Cultivation Success

"Good morning!"

"Good morning!"

When they met again the next day, Jiang Shishi looked bright and cheerful, while Xiao Ya wore a shy little smile. Both women had on sun hats, fitted T-shirts, sun-protective outer layers, and casual pants. Apart from the colors, they looked equally youthful and vibrant.

"Sorry to trouble you," Xiao Ya said first.

"Don't mention it. I'm just here to mooch food and drinks," Gu Zhao said with a smile.

Although he had activated his cheat and possessed mana, Gu Zhao was still a hot-blooded young man. Naturally, he would not refuse the chance to hike with two youthful, beautiful ladies.

"Then let's go!" Jiang Shishi linked arms with Xiao Ya. "You'll pray for Grandpa's safety, and I'll pray for romance. There are so many Taoist temples on Qingcheng Mountain—one of them has to answer our prayers!"

The three took a tourist bus straight to the foot of Qingcheng Mountain, then rode a sightseeing shuttle to the scenic area's entrance. Having spent not a single penny, Gu Zhao had already slipped into tour-guide mode.

"The buildings we passed just now were the Qingcheng Mountain Taoist Academy, a school specifically for training Taoist priests. They admit very few students every year. Getting in is no easier than taking the graduate school or civil service exams," Gu Zhao explained. "And the coursework isn't easy at all, either."

"What do they study?" Jiang Shishi asked.

"Taoist scriptures, Taoist music, Ritual Services, calligraphy and painting, as well as martial arts and laws and regulations," Gu Zhao said. "Individual academies may have specialized courses, but it's roughly all that."

Jiang Shishi sighed. "They really do study a lot. But how do you know all this so clearly?"

Gu Zhao said gloomily, "Because I once wanted to apply to the Yue Province Taoist Academy, so I specifically looked into all this."

Xiao Ya asked, "You didn't apply in the end?"

Gu Zhao shook his head, his expression darkening slightly. "No, I didn't get in. They said I was tone-deaf and had no musical aptitude. During the entrance test, not a single note I sang was on key. They said that if I ever joined a group ritual, I would only turn the whole scene into chaos, so they rejected me."

The two women, "..."

Why did they suddenly want to laugh?

Jiang Shishi snickered. "Aren't ritual services done by lots of people together? Wouldn't you blend in and go unnoticed...?"

Gu Zhao spread his hands. "I wanted to, but they wouldn't let me!"

This time, Xiao Ya truly could not hold it in any longer and burst out laughing. For these two top students from a music academy, being tone-deaf was simply an incomprehensible phenomenon.

The sightseeing shuttle stopped, and they got off. Gu Zhao pointed at a cluster of buildings on the right. "That's Jianfu Palace. It stands outside Qingcheng Mountain's entrance. Back in the Tang Dynasty, it was originally called Zhangren Temple, and it enshrined Ning Fengzi, the Venerable of the Five Sacred Mountains. Later, it was renamed Jianfu Palace and added quite a few immortals. Of course, the most important one was Taishang Laojun."

The group had come to Qingcheng Mountain to pray for blessings in the first place. Whenever they saw a temple, they went in. Before even climbing the mountain, they entered Jianfu Palace to worship the gods. Afterward, they bought plenty of incense from the shop at the entrance before finally heading into the mountain.

Along the way, Gu Zhao explained the sights to the two women, weaving in all manner of legends about immortals from Biographies of Immortals, Biographies of Various Immortals, and In Search of the Supernatural. He painted Qingcheng Mountain as nothing less than an immortal mountain and blessed land.

"In Vast Records of the Taiping Era, Queen Mother of the West gave Emperor Wu of Han the True Form Diagrams of the Five Sacred Mountains, mentioning that it was sought by the immortals of Qingcheng. In the Preface and Discussion of the True Form Diagrams of the Five Sacred Mountains, it also says that the Qingcheng Venerable was appointed by the Yellow Emperor to oversee the Five Sacred Mountains. That shows Qingcheng's status was once above even the Five Sacred Mountains, reaching the level of Queen Mother of the West."

