After thanking the owl with some jerky, Zhang Xiao set the box on the table.
Brimming with excitement, he slowly opened it.
An exquisite wand lay inside. Its shaft was straight, and its surface seemed to have been polished and coated. Lightning-like patterns ran across the light brown wood.
The wand's grip was made of jade. Delicate patterns and characters resembling seal script had been carved into the creamy white jade, apparently to keep it from slipping.
Holding his breath, Zhang Xiao carefully lifted the enormously valuable wand and took it in his hand.
His palm tingled, and the fine hairs on his arm stood on end. An indescribably mysterious sensation spread through him, urging him to wave the wand.
Zhang Xiao followed that impulse and gave it a firm swish.
Tiny sparks of electricity tumbled from the tip like exuberant blue sprites, leaving a brilliant arc of light along the path of his swing.
"How incredible."
Gazing at the wand in his hand, Zhang Xiao murmured to himself. Then he picked up a small card from the box, which read:
"Thirteen inches, lightning-struck wild jujube wood, Qilin whisker, rigid and unyielding.
An unparalleled combination. This wand seems filled with boundless power. I believe it is already my proudest creation-Ollivander."
He eagerly tried a few minor spells, such as the Wand-Lighting Charm, whose incantation was Lumos. It was an extremely simple spell, with virtually no barrier to entry.
Watching the bright ball of light rise from his wand's tip, he felt a surge of satisfaction.
Graduated! Now I just need to learn some swordsmanship, and I can take on the world, right? Zhang Xiao couldn't help laughing.
The period before their first year began was the freest time young witches and wizards from Muggle families would have before graduation. Since they hadn't been registered yet, they weren't saddled with that annoying thing called the Trace.
That meant they could wave their wands to their hearts' content and try anything they wanted.
Next, he tried a few other simple spells, all of which worked quite well. Eventually, he began experimenting with spells he remembered, such as Protego, the Summoning Charm, Stupefy, and Sectumsempra.
Unfortunately, the results were poor. Zhang Xiao wasn't discouraged, though. Plenty of adult wizards hadn't mastered those spells, and even someone as gifted as Harry Potter had only learned them after repeated, lengthy practice.
After playing around for a while, a bold idea suddenly surfaced in Zhang Xiao's mind. It was so tempting that he was itching to try it.
So he spent fifty pence buying a rat from one of the little brats in his apartment building.
Then he tied each of the rat's four limbs to a wooden board.
Looking up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle, he turned his right hand palm-up, loosely cradled the wand, and roared in a voice that sounded as though a decades-old glob of phlegm was lodged in his throat:
"Avada Kedavra!"
After treating the rat to a hearty meal, Zhang Xiao personally escorted it to a sewer entrance and watched it scamper energetically away. Then, as though nothing had happened, he stuck his hands in his pockets and strolled home, whistling and gazing sidelong at the sky.
When his parents returned that evening, Zhang Xiao finally asked the question he was desperate to have answered:
"Mom, Dad, what's the Daoist Order's leveling path-no, I mean, how are the cultivation realms divided?"
Zhang Chengdao and Li Qingshu looked puzzled, clearly unsure what their son meant. Only after a lengthy explanation did Zhang Chengdao say, caught between laughter and exasperation:
"What cultivation realms? We all seek the Dao, and everyone's understanding of it is different. Are you saying your Dao is right and mine is wrong?
Besides, what good would those blasted cultivation realms do? Would everyone announce their realm when they met? Whoever had the higher realm would automatically be right?"
Li Qingshu added:
"As the saying goes, some hear the Dao before others. Our records tell of unremarkable people who achieved enlightenment and ascended on the spot. What realm would that be?
Within the Mystic Order, there is only strength and weakness, not cultivation realms."
That's exactly what I wanted to know-the levels of strength! Zhang Xiao hurriedly continued, "Then how do you know who's stronger?"
Zhang Chengdao held up two fingers.
"Simple. There are two ways. The first is to fight it out. Who's stronger becomes obvious.
The second is to look at results. If someone else can't settle trouble somewhere, but you can, then you're stronger than they are.
