Choosing a Master

Choosing a Master

Inside Elder Yuan's cave abode sat two people.

In the seat of honor was a young Taoist in a purple Taoist robe. He looked only twenty or thirty, yet possessed the bearing of an immortal and an otherworldly grace.

The Taoist wore a smile. Without needing to speak, he made one feel as though bathed in a spring breeze.

Yuan Mobai.

The Previous Generation Celestial Master's last disciple, and the Contemporary Celestial Master's junior martial brother.

Speaking of which, Wang Guiyuan beside him looked around thirty. Judging by appearances alone, he actually seemed older than his master, Elder Yuan.

It was hard to say whether Elder Yuan was skilled at preserving his youth, or whether Senior Brother Wang was simply mature beyond his years.

Unlike the cave abode's owner, who was as mild as a spring breeze, the scene on the other side of the cave abode was the complete opposite.

In the guest seat, a young girl was wrapped head to toe in a black cloak, with only her small face exposed. Her skin was so pale she scarcely seemed alive.

Fortunately, she had no intention of stealing the spotlight. The faint chill remained confined to one side of the cave abode and did not affect its overall atmosphere.

After Lei Jun and Wang Guiyuan stepped forward to offer their greetings, Elder Yuan looked at Lei Jun with a smile. "A divine object conceals its own brilliance, its sharp edge sheathed within. You truly are an outstanding seedling."

His tone was gentle and magnanimous, giving Lei Jun the same feeling he had when reading the letter before.

Elder Yuan then looked at Xu Yuanzhen beside him. "Disciple Yuan Zhen, you have a keen eye."

Xu Yuanzhen said, "I didn't notice what his talent was like at the time."

Lei Jun: "..."

Wang Guiyuan: "..."

Elder Yuan's smile did not fade. "Then why did you bring him back to the mountain?"

Xu Yuanzhen said, "...Though I really don't want to admit it, I found him rather pleasing to the eye."

For the first time, the Purple-robed Female Taoist, whose expression had always been calm to the point of indifference, showed a change in expression. Her brows drew together as she looked Lei Jun up and down again. She did not look at all like someone who had found another person pleasing to the eye.

It was not directed at Lei Jun.

She simply disliked that sort of feeling whenever she interacted with anyone.

Lei Jun said, "When I first saw Senior Sister, I felt a sense of closeness too."

Xu Yuanzhen said, "Cut it out."

Thanks to the first Sign Fortune I received after coming to this world... Lei Jun smiled.

Elder Yuan and his disciple did not seem surprised by Xu Yuanzhen's manner.

Wang Guiyuan sighed. "To be honest, I had been worried that Junior Brother Lei started too late after entering the sect. Looking at things now, I was worrying for nothing."

He was not the first to remark that Lei Jun had entered the sect late and had been relatively old when he began cultivation.

Lei Jun could understand why.

After all, in this world, a cultivator's cultivation realm was tied not only to talent, willpower, and strength, but also closely to lifespan and one's physical condition.

As one's cultivation realm rose, a cultivator's state of life truly became different from that of ordinary people.

Yet just like the sun, moon, and stars, which seemed to endure forever but in truth had their own lifespans, cultivators likewise aged and died.

Cultivators in this world also had a vigorous youthful period of growth, a prime period in which growth slowed and they could mostly only maintain their condition, an old age in which they slowly began declining, and a final twilight period in which they rapidly decayed and weakened.

Time was especially pressing for First Heaven Qi Refining cultivators. Their lifespans were much like those of ordinary people's, most living no longer than a hundred years.

The greatest hope of extending one's lifespan was to successfully break through into Second Heaven Foundation Establishment.

Only after successfully establishing one's foundation could one's lifespan extend to two hundred years.

But Qi Refining cultivators had little time in which to improve.

This window of growth, the period most suited to cultivation, was in truth only about the first quarter of one's life.

That was, roughly before the age of twenty to twenty-five.

After twenty-five, the speed of cultivation advancement slowed drastically.

Qi Refining cultivators over twenty-five could attempt to refine Magical Artifacts, cultivate combat methods, and accumulate more experience to raise their combat strength even further.

But their cultivation progress began yielding half the results for twice the effort.

The prime years from around twenty-five to fifty could be considered the peak of a Qi Refining cultivator's personal combat ability. Yet from the perspective of advancing one's cultivation realm, they were more like a plateau.

There was still some hope, at least. Though the possibility of continuing upward declined in a straight line, it was not completely severed.

But if you had yet to establish your foundation by fifty, congratulations—you would remain at the Qi Refining realm for the rest of your life, with the hundred-year limit waiting for you.

And your physical condition would begin its slow decline around the age of fifty.

Around seventy-five, you would enter your twilight years, and everything would plunge downward as though falling off a cliff.

Some of the stewards and shopkeepers they had met earlier at Green Cloud Ripple River Beach had once also been Taoist acolytes under the Celestial Master Mansion.

