"Hm?"
When Xiaojin got back to Phoenix Mountain a few days later and told them about what she had done, she saw three very surprised faces.
What surprised them was not that book "On Dragons", but "What the heck? You made no trouble whatsoever and came back in on piece?"
Maybe the look on their faces was too apparent—it made a certain person very unhappy, and she began to shoot out words like little bullets. "F*ck, why are you all giving me that look? Do you have any idea how much trouble I had to go through during this trip? I had to be the security, the monster-catcher, and the treasure-hunter all at once. That was a ten-thousand-mile round trip…"
"Yes, yes, of course. You have done such a good job!" Seeing that Xiaojin was fuming, Xiaozhai placated her right away, and asked with a smile, "So, what else did you find?"
"There!" Xiaojin removed the storage bag from her waist and turned it upside down. Twenty shiny golden bars fell out with a clangor. "From that old moneybags' stash. I just grabbed a few. I don't know if they'll be useful for us."
"Gold…" Gu Yu picked on up and examined it. It was a standardized golden bar from the Republic of China era, weighing ten liang of the old system—equivalent to 312.5 g—and having a serial number, quality standard, weight, and the letter S—standing for "cast in Shanghai"—inscribed onto it.
"There were ancient cultivators using gold to refine instruments and Dan, but not many. We can keep them for the time being. Since you brought them back, I'm leaving them to you." He handed back the golden bar, and switched the subject to dragons. "The book mentioned the fallen dragon of Mogou Camp. I actually took a great interest in that incident a few years back, and collected quite a lot of information about it. Real dragon or not, that was a dead one. Let's say it was a real dragon for the sake of argument. From what we know now, that was probably a Qiu Dragon—a baby dragon, if you like—which might have been around since the Ming Dynasty. When the spiritual essence drained up, it died as a result."
"Why, wasn't that a dragon of the immediate former dynasty?" Xiaojin asked suddenly.
"Teehee!" Long Qiu giggled for no reason, then waved her hand. "It's nothing. I thought the expression 'immediate former dynasty' very funny. That's all."
"You're getting sillier every day!" Xiaojin rubbed Long Qiu's head teasingly.
Gu Yu went on. "According to Yuan Songzi, dragons were the product of the essence of heaven and earth, and were born at the calling. It actually made some sense. Everything in this world is transformed from Qi, so as a special species, dragons must have their own way to be created.
"'At the calling'... I think this calling was a combination of the spiritual essence and the variety of things in this world. When spiritual essence is abundant and the cultivation world prospers, the world is majestic in all its variety. Without knowing it, the world is feeding more power to the birth of dragons; hence, it is easier to create them.
"Or, when cultivators are powerful enough in their own skills, they're able to make dragons themselves, such as master Wei Shanjun."
Wei Shanjun was a Taoist priest of the early Tang Dynasty. He used to have a black dog that would go everywhere with him. When he achieved the Great Dao, the black dog transformed into a black dragon, and he ascended riding on its back.
"I like the expression 'transform', for dragons were not created out of thin air. Everything originated from Qi, and dragons are born sensing Qi; everything, then, is able to transform into dragons. Wait…" Gu Yu paused all of a sudden, and turned to Xiaozhai, who just happened to look at him at that moment as well.
"That's correct. The skill of my sect was call "Dragon-snatching Five Thunder Skill" at first, which was later improved by Celestial Master Sa. The addition he made actually mentioned transforming into dragons. But that won't happen until I reach the Immortal state. I will then be able to learn that skill, and—"
"And you get to turn into a dragon? Wow!" Xiaojin opened her eyes widely, and was suddenly very excited. In her left eye was "I have a very bold idea", and in her right eye "Hohohohohoho!"
Smack!
