The Immortal Way is Fierce

Chapter 167 The Troubles of Happiness

Clouds and stars, blue city.

"Congratulations to Brother Jingyuan for becoming a disciple of Longxiang Taoist Academy. However, you are really hiding this from us."

Lu Fangshan raised a full glass of wine and said with seven parts congratulations, one part envy, one part sadness, and one part complaint.

There is no doubt that among their group, except for Zhang Jingyuan, An Pengju and Ruan Baizhi, all of them have failed.

Although he had been prepared in his heart and knew that it was unlikely that he and others would pass the examination in one go and join a Taoist school or sect, when this happened to him, if he said he was not disappointed, it would definitely be a lie.

There is no way, with their strength, there is basically no chance of passing the head-to-head test of falling stars and shaking mountains.

After all, you must know that most of them are only fourth-class middle-grade. Although they cannot be called the bottom among the two or thirty thousand people, they are still the second to last. According to the records of previous recruitment assessments, the fourth-class middle-grade The probability of passing the assessment in one attempt is only a little over 10%.

As for those rated as fourth-class low-grade, it is even worse, with not even a 10% chance.

It can even be said that if it weren't for luck, even Ruan Baizhi would have failed this time, and An Pengju would have had a chance of success.

It's just that Lu Fangshan and the others never expected that Zhang Jingyuan would actually obtain the seventh-level Immortal Lord and be able to enter Longxiang Taoist Academy without taking the exam.

After all, although they have confidence in Zhang Jingyuan, who knows what accidents will happen when it comes to the Taoist Academy assessment? What if they can't get in?

"Brother Jingyuan, thank you too. If it weren't for your support, I wouldn't be able to stand here, let alone become a disciple of Tianyu Taoist Academy."

An Pengju also picked up a full glass of wine, and after finishing speaking, he drank it down in one gulp.

Like Lu Fangshan, his emotions at this time were undoubtedly very complicated, and even more so.

Although after three rounds, his points ranked over 1,000, not only did he enter the admission line for this assessment, he even achieved a very good result.

After all, you must know that in this assessment, all major academies and sects combined only admitted about 6,000 people, which was a full 30% less than before.

And if it weren't for the fact that the three test questions in this assessment are all biased towards the assessment of strength, rather than talent and will, his results should have made great strides forward, and he might even be ranked at the top. One hundred people have the possibility of entering top Taoist academies and sects.

It stands to reason that with his performance, spiritual roots, and talent, he should not be said to be a top contender, but he should be considered very popular.

But as he had predicted before, no one from the sect extended an olive branch to him, and everyone was afraid to avoid him, for fear of being tainted by him.

That is to say, at the Taoist Temple, someone sent him a recruitment signal, and finally he chose the Tianyu Taoist Temple, which was considered the top among the second-rate Taoist Temples.

Sighing lightly, Zhang Jingyuan looked at An Pengju and said slowly: "You can stand here all because of yourself. Others don't know it. I don't know it. Don't I know your contribution to An Qingxian?" And I believe that the county governor, Zhongzheng and others also know it in their hearts."

"No!" An Pengju waved his hand vigorously and looked at Zhang Jingyuan with red eyes.

Although deep in his heart, he has been letting him accept everything he is facing now calmly. After all, although An Qingxian brought him these accusations, insults and hostility, he has enjoyed sixteen years of glory because of An Qingxian.

If he were not An Qingxian's son, the son of the Star Lord, would he have received so many words of praise and envy and hatred in the past sixteen years?
But the reality is somewhat crueler than he imagined.

These days, except for Zhang Jingyuan who came to see him, the others who came to see him did not so much value An Pengju as they valued An Pengju's three spiritual roots and a third-class high-grade evaluation.

After all, his evaluation was made by Bai Buhui, and he was truly a third-class top grader.

Each and every one of them wanted to treat him like a breeding pig, to be paired with their so-called elder sister, so that they could leave a Qilin'er with stronger bloodline and more outstanding talent for their family.

Moreover, these people have been instilling in him, overtly and covertly, that An Qing did such a great evil first. Although the Xingxing Yamen did not have any opinions on how to deal with him, there is absolutely no one who wants to join the sect or Taoist school. Dare to accept him.

Seeing An Pengju's angry look, he was just using his alcohol to vent his anger. Although it was really immoral, Zhang Jingyuan only had one thought in his mind, which was to laugh...

The two were close friends of life and death. Without An Pengju's help, Yunhuaxing might not have been blown up, but Zhang Meifeng would definitely have died.

To be honest, it is a bit miserable for An Pengju, a genius like Yunhuaxing who emerged only once in fifty years, to be reduced to this situation, being treated as a breeding pig. But for some reason, he always has the talent. An Pengju The feeling of being in the midst of blessings and not knowing the blessings...

After all, this can be considered a kind of happy trouble.

"These things have completely passed, and your future has also ushered in a new chapter. I believe that as time goes by, after you become a foundation builder, a golden elixir, and even a Nascent Soul, when you think back to today, you will I feel like everything has dispersed with the wind." Zhang Jingyuan said lightly.

Time is the killer that smooths out everything, and it is also the best plaster to heal all scars.

"Classmate Zhang, I respect you too."

Ruan Baizhi looked at Zhang Jingyuan with mixed feelings in her heart, as if she had thousands of words, but in the end they could only be reduced to these seven simple words.

