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In New Province, spirits and monsters were everywhere, demons proliferated, and humans were as plentiful as wild grass.
Many humans sought the Dao and immortality: some sought eternal life, some sought to stand above all others, some sought vengeance, and some sought to slay demons and vanquish monsters. The list went on.
Many spirits, monsters, and demons also sought the Dao, and their desires were no different from those of humans.
Wang Quan, a transmigrator, was one such seeker of immortality.
He sought eternal life, everlasting vision, and immortality through attaining the Dao. If possible, he also wanted to turn his back on all living beings and reign supreme across the ages.
His ideals were beautiful; reality was bare bones.
He was sixteen that year and had thoroughly mastered the Immortal-Tutoring Bureau's nine thousand volumes of Daoist scriptures. He should have received an Immortal-Seeking Token from one of the 108 Orthodox Mystic Sects, entered that sect, and set out on a smooth road from then on.
Instead, an influential figure from his hometown pulled some strings and switched the names, leaving him with only an unorthodox Immortal-Seeking Token corresponding to three thousand volumes of Daoist scriptures.
That day, Wang Quan boarded the Drowning Dao's great touring ship and gazed at the distant ship of an Orthodox Mystic Sect, remaining silent for a long time.
"One day, I'll return!"
"I won't return to prove how great I am, nor to take back what I lost!"
"I'll return to bring death to certain people and all nine degrees of their kin."
One month later, at the Drowning Dao Lower Court:
Wang Quan and over a thousand other newcomers gathered in the square.
A cold, aloof Daoist nun sat on a pink cloud, looking down at them. "The Drowning Dao belongs to the unorthodox paths."
"We of the unorthodox paths excel at cultivating spells, not magical power, nor at attaining immortality."
"If any of you are determined to become immortals, you may leave!"
Everyone remained silent.
No one left.
Because although the Orthodox Mystic Sects regarded the Drowning Dao as an unorthodox path, to those immortal-cultivating aristocratic clans and ordinary sects, it was still a mighty power far beyond their reach.
An ordinary person wishing to join the Drowning Dao had to master three thousand volumes of Daoist scriptures by the age of sixteen.
Those who passed sixteen without mastering three thousand volumes could only compete for places in the Land of Seeking Immortality outside the Lower Court.
The Land of Seeking Immortality held ten million seekers, who fought so viciously over the thousand annual places in the Lower Court that they practically beat each other's brains out.
They would have had to be fools to leave.
The cold, aloof Daoist nun waited a little, then said, "The Drowning Dao has 365 fundamental methods and 108,000 spells."
"All these fundamental methods and spells are free to learn."
"There is a Method Instruction Hall, where fundamental methods are explained around the clock."
"There is a Spell Instruction Hall, where spells are explained around the clock."
Wang Quan was rather surprised to hear this.
He had thought immortal cultivation in this world would resemble the novels from his previous life: after joining a sect, you received only one basic cultivation method, and had to buy everything else or exchange contribution points for it.
But here, they give it all away?
Aren't they afraid of it spreading outside? Of hostile powers unraveling it? Of nurturing competitors?
At that moment, the cold, aloof Daoist nun continued, "Immortal cultivation originally involved [dual cultivation of inner nature and life]."
"But our ancestral masters over the generations were somewhat lacking in ability, leaving the Drowning Dao proficient only in [life cultivation]."
"Still, it hardly matters. Most of us Drowning Dao cultivators perish, our Dao extinguished, before reaching the realm where [inner nature cultivation] can assist us."
"So it doesn't matter if we aren't proficient in [life cultivation]!"
Everyone remained silent.
Wang Quan was even more silent.
He felt as though this cold, aloof Daoist nun was trying to persuade the newcomers to quit-and he even had evidence.
The cold, aloof Daoist nun fell silent for a moment, then continued, "Oh, right. The people in the Land of Seeking Immortality are actually the Lower Court's crop of chives to harvest."
"You can use your three thousand volumes of Daoist scriptures to decipher some spells and win those chives over to work for you."
"But try not to teach the chives fundamental methods!"
"Because the Lower Court's fundamental methods require at least three thousand volumes of Daoist scriptures to handle."
"Chives who don't understand three thousand volumes will run into trouble if they cultivate the fundamental methods you teach them."
Everyone wore a strange expression.
So did Wang Quan.
