The butler whispered, "Mr. Wei, it's settled."
Mr. Wei remained silent, turning the paper over, and this time it indeed pleased him more.
He stared at the character soaring up as if taking flight and muttered to himself, "Yuan, there's a dragon in the abyss, Wei Yuan... Not bad, let's call him Wei Yuan."
Mr. Wei suddenly looked at the butler with suspicion and asked, "You recognize such a complex character?"
The butler said with a forced smile, "I saw that teacher writing it, so naturally I know it."
At this moment, Zhang Sheng and the child were walking towards the town at a moderate pace. After walking for a while, the child could no longer hold back and said, "Giving him a character is practically like giving him Luck, and all we got was one tael of mortal silver, isn't that too cheap for them!"
Zhang Sheng weighed the money bag in his hand and laughed, "Don't underestimate this mere tael of mortal silver, it's enough to solve a thousand sorrows in the world."
The child still seemed indignant, "If you ask me, just perform a small Daoist Skill to make that old man happy, why spend your Luck?"
Zhang Sheng said, "I just happened to be here when the child was born, which means it's fate with me, Zhang Sheng. Besides, ordinary Luck doesn't do much good anyway, it merely makes one's intellect open earlier and strengthens the physique a bit, so it's not worth fussing over. Times have changed, Luck isn't worth much."
The child dared not say more, but his little face was still unhappy.
Zhang Sheng suddenly felt a hunch and raised his left hand. His skin was as smooth as jade, dazzlingly white, and his long, slender fingers spread out one by one like blossoming flowers at night, incongruously beautiful compared to his face. A cloud of mist rose from his palm and rolled towards a certain direction.
Zhang Sheng's eyebrows relaxed, saying, "I've found the Dragon Pond Water Eye!"
The mist in his hand did not point to the town, but rather to the area behind Wei Mansion they had just passed. From afar, one could see an ancient tree behind Wei Mansion, large enough for several people to embrace, its shadow covering half of the Wei family's back residence.
Zhang Sheng withdrew the mist in his palm, and in a few steps he appeared under the ancient tree, looking up at it and nodding, "Water and wood beget each other; this is the place."
He walked around the ancient tree once, then looked at the position of Wei Mansion and slightly frowned, saying, "There's still some connection with this mansion. If I extract the dragon energy, this family will be impacted somewhat. So, go catch a wild chicken. After I've obtained the dragon energy, I'll compensate this family with some good fortune as well, and incidentally make that old man happy."
The child complied and dashed off, returning in a short while holding a golden pheasant.
Zhang Sheng had already chosen the array position, casually picked up a few stones to construct an Array Plate, and inserted branches at specific locations around it, explaining, "The art of Formation, if one grasps the fundamental principles, can be changed at will. This Gui Water Light Array can gather the Heavenly Mechanism and Luck from the surroundings. It originally requires many precious materials, but since I'm setting it up on the Water Eye, many Array positions just need something to occupy them. Speaking of which, it's like deceiving heaven and earth."
Zhang Sheng took out a Jade Plate and set it on the Array Plate. The Jade Plate was of the finest quality, with countless patterns carved on it, faintly radiating light. After placing the Jade Plate, Zhang Sheng said to the child, "Our business here is done, and our fate has reached its end. Over the past year, I've imparted to you everything a beginner needs to know. With this foundation, you can find a Sect you like and join to cultivate properly."
The child's eyes immediately reddened, and he knelt on the ground with a thud, crying out, "No, I don't want to go anywhere else, I want to stay with you, Teacher! I only recognize you as my master!"
However, Zhang Sheng was unmoved, and calmly said, "We are not bound by a master-disciple fate, don't call me master. Your destiny doesn't permit it, and it's futile to insist."
The child dared not say more and only knelt, wiping away tears.
Zhang Sheng said, "I'm about to activate the Array, this is your last lesson. Pay close attention. It may not be easy to witness this array again in the future."
The child wiped his tears and watched intently.
Zhang Sheng erected his index finger against his brow, eyes slightly closed, and suddenly seven points of light burst from his body, each entering the Array Plate. All the patterns on the Jade Plate lit up, converging into a vortex. The heart of the vortex was dark and seemingly bottomless, a mystery where it led.
Zhang Sheng then said, "The Array is complete; just wait, it will draw out the little dragon."
Before Zhang Sheng finished speaking, a burst of black gas spewed from the center of the vortex, circling above the Array.
The child immediately widened his eyes, not expecting to actually find Luck in this small place, though it didn't look much like dragon energy. Within the black gas, something loomed that he couldn't see clearly due to his insufficient cultivation.
But Zhang Sheng saw it clearly: a bizarre ancient bird was slowly circling within the black gas. It had three long tail feathers with colorful plumage and a human face on its head.
Seeing the large bird, Zhang Sheng's face also changed slightly, and he thought to himself, "Luckily it's just a wisp of aura, not even worthy of being called a soul fragment."
