Chapter Ninety-Four: Water

Chen Jin boarded the plane, and then after a little more than an hour, he got off again. It was all that simple. There was no hijacking or anything of the sort; after all, this was a domestic flight within the Celestial Empire.

This time, when he disembarked, Chen Jin did not receive any special treatment. There was certainly no question of being taken away for tea.

But as soon as he got off the plane, he turned on his phone and checked the news.

He wanted to see the reports about the Taiqing Temple on Mount Lao.

What surprised him was that the authorities had not suppressed the matter at all. Instead, they had released it directly, and it had even gone straight to the front pages of the major portal sites.

Although the wording had been tweaked somewhat, the matter of the purple smoke rising from Taiqing Temple had still been proclaimed to the entire world.

Chen Jin browsed the news for a few minutes, and even Chu Xuan had made the headlines, though only as a bystander among the curious crowd. That gleaming bald head of his was especially eye-catching, so it was perfectly natural that a reporter would pick him out for coverage.

The general gist of the report was this: a wondrous treasure had appeared at Taiqing Temple, and had already been recovered by the local association of cultivators and the Taoist masters of Taiqing Temple. In accordance with the national call for harmony between government and the people, the cultivators' association and the Taoist masters of Taiqing Temple, together with many cultivators from Jia'ao City, would jointly develop this strange treasure, hoping to make it mass-producible and practical, so that it could be promoted among the broad masses of the people...

The articles written by the major portal sites all took slightly different angles, but in general they all expressed support for the government's handling of the matter, and the comments beneath were equally unanimous in their support...

Chen Jin knew very well what lay behind it all. That purple smoke was not some wondrous treasure at all. It should have been a legacy, a transmission from the Great Emperor of the Three Offices. No, that was not quite right either. It was more likely the inheritance left by Zhang Lianfu, the man who first established the Temple of the Three Offices.

Yet that inheritance seemed to have been divided into three parts: one had gone to Chen Jin, one had been taken by that great stone, and one had fallen to the authorities.

Though Chen Jin did not particularly covet such an inheritance, it still offered another reference point for the path of cultivation, and this Heavenly Office legacy was quite excellent indeed, of considerable value.

Still, it remained inferior to the White Emperor Profound Origin True Scripture. It could not be counted as a higher ancient method, only as an ancient method, and it had not truly been created by the Great Emperor of the Three Offices. It was probably Zhang Lianfu's own work: through studying the Great Emperor of the Three Offices and contemplating the spiritual imprint he had left upon the mortal world, Zhang Lianfu had devised this path of cultivation. If one reached a sufficiently profound realm, it would likely lead to the Dao Fruit of the Heavenly Immortal.

But who among those able to attain the Dao Fruit of a Heavenly Immortal was not a figure of dazzling brilliance? Just like Master Yunxiang, they could achieve the Dao Fruit of a Heavenly Immortal simply by sitting in meditation and cultivating each day, and they understood human affairs and worldly matters more clearly than ordinary people. True genius could never be limited to research alone; they could grasp all things with equal ease. It was only a matter of whether they wished to reveal that understanding to others.

The matter of Mount Lao could be considered settled for now. Of course, who knew when the dust that had settled might rise again, only to draw Chen Jin back into its midst.

By then, though, Chen Jin might no longer fear such dust. Perhaps he would already be able to stand alone against the world.

Or, most likely of all, his bargain son would come looking for his father.

February 16th.

Chen Jin arrived at Wuhang Airport in Rongcheng, and he was in no hurry to return to Xiake County.

February 16th was a Friday, just before the weekend, so it was the perfect time to gather the dragons... no, to gather his friends in Rongcheng for a get-together.

Though a few had already returned to their hometowns, since New Year was fast approaching.

So there were really only two groups he could meet: coworkers from work, and classmates from university.

He had plenty of coworkers, but his classmates were scattered far and wide. Only three remained in Rongcheng, and one of those had also gone back home. In the end, only two were truly available to meet.

But a gathering was not about numbers; it was about deep affection and having something to talk about.

Chen Jin planned to stay in Rongcheng for two days: the first day to meet his classmates, the second to meet his coworkers.

They would find a familiar open-air barbecue joint, sit down, start eating right away, and chat.

There were two classmates attending, one man and one woman. The man was called Zhang Yuhang, the woman Lu Yingying. One had a girlfriend, the other had a boyfriend, and only Chen Jin remained a lone dog.

The three of them quickly opened up over a plate of grilled fish, first complaining about Rongcheng's version of grilled fish, then reminiscing about the grilled fish in Xiake County, because both of them had been to Chen Jin's hometown there.

Once the grilled fish had been thoroughly criticized, they moved on to work, then their boyfriends and girlfriends, and finally to their aptitude for cultivation.

Zhang Yuhang teased Chen Jin directly. "Old Chen, have you gone to have your cultivation aptitude tested? Back in the dorm, you and Old Huang were the ones most obsessed with novels. As soon as you heard the news, you must have charged straight off to the Cultivators' Association, right?"

That was a prejudice. Who said that because one read novels, one must be yearning for superpowers? Was it not allowed for others to read romance novels and dream of having ten girlfriends?

"Not yet. And I haven't been reading novels for ages. I've been busy all the time. When would I have the time? These days I'm helping out at home, and my parents watch me like hawks. They keep making me read books on business management and so on, and even said they were going to assess me. If I don't pass, they said they'd deduct my monthly salary directly. Tell me, isn't that miserable?" Chen Jin immediately cried foul. It was, in fact, true. When he first returned to the company, he had been kept under such tight control that those days had been nothing but gloom and darkness.

"Tsk, tsk, the evil heir of capitalism. We're still wage slaves, reading guides on how to flatter the boss a hundred ways, and you're reading business management. No, no, that's not good. Here, drink this bottle first. If I don't get you drunk, I won't be at ease." Lu Yingying immediately picked up a bottle of beer and held it out toward Chen Jin.

Lu Yingying was famous in their class for being able to drink. Every boy in the class had been drunk by her at least once, Chen Jin included.

"Sure. I've been training myself with liquor these past few years. I may not have built up a beer belly, but dealing with you is child's play. Come on." Chen Jin picked up a bottle at once, ready to drink her under the table.

Then the two of them downed three bottles in a row, and neither of them got drunk. Chen Jin's constitution had improved quite a bit, so three bottles of beer in his stomach did nothing to him. Still, he secretly urged his inner force to flush his face red, or Lu Yingying would never have let him off.

"Going to the Cultivators' Association with us tomorrow?" Zhang Yuhang asked next.

"I've already signed up at the Cultivators' Association in Jiaocheng, so..." Chen Jin said with some reluctance.

"Mm, then it'll just be my girlfriend and me. We won't bring along your gleaming bald-head lightbulb." Zhang Yuhang nodded.

"You punk, you're just trying to bully single dogs, aren't you?" Chen Jin said, half laughing, half helpless.

"Hey, hey, what about me? What about me?" Lu Yingying protested, glaring at Zhang Yuhang unhappily.

"You can't light us up anyway. Bring your own boyfriend." Zhang Yuhang waved a hand and turned her down flat.

"All right, brat. Come on, bottles on the table. I'll put you down and see how you manage your test tomorrow." Lu Yingying said with bold confidence, picking up her bottle again.

"Bring it on." Zhang Yuhang refused to yield.

And so the three of them ate until well past one in the morning. Both of the others were eventually taken home by their respective boyfriend and girlfriend.

In the end, Chen Jin was left alone to make his lonely way back to the hotel.

Oh, right, the room Chen Jin had booked was rather thrilling: it was the last room down the corridor.

...