Aspiring to the Immortal Path

Chapter 340: Recommendation

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When that cross scar had been drawn on Lan Yu’s face, everyone knew that the contest was over. All that was left was garbage time.

For Ming Yekong, it was time to leave.

As Ming Yekong vanished into the sky, Xie Fengtang sighed.

There was no telling when he would next be able to see Ming Yekong.

Twelve hours later, the rest of the students left the blessed land.

The Seven Absolutions Sect was the clear dark horse, becoming the final winner, with six out of its nine people surviving to the end, each one holding a treasure—one of Horizon Ocean Pavilion’s treasures had been sold to the Seven Absolutions Sect. After all, there were only two people left for the Basking Moon Sect, so keeping it around was a waste. It was better to sell it to the Seven Absolutions Sect to give them an extra spot and fatten Tang Jie’s pockets.

In this way, the contest ultimately became the Seven Absolutions Sect having six treasures, the Basking Moon Sect and Thousand Passions Sect each having two, and Godhead Palace, the Beast Refining Gate, and Horizon Ocean Pavilion not getting a single one.

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Of course, even though the Seven Absolutions Sect had six spots, this didn’t mean that the Wandering Palace would choose them. In truth, in terms of strength, the Seven Absolutions Sect was still the weakest of the six sects. Rather than fighting for the Wandering Palace, Mu Yi’s efforts had really been striving to gain glory for the Seven Absolutions Sect. At the very least, the Seven Absolutions Sect finally had a chance to stand at the peak of Rosecloud. If they could keep this up, their reputation would rise, and the sect would flourish.

Mu Yi received ardent cheers from all members of the Seven Absolutions Sect. It was clear that his actions had received the approval of the Seven Absolutions Sect, and no one made trouble for him for colluding with Godhead Palace.

But Yun Wuji wasn’t that fortunate. As someone who had worked with the enemy to escape with his life, he was bound to be punished. If not for the fact that he was also a genius of Godhead Palace, he might have been executed on the spot.

The moment Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong came out of the blessed land, Xie Fengtang came to welcome them, his face grim. Behind him were the dejected figures of Peng Yaolong and the others. It was clear that Xie Fengtang had already given them a good tongue-lashing.

Xie Fengtang stared at Tang Jie for a while before saying, “Only someone like you could think of shedding your mortality in the Langya Blessed Land.”

Tang Jie hadn’t expected this to be the first thing Xie Fengtang would say to him. Tang Jie awkwardly chuckled, but just when he was about to speak, Xie Fengtang added, “Let’s wait until later to talk. First, let’s discuss rewards and merits.”

So direct? Tang Jie was startled.

Xie Fengtang said, “Wei Tianchong, come here.”

Surprisingly, he chose to call over Wei Tianchong first.

Wei Tianchong came forward, and Xie Fengtang gave him a hard look. “I bore witness to all your actions. While you are usually mediocre, you’re quite steadfast at key moments. I don’t care what your reason was, but since you were able to last until the end and get a spot for my Basking Moon Sect, you have managed to preserve some of the dignity of my Basking Moon Sect. As such, you deserve a reward.”

Xie Fengtang took out three bottles of True Essence Pills and gave them to Wei Tianchong. “Any herbs that you gathered from the blessed land that are within your quota are yours, and any extra can be handed over without punishment. In addition, the art relic you obtained is also yours, and you are also rewarded three bottles of True Essence Pills and the chance to select a treasure that has a value of three thousand spirit coins or lower. Once you’ve decided on your choice, you can tell me.”

Wei Tianchong had received the Lampbearer Pagoda. When this pagoda was taken out, it could illuminate the underworld and paralyze ghosts. It was a formidable treasure for dealing with creatures of the Ghost Dao, and it was considered Wei Tianchong’s official reward.

