Cultivation wasn't something one could advance by leaps and bounds through secluded training alone, day and night without pause. In fact, worldly experience and all kinds of battles were just as important. This was one reason the Zhuang Emperor had established the Dao Merit Board, encouraging cultivators to undertake all kinds of missions. It wasn't that the court couldn't handle those matters; rather, such trials could improve the efficiency of cultivation. Nor was this unique to the Zhuang Kingdom. Every nation and school under heaven had similar systems.
Take the battle in Small Forest Town, for example. After slaying the Resentful Ghost, more than ten new Dao Essences had formed in Jiang Wang's Heaven-Connecting Palace. They hadn't come from Pulse-Opening cultivation, but had naturally taken shape in the lingering aftermath of an intense battle.
Dao Essence was the perfect fusion of intent and power, the true response of the spirits of all things to the origin of heaven and earth. It was also the foundation of all strength and the root of the extraordinary.
That was why Zhao Rucheng had invited everyone out for wine and flowers: as cultivators, they needed to round out their life experiences.
With Ling He's upright temperament, he naturally refused to join in the debauchery. So he was in charge of picking up Jiang An'an from school that day and taking her out to play.
Du Yehu couldn't have been happier. Jiang Wang put up a token resistance. He had initially made a hypocritical show of refusing on the grounds that he needed to look after little An'an, but once Zhao Rucheng had swiftly "arranged" for Ling He, everyone was pleased.
There was also Huang Azhan. He'd been drinking with Du Yehu when he heard about this wonderful opportunity, and had practically clung to Du Yehu's leg as he was dragged all the way over. Fortunately, Young Master Zhao was loaded and didn't mind a few extra hangers-on.
The best pleasure house in all of Maple Forest City was the Three-Part Fragrance Pavilion. The most luxurious private room, the most expensive courtesans.
Ever since moving out to live with An'an, they'd had little time to gather privately aside from their classes at the Dao Academy. After a few rounds of drinks, Jiang Wang asked the courtesans to leave first.
"Hey, hey, don't go!"
"Big sister, dear big sister, I'll go home with you!"
The one who was red-faced and weeping bitterly was naturally Huang Azhan. He'd just spent seven or eight rounds going around to drink with every courtesan, and now he was well and truly drunk. He was practically ready to escort them ten miles on their way, so deep was his affection and so hard was it to part. He really wanted to lose his virginity here. But the courtesans all laughed and turned him down as they filed out.
They were all cultivators, so they obviously weren't about to get up to anything truly wild. For cultivators, preserving their primal yang was essential until they opened the Gate of Heaven and Earth.
So Jiang Wang remained clearheaded throughout.
Du Yehu, meanwhile, only wanted to drink. Where he drank and who he drank with were secondary.
Huang Azhan was the only one in the room who couldn't bear to see the courtesans go. He looked to Zhao Rucheng for help, convinced the two of them were kindred spirits. But Zhao Rucheng merely shook his head. The courtesan he'd specifically invited hadn't come, and he couldn't hide his disappointment. "Vulgar women, all of them. How boring."
"These are vulgar women? These?" Huang Azhan nearly jumped to his feet. "Look how big those cups are! No, how round those clothes are. No, how white those hairpins are..."
In the end, he gave up and burst into tears. "Boohoo, what's vulgar about them?"
Jiang Wang: "..."
Zhao Rucheng: "..."
Du Yehu smacked him on the head. "You're drunk. Go to sleep. You can have anything in your dreams."
Ignoring Huang Azhan, who promptly slumped onto the table and began snoring like thunder, Jiang Wang thought for a moment before saying, "I've done a few missions here and there lately and earned fifteen Dao Merit. With what I'd saved before, I've got forty points in all. I don't need the Dao Merit for now, so I'll transfer it to you guys. Whoever has enough can exchange it for a Vein-Opening Pill first. Anyway, it'll be easier to earn Dao Merit once you've reached the extraordinary realm."
By "you guys," he naturally meant Zhao Rucheng and Du Yehu, as well as Ling He, who wasn't there. They were all brothers. If they had to rank themselves, it would be unfair for Ling He to fall behind just because he hadn't come. So the best thing was to give it first to whoever had the most Dao Merit.
Having one's Dao Vein manifest was a major event, the first step toward the extraordinary realm. Naturally, the sooner the better.
"I don't need it." Zhao Rucheng lounged back against his chair. When it came to cultivation, he really did seem indifferent, relying entirely on his talent to get by.
