After hearing what Master Yue Yu had said, Pan Long frowned slightly. He said nothing, chatted with Bian Deming for a while, then took his leave.
But that very night, he returned to Mingyi Hall.
The academy was deserted. There was not even anyone watching the gate. Yet when he reached the rear courtyard, he saw Master Mingyi, Master Yue Yu, and Master Rizhi, whom he had met earlier at the Ludong Commandery Office. All three great scholars of the True Person Realm sat beneath a large tree.
Master Mingyi was reading, while Rizhi and Yue Yu played a board game and chatted. A lantern stood nearby, its light just bright enough to illuminate the space around them.
Strangely, though there was both light and sound here, Pan Long had seen and heard nothing on his way in. Even his spiritual senses had detected no one at all.
Puzzled, Pan Long looked more closely around the courtyard. When he noticed several lines drawn across the ground by the wall, he understood.
"Draw a Prison on the Ground?" he asked with a smile. "Who would have thought a few lines could seal off the inside from the outside? The three of you truly have remarkable powers. I'm impressed!"
"I wouldn't dare call myself a Grandmaster." Master Rizhi set down his game piece and turned, chair and all, to face him. "The three of us have cultivated for over a hundred years, yet we only reached the Return to the Natural State in recent years. Whether we'll ever attain Unity of Heaven and Man remains unknown. How could we presume to call ourselves Grandmasters?"
Master Yue Yu said, "I've never agreed with judging a teacher by cultivation. A teacher passes on the Way, imparts knowledge, and resolves doubts. If someone cannot do