On the Path to the Great Dao

"Tianqing!"

A voice called out. Chen Shi and Li Tianqing looked over to see seven or eight young men dressed as scholars. Their attire was neat and refined without being ostentatious—high-spirited youths in the prime of life, waving to Li Tianqing from afar.

Li Tianqing answered with a shout, then whispered, "Those are people from my Li family. The one calling me is Li Ju, Second Brother, the second son of Fourth Uncle. He looks out for me quite a bit. They're probably calling me for something, so I'll head over."

Chen Shi nodded.

Li Tianqing jogged over. Li Ju smiled and said, "Tianqing, us brothers just arrived in Xinxian County. We're unfamiliar with the place and finding things inconvenient. Any good spots for fun? You've been here before—why don't you show us around?"

Li Tianqing looked troubled. "Last time I came, I only went to the countryside. I never made it to the county seat."

Li Ju said, "We're just looking for a nice scenic spot to have some tea. That guy you were talking to earlier—is he local? Go ask him."

Li Tianqing ran back and explained the situation. Chen Shi said, "A few days ago, I passed by the Clear Canal River in the city during the night market. There were painted boats on the river—probably good for taking in the views and drinking tea. But Tianqing, the way they boss you around, they don't treat you like a brother. More like a servant."

Li Tianqing said, "I'll explain later."

He hurried back over and told Li Ju and the others about the painted boats. Li Ju checked with the rest of the brothers and sisters, who all laughed and said, "We're just new in town and want to enjoy the sights in some quiet, elegant spot. The painted boats sound perfect." Li Ju nodded. "Thanks for the help, Tianqing. Was that guy your friend? Invite him along. Having a local guide will make things easier."

Li Tianqing agreed, came back to fetch Chen Shi, and led the group toward the Clear Canal River.

In a quiet whisper, Li Tianqing said, "I'm from a branch line in the Li family—an illegitimate son born to a concubine. I never had much status to begin with. Even in the mansion, I'm beneath the favored maids. If not for the merit I earned discovering that Great Ming treasure ship this time, they probably wouldn't give me the time of day."

Chen Shi grinned. "Then what's the point of sticking around the Li family? Come with me to Qianyang Mountain instead. We can be kings of the hills there—in these parts, what I say goes, no one dares say otherwise."

Li Tianqing let out a sigh. "Born into a great clan, and your fate's not your own."

As they spoke, they arrived at the Clear Canal River dock and hailed a painted boat. The river water was clean enough, and the boat bore wind talismans painted on it that could be activated to harness the breeze—very convenient for sailing.

The boat was run by a father-daughter pair. The father handled the rudder while the daughter bustled about, brewing and serving tea with great attentiveness.

The Li family young masters took one look at the pretty girl and started teasing her. But she turned out to be sharp-tongued and fiery, firing back with a barrage of crude jokes that left the Li scions blushing crimson.

Everyone burst into laughter as the painted boat glided into the Clear Canal River.

"Whence does the canal gain such clarity? From the living waters of its source."

Li Ju sighed, his voice laced with helplessness. "This Great Ming realm is a land of breathtaking scenery. But alas, the court is in disarray. Those in power are nothing but wine-sodden rice sacks, colluding from top to bottom. Evil spirits run rampant, squandering this picturesque realm and betraying its people. In a world like this, where is the clear canal? Without a clear canal, where is the living water? If the water stagnates, how can fish and dragons frolic?"

His words struck a chord, leaving everyone deep in thought.

Chen Shi couldn't help but glance sideways at him, thinking to himself, *This Young Master Li Ju sees the ills of the age clearly enough.*

Li Zhengqing, the fourth son of Li Xiaozheng, said, "Second Brother speaks true. The world is as it is. Though we harbor hearts eager to right these wrongs, without power or influence, what can we do?"

They all sighed in unison.

Li Ju chanted mournfully, "Vain grief has silvered our youthful heads! Hearts set on slaying thieves, yet powerless to turn back heaven! Alas, alas! Were I to enter the court, I would sweep the cosmos clean, purge the government's rot, revive the ancient rites, and restore a bright and open world!"

The others praised him effusively. Chen Shi joined in the admiration, whispering to Li Tianqing, "The Li family is full of insightful men. Impressive—far better than the Zhao clan."

He had killed plenty of Zhao clansmen and knew their young ones inside out.

Li Tianqing only smiled without replying.

Aboard the painted boat, the group waxed passionate, breaking into lamentations over the world's hardships and the court's heartless fools. They bewailed their impotent ideals, powerless to shift the tide.

Chen Shi's respect for Li Ju and the rest grew. At that moment, Li Ju turned to the boat girl. "Are there any thin horses in the city?"

The boat girl blinked in confusion. "What's a thin horse?"

Li Ju flushed slightly and murmured, "You know—young courtesans."

