Dao Lord: Starting from a Top-grade Golden Core

"Oh?" Master Yu Bo smiled in surprise. After a moment of thought, he found he had some impression of this person and asked, "Young friend, is your surname Pang?"

Pang Ban replied in a low voice, "It is."

Master Yu Bo nodded, a look of admiration in his eyes. "Not bad," he praised.

Pang Ban's understanding happened to match his own interpretation. However, this didn't mean Pang Ban's grasp of the Dao was superior to that of Zhuo Hansheng or Changhua. The characters themselves contained multiple layers of meaning. As long as an interpretation wasn't diametrically opposed to the core principle, it could be considered correct from any given angle.

Therefore, the meaning of each character could only be understood by considering it within the full context.

Pleased, he flicked his sleeve before him. Eight small, glazed cups descended, and into three of them, he dropped a single jade pearl each. He then smiled and said, "I shall first offer a prize. For every character one of you young friends deciphers, I will gift you a strand of Primordial Truth. How about it?"

At these words, someone's eyes instantly lit up. Master Yu Bo nodded in satisfaction and asked, "Are there any other young friends with a different understanding?"

In truth, not much could be gleaned from interpreting this single character alone. But according to Master Yu Bo's words, it seemed any sort of explanation would count, whether one truly understood it or not. If all else failed, one could likely just agree with someone else's opinion, and he would have nothing to say against it.

However, the people present were all figures of some repute, to say nothing of their vaunted titles as cultivation geniuses. They wouldn't stoop to such measures. Thus, Master Yu Bo's question was met with silence.

Master Yu Bo showed no sign of annoyance. "In that case," he said, "I shall continue."

He clapped his hands lightly, and a string of strange characters appeared in the air. He then smiled and said, "Regrettably, in the Daoist Scripture, the section after the first character is fragmented. What follows is this consecutive sequence of nine, which I will now reveal all at once."

"Even if you cannot grasp the entire profound principle, deciphering a single character still counts."

Everyone looked up at the characters in the air, and some immediately furrowed their brows.

With nine consecutive characters, linked from top to bottom, they should have been easier to speculate on. But when they truly tried to interpret them, they found that each character held its own meaning. When combined, the sequence was either completely incomprehensible or branched into countless variations, making it abstruse and profound.

Pang Ban lowered his gaze, suddenly dipped a finger into his wine cup, and began writing on the table. In just a moment, he had covered a large area with dense writing. He paused, his finger hovering over the table, and thought, 'These nine short characters actually contain a profound principle, but it doesn't align with my own path of the Dao. A detailed explanation is likely beyond me.'

He pondered for a moment, then glanced around the room, his eyes lingering on the group from Dinghu Mountain. He saw Zhuo Hansheng looking pensive, his hands seemingly performing calculations within his sleeve. Pang Ban thought, 'I'm different from them. I don't need to worry about saving face. Getting the prize in my hands is what really matters.'

Pang Ban raised his eyes to look at Master Yu Bo. The Zhenren seemed to sense it, and his gaze shifted over, revealing a look of encouragement.

His expression unchanging, he began to speak. "Zhenren, this junior believes the first character means to refine and store, the second character means to harmonize and converge..." He broke it down character by character, explaining smoothly.

Without a moment's hesitation, Master Yu Bo laughed freely and said, "Good." With a flick of his sleeve, he added nine jade pearls to one of the cups.

Seeing this, Zhuo Hansheng's brows knitted together. He shot a glance at Pang Ban and thought disdainfully, 'And here I thought this man might be worthy of comparison. Turns out he's just a mediocrity.'

He let out a soft snort, his fingers continuing their calculations inside his sleeve. He mused internally, 'The method within is quite profound, but I should be able to solve it in a quarter or half an hour.'

While Zhuo Hansheng was calculating in his sleeve, Cen Fenghong made a few light calculations with his own fingers, then shook his head. Seeing the calm expressions on both Xuzhuang and Zhong Shenxiu, he suddenly asked in a low voice, "Do you two fellow Daoists have any thoughts?"

Zhong Shenxiu thought for a brief moment, then turned to Xuzhuang and asked, "Fellow Daoist, have you figured it out?"

Xuzhuang pondered and said, "These nine characters should be describing a method to harmonize and nurture a type of Tai Chi Primordial Qi—such as Yin and Yang Qi, or the qi of water and fire, or the essence of the sun and moon—within a single acupoint."

He paused for a moment, then added thoughtfully, "There should be another key point within it. The Tai Chi Primordial Qi must be kept clearly distinct and in opposition. They cannot be allowed to merge in the slightest, nor can they be allowed to conflict..."

What the nine characters described was not, in fact, entirely complete. But as Xuzhuang deduced, he supplemented the gaps with his own understanding of the Yin-Yang Principle, and in doing so, managed to make sense of eighty to ninety percent of the method.

Zhong Shenxiu nodded slightly. "Indeed." He then smiled and said, "However, my deductions on the method of harmonizing the two aspects were a step behind. I didn't expect you, fellow Daoist, to have such profound attainment in the Yin-Yang Principle."

Xuzhuang's explanation had already astonished Cen Fenghong. But the implication of Zhong Shenxiu's words—didn't that mean he had also figured out the method?

Cen Fenghong looked at the characters in the air and contemplated them according to the method Xuzhuang had described. Sure enough, the profound principle suddenly became clear and coherent. He couldn't help but think, 'Their reputations are truly well-deserved. How formidable...'

The conversation between Xuzhuang and Zhong Shenxiu couldn't be hidden from the Primordial Spirit True Men, not that there was any need to hide it. Master Yu Bo heard it all and couldn't help but be surprised.

The method Xuzhuang had deduced was not much different from his own interpretation. In fact, influenced by his own preconceptions, he had assumed this method could only be used with Yin and Yang Qi. Yet, Xuzhuang had been able to extrapolate from it to include other forms of Tai Chi Primordial Qi.

These young talents truly had profound attainments, each with their own unique approach. He had organized this celestial banquet on a whim, more as a gesture to form connections, but he never expected to gain some small inspiration from it himself.

Master Yu Bo asked cheerfully, "You two young friends don't look familiar. Where might you be cultivating?"