Lu Zheng rarely slept an entire night in the ancient style, and upon waking in the early morning, he found himself with a morning erection.
Pushing open the room door, he saw the old beggar reclining on a lounging chair under the persimmon tree, with a cup of fragrant tea at hand, steam rising in wisps. The old man himself swayed gently to and fro, enjoying the dappled sunlight filtering through the tree canopy.
“Little Lu, you truly know how to enjoy life.”
Lu Zheng laughed. “If Senior likes it, you can stay for several more days.”
The old beggar shook his head repeatedly. “I cannot stay, I cannot stay. This old beggar is a man of bitter fate, unable to enjoy such immortal days. Eating one good meal is enough to savour for half a year.”
He beckoned with a hand, inviting Lu Zheng to sit closer, then casually tested Lu Zheng with a few questions.
Lu Zheng answered fluently, expounding on his understanding of cultivation.
The old beggar nodded. “Rare, rare. No wonder your progress is so swift. You are indeed a natural seed for cultivation. Baiyun Observatory is fortunate. No wonder they passed the ‘Innate Cloud Transformation Qi Method True Scripture’ to you so quickly.”
Lu Zheng chuckled hey hey, not feigning modesty.
“I see you are also cultivating the Jinhua Sect’s ‘Nine Heavens Golden Palace Cavern True Transformation God Method’. Where did you obtain it?” the old beggar asked.
Lu Zheng knew many things: besides cultivation techniques, he had even more spells. But the most evident was the Jinhua Sect’s ‘Transformation God Method’, which cultivated his soul and true spirit to shine with golden light, as solid as a fortress of gold. In the eyes of top experts, it was truly like a firefly in the night, glaringly obvious.
This had piqued the old beggar’s curiosity.
The Baiyun Observatory and the Jinhua Sect were both first-rate sects of the Daoist tradition. By rights, even if there was exchange, they would not hand over core sect techniques. So for Lu Zheng to cultivate the Jinhua Sect’s method, it must have been an accident.
Lu Zheng then recounted how he had unwittingly obtained the wooden statue of the divine lord, and the matter of visiting the Jinhua Sect during the New Year.
However, Lu Zheng only mentioned playing chess and exchanging insights with Jinhua Sect disciples, each benefiting the other. He did not mention playing chess with True Person Peng Yu.
“I must also thank True Person Peng Yu for his great favour, passing me the complementary methods, allowing me to cultivate both spirit and qi.” Lu Zheng faced east and bowed remotely in gratitude.
“So that is how it is. Unexpectedly, your chess skills are quite extraordinary.” The old beggar was very curious, then his eyes shifted. “Did Old Daoist Peng Yu not test you?”
True Person Peng Yu loved chess and was renowned for it in certain circles of the Daoist tradition. If Lu Zheng could benefit Jinhua Sect disciples with his chess, would True Person Peng Yu not feel an itch to play?
Lu Zheng’s expression remained unchanged as he shook his head. “No.”
The old beggar glanced at Lu Zheng. He was not particularly close with True Person Peng Yu, so he did not detect any flaw in Lu Zheng.
“Then the disciples of this generation’s Jinhua Sect are not up to much.” The old beggar shook his head. “But that makes sense. They are all young people in their twenties or thirties, not yet with great skill.”
Lu Zheng nodded, saying nothing.
In this world, there was no saying that one could not become a grandmaster by twenty or be hopeless for life.
Because of the ability to cultivate, the elderly had no weakness of declining energy or mental faculties. Instead, many with profound cultivation accumulated thickly and erupted thinly.
For example, the Wan Song Daoist.
Of course, there were absolutely many talented young people. Lu Zheng had seen two at the Jinhua Sect. And the most typical was himself.
Lu Zheng: (???)
…
The old beggar and Lu Zheng chatted idly, and soon it was noon.
Lu Zheng personally cooked, not preparing anything too elaborate or flashy. But even with just a few homely stir-fried dishes, he fully displayed the level of a state banquet chef.
