A Good Dream

"I don't support Dezhao pursuing immortal cultivation."

Jiang Huai'an said it bluntly at the dinner table. When he was young, Father Jiang had tested his way into an iron rice bowl job with the city government, while Ms. Wang had been a schoolteacher.

After the Jiang siblings were each found to have a Spirit Aperture, Father Jiang had risen steadily through the ranks. He was now second-in-command of a department with real power, while Ms. Wang had quit her school job.

"Wangxuan, we know our own family's affairs. Jinyi is quite talented, but she got into Lüyu entirely because of your arrangements. The potions and pills she's had all these years were paid for with resources you brought home."

"If you want to support your sister, that's your business. You have your reasons, and it's not our place as your parents to interfere, so we've stayed out of it."

"But Dezhao is different. If he had the talent, your mother and I would encourage him without you having to say a word. But he's not cut out for it. He can't even understand Daoist texts. Even if he had a Spirit Root implanted, I'm afraid he wouldn't be able to cultivate even his first Spirit Wheel."

Jiang Dezhao kept his head down and shoveled food into his mouth. When his brother first said he wanted him to cultivate, his blood had boiled with excitement, but now he had calmed down. Many people dreamed of immortal cultivation, but very few actually managed to stick with it.

"Brother, I think Dad's right. You know our high school. It's a key school for the whole city, with both middle and high school divisions. The Spirit Root classes start in the first year of middle school, but half the students have dropped out by high school, and not many make it all the way through."

"No more than ten a year get into key universities for the gifted on the immortal path, and most of them have Spirit Apertures. Every one of those who dropped out halfway came from a rich or powerful family. They spent a fortune buying Spirit Roots and couldn't stick with it for even a few years. I heard that in the past two years, they haven't even been able to fill both Spirit Root classes."

Ms. Wang ladled another bowl of pork rib soup for her eldest son. "Over the years, I've often heard people say that when virtue doesn't match one's position, calamity is sure to follow. So many people pursue immortal cultivation, only to see their families destroyed and accomplish nothing. A lot of children can't even cultivate Spiritual Sense."

Jiang Dezhao nodded again. "Brother, I just remembered. That person yesterday was actually stuck at the Rising Yang Mansion. No matter how he cultivated, he couldn't make any progress."

The Rising Yang Mansion was in the Upper Dantian. Spiritual Sense was born when a Spirit Wheel condensed in the Upper Dantian, making it the greatest hurdle in the Fetal Breathing Realm.

Jiang Wangxuan drank two bowls of soup and ate a large bowl of rice. He found the meal more comforting than the fare at the restaurants in the Central Palace.

"I've had this Spirit Root for almost three years. By the old rules, Dezhao should have had it implanted when he was twelve. He's already two years late. I know what you and Mom are saying."

"Things are different now. Jinyi 'getting into' Lüyu struck a nerve with a lot of people. My arrangements played a part, but she entered at the perfected sixth wheel of Embryonic Breathing. Who in Luzhou has managed that in the past few decades?"

"Jinyi is within reach of Qi Refinement. Whether she has children in the future is her own business, but Dezhao will definitely have descendants, and they'll be members of the younger generation bearing the Jiang surname. If any of them have good aptitude, they'll naturally have to set foot on the immortal path."

"Dad, Mom, yesterday wasn't the first time something like this has happened, and that woman won't be the only one to approach Dezhao in the future. There's no avoiding it."

Could he really say that so bluntly? Jiang Dezhao had lowered his head almost into his pants.

Jiang Wangxuan put down his bowl and chopsticks and sighed. "We can't actually let him become a breeding stud. Never mind whether Dezhao can bear the gossip in the future, where would I, Jiang Wangxuan, put my face?"

"I lacked experience too. Under the old rules of the great Aristocratic Clans, when one sibling was found to have a Spirit Aperture, the others would all have their marriages arranged early, possibly to more than one person. How could anything as awkward as today's affair have happened?"

Father Jiang took a swig of liquor and ate a few mouthfuls of food. "Wangxuan, this is the first time I've asked you: where did you get so many resources? You handled everything for Jinyi yourself, and now you have another Spirit Root, one from the Qi Refining Stage at that. It's not as if I don't know the market. That costs at least several hundred thousand tongbao."

"What about your own resources? Don't lose sight of the greater thing for the sake of the lesser. If you succeed, who would dare gossip even if your younger brother became a breeding stud?"

"Dad!" Jiang Wangxuan smiled. "At Lüyu, there's only one person in my generation who can keep up with me. So as far as resources go, there's enough for Dezhao to cultivate through Embryonic Breathing."

Hearing her eldest son say that, Ms. Wang smiled until her eyes narrowed to slits. He had never told the family about his cultivation, but from all the pills and supplements he had sent home, she knew he was doing well.

As his parents, they had naturally refrained from asking. Even in little Luzhou, quite a few people with Spirit Roots had been driven mad by the pressure.

Father Jiang's expression, however, grew even more grave. He studied his eldest son carefully. In all his life in Luzhou, he had never seen a cultivator with bearing like Wangxuan's. If he hadn't been his own son, he wouldn't have thought him Jiang Household blood.

Just how far had the boy's cultivation reached? Father Jiang didn't dare imagine it.

"Because of this matter with Dezhao, the old master of the Wang Household came to see me this morning. He said Dezhao was a fine boy. His granddaughter is a year older than Dezhao, has a Spirit Root, and has already reached the second wheel of Embryonic Breathing. The old master wanted to know whether we should settle the match now."

It was the first Ms. Wang had heard of it too. "The Wang Household in the west of the city?"

Father Jiang grunted assent. "Their Foundation Establishment elder died of old age sixteen years ago. There's only one Qi Refinement cultivator with a Spirit Root left to guard the family estate. He's that girl's father."