So you fight me, I fight him, and whenever someone feels they've learned enough, they leave the mountain to quell trouble and keep the people safe. Over time, everyone gets a rough idea of who's stronger."
Zhang Xiao silently committed this to memory. After thinking it over, he realized it felt rather like Under One Person.
In other words, cultivation had no clearly defined levels, but everyone shared a generally accepted ranking of fighting strength. For instance, everyone knew the Old Celestial Master was powerful-the pinnacle of pinnacles.
But no one knew just how powerful until someone decided they were ready, gathered a bunch of worthless cronies, and got taken down one by one with a single blow each. Only then did they realize: We all agreed to practice qi training, but you secretly went off cultivating immortality?
Hmm. That seems pretty reasonable.
With that question settled, the family happily returned to their dinner.
Zhang Xiao's life settled back into its regular routine. Each day, he did his morning practice, read his predecessors' notes, pondered what the Dao was-meaning he zoned out-read his Hogwarts textbooks, and practiced minor spells.
It was uneventful, but there was a reassuring happiness to it. As the start of school drew closer day by day, anticipation filled him almost to bursting.
Feeling that his "Dao heart had fallen into turmoil" and finding himself completely unable to concentrate on reading, Zhang Xiao simply tossed his books aside and sat on the bay window seat, gazing outside.
A thin mist shrouded the Ancient City. The lead-gray sky resembled a sheet of draft paper rubbed over with an eraser.
Rain fell in dense, silken threads, its trails only faintly visible beneath the dim streetlights.
Occasionally, a passerby hurried along with their collar turned up and their trench coat wrapped tightly around them. Almost everyone carried a black umbrella.
From a distance, it looked like a yellowed old photograph, with a strangely unreal quality.
Zhang Xiao's thoughts drifted as he idly imagined his future life.
Which house will I be sorted into? Iron-Headed Lion? Rascal Snake? (Note 1), Tsundere Eagle? Foodie Gossip Badger?
Should I get close to the Three Little Ones or keep my distance? He unquestionably knew the plot, but that led him into a paradox.
The better someone knew the plot, the more constrained they became, because that very knowledge made them afraid of changing it.
Once they changed it, the events that followed would stray beyond what they knew, and people feared the unknown.
After thinking it over, Zhang Xiao suddenly laughed at himself. He hadn't even started school yet, and he was already fretting over gains and losses. Why worry so much?
At worst, he could hide back home in China. Would Voldemort really dare go to Dragon-Tiger Mountain to cause him trouble?
Had he checked with the Border Defense Force? How many army divisions did Voldemort have, anyway? How many Dongfeng missiles could he withstand?
That evening, at Zhang Xiao's suggestion, the family decided to celebrate his impending start at school with hot pot. After looking around, they discovered that his cauldron was just the right size-the perfect choice for the meal.
Soon, the rich aroma of hot pot filled the room. After dinner, Zhang Xiao took out his wand and demonstrated the Scourgify spell he had just learned for his parents.
Since he had only just learned it and wasn't proficient yet, it didn't clean everything thoroughly, but it still earned a round of applause from his parents.
Amid Zhang Chengdao's exaggerated praise ("Oh my goodness! My son's learned magic!") and Li Qingshu's sincere encouragement ("Keep it up! Mommy believes in you! Study hard and improve every day!"), he beat a hasty retreat.
He swiftly burrowed under his covers. This is actually pretty nice, Zhang Xiao thought quietly. At least, even after being reborn, I still have parents who love me.
And tomorrow, he would be going to Hogwarts!
Note 1: Rascal Snake is a character from the animated series The Adventures of Little Carp. His defining traits are double eyelids, arrogance, and petty-mindedness. He once formed an F4 with Three-Headed Phoenix, Giant Turtle, and Sea Monster. Uh... they were actually an F4 too! (Three-Headed Phoenix was incredibly tsundere, Old Turtle was incredibly headstrong, and Sea Monster was good-natured and mostly just along for the ride.) Slaps thigh furiously-now tell me that isn't a coincidence!
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