Feasting

As the spell took effect, the vines surrounding them multiplied severalfold in an instant, twisting and coiling through the air even faster.

"By the Lightning Mother's decree, lightning grants divine speed-swift!"

Silver light shone all around He Bingkun as he darted among the vines, striking at the young man in the lead like a bolt of lightning.

While the two traded spells, everyone else naturally kept busy too, exchanging attacks in a lively uproar. After watching for a while, Yunqi understood: both sides were holding back. Quite a few people were cursing fiercely while still smiling.

"The Great Void has spirit; heaven and earth lend their power-capture!"

Amid the chaos, Yunqi glimpsed someone pointing at him. At once, he lost control of his body and floated into the air like a kite whose string was in someone else's hands.

Yunqi was not frightened. He merely thought that the man had chosen his moment wonderfully. Everyone from Lantern Street was tangled up just then, and even He Bingkun, who had been fighting so valiantly, was held up by the fellow named Tian Lingzhi. For that, Tian Lingzhi had taken several kicks to the stomach.

Besides, this capture spell was fascinating. It truly had the flavor of an immortal's art.

"Nie Qunyu, don't hurt him!"

Seeing Yunqi flying through the sky, He Bingkun's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.

"I only wish my capture spell could hurt someone."

The man who had captured Yunqi answered He Bingkun, then called to Yunqi with a smile, "Little brother, I've barely begun learning this spell. Don't struggle, or you might fall!"

Yunqi had not been moving much to begin with, and those words made him relax even further. Soon, he landed beside the spellcaster.

The moment Yunqi touched the ground, four or five people crowded around him and dragged him off at a run, heading straight for the All-Teachings Institute.

The people from Lantern Street saw them and more or less understood what this bunch from Ancient Vine Street intended. The commotion earlier had been so loud that they already knew of Yunqi's achievement. They meant to escort Yunqi to claim the reward themselves and pull a fast one on Lantern Street!

"Stop right there, you little bastards!"

Everyone from Lantern Street strained like wild horses about to break their reins, desperately trying to chase after Yunqi.

He Bingkun ran the fastest. He arrived at the All-Teachings Institute panting, only to find that the little bastards from Ancient Vine Street had already come out with Yunqi in their midst.

"Hahahaha!"

Beside He Bingkun stood Tian Lingzhi, face bruised and swollen, laughing delightedly at the top of his lungs.

Nie Qunyu, the man who had spirited Yunqi away, wore a smug expression. He also had an arm around someone as he said:

"Old Zeng, did you see that? Fifth on the Southern Dipper Ranking! Has your Qian Fourth District ever produced anyone like him?"

At that, He Bingkun grinned too. Besides, with someone from the Fourth District present, he could hardly let the Third District lose face. He stopped quibbling with Tian Lingzhi, assumed a deliberately calm expression, and beckoned to Yunqi.

"Yunqi, come on. Let's go back to Lantern Street. We need to celebrate."

He placed particular emphasis on the words "Lantern Street."

In the end, everyone held their feast in the Culinary Affairs Court's Qilin Hall.

The people from Lantern Street and Ancient Vine Street attended together.

The Ancient Vine Street crowd insisted on joining them. Perhaps knowing they were in the wrong, they volunteered to pay and celebrate Yunqi's achievement.

Once everyone was seated, the Ancient Vine Street crowd ordered plenty of food and wine to show their remorse. After two or three mouthfuls of wine, everyone warmed to the occasion and began chatting about everything under the sun.

"The Southern Dipper Ranking takes its name from the idea of governing life and extending longevity. It ranks people by how quickly they break through a realm, with four lists: Qi Consumption, Palace Breakthrough, Court Plowing, and Core Formation. Each list has only six places. The last change to the Qi Consumption list was forty or fifty years ago, so we hardly ever look at it. Only when you said today that you'd achieved Qi Consumption in six breaths did we wonder whether you might have a chance of making it."

He Bingkun spoke with a sigh of admiration.

"By the way, Qunyu, you just checked it. Who were the others on the Qi Consumption list again?"