She laughed. "Oh, so the young masters want to visit the brothels! You were talking so righteously just now, I figured you weren't interested, so I didn't head that way. This boat goes straight to the pleasure houses, but folks mostly go at night. Rare during the day. Wait just a bit, sirs—I'll turn us around. Dad, these aren't proper scholars. Head for the brothel!"

The painted boat turned about and made for the brothels.

Everyone visibly relaxed, chatting and laughing freely now. If talk strayed to the state of affairs, it was quickly changed, and they dove back into crude banter about thin horses.

Chen Shi found the whole scene absurd, unable to reconcile these men with the impassioned patriots from moments before.

When they reached the brothel district, the boat docked. A flock of dolled-up girls flung open the upstairs windows, leaning out to beckon them with light garments fluttering and songs on their lips, waving silk handkerchiefs to lure the "great lords" upstairs.

The crowd's souls seemed to fly from their bodies as they hiked up their robes and scrambled ashore.

The boat girl called after them, "Hey, you haven't paid the fare yet!"

"Tianqing, handle the bill!" Li Ju was the first to charge into the brothel, shouting over his shoulder.

The group surged inside, embracing beauties and drowning in drink and revelry. Moments later, some nerve must have been struck again—they railed against the court and fretted for the realm and its people before their hands slipped into the girls' bodices, lost to wine, women, and dogs.

Not long after, they came scrambling out in disarray. The madam and her bully boys chased them, hurling curses: "No money and you visit the kilns? Go home and play with yourselves!"

Shamefaced and furious, the group fled with heads ducked.

Li Ju panted, "Tianqing, got any silver on you?"

Li Tianqing shook his head. "My monthly allowance is just a few taels. Nowhere near enough."

The Li family young masters had no face left to return to the boat. They slunk off sullenly, leaving Chen Shi to foot the bill in the end.

Li Tianqing made to follow them ashore, but Chen Shi shook his head. "Boatman, cast off."

The two reached the bow. Chen Shi gazed at the teeming crowds weaving along the shore. After a long moment, he suddenly burst into roaring laughter, doubling over.

Li Tianqing felt mortified at first, but soon he was laughing too.

"These are the clear streams—adept at hot air, devoid of real skill, relying on nothing but lip service."

Li Tianqing chuckled. "Go to any provincial capital—doesn't matter which of the fifty provinces—and you'll find them everywhere. When you called them insightful earlier, I knew you hadn't run into this type before, so I didn't say anything."

Chen Shi laughed. "Now I've seen it for myself. If the scholars of the world are mostly like this, I won't just lord it over Qianyang Mountain—I could lord it over the entire West Ox New Continent!"

A bold豪气 welled up in his chest.

*Domineering in Huangpo Village—what feat is that?*

*If you've got the chops, rule the whole damn world!*

Li Tianqing shook his head. "Great clans may be full of wine sacks and rice bags, but they also breed those who bide their time, tasting gall and swallowing coals to rise strong. Think ruling the West Ox New Continent is that easy?"

Chen Shi shot him a sidelong glance, smirking. "Don't tell me you're one of those rising stars?"

Li Tianqing replied coolly, "Once I get home, I'll devote myself to cultivation and press onward with diligence. Just recently, I formed my Golden Core. With the core achieved, no one in the Li family will covet my Purple Jade Divine Embryo anymore. From then on, the skies are open to birds, the seas vast for fish."

Behind his head, the Divine Shrine blazed with light. At its center sat a Divine Embryo that parted its lips slightly—a cyan divine core flew forth. Its radiance bathed the surroundings, turning the air to limpid water alive with rippling waves. The painted boat seemed to glide through submerged depths.

Chen Shi's aura surged like a tiger's. He fixed Li Tianqing with a stare. "Tianqing, you've got ambition. I can hear it in your words."

Li Tianqing's frame was slight as he smiled. "As a man, how could I lack ambition? Little Ten, you're gifted in letters and arms—you'll surely pass the scholar exam this time. But without a Divine Embryo of your own, even if you acquire one, others will set their sights on it. You can't dodge that doom. Me? I'll stay one step ahead."

Chen Shi smiled faintly. "A Golden Core, eh? I may lack a Divine Embryo, but I've formed one too."

His aura exploded outward. Within his body, in the Palace of Core Essence, a sea of flame roiled as his Golden Core blazed like the sun, illuminating his organs and viscera. It refined his meridians, qi, blood, essence, bones, marrow, form, and spirit through seven returns, eight transformations, nine revolutions.

Li Tianqing beheld him as if gazing upon the dawn sun rising from the sea.

His own core lent the boat the illusion of underwater travel, but Chen Shi was the newborn fierce sun!

Li Tianqing shuddered, his face a mask of disbelief. "How did you form it?"

Chen Shi beamed with pride. "You think forming a Golden Core lets you pull ahead of me? I've forged my body into a Divine Embryo, tempered a sacred embryonic form, broken through at last—refining a profound core from my own qi and blood!"

Li Tianqing snorted. "Heresy and side paths! I have a Divine Embryo you lack—one whole realm ahead!"

