Chapter 14: A Little Bit of Insight

The night air felt as cool as water. Daoist Fu Feng was sipping tea in a small, tranquil courtyard. The tea was the finest immortal tea the Scarlet Tide Sect could serve, but he couldn’t taste anything right now. He was churning a few names over and over inside his head. One of these names shouldn’t belong here, but it did—Wei Yuan.

Every time Daoist Fu Feng thought about Wei Yuan, he couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy. That hasn't changed now. Irritated, he set the tea cup on the table and readied himself for a small walk. Despite their small size, the Scarlet Tide Sect definitely knew a little about tasteful courtyard arrangements.

However, he had just set down the teacup when his whole body suddenly stiffened. He then slowly rose to his feet and forced a smile on his face, greeting, “Junior… Brother Zhang! You could’ve just messaged me if you needed anything. I would naturally pay you a visit myself…”

Zhang Sheng stepped straight into the room as if he hadn’t heard the man. He then sat at a nearby chair without asking for permission.

As if on cue, Sun Yu also appeared at the entrance while saying frantically, “There’s no need to be rash! We can talk this out!”

His frantic appearance caused Daoist Fu Feng’s heart to skip a beat. He snuck a glance at Zhang Sheng before exclaiming in surprise, “You’ve regained your powers, Junior Brother?”

The scholar said indifferently, “I don’t share many interactions with you, Senior Brother, but you ought to have heard of me. I’ve come tonight only to ask one thing: how did Yuan’er get his score?”

Daoist Fu Feng’s expression changed again and again as he inwardly cursed his luck—this was precisely what he feared the most. Although his age and experience far exceeded Zhang Sheng’s, sitting next to him put him on edge to put it mildly. He felt like he was sitting next to an unmatched immortal sword, not a human. His heart skipped another beat when he suddenly recalled the scholar’s past exploits.

Daoist Fu Feng forced out a chuckle and tried, “Why are you suddenly concerned about this exam, Junior Brother? I think the evaluation so far is fair…”

He couldn’t even finish his own sentence before trailing off into silence. He looked at Zhang Sheng, the picture of serenity and calmness, then at Sun Yu, who was standing not far away from the two of them. His expression gradually grew stern, and he asked seriously, “Are you sure you want to know, Junior Brother?”

Zhang Sheng replied simply, “This is a battle of Dao. I will not yield an inch!”

Daoist Fu Feng let out a sigh and told them everything that happened during the evaluation process. He even divulged the fact that he had rated Wei Yuan slightly lower than he should have to prevent the boy from squeezing into the top three.

Sun Yu stomped his foot when he listened until the end. “Those two Confucianists are the main culprits here, but you too are… Sigh!”

As for Zhang Sheng, he said simply, “Thank you for telling me as it is, Senior Brother.”

Zhang Sheng rose to his feet and walked over to the study table. He then spread open a piece of paper and soaked a brush in ink. It was only then he spoke up once more. “My powers were sealed in the past six years. That allowed me to see the world in a state of calmness and gained a little bit of insight. Still, it is thanks to the aristocratic families that I am able to create this.”

He lifted the brush and began writing. The brush tip had just made contact with the paper when suddenly, the world outside the window turned deathly white. A bolt of lightning had flashed across the night sky out of nowhere!

The scholar kept writing as if he didn’t notice a thing. His brush roamed across the paper like a dragon, filling it with lines upon lines of instructions in the blink of an eye. His complexion grew a little paler every time he wrote a word, so it didn’t take him long at all to look like a ghost.

He was halfway done when another thunderclap exploded outside the building, and a thick, voluminous lightning bolt descended from the sky. It struck the Scarlet Tide Sect’s mountain-wide defense array and shook the entire sect. The thunderous strike had nearly annihilated the array in one hit!

A grunt escaped Zhang Sheng’s nose, and bright red blood streamed down from it.

“Junior Brother! Your injuries are…” A startled Sun Yu instinctively reached out to support him, but flinched and withdrew his arm when he was about halfway there. All the while, the scholar kept working as if he hadn’t heard him.

An indefinite amount of time later, he finally finished. A drop of blood splattered across the paper like a red flower, and specks of starlight glittered within it.