As for the academy’s reward, after some consideration, Wei Tianchong decided on a Seal Partition Stone. The Seal Partition Stone was an important material for upgrading a spell weapon into an art relic, but Wei Tianchong was getting it for Tang Jie. After getting the Seal Partition Stone, Wei Tianchong gave it to Tang Jie along with the Lampbearer Pagoda, saying, “You’re at Mortal Shedding now, so it’s not right for you to not have a proper art relic. Since I’m not at Mortal Shedding, you might as well use it.”

The Lampbearer Pagoda was no big deal, but Tang Jie truly did require the Seal Partition Stone. With it, he could upgrade the Heartbreak Saber into an art relic. After all, he had gotten used to using this saber, and if he changed weapons, he would take some time to get used to it. Thus, he took them, giving Wei Tianchong the Blazeraven Ring in return.

Now that Wei Tianchong had been rewarded, it was Tang Jie’s turn.

Xie Fengtang turned to Tang Jie and smiled. “You put on an excellent performance in this battle, and you should have been richly rewarded. But the Seven Absolutions Sect was able to lay down its formation and deal a major blow to my sect because you sold the Black Cloud Banner and dragged out the time. You cannot escape responsibility for this!”

Tang Jie nodded in agreement.

Xie Fengtang said, “So you can accept being neither punished nor rewarded?”

Tang Jie did not dare to say that he did not accept, hastily saying, “It was all this student’s error.”

“Don’t be in such a hurry. I’m not done yet,” Xie Fengtang casually said. “Although I’m neither punishing nor rewarding you, you plundered the blessed land for the sake of advancing, far exceeding your quota. The Basking Moon Sect must pay for all of this. According to the initial agreement, those who dare to exceed the quota must pay double the excess. Your exemption from punishment has been canceled out by your errors, so…”

Xie Fengtang chuckled, his laughter giving Tang Jie goosebumps.

He heard Xie Fengtang say, “The value of the excess herbs you collected in the blessed land totals 16,300 spirit coins. I’ll remove the tail for you, so if we double that, your penalty is 32,000 coins.”

The number almost made Tang Jie black out.

Fuck! This advance to Mortal Shedding increased my debt by more than thirty thousand?

Fortunately, Xie Fengtang added, “Considering that you can’t return all this money at once, why don’t we do this? Didn’t you bring back an art relic with you? We can use that art relic to repay your debt.”

Tang Jie quickly agreed. In any case, this art relic was a support treasure that wasn’t very useful for him.

A master saw this and quietly reminded Xie Fengtang, “Headmaster Xie, this art relic is worth far less than thirty thousand spirit coins.”

Xie Fengtang glanced at the master and languidly replied, “Mm…… Did you say something?”

The master was alarmed, and then he realized what was going on. He quickly backed away while saying, “No, I didn’t say anything. This lowly one was merely saying that Headmaster Xie is doing a fine job, handling things with such fairness!”

Xie Fengtang waved his hand and dismissed Tang Jie.

He turned his gaze back on Peng Yaolong and company. They all shivered and lowered their heads. Xie Fengtang said, “When it comes to effort, I supposed that you’ve worked hard, but all of you made a grave error in being deceived into going back. Thus, I have decided that none of you will get any rewards, and you must hand over everything you gathered in the blessed land!”

The students didn’t dare to talk back, nodding in agreement.

Tang Jie couldn’t stand to watch this. Scooting up to Xie Fengtang, he said, “Headmaster, the situation this time is rather complicated…”

“I know,” Xie Fengtang said. “I admit that they had reasons for being deceived, but don’t forget what place this is.”

Xie Fengtang suddenly raised his voice. “This is the Immortal Fortune Conference, a gathering place of the elite students of the six sects! Since you are elites, how can we ask the same of you as ordinary students? This choice might have been common for an ordinary student, but for you people, it is failure! Failure does not require a reason. When you go back, carefully think over your mistakes and learn how to use your heads!”

“Yes!” everyone responded in unison.