"I don't need it either." Du Yehu drained a cup of wine, then suddenly said, "I'm leaving."
"Leaving? Where to?" Jiang Wang asked.
"Wei Yan asked me before whether I wanted to join the army. I thought about it for a few days, and I've made up my mind. I'm leaving tomorrow."
The news was so sudden that Zhao Rucheng sat bolt upright. "Brother Tiger, you'd better be sure."
"I'm sure." Du Yehu grinned. "Wei Yan said I was better suited to the Military School's path. I think so too."
That was true. Jiang Wang and Zhao Rucheng both knew Du Yehu had an extraordinary physique and vigorous blood and qi. He really was a seed for the Military School. But the Zhuang Kingdom as a whole focused on Daoist cultivation, and it had very few powerful Military School cultivators.
Even the Zhuang Kingdom's highest-ranking military commander in name, Grand General Huangfu Duanming, was actually a powerful Daoist cultivator. The Zhuang Kingdom lacked the soil for cultivators of other schools to flourish, the Military School included. Even Wei Yan himself practiced Daoist Arts.
If Du Yehu chose this path, it meant he would have no systematic environment for cultivation for a long time, only scattered Military School methods.
That wasn't to say the Military School was weak. The reason, at its root, was that the Daoist Sect's support had been a major factor in the Zhuang Kingdom maintaining peace for so long under the watchful gaze of the Yong Kingdom. The Zhuang Court didn't have a strong enough backbone to be as inclusive as the Qin Court or Chu Court. The Zhuang Kingdom focused on Daoist cultivation, and had no choice but to do so.
Yet Jiang Wang couldn't bring himself to stop him. He knew Du Yehu's nature all too well. A fire burned within the man, fierce and wild. He refused to admit defeat, refused to lose, and certainly didn't want Jiang Wang to leave him farther and farther behind. But the Dao Canons gave him a headache just to look at; they simply weren't suited to him. And his physique and blood and qi truly were exceptional talents. If he'd been in Mo State or some other place where Military School cultivators flourished, he would undoubtedly have been a celebrated genius.
"Who's Wei Yan recruiting for?" Jiang Wang asked.
"There've been a lot of vacancies in the Jiujiang Black Armor, and a few spots have been allocated to Maple Forest City. Wei Yan thought I'd be a good fit, so he recommended me."
Du Yehu's courage and bluntness must have appealed to soldiers. After the mission in Small Forest Town, Wei Yan had struck up a friendship with him.
As for the Jiujiang Black Armor... They were practically the pride of the Zhuang Kingdom, its deadliest army. Their reputation even surpassed that of the White Feather Army, which guarded Xin'an, the Zhuang Capital.
In fact, it was because of the Jiujiang Black Armor that Jiujiang City, despite being just one city, was often called the Zhuang Kingdom's fourth prefecture. In name, it fell under Daishan Prefecture's jurisdiction, but in practice it enjoyed a high degree of autonomy. The City Lord of Jiujiang City was also the commander of the Jiujiang Black Armor. That tradition had continued since the kingdom's founding, a testament to the city's special status.
"Even if you join the Jiujiang Black Armor, you'll still need Dao Merit." Since Du Yehu was about to enlist, Jiang Wang had already decided to transfer his own Dao Merit to him first.
"I don't need it." Du Yehu shook his head again. He wasn't putting on airs—he wasn't the type to. He said bluntly, "Since I'm taking the Military School's path, I don't plan to take a Vein-Opening Pill. I'll follow the Military School's most traditional and ancient path!"
The Military School's traditional path meant that cultivators didn't rely on pills, but instead used their blood and qi to break open their Dao Veins. It was already called "ancient" because fewer than one in a thousand people could succeed on this path. The best outcome for those who failed was to become crippled; most died on the spot.
One had to understand that cultivating one's meridians twice a day, refining blood and qi and condensing Dao Essence, was already the limit for ordinary people. How perilous was it, then, to gather vast amounts of blood and qi and directly break open the Heaven-Connecting Palace, making the Dao Veins manifest?
But precisely because it was so dangerous, those madmen of the Military School revered it as the orthodox path and praised it without reserve.
If one succeeded, the benefits were enormous. Military School cultivators who opened their veins this way often achieved far more than ordinary people.
Jiang Wang and Zhao Rucheng fell silent. They could feel the old tiger's resolve.
"So transfer the Dao Merit to Big Brother first. Give him mine too." With those casual words, Du Yehu cut off his own retreat, grabbed the wine jug, and drained half of it.
Before you continue