If Lei Jun had the chance, he would have much preferred to catch up and attend next year's Transmission Ceremony directly.
Because time waited for no one, and cultivation waited for no one either.
Compared to some novels he had read on Blue Star before crossing over, cultivators in this world were a little different.
Cultivators might possess vast magical powers and incredible destructive force, but their lifespans just weren't that thousand-year, ten-thousand-year thing so common in stories.
In short, tough, but brief.
Brief was a big problem, and besides brief, another big problem was being, well, limp.
*As long as one had not attained immortality, no matter how high your realm or how long your life, cultivators would grow old and withered eventually.*
From all Lei Jun knew at the moment, unless cultivators kept pushing their realms and constantly breaking through to extend their life limits, there was no such thing as those ancient beings who grew stronger with age.
If you passed a certain age without making progress, your hope for improvement would be cut off, and you'd gradually weaken, maybe even drop in your realm.
The whole image of 'immortals with crane-like bones, white hair and youthful faces climbing to the peak' only existed for two kinds of people, really,
One, folks whose old man looks were just appearances—their actual age still way below their lifespan limits.
Two, someone genuinely old, but who had been even stronger in their youth than they were now, elderly.
So, you didn't have to be famous young, but you had to progress young.
The younger you were, the more drive you had—the faster you improved, the greater your potential.
For Lei Jun, who only started cultivating at eighteen, to start off at the Sacred Land of the Celestial Master Mansion was already damn lucky—it'd helped him catch up a lot of lost time.
But the Transmission Ceremony at the start of next year was less than a year away.
As for cultivation, the higher you go, the harder it gets and the more time it eats.
Just a small "special treatment" with a Purple-Gold Ganoderma wouldn't be enough and wouldn't get him there in time—he needed multiple "special treatments"… *Lei Jun flashed that thought through his mind.*
The instructor could never have known how many wild ideas the young man was entertaining in the blink of an eye. He just sighed to himself, "Senior Sister was really sharp to scoop you up into our Taoist Sect and bring you here to the Celestial Master Mansion, you know. She's got such impressive insight."
Lei Jun said, "You're absolutely right."
Senior Sister's name was Xu Yuanzhen.
The instructor standing here wasn't actually from the same teacher lineage as her.
But among all the true inheritors at the Celestial Master Mansion, everyone basically called her "Senior Sister."
Because Xu Yuanzhen was the personal disciple of the current Celestial Master.
Senior Sister actually wasn't that old, but her reputation was huge.
The Celestial Master Mansion had a ton of elderly masters, but outside the Mansion, lots of people called her "Second Celestial Master."
It was this Second Celestial Master who had actually brought Lei Jun back to the Mansion.
Only, she didn't seem to have much of a plan at all.
Especially loved running all over the place—after bringing Lei Jun back to the mountain, she herself had left again, never coming back.
Lei Jun didn't advertise any of this—best to play it by ear for now.
The instructor said, "Cultivation's all well and good, and it's great to see you waking up to it. But remember to pace yourself, don't get impatient."
Lei Jun replied, "Yes, sir."
The instructor nodded in satisfaction.
Lei Jun's fast progress in cultivation was pleasing, but not enough to blow him away.
And as for going faster than he'd expected, well, it wasn't exactly earth-shattering either.
The main thing was, over at the Eighth Division, a new rising star had popped up lately.
Chen Yi had recently landed a Pure Gold Ganoderma and was rocketing forward, catching lots of attention.
*But, Lei Jun heard that lately, plenty of people were giving Chen Yi trouble.*
The Tao Boys over at the Sixth Division, chatting among themselves, had talked about it too.
Recovering from his injuries till he was back on his feet and feeling lively again, Zhang put on a mysterious face and said,
"It's pretty simple, really. Word is, he pissed off one of the Taoists in the Mansion!"
Lei Jun asked, "Over that Pure Gold Ganoderma?"
Zhang said, "Yeah, it was for refining some elixir—one batch kept failing because Ganoderma Terrace had dried out and Golden Ganoderma was nowhere to be found. This time the Terrace came back to life with new Golden Ganoderma, rare chance, and wouldn't you know it, Chen Yi actually swallowed that Pure Gold Ganoderma. How could he not wind up hated?"
"The Taoists in the Mansion wouldn't actually go toe to toe with Chen, right?" another Tao Boy asked, hesitation in his voice. Not so much defending Chen Yi as feeling sympathy for a fellow victim of the system.
Zhang sighed, "A Taoist wouldn't cause a huge scene over it—probably just sigh 'bad luck.' But the Tao Boy Court is full of people trying to get on their good side, so they start looking for ways to mess with Chen Yi instead."
