The eighteenth day of the eleventh month. The weather was growing cold.
That night.
Zhangji Pharmacy, Yanping Alley, in the south of Yong'an City.
Lights blazed, and shadows moved.
"Jing, once you reach the Dao Academy, you must be careful in everything you do. Don't offend the Immortal Elders there."
Inside the room.
A gentle-looking middle-aged woman deftly packed clothes into a bundle, repeating her reminders all the while. The wrinkles at the corners of her eyes were tightly drawn, as though coated in a layer of worry that would not dissolve.
As the saying went: when a son travels a thousand miles, his mother worries.
And her own child's journey this time would take him far beyond a thousand miles.
Opposite her.
"Mother." Watching her busy figure, Zhang Jing could not help a flicker of emotion from crossing his eyes. "I know all that."
Yet Mother Zhang seemed not to hear him and continued on her own:
"Though your teacher thinks highly of you, you must remember that beyond every great person stands someone greater, and beyond every mountain stands another mountain. Dragon Lake Dao Academy is nothing like Yong’an Academy. Countless outstanding talents from all Thirteen Prefectures and Sixty-Five Commanderies of our Nanli Kingdom gather there. Those more gifted than you are as plentiful as carp crossing a river."
"...You must be especially careful around the children of powerful clans and noble houses. If anything happens, take a step back first, lest you bring disaster upon yourself for no reason."
"You're my only child. I don't ask that you pass the Dao Academy's examination and become an immortal. All I ask is that you stay safe-"
As she spoke, Mother Zhang dabbed at the corners of her eyes.
"Don't worry. I'll be careful," Zhang Jing hurriedly reassured her.
"Jing, don't put pressure on yourself."
Opposite him, Father Zhang set down the medical book in his hands and said with a smile, "Just do your best on this journey."
Meeting his parents' expectant gazes, Zhang Jing nodded firmly and said in earnest:
"Father, Mother, don't worry. I'll take good care of myself."
Clack-clack! Clack!
"Midnight is here! All is safe-and well-"
The night watchman's voice drifted from afar, faint and indistinct, enough to lull anyone to sleep.
Yet at that moment, the people inside the room felt no sleepiness at all.
"My dear, I remember you once said you were from the Li Clan of Cangwu, Yun Prefecture, and only fled to Yong'an because of a demon calamity. Before that, did anyone from the Li Clan take the Dao Academy's examination?"
Father Zhang asked cautiously, a trace of unease in his voice.
"Husband, you want to ask whether our Jing has a chance of passing, don't you?"
Without waiting for Father Zhang's answer, Mother Zhang sighed, then said quietly:
"It's difficult! Back then, five members of the Li Clan's main line took the examination, one after another. Not a single one passed."
"In fact, even among the children of the Southern Li Dynasty's aristocratic clans and nobility, very few pass. And you and I are just an ordinary family. We can't offer Jing much support..."
The room fell silent.
A long while passed.
"Ah... true enough!" Father Zhang said bitterly. "Dragon Lake Dao Academy is, after all, a legacy of immortals. It has stood for a thousand years, high above us. If its examination really were that easy, that would be strange."
Then Father Zhang changed the subject and asked:
"My dear, did you give Jing the silver?"
"Don't worry, husband. I took out all our silver and borrowed some from a few neighbors. Altogether, I scraped together twenty-seven taels. It's all in Jing's bundle."
"That's good... that's good."
"This is all we can do for Jing. Oh, my dear, after turning it over and over in my mind, I think we should agree to their terms for the pharmacy!"
"The people from Hundred Herbs Pavilion came to see you again?"
At this, a look of worry appeared on Mother Zhang's face.
"Yes! I thought, let the price be a little low. If we drag this out, I'm afraid it won't just be our silver, but our lives too... Jing is still young, after all. The Hundred Herbs Pavilion owner became acquainted with an Immortal Elder a while ago. Now even the authorities have to give him some leeway. Our family can't afford to provoke him."
Father Zhang sighed, then continued:
"Once we repay those neighbors, there should still be a little left from selling the pharmacy. When Jing returns, the three of us will leave Yong'an and stop wading through these muddy waters. Heh, with my skills, I certainly won't let you and our son go hungry."
At the same time.
Two walls away.
On the table, the lamplight flickered, trailing wisps of black smoke.
'In the eighteenth year of Wanxing in Nanli, an immortal named Daoist Mingyou passed through Qingmu County, Yuan Prefecture. Moved by the hardships the common people faced in traveling, he wielded a flying sword and cleaved open Iron Curtain Mountain, which stretched a hundred li. From then on, the natural barrier became a thoroughfare. The people were all grateful. Every household erected a shrine to worship him, and incense offerings continued without end.'
