Chapter 31: Content with the Ordinary

Two brothers born of the same parents. One is the pride of the Daoist academy, the other lives in solitude in a corner of the family.

The difference between heaven and earth might drive a person mad, but Wang Changji's face showed no signs of resentment. From beginning to end, he was calmly eating his meal.

As if eating were the most important thing in the world.

He ate at a steady pace, meticulously savoring each bite.

He finished his portion of pig's trotters and vegetables, and swallowed the last grain of rice. Then he looked at his younger brother, his voice gentle: "Changxiang, what's the matter?"

"Nothing much, I just came back from a mission and thought I'd chat with my brother."

"Good boy, eat your vegetables. You can't just eat meat." Wang Changji stroked the orange cat that was gnawing on a pig's trotter, gently coaxing it, then turned back to Wang Changxiang: "Speak, you seem troubled."

"We went to investigate the disappearances in Xiaolin Town, but when we arrived, we found it shrouded in dense fog, which even the Breath-Drawing Whirlwind couldn't dispel. The whole town was filled with wandering souls, arranged into a Nine Palaces Wandering Souls Formation based on the Nine Palaces… Xiaoju!" Wang Changxiang suddenly scolded.

It turned out that the fat orange cat had grown impatient with Wang Changji's constant teasing with vegetables and scratched him, leaving three bloody marks on the back of Wang Changji's hand.

"You're so fierce." Wang Changji sighed helplessly, giving up on trying to get Xiaoju to eat some vegetables. He covered the wound on the back of his right hand with his left, and then said to Wang Changxiang: "I don't understand all this Daoist magic and formations you're talking about."

Wang Changxiang lowered his head, his voice also dropping, "But somehow, I just wanted to tell my brother about it."

Wang Changji rubbed his forehead, "Speak, then."

"Do you know, brother? Someone used the lives of the entire population of Xiaolin Town, gathering the wandering souls of Maple Forest City over the years, to condense a phantom of the Gates of Hell before Lord Wei arrived!" At this moment, Wang Changxiang was like a child seeking praise.

"A phantom of the Gates of Hell? Is it powerful?"

"To pay such a high price, it must be extraordinary! With the phantom of the Gates of Hell in hand, one can communicate with the Netherworld at any time. The power of Netherworld Daoist arts will be increased by at least half! Daoist arts like exorcism can completely transcend their grade." At this point, Wang Changxiang lowered his eyebrows again: "I don't know where that demon behind all this will wreak havoc next."

"This is a matter for the Arrest and Interrogation Division. If Wei Quji can't handle it, there's the Prefect, if the City Daoist Academy can't hold on, there's the Prefectural Daoist Academy, and behind the Prefectural Daoist Academy, there's the National Daoist Academy. Don't worry about it." Wang Changji comforted him.

By now, Xiaoju had gnawed the pig's trotter clean, not even glancing at the plate of vegetables. It licked its paws and swaggered away.

Wang Changji then got up to clear the table.

"I won't keep you." He said before entering the house.

Wang Changxiang quietly watched his brother's back disappear inside, then turned and walked out. As he passed the reclining chair where Xiaoju was lying, he suddenly flicked his pinky finger.

An imperceptible gust of wind flashed past.

Xiaoju suddenly jumped up, looking around in alarm and suspicion. Half of its long whiskers had fallen to the ground.

"Dare to scratch my brother again… hmph." Wang Changxiang left with a smile on his lips.

He remembered how, when they were young, his brother had longed for Daoist arts and loved the extraordinary world. But now, no matter what he said in front of him, he could no longer see that kind of excitement.

It seemed that he had resigned himself to such a life.

Wang Changxiang's steps, in the end, could not lighten.

……

Today, the teacher was lecturing on the Ding-grade middle-tier Daoist art, Flame Blade, which was an advanced version of the Ding-grade low-tier Daoist art, Flame Attachment, and one of the foundations of Fire-attribute Daoist arts.

It involved gathering fire to form a blade, directly injuring the opponent with the scorching Fire-attribute Essence Power, which was also effective against unclean things like Yin spirits.

In fact, Daoist arts at this level were already stronger than ordinary iron weapons.

Jiang Wang had already memorized the hand seals and precautions for this Daoist art, but he suddenly thought of Wei Yan's long blade. That blade was exceptionally sharp and definitely not an ordinary weapon. Because given Wei Yan's strength, ordinary iron would only be a burden to him.

