Departure

"Very well. From this moment on, you are a disciple of this Shen Gongbao."

Shen Gongbao let out a hearty laugh, rose to his feet, and walked over to help Lu Chuan up. He asked with a smile, "Disciple, stand up. By the way, this master does not yet know your name?"

"Disciple is Lu Chuan!" Lu Chuan replied.

With the rites of master and disciple completed and Jiang Ziya acting as a witness, the relationship was firmly established.

Perhaps this was what people often called the irony of fate.

He had intended to apprentice himself to Jiang Ziya, yet through a twist of fate, he had ended up apprenticing to Shen Gongbao instead.

"Since I cannot refuse or change this, I, Lu Chuan, will accept the reality. From now on, I am the disciple of Shen Gongbao."

As for the future...

To be honest, he had no way to plan or consider anything.

In this world where even immortals could not guarantee their survival from one day to the next, they could barely grasp their own destinies, let alone him.

Therefore, all he could do now was take things one step at a time.

However, since he now had a master with profound abilities, his next most important task was undoubtedly to calm his mind and learn his craft well.

He hoped that in the impending great calamity, he would not be reduced to mere cannon fodder, dying without a sound.

Jiang Ziya cupped his hands and smiled, "Congratulations, Junior Brother, on gaining a disciple today."

"Same to you, same to you. Is today not a joyous occasion for you as well, Senior Brother?"

As he spoke, Shen Gongbao reached into his sleeve and produced an object: a night-luminescent pearl the size of a chicken egg, pale blue in color and emitting a faint, ethereal glow.

"I came in such a hurry that I brought no fine gifts, so please accept this pearl as a token of congratulations for you and your bride, Senior Brother."

Jiang Ziya took the pearl, examined it, and smiled, "Then many thanks, Junior Brother."

Shen Gongbao said to Lu Chuan, "The hour is late, disciple. We must not disturb your Senior Uncle's happy night any longer. It is time to go."

"Go? Go where?"

Lu Chuan was startled. After a moment of thought, he said to Jiang Ziya, "Senior Uncle, please convey a message to my father for me. Tell him I have gone to study under my master."

Lu Liang was the steward of the Song Mansion, but he was a free man who could come and go as he pleased, as he had never signed any indentures or master-servant contracts with the Song family.

After all, he had been considered slow-witted and incapable of doing anything in the past; how could he have served as a menial?

"Rest assured, I will."

Jiang Ziya nodded. Seeing this, Shen Gongbao smiled and pointed a finger at the ground, calling out, "Rise!"

A white cloud suddenly appeared beneath Lu Chuan's feet, lifting both him and his master into the mid-air.

"Junior Brother, it is rare for you to descend the mountain; why must you leave in such a hurry?"

Jiang Ziya looked up and said, "Besides, you came from afar for my sake today. You should let your Senior Brother fulfill the duties of a host and entertain you properly."

"There is no need, Senior Brother. The person you should be accompanying tonight is not me, but your new bride."

Shen Gongbao stroked his beard and laughed heartily, "There will be plenty of time in the future. We brothers will have many opportunities to meet again, and I shall come to trouble you then."

With that, he steered the cloud to depart.

Jiang Ziya hurriedly called out, "Wait, Junior Brother! Are you returning to Kunlun now?"

Shen Gongbao turned back upon hearing this and replied, "Not for the time being. Firstly, as you said, I spend my years in bitter cultivation on the mountain; it is rare to descend, so I should travel and see the world."

He paused, then turned his gaze toward Lu Chuan.

"Secondly, having accepted this disciple at your request, I must do my best to teach him some skills so as not to fail your trust, Senior Brother."

Jiang Ziya cupped his hands toward the sky, "Then I leave everything to you, Junior Brother."

"Take care, Senior Brother. I am off!"

Shen Gongbao nodded earnestly, turned around, and tapped his foot lightly. The white cloud accelerated violently, vanishing rapidly into the boundless night.

"Xiao Chuan, with my junior brother as your master to teach you the Dao and his arts, I can rest easy."

Jiang Ziya murmured toward the direction they had vanished.

After a long while, he looked down at the massive night-luminescent pearl in his hand, which was clearly of immense value, before turning to enter the bridal chamber.

Shen Gongbao steered the cloud, flying at a leisurely pace, while Lu Chuan's exclamations of wonder echoed in his ears from time to time.

