Dark Currents Surge, Jealousy Burns

Lü Yuanhua smiled. "What comes too easily is never treasured quite as much... Don't rush, don't rush. Your master is, after all, the state preceptor of Wu Hou State now, with three hundred qing of land and hundreds of thousands of followers.

"If I'm too eager to take on a disciple, people will laugh at me..."

Tang Changsheng had no idea what Lü Yuanhua and his disciple were thinking. For two days, he could not help suspecting that something was amiss.

After all, his sect had made the key sound terribly important!

That left Tang Changsheng on edge, and he kept the key hidden against his body.

But after two days of vigilance, he gradually realized that all was calm. Nothing he had imagined might happen had happened at all.

Instead, everyone at the abbey treated Tang Changsheng with exceptional courtesy, eager to win his favor.

Tang Changsheng could not understand it, so he simply put the matter out of his mind.

True Person Lü Yuanhua's cultivation was extraordinary, far beyond anything Tang Changsheng could contend with.

If Lü Yuanhua truly had designs on him, Tang Changsheng could not resist anyway.

As for the key, Tang Changsheng believed he would be able to return one day. Otherwise, his sect would never have known its secret!

For now, though, he could find no way back, and the place he found himself in was far too unfamiliar.

He could only endure it all.

So he set every such thought aside and devoted himself to cultivation each day.

He had been stuck at the threshold of igniting Heavenly Heart for years. Now that he finally had a chance to cross it, Tang Changsheng threw himself into cultivation with rapt devotion.

What Tang Changsheng did not know was that while he cultivated in his courtyard each day, the outer compound was in an uproar. His arrival had left many of its Daoists furious!

Primordial Yang Abbey covered an enormous area, and Tang Changsheng's courtyard stood within the inner compound.

Naturally, he did not know that Lü Yuanhua and Xin Chengying had recruited dozens of other Daoists besides him.

Their accommodations were decent enough, but how could they compare with Tang Changsheng's? He lived in the inner compound, had a courtyard all to himself, and was attended by four young Daoist acolytes!

The Daoists Lü Yuanhua and his disciple had brought into the outer compound were mad with envy over Tang Changsheng's treatment. Some even began thinking of harming him.

"Hmph. I don't see what's so capable about that Tang Changsheng. Why does True Person Lü think so highly of him?"

"Exactly. Senior Brother Xin used to favor us most, but he never gave us anything like this.

"A whole courtyard to himself, and four acolytes to wait on him! Even Fellow Daoist Xin has no more than that... That Tang fellow came later than the rest of us, and no one even knows where he's from. What gives him the right to such treatment...?"

"I heard True Person Lü means to take Tang Changsheng as his disciple!"

"What?"

"Impossible..."

The Daoists were already wild with jealousy. Those words poured oil on the fire, and nearly every one of them looked ready to explode.

What kind of joke was that?

True Person Lü Yuanhua was a master who had reached the Celestial Realm. He had also won Marquis Wu's favor and was, for all practical purposes, the marquis's state preceptor.

He had both formidable abilities and immense power!

Every one of them believed he had skills to offer and had come to serve True Person Lü.

Yet True Person Lü had never considered taking any of them as a disciple!

That had been bearable. Until now, Xin Chengying had been True Person Lü's only disciple, so none of them had expected anything else.

But now someone just like them—a Daoist recruited by Xin Chengying, no less—had arrived only a few days ago and caught True Person Lü's eye.

That was utterly intolerable!

For a time, the jealousy of several men who thought highly of themselves, and believed their talent and abilities should have earned True Person Lü's notice, threatened to burst out of them!

"Brother Chengyang, you're the most skilled among us. Why don't you teach Tang Changsheng a lesson?"

Master Chengyang usually had the finest bearing of them all, with an imposing appearance. Now his face twisted slightly, and a venomous glint entered his eyes. "That wet-behind-the-ears brat? I can make him suffer without his even knowing what hit him!"

He sneered inwardly and resolved to make Tang Changsheng disgrace himself so thoroughly that the Tang fellow would be too ashamed to remain at Primordial Yang Abbey!

After the others dispersed, a black-robed Daoist was the last to leave. Chuckling coldly, he returned to his room.

His lodgings were nowhere near as fine as Tang Changsheng's private courtyard. Still, he had a room to himself, with flowers and greenery around it. It was pleasant enough.

"Senior Brother, you're back. How did it go?" someone in the courtyard asked with a smile when he saw the black-robed Daoist return.

The man who called the black-robed Daoist "Senior Brother" was not dressed as a Daoist. He looked more like a merchant. Two patches of coarse cloth had been sewn onto an inconspicuous corner of his fine robe...

Since ancient times, the imperial court had suppressed commerce, forbidding merchants from wearing fine silks.

But now the law was lax and merchants had grown powerful. The restriction remained little more than a formality.

This merchant, for instance, had sewn two patches of coarse cloth onto his luxurious silk robe and called that wearing coarse clothing...

Why, then, did this merchant call the black-robed Daoist "Senior Brother"?

"Heh, don't worry, my good brother. Our chance has come!" The black-robed Daoist chuckled coldly. "A fellow named Tang Changsheng has arrived at Primordial Yang Abbey, and True Person Lü thinks very highly of him.

"The fools in the outer compound are all jealous. They've even goaded Master Chengyang into going after him to make him look ridiculous..."

"Oh?" The merchant's heart gave a jolt. "Senior Brother, do you mean...?"

The black-robed Daoist smiled coldly. "I'll kill Tang Changsheng first and frame those fools for it. Best leave behind a little evidence of witchcraft, too. That will give the heir an excuse to act..."...

Tang Changsheng had no inkling of the currents surging beneath the calm surface.

Early the next morning, he was already waiting for the sun to rise, ready to draw in Solar Light Qi.

The sky had only just begun to brighten. The east slowly paled, a wisp of purple qi suffused heaven and earth, and the sun began to climb.

Following his usual cultivation practice, Tang Changsheng drew a breath of Solar Light Qi from the rising sun. Instantly, a thread of fire burned straight into his body.

Boom...

A wave of scorching power descended, at least dozens—perhaps a hundred—times stronger than anything Tang Changsheng had felt before...

In that moment, it was as though Tang Changsheng had truly swallowed a mouthful of flame. It fell into his body, and he felt the blood throughout him ignite, burning as if it would reduce him to ash.

This powerful? Last night's Lunar Light Qi was one thing. It was ten times stronger than in my own world.

But why does the Solar Light Qi I've drawn in today feel dozens, even a hundred times stronger than it did in my world?