Tang Jie said, “I think that this error doesn’t stem from a lack of intelligence, but a lack of ability. That Mu Yi was able to sense from an extremely long distance who had left, but we could not. If we were able to observe the enemy from a long distance, then Mu Yi wouldn’t have been able to deceive us. Thus, in the future, everyone should devote themselves more energetically to cultivation.”

His words twisted Xie Fengtang’s words somewhat, and Xie Fengtang glared at him. But after thinking them over, he found that they weren’t completely wrong. Perhaps from the perspective of a cultivator, many things were like this. A lack of intelligence could be made up entirely by ability, so there was no need to waste time trying to become a master schemer. Of course, on the same principle, a lack of ability could only be made up for with trickery.

For example, Tang Jie currently needed his head to make up for his lack of ability, but as he advanced and gradually built up an advantage, Tang Jie was sure that he would soon welcome an era where he could resolve problems with ability.

Tang Jie’s words didn’t have much significance to Xie Fengtang, but they were quite important to Peng Yaolong and the others, for it salvaged the confidence they had in their intelligence.

Xie Fengtang felt helpless about Tang Jie, only saying, “Don’t just say only good things about them.”

Tang Jie bitterly smiled. “Headmaster, I have Tianshang’s quota that he traded to me. He doesn’t have a quota for you to take away.”

Xie Fengtang grunted, “Don’t try that on me. You’re just finding excuses!”

But once he thought about it, he decided that it was true. Tang Jie had already used up Ye Tianshang’s quota. If he really got rid of everyone’s quotas, Tang Jie and Ye Tianshang were both already broke, so he would be pushing both of them to the brink.

Realizing this, Xie Fengtang finally said, “Forget it. You can keep whatever you got from the blessed land within your quota, but anything over the quota must be repaid twice over!”

“Yes!” Everyone sighed in relief when they heard that they could keep the quota, and they looked gratefully at Tang Jie.

Once he had announced all the rewards and punishments, Xie Fengtang gave Tang Jie an item. “For you.”

“What is this?” Tang Jie said in surprise.

“It’s from Master Ming. See for yourself,” Xie Fengtang replied.

“‘Master Ming’?” Tang Jie was startled.

He looked around, but he didn’t see Ming Yekong anywhere.

“There’s no need to look,” Xie Fengtang sighed. “He’s off to prepare to charge at Violet Palace.”

“‘Charge at Violet Palace’?” Tang Jie was aghast at this news. Ming Yekong charging at Violet Palace was big news for the Basking Moon Sect. From a certain perspective, it was even more important than the ownership of the Wandering Palace.

Xie Fengtang nodded. “You know, his resolve to do it actually has to do with your Mortal Shedding. He thanks you for allowing him to understand the meaning of bravely pressing forward, so he had me give this gift to you.”

When he heard Xie Fengtang’s explanation, Tang Jie understood that Ming Yekong’s charge at Violet Palace was actually connected to him. The problem was that he had dared to do this because he actually had He Chong giving him instructions in secret. It had nothing to do at all with an attitude of confronting mortal danger and pressing forward when everyone else would not.

He simply wasn’t that sort of person!

The thought of his “courage” causing Ming Yekong to make this decision made Tang Jie sweat. If Ming Yekong failed and his life was endangered, Tang Jie would be guilty of a grave crime.

But with things being as they were, he didn’t dare to say anything. He could only nod and say, “Master Ming is both wise and courageous, so he will definitely be able to recover from any dire situations and turn misfortune into fortune. As they say, the heavens help the worthy.”

While his words sounded nice, what he really meant to say was that this was an inherently dangerous affair and that he shouldn’t be blamed if anything happened. Xie Fengtang understood what he was getting at and grinned. “I really don’t understand how a sly fellow like you managed to do something as courageous as that.”

Tang Jie shamelessly replied, “A gentleman has things he should do and things he should not do.”

Xie Fengtang angrily replied, “If you’re a gentleman, then there are no lowly people in the world! Ah, forget it. Just see what Master Ming gave you.”

