Chapter 34: 034 Part 2

But Wei Mingyi remembered Wu Chongyun’s words: the Dao foundation determines the upper limit. With the golden finger on her, if she didn’t aim for Grotto-Heaven, she’d be doing herself a disservice. She had to open all thirty-six Qi meridians!

Another day.

Under the pear blossom tree, zither music rose melodiously.

The bleak, killing aura of severity and slaughter vanished, and it was finally time to relax.

Wei Mingyi scrambled to her feet from the ground, formed an incantation to brush the dust from her clothes, and strode quickly towards Wu Chongyun, who was sitting cross-legged on a stone, playing the zither. First, she took a fragrant pill from her Qiankun Pouch and placed it into the incense burner beside them to replenish the spirit incense. Only then did she turn to look at Wu Chongyun, who had her eyes lowered in silence. She asked, “How much does Shizun know about the Heavenly Dao’s Paragon Debate? The Assistant Master mentioned before that it’s an event prepared for cultivators who have only recently entered the Dao. So, can those from Foundation Establishment First Layer to Third Layer all participate? And what is the format of the competition?”

A sharp, piercing twang rang out, and the zither music ceased abruptly.

Wu Chongyun pressed both hands on the strings. Her eyes instantly turned cold, severe, and sharp.

After a few seconds, she lowered her lashes, concealing the harshness in her eyes, and said flatly, “Why are you asking this?”

“Just curious,” Wei Mingyi flashed a brilliant smile. She leaned over to look at Wu Chongyun. “The aristocratic families are my great enemies. The Heavenly Dao’s Paragon Debate is the grand event where the families select their heaven-sent geniuses. Who knows how many of my future enemies will emerge from it?”

Wu Chongyun was not fooled by Wei Mingyi’s explanation. She frowned and remained silent.

But Wei Mingyi didn’t want her to stay silent. She walked around the zither to Wu Chongyun’s side and tucked a strand of Wu Chongyun’s white hair, blown astray by the wind, behind her ear. Then she spoke even more softly, “Shizun, tell me about it.”

Wu Chongyun shot Wei Mingyi a glance. With a flick of her hand, the zither transformed back into the horsetail whisk. She swept the whisk, pressing it against Wei Mingyi’s chest as she continued to lean closer.

Wei Mingyi laughed, grabbing the whisk and gently pushing it aside. With the zither no longer between her and Wu Chongyun, she simply knelt on the stone, placing one hand beside Wu Chongyun for support. “Isn’t imparting knowledge, teaching the Dao, and resolving doubts the duty of a teacher?”

Wu Chongyun glared at her. “Move away.”

But if Wei Mingyi were willing to obey, she wouldn’t be Wei Mingyi. Not only did she not move away, she even placed her other hand down, as if to prevent Wu Chongyun from leaving, completely trapping her between her arms. But this posture was somewhat awkward. Looking up at Wu Chongyun’s face strained her neck.

If only she were straddling Shizun’s lap—

The moment this thought surfaced, a crimson flush climbed up her cheeks, and her earlobes burned as if on fire. Pretending nothing was amiss, she withdrew one hand and said, “Please answer, Shizun. If Shizun won’t say…”

Wu Chongyun looked at Wei Mingyi, half-suspended above her, her face blushing. A string in her heart seemed to be plucked by an invisible hand. She bit her lip and asked softly, “What then?”

“I’ll just have to keep asking, day and night without end,” Wei Mingyi finally sat properly, looking somewhat like a proper disciple.

Wu Chongyun flicked her sleeve and gracefully descended from the stone. She noticed a fallen flower petal on her shoulder, but before she could brush it off herself, a slender hand gently rested upon it, pinching the petal between fingertips and plucking it away. That hand lingered on her shoulder. Wu Chongyun didn’t push it away, just staring fixedly at it. After a good while, she said, neither too harshly nor too softly, “You’re so annoying.”

Over the past two years, Wei Mingyi had heard these three words from Wu Chongyun at regular intervals. By now, to her ears, they were no different from “Good morning, good night.” Forcing someone to turn around was still somewhat rude. Wei Mingyi considered herself a good disciple. She walked around to face Wu Chongyun, meeting her eyes, and said gently, “I could also find out about it from the Wild Domain, but I only want to hear Shizun speak.”