He strode forward, his foot landing on the water's surface. He didn't sink—his steps propelled him skimming across like flight!

"Little Ten, come on! I'll show you true Golden Core mastery!"

Freshly core-formed and brimming with vigor, he challenged Chen Shi outright, dashing dozens of feet in an instant.

His Golden Core hovered over his head, its divine light pressing the water down into a slight depression that buoyed his form. He trod the waves as if on solid ground!

Chen Shi watched in admiration. *Worthy of a great clan. Their core refinement far outstrips mine!*

He was about to leap onto the river when the boat girl grabbed his sleeve. "You haven't paid!"

Chen Shi laughed heartily and tossed down a tael of silver.

"Keep the change!"

He stepped forth, foot striking the river. His Golden Core thrummed within, flooding his legs with qi and blood. The water erupted with a boom on impact!

Chen Shi shot forward like an arrow loosed from the string. His figure carved a path, water exploding in his wake as he hurtled toward Li Tianqing!

Li Tianqing raced across the surface, then flipped like a soaring goose. Six invisible jade rings burst from beneath him, wheeling up, down, left, right—fast, slow, in relentless assault on Chen Shi!

Chen Shi pinched a sword art with one hand, slashing and thrusting in fluid shifts. Invisible sword qi sheared through the six jade rings. His other fist rocketed out, whipping the river into frenzy—gale winds hurled towering waves straight at Li Tianqing!

Li Tianqing's Golden Core shielded him as he plunged through the breakers, surging ahead. His jade rings spun to meet Chen Shi's fist head-on.

Their qi and blood clashed, detonating massive waves across the river. Amid the spray, Chen Shi burst through the water curtain, somersaulting onto a stone bridge. He peered down—the river flowed lazily onward, Li Tianqing adrift upon it, borne downstream by the current.

Chen Shi revved his Golden Core, poised to dive from the bridge in pursuit, but spied the Clear Canal choked with listing skiffs and painted boats. Boatmen and girls spewed vitriol in furious curses. He thought better of it and whistled idly as he strolled away.

Li Tianqing braced for the follow-up charge, only to see Chen Shi saunter off as if they were strangers. Bewildered, he watched a dinghy wobble past. The grizzled old boatman aboard bellowed at him, "Dead skull, your ancestors dropped in the drink! Boom boom boom—boom a big bastard turtle!"

The dialect-heavy rant took Li Tianqing a beat to parse. His face flushed beet-red, and he scrambled ashore in haste.

He meant to track down Chen Shi for a proper finish, but spotted Fourth Uncle Li Xiaozheng and the others approaching. He shelved the rematch.

After the civil and martial exams came a wait for the postings—several days at least. Only then would the Divine Descent Grand Sacrifice begin.

With nothing to do in the city, Chen Shi simply returned to Huangpo Village.

"Little Ten's back from the scholar exam? Did you pass?"

Old Lady Wuzhu stood by the roadside. Spotting Chen Shi, she flashed a fawning smile. "Little Ten, come have some watermelon from the field."

Chen Shi smiled. "The postings aren't for a few more days."

Old Lady Wuzhu kicked the watermelon back into the field as if he were invisible.

Chen Shi headed into the village and climbed Yellow Earth Hill to see Scholar Zhu. The scholar eagerly asked about the exam questions, and Chen Shi recounted them honestly.

"I covered that one in lecture!"

Scholar Zhu exclaimed in excitement. "Guaranteed pass—guaranteed! Don't worry, it's in the bag!"

Chen Shi was thrilled too. "I felt the same! I just offered incense to Grandpa, and smoke was rising from his grave mound!"

He paused, then hurriedly fetched incense to pay respects to Godmother. After lighting it up, as he turned to speak with Scholar Zhu, the stele's glow flowed like liquid. A streak of light shot from the stone and burrowed into the back of his head!

Chen Shi's vision went utterly black. He saw nothing.

Sensing trouble, he forced his eyes open—but pitch darkness remained. He stood alone in the void.

The willow, Godmother, Scholar Zhu, Blackie Pot, Huangpo Village, Qianyang Mountain—all vanished!

"Possessed by evil?"

Chen Shi wondered in shock. "Evil that dares touch me these days?"

Then, faint light seeped into his vision.

He waited patiently. The glow spread like white ink bleeding through blackness, growing broader. Yet it had a gritty texture, as if the space before him consisted of white and black sand grains.

In this bizarre realm stood a temple.

The temple was modest—no courtyard, just a solitary hall about eighteen feet high and over twenty feet wide. Three tiers of steps led to the entrance, flanked by a pair of vermilion pillars exuding ancient simplicity.

Glazed tiles layered the roof, with no mythical beasts or dragons atop the ridge.

Chen Shi approached. Inscriptions adorned the pillars, one on each side:

> Emulating Heaven's Mandate, All Celestial and Terrestrial Forms Are My Likeness

> My Nature is Self-Sufficient—Seeking Gods or Ghosts Falls Short of Seeking the Self

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