Departure

"All right. From this moment on, you are my disciple, Shen Gongbao's apprentice."

Shen Gongbao laughed heartily, rose, and came over to help Lu Chuan up. "Get up, my disciple. By the way, I still don't know your name."

"This disciple is Lu Chuan!" Lu Chuan replied.

With the formalities complete and Jiang Ziya as their witness, the bond between master and disciple was now firmly established.

Perhaps this was what people meant when they said fate played cruel tricks.

He had wanted to become Jiang Ziya's disciple, but through a twist of fate, he had ended up becoming Shen Gongbao's instead.

"Since I can't refuse or change what's happened, then I, Lu Chuan, will accept it. From now on, I, Lu Chuan, am Shen Gongbao's disciple."

As for what came later...

To be honest, he had no way to plan for it or even think it through.

In this world, where even immortals could lose their lives at any moment, they could not control their own destinies, let alone him.

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

But now that he had a master with powerful abilities, the most important thing was undoubtedly to calm down and learn those skills well.

That way, when the great calamity arrived before long, he wouldn't become cannon fodder and die without a trace.

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

"Likewise, likewise. Isn't today a joyous occasion for you, too, senior brother?"

As he spoke, Shen Gongbao took something from his sleeve: a night pearl about the size of a chicken egg, pale blue and giving off a faint glow.

"I came in a hurry, junior brother, and didn't bring anything good. Please accept this pearl as a wedding gift for you and your wife."

Jiang Ziya took the night pearl and looked it over. "Then I thank you, junior brother."

Shen Gongbao said to Lu Chuan, "It's getting late, my disciple. We shouldn't keep disturbing your uncle's happy occasion. We should be off."

"Off? Where are we going?"

Lu Chuan froze, then thought for a moment before saying to Jiang Ziya, "Uncle, please tell my father that I've gone to study under my master."

Lu Liang was the steward of Song Mansion, but he was free to come and go as he pleased. He had never signed a deed of sale or a contract binding him as a servant to Song Mansion.

After all, he had once been foolish and feeble-minded. How could he have served as a servant when he couldn't do anything?

"Don't worry. I will."

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

A white cloud suddenly appeared beneath Lu Chuan's feet, carrying him and Shen Gongbao up into the air.

"Junior brother, you rarely come down from the mountain. Why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

Jiang Ziya called up to him. "Besides, you came all this way for me today. You should at least let me play host and entertain you."

"No need, senior brother. Today, as the groom, you should be spending your time with someone other than me."

Shen Gongbao stroked his beard and laughed. "We have a long time ahead of us, and plenty of chances to meet again. I can come bother you another day."

With that, he prepared to ride off on the cloud.

Jiang Ziya hurriedly called, "Wait, junior brother. Are you going back to Kunlun now?"

Shen Gongbao turned around and replied, "Not for now. First, as you said, I've spent years cultivating on the mountain, and I rarely come down. I should travel around a bit."

He paused, then turned his eyes to Lu Chuan.

"Second, I accepted this disciple at your request, senior brother. So I must do my best to teach him some skills. Only then will I have fulfilled your trust in me."

Jiang Ziya cupped his hands toward the sky. "Then I'll leave everything to you, junior brother."

"Take care, senior brother. I'm off!"

Shen Gongbao nodded solemnly and turned around. He lightly stamped his foot, and the white cloud suddenly sped up, vanishing into the boundless night.

"With my junior brother as your master, teaching you the Dao and its skills, I can rest easy, Xiao Chuan."

Jiang Ziya murmured toward the direction they had gone.

After a while, he looked down at the enormous night pearl in his hand. It was clearly worth a fortune. At last, he turned and went into the bridal chamber.

Shen Gongbao rode the cloud through the air at an unhurried pace, while Lu Chuan's exclamations rang in his ears from time to time.

A casual glance from the corner of his eye showed Lu Chuan sprawled on the cloud, gazing down at Song Family Village with wonder and excitement.

