Qin Chuan could hardly believe it. “I really passed?!”
He had already been planning to find another way out.
Qin Li smiled and nodded. “You did. I was handling business in the county and saw your name on the list posted by the Mengxu Directorate. At first I thought it was someone with the same name, but only after asking did I learn it was true. See, the people behind me are here to deliver your Daoist writ. I came back together with them.”
Those words, in an instant, set the minds of every person from Guniu Town who had come to the feast today—especially the members of the Qin clan—buzzing.
A Daoist?
The sound even pierced through the wall and threshold of the ancestral hall, falling upon the tables in the inner hall.
Qin Chuan had passed the Daoist examination!
Qin Chuan had passed the Daoist examination!
Qin Chuan had passed the Daoist examination!
The words seemed to echo.
They reverberated in the ears of Old Master Qin, Qin Fengnian, and many of the highly respected Qin clan elders, making them look at one another.
“A Daoist!”
Then, one after another, they grew excited, rose to their feet, and hurried toward the outside of the ancestral hall at the same time.
When the Qin elders and the local worthies of Guniu Town in the inner hall rushed out, they saw the man delivering the documents unfurl a yellow memorial sheet and read aloud:
Writ of the Daoist Selection Office, Jiuchuan County
Upon examination, the newly advanced Daoist Qin Chuan, a native of Guniu Town, Jiuchuan County, Lushan Blessed Land, aged eighteen, is of clean background and upright conduct.
In the Heavenly Court’s Great Daoist Examination of the Yisi year, he achieved outstanding results in the test on herbs and spirit plants. In accordance with precedent, he is ranked among the excellent, and having passed the selection of Nongling Temple, is hereby specially granted the talismanic certificate of a “Fire Attendant Daoist.”
All stipend, provisions, and ceremonial attendants shall be supplied by Nongling Temple in accordance with regulations.
Qin Chuan is hereby ordered to report to “Nongling Temple of Jiuchuan County” on the fifteenth day of this month and await assignment.
Date of issuance: Fifth day of the fifth month, Tianzun Year 9728.
After the full-time Daoist in charge of reading the writ finished, he solemnly rolled it up again, then took another document resembling a certificate in his hands and presented both to Qin Chuan with both hands.
“The writ has been read. This is your talismanic certificate, fellow Daoist. From this day onward, you may use this certificate to draw the spiritual qi of heaven and earth into your body and cultivate.”
Qin Chuan hurriedly reached out to receive the two items.
At this moment, his heart was filled with shock.
After all, this was a great fortune dropped from the heavens, suddenly landing upon him.
A Daoist.
The most honored identity in this world, bar none. Especially in this world, which resembled one ruled by sects, Daoists were the grassroots immortal officials the Heavenly Court used to govern heaven and earth.
It sounded somewhat similar to ancient yamen runners, but because the two worlds were different, the gap between them was more than heaven and abyss.
A Daoist—though he had not yet received the registers, and though this Fire Attendant Daoist ordination certificate was akin to merely obtaining proof of internship—this single talismanic certificate was truly the key that could knock open the gate to the path of immortal cultivation.
A great road leading to longevity and power.
These thoughts flashed through Qin Chuan’s mind as he reached out to take the writ and certificate.
Suddenly, when his right hand touched the writ and certificate, a line of words appeared in his mind.
[“Writ of the Daoist Selection Office, Jiuchuan County” contains arcane essence... Extractable / Reforgeable]
[“Dongsheng Under-Heaven Fire Attendant Daoist Talismanic Certificate” contains arcane essence... Extractable / Reforgeable]
These words...
What were they?
Qin Chuan was startled.
“Intelligent?”
Subconsciously, he thought these two documents possessed some miraculous power, such that words could appear in his mind. But when he lowered his head to look, his pupils contracted slightly.
He saw that a black birthmark had faintly appeared in his palm.
It looked like an incense burner.
Boom!