Zhang Sheng wasn’t hiding his work, so both of his sect fellows stepped forward to read the method. One look at the title caused Sun Yu’s eyes to ache painfully.

Outlawed by Heaven and Earth!

Daoist Fu Feng’s cultivation was higher, so he was able to keep reading. Even so, every word and sentence had struck his mind like the deadliest lightning and thunder. He hadn’t even reached the halfway point when his resistance crumbled, and he made a comment, “Is this a secret technique of fortune? But it is so overwhelmingly fierce and violent! Who can possibly use this?”

“Yuan’er can.”

Sun Yu wasn’t nearly as certain as Zhang Sheng was. “I… don’t think so.”

Daoist Fu Feng echoed in agreement, “I’ve seen Wei Yuan myself, and I must admit that he is astoundingly talented. However, I don’t think he’s capable of using a secret technique like this. What you’ve created here is something that surpasses the ancients and dazzling contemporaries, but that is precisely why I’m not confident. He will perish if his fortune is lacking, or his control slips even a little!”

Zhang Sheng raised a finger and summoned a wisp of black qi from his jade-like fingertip. As soon as it appeared, both Daoists instantly turned as pale as a sheet as if they had just seen their lives flashing before their eyes. It was such a realistic feeling that even their firm Dao hearts couldn’t help but tremble a little.

The scholar declared, “This is the thing that sealed my powers for six years. With this, there is no reason Yuan’er can’t use Outlawed by Heaven and Earth.”

Daoist Fu Feng both envied and feared the wisp of black qi floating on top of Zhang Sheng’s fingertip. “What extraordinary fortune is this? How is it that I’ve never heard of it before?”

Sun Yu remarked, “This is a priceless natural treasure, Junior Brother! If you use it yourself, your cultivation will soar for three years at least, and attaining your Avatar would be as easy as breathing! Don’t you think it’s a huge waste to use it as fuel for another’s secret technique of fortune?”

“It’s just a worldly possession. What is there to regret about?” Zhang Sheng picked up the paper and vanished into the night just like that.

Sun Yu felt a sudden emptiness at his waist. When he looked, he noticed that the entry pass he hung at his waist had vanished without a trace.

Gazing at the direction the scholar had disappeared to, Daoist Fu Feng said thoughtfully, “Junior Brother truly cares deeply for his disciple.”

Sun Yu looked at him and asked, “What will you do tomorrow, Senior Brother?”

The Daoist let out a resigned chuckle. “I wasn’t sure, but that was before I saw Outlawed by Heaven and Earth. Of course I’ll give it my all.”

“Are you not afraid of the families’ retribution?”

He shrugged. “Worst case scenario, I’ll simply return the payment I received and give up all of my personal wealth. They’re just worldly possessions in the end. I mean, why are you asking? Junior Brother is a man who could write Outlawed by Heaven and Earth, and his disciple is a boy who can use it. This old Daoist still has a long road ahead of him. Is it not obvious what kind of choice I would make?”

Sun Yu mocked him, “As expected of the members of the Heavenly Mysteries Hall. You make an art out of slickness, slyness, and fence-sitting!”

Daoist Fu Feng laughed shamelessly. “This is called following the heavens’ will, you fool! Well, there’s no point arguing with a fengshui idiot from the Xuanming Hall. It is only natural that people who walk different Dao would have differences!”

The sheer shamelessness of the man was beyond Sun Yu’s ability to tear down, so he could only say, “I’ll leave it to you then, Senior Brother.”

Daoist Fu Feng replied confidently, “Rest assured, Junior Brother! Out of all the tests, the martial test is the one where the examiners hold the most power! Just watch me!”

Then, he recalled Outlawed by Heaven and Earth and added with a strange expression, “Though, now that I think about it… maybe I won’t need to take action after all.”

Sun Yu looked to be in deep thought when suddenly, let out a sigh. “What a shame!”

Daoist Fu Feng apparently shared the same sentiment. Every piece of flesh in his body was aching as he echoed, “It really is a shame!”

At the dormitories, the exam candidates were rushing here and there to form alliances, strategize, and more. They were all making their final preparations for the martial test tomorrow.