She was able to pass the assessment this time simply because she was lucky enough.

From the beginning to the end, she had not encountered any meteorite fragments that were more powerful than the third level of Qi Refining, so she was lucky enough to get some results.

Even in the last two assessments, almost all of them were at the tail end of a crane. However, because there were not many monks that could be admitted by various Taoist academies and sects, they were also admitted by Bishui Taoist Academy.

Bishui Taoist Temple is also very good among the three-level Taoist temples. Although it mainly focuses on water-based exercises, it also practices alchemy. Especially the dean, Master Qingmang, is one of the few alchemy masters in the entire Yunhai Galaxy. And although Bishui Taoist Temple is a third-rate Taoist temple, a third-rate Taoist temple means that there are fewer people, there are not many complicated interpersonal relationships, and it is easier to get guidance from the dean.

So for her, being able to enter the Bishui Taoist Temple was her wish.

It can even be said that if Zhang Jingyuan hadn't urged her so much, she wouldn't have been able to make trouble and wouldn't even have the confidence to take the assessment.

"Okay, don't thank me one by one. If you can get admitted to the Taoist Academy, including Lu Fangshan, if you can get admitted to the Taoist Academy or join the sect in the future, that is all your own fault and has nothing to do with me."

Seeing what these people wanted to say, Zhang Jingyuan said directly: "Don't say anything, just drink. If you have wine today, you will get drunk today."

……

The sun was setting in the west, and soon Lu Fangshan and others were staggering drunkenly. Even An Pengju was so drunk that he lay on the ground.

I don't know if he is drinking to drown his sorrows, or if he is planning to get drunk and say goodbye to his past self.

After walking out of the small courtyard of the inn, Zhang Jingyuan raised his head. Sure enough, Ruan Baizhi was sitting in the small pavilion in the courtyard. He hesitated and sat there.

"Did you know? Classmate Zhang, you are the second person I have ever thanked in my life."

Ruan Baizhi suddenly turned her head and said seriously.

Hearing this, Zhang Jingyuan suddenly felt a little bad, but now that he was here, he could only bite the bullet and ask: "Who is the first person?"

"A senior, an expert, he once saved my life and gave me a new life." Ruan Baizhi murmured, but her eyes were like stars, astonishingly bright.

When she was a child, her parents lived a prosperous life and had loving grandparents. It could be said that she lived a carefree life and was happy every day.

But following an accident, her mother died, her father became disabled, and her grandparents passed away due to excessive sadness. Such good days suddenly went away forever.

She works hard every day to wash clothes in some laundry rooms and wash dishes and clean in some restaurants. All she wants is for her and her father to continue to live.

But as a five- or six-year-old girl, no matter how hard she worked, how could she support herself and her disabled father through labor?
For her, her father's monthly medical expenses were a bottomless pit that could never be filled. Moreover, because of her disability, she lay in bed all day long and could not move. Her father's temper became increasingly weird and irritable.

In her memory, the father who loved her since childhood and was willing to let her sit on his neck and walk twenty miles without getting tired, no longer existed.

And she was horrified to discover that as she grew older, her appetite became larger and larger. After finishing her regular meals every day, she still couldn't stop being hungry.

Finally, on the day when she was eight years old, she was tired and couldn't bear it anymore. She couldn't bear the days of being hungry and having to work hard every day. She felt that if she continued like this, she would either starve to death or die of exhaustion.

It's okay for her to die, but what about her father?

So she planned to sell herself to Cuilulou. She knew that with her beauty and four spiritual roots, she should be able to get a good price.

Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many people around who were spying on her and wanting to sell her.

She used her last savings to buy a chicken and stewed it. She wanted herself and her father to have one last good meal. From then on, they could only live with their destiny. She would use all the money she received from selling herself. Leave it to my father, and I will try my best to earn some tips at Cuihonglou to give to my father.

She had inquired about it, and found out that although faceless little girls like them could not receive guests, they would still be rewarded by their patrons when they served some older sisters.

In this case, she might be able to provide for her father until his death, and also allow herself to live on, preventing the two of them from starving to death at home.

But her father redeemed her.

After hearing this, my father committed suicide that night.

She still remembers what her father said the night before he died.

He told her how guilty he was. He hoped that she would live well even if she was alone in the future. He hoped that she would live happily in the future. He hoped that when she becomes an adult, she will work hard to practice and master power, because only by mastering Only with strength can you control your own destiny.

She didn't understand that night, and thought it was her father's instructions for her to live in Cuihong Mansion in the future.

But I didn't expect that after that night, we would say goodbye forever.

After her father left, she naturally no longer had the need to sell herself to Cuihonglou. After all, with her hands, it would not be difficult if she just wanted to support herself.

As for how she later discovered that stealing the ill-gotten wealth of those wealthy businessmen could quickly increase her cultivation speed, that is another matter.

Thinking of this, Ruan Baizhi looked at Zhang Jingyuan with a somewhat complicated expression.

If that Taoist man saved her life and prevented her from dying in the hands of those people, what Zhang Jingyuan saved was almost her soul.

It was Zhang Jingyuan who let her know that she deserved to live upright.

And what Zhang Jingyuan thought about for her could almost be said to be the second time in the past ten years that she had felt this kind of care and love without any purpose.

(End of this chapter)