It was not too late yet, so lights still shone in some of the village homes.

This was Lu Chuan's first time experiencing the feeling of riding clouds and soaring through the air like an immortal. If he had to describe it...

It was unbelievably exhilarating.

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

Lu Chuan suddenly waved and shouted.

Shen Gongbao saw that they had reached the edge of Song Family Village. "What is it?"

Lu Chuan said 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 laughed. "What kind of treasure could you have?"

"It's just a little trinket of mine. It probably won't catch your eye, master, but it's precious to me."

Lu Chuan explained, "I'm leaving, and I don't know when I'll be able to return. So please let me take it with me, in case it gets ruined."

"All right!"

Shen Gongbao smiled. "Now that you've said that, I really want to see what you've got."

He pointed at the ground. "Descend!"

Then Lu Chuan watched as the white cloud slowly sank from the sky and settled at the entrance to Song Family Village.

A large tree stood right before them.

Shen Gongbao glanced at it with interest and smiled. "Where's your treasure?"

Lu Chuan stepped forward, walked around to the back of the tree, then crouched down and began digging.

"Haha, you're not stupid, lad. You know to hide things somewhere discreet." Shen Gongbao nodded approvingly.

"Found it!"

Lu Chuan soon cried out with a grin. With his muddy hands, he lifted a small wine jar from the hole.

"So it's a jar of wine."

Shen Gongbao shook his head in dismay and went over. "You're so young, yet you're already so fond of drink?"

Before he could finish, Lu Chuan raised the jar in front of him and explained, "Master, this isn't wine."

Shen Gongbao quickly stepped back and furrowed his brow. "If it's not wine, then what is it?"

Though he didn't know what was inside the jar, it filled him with an instinctive loathing, as if it held something filthy and disgusting.

Lu Chuan grinned. "Black Dog Blood."

"What?" Shen Gongbao nearly choked. Pointing at the jar, he asked in astonishment, "What did you say was inside?"

"Black Dog Blood. I heard people say it can drive away evil spirits and break demonic spells. It's good stuff."

Lu Chuan happily explained, "Luckily, I saved it instead of wasting it. This is pure Black Dog Blood from a dog without a single stray hair..."

When he had killed that black dog earlier, he'd suddenly remembered that this world had demons and ghosts.

In the movies, Black Dog Blood was a precious tool for dealing with evil spirits and monsters, so he had collected the dog's blood and secretly buried it here rather than waste it.

"Black Dog Blood? That filthy stuff? Throw it away, throw it away. Hurry up."

Shen Gongbao waved a hand in disgust. "Those things you heard about are just unorthodox tricks. How could they compare with the Orthodox Xuanmen?"

"Unorthodox tricks? The Orthodox Xuanmen?"

Lu Chuan froze, then asked, "Master, can Black Dog Blood break the spells of our Mystic Gate?"

"Of course not. Don't compare us to unorthodox practitioners."

Shen Gongbao said proudly, "Black Dog Blood can only break demonic spells and drive away evil spirits, and it's only useful against monsters with shallow cultivation. It won't work on powerful monsters."

"Oh!"

Disappointed, Lu Chuan tossed the wine jar away.

"Let's go!"

Shen Gongbao took Lu Chuan with him on the cloud and headed north.

North was the direction of Chaoge City.

About the time it took an incense stick to burn, the two had reached the outskirts of Chaoge City, but the gates had already been closed.

So they went to rest at a ruined temple nearby.

The temple had no windows, and the floor was covered in weeds. The statues in the main hall had been broken in two, with one half toppled onto the altar.

"Disciple, go gather some branches from the trees around the temple. I'll start a fire for us."

Shen Gongbao looked around. "Then I'll teach you some cultivation techniques."

"Yes, master!"

At those words, Lu Chuan was delighted. He eagerly went outside to gather firewood.