On his first night at the Prefecture Academy, Jiang Yan did not sleep.
Besides practicing the Guiding Method, he also drew up a rough plan for himself.
As dawn began to break, Jiang Yan looked at the sheet covered in writing before him and shook his head.
"Ah, I need to break through in cultivation as soon as possible, practice the Ingestion Method, and choose a Daoist art to aid my cultivation, preferably one of Pill, Formation, Talisman, and Artifact. Everything costs Spirit Stones."
A thread of Law Power stirred in his hand, destroying the sheet covered in plans.
Whatever else happened, he would go Registering for Ordination today first. He could slowly plan the rest.
There were Earth-Crawling Worms in this town too, but Jiang Yan still chose Jinbao.
There were too many things to spend Spirit Stones on. He had to save where he could.
Without making much noise, Jiang Yan left his room with Jinbao.
The courtyard was silent, without a single soul in sight.
Even the two large vats holding gu insects were quiet. It seemed none of his neighbors were early risers.
After leaving the courtyard, Jiang Yan sat on Jinbao's back and headed toward the Preaching Plaza.
Jinbao's body rose and fell along Spirit Beast Road. Jiang Yan actually saw more people on the road today than yesterday.
Presumably, quite a few people living nearby left early and returned late. No wonder he had seen so few yesterday.
By that reckoning, his neighbors were the exceptions instead.
Zhang Yunhong clearly did business exclusively at night. He knew nothing about the others.
Sitting on Jinbao's back, Jiang Yan idly speculated about his neighbors' backgrounds, then lowered his head to look at Jinbao.
"Ah, Jinbao isn't a spirit beast suited to being a mount, after all. Being poor at traveling just won't do.
"If I get the chance someday, I should find a mount specifically for getting around."
Jinbao bounded along diligently, utterly unaware of Jiang Yan's thoughts.
The journey took about as long as yesterday. A little over an hour later, Jiang Yan reached the Preaching Plaza.
A dozen or so disciples had already gathered there. Most looked rather unhappy, with only a few looking reasonably well.
Right, only three to five senior disciples had come here to pick people up yesterday.
At the time, he had been reuniting with Jiang Chi and had not looked around much.
He had only seen the two brothers from the Xiao Household, along with Xiao Li's dao companion, led away by someone.
How many people could the remaining senior disciples have taken away?
Even if the newcomers who had no one to meet them had clansmen in the Prefecture Academy, how could they have found them on such short notice?
Most had probably spent the night at inns to avoid breaking curfew.
Prices in the town center certainly could not compare to those on the outskirts. Judging by most people's expressions, they had probably bled quite a bit of money.
Seen that way, Jiang Chi had truly been thoughtful in finding Jiang Yan a place in advance and immediately taking him to rent it.
Jiang Yan did not wait long.
Registering for Ordination was no small matter, and no one would take it lightly. Everyone who had registered their name at the Prefecture Academy yesterday soon arrived.
Quite a few who could not yet receive a register also came. Having only just arrived at the Prefecture Academy, they had nothing else to do anyway, so they might as well see something new.
Li Shun stood among the crowd too, looking enviously toward Jiang Yan, his face somewhat pale and ashen.
The Chen Household had invested in him precisely because of a gap in their succession of talent, so naturally, there was no one at the Prefecture Academy to support him.
On top of that, after the falling-out between him and the Chen Household, his purse had been painfully light when he came to the Prefecture Academy.
Li Shun had originally planned to find a disciple from his intake, befriend them, and seek their patronage.
But he knew his own limits well enough. With his talent and background, he certainly could not attach himself to the Xiao Household.
After turning it over in his mind, choosing the tallest among the short, he could only settle on Jiang Yan.
Yet when he extended goodwill toward Jiang Yan aboard the flying boat, he had unexpectedly been rejected again.
Having finally reached the Prefecture Academy, Li Shun found the inns far too expensive and thought he would save a little.
After everyone dispersed yesterday, he casually found a corner where no one passed by, intending to make do for the night.
But just after nightfall, a patrolling night-roaming Daoist caught him. Not only did he pay a fine, he still had to pay for an inn.
Truly, his luck was rotten to the extreme, completely at odds with his name!
He looked at the disciples at the very center of the crowd, waiting to receive their registers.
Li Shun gritted his teeth fiercely, his clenched fists hanging at his sides.
One step at a time. Sooner or later, my fortunes will turn. When that happens, hmph!
Jiang Yan had been among the crowd. Seeing that everyone had arrived, he stood up and prepared to move closer to the front.