“Mm.” Tang Jie opened the bundle and found a metal placard inside. On the upper part of the placard was a silver moon, the symbol of the Basking Moon Sect, and on the lower part was a hand holding it up. At the very bottom, a “明” (Ming/Bright) had been carved, though its meaning was not clear.

“This is…?” Tang Jie looked questioningly at Xie Fengtang.

Xie Fengtang replied, “This is the recommendation placard of the Selection Hall.”

“‘Recommendation placard’?” Tang Jie was shocked by this revelation.

Those recommended by the recommendation placard could become disciples of the sect.

Ming Yekong was the master of the Selection Hall, and his duties involved all selection matters within the sect, including the promotion of subordinates and selection of students. All of this had to go through the approval of the Selection Hall, and if Ming Yekong did not give the nod, even the most outstanding genius could not enter the sect, becoming a wandering cultivator the moment they graduated.

As for the recommendation placard, it was a special privilege of members of the Selection Hall. Only the Hall Master, the Deputy Hall Masters, and the few Celestial Heart executors had the right to distribute them. Their purpose was to indicate ahead of time that the designated person could enter the sect, in addition taking some level of responsibility over them. It was essentially a recommendation letter.

This also meant that Tang Jie had become a provisional disciple from the moment Ming Yekong had issued the recommendation placard. Once the ten years were up, he could enter the sect, becoming an official inner sect disciple without needing to take any additional tests.

Although it seemed like there were no immediate benefits to being a provisional disciple, in reality, things were entirely different.

A provisional disciple no longer needed to seek the top ten and could also enjoy the treatment and privileges that disciples enjoyed.

For example, he could take sect missions—sect missions, not school missions. And as an example of the disciple privileges he could enjoy, where before he needed the permission of the local hall master to go to Cloudflow Academy, once he was a disciple, he could pay a visit without this permission. Of course, looking through the records was still not something an ordinary disciple could do. And while a student didn’t have the right to order around local officials, disciples could. Of course, that depended on the rank of the official. And disciples could even earn more contribution points than students when taking school missions.

Finally, and most importantly…

A disciple represented the Basking Moon Sect while a student represented Basking Moon Academy. There was a yawning chasm between the two!

Thus, becoming a provisional disciple meant a huge increase in status.

To take Wei Tianchong as an example, as a True Inheritor, he only had an extremely high chance of becoming a disciple, but so long as he wasn’t officially a provisional disciple, he could not enjoy some of the conveniences. Other people might be polite to him out of respect for Yan Changfeng, but that had to do with courtesy. There was no rule that made it so.

Xie Fengtang replied, “Yes, this is the recommendation placard of the Selection Hall, and yours was issued personally by Master Ming, so it carries a different meaning. It signifies Master Ming’s dignity.”

Xie Fengtang sighed. “The Selection Hall has always been careful about issuing recommendation placards, with many years going by without their issuing a single one. Ever since Master Ming became master of the Selection Hall, he’s only personally issued two placards in total. Yours is the third. It’s not just a symbol of status, but also honor. It is also an art relic, carrying some of Master Ming’s power. At a critical moment, it can unleash a full-strength attack from Master Ming, but it can only be used once. Once it is used, the bestower must recharge it. I really didn’t think that Master Ming would give such a thing to you.”

Tang Jie was amazed to hear of this marvelous ability, but he noticed that Xie Fengtang didn’t seem very happy about this, and was left confused. He asked, “It seems like Headmaster isn’t very happy about my new status.”

Xie Fengtang sighed again. “It’s not that I don’t want this for you, but I’m a bit conflicted. This is truly an opportunity for you, as you were born in poverty and lack resources, but you’re able to rely on yourself to create opportunities and gain resources again and again…”

Tang Jie went red in the face. Wasn’t he saying that he was good at swindling people?

