The World Bustled for Gain

Flying Profound Hall stood behind and to one side of the North Pole Heavenly Emperor's main hall, in a rather secluded spot.

It was Zhou Wuji's first visit. According to the young Daoist attendant, Flying Profound Hall was used specifically to store Daoist scriptures and various documents.

Though these scriptures were important, they had little to do with actual cultivation methods.

The sect's Secret Methods were all profound and intricate, and many crucial details were passed down privately from master to disciple.

Both Daoist and Buddhist Secret Methods placed great importance on ritual procedures. Even if outsiders obtained the Secret Methods, they would be useless to them.

The two walked all the way to Flying Profound Hall without encountering a single person.

Zhou Wuji understood then. Flying Profound Hall was an archive and a library, and the dullest place in the lower monastery, with the least room for perks.

The fact that his martial uncle Yiping had ended up as its head showed that he carried little weight in the lower monastery.

The young Daoist attendant escorted Zhou Wuji to the entrance, then hurriedly turned and left.

Zhou Wuji stepped through the entrance and found Flying Profound Hall's main building directly ahead. It had a gray-green stone foundation, nine steps, a frontage of three bays, a depth of six rafters, and a single-eaved gable roof with flush end walls.

The paint was peeling from every door and pillar of the hall, exposing the natural wood in many places.

Its construction followed proper specifications, however. It was a formal main hall, merely somewhat dilapidated after years without repairs.

A young Daoist attendant was sweeping the steps. Seeing Zhou Wuji, he hurried down and bowed with his hands clasped. "Senior brother, did you need something?"

"My name is Zhou Wuji. I've come to visit Martial Uncle Yiping." Zhou Wuji politely returned the greeting.

Hearing that he had come to visit the head, the young attendant hurriedly led Zhou Wuji to a side hall.

Upon entering the room, Zhou Wuji saw a Daoist reclining on a long couch. His complexion was ruddy, his beard and hair black, and his figure slightly plump. He lay there in an easy, relaxed posture. It was Yiping.

Zhou Wuji set down his chest and bowed deeply with his hands clasped. "Your martial nephew Wuji pays his respects, Martial Uncle."

Yiping lazily sat up and raised a hand. "No need for ceremony. Sit."

He asked casually, "Why didn't my senior brother come?"

"Master met with a mishap and has passed on." Speaking of his master's death, Zhou Wuji's face filled with grief he could not conceal.

"Ah..." Yiping immediately sprang off the couch. He stared at Zhou Wuji in disbelief. "Senior brother's Daoist arts and martial skills were both exceptional. How could he have met with a mishap?"

Yiping had always admired Yiyuan's abilities. He knew that his senior brother concealed great depths, and that his wisdom, Daoist arts, and martial skills were all formidable.

For such a man to have suddenly died! He truly could not accept it.

Zhou Wuji naturally could not deceive Yiping, so he recounted his master's circumstances in detail.

"Alas... senior brother was simply too determined to excel... why did he have to do that? Why...?"

Yiping sighed repeatedly. The Northern Pole Sect was an orthodox Daoist lineage, and most of its methods were balanced and upright. For Yiyuan's cultivation to have caused Qi deviation and triggered a backlash of Yin Lightning, he must have been practicing an extraordinarily profound and powerful Secret Method.

Remembering all the care Yiyuan had shown him, Yiping could not help weeping, tears streaming down his aged face.

Seeing Yiping lose his composure and sob made Zhou Wuji even sadder. But he was not accustomed to revealing his true nature before others, and kept his grief tightly restrained.

Yiping was, after all, a seventh-rank cultivator, and soon brought his emotions under control. Wiping the tears and mucus from his face with his sleeve, he told Zhou Wuji hoarsely, "Wuji, don't worry about the killings. Even if the families lodge a complaint, it must be handled by the Heavenly Master's Manor. I won't let you suffer for it."

He then asked, "Now that your master is gone, how about staying with me and cultivating here in the lower monastery?"

"Martial Uncle, I've already advanced to the eighth rank. I want to inherit Master's Hidden Dragon Temple."

Zhou Wuji said, "The lower monastery's hierarchy is strict, and there's very little freedom. Hidden Dragon Temple was Master's life's work, and I'm familiar with the place..."

He knew his chances of taking over Hidden Dragon Temple were slim, but it was his master's life's work. He still wanted to try.

There were many demons and ghosts in Mount Siming that his master had deliberately left untouched. He could put those resources to use.

Daoist Yiping nodded. He understood Zhou Wuji's thinking, but there were several difficulties involved.

Looking troubled, he said, "You must be seventh rank to preside over a branch altar."

Siming County had previously had no branch altar because the Siming mountains teemed with demons, and there were also many water demons in the Nine Sources River.

It had been Senior Brother Yiyuan who had taken up his sword to slay demons, clearing the outskirts of the Siming mountains and opening the connection between the Huamei River and the Nine Sources River.

Siming County had prospered greatly over the past few years, and Senior Brother Yiyuan deserved the foremost credit.

Precisely because of this, many people in the lower monastery were very interested in Hidden Dragon Temple.

Naturally, no one had dared make a move while Yiyuan was alive. Now that he was gone, Zhou Wuji's cultivation was insufficient, and there was no possibility of his succeeding as temple master.

Never mind Zhou Wuji-even if Yiping competed for it himself, he might not secure it.