"In the thirty-third year of Zhongyuan, Yin Prefecture."
"A great demon emerged from Black Mountain with a host of beasts, styling himself the Lord of Black Mountain. He preyed upon three thousand households. Mourning white covered three counties, and prolonged wails rose from every home. None who heard them could hold back their tears."
"An immortal of the Deng Clan of Dragon Lake heard of this and traveled a thousand li to arrive, slaying countless demons. The Lord of Black Mountain transformed into a three-headed black tiger a hundred feet tall, commanding black winds and raising yellow sands that blotted out the sky and sun. In the end, he proved no match and fled in terror."
'In the third year of Longhua, Yun Province.'
"The Yinxiang Ghost Kingdom manifested in the world, swallowing up the two commanderies of Cangwu and Langya like a whale. The common people became food for its bloody feasts, their bones piled into mountains. A mysterious immortal rose upon the wind from Dragon Lake Dao Academy, transformed into a dragon with a jade disc held in his mouth, and crushed and slew a hundred thousand ghost soldiers of the ghost kingdom."
"In the seventeenth year of Longhua..."
With a soft snap.
Zhang Jing gently closed the copy of Investigation of the Three-Five Records of Seeking Immortals, its pages nearly worn to shreds from reading. He breathed out softly and sighed:
"The Immortal Dao is vast and magnificent, and demons are everywhere!"
"Being a mortal in this world really is a little dangerous. Who knows when some inexplicable calamity might strike, only to be brushed aside in a line or two in a book, something like 'the common people perished' or 'became food for bloody feasts,' without even a name left behind."
"Mortal lives are all ants, with not a shred of control over their fate! To break free-"
Zhang Jing quietly clenched his fists.
"There is only the Immortal Dao!"
"Besides, since I've transmigrated into this vast world where immortals and gods exist, with the great path to eternal life right before my eyes, how could I resign myself to being a mere mortal? This journey to Dragon Lake Dao Academy is my chance!"
Indeed!
Zhang Jing was an utterly unremarkable transmigrator, and the Dragon Lake Dao Academy he was about to visit was the very same "Dragon Lake Dao Academy" in Records of Seeking Immortals.
Records of Seeking Immortals contained thirteen tales of immortals in all, and nine of them involved Dragon Lake Dao Academy.
Zhang Jing could figure out what that meant even with his feet.
It was precisely for this reason that Dragon Lake Dao Academy's entrance examination was also known as "Leaping Through the Dragon Gate." Only the finest geniuses from the various prefectures and counties were qualified to participate.
Its difficulty and the ferocity of its competition were beyond imagination.
By rights, given Zhang Jing's family circumstances and aptitude, he should have had little hope.
However...
Zhang Jing drew a deep breath.
"Fortunately, I still have the Jade Talisman!"
The next moment, he closed his eyes and "looked" straight at a square Jade Talisman before him, seemingly both real and illusory.
The Jade Talisman had transmigrated along with him.
He had no way of knowing its exact origins, and for now, Zhang Jing had no desire to investigate them.
He focused his attention on the front of the Jade Talisman, where two lines of small, archaic golden characters at the very top shimmered faintly.
[Three Books and Six Classics · Level 9 (9997/)] [Skill traits: keen hearing (mortal), clear sight (mortal), calm mind (mortal)]
The Three Books and Six Classics referred to the nine classics taught by the teachers at Yong’an Academy.
The main thing Zhang Jing had relied upon to distinguish himself among Yong’an Academy's thousands of students and qualify for Dragon Lake Dao Academy's examination was this Jade Talisman, which resembled a proficiency panel.
Only three experience points left. I'll go without sleep tonight and try to max out my proficiency... I wonder what effects level 10 will bring?
Perhaps there'll be a new skill effect? A glimmer of longing crossed Zhang Jing's eyes.
Previously, when the [Three Books and Six Classics] skill reached levels 1, 4, and 7, the three skill effects of keen hearing, clear sight, and calm mind had appeared respectively.
With the aid of those three skill effects, Zhang Jing had barely entered the ranks of geniuses.
If another effect appeared at level 10, he would have an even better chance of passing the examination on this trip to Dragon Lake Dao Academy.
At that thought.
Zhang Jing steadied his emotions, then opened Words to Attain Knowledge before him, his mind gradually sinking into its pages.
Time trickled by.
On the Jade Talisman.
[Three Books and Six Classics · Level 9 (9998/)]
The small golden characters shifted silently.
P.S. The direct submission has been accepted, so you bosses can invest with confidence~