Chapter 6 – In a Daze
A month went by in a flash as Fang Yuan settled into life at the Qingyang Sect.
He had completely immersed himself into the world of cultivation.
In the daytime, he completed his duties. At night, he diligently cultivated. When there was free time, he would carefully read the books Mister Zhu had given him to study subjects that he had ignored while focusing on True Comprehensions of the Way.
Gradually, not only did his cultivation slowly accumulate, but his understanding deepened as well.
Just like this, the dull life with the immortals seemed unusually fulfilling to him…
“Haha, Brother Fang is here?”
“How is your cultivation lately?”
In the dining hall, people greeted him with smiles as he walked past with armfuls of books.
Fang Yuan had become familiar with the other servants over the past month.
By now, his story of losing the top position on the list had spread through the sect. His fellow servants had complicated feelings about him. In the beginning, they mocked him for studying so diligently every day that he would even forget to eat sometimes. But after a month, although there were still some that disdained his practice, most had accepted it.
They respected people who were willing to work hard.
“Oh, Brother Fang. Long time no see. Has your cultivation improved?”
Fang Yuan immediately felt annoyed when he heard this voice. It was needless to say that Steward Sun had come.
In this month since Fang Yuan entered the sect, everything had been satisfactory except this Steward Sun. Every so often, he would visit Fang Yuan’s small room and chat with him for hours. It was only until later that Fang Yuan learned how Steward Sun was famous in the sect for endless conversations. The other servants would always hide from him, so only new people listened to him talk…
Fortunately, years of study had taught Fang Yuan a unique skill. He could act as if he were listening to Steward Sun by nodding occasionally, but silently, he would think about the secrets of cultivation. This way, he didn’t waste any time.
Steward Sun was glad to have found a rare “conversational friend” who would listen to him talk. He had just chatted with Fang Yuan for half an hour in the morning, but seeing Fang Yuan at lunch was like meeting a friend who he had not seen for a long time…
“… After lunch, come to the servant’s hall for roll call, then go to the Little Bamboo Peak to organize the sutra hall…”
After speaking for a while, Fang Yuan caught this small bit of useful information from Steward Sun and quickly nodded.
As a servant disciple, not only did he have to finish his own duties, there would be temporary assignments for him as well. Even if it was a temporary assignment, Fang Yuan was different from the others in that he wouldn’t be lazy about these jobs. He always finished them efficiently. Steward Sun loved Fang Yuan for it.
After roll call, Fang Yuan and the other servant disciples boarded Steward Sun’s wooden kite.
This wooden kite is a low-level device in the immortal’s sect. It can float in the wind to make travel easier. It tends not to be very sturdy, especially the one belonging to Steward Sun. It looked as if it were ready to fall apart at any time. The moment it started flying, it would make many squeezing sounds that scared everyone using it.
The Little Bamboo Peak is where Qingyang Sect’s Sutra Hall was located. Nowadays, most cultivation methods were stored on jade scrolls. But there were still quite a few paper and bamboo scrolls that were treated as antiques left in the Sutra hall.
These paper and bamboo scrolls were not as easily stored as jade scrolls. They required cleaning on a regular basis. Since the Sutra Hall was quite vast, cleaning couldn’t be done by a single person. Every cleaning was a huge undertaking.
“There are many rules on Little Bamboo Hill. You guys better be careful. If you disrespect the sect’s disciples, you may be punished…”
Steward Sun kept reminding them on the way. The other servants accepted it and walked forward with their heads lowered.
When they arrived at Sutra Hall, Fang Yuan turned his head casually and was immediately dumb stricken.
Nearby, there were a few disciples talking and laughing with unspeakable self-confidence under a pavilion.
What made Fang Yuan’s heart skip a beat was that he saw someone familiar within the group. It was his classmate from Taiyue City, Zhou Qingyue. Compared to a month ago, his temperament had changed to become similar to the attitude of other disciples. He saw that Zhou Qingyue was laughing while demonstrating some technique.
A dead leaf was surrounded by qi and dancing smartly within his palm. It was a practice for immortal disciples to manipulate their power.
This made Fang Yuan’s heart sink. To control such a leaf meant he would have already completed the first layer of refining qi…
Even someone with such ordinary talent had already achieved this level of cultivation?
Fang Yuan was surprised and somewhat depressed.
