, "I haven't established my foundation yet."

Fang Heling, who had entered the inner sect at the same time, could already perform Dao techniques, but Jiang Wang still hadn't succeeded in foundation establishment. The other students' looks turned strange.

"Just because you haven't established your foundation, you don't need to listen?" Iron-Faced Xiao glared. What he hated most were lazy, sly students—those who stepped onto the transcendent path but didn't cherish it, treating it only as a way to show off before mortals.

"I know I was wrong." Jiang Wang admitted his mistake readily, head bowed.

Iron-Faced Xiao said coldly, "Go copy the Purple Void Scripture a hundred times. Until you're done, don't come to my class."

"Yes." Jiang Wang accepted, his heart groaning inwardly. The full name of the Purple Void Scripture was the Purple Void Sublime Supreme Scripture, the foundational Dao canon of the Yujing Mountain lineage. Every Daoist of that lineage knew it by heart. There was truly no need to copy it—this was pure punishment from Iron-Faced Xiao.

Worst of all, the full text was nearly thirty thousand characters... When would he ever finish copying that?

But he knew he couldn't refuse; with Iron-Faced Xiao's temper, he might just roll up his sleeves and beat him.

For the rest of the lesson, Jiang Wang forced himself to stay alert, not daring to slack off. He barely made it through until Iron-Faced Xiao left with his hands behind his back, at which point Fang Heling swaggered over.

"Oh, Junior Brother Jiang, I'm so sorry. I didn't know you hadn't established your foundation yet!" In the path of cultivation, time was measured by rank, so Fang Heling naturally changed "senior brother" to "junior brother," his tone full of feigned regret: "After opening my meridians, it took me fifty-three days to establish my foundation. I thought that was already too slow and felt ashamed. I figured with your usual prowess, you'd have long since established yours... Ah, what a mess this is."

The standard foundation array diagram used by the Zhuang Kingdom Dao Academy, the Return to Origin Formation, had a total of eighty-one array points. With two Dao Essences gained per day from two meridian-charging sessions, fifty-three days for foundation establishment was hardly slow—especially considering the delays caused by errors in shifting array points.

Currently, the fastest foundation-establishing record in the entire city academy belongs to Zhu Weiwu. He succeeded in just nine days, surpassing all previous records. Judging by this inconceivable speed, the true spirit of his Dao Vein absolutely cannot be at the level of Jiang Wang's Earthworm true spirit. But what level of true spirit it actually is involves personal privacy and cannot be known.

That said, for the average disciple of Maple Forest City Daoist Academy, sixty to ninety days is the normal range.

No wonder Fang Heling was so smug.

He didn't bother to hide the provocation in his gaze, and he very much wanted to see this arrogant fellow fly into a rage out of humiliation. He was even already simulating in his mind how the upcoming battle would unfold—using exquisite Dao techniques to brilliantly defeat this country bumpkin who could only rely on his swordsmanship.

But Jiang Wang just smiled, turned around, and walked away.

No anger at all, utterly indifferent.