At that, Father Jiang and Ms. Wang both looked at their eldest son. This really wasn't a decision they could make themselves.

"Just tell him I know. Dezhao is still young, and he's about to have a Spirit Root implanted. We can talk about it again when he's a little older."

Jiang Wangxuan settled the matter with that, but then felt something was amiss. "Dezhao, do you know that girl from the Wang Household?"

The flood of information today had already left Jiang Dezhao's head spinning. The girl from the Wang Household—wasn't that Wang Ziying from Spirit Root Class One? He had heard she was a little genius and good-looking too. She was popular at school, and teachers and students alike said she had a chance of reaching Qi Refinement.

"I do know her. I saw her a few times when Sister was still here, but we only know each other well enough to nod hello. Brother, Dad, is she a suitable match? She's a prospect for Qi Refinement."

"The only question is whether she's suitable for you, not whether you're suitable for her."

Jiang Wangxuan replied calmly, "Dad, Mom, Dezhao, on the path of immortal cultivation, when one person attains the Dao, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven. It may not sound nice, but that's how the world works. We're cultivating for immortality; we haven't already become immortals and flown to heaven. We're human, and humans have selfish desires."

"Even leaving me aside, Jinyi is already at Lüyu and on the verge of Qi Refinement. That alone puts her beyond the reach of the Wang Household, which has no Foundation Establishment cultivator. In Luzhou today, there's no other name that carries the same weight as Lüyu."

"The time hadn't come before, and some people took advantage of the fact that you didn't understand all the twists and turns involved. Dezhao, remember this: in Luzhou, your sister alone is enough to ensure that, as long as you don't commit a crime, no one can do anything to you. Our family will never bully anyone, but we can't let others bully us either."

"Do not neglect a good deed because it is small, and do not commit an evil deed because it is small. Dezhao, that is my only requirement of you."

"Yes!" Jiang Dezhao stood up, his hands clenched tight. "I'll protect the Jiang Household's good name."

Jiang Wangxuan patted his younger brother on the head. "You don't need to go to school for the next few days. Start taking pills tonight to prepare for the Spirit Root implantation. We'll do the operation in three days."

Seeing that his eldest son had settled the matter, Father Jiang no longer objected. "I'll contact the hospital and make an appointment right away."

"Dad, there's no need. I'll do it myself, right here at home. It's not that much trouble."

Jiang Huai'an finally lost his composure. Implanting a Spirit Root wasn't something just any cultivator could do. Usually, a Late Qi Refining Stage cultivator performed the operation, and he had heard there were strict requirements concerning the cultivator's Daoist lineage as well. There were no such cultivators in Luzhou.

Children from Luzhou all had to go to Wancheng and make appointments for Spirit Root operations. The fee for an experienced old "technician" to perform one was no cheaper than buying a Spirit Root, which was why ordinary families couldn't set foot on the path of immortal cultivation without several generations of savings.

Now his eldest son had casually said he could do it himself at home. Just how capable did he have to be? No wonder the resources Wangxuan provided Jinyi had never run dry.

The moon was bright and the stars sparse. The area around the residential complex was unusually quiet, without even any traffic in sight.

Jiang Wangxuan lay on his bed. His room hadn't changed at all since he left home. The Daoist texts and entertaining picture books he had read as a child were still neatly stacked on the bookshelf.

The clothes he used to wear and the dolls his sister liked were still in the wardrobe. Ms. Wang seemed to have put quite a bit of effort into keeping the room clean.

Strangely enough, the sense of rejection that had arisen as soon as he stepped off the high-speed train had vanished after he entered his home. As he lay comfortably in bed, his Lunar Essence, which had barely changed for some time, unexpectedly increased a little.

This is my home; here my heart has returned. Jiang Wangxuan released his Spiritual Sense and drifted into sleep like an ordinary person.

Unfortunately, it was no good dream. Jiang Wangxuan's consciousness sank into a realm where black clouds churned.

Jiang Wangxuan "opened" his eyes and looked at the eerie scene before him, not feeling the slightest surprise.

Big Fat Fish had lived up to his name. With nothing more than the knowledge of the Qi Refining Stage, he had deduced that once Jiang Wangxuan returned to his hometown, that black tide would surely come knocking.

A True Lord bloodline? Jiang Wangxuan still couldn't believe it. Just how much karma would that place on the Jiang Household?

A solitary peak stood with sheer cliffs on every side. Beneath them was an endless void, and black mist rose from the valley floor, winding around the jagged rock walls.

The sky hung low, so low it seemed one could reach out and touch the churning black clouds. Thick as ink, the clouds rolled slowly above the summit like a great cauldron boiling something indescribable.

Occasionally, dark purple light seeped through gaps in the clouds, only to be swiftly swept back into them. Beneath the clouds, a pavilion stood high on the very tip of the peak.

Jiang Wangxuan climbed the steps. Every footfall on the moss-mottled stone gave a dull thud. He took one hundred and eight steps, his legs like lead and his heart like drifting catkins.

The gale howled and thunder danced. At last, he reached the lonely pavilion.

The pavilion was ancient, so old it seemed to have crawled out of the depths of time. Its four eaves curved upward, its paint was peeling, and dead, dark vines wound around its wooden pillars.

The rust-spotted bronze bells at the corners of the eaves rang out, breaking the stillness of the realm with notes that were brief and clear.

A stone table stood in the pavilion, a nineteen-by-nineteen Go board carved into its surface. As though realizing something, Jiang Wangxuan sat down on a stone stool covered in dust.

He raised his right hand and lightly pinched two fingers together. The young man called out, "Bring forth the Go pieces!"