He waved his hand to dissipate the black mist and said, "Let's wait a bit longer."
In the blink of an eye, two more shadowy figures were spat out from the heart of the Array, circling without dispersing. Zhang Sheng focused his gaze and saw two ferocious beasts. Just by their fierce appearances and the aura soaring to the sky, he knew they were not a good omen.
"Why is it that if not a disaster star, then it's a rebel?" Zhang Sheng's expression changed as he waved away the two shadowy figures.
Moments later, the Array kept operating, but there was no activity at the core. Zhang Sheng's eyebrows raised slightly, and he said coldly, "No matter how deeply a little dragon hides, I can still dig you out!"
He raised his hand and pointed, and once again, specks of light entered the Array. The brightness of the Array flared, and the core began spinning rapidly!
In an instant, several continuous streams of Luck spewed out from the Array, darkening the surroundings.
Zhang Sheng looked at each of them and saw an endless Blood Pond, crumbling mountains, bloodstained King's Banner, broken Divine Weapons, and a Giant Cauldron on a mountain of corpses. At this point, he didn't even know what to say. However, there was one group of Luck that was very peculiar, which was a long, thin iron tube wrapped in wood, with a long, sharp blade attached to the front, slanted into the scorched earth, with nothing but ruins in the distance.
Even the usually composed Zhang Sheng's face turned ugly. This place was not some gathering of initial movements of the world; it was clearly a convergence of murderous intentions!
Before he could decide whether to continue extracting the dragon energy, a cold, vast, and primal intent suddenly came from the core of the Array, as a massive entity tried to cross over from the other side. But the core of the Array was too small; it managed to get only a wisp of aura through. As this aura emerged, the environment around the Array began to warp!
Zhang Sheng made a decisive move, waved his hand to empty the Array of its Dao Power, and with a snap, the Jade Plate shattered, cutting off the channel through which the massive entity was coming.
The vast Luck was extremely furious, letting out a roar of anger, but still had no choice but to disappear along with the core of the Array.
With the Array Plate shattered and the gathered Luck dissipated, everything around returned to normal. Only then did Zhang Sheng realize he was unwittingly covered in a cold sweat. He didn't know what the massive Luck was, only that it absolutely could not be allowed to cross over. If it were to manifest in this world, the results could be far worse than just cataclysmic land collapse.
As he prepared to leave, Zhang Sheng looked towards Wei Mansion. In his eyes, above the mansion loomed a grey-black aura that was not there before. He sighed silently; the Array had after all disturbed the feng shui and Luck of this household. He couldn't just walk away.
Zhang Sheng pondered for a moment, then a small Fire Bird appeared in his palm. It was a wisp of phoenix energy that he had obtained, quite precious, and more than enough to replenish the Luck of Wei Mansion. He then had the child throw the golden pheasant towards Wei Mansion, raised his hand and pointed, and the small Fire Bird entered the body of the golden pheasant. This was to utilize an object for a spell, to secretly change the Heavenly Mechanism, a common method to alter one's Life Grid and Luck.
Once affected by this spell, the golden pheasant would momentarily turn into a Heavenly Phoenix, restoring the damaged Luck of Wei Mansion and even leaving abundance behind. Wei the Great would not only enjoy wealth and a good end, but also leave a residual blessing for his descendants.
The golden pheasant, having gained its freedom, immediately took flight. At that moment, a dark halo suddenly appeared on it, turning into a huge bird with black feathers and three heads in an instant!
Zhang Sheng was also stunned for a moment; even he could not discern the origin of this three-headed giant bird, but he was certain it had nothing to do with a Heavenly Phoenix.
Just then, from inside the courtyard came the resounding cry of a newborn baby, the child was born.
At that moment, the three-headed giant bird came to life: two heads looked down, while the other turned around, all three dark golden eyes staring at Zhang Sheng!
At that moment, Zhang Sheng felt like he had fallen into an ice cavern, standing at the brink of an abyss, as if he were about to vanish!
The three eyes of the giant bird gave him three different impacts!
Zhang Sheng's mind went blank in an instant; all his Divine Skills and Daoist Teachings seemed to have been erased, unable to remember a single word.
Suddenly, a part of his face seemed to crumble away, revealing another visage. Although only one eye was exposed, anyone who saw the brow shaped like the crescent moon and the sword, and the eye bright as a star and deep as lacquer but showing a hint of pain, would never be able to forget it.
The three-headed giant bird glanced at Zhang Sheng, then lowered its gaze again towards the ground. It then circled around the mansion and took off, disappearing beyond the clouds in the blink of an eye.
After a moment of silence, Zhang Sheng finally said, "There are too many rebels here, it's not safe to stay for long."
Having said that, he left with the child. Behind him, the ancient tree still stood tall, its canopy spreading wide.
In the third year of Great Tang Longwu, Wei Yuan was born in Ye County of Yong State, with Zhang Sheng praying during the birth, and auspicious omens descending from the heavens.