“As a disciple of the headmaster, you represent the pride of Qing Xuan. If you can’t even get the fundamentals right, maybe it’s best for you to leave,” the man in white responded. No matter how you look at it, he was making fun of Lu Shouyi.
He was a prince of an overseas island three thousand miles away from Qing Xuan. He was accepted to the school recently but have shown tremendous progress with his training. Although he was taken in by a senior teacher, he wasn’t pleased by it. Reason being Lu Shouyi was accepted as a disciple personally by the headmaster.
The headmaster Zhang Ruoxu was not just a true case of a living immortal, he was also one of the best cultivators in the universe. What did Lu Shouyi do to deserve to be the headmaster’s direct disciple?
Furthermore, with his talent and wisdom, the inheritance of Qing Xuan’s headmaster’s position might not be given to him.
Shen Lian laughed and said, “If you think Brother Lu does not deserve to be the headmaster’s disciple, you can go and talk to the headmaster. Tell him that he was blind for pinking Brother Lu and not you.”
The man in white wasn’t angry but instead calmly replied, “In Qing Xuan, be it the upper house or lower house, no one around my age could outdo me. I’m sure the headmaster had his considerations while I too have my dissatisfaction.”
Shen Lian responded, “Have you been accepted as an apprentice?”
The man in white’s expression changed.
Shen Lian lightly smiled and replied, “Judging from your reaction, you’ve probably been accepted as an apprentice. If I am your master, I would have chased you out.”
“I didn’t say that my master is not good. I am just not satisfied with Brother Lu. If he had the guts, let’s make a bet. There will be a Dao examination one year later. Let’s see who did better with the rankings,” The man in white first explained and then sets up a bet.
Lu Shouyi replied, “I accept your challenge. If I lose, it would be disgraceful for me to continue being the headmaster’s direct disciple. But if you were defeated, you will have to apologize to me.”
“Of course I will. I am Zhao Siming, please remember that name,” the man in white laughed and left.
The moonlight stood still in solitary. Lu Shouyi punched the door of the courtyard, making a crackling sound.
“Brother Lu, I thought you’d fight him just now,” Shen Lian laughed.
“I’ve memorized the rules and regulations of the discipline hall. We’re not allowed to fight in between ourselves unless under special circumstances,” Lu Shouyi replied righteously.
“Is it so hard for you to admit that you’re not better than him? Actually, if you’ve asked, I would help you. As long as I don’t strike him too hard, I’ll probably get away with just a small punishment,” Shen Lian replied with a serious tone.
As long as there were people, there would be fights. The rules and regulations of the school were not able to resolve conflicts between disciples. Back then, Chen Jianmei too took matters into his own hands. As long as you handle appropriately, the celestials would not be so calculative over petty matters as such.
The rules and regulations were not to oppress but to educate people to know their limits and take action appropriately.
Lu Shouyi laughed out loud. He didn’t expect Shen Lian to have such a humorous side of him.
After he stopped laughing, Shen Lian continued, “Brother Lu, this is just my two cents. We should go at our own pace when it comes to practice and cultivation. Nothing good will come up from forcing yourself because of other people’s judgment. It might bring you tiny victories but it will only do more harm than good in the long run.”
“I understand that too but I was too caught up in my anger and I couldn’t resolve it.” Lu Shouyi shook his head. If he didn’t know of such things, Zhang Ruoxu wouldn’t pick him even if he had the purest soul.
Shen Lian was at loss of words. Part of the reason why he manage to achieve his accomplishments was because of his naturally calm and composed personality, which were vital Daoism values. Besides, his Mastery of Senses training too played a huge role in his success.
Many people in this universe had clear goals. But how many of them were not lost in transition?
Desires were like the ocean, the smallest breeze could bring waves. Even if one had a trick or two to tame it down, it was only temporary.
Shen Lian took a look at Lu Shouyi. His hair messy, face dirty and his energy was thoroughly drained. Maybe he had underestimated him. Competition and rankings only make up a small part of the world.
*********
Everyone had their own strength and weaknesses.
Shen Lian was not able to make his point through Lu Shouyi but conversely felt that things were going too smoothly for him. He felt agitated by that thought.
As soon as he came to that conclusion, he gave a slight salute to Lu Shouyi.
A confused Lu Shouyi asked, “Brother Shen, what were you doing?”
“When you point a finger at someone, there are three more pointing back at you. I was being foolish earlier on. Thank you for making me realize it,” Shen Lian said cooly. When he felt appropriate to say thanks, he wouldn’t hesitate to pay gratitude.
Lu Shouyi sighed, “I really admire you, Brother Shen. You are so cool and you have your ideals.”
Shen Lian shook his head, “I’m tired, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He felt that there’s no point in elaborating further and thus made a move to return to the academy to take a break.
Lu Shouyi too felt exhausted. After the incident earlier on, he didn’t have the mood to continue his training. He too returned to the quiet room.
Shen Lian meditated on the bamboo shed. He felt a strong sense of air around him as he visualizes the innate god with a hand-held Ruyi. His vision this time was clearer than usual.
But if he were to take a closer look, his vision was still fluttering and it was difficult to have a view of the original scene.
After some guidance from Zhang Ruoxu, Shen Lian felt that the Visualization Technique was amazing. His vision had improved and things felt more practical now. His spirits no longer felt ethereal or hollow.
He took a good look at the innate god and felt that it shared some similarities as the talisman. Both of them were constantly changing and no matter how strong his mind is, he could not seem to replicate the same innate god to squelch the bier in his head.
He looked back at his memories but he couldn’t recall how did the previous Shen Lian visualize the innate god. It felt like it wasn’t part of his memory as if someone from outside programmed it into the bier.
******
Inside the Qing Xuan hall, Tiandi Jian was high up in the air. It reflected the earlier scene of Lu Shouyi and Shen Lian.
Chen Jianmei too was in the hall. He stood casually in front of Zhang Ruoxu and said, “You accepted him as your direct disciple and you gave him the fundamentals without explaining. I thought you didn’t care about Lu Shouyi at all.”
“Shen Lian had a happy and carefree personality and that was in line with Qing Xuan’s ideology. You could try to refine his heart and it won’t have much effect on him. What he needs the most is to expand his horizons to make sense of things by analogy and to find his own style. It may take him a while to cultivate but in the future, he would be quicker than anyone to master the recovery method and breakthrough.
Lu Shouyi on the other hand, studied well when he was younger and had great potential in him. However, he had wasted too much effort on unnecessary matters and he didn’t have the right attitude towards practice and cultivation. He only did it for the sake of doing it. If we don’t push him, Huandan is only paper talk and there’s no room to even think about immortality,” Zhang Ruoxu leisurely talked about the two boys’ temperament.
