Dao Lord: Starting from a Top-grade Golden Core

Xuzhuang replied, "To answer the Zhenren, I am Xuzhuang, and I cultivate in the Profound Yellow Realm."

Zhong Shenxiu followed suit, replying, "I am Zhong Shenxiu, and I also cultivate in the Profound Yellow Realm."

"What?" Zhuo Hansheng's brow twitched. His gaze swept over Zhong Shenxiu as he wondered in surprise, 'So this is Zhong Shenxiu?'

Master Yu Bo also paused for a moment before replying in a warm tone, "Ah, so you are Young Friend Zhong."

Master Yu Bo retracted his gaze and pondered for a moment. He pointed at the two empty Glazed Cups, and nine jade beads dropped into each. He then pointed to one cup again, adding another nine beads to make a total of eighteen, before turning to Xuzhuang and saying, "Young friend, your comprehension was marvelous. It is only right that your reward be doubled."

Xuzhuang remained humble, cupping his hands in a salute. "Thank you, Zhenren," he replied.

Master Yu Bo gave a slight nod and then asked, "Do any of you young friends have a different interpretation?"

Zhuo Hansheng let out a soft snort and stopped the calculations he was performing within his sleeve. He said nothing, and when no one else responded, Master Yu Bo wiped away the nine characters in the air, revealing three new ones.

This time, they did not wait for the Zhenren to ask, but began contemplating on their own. Pang Ban focused his thoughts for a moment, realizing that while there were only three characters, they seemed fragmented and disjointed, making their underlying principle even harder to deduce. Just as he was about to resort to his old trick, he suddenly heard the mysterious, gauze-hatted cultivator speak for the very first time. To his surprise, the man simply copied the previous method, breaking down the three characters to explain them.

Master Yu Bo didn't seem to mind and added three jade beads to his cup as well. Pang Ban's brow furrowed. After a moment of thought, he spoke up, "I believe the third character refers to the space within the Spiritual Platform—the Crimson Palace of the Heart-Chamber."

This was the only point where his understanding differed from that of the gauze-hatted cultivator. Though Pang Ban had taken a shortcut, he wasn't so shameless as to claim the whole interpretation, so he only pointed out this one character.

"Oh?" Master Yu Bo showed a hint of surprise. He mulled it over for a moment, then said, "So that's how it is. No wonder this old Daoist always felt something was amiss with this part."

"Young friend, you truly have a unique insight." He stroked his fine beard in praise, and with a point of his finger, dropped two more jade beads into Pang Ban's cup.

'The Heart-Chamber? How can it be the Heart-Chamber?' Zhuo Hansheng's brow furrowed deeply. He thought it over and over, realizing his own calculations had indeed been mistaken. Yet, when he tried to apply this new understanding, he found it inconceivable. 'Channeling the two energies to the Heart-Chamber? Isn't that just seeking death?'

He looked up at the characters in the air, contemplating them for a long while. 'It's not that my deduction was wrong,' he mused. 'It's that these three characters are incomplete, missing context from before and after. There must be another part to the method...'

At this thought, he suddenly realized that the feeling he got from deducing this part was identical to the one from the previous nine characters. He couldn't help but look up. Seeing that both Zhong Shenxiu and Xuzhuang were silent, he finally felt a sense of relief.

After a moment of deliberation, he stopped his calculations and shook his head. 'Deciphering an incomplete principle, which might even have mistakes, doesn't count as true skill.'

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Master Yu Bo saw that no one else was speaking and changed the characters in the air again. Over the next few rounds, he only showed two or three characters at a time. Though Zhuo Hansheng tried his best to deduce their meaning, he never once succeeded and couldn't help but feel frustrated.

However, after their success with the nine characters, neither Zhong Shenxiu nor Xuzhuang offered any more interpretations. Only Pang Ban and the gauze-veiled cultivator continued to compete for jade beads by analyzing the characters one by one.

After another cup or two of tea had passed, Master Yu Bo waved his sleeve, revealing sixteen characters in the air. "This is the most complete passage from this scroll of the Daoist Scripture," he announced. "Unfortunately, it is the final part. Once you have deciphered this section, our session will be concluded."

Each character in this Daoist Scripture already held many meanings; when combined, they became even more abstruse and profound. It was only natural, then, that the passages were not long.

Master Yu Bo's words were just what everyone had expected. Zhuo Hansheng's spirits lifted at once. He examined the characters closely, his confidence soaring. 'This time,' he thought, 'I'll definitely be able to decipher the meaning.'

He began performing his finger calculations, his fingertips twitching a few times. 'Circulating qi, transformations of yin and yang...?' he pondered.

As he was deep in thought, he suddenly heard two voices speak almost in unison. One said, "So that's how it is." The other, "It is indeed so."

The two voices spoke at nearly the same instant. Though one was slightly after the other, both were filled with the same tone of complete understanding.

Zhuo Hansheng looked up, stunned, only to see a faint smile on Zhong Shenxiu's face as he said to Xuzhuang, "Fellow Daoist, after you?"

Xuzhuang raised an eyebrow. "I had the first turn earlier," he replied. "This time, please, Fellow Daoist, you go first."