By chance, he caught sight of Li Shun among the crowd out of the corner of his eye.
He saw the way Li Shun looked at him, as though burdened with bitter grievances and deep hatred.
Jiang Yan's expression remained calm, but inwardly, he frowned.
What's wrong with him? Why is he looking at me like that?
Could it be just because of what happened aboard the flying boat?
Truly, there's no need to doubt a gentleman's heart, but a petty man's thoughts are hard to fathom.
This Li Shun forgot himself the moment he tasted success, betrayed his patrons and forgot their kindness, and was narrow-minded to boot.
He's just like a rat in a filthy gutter. Truly revolting.
If the opportunity arises, I'll have to strike first and get rid of him.
Having made his plans inwardly, Jiang Yan gave nothing away and continued waiting among the crowd.
As though aware of the disciples' eagerness, the person who would confer their registers soon arrived.
It was Greenfox Daoist again. As the chief lecturer, one of the three chief officers, conferring registers on disciples was part of his duties.
Going out to preside over the Prefecture Examination, on the other hand, was something his dignified upper sixth-rank cultivation generally did not require him to do.
"Disciples Registering for Ordination, come forward. Everyone else, step back ten paces. Do not approach, and do not make any disruptive noise!"
Everyone did as instructed.
High Person Greenfox looked at those remaining before him, ready to receive their registers.
First, he swept his sleeve. A breeze raised by his Law Power brushed over everyone's bodies, carrying away all filth and leaving them fresh and clean.
"Registering for Ordination is a solemn rite of the Immortal Dynasty. How could you be unclean?"
With that, he raised his hand again and tossed out an incense burner, an incense table, and several dozen meditation cushions.
But the incense burner stood alone on the incense table, with nothing else beside it.
"Disciples Registering for Ordination, come forward in turn to offer incense and silently recite the Mystic Firmament Dao Realm Praise Scripture."
Taking his place in line, Jiang Yan held three sticks of incense between his fingers and offered them in the burner, silently reciting the scripture.
The moment the incense entered the burner, he felt a fluctuation sweep over his body, and a sense of purity and peace arose in his heart out of nowhere.
This fluctuation resembled what he had felt when choosing a Cultivation Method at the Immortal Stele, only much more intimate.
"Once you have offered incense, sit in meditation and silently recite the Cosmic Rites of the Dao Scripture."
Green Fox High Person's expression was solemn as he proceeded meticulously through each step.
Coupled with the composure that had settled over everyone after the fluctuation swept over them, a solemn, reverent atmosphere immediately arose in the plaza.
Jiang Yan sat cross-legged, silently reciting the scripture.
"The profound Dao opened the heavens, the myriad realms received the numinous, mortal bodies yearn for truth, bowing before the Immortal Court..."
Green Fox High Person also bowed toward the incense table, and three inches above his head, a green register inscription took shape.
"Green Fox, sixth-rank High Person of Metropolitan Merit, respectfully submits.
"I beseech the fortune of the Immortal Dynasty to bestow ninth-rank White Registers upon the disciples of the year 90,681 of the Immortal Calendar at the Donghe Prefecture Dao Academy, Lihuo Commandery, Zhu Province."
As these words rang out, ripples immediately surged through the air above the previously tranquil plaza.
Then a golden-yellow stream of the Immortal Dynasty's fortune appeared out of thin air overhead.
It divided of its own accord into several dozen streams, each descending above the head of a disciple present.
Three inches directly above Jiang Yan's head, the fortune circled like a slender golden dragon.
After circling a few times, it abruptly plunged down, burrowed into Jiang Yan's body, and began roaming through it.
Within Jiang Yan's body, the white Law Power he had cultivated through the Guiding Method gradually took on a trace of gold as the fortune traveled through and suffused it.
After making a circuit through Jiang Yan's body, the Immortal Dynasty's fortune turned upward and rushed into his upper Dantian.
It paid no heed to the Stone Book beside it and curled into a ball on its own.
Then it manifested from between Jiang Yan's brows, hovering in midair.
For some reason, despite being golden fortune, it transformed into a white talisman about an inch across.
The front of the register bore the words "By special authorization of the Immortal Dynasty," while the back read "Altar-guarding Dao attendant." In a lower corner were two smaller characters: "Ninth rank."
Only now was Registering for Ordination complete, and Jiang Yan officially became a ninth-rank Dao attendant.
From this moment onward, his registered place of origin was also listed under the East River Prefecture Academy.
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