https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-13-The-Eldest-Senior-Sister-and-the-Little-Senior-Sister/12586122/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-15-The-Overlord-Among-the-Acolytes/12586137/
Chapter 14: Scenery on the Main Road, Crowding on the Plank Bridge
Chapter 14: Scenery on the Main Road, Crowding on the Plank Bridge
The Heavenly Master of the modern era stood everyone up.
This first blow of the year left Tang Xiaotang stunned.
"The initiation ceremony is only on the 15th of next month. There's still half a month to go," Wang Guiyuan comforted her.
"Right..." Tang Xiaotang snapped back to her senses and regained her vigor. "Maybe it'll be tomorrow or the day after."
Lei Jun asked, "Little senior sister, if the Heavenly Master doesn't come out of seclusion by then, will you still attend the initiation ceremony?"
Tang Xiaotang's eyes widened.
Lei Jun quickly added, "I'm just saying, if."
"There's no if!"
The tall girl turned her back and after a while, she huffed, "...I won't attend. I'll keep waiting. I refuse to believe it!"
The Heavenly Master's sudden seclusion had left more than just Tang Xiaotang in a daze.
"Li Ying from the First Court, Shangguan Hong from the Second Court, and Chen Yi from the Eighth Court..."
Wang Guiyuan said, "I heard that their recommending masters have already formally submitted their requests for the Heavenly Master to initiate them and accept them as personal disciples."
The initiation ceremony, or Chuan Du, is when a follower of the Dao formally enters the path, receives a master's teachings, takes oaths, and is imparted the methods to save the world by their sect.
Procedurally, the initiate must pay respects to the three masters: the initiation master, the recommending master, and the supervising master.
Usually, the initiation master is the disciple's own master who guides them into the Dao.
However, if one wishes to become a personal disciple of the Heavenly Master, serving him as their initiation master and master, a different procedure must be followed.
Of course, becoming a personal disciple of the Heavenly Master is not simply a matter of application.
The qualifications for such an application are not easily obtained, and the candidates must be of greater caliber than those participating in the regular initiation ceremony.
Lei Jun was somewhat familiar with the three names that Wang Guiyuan mentioned.
For example, Li Ying from the First Court; one could easily guess that she was a member of the Li family, and the most legitimate one at that—the beloved youngest daughter of Elder Ziyang, one of the core high-ranking members of the Heavenly Master's Manor.
Elder Ziyang was the third junior brother of the current Heavenly Master, as well as his blood brother. Both brothers were sons of the previous Heavenly Master.
In other words, Li Ying was the current Heavenly Master's niece.
Becoming a personal disciple of the Heavenly Master was no ordinary matter, and it wasn't solely dependent on background and blood relations.
While Li Ying had a strong background, her own abilities were equally impressive.
In the entire Daoist Academy, aside from the special existence of Tang Xiaotang, who defied comparison, no other disciple dared claim to be more outstanding than Li Ying over the past few years.
In fact, she had already been in the Daoist Academy for four to five years, and she had not participated in the previous initiation ceremony three years ago, choosing to wait for her uncle, the Heavenly Master, to come out of seclusion.
As for Chen Yi from the Eighth Court, he was the new rising star of the Daoist Academy over the past year. To be fair, his talent in cultivation matched his talent for stirring up trouble, and his progress in cultivation was rapid.
There was just one small problem.
Over the past year, he had clashed with the Li family's disciples more than once.
The two sides had engaged in friendly and enthusiastic physical exchanges on multiple occasions.
"My master isn't that petty," Xu Yuanzhen said. "But Xiaotang and the others will likely be disappointed this time."
As he said, time passed day by day, but the Heavenly Master still didn't come out of seclusion.
At the foot of the mountain, in the Eighth Court of the Daoist Academy.
In Chen Yi's solitary courtyard, he wore a standard gray robe, his body taut as he looked up.
The continuous mountain peaks shone with spiritual light under the clear sky and bright sun.
Faint golden light intertwined, enveloping the entire mountain range.
In the distance, thunder rumbled continuously, but instead of feeling like a booming vibration, it brought a sense of calm.
Among the mountains, halfway up the main peak, one could see a grand Daoist palace composed of numerous buildings.
That was naturally the main residence of the Heavenly Master's Manor.
But higher up, at the peak of the main summit, it was hidden within auspicious clouds, making it hard to see clearly. From time to time, precious light flashed, like a celestial realm.
"The Thunder Palace of Upper Clarity..." Chen Yi murmured, "I must go there as soon as possible if I want to reach greater heights!"
His eyes shone with unwavering determination.
Of course, he wasn't the only one gazing at the Thunder Palace of Upper Clarity.
In fact, it wasn't just the candidates for the Heavenly Master's personal disciples.