Lei Jun recalled his own lot-drawing back then,
[Perfectly neutral lot, don't rush into things, wait for your chance, after a shocking turn, go to Ganoderma Terrace for a Sixth-Rank Opportunity, but big trees attract wind, jealousy abounds, hidden dangers, average fate.]
Given Xu Yuanzhen's style, she'd only worry if the higher-ups bullied the kids.
But as for feuds between Tao Boys, she probably wouldn't care much.
With her around, if Lei Jun had chosen that perfectly neutral lot, he'd have been safe from big trouble, but small troubles? Who knew.
*That was the perfectly mixed fate of the neutral lot for you.*
Nowadays, though, Lei Jun just didn't care. Not his business, not his problem.
He listened to all the gossip and stories, but kept sticking to his own routine, focused entirely on his cultivation.
Until one night, when the instructor brought a young Taoist to Lei Jun's little courtyard.
"This is Wang Guiyuan, Junior Brother Wang, disciple of Master Yuan."
The instructor introduced, "Master Yuan sent a letter for you, Wang brought it."
"Elder Yuan?" Lei Jun's heart skipped a beat.
Elder Yuan, Xu Yuanzhen's little uncle.
The current Celestial Master's younger brother.
Normally, for Tao Boys down at the Tao Boy Court, if you were allowed to attend the Transmission Ceremony, your future master was pretty much set.
Whichever immortal first brought a Tao Boy into Dragon Tiger Mountain was typically the same person they'd bow to as a Taoist after becoming an official disciple—the "Du Shi," or original master.
The Celestial Master Mansion valued lineage, and "immortal fate" was usually a straight shot.
But Lei Jun was a special case.
*He recalled when he followed Senior Sister Xu back to Dragon Tiger Mountain and reached the Tao Boy Court. Xu just casually stopped someone to ask,*
"Master's been in seclusion almost ten years now—still hasn't come out?"
"The Celestial Master hasn't come out yet…"
Xu said, "So Little Uncle went and gave lectures at which Division lately?"
The other replied, confused, "Elder Yuan's recently gone into seclusion too. Last I heard he taught at the Sixth Division…"
"Then let's go to the Sixth Division."
Once there, Xu pointed at Lei Jun and reported directly to the instructor on duty,
"I brought him into the Tao. I don't want to take on disciples, but he's mine, so keep an eye out for him and don't let anyone push him around."
The instructor responded, "…Senior Sister, if you look at your last protégé, you might want to tell them, don't bully other people."
Xu: "One bully for a whole crowd?"
The other could only give a helpless grin.
Xu said, "I've got things to do. I'm leaving now—when Little Uncle comes out of seclusion, let him know."
And just like that, she left, with Lei Jun and the instructor staring at each other awkwardly.
Luckily, Lei Jun didn't have to go through any more vetting or scrutiny, and nobody bothered to dig into his background.
With Xu Yuanzhen personally bringing him in, it was as if all responsibility fell on her.
And so from that day on, Lei Jun had officially become—at least in title—a Tao Boy of the Talisman Sect's ancestral home, the Celestial Master Mansion, one of the three great Sacred Lands of the Taoist world.
Afterward, Lei Jun studied at the Tao Boy Court, began picking up Taoist laws and cultivation, found it interesting, and threw himself into it.
But he never met the shut-away Little Uncle, let alone the current Celestial Master.
Until today.
Elder Yuan's disciple, the young Taoist named Wang Guiyuan, finally appeared.
He looked about thirty, nothing remarkable, but the apricot Daoist robe he wore declared him an authentic true heir of the Celestial Master Mansion.
He greeted Lei Jun kindly, "The other day, Elder Du's cave mansion had an emergency—one of the Tao Boys rushed over to help out, was that you, Lei Jun?"
Lei Jun answered, "Just a coincidence. Good timing. The Mansion always teaches us to look out for each other, and we all keep that in mind."
"Very good, very good," the instructor said, smiling and nodding.
After introducing everyone, he didn't linger, and took his leave.
Wang Guiyuan said warmly, "My master's been in seclusion all this time, I've been at his side. It was only two days ago that I accompanied him when he finally emerged.
"Senior Sister's wishes—Master already knew about them as soon as he left seclusion.
"He really wanted to meet you in person, but unfortunately the Mansion opened up a new Cave Heaven and Blessed Land outside the mountain. The environment was strange and complicated, so he had to go stabilize things right after coming out."
While Wang Guiyuan spoke, he took out a letter,
"But before leaving, Master made sure to write a special letter just for you."