His mind shook. Wasn’t this the mysterious black incense burner he had seen in his palm after being reborn today?
In an instant.
He connected the words that had appeared in his mind with this mysterious black incense burner.
Immediately, acting on instinct, he turned his wrist slightly, placing the talismanic certificate, the writ, and the black mark in his palm all before his chest, his palm facing his own chest, not daring to let others see.
The others, seeing Qin Chuan standing there dazed and absent-minded, began discussing among themselves.
“Oh no, he must have been struck mad by joy now that such great happiness has come knocking.”
Old Master Qin and Third Master Qin, who had come out of the ancestral hall, saw Qin Chuan’s appearance and their expressions changed slightly.
Third Master Qin in particular felt his heart thump.
“Damn it. Cultivating the Dao is a lifelong pursuit for anyone. I’ve heard before that someone took the exam for decades, only passing in his forties or fifties, but on the very day the good news arrived, he was smashed senseless by joy and became a raving madman, turning into a laughingstock.”
He immediately hurried before Qin Geng and said gravely,
“Ninth, Chuan looks like he’s been shocked witless. Hurry over and slap him. Put on a fierce face and frighten him awake. Whatever happens, we can’t let him lose his soul.”
This was the second Daoist the Qin family had finally produced in a hundred years. If he were overwhelmed by shock and fell into a stupor, then not only would he be unable to take up his post in the county, the entire Qin family would become the joke of Guniu Town.
“Ah? My son! He’s been bewitched?”
When Father Qin heard this, he was terrified and rushed over.
Seeing Qin Geng, that honest man, worrying over his son and about to administer a soul-recalling great palm seal to him, Third Master Qin was anxious.
At any other time, why would he waste words? He would have rolled up his own sleeves and done it himself.
But now, Qin Chuan had become a Daoist. He was not someone he dared to hit.
In one county, tens of thousands of people competed for a mere dozen or twenty Daoist positions.
The elders had all said before that those who could pass the Daoist examination had all been cultivators in their past lives, their innate wisdom not yet extinguished, immortals reincarnated.
He was just a petty mortal. Even if he was of the third-master generation, he still did not dare strike him.
Only Qin Chuan’s own father could lay a hand on him. After all, there were no disloyal or unfilial immortals in the world. Even immortals had to acknowledge their birth parents.
Whoosh!
Qin Geng anxiously lunged over and swung a palm toward the back of his son’s head, stirring up a gust of wind. Just as it was about to land, a hand caught it in midair, preventing it from falling.
“What are you doing?”
It was Qin Li. He asked in surprise,
“Your son has become a Daoist, and you still want to hit him?”
When Qin Geng saw that it was this lifelong rival of his stopping him, he was both angry and anxious. Startled and furious, he said,
“Chuan’s been bewitched. If you delay my son’s soul from returning, can you bear that responsibility—”
Before he could finish speaking.
“Father, what are you talking about? I’m fine.”
Qin Chuan had indeed been somewhat numbed by this joy that had fallen from the heavens.
But the mysterious incense burner in his palm was the key reason his mind had been shaken.
It might have something to do with his transmigration and rebirth across two lives, which was why he had been stunned for a moment.
He had not expected his father to think he was like Fan Jin after passing the examination.
He immediately hurried forward and explained several times.
“You’re really fine?”
Qin Geng looked at his son in pleasant surprise, yet did not notice that his own chest was rising and falling even more violently.
“Really, I—”
Qin Chuan did not know whether to laugh or cry and was about to say more.
“If you’re fine... that’s good.”
But after Qin Geng let out a breath of relief, his entire body seemed to slacken after being tense for too long. He went limp and toppled toward the ground.
“Father!”
Qin Chuan was greatly alarmed and hurried forward.