Lei Jun was also looking at the Thunder Palace of Upper Clarity.
Having chosen the middle path for now and temporarily given up on competing to become the Heavenly Master's personal disciple, it didn't mean that Lei Jun had no other goals after the initiation ceremony.
Indeed, with Tang Xiaotang's example before them, Lei Jun now had even more motivation to diligently cultivate.
His own experiences and those of others showed that the higher one stood, the more scenery one could behold.
January 10th.
On this day, Lei Jun and the other Daoist initiates headed up the mountain to the main residence of the Heavenly Master's Mansion, located halfway up the mountain.
Although there were still a few days until the official initiation ceremony, the young initiates had to prepare by burning incense, bathing, and chanting scriptures.
As the date of the grand ceremony drew near, the initiates would each prepare their incense offerings (the fees for the initiation) and letters of introduction, sending them to their respective initiation masters.
Lei Jun had it easy, as he had chosen to join Elder Yuan's sect, and he didn't need to worry about finding a recommending master or a supervising master.
The supervising master was the same for all the initiates—the current head instructor of the Daoist Academy.
As for the recommending master, Elder Yuan had contacted one of his peers, another elder of the Heavenly Master's Mansion.
Naturally, the incense offerings and letters would be sent to Elder Yuan.
But things were more complicated for Tang Xiaotang.
While she didn't need to worry about finding a supervising master, and had Elder Yuan personally recommending her, who would be her initiation master, or true master and teacher? Who would accept her letter of introduction?
"Don't be anxious. Let's go take a look together," Yuan Mobai said gently.
He led Tang Xiaotang and Wang Guiyuan, who was always by her side, towards the back courtyard of the Heavenly Master's Mansion.
Lei Jun and Xu Yuanzhen stayed behind in Yuan Mobai's courtyard, with Xu Yuanzhen setting up her brush and ink to paint casually.
"With Little Senior Sister's talent and aptitude, even if the Heavenly Master doesn't come out of seclusion, and it's not the initiation ceremony held once every three years, he might still make an exception and accept her as a disciple on the spot, right?" Lei Jun asked.
Xu Yuanzhen replied, "She seeks too much, and her state of mind is inevitably unstable, but it doesn't hinder her cultivation progress. It's quite a spectacle in the mansion."
Lei Jun's curiosity was piqued by her words.
Since Xu Yuanzhen said so, it meant that even if Tang Xiaotang had a peaceful and stable state of mind, her cultivation progress wouldn't be much different from what it was now.
This was indeed something worth seeing.
It was hard to say whether she should be criticized or praised for this.
"Senior Sister is painting... clouds?"
Lei Jun watched as Xu Yuanzhen's brushstrokes created not a painting but rather overlapping patches of ink on the paper.
When connected, they gave off a suffocating feeling of dark clouds pressing down on a city.
"I felt like painting, so I just casually brushed a few strokes," Xu Yuanzhen said as she put down her brush and looked at the large patches of dark clouds on the white paper, nodding in satisfaction. A rare hint of a smile appeared on her lips.
You wouldn't be in the mood to paint because the Heavenly Master didn't come out of seclusion, would you... Lei Jun thought to himself.
Xu Yuanzhen suddenly turned her head to look at Lei Jun, as if she had thought of something.
Lei Jun was puzzled by her gaze.
She shook her head, waved her hand, and the large patches of ink on the paper disappeared, returning it to a pristine white.
Xu Yuanzhen left the desk and sat down by the tea table, resting her elbow on it and leaning her head on her hand as she closed her eyes to rest.
Lei Jun looked at the blank painting, his eyebrows raised.
At that moment, Wang Guiyuan suddenly returned. "Senior Sister, Master and several other uncles have asked for you to come over."
Xu Yuanzhen opened her eyes. "What's the matter?"
"It's regarding Tang Xiaotang's future cultivation," Wang Guiyuan replied.
Hearing this, it was clear that the Heavenly Master still hadn't come out of seclusion.
Xu Yuanzhen stood up and left without a word.
Wang Guiyuan nodded at Lei Jun and followed her out.
Lei Jun shrugged and began to meditate, crossing his legs and sitting down.
His mindset was completely calm, and he took this opportunity to continue his own cultivation, quietly breathing and circulating his qi.
Whatever was happening on the other side with the competition among the many cultivators no longer concerned him.
Besides, it was hard to say if it was a competition on a broad path or a crowd squeezing onto a narrow bridge.
Lei Jun cultivated quietly until he didn't know how much time had passed when someone suddenly burst in.
He opened his eyes and looked at the person before him in surprise.
It was the tall and beautiful Tang Xiaotang.
But at this moment, her long hair and even her eyebrows had turned a light golden color, shimmering with a faint golden light even in the darkness.
Even her irises had turned golden.
(End of Chapter)
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