"By the rules, the names of anyone over fifty no longer appear on the ranking. Right now, Fang Fengyi and Zheng Weicheng are tied for first. Both are children of the Dao, born capable of consuming qi. Xiao Shizhong is third, having achieved Qi Consumption in one breath, and Zeng Heling is fourth, at two breaths. Huang Guanguan used to be fifth, at thirty breaths, but has now dropped to sixth. Yu Jinhuang, who took a hundred breaths, has been pushed off the list."

"Has Fang Fengyi still not found the true baleful intent he wants?"

Tian Lingzhi asked.

"Not yet. I heard he's left the sect again. We'll see whether he brings back good news this time."

"He has lofty ambitions, and his luck hasn't been great either. I heard Zheng Weicheng has already gone to the far north in search of spirit gang."

"They're progressing so fast. Who knows when we'll be able to set out in search of gang and baleful intent!"

Naturally, everyone began discussing their own cultivation progress and the hurdles they faced.

"Everyone, have you heard the names Qi Lingyun and Qi Jinchan?"

Someone interjected then. The speaker was a young man named Yang Youxin from Ancient Vine Street. Through their conversation, Yunqi had learned that he specialized in wind and wood techniques and was a nominal disciple of Cuckoo Valley.

Everyone thought for a moment, then shook their heads. "Never heard of them."

"Then have you heard of Qi Shuming?"

Everyone started at that. This was True Person Miaoyi, the sect leader of Emei in Western Shu, an exalted adept of the Dao Integration Realm with ascension in sight. How could they not have heard of him?

Tian Lingzhi reacted quickly and immediately asked, "Those two surnamed Qi...?"

Yang Youxin nodded. "After several hundred years, True Person Miaoyi and his wife have finally had children of the Dao-twins, an older sister and a younger brother, no less. I heard the news only spread a few days ago, when Emei held their hundred-day banquet."

Everyone was astonished, and Yunqi also saw worry on their faces.

He Bingkun explained:

"You wouldn't know this, Yunqi, but since the Tang and Song dynasties, Daoist cultivation has grown increasingly popular in Ba-Shu. For our Daoist tradition, that should have been a good thing. But Ba-Shu is isolated, its geography forming a region unto itself. Its cultivation practices and beliefs developed along a distinctive path, and the Daoist sects there consequently became a separate faction.

"They honor the Three Pure Ones without believing in them, and do not bow when they encounter the ancient gods. They exalt immortals and belittle gods, revering as their patriarchs the immortals who ascended in Shu during the Tang and Song dynasties. They call themselves the Orthodox Profound Gate, or the Western Daoist Capital, drawing a clear line between themselves and our eastern Daoist tradition. They are especially hostile toward the immortal mountains of our Yu Zhang. The depth of their malice toward us surpasses even that of the demonic sects!"

A struggle over the Daoist succession!

The thought flashed through Yunqi's mind like lightning. He loved reading histories and knew what this meant.

"I heard those two children were not merely born capable of consuming qi. All Five Palaces were already open, and their Crimson Palaces had formed. At the hundred-day banquet, an adept from the Eastern Sea presented spirit gang and true baleful intent as gifts. What we seek in vain is already in someone else's pocket!

"Given time, once those two children of the Dao grow up, how could that be good for our Daoist tradition?"

Yang Youxin covered his face and sighed.

Seeing everyone's spirits flag, Yunqi smiled. "Brother Yang, don't fan another's ambition and quench our own might. I read that True Person Zhang Sanfeng was also born an ordinary mortal. Before thirty, he was still serving as an official in the mundane world. After thirty, he spent another thirty years seeking immortals and the Dao. Only at sixty did he meet True Person Fire Dragon and receive the Essentials of the Golden Core. Then he spent ten years refining a golden core and another ten nurturing his nascent infant, founded Wudang, and attained the Dao and became an immortal at a hundred. Surely our starting point isn't later than True Person Zhang Sanfeng's?"

Everyone was startled again when they heard him compare them to True Person Zhang Sanfeng.

He Bingkun recalled Yunqi's first night there, when he had spoken of how an ant could not comprehend a pine. He felt that this roommate of his truly possessed lofty resolve.

Perhaps he was born suited to cultivation.

The thought suddenly came to He Bingkun.

"All right, all right. Yunqi made the ranking, so why insist on talking about Emei's children of the Dao? Drink!"

The fragrance of wine filled the night.

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