"Very well," Zhong Shenxiu agreed readily. He then began to explain with perfect clarity, "What this Daoist Scripture describes is a process: one must open the Qi Apertures, gestate the Two Principles... pass through the Heart-Chamber, and circulate energy through the meridians... From there, ignite the Heart-Fire. A clashing transformation of yin and yang then produces a thunder that annihilates all things. It is, in truth, a Superior Dao Skill—a terrifying lightning art."

When he finished, he smiled faintly and asked, "Fellow Daoist, do you have a differing opinion?"

Xuzhuang clapped his hands in admiration. "Fellow Daoist, you have already said everything there is to say. There is no need to add my own humble opinion."

This was no mere pleasantry. Zhong Shenxiu had truly elucidated all the profound principles within the characters Master Yu Bo had shown. Much like Xuzhuang with the first nine characters, he had even filled in the gaps and synthesized the many missing pieces of the text.

Although they had some minor differences in interpretation regarding the final details, owing to their different cultivation paths, there was no need for him to comment further.

Zhong Shenxiu simply smiled faintly at his words. "You flatter me, Fellow Daoist."

"Excellent," Master Yu Bo said, stroking his beard with a laugh. "I was wondering why you two young friends had fallen silent. It turns out you had already grasped the underlying principle. You truly have the ability to see the whole from a part, to understand a thousand things from hearing but one."

"So that's it!" While Zhong Shenxiu had been explaining, everyone had been listening with rapt attention, each lost in deep thought. Now, Changxin suddenly cried out, "Just from the principles of this Dao Skill alone, one can imagine its immense power!"

"A pity! What a true pity! It's ultimately too incomplete. Especially the Cultivation Method. Even if one tried to deduce and fill in the gaps, I'm afraid it could never be made whole."

Zhong Shenxiu gave a faint smile. "Our own wisdom is not necessarily inferior to that of our predecessors. To have grasped the principles of the Dao Skill is already a great fortune. The Cultivation Method itself isn't critical."

"Well said!" Master Yu Bo exclaimed in praise. "With such ambition, young friend, you may well break free from convention and surpass the methods of your predecessors." He pondered for a moment, then turned his hand over. An iron tablet appeared in his palm. The familiar, strangely-shaped characters were visible upon it, though many parts were missing.

Master Yu Bo said with a smile, "Today, I shall gift this scripture to you, young friend. I hope that one day, you will be able to complete it."

Zhong Shenxiu did not refuse. With a poised and balanced demeanor, he offered a salute and replied, "My thanks to the Zhenren."

Having gifted the iron tablet, Master Yu Bo waved his sleeve. With a loud CLATTER, a large handful of jade beads fell into the Glazed Cup. "Young friend," he said with a laugh, "you understood the complete principle of the entire Dao Skill. It is only right that your reward be doubled."

After a moment's thought, he turned to Xuzhuang. "Although I do not know if you understood the entire scripture, young friend, this old Daoist cannot be unfair. I shall grant you the full amount as well." With that, he added sixteen beads to Xuzhuang's Glazed Cup, which already contained eighteen.

According to Master Yu Bo's prize system, these thirty-four jade beads were equivalent to thirty-four strands of Yuan Zhen. For a Nascent Soul Cultivator, this was an exceptionally rare treasure, but it still couldn't compare to what Zhong Shenxiu had obtained.

But Xuzhuang was not a petty man, and he felt no jealousy. He accepted gladly, saying, "Thank you, Zhenren."

Master Yu Bo nodded with a smile. "The test of comprehension is over," he said. "Do any of you have a particular type of Yuan Zhen you require? If this old Daoist has it, I will not be stingy." As he spoke, his gaze fell first upon Zhong Shenxiu.

Zhong Shenxiu glanced at the iron tablet in his hand. "In that case," he replied, "I will be so bold as to ask the Zhenren for a measure of Yin Yang Essence."

Master Yu Bo laughed heartily. "Just as I expected." He pointed a finger, and out of the mysterious void, a stream of black-and-white energy flowed down into the Glazed Cup. Instantly, the jade beads within were filled with Yin Yang Essence!

After bestowing the cup of Yuan Zhen upon Zhong Shenxiu, Master Yu Bo turned his gaze to Xuzhuang and asked, "Young Friend Xu, have you decided what you would like?"

For Xuzhuang, the most beneficial resource would have been Tai Su Yuan Zhen. But he knew without even asking that Master Yu Bo was unlikely to possess such a thing. Among the remaining options, there were naturally only the essences belonging to Yin-Yang and the Five Elements.

Xuzhuang replied, "To the Zhenren, I would like to choose the Five Elements Essence and the Yin Yang Essence."

"Oh?" Master Yu Bo nodded slightly. He pointed a finger, splitting the thirty-four jade beads evenly between the Five Elements Essence and the Yin Yang Essence. "Does this suit your wishes, young friend?" he asked with a smile.

Xuzhuang accepted the Yuan Zhen. Without even looking at them, he tucked them into his sleeve, then bowed formally. "Thank you, Zhenren."