Moreover, though called homely stir-fried dishes, they were complete in colour, aroma, and taste, using fresh vegetables and a hundred flavours of seasonings, prepared in various styles. In terms of flavour, they far surpassed the restaurants of the Great Jing Dynasty.
Otherwise, Liu Qingquan would not have made eating Lu Zheng’s personally cooked dishes every day her goal in fox life.
Although the old beggar was curious how Lu Zheng had so many fresh vegetables, he assumed Lu Zheng had opened fields in some hot spring or geothermal place deep in the mountains for his own use.
Such things, while impossible for ordinary folk, posed no difficulty at all for cultivators who valued quality of life.
So the old beggar paid it no mind. Even for some dishes he had never eaten or seen, due to the inconvenience of transport between regions nowadays, he did not take it to heart.
“Little Lu, you are merely an outer sect disciple of the Baiyun Observatory. Have you any interest in defecting and leaving the sect to join my Tian Dun Sect?”
The old beggar laughed at Lu Zheng while eating a fragrant chicken leg. “My Guan Prefecture Tian Dun Sect and the Chunyang Palace’s methods are all yours to learn freely. Once you refine a pure yang golden core, heaven and earth are yours to roam!”
“Cough cough cough!”
Lu Zheng nearly choked to death on a mouthful of wine. “Can one poach people within the Daoist tradition?”
“Of course. You have not yet learned the ‘Innate Supreme Purity Rootless Cloud Qi Scripture’. If you are interested, I can go discuss it with your observatory lord.”
Lu Zheng waved his hands repeatedly. “No, no. I am quite content at the Baiyun Observatory.”
Although he knew the old beggar was joking, Lu Zheng dared not go along with it.
“Not only allowing me, as an outer sect lay disciple, to learn the ‘Innate Cloud Transformation Qi Method True Scripture’ and the ‘Cloud Walking Method’, but also not forbidding me from learning methods from other schools. For me, that is already sufficient.” Lu Zheng said.
The old beggar nodded. “For ordinary people, it is naturally sufficient. But if you only cultivate the ‘Qi Method True Scripture’, there will always be regrets.”
“Do not be greedy for more. Sufficient is enough.” Lu Zheng appeared utterly unconcerned.
In truth, he had his own calculations. When he truly reached the pinnacle of this world in a dozen or so years, would the Baiyun Observatory not bring out the ‘Innate Supreme Purity Rootless Cloud Qi Scripture’?
It was just that the old beggar did not know Lu Zheng’s thoughts. Moreover, no sect had a precedent of passing secret techniques not to be transmitted to outer sect lay disciples. Added to that, the old beggar could not dream that Lu Zheng would grow so quickly.
So…
“Not bad, not bad. Fine disposition. No wonder Old Daoist Peng Yu also took a fancy to you, gifting you a secret transmission technique at first meeting.”
The old beggar laughed. “And now this old man has eaten two meals from you. Of course I cannot eat for free. A meeting gift must be given. What methods do you wish to learn? Speak freely.”
“No, no!”
Lu Zheng waved his hands repeatedly. “It is merely two meals. It is but a small gathering among kin and friends. For Senior to come and offer a few pointers is already our honour. How could we ask for more?
Moreover, Senior has already given this junior a life-saving talisman previously. Such a talisman, how could it compare to a mere few meals?”
“That is different. Last time our acquaintance was not deep; that was a fair exchange. Now our acquaintance is deep. How could a senior take advantage of a junior?” the old beggar said. “This meeting gift must be given. Just say what you wish to learn.”
“Truly none!” Lu Zheng was utterly sincere.
“There must be.” The old beggar’s beard bristled. “The Baiyun Observatory is formidable, but your master is merely average. How much can he teach you?”
One insisted on teaching, the other insisted on not learning.
Old Li served at the side, feeling this too was a curious affair.