The reason they had left Dragon Tiger Mountain, stopped studying the Tao, and been assigned other duties by the mansion was that they had grown older, their cultivation had stagnated, and they had ultimately been forced to give up the Taoist path.

Lei Jun had only come to Dragon Tiger Mountain's Celestial Master Mansion with Xu Yuanzhen at eighteen. Fortunately, in the year or so since entering the sect, his cultivation realm had advanced without pause, soaring ahead of many Taoist acolytes.

Wang Guiyuan remarked, "No matter what, Junior Brother Lei has exceptional comprehension and a commendable will. Now that his innate aptitude has finally revealed itself as well, his future is bright indeed."

He smiled faintly. "If the Hidden Dragon Spirit Body can continue to transform and improve, there is still the Soaring Dragon Holy Body, and even the legendary Imperial Dragon Immortal Body.

"Of course, if Junior Brother Lei encounters other opportunities, the Hidden Dragon Spirit Body may not be unable to transform into some other, even more outstanding cultivation physique."

Lei Jun said, "I shouldn't hope for too much, but thank you for your auspicious words, Senior Brother Wang."

Xu Yuanzhen said, "There are less than two months until the Ordination Ceremony, yet Master still has not emerged from seclusion."

Elder Yuan said, "Sect Leader has previously issued a decree saying he will emerge from seclusion this New Year. Be patient."

Xu Yuanzhen nodded, then looked at Lei Jun.

"Since we have waited for Master to emerge from seclusion, do you want to try?

"Now that you have awakened the Hidden Dragon Spirit Body, your chances are greater."

In other words, without the Hidden Dragon Spirit Body, his chances had actually been very small... Lei Jun was not surprised by that conclusion.

His already slim original chance had depended entirely on Xu Yuanzhen's favor and the Celestial Master's own inclinations.

After all, becoming the Celestial Master's Personal Disciple carried a different significance.

Leaving aside the fact that the Celestial Master himself was Dragon Tiger Mountain's foremost expert and one of the great giants among the Taoist Sects, disciples personally taught by him were incomparable to those taught by other elders.

Their treatment in every other respect was likewise beyond that of ordinary disciples.

Not only would all kinds of cultivation resources be prioritized for them, but the various blessed lands and Cave Heavens controlled by the Celestial Master Mansion would also open first to the Celestial Master's Personal Disciples.

For example, the immortal realm atop Dragon Tiger Mountain's peak, shrouded in Azure Lightning, was called the Supreme Clarity Thunder Mansion Grotto-heaven.

Even the Li Clan Disciples, who had become increasingly high-profile in recent years, were still not permitted to enter without authorization.

But the Celestial Master's Personal Disciples could.

Perhaps some people would consider such arrangements unfair.

But the Celestial Master's Personal Disciples had always been among the handful of most outstanding people of their generation within the mansion.

Looking across the whole world, they were still geniuses among geniuses.

The people they were compared against were the leading figures of the same generation from the other great clans and sacred lands.

Good steel was used on the blade's edge, so there was nothing strange about it.

Lei Jun's natural aptitude had previously been mediocre, so naturally it had been difficult for the Celestial Master to make an exception for him.

Now that he had risen to a Spirit Body, the circumstances were naturally different.

At this moment, Lei Jun looked toward Elder Yuan.

The other man remained as gentle as ever, without the slightest sign of objection. Encouragement even showed in his gaze.

But the Light Sphere in Lei Jun's mind suddenly flickered again, and words emerged:

Your foundation has achieved minor success. The path of fate again meets a fork: either continue soaring high, or sink and rise with the tides. It all rests upon a single thought.

Lei Jun agreed with those words.

Life was mostly like this.

Take the right step before, and just as you seemed about to take flight, the next step might send you into empty air.

Only through an unbroken succession of correct choices could one's fate truly gain momentum.

After the Light Sphere flickered, two fortune slips flew out and appeared within Lei Jun's sea of consciousness:

Upper Middle Auspicious Sign: Keep your feet on the ground. Choose the renowned master before you. Obtain one Fourth Grade Opportunity. Seize the chance, cultivate with single-minded focus, accumulate deeply before unleashing fully. Yet due to entanglements of cause and effect, you must be cautious in the future. Auspicious.

Lower Middle Auspicious Sign: Set your sights high and strive for the chance to ascend to the heavens in one step. Yet it will be flowers in a mirror and moon in water; the road will be rugged. Inauspicious.

Lei Jun was surprised.

The Sign Fortune was as vague as before, yet when combined with the actual circumstances and his current situation, it became clear at a glance.

The Upper Middle Auspicious Sign said to choose a suitable renowned master... Did that imply that the best was not necessarily the most suitable?

The Lower Middle Auspicious Sign spoke of flowers in a mirror and moon in water... So he would fail to become the Celestial Master's Personal Disciple, and perhaps what followed would be extremely difficult.

...Could it be that the Contemporary Celestial Master, a towering figure of Taoism, was about to fall from power or suffer disaster?