Longzang

Chapter 26 The Beginning of the Immortal Path

The next morning, Wei Yuan finished washing up early and went to the square at the mountain gate.

The celestial boat of Taichu Palace was moored in the very center of the plaza. It was twenty zhang long, with a light blue hue and several folded masts on its sides. This celestial boat would take all the new disciples here to the mountain gate.

Wei Yuan followed Zhang Sheng onto the celestial ship. The ship had three levels: the lower level was for transporting goods and luggage, the middle level for servants and attendants, and the upper level had six tables.

Zhang Sheng casually chose a seat on the upper level. A short while later, Sun Yu and Daoist Fufeng also boarded the celestial vessel and sat at Wei Yuan's table.

As departure approached, people began boarding the ship one after another. The first to board were two young men, each accompanied by an elder, who each occupied a table. Several attendants went down to the lower deck. Wei Yuan vaguely recognized these two young men; they were standing next to Li Zhi and Bao Yun, respectively.

The group that boarded the ship afterward wore strangely colorful and extremely luxurious clothing that exposed large areas of skin. These people had dark skin and large scales on their necks and wrists. What they all had in common was a pair of amber eyes. Among the four was a young man, who was the same young man from the Yan family of the East Sea who had come to the ship to take the reference on the Nine-Colored Deer.

The Yan family members chose to sit in the very back, the only seat not by the window. Zhang Sheng found it rather strange that the usually flamboyant Yan family was so low-key.

Just then, two more groups of people came up, each surrounding a boy and a girl. Upon seeing these two, Wei Yuan's heart skipped a beat. He slowly turned his head to look out the window at the scenery.

Wei Yuan recognized both the boy and the girl. The girl was Bao Yun, and the boy was Xiao Yu, who had slashed Wei Yuan hundreds of times and almost injured him.

During the martial arts test, Wei Yuan, in his wild and unrestrained state, possessed an aura of dominance that looked down upon the world, and he didn't care about trivial matters at all. Now that he had returned to his normal form, Wei Yuan felt that he had indeed been a bit too ruthless back then, especially the shot he gave Bao Yun, which he felt quite embarrassed about in retrospect.

By this time, all six tables on the upper level were occupied, and everyone had arrived. Screens then rose from the ground, dividing the cabin into six separate compartments. A faint light shone from the screens, blocking not only sound but also spiritual senses.

After the screen was raised, Zhang Shengfang asked, "Why are there six people this year? I thought there would be at most four."

Sun Yu said, "The process of recruiting disciples this time is a bit complicated..."

Sun Yu glanced at Daoist Fufeng and said, "The details are as follows: Originally, the Yan family of Donghai put in a lot of effort and paid a considerable price to ask Senior Brother Fufeng to ensure that they would be third. Daoist Fufeng also did his best, and the Yan family's young master was indeed third after the Daoist and Literary tests. However, in the Martial test, Yuan'er swept everything and took first place without hesitation. This was not in the plan, so he squeezed out the Yan family's child."

Zhang Sheng asked curiously, "Then why is he still on the boat?"

"The Yan family of Donghai and the Lü family of Xuzhou, who were originally ranked fourth, were both unwilling to accept defeat. After the exam, they each sought their own way to obtain an extra spot. So, the palace gave a total of five spots in this unified exam. But last night, another unexpected event occurred. The eldest daughter of the Bao family was originally going to the Great Treasure Flower Pure Land, where there was a ready-made Dharma image waiting for her to inherit. But for some reason, she suddenly came to the Taichu Palace, thus squeezing the Yan family of Donghai out again."

Wei Yuan listened with some doubt. If the order was correct, the Lü family should have been the ones squeezed out. Zhang Sheng had the same question.

Sun Yu continued to explain: "The standard for this unified examination is five points. The Yan family's child only scored two points higher than the young master of the Lü family. However, the Lü family went to great lengths to secure this spot, so in the end, it was the Yan family who got it. As for why the Yan family is still on this ship, it's because they made some more moves, but the palace simply couldn't provide a sixth spot. So, it turned out like this: Yan Ming actually entered the lower-level grotto-heaven, but he audited classes at the Taichu Palace."

Zhang Sheng was shocked: "You can do that?"

Sun Yu lowered his voice and said, "I heard that the Yan family will be making a lot of contributions to the palace every year from now on."

"This, this...this is outrageous! Doesn't this mean that anyone with money can get in?"