Wu Chongyun looked away.

She took a small step forward.

But Wei Mingyi didn’t move back; she even reached out to steady her.

Wu Chongyun leaned into Wei Mingyi naturally, unable to see Wei Mingyi’s face, and therefore missing the slightly smug smile curving her lips.

“The Heavenly Dao’s Paragon Debate only permits Foundation Establishment cultivators to participate. Life or death doesn’t matter,” Wu Chongyun said, her eyes lowered. “The Heavenly Dao Alliance sends all participants into a Grotto-Heaven Secret Realm for three months. Victory is determined by the amount of Penglai Purple Qi collected. The benefits inside the Grotto-Heaven Secret Realm are numerous; whoever finds something keeps it. Yet because life and death are disregarded, it’s as cruel as purgatory.”

After a pause, Wu Chongyun added, “Don’t go.”

Penglai Purple Qi? That sounded extremely useful. Wei Mingyi mused to herself. As for that “Don’t go,” she ignored it. As long as there was even a sliver of hope of finding the Cloud Mountain Herb, she wouldn’t give up. The thought circled in her mind. She sidestepped the topic, asking instead, “Then has Shizun been there?”

Wu Chongyun didn’t answer. Her head turned slightly, her hair tickling Wei Mingyi’s neck.

After a moment, Wu Chongyun lifted her head. Expressionless, she looked at Wei Mingyi. “I haven’t. Don’t go.”

Wei Mingyi understood in her heart.

So she had gone.

Perhaps she could go to the Wild Domain and ask Lang Fengya for a list of past Heavenly Dao’s Paragon Debate Head Champions? Given her Shizun’s talent, she couldn’t have been unknown if she participated in the Paragon Debate, right? But this thought only lingered for a moment before Wei Mingyi dismissed it. Shizun was unwilling to speak of the past with her. To probe so persistently, disregarding her feelings, wouldn’t be right.

“That place is the hunting ground of the families,” Wu Chongyun said again. The Heavenly Dao Alliance didn’t restrict the origins of the participants; both the master-disciple lineage and family scions could participate. The family members were driven by their ambition to climb higher. As for the master-disciple lineage, perhaps some wished to be selected by the families, or perhaps they had the ambition to bring glory to their sect’s name… In the end, their fates were never good. Among the heaven-sent geniuses who participated in the Paragon Debate, those concerned for their families might take a master-disciple cultivator as their dog. But there was no shortage of arrogant individuals who looked down on outsiders, seeing them only as their own prey.

Wu Chongyun had also participated in the Heavenly Dao’s Paragon Debate after reaching Foundation Establishment. Given her and her sisters’ status and cultivation, even those several top families didn’t dare to truly kill them, opting instead to cooperate. She herself hadn’t made a move, but she had witnessed how the master-disciple heaven-sent geniuses of that year were bullied. That person indeed possessed heaven-blessed talent with the potential for Grotto-Heaven. But the prerequisite for achieving it was—staying alive.

Wei Mingyi blinked and mumbled, “I’m not afraid.”

Wu Chongyun was stung by Wei Mingyi’s casual attitude. Annoyance welled up in her heart. She suddenly pushed Wei Mingyi away and looked at her coldly.

Wei Mingyi was taken aback, not understanding why Shizun was suddenly angry again. She pondered for a moment but couldn’t figure it out. She asked, “What’s wrong, Shizun?”

“Don’t. Go,” Wu Chongyun said.

Wei Mingyi: “…” She lowered her head, feigning respectful obedience, and said perfunctorily, “Yes, Shizun.”

Wu Chongyun bit her lip, a flush of red appearing on her face. Persuading her three times was her absolute limit. Without looking at Wei Mingyi again, she flicked her sleeve, strode back into the house with large steps, and ignored everyone.

Wei Mingyi sighed softly.

She picked up the horsetail whisk that had fallen on the stone.

Extending two fingers together, she poked it forward. “Lie to you, you get angry. Tell the truth, and you’re unhappy.” She paused, mimicking Wu Chongyun’s tone. “You’re so annoying.”

