Opportunities and Fortunes, Selling Oneself to Seek the Dao

In the corridor, Lu Renjia, Bao Fengtao, Si Jiazi, the Household Hall's menial servant, and the guides waiting nearby, including Steward Sun, were all smiling.

Fang Shu stood at the doorway, receiving everyone's attention just as Si Jiazi had when he had stepped out moments ago.

Among the crowd, Si Jiazi was the first to speak:

"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Fang, on taking a post in the Venom Hall and choosing a famous master."

As he spoke, his face no longer held its earlier coldness. Amid his restraint were hints of solicitation.

Beside him, Lu Renjia hurriedly squeezed forward as well, saying with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Si is right. Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Fang—many congratulations!"

Of the four who had entered the sect today, only Bao Fengtao, though she too stepped forward, wore a highly forced smile. She merely cupped her hands toward Fang Shu without saying anything.

Among the four newly advanced Qi Refiners, she alone had gained neither side—she had neither taken a famous master nor secured a post within the Eighteen Halls. Her future path as a Qi Refiner was already easy to imagine, and she was feeling thoroughly vexed.

Fang Shu remained courteous and proper toward Bao Fengtao, showing neither pride nor any difference in treatment.

He should know that, as he held the Mountain Lord's Whisker Hairpin in his hand, his heart was full of relief.

Had he not boldly pulled tiger skin over himself and boasted just now, how could he have earned a second glance from the Second Master of the Household Hall? One misstep, one display of his true colors that displeased the other man, and he might even have lost his post in the Venom Hall.

Fortunately, his boldness had brought its reward.

Taking a Hall Master as his teacher was far