Sun Yu said meaningfully, "It's not that you can get in just by having money; it's that you need a lot, a lot of money to get in."

Zhang Sheng remained silent for a moment.

The appointed time arrived. The celestial ship trembled slightly and slowly rose into the air. The plaza and mountain gate below rapidly shrank, and then the ship passed through an invisible boundary. The scenery below suddenly changed; the celestial mountains and green trees disappeared, leaving only a small green hill embedded in the endless yellow earth. The celestial ship continued upward until it pierced through the clouds and floated above the sea of ​​clouds. Only then did it unfurl its masts and raise its sails, which resembled fish fins.

The sunlight bathed the entire sea of ​​clouds in gold. As the celestial boat passed by, the clouds parted to the sides, as if it were cutting through waves on a golden ocean, a magnificent and indescribable sight.

The celestial vessel gradually accelerated, rising higher and higher, leaving behind the golden sea of ​​clouds. The scenery outside the window gradually blurred, the sea of ​​clouds turning into streaks of gold. Despite its high speed, the celestial vessel remained remarkably stable; one would not even notice its movement unless looking out the window.

Wei Yuan was awestruck by this celestial scene, and kept staring out the window.

Sunset and sunrise.

A day later, a celestial mountain suddenly appeared in the sea of ​​clouds ahead of the celestial ship. From a distance, it appeared to be just a steep mountain peak, but as it drew closer, the mountain transformed into a majestic celestial gate.

The celestial boat passed through the gate, and the surrounding world instantly transformed.

The celestial boat landed on a circular plaza. The plaza was paved with white jade, and in front of it was a bluestone avenue leading to a magnificent palace complex in the distance. On both sides of the avenue were gentle lawns, lush and green, stretching far into the distance, dotted with wildflowers of various colors.

The White Jade Plaza is mostly suspended in the air, with a vast sea of ​​clouds stretching out from its edge, its bottom completely invisible. This plaza, spanning hundreds of feet in diameter, resembles a giant jade disc, resting halfway up the mountainside without any visible support or hanging.

Looking out from the square, beyond the palace, one sees rolling hills in the distance, with several verdant peaks piercing the clouds, and pavilions and towers appearing and disappearing among the waterfalls and pine forests. Further away, several peaks seem to float above a sea of ​​clouds.

Every now and then, one or two unnamed giant beasts and celestial birds would burst out from the sea of ​​clouds. Some would fly towards a mountain peak, while others would soar into the sky and disappear directly into the horizon above.

Wei Yuan stepped out of the cabin and stood on the deck, gazing into the distance. The scenery before him was unlike anything he had ever seen, not even in his dreams. Even the most ordinary grassland stretched out like a soft, bright, thick carpet, extending for miles. Even the wildflowers dotting the grass were unusual upon closer inspection; each flower was different, constantly exhaling wisps of mist.

As someone from a farming family, Wei Yuan could tell at a glance that this grassland was an unprecedentedly fertile field. If grain were grown there, wouldn't it yield a thousand catties per mu? However, after witnessing the magnificence of the immortals, Wei Yuan felt that he might be too ignorant. With the methods of the immortals, this kind of field might even yield a thousand twelve hundred catties.

Wei Yuan followed the grass, looking further and further away. This vibrant meadow, just by looking at it, made his spirit feel increasingly lively. As he gazed, Wei Yuan's field of vision approached the edge of the meadow, when suddenly everything went black, and he almost collapsed.

Zhang Sheng reached out and patted him on the back, and Wei Yuan's body was instantly refreshed, all the emptiness and weakness he had just felt vanished in an instant.

Zhang Sheng said, "Don't look so far ahead before you start cultivating. You don't have any Dao power right now, so you're just consuming your primordial spirit."

Sun Yu's eyes lit up as he said, "I'm a little envious of your disciple for being able to exhaust your primordial spirit in one go."

Zhang Sheng ignored Sun Yu, pointed ahead, and said to Wei Yuan, "This is Konggu Xuanqing, one of the three major gates of my Taichu Palace. What do you think?"

Wei Yuan looked at the white jade square that was only used to dock immortal boats, at the smooth blue stone road, at the majestic palace in the distance, at the towering green peaks that exuded the aura of immortals, and finally his gaze fell on the jade-like grass.

Suddenly, he said, "If the path to immortality is so wondrous, why do so many people starve to death in the mortal world?"

Sun Yu and Zhang Sheng were both taken aback.

Suddenly a deep voice rang out from behind: "Good question!"

(End of this chapter)