Even after working hard for more than a month, he still had a few obstacles he could not breakthrough and was far from completing the first layer. Yet, this person had already…
“Haha, Brother Fang, what are you looking at?” sounded a voice from the side. Steward Sun walked over. Following Fang Yuan’s gaze, he guessed the mind of this youth and sighed. “Did you see the progress of a sect disciple’s cultivation and become envious…”
“How can the gap be so great?” Fang Yuan asked after being silent for a while.
“It will only get bigger!”
Steward Sun patted Fang Yuan’s shoulder. “Brother Fang, I had wanted to tell you when you first entered the immortal’s sect, but you were so excited and I wanted you to have something to hope for. People need something to motivate them. Look at me, I cannot live without a bottle of liquor and half a kilogram of pork… But, I can’t watch you waste your time forever. I don’t want to hurt you, but I must tell you some truths. As far as I know, even though we have a rule that servant disciples may become immortal disciples, there had not been a single person who succeeded in the past three hundred years…”
“Why?” Fang Yuan looked at Steward Sun dully with some astonishment.
“Because cultivation is not a simple matter…”
Steward Sun smiled bitterly, “Cultivation is going against the heavens. Each step is perilous as if stepping on ice. A slight mistake would lead someone to qi deviation and death. Not only do immortal disciples have vast resources, but they also have skilled teachers guiding them and can help them overcome obstacles. No matter how hard you practice, you will be stuck when there comes a problem. You would have to proceed cautiously at such a time. But they can simply cross it without any risk. How can you compete with such odds against you?”
“Right, if I had a teacher’s guidance, then I wouldn’t be stuck at those key points…”
Fang Yuan’s heart was grave as he remembered all those difficulties on his road of cultivation so far.
“Right now, you are only a step behind them. In the future, you will fall further and further behind. Refining a layer of qi is only the beginning. This gap is quite small as you will understand in the future. It’s better to give up now so you don’t tire yourself out…”
Steward Sun finished and regretfully patted Fang Yuan’s arm before turning to head inside the Sutra Hall to assign tasks.
“Is there really no hope?”
Fang Yuan was silent for a while and followed the others into the Sutra Hall; heart full of conflicts.
In this past month, he had cultivated diligently without slacking off for a moment. He couldn’t imagine that he would be so far beneath his former classmates. He was already far surpassed by the ordinary Zhou Qingyue; then what about someone like Qi Xiaofeng? Lu Xinyao?
He couldn’t even continue thinking about the possibilities.
Afterall, he was still young and without the guidance of experience. There would always be some resentment in such a situation.
Fang Yuan worked in silence. His head was full of the scene he had seen before of Zhou Qingyue and others talking and laughing. He believed that he had gained control of his emotions, but it was going wild!
This was the first time that he experienced the consequences of fate!
He didn’t want to do anything but to clear his mind and forget about all his desires.
“There seems to be something wrong with Brother Fang…”
“He saw those sect disciples before and was really envious…”
“Well, who wouldn’t be. He just doesn’t want to accept it. You should remember that our Brother Fang used to be top of the immortals list. It was only the cancellation of the True Comprehensions of the Way that caused him to fail. Otherwise, he would be a direct disciple now!”
“The past is in the past. If he doesn’t accept his life as a servant now, he would only be fighting himself…”
Other servant disciples saw Fang Yuan’s depression and laughed secretly. They had all been in the sect for a long time and became quite slippery. They didn’t want to do any hard work. Seeing Fang Yuan work diligently, they might as well leave all the work for him and chat on the side. Fang Yuan didn’t care. He buried himself in organizing bookcases without raising his head as if he forgot everything.
After a long time, he finally felt his shoulders getting sore and gradually stopped.
By then, he had already stepped far into the back of the hall. There were tall bookcases surrounding him. He couldn’t even hear the chatter of the other servant disciples anymore. It was as if he stepped into a deep forest. There was no one. Not even a sound could be heard; silent as a tomb.
After standing for a while, Fang Yuan sat down with an expression of loneliness.
The gap between servants and sect disciples was really too great…
Within a short month, his cultivation was already so far below them. What about the future?
He used to be so proud. Would it even be possible to regain my position?
The calm he had maintained for a month was instantly shattered by this tumultuous mood.
“Oh, heavens, why must you play me so?”
After being silent for a while, he couldn’t help but start laughing at himself.
He lazily grasped a book from the nearby shelf to throw into the distance. He wanted to hit the ever-present, but invisible god who had hurt him so badly to vent his anger…
Just then, he paused. Instead of throwing the book, he held it in front of his face.
In the dim light, he saw four big characters on the cover: True Comprehensions of the Way!