Glancing out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lu Chuan lying flat on the cloud, looking down at Song Family Village with an expression of astonishment and excitement.

It was not yet very late, so lights were still glowing in some of the houses within the village.

Come to think of it, this was the first time Lu Chuan had experienced the sensation of riding the clouds and mist like an immortal. If he had to describe it...

It felt absolutely incredible.

"Master, Master, stop! Wait a moment..."

Suddenly, Lu Chuan waved his hands and shouted loudly.

Shen Gongbao saw that they had already arrived outside Song Family Village, so he asked, "What are you doing?"

Lu Chuan spoke mysteriously, "Master, do you see that tree at the village entrance? I buried a precious treasure beneath it."

"A treasure?"

Shen Gongbao shook his head and chuckled, saying, "What kind of treasure could you possibly have?"

"Just some small trinkets of mine, Master. They likely wouldn't catch your eye, but to a disciple, they are treasures."

Lu Chuan said, "I don't know when I will be able to return here after we leave, so I ask that you let me retrieve them, Master, lest they be ruined."

"Very well!"

Shen Gongbao smiled, "Since you put it that way, I am truly curious to see what good things you have."

He pointed toward the ground and said, "Descend!"

Lu Chuan then watched as the white cloud slowly descended from mid-air, landing at the entrance of Song Family Village.

A large tree stood prominently before them.

Shen Gongbao glanced at the tree with interest and laughed, "Where is your treasure?"

Lu Chuan stepped forward, circled to the back of the tree, and knelt to start digging.

"Haha, you lad aren't stupid; you know that to hide something, one must be discreet." Shen Gongbao nodded in approval.

"Found it."

Lu Chuan soon laughed, pulling a small wine jar out of the pit with his mud-covered hands.

"So it is a jar of wine."

Seeing this, Shen Gongbao shook his head, unable to decide whether to laugh or cry. He stepped forward and said, "You are so young, why are you so addicted to the cup?"

But before he could finish, Lu Chuan held the jar up before his eyes and explained, "Master, this is not wine."

Shen Gongbao quickly stepped back, frowning, "If it is not wine, then what is it?"

Although he did not know what was in the jar, it gave him an innate sense of disgust, as if it contained something filthy and foul.

Lu Chuan grinned, "Black dog blood."

"What?" Shen Gongbao nearly choked, pointing at the jar in astonishment, "What did you say is inside?"

"Black dog blood. I heard from people that this stuff can ward off evil spirits and break demonic arts. It's good stuff."

Lu Chuan introduced it gleefully, "I'm glad I saved it and didn't waste it. This came from a pure black dog without a single stray hair..."

When he killed that black dog today, he suddenly remembered that there were demons, monsters, and ghosts in this world.

In the movies, black dog blood was a treasure for dealing with evil spirits and monsters, which was why he had collected the blood and secretly buried it here, so as not to waste it.

"Black dog blood? To think it is such a filthy thing. Throw it away, throw it away, quickly."

Shen Gongbao waved his hand in disgust, saying, "The things you heard are all heterodox arts; how could they compare to the authentic methods of our Xuan Sect?"

"Heterodox arts? The authentic Xuan Sect?"

Lu Chuan was stunned, then suddenly asked, "Master, can black dog blood break the arts of our Xuan Sect?"

"Naturally not. Do not compare us to those heterodox paths."

Shen Gongbao said proudly, "This black dog blood can only break demonic arts and evil spirits, and it is only useful against demons with shallow cultivation. It is useless against demons with high cultivation."

"Oh!"

Lu Chuan threw the wine jar away with a look of disappointment.

"Let's go!"

Shen Gongbao took Lu Chuan and rode the cloud, heading north.

Traveling north led directly toward Chaoge City.

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the two arrived outside Chaoge City, but the city gates had long since been closed.

Thus, the two went to a dilapidated temple nearby to rest.

The temple had no windows, the ground was covered in weeds, and the statue in the main hall had snapped in two, with the broken portion toppled over on the dais.

"Disciple, go and gather some branches from around the temple; I shall light a fire for us."

Shen Gongbao looked around and said, "Afterward, I will impart some cultivation methods to you."

"Yes, Master!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Chuan was overjoyed and, full of spirit, went outside to gather firewood.