But Xie Fengtang didn’t seem to be blaming him for it. On the contrary, his voice was full of praise. He had experienced a lot in his life, and he no longer quibbled over such things. When it came to people who had tricked him, so long as they stood on his side, he appreciated them. He continued, “I’m happy that you were able to obtain this placard. The problem is that when you took this item, you were branded… with Master Ming’s mark.”

At that moment, Tang Jie finally understood why Xie Fengtang wasn’t happy.

Factional strife again.

Just like Yan Changfeng, Ming Yekong belonged to the radicals.

Of the 19 Celestial Chiefs of the Basking Moon Sect, six belonged to the radical faction: the Service Hall’s Yan Changfeng, the Search Hall’s Liu Letian, the Tribute Hall’s An Yinglong, the Selection Hall’s Ming Yekong, and the Combat Department’s two Hall Masters. Finally, there was the head of the Combat Department, Xiao Biehan. These seven formed the top of the radical faction’s pyramid.

Once the news got out that Tang Jie had obtained Ming Yekong’s recommendation placard, he would become a member of the radical faction.

What? You said that you got their recommendation placard but you don’t belong to them? Don’t joke around. Brother, this is called a traitor!

Tang Jie took in a deep breath. He looked at Xie Fengtang and said, “Do I have to take it?”

Xie Fengtang sincerely said, “Of course not, but for Master Ming’s recommendation placard to be refused by a mere student…”

He paused before continuing, “Master Ming might not care, but for those who follow him, this might be considered a great humiliation!”

“…” Tang Jie was at a loss. All he could say was, “I would like to hear Headmaster’s opinion.”

Xie Fengtang thought it over and said, “Originally, after we got back, I was planning to have Headmaster Feng take you as her disciple, but Master Ming was a step ahead of me and gave you his recommendation placard. While my academy faction lacks in strength and numbers, we firmly hold to our neutrality, so it is no longer proper for us to intervene. In the past, I would have advised you to refuse, but two years ago, when all of you attempted the Nine Palace Illusion Formation, you alarmed the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk and shook the realms. The world is already showing signs of instability, and in an era of chaos, the Combat Department is king. Joining it early might not be bad for you.”

“An era of chaos is coming?” Tang Jie was clearly shaken by Xie Fengtang’s words.

Xie Fengtang chuckled. “It’s only a possibility. The world goes between unity and division, times of great peace and of great war. After a long period of peace, it wouldn’t be strange if a few wars happened. It’s just that no one can be sure when that day will come. For a cultivator like me, a thousand years go by in the blink of an eye, so everything can be said to be coming.”

He might as well have said nothing, and Tang Jie was left speechless. After some thought, he said, “My ambition is to live a free life, not to kill.”

Xie Fengtang replied, “While you desire a free life wandering the world, that doesn’t change the fact that the world is rife with terror, your path covered in thorns. If you don’t have the strength to cut through the brambles, you won’t be able to freely wander around at all. Take the Wandering Palace as an example. All it had was its wandering, but as it lacked the strength, isn’t it ultimately becoming the vassal of someone else?”

Tang Jie had nothing more to say. He brought his hands together in a salute and replied, “This student understands. Thank you for your instruction, Headmaster Xie.”

Xie Fengtang grabbed Tang Jie’s hand that was holding the recommendation placard and closed it, firmly saying, “Starting from today, you can call yourself a disciple.”

“Yes!” Tang Jie firmly replied.

A Basking Moon master laughed and said, “Now that I think of it, before Tang Jie entered the academy, he boasted that he would get into the top ten, shaking the entire academy. And now, those words have actually become true, and he really has become a disciple of Basking Moon. As we can see, this grand aspiration was no empty boast!”

Another Basking Moon master said, “This is called amazing the world with a magnificent feat while heroic words of the past still ring in the ears! Congratulations, congratulations!”

All the masters and students shouted in unison, “Congratulations to Tang Jie, for entering the ranks of the sect. My Basking Moon Sect has gained another heroic talent!”

Unfortunately, Tang Jie has been forced to enter the messy world of sect politics!