Xiaozhai's palm landed mercilessly on the back of her head. She then asked, "Speaking of which, didn't you say there was an iron fetter in Dongting Lake that was used for locking up a
"It takes a Hui Dragon 500 years to grow into a Flood Dragon, a Flood Dragon 1000 years to become a dragon, a dragon 500 years to become a Horn Dragon, and another 1000 years to become a Ying Dragon…" Gu Yu rose to his feet, and looked a little stern now. "I hope there isn't one. Flood Dragons are known for their ability to set winds blowing and waves rolling. Deluges follow them everywhere. Let's wait and see what will become of Dongting first."
***
Great events were coming in throngs recently.
First of all, there was the construction of the market town by Phoenix Mountain; then, Black Water Sword was found, and the monastery suggested to use it as a sacrifice to open up the Great Hall of Skills of Lüshan at the bottom of Min River.
Before the government could figure out how that worked, Old Gu came out of seclusion, and flew across the sky in broad daylight without so much as trying to disguise himself. He converted 1000 Grade Three spiritual stones, and Phoenix Mountain then set up its great formation before announcing that they were going to give a lecture and take in pupils.
It was only mid-May now, but a lot of people were already feeling that this year was going to be exceptionally long. Together with the effect of the scorching heat, days were wearing on like years.
While the government was concerned, the lecture was the top of their priority list. Therefore, the bosses had agreed that after it was over, they'd invite Gu Yu to Fujian right away to prepare for the sacrifice ceremony.
To the common people, however, the part about taking in pupils was the most important.
"It's been days. So, if you have anything, do tell."
Under the old tree, Xiaozhai was the hostess of this family meeting. Earlier, she had asked everyone to come up with a trial to test the candidates, and today was the day for the group discussion.
"Before we begin, let's set a few things straight. First of all, there are so few of us. Apart from we four, the only others that can teach are Old Shui and Li Dong. Therefore, we are not going to have a college system. The basics are taught in small private classes, and the elementary courses will follow a tutorial system. Agree?"
"Agree!"
"Secondly, our principle is to have few but elite pupils. We value quality over quantity—"
"Hey, wait a minute!" Xiaojin interrupted right there. "You heartless couple don't do any actual work, and of course you know nothing about it, but Xiao Qiu and I are working our a*sses off. We're only going to have more properties in the future, and they all need a master to stick around. Say, the mine in Ailao Mountain for example—we'll at least put an innate state person there to take charge, right? I'm not going to run back and forth all the time.
"Right now, what we need most are people. Just take anyone that looks all right. They can be outer disciples if they can't qualify as inner ones. A few hundreds of outer disciples aren't too many, right?"
Oh my!
Xiaozhai was genuinely surprised, for what the girl said actually made sense. The little sister wasn't taking responsibilities in the past, and did not have the habit to think things through. Now that she had an official duty, it came naturally to her.
"Yes, I think we have too few people as well. I can't run the beast farm all by myself…" Long Qiu nodded, agreeing with Xiaojin. She then recalled something and blurted out, "You know what? The three piglets we have are one male and two females. They're in heat all the time these days. Can they mate? Is that inbreeding?"
"Um…" That question was too adorable for Xiaozhai to answer, and she had to ignore it for the time being. "Here's what I think. Let's forget about inner or outer disciples for now. They're all our pupils. We'll teach them the same thing for a while, and choose the excellent ones as inner disciples."
"..." Gu Yu pondered for a moment, and said, "Yes, I think that could work."
"All right, so that's fixed. Tell me about the trials you have in mind."
"Me, me, me!" Long Qiu came thoroughly prepared, and her hand shot up eagerly. She then took out a long piece of paper and began to read off it. "There are several thousand stairs from the foot of Phoenix Mountain to the main peak. We can draw out the most difficult route, and those that finish first are qualified."
"Too old-fashioned!" Xiaozhai shook her head.
"Then set up things like stones, wooden poles, or sandbags, and ask them to strike with their fists. This can test their physical strength."
"Boring!"
"Let Golden Silkworm take different forms to scare them and see who can stay calm?"