Chapter 6 – In a Daze
A month went by in a flash as Fang Yuan settled into life at the Qingyang Sect.
He had completely immersed himself into the world of cultivation.
In the daytime, he completed his duties. At night, he diligently cultivated. When there was free time, he would carefully read the books Mister Zhu had given him to study subjects that he had ignored while focusing on True Comprehensions of the Way.
Gradually, not only did his cultivation slowly accumulate, but his understanding deepened as well.
Just like this, the dull life with the immortals seemed unusually fulfilling to him…
“Haha, Brother Fang is here?”
“How is your cultivation lately?”
In the dining hall, people greeted him with smiles as he walked past with armfuls of books.
Fang Yuan had become familiar with the other servants over the past month.
By now, his story of losing the top position on the list had spread through the sect. His fellow servants had complicated feelings about him. In the beginning, they mocked him for studying so diligently every day that he would even forget to eat sometimes. But after a month, although there were still some that disdained his practice, most had accepted it.
They respected people who were willing to work hard.
“Oh, Brother Fang. Long time no see. Has your cultivation improved?”
Fang Yuan immediately felt annoyed when he heard this voice. It was needless to say that Steward Sun had come.
In this month since Fang Yuan entered the sect, everything had been satisfactory except this Steward Sun. Every so often, he would visit Fang Yuan’s small room and chat with him for hours. It was only until later that Fang Yuan learned how Steward Sun was famous in the sect for endless conversations. The other servants would always hide from him, so only new people listened to him talk…
Fortunately, years of study had taught Fang Yuan a unique skill. He could act as if he were listening to Steward Sun by nodding occasionally, but silently, he would think about the secrets of cultivation. This way, he didn’t waste any time.
Steward Sun was glad to have found a rare “conversational friend” who would listen to him talk. He had just chatted with Fang Yuan for half an hour in the morning, but seeing Fang Yuan at lunch was like meeting a friend who he had not seen for a long time…
“… After lunch, come to the servant’s hall for roll call, then go to the Little Bamboo Peak to organize the sutra hall…”
After speaking for a while, Fang Yuan caught this small bit of useful information from Steward Sun and quickly nodded.
As a servant disciple, not only did he have to finish his own duties, there would be temporary assignments for him as well. Even if it was a temporary assignment, Fang Yuan was different from the others in that he wouldn’t be lazy about these jobs. He always finished them efficiently. Steward Sun loved Fang Yuan for it.
After roll call, Fang Yuan and the other servant disciples boarded Steward Sun’s wooden kite.
This wooden kite is a low-level device in the immortal’s sect. It can float in the wind to make travel easier. It tends not to be very sturdy, especially the one belonging to Steward Sun. It looked as if it were ready to fall apart at any time. The moment it started flying, it would make many squeezing sounds that scared everyone using it.
The Little Bamboo Peak is where Qingyang Sect’s Sutra Hall was located. Nowadays, most cultivation methods were stored on jade scrolls. But there were still quite a few paper and bamboo scrolls that were treated as antiques left in the Sutra hall.
These paper and bamboo scrolls were not as easily stored as jade scrolls. They required cleaning on a regular basis. Since the Sutra Hall was quite vast, cleaning couldn’t be done by a single person. Every cleaning was a huge undertaking.
“There are many rules on Little Bamboo Hill. You guys better be careful. If you disrespect the sect’s disciples, you may be punished…”
Steward Sun kept reminding them on the way. The other servants accepted it and walked forward with their heads lowered.
When they arrived at Sutra Hall, Fang Yuan turned his head casually and was immediately dumb stricken.
Nearby, there were a few disciples talking and laughing with unspeakable self-confidence under a pavilion.
What made Fang Yuan’s heart skip a beat was that he saw someone familiar within the group. It was his classmate from Taiyue City, Zhou Qingyue. Compared to a month ago, his temperament had changed to become similar to the attitude of other disciples. He saw that Zhou Qingyue was laughing while demonstrating some technique.
A dead leaf was surrounded by qi and dancing smartly within his palm. It was a practice for immortal disciples to manipulate their power.
This made Fang Yuan’s heart sink. To control such a leaf meant he would have already completed the first layer of refining qi…
Even someone with such ordinary talent had already achieved this level of cultivation?
Fang Yuan was surprised and somewhat depressed.