After poking the horsetail whisk a few times as if it were Wu Chongyun, Wei Mingyi felt much better.

But when she looked up, she saw Wu Chongyun, who should have been in the house, leaning expressionlessly against the door, watching her.

Wei Mingyi: “…”

Guilty.

Her Shizun was deaf, mute, and lame, right? So she couldn’t hear, right?

Taking a breath, Wei Mingyi shuffled with small steps over to Wu Chongyun. Holding the horsetail whisk in both hands, she raised it above her head and said with utmost respect, “Returning Shizun’s whisk.”

Wu Chongyun’s action of taking the whisk could be described as swift. The tail of the whisk brushed past Wei Mingyi’s cheek, carrying a familiar medicinal fragrance. Only then did Wei Mingyi feel a slight stinging pain, like being whipped by a thick horsetail.

Wu Chongyun said a sentence that seemed to come out of nowhere: “You need to reach Foundation Establishment.”

Wei Mingyi was confused. She looked up at Wu Chongyun and nodded. “That’s right.”

As soon as her words fell, her chin was lifted by the horsetail whisk again.

Wei Mingyi: “?”

Her attention was captured by the whisk trailing over her face, making it difficult to focus. She barely managed to concentrate enough to hear the words “no holding back.”

She looked up at Wu Chongyun, who again wore an expression as if she had exhausted all her social energy.

The next day.

Wei Mingyi finally understood the deep meaning behind “no holding back.” If Wu Chongyun’s previous guidance leaned towards pointing the way, now… she was purely growing by taking a beating. During this beating process, Mo Xuanxiao also delivered several bottles of corresponding spirit pills, wearing a sympathetic expression.

She said, “If you aren’t beaten by the Assistant Master today, you’ll be beaten by others in the future.”

Wei Mingyi was speechless.

Too true.

After being intensely drilled for a few days, Wei Mingyi faintly understood something.

Shizun had seen through her perfunctory attitude, knew she couldn’t be dissuaded, and could only choose another path to help her.

Two months after being treated like a punching bag, although she had only pushed open one new Qi meridian, Wei Mingyi discovered that her durability had improved significantly, and her magical power was much deeper and thicker than before.

And in Wang Clan’s Langya City and Zheng Clan’s Xingyang City, due to Feng Cangcang’s deliberate guidance, friction grew more and more.

Feng Cangcang, having come from the Feng clan, had been staying with the Zheng family. She repeatedly emphasized the importance of finding talented Daoists for the Feng clan, forcing the Zheng clan to focus their attention on Ying Shen’gao. Meanwhile, over in the Wang clan, after repeated arguments, the elders ultimately decided to each do things their own way. On one hand, they treated her with courtesy; on the other, they pressured her with force. Xingyang City’s interference churned the already murky waters even further.

Spirit Heart Sect, after dragging things out for several months, finally showed an attitude of being unable to bear the harassment and, between the Zheng and Wang Clans, chose the Zheng Clan. The Wang Clan Daoists were unwilling to accept this, but their unwillingness hadn’t yet reached the point of fighting the Zheng Clan to the death over Ying Shen’gao. However, just at this moment, news spread that Feng Cangcang was staying with the Zheng family carrying a mission from the Feng clan. The Wang Clan Daoists inevitably read more into it. Had the Zheng Clan not discovered that cultivator themselves? What secret plan did the Feng clan have? Why did only the Zheng Clan know about it? The life, death, and prosperity of their entire clan were tied to the Feng clan above them. How could the Wang Clan not be nervous?

“It was clearly our Wang Clan who discovered that Daoist first! The Zheng family has no sense of propriety, insisting on meddling!”

“We lost a Foundation Establishment cultivator because of this matter! Are we just going to let it go?”

“If we can’t do anything to the Zheng Clan, can’t we deal with Spirit Heart Sect? They certainly accepted plenty of the things we sent before.”

“Spirit Heart Sect has now tangled with the Zheng Clan. Chongyuan Sect definitely won’t help them anymore! Why not take advantage of the fact that the Zheng Clan hasn’t taken the person back yet and act directly!”