"..." Xiaozhai had stopped replying, and only watched Long Qiu with her head strutting on her hand.
"How, how about we give them a written test of simple questions on Taoist classics…" Long Qiu's voice trailed off; she felt like a wronged puppy.
"Stop! Stop!" Xiaojin could not listen to it anymore, and commented, "You're hopeless in inventing games. My turn!" She seemed to have a well-thought-out plan, and said eagerly, "Doesn't Brother-in-law have his conjuring skill? We have to make good use of it! Hey, can you bring a couple hundred people into a vision at a time now?"
"Yes," said Gu Yu.
"Then what are we waiting for? Bring them in in groups, and you drag them into a vision. Hit them with everything: befuddled life that they can't tell if they're dreaming or drunk, all cardinal vices, the most dangerous lifestyles—let them go through all the emotions if you can. We can then tell which ones have a good temperament, can't we?"
Blinking, she went on. "If that's not enough fun, then there's more we can do, like taking them to the edge of a cliff and telling them whoever jumps down will be accepted, or asking them to kill each other until only ten people are left… but in fact, it will be a vision only and not the real thing… hahaha! What do you think? Do we like it?"
"No!" said the couple in unison.
"Tsk!" The denial came too soon, so Xiaojin protested loudly, "Why not?! Then let's hear what you have!"
"Ha…" Gu Yu chuckled. "I did give it a good thought, and designed a few trials, but then I asked myself: what am I doing?
"Our criteria are natural endowment and temperament, of which endowment is the easy one, which we can tell at the first look. But what about the temperament?
"If we stimulate them with the conjuring skill for a brief moment like you suggested, can we tell the nature of a person by an event or a sentence alone?
"I don't think so. That won't be reliable.
"Human beings are complicated creatures; selfishness is in everyone's nature, but most people aren't bad. Say a person is selfish, cowardly, hypocritical, arrogant… and for that, we deem them unfit for cultivation. Wouldn't that be a little arbitrary?
"We talk about testing one's determination in pursuing the Great Dao, but is anyone born with it?
"That determination is gradually gained, and we shouldn't set up a standard beforehand, then test them with it.
"I find those ancient legends preposterous—like some person kneeling outside a dwelling for months on end and the immortal becoming so touched that he took the person in as a pupil.
"The kneeling only proved that the person was persistent and devoted. It said nothing about their fitness for cultivation.
"Dao is the law of how everything works, and the origin of the universe. Can one learn it with devotion alone? I don't think so. One has to at least have their own understanding, and that requires observation for a long period."
Gu Yu shared his point of view, then said, "That's why I agree with what your sister just said. We'll accept those that reach an average standard.
"We won't divide them into inner and outer disciples immediately. Instead, we'll set a deadline and decide who should stay or leave after that. Of course, in regard to those that are genuinely bad, we can always just kick them out."
"..."
Long Qiu and Xiaojin remained silent after those words. To consider things from this angle was something they'd never thought of nor had experienced before.
Ancient people thought differently from modern ones.
When ancient cultivators took pupils, they were particular about fate and enlightment. 'We were brought together by fate, and if enlightment comes to you through my effort, then we are master and pupil.' That was the crash course.
In "The Investitures of the Gods", Tongtian, the leader of Interceptism, was said to provide the same education to all his people, which attracted ten thousand immortals to pay him tribute. When someone came to him to pursue the Great Dao, the leader would take them in.
What did it mean by providing the same education to all? It did not merely mean that everyone got to attend classes.
Men were not all the same. Some were smart, some dumb, some upright, and some unworthy. However, through education, such differences could be eliminated.
Gu Yu had witnessed the helplessness and sorrow of Tan Chongdai, as well as the godsend falling on Bai Yunsheng's lap. He had been pondering such questions since he became a Human Immortal. A heart for the Great Dao was not the prerequisite for accepting a pupil, but an end result he hoped to achieve.
With education, disparity could be removed. Teaching was also Dao.