Even after working hard for more than a month, he still had a few obstacles he could not breakthrough and was far from completing the first layer. Yet, this person had already…
“Haha, Brother Fang, what are you looking at?” sounded a voice from the side. Steward Sun walked over. Following Fang Yuan’s gaze, he guessed the mind of this youth and sighed. “Did you see the progress of a sect disciple’s cultivation and become envious…”
“How can the gap be so great?” Fang Yuan asked after being silent for a while.
“It will only get bigger!”
Steward Sun patted Fang Yuan’s shoulder. “Brother Fang, I had wanted to tell you when you first entered the immortal’s sect, but you were so excited and I wanted you to have something to hope for. People need something to motivate them. Look at me, I cannot live without a bottle of liquor and half a kilogram of pork… But, I can’t watch you waste your time forever. I don’t want to hurt you, but I must tell you some truths. As far as I know, even though we have a rule that servant disciples may become immortal disciples, there had not been a single person who succeeded in the past three hundred years…”
“Why?” Fang Yuan looked at Steward Sun dully with some astonishment.
“Because cultivation is not a simple matter…”
Steward Sun smiled bitterly, “Cultivation is going against the heavens. Each step is perilous as if stepping on ice. A slight mistake would lead someone to qi deviation and death. Not only do immortal disciples have vast resources, but they also have skilled teachers guiding them and can help them overcome obstacles. No matter how hard you practice, you will be stuck when there comes a problem. You would have to proceed cautiously at such a time. But they can simply cross it without any risk. How can you compete with such odds against you?”
“Right, if I had a teacher’s guidance, then I wouldn’t be stuck at those key points…”
Fang Yuan’s heart was grave as he remembered all those difficulties on his road of cultivation so far.
“Right now, you are only a step behind them. In the future, you will fall further and further behind. Refining a layer of qi is only the beginning. This gap is quite small as you will understand in the future. It’s better to give up now so you don’t tire yourself out…”
Steward Sun finished and regretfully patted Fang Yuan’s arm before turning to head inside the Sutra Hall to assign tasks.
“Is there really no hope?”
Fang Yuan was silent for a while and followed the others into the Sutra Hall; heart full of conflicts.
In this past month, he had cultivated diligently without slacking off for a moment. He couldn’t imagine that he would be so far beneath his former classmates. He was already far surpassed by the ordinary Zhou Qingyue; then what about someone like Qi Xiaofeng? Lu Xinyao?
He couldn’t even continue thinking about the possibilities.
Afterall, he was still young and without the guidance of experience. There would always be some resentment in such a situation.
Fang Yuan worked in silence. His head was full of the scene he had seen before of Zhou Qingyue and others talking and laughing. He believed that he had gained control of his emotions, but it was going wild!
This was the first time that he experienced the consequences of fate!
He didn’t want to do anything but to clear his mind and forget about all his desires.
“There seems to be something wrong with Brother Fang…”
“He saw those sect disciples before and was really envious…”
“Well, who wouldn’t be. He just doesn’t want to accept it. You should remember that our Brother Fang used to be top of the immortals list. It was only the cancellation of the True Comprehensions of the Way that caused him to fail. Otherwise, he would be a direct disciple now!”
“The past is in the past. If he doesn’t accept his life as a servant now, he would only be fighting himself…”
Other servant disciples saw Fang Yuan’s depression and laughed secretly. They had all been in the sect for a long time and became quite slippery. They didn’t want to do any hard work. Seeing Fang Yuan work diligently, they might as well leave all the work for him and chat on the side. Fang Yuan didn’t care. He buried himself in organizing bookcases without raising his head as if he forgot everything.
After a long time, he finally felt his shoulders getting sore and gradually stopped.
By then, he had already stepped far into the back of the hall. There were tall bookcases surrounding him. He couldn’t even hear the chatter of the other servant disciples anymore. It was as if he stepped into a deep forest. There was no one. Not even a sound could be heard; silent as a tomb.
After standing for a while, Fang Yuan sat down with an expression of loneliness.
The gap between servants and sect disciples was really too great…
Within a short month, his cultivation was already so far below them. What about the future?
He used to be so proud. Would it even be possible to regain my position?
The calm he had maintained for a month was instantly shattered by this tumultuous mood.
“Oh, heavens, why must you play me so?”
After being silent for a while, he couldn’t help but start laughing at himself.
He lazily grasped a book from the nearby shelf to throw into the distance. He wanted to hit the ever-present, but invisible god who had hurt him so badly to vent his anger…
Just then, he paused. Instead of throwing the book, he held it in front of his face.
In the dim light, he saw four big characters on the cover: True Comprehensions of the Way!