Daoist Yiping felt privately ashamed. By nature, he disliked competing and grasping for things. He thought being the head of Flying Profound Hall was quite pleasant: idle all day, with nothing to do. Nothing could be more carefree.

Now that something had happened, an idle man like him, far from the center of power, truly could offer little help.

He said, "There's no hurry about Hidden Dragon Temple. For now, let's first open an altar for you, transmit the precepts, and bestow the seal so you can formally advance to the eighth rank.

"For cultivators like us, cultivation is the foundation."

Qi Consumption was a cultivation realm.

To become a formally recognized eighth-rank Daoist, one also had to receive the precepts and seal, gaining the deity's recognition.

The ninth rank received the initial perfection precepts, the eighth rank the middle perfection precepts, and the seventh rank the ultimate perfection precepts. These were the Three Great Perfection Precepts, an extremely important Daoist rite.

Zhou Wuji bowed with his hands clasped. "Please act as my sponsoring master, Martial Uncle, and help me open an altar to receive the precepts and seal."

Daoist Yiping nodded. "Naturally. However, opening an altar for initiation is a major matter. We need to apply to the abbot."

"We also need to prepare spiritual offerings, incense and candles, a golden oath register, and sacred talisman scrolls. You'll have to wait a couple of days while I make preparations."

Zhou Wuji offered the wooden chest with both hands. "Martial Uncle, opening an altar for initiation is very expensive. There are a hundred taels of gold inside. I don't know whether that will be enough."

"Come now, how could I let you pay?"

Daoist Yiping waved a hand. Though he had little power in the lower monastery, he was still a seventh-rank registered Daoist. He could afford this much.

"Master told me long ago that this money was set aside for my initiation."

Zhou Wuji said solemnly, "You're already taking on a great responsibility by opening the altar for my initiation, Martial Uncle. How could I let you bear the expense as well?"

Opening an altar for initiation was equivalent to bringing someone into the faith. It was a ceremony witnessed by a deity, establishing an exceptionally important bond of sworn vows.

If the person initiated proved unworthy, the officiant would also be implicated.

Among Daoists, masters initiated their disciples. Beyond that, almost no one would open an altar to initiate an outsider.

Seeing how firmly Zhou Wuji insisted, Daoist Yiping did not press the matter.

He had lent out all his money and truly did not have that much gold on hand. The various spiritual offerings, golden register, and sacred talisman scrolls required for the altar were all expensive. Having enough gold would save a great deal of trouble.

"Very well." Daoist Yiping did not insist. He would simply consider the money deposited with him and give it back whenever Zhou Wuji needed it.

He added, "This is a rather complicated matter and can't be rushed. Stay here for a few days with your mind at ease."

Yiping summoned a Daoist attendant and arranged for Zhou Wuji to rest in a side room.

He changed into a clean Daoist robe and tidied his appearance before going to find Yizhen, the hall master.

Opening an altar to conduct rites required the use of the divine hall. Setting up a ritual altar privately was strictly taboo.

The Daoist order had three superintendents and five masters, each with their own duties.

The hall master oversaw the divine hall. All ceremonies involving sacrifices, opening altars, transmitting teachings, or preaching required the hall master's permission before the divine hall could be used.

Opening an altar for initiation was an even greater matter. It required the use of the divine hall to invite the North Pole Heavenly Emperor as witness.

Resting in his side room, Zhou Wuji saw Daoist Yiping hurry out through the window.

His room was small, with only a bed and a table, but it was clean, and he had it to himself.

He undid his belt and set it on the bed. The thing weighed a full ten jin and was very uncomfortable to wear.

The main problem was that he had nowhere to put it. He could hardly have put it in the chest and then taken half out again in front of Martial Uncle Yiping... that would have been utterly improper.

At noon, the Daoist attendant came to call Zhou Wuji to eat.

Rice, greens, tofu, and two small dishes of pickles steeped in oil. The meal was simple, but tasted light and agreeable.

After eating and drinking his fill, Zhou Wuji had nothing to do, so he went to Flying Profound Hall and found two books.

One was titled the Compendium of North Pole Divine Techniques. It listed the Northern Pole Sect's various divine techniques and briefly described their transformations.

A text this important could only be found in Flying Profound Hall.

After reading through it, Zhou Wuji finally gained a general understanding of the sect's various divine techniques.

One Law Technique, the Five Yin Pouch, particularly interested him.

This method took five Yin Spirits and wove them into a pouch, which could be used to envelop enemies or hold lifeless objects.

But the method was exceptionally complex, and its cultivation requirements were stringent. Only after reaching an extremely advanced level could one temporarily store objects.

Zhou Wuji felt that with the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment, cultivating this method would not be difficult. But he would have to wait for Martial Uncle Yiping to open the altar for his initiation and formally advance him to the eighth rank before he qualified to learn this Law Technique.

Daoist Yiping did not return until dark. He said that Hall Master Yizhen had gone out and told Zhou Wuji not to be anxious.

Preparing all the spiritual offerings and sacrificial goods would take time as well.

Zhou Wuji felt that a long night invited many dreams. The Zhang Household must have received the news already, and he did not know how they would react.

But this was not something he could decide. He could only comfort himself that a mere Zhang Household could not influence the lower monastery.

Taking this opportunity to read more texts in Flying Profound Hall would be good as well.

On the fourth day, Daoist Yiping summoned Zhou Wuji. With a somewhat strange expression, he said, "The abbot wants to see you..."