The Land of Seeking Immortality, with its ten million inhabitants, is the Lower Court's chive patch? Interesting. Very interesting.
He also began to understand vaguely why the Drowning Dao Lower Court was not afraid of its cultivation methods and spells leaking out.
At that moment, the cold, aloof Daoist nun continued, "The more Daoist scriptures you master, the more powerful the fundamental methods and spells you decipher will be."
"Cultivate the corresponding fundamental methods you decipher from however many scriptures you've mastered. Versions of fundamental methods that exceed your understanding of the scriptures can kill you."
"And the higher the version of the fundamental method you first cultivate, the better."
"In theory, mastering ten thousand volumes before formally cultivating a fundamental method is the most perfect approach."
"But many people cultivate lower-version fundamental methods early on, then gradually replace them as they master more scriptures."
"Still, what you ultimately choose is your own business."
"Oh, right. You can only stay in the Lower Court for thirty years."
"After thirty years, if you haven't reached Foundation Establishment, you will no longer be Drowning Dao cultivators and will be expelled from the Lower Court."
"Only upon reaching Foundation Establishment will you count as formal disciples of the Drowning Dao."
"All right, everyone. Collect your identity tokens and start cultivating!"
"One final warning: never tell anyone how many volumes of Daoist scriptures you have learned."
The crow flew and the rabbit ran; in a flash, more than ten days passed.
In a corner of the Scripture Repository:
Wang Quan casually pulled out a blank scripture book and wrote 9050 on its cover with his finger.
The next second, he opened the cover, and the contents of volume 9050 appeared in the blank book.
He memorized it earnestly and pondered it carefully.
An incense stick's worth of time...
An hour...
Two hours...
Believing he had mastered and understood volume 9050, he turned past the last page.
On the next page was, unmistakably, a test for volume 9050.
He picked up the brush and ink at the corner of the table and began answering the questions.
One...
Three hundred...
Nine hundred and fifty...
The test vanished, leaving only two lines:
[Volume 9050 of the Daoist scriptures thoroughly mastered.] [You may study the next volume.]
Wang Quan smiled at the sight.
During his ten-odd days in the Lower Court, he had maintained a pace of three or four volumes a day. Compared with his progress before reaching nine thousand volumes, this was terribly slow.
Because the difficulty of the scriptures beyond nine thousand volumes had increased severalfold.
Even though he had been clever since childhood, studying them now was quite strenuous.
Whew!
He exhaled a stale breath, rubbed his temples, and closed his eyes to rest for a moment.
Just then, an honest-looking youth beside him whispered, "Wang Quan, did you finish another volume?"
The youth's name was Wu Yong, and he had arrived in the same intake. Although they were not from the same hometown, they had become familiar with one another over the past ten-odd days.
Wang Quan nodded. "Mm!"
"What about you?"
Wu Yong's expression was complicated. "I haven't mastered a single volume today."
"These scriptures just keep getting harder."
Wang Quan rubbed his temples. "They do!"
Wu Yong said quietly, "Most of the people who arrived with us have already begun formal cultivation."
"How many scriptures have you learned? When do you plan to start cultivating?"
Something stirred in Wang Quan's mind, and he sighed. "I've only barely learned 3,050 volumes. If I cultivate now, the version of the fundamental method I can decipher will be too low."
"I want to push for five thousand volumes, or even six thousand."
Something stirred in Wu Yong's mind, and he felt secretly pleased. I've been clever since childhood. Before coming to the Drowning Dao Lower Court, I'd already mastered five thousand volumes.
Over these past ten-odd days, I've learned more than thirty more.
I'm progressing faster than him. My future achievements will surpass his.
At that thought, he gave an honest smile. "At your learning pace, if you want to reach five or six thousand volumes, I'm afraid it'll take four or five years before you can formally cultivate."
Wang Quan nodded. "Yes. The later scriptures keep getting harder!"
Wu Yong said conspiratorially, "But I heard there are shops in the Land of Seeking Immortality selling six-thousand-volume versions of fundamental methods, and even seven- or eight-thousand-volume versions."
"A lot of people from our intake have gone to those shops to buy higher-version fundamental methods."
Wang Quan looked around and discovered that of the thousand-plus people from his intake who had come here to study scriptures, only a few dozen remained.
He sighed. "A pity I have no money."
Wu Yong sighed. "Neither do I!"
They exchanged a glance and laughed in unison.
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