Wei Yuan, as per usual, was keeping to himself inside his room and studying the Southern Vermillion Bird's Unveiled Secret. From time to time, he would activate it and test out its effects. Although the instructions stated that a secret technique of fortune could not be used for an extended period of time, he noticed that the intangible substance inside his body—the “fortune” mentioned in the secret technique to be exact—wasn’t affected whatsoever. It was exactly the same as it was before, which confused him as to what the Vermillion Bird's Unveiled Secret was extracting. It was even mentioned in the instructions that the secret technique was extremely costly, which added to his confusion.

He was still practicing when suddenly, his senses tingled. When he looked, he saw Zhang Sheng standing in his room. He hurriedly saluted him and asked, “Why have you come, master?”

In fact, Zhang Sheng had been watching Wei Yuan for a while. He remarked, “You’re making good progress. Alas, the situation has changed. I need you to practice this secret technique of fortune instead.”

He handed the piece of paper containing Outlawed by Heaven and Earth and summoned a wisp of black qi. He then said, “This otherworldly fortune once sealed my powers for six years straight. It is incredibly fierce and violent, but it is perfect for activating Outlawed by Heaven and Earth. I’m now going to bestow it upon you. You will feel pain like your mind is being ripped apart, like your body is burning alive, like a heavenly devil is throwing your heart into disarray and more. You must endure.”

Wei Yuan nodded obediently. “I’m not afraid of pain.”

Zhang Sheng was well aware of his temperament, so he simply tapped the boy once in the forehead and delivered the wisp of fortune into his body.

Wei Yuan felt something cool entering his brain before spreading to every corner of his body. Like a drop of ocean that fell into the sea, it disappeared just like that.

Zhang Sheng kept watching, and Wei Yuan kept standing there. Nothing happened.

“Do you feel like your mind is being ripped apart?”

“Do you feel like hellfire is scorching your heart?”

“Do you feel like a maze is growing inside your heart? Like heavenly devils are sprouting everywhere?”

Zhang Sheng asked several questions in a row, but every time it only earned a headshake from Wei Yuan. He had envisioned all kinds of possibilities and even readied himself to pay a costly price to defend Wei Yuan’s primordial spirit should the need arise, but he never expected nothing to happen at all.

Of course, as confusing as this was, this was a good thing. Thus, he set aside his puzzlement and started explaining Outlawed by Heaven and Earth to his disciple.

The secret technique of fortune was the distillation of everything Zhang Sheng had witnessed and experienced as an ordinary human for the past six years. It was fueled by encounters with profound injustices and forged into a single crucible by the mercilessness and unbridled ferocity of the world. It required an incredibly powerful fortune to activate and could easily distort the caster’s temperament and mental state.

He kept explaining in detail until the boy had understood everything.

Wei Yuan was a precocious child, displaying a high intellect from a very young age. His master told him that the situation had changed, but did not explain what. So, he didn’t ask. He waited until his master was done before finally asking, “What should I do during the martial test tomorrow?”

Zhang Sheng placed his hands behind his back and declared, “Crush them all!”

“Who is ‘them’?”

“Everyone!”

By the time Zhang Sheng left the dormitory, his complexion had become as white as a sheet. Blood was bubbling inside his nose as well. He was already injured when he ended his secluded cultivation early. It got worse when he created Outlawed by Heaven and Earth and attracted the heavenly mysteries. To say he was straining to keep his composure would be an understatement. As soon as he was done tutoring Wei Yuan, he immediately returned to his room and entered a restful cultivation. They both had an important battle to fight tomorrow.

Early the next morning, the immortal mountain grew bright and beautiful once more. A couple immortal cranes—all of them ten zhang long—could be seen circling the distant peaks. The candidates had already left their dormitories and were heading toward the trial hall under a Daoist’s prompting.

A couple hundred praying mats had been placed on the floor. Giant snakes could be seen circling the four corner pillars and watching the candidates entering the hall with lazy, glassy eyes.

Just like the previous tests, the candidates went over to the praying mats with their numbers on it and took their seats.

The older Daoist standing at the head of the hall struck a tiny bronze bell beside him with strength. Then, he declared loudly, “Let the martial test begin!”