Fortunately, Qin Li had been holding Qin Geng’s arm the whole time. He caught him, helped him sit down on a chair, and immediately took his pulse. A moment later, his expression relaxed, and he said to Qin Chuan,
“Don’t worry, your father is fine. After great joy and great shock, his breath just went awry. I’ll help him smooth it out, and he’ll wake up soon.”
Sure enough, after Qin Li held Qin Geng’s wrist and sent a few traces of spiritual power into him, Qin Geng slowly opened his eyes.
After waking, he was dazed for a moment.
Seeing the flowing feast around him, and seeing everyone, including the clan elders, looking at him, he stared blankly for a while. At last, as if remembering something, he looked at the certificate and writ that his son was holding before his chest. In an instant, tears streamed down his face, and he wept without end.
“It’s true. It’s true. My son really passed!”
“Father!”
Seeing his father like this, Qin Chuan felt a sour ache in his heart. Having lived two lives, how could he not know how much his father in this life had done for him?
Now, at last, the dream had been fulfilled.
“It isn’t a dream. Your family’s Chuan really passed.”
After Qin Li revived this younger clansman, he helped him stand up and teased with a smile,
“In the future, you shouldn’t keep treating me as some goal to chase after. It should be my son who takes this elder clan brother of his as his life’s goal from now on.”
He had an elder daughter and a young son, and his son was three years younger than Qin Chuan.
If Qin Geng had been teased like this by the clan elder brother he had always regarded as his rival in life, he would long since have flung his sleeves and left in anger.
But now, his rough face reddened somewhat, and he mumbled,
“Your Yu is clever. In another two years, he’ll pass too.”
After saying this, afraid the other party would think he was being perfunctory, he hurriedly added seriously,
“He definitely will!”
Qin Li did not say much. Just as Qin Geng understood his own son, he also understood his own son. He was not the material to cultivate the Dao and become a Daoist.
Thus, when he looked at Qin Chuan before him, with his black hair and swordlike brows, his admiration grew even stronger.
A nephew had the word “son” in it. How was he not also his son?
“Many thanks to Third Uncle just now.”
At this moment, Qin Chuan hurriedly bowed to this uncle.
“For those who cultivate, this is as simple as breathing. Now that you have a talismanic certificate, you can refine qi. In the future, you’ll be able to do it too.”
Qin Li patted Qin Chuan on the shoulder.
A light appeared in Qin Chuan’s eyes. “Like that instant movement of Third Uncle’s just now?”
Qin Li shook his head. “That won’t do. That movement technique can only be used at the seventh level of Qi Refining. Your ‘Fire Attendant Daoist’ certificate alone isn’t enough. A Fire Attendant Daoist’s ordination certificate can only qualify you to cultivate to the fourth level of Qi Refining. Beyond that, you need to become a full official and truly receive the registers as a ‘Heavenly Register Daoist’ before you can continue cultivating upward.”
Qin Chuan nodded thoughtfully.
It sounded as if using rank and benefits to replace realms and cultivation made the path of cultivation in this world easier to understand.
“You don’t need to worry either. You entered through the proper public examination. As long as you work steadily and diligently after going to Nongling Temple, and proceed step by step without making any major mistakes, after at most a year of internship as a Fire Attendant, you’ll naturally become a full official. Nongling Temple will confer the registers upon you.”
After saying this, Qin Li took a box from his sleeve and said,
“You’re going to take up a post at Nongling Temple. I’ve looked into the work there. It’s basically related to plants. On ordinary days, you’ll be busy with tasks like cultivating soil, removing insects, and grafting. Of these, removing insects is the most difficult. So before I came, Third Uncle bought this set of ‘Golden Casket Flying Needles’ for you at the spirit-tool workshop in the county. There are eighteen needles in total. Many Fire Attendant Daoists of Nongling Temple have to learn them. Before you take office on the fifteenth, try to practice with them more, so that when the time comes, you won’t be scolded by others.”
“This is too valuable, isn’t it?” Qin Chuan hesitated.
This was an immortal family’s magical treasure.