He also thought of the sword that Li Jianqiu always wore at his waist, thinking it must be extraordinary.

Thinking this, he felt a bit envious. His sword had been half-destroyed after he used it to cut down the Wraith, and he had spent money to replace it when he returned, but it was still just an ordinary fine iron sword. He couldn't afford, nor did he have the means to acquire, a truly powerful sword.

He just wondered what kind of power the weapons of those great martial artists who entered the Dao through martial arts possessed.

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice the atmosphere in the class. It wasn't until Ling He nudged him that he realized what was happening.

The instructor was an old man of nearly sixty, quite stern and inflexible, surnamed Xiao. The students privately called him Iron-Faced Xiao.

The situation was that Xiao Iron-Face had finished lecturing on the techniques and randomly selected a few students to demonstrate. When it was Fang Heling's turn, he actually managed to complete the Daoist art, albeit with a shaky flame. But he had, after all, completed it.

Even Xiao Iron-Face was somewhat satisfied, but this fellow suddenly said: "Senior Brother Jiang Wang opened his meridians before me, why doesn't he also try this Daoist art? If there's anything he doesn't understand, he can ask our teacher for guidance."

Thus, Xiao Iron-Face's gaze fell on the absent-minded Jiang Wang.

"Damn it," Jiang Wang thought. He got up from his cushion and honestly said: "I haven't laid my foundation yet."

Fang Heling, who had entered the inner sect at the same time as him, was already able to perform Daoist arts, but he had not yet succeeded in laying his foundation. The other students looked at him with strange expressions.

"You don't have to listen if you haven't laid your foundation?" Xiao Iron-Face glared. What he hated most were students who loafed around. They had clearly embarked on the path of the extraordinary, yet they didn't know how to cherish it, only using it as a means to show off in front of ordinary mortals.

"I was wrong," Jiang Wang readily admitted his mistake.

Xiao Iron-Face said coldly: "Go back and transcribe the Purple Void Sutra one hundred times. You don't need to come to my class until you've finished transcribing it."

"Yes," Jiang Wang replied with his head lowered, secretly lamenting. The full name of the Purple Void Sutra was the Purple Void Exalted Supreme Sutra, which was the fundamental Daoist text of the Jade Capital Mountain lineage. Every Daoist of the Jade Capital Mountain lineage could be said to know it by heart. There was really no need to transcribe it, Xiao Iron-Face was simply punishing him.

Most importantly, the entire text was nearly thirty thousand words… how long would it take to transcribe it?

But he knew he couldn't refuse, or Xiao Iron-Face might just roll up his sleeves and beat him up.

In the following class, Jiang Wang tried his best to cheer up and didn't dare to slack off in the slightest. Finally, when Xiao Iron-Face left with his hands behind his back, Fang Heling swaggered over again.

"Oh, Junior Brother Jiang, I'm so sorry. I didn't know you hadn't laid your foundation yet!" There are no years in cultivation, and seniority is determined by cultivation level. Fang Heling naturally changed his address from Senior Brother to Junior Brother, his tone full of regret: "After opening my meridians, it took me fifty-three days to successfully lay my foundation. I felt it was too slow and was ashamed. I thought that with Junior Brother Jiang's past prestige, you should have laid your foundation long ago… alas, what a mess this has become."

The Foundation Establishment Formation, Returning Origin Formation, commonly used in Zhuang Country's Daoist academies, has a total of eighty-one nodes. With two Meridian-Charging cultivation sessions a day, yielding a total of two units of Dao Essence, it couldn't be said that laying the foundation in fifty-three days was slow. This was because there were many instances of stalled progress due to errors in moving the nodes.

Currently, the fastest foundation establishment record in the entire City Daoist Academy belongs to Zhu Weiwo, who successfully laid his foundation in nine days, surpassing all previous records. Judging from this unbelievably fast speed, his Dao Meridian True Spirit could not possibly be of the same level as Jiang Wang's Earthworm True Spirit. But what level his True Spirit actually was, was a matter of personal privacy and could not be known.

In any case, for the average disciple of the Maple Forest City Daoist Academy, sixty to ninety days was normal.

It was no wonder that Fang Heling was complacent.

He didn't hide the provocation in his eyes, and he really wanted to see this proud fellow become angry and humiliated. He was even simulating in his mind how to use Daoist arts to solve this bumpkin who could only rely on swordsmanship in the upcoming battle.

But Jiang Wang just smiled, turned, and left.

No anger, indifferent.