Chapter 5: 5. Seeking Auspiciousness and Avoiding Misfortune

Lei Jun looked at Wang Guiyuan: "Daozhang..."

Wang Guiyuan smiled and said, "Brother Lei, there's no need to be so formal. Just call me Senior Brother.

With your character and talent, even if you don't participate in next year's ordination ceremony, you will surely be able to participate in the one after that, and enter the mountain to join the main temple.

Speaking of which, when I was in the Dao Tong Academy, I also cultivated in the Sixth Division."

"Alright..." Lei Jun replied, "I hope Senior Brother Wang will take good care of me in the future."

Wang Guiyuan handed the letter to Lei Jun and said, "I will often come back to the Sixth Division to check on you. If you have any difficulties in your life or cultivation, I will try my best to help you."

Lei Jun thanked Wang Guiyuan and then read the letter left by Elder Yuan.

The letter roughly said that Elder Yuan had already made an initial assessment. Although Lei Jun's current innate talent was average, he had many redeeming qualities. Regardless of Xu Yuanzhen's thoughts, Elder Yuan himself was also willing to form a master-disciple relationship with Lei Jun.

However, guiding Lei Jun to join his sect was just the idea of Xu Yuanzhen and himself. They didn't know Lei Jun's own thoughts.

It wasn't that Xu Yuanzhen didn't want to introduce Lei Jun to her master, the Celestial Master. Compared to Elder Yuan, the Celestial Master was even more of a recluse, having been in seclusion for ten years since the last time.

It was uncertain when the Celestial Master would emerge from seclusion. Not to mention next year's ordination ceremony, it was even unknown whether he would emerge before the next one.

Therefore, Xu Yuanzhen introduced Lei Jun to Elder Yuan.

However, as the saying goes, water flows downhill, and people strive to climb higher. No matter who it is, once they enter the Celestial Master's temple, if there is even a glimmer of hope to become a direct disciple of the Celestial Master, who would be content with being a disciple of the Celestial Master's junior brother?

Since Xu Yuanzhen, who introduced Lei Jun to the path, did not take disciples, it should be up to Lei Jun to decide whom to follow.

Perhaps Lei Jun was willing to wait for the Celestial Master to emerge from seclusion...

After reading the letter, Lei Jun's first thought was:

According to normal human nature, if you say this, how can others still say they want to be the Celestial Master's disciple? They should immediately bow and beg you to take them as a disciple.

However...

Lei Jun looked at the words on the letter, pondered for a moment, and did not answer immediately.

Reading the words on the letter, it felt as if a pair of gentle eyes were looking at him, full of encouragement.

Lei Jun, who had been in this world for some time, dared to say this was not an illusion.

The words of a high-ranking cultivator contained emotions and encompassed all things.

Lei Jun put down the letter and looked up at Wang Guiyuan.

Wang Guiyuan smiled and said, "Before leaving, my master also talked to me about you, Brother Lei.

He said, 'How difficult is the path of cultivation? Only by facing your true inner self can you walk the path with determination.'"

Lei Jun said, "I apologize, Senior Brother. I am currently at a loss and have no idea what to do."

Wang Guiyuan glanced at Lei Jun.

No matter how he looked at it, the tall young man in front of him seemed to be a person with his own ideas.

However, Wang Guiyuan did not say much and only smiled and shook his head.

"Brother Lei, you are joking. My master once said that you don't need to rush to make a decision. Perhaps the Celestial Master will emerge from seclusion before you participate in the ordination. We can discuss it then.

In the meantime, as long as he is on the mountain and not in seclusion, you can ask him any questions about your cultivation, in addition to consulting the instructors at the Dao Tong Academy.

Since my master is not on the mountain, you can also come to me. Although my cultivation and knowledge are far inferior to his, I will do my best to help you."

Lei Jun said, "Thank you, Elder and Senior Brother."

The light ball in his mind was currently inactive, and no fortune-telling sticks had appeared.

This seemed to indicate that Elder Yuan and Wang Guiyuan were sincere and would not harm him because he wanted to climb the high branch of the Celestial Master.

Perhaps Elder Yuan didn't really want to take him as a disciple, but was just doing it for the sake of Xu Yuanzhen's face.

Or perhaps the time was not right, and they were waiting until the ordination was approaching?

In the following days, whenever Lei Jun had questions, Wang Guiyuan indeed provided patient guidance.

Compared to the instructors who had to divide their attention among other Dao Tong, Wang Guiyuan was essentially giving him one-on-one tutoring.

With a good teacher and the supply of purple-golden lingzhi essence to provide qi, Lei Jun's cultivation continued to rapidly advance, forming his eighth qi sea and successfully breaking through to the eighth level of the Qi Cultivation stage.

As time passed, nearly a year after entering, Lei Jun gradually overcame the initial stage of finding everything new and fresh.

The repetitive daily lessons and cultivation gradually began to feel a bit monotonous.

But after slowly overcoming this period of mental dullness, Lei Jun began to truly grasp and experience the essence of the Dao, feeling peaceful and serene.

Until one day, this serenity was suddenly broken.

"The Dao Tong Academy has been robbed!"

The news came when Lei Jun and others had just finished their evening class.

The academy quickly fell into chaos.

"What's going on? What's going on? Who, who?"

"I heard someone from the Second Division stole something from the First Division. They have already identified the person and are now trying to catch them."

"Have they caught the person?"

"Not yet, they say he ran into the forest."

Soon, an instructor gathered everyone and formally announced, "Tonight, everyone will have an additional task: to cooperate in a mountain search. Prepare quickly and set out as soon as possible!"

Although the incident also alarmed the main temple on the mountain, the Dao Tong Academy was mainly responsible for handling it.

Many Dao Tong from the various divisions were mobilized, forming multiple teams to enter the mountain, set up checkpoints, and conduct a search, like a hunt.

Lei Jun's team, led by two direct disciples of the Celestial Master's temple, consisted of twenty Dao Tong, guarding a key area in the northern mountain, monitoring the surroundings, and searching from a distance.

One of the young Daoists, about fourteen or fifteen years old, was similar in age to most of the Dao Tong.

However, Lei Jun, a nineteen-year-old Dao Tong who had only been in for a year, and the other young Dao Tong had to follow his orders and be directed by him.

Without encountering such an incident, the difference between Daoists and Dao Tong might not be so obvious, but now, Lei Jun thought, he needed to improve his cultivation and participate in the ordination as soon as possible.

The search and interception continued without any results.

The two leading direct disciples of the Celestial Master's temple had a disagreement.

The young Daoist waved his hand and said, "Just staying here won't work. We should search in the northeast or northwest direction!"

The other young Daoist said, "Junior Brother, our duty is to guard this area. We shouldn't leave our post."

The young Daoist said, "We can split into two groups. Each of us will lead a small team. One team will continue to guard the area, and the other will search the side!"

Lei Jun and the other young Dao Tong were quietly waiting on the side.

Suddenly, a flash of light appeared in Lei Jun's mind.

The light ball, which had been inactive for some time, now displayed text:

"Chasing the internal thief, there is a hidden situation. Splitting up, life and death are in your hands."

Then, three fortune-telling sticks flew out of the light ball, each with a different fortune:

"Upper-middle stick: Actively participate in the pursuit, move forward without any distractions, and gain a sixth-grade opportunity, auspicious."

"Middle stick: Stay in place, remain calm, and wait for the storm to pass, neither gain nor lose, neutral."

"Lower-lower stick: Actively participate in the pursuit, change the target midway, and fall into a deadly trap, extremely inauspicious!"