"People nowadays say, 'After returning from the Five Sacred Mountains, no other mountains are worth seeing; after returning from Huangshan, no other peaks are worth seeing.' But compared to Qingcheng, they're all little brothers."

After giving it some thought, Gu Zhao added, "Of course, I'm saying this from Qingcheng Mountain's perspective. If you went to worship Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak or Old Ancestor Chen Tuan of the Western Peak, then that would be another perspective entirely."

The three did not take the cable car. Instead, they passed through Yile Wo to Shanyin Pavilion, worshipped at the Quanzhen Temple, and then visited the Ancient Celestial Master Cave.

"The Quanzhen Temple enshrines the Northern Five Patriarchs of the Golden Core and the seven disciples of True Person Chongyang," Gu Zhao commented. "Clearly, the southern and northern branches of the inner alchemy school have already merged, yet the Southern Five Patriarchs are still often overlooked. How pitiful."

"Zhengyi Dao and Quanzhen Dao are so close together. They get along quite harmoniously nowadays. I wonder, when they met in ancient times, did they debate scriptures or fight?" Gu Zhao looked back at the Quanzhen Temple from the entrance of the Ancient Celestial Master Cave.

Jiang Shishi giggled. "Didn't you say Quanzhen Dao was better at fighting?"

Gu Zhao nodded. "That's why the Quanzhen Temple is up ahead—they intercept the incense offerings first."

Xiao Ya glanced at a Taoist priest passing nearby. "You'd better not say that inside the Ancient Celestial Master Cave, or you might get beaten up."

Gu Zhao laughed heartily and stopped making snide remarks. Instead, he asked, "After passing so many Taoist temples, aren't either of you going to draw a fortune stick?"

Xiao Ya shook her head. "I'll do it at the Taishang Laojun Pavilion on the summit."

Gu Zhao nodded. Xiao Ya was a filial girl; only by reaching the summit would her sincerity truly show.

So the three began climbing again. The two women gradually grew short of breath, fragrant sweat beading across them. Yet when they looked at Gu Zhao, they found his breathing steady and his forehead dry, without the slightest hint of fatigue.

"You're really fit!" Jiang Shishi praised. This time, there was not the slightest ambiguity in her words. "Is cultivating the Tao really this effective?"

Gu Zhao replied, "It works when you achieve cultivation success."

"How can cultivation have..." Xiao Ya had barely begun her question when a child around ten years old darted past the three of them and ran uphill, moving no slower than they were. At the same time, an adult's calls from behind interrupted her.

"Slow down!"

"The path ahead is difficult!"

"Be careful! Don't bump into something and fall!"

Xiao Ya sighed. "Kids really are full of energy!"

At that moment, the child had already reached a bend in the path ahead of them. He ran while turning back to wave. "I know! I'll be careful! I'll wait at the pavilion up ahead..."

Before his words had even faded, one foot stepped into empty air, and his body toppled toward the slope beside the path.

Strictly speaking, this spot was not especially dangerous. The stone steps were wide enough, and though the slope to the side was steep, grass and trees would block a fall. As long as one was careful, there was no risk of losing one's footing, so no guardrails had been installed around the outside.

But the child had happened to move toward the outer edge to avoid pedestrians on the stone steps, then stepped into empty air just as he turned back. If he rolled dozens or even hundreds of meters down the slope, there was no telling what might happen.

Many people saw the instant the child missed his step, as though they could already see him tumbling down the slope.

"Ah!" A piercing scream rang out.

Whoosh! The sound of fluttering clothes slicing through the wind swept past.

The child had already left the stone steps entirely, turning over as he rolled down the slope.

Gu Zhao, meanwhile, lunged forward in a single stride. He shot off the stone steps and onto the slope, charging toward the child's tumbling body from below and to the side.

The distance between them was not great. Gu Zhao merely used a tree for leverage, and he arrived below the boy. As their paths crossed, he snatched hold of the child's collar.

Then, with one hand gripping the child, who had been scared senseless, he seized the trees with his other hand and moved sideways, quickly returning to the stone steps.

After setting the child down, Gu Zhao snapped his fingers and said to Xiao Ya, "That is what you call cultivation success."