“It isn’t valuable, not valuable at all.”
At this moment, Old Master Qin Youde finally found an opportunity to cut in. His face glowed with smiles as he said,
“It’s just a set of spirit tools. Your Third Uncle works at the Jing’an Office, so buying a set with his salary won’t be too difficult. If you refuse, you’ll seem like an outsider. If you acknowledge this old man as the clan head, then hurry and accept it.”
“Accept it, Chuan.”
Qin Fengnian spoke with a genial smile.
He glanced at Old Master Qin. This old fellow was now terrified that Qin Chuan would grow distant from them.
He even suspected that if he himself were not still alive, the old man would have found some way to have Qin Chuan and his father adopted into the eldest branch of his line. But then again, now that Chuan had become a Daoist, it would not be impossible for him to open another branch within the clan.
“Then, many thanks, Third Uncle.” Qin Chuan no longer refused and accepted the set of “flying needles.”
Unexpectedly, the moment they entered his hand, words appeared in his mind:
[Mother-and-Child Mithril Needles contain arcane essence... Extractable / Reforgeable]
“Hmm? This set of flying needles can also make the mysterious black furnace react?”
Qin Chuan’s curiosity toward the black furnace reached its peak.
If not for the many people here now, and if he were certain that “extracting” and “reforging” would not produce some strange phenomenon, he would have been unable to resist testing it on the spot.
As Qin Chuan silently studied this in his heart.
Old Master Qin’s voice rang out like a bell. He laughed heartily and cupped his hands toward everyone around him.
“Hahahaha! Esteemed friends and worthies of Guniu Town, today our Qin clan can be said to have double happiness at our door. The great-grandson’s grabbing ceremony no longer amounts to much. The main thing is that another Daoist has emerged from our Qin clan. Therefore, our Qin family will hold this flowing feast for another day!”
“Congratulations, congratulations! A great joy, a great joy indeed!”
Among everyone’s congratulatory voices, there was envy, jealousy, admiration, and sighing.
It could be imagined that Qin Chuan’s family, from this day onward, would undergo a complete transformation and thoroughly become a respectable household in the entire town. Along with them, the status of the Qin clan would also, imperceptibly, become even more transcendent than the other clans in town.
This was the preciousness of the identity of a Daoist.
Qin Geng, even more so, had never imagined that in only half a day, he, a man whom no one had spoken to when he sat at an outdoor feast, would now not only be surrounded by endless flattery and constant toasts from his clan brothers, but would also be warmly led by the old clan head into the seats of the inner hall.
He had crossed that threshold of the ancestral hall that represented status.
And so, after three rounds of wine, Father Qin was utterly drunk. Yet whenever someone came to toast him, he absolutely did not refuse, throwing back his head and drinking deeply.
Seeing his father like this.
It seemed to be the happiest day of his life.
Only in the evening did the feast disperse.
Qin Chuan had not touched a drop of wine. With the help of a few young men from the clan, he carried his drunkard father back home.
Seeing Qin Geng already lying drunk on the bed, yet still murmuring endlessly,
“My son... the clan genealogy can start a new page from him...”
Mother Qin had long since received the news from the clan during the feast. Now, while wiping her husband’s body with a damp cloth, she looked at her son with tears in her eyes.
The woman, poor with words, only kept weeping tears of joy, her gaze unable to hide its pride and happiness.
As for the little girl Qin Kui, she still did not quite understand what had happened. She only knew that today was the happiest day their family had ever had.
Because what her elder brother had brought back for her today was not someone else’s leftovers, but an entire roast chicken.
Finally, after everyone in the family had been settled.
Qin Chuan at last ended this excited and busy day, returning to his small side room of blue stone and tiled roof.
In the dead of night.
He took a deep breath.
He looked at the black incense burner mark in his palm, which had appeared again because he had repeatedly touched the talismanic certificate, writ, and flying needles.
“Come on, then. Let me see what you can do.”