Chapter 20

On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, in the Jade Void Palace, both the real and fake Taoists were joyfully engaged in the holiday activities. They wrapped zongzi, bundled mugwort, drank realgar wine, and worked hard to ward off evil and drive away toxins. Among them, Wang Feng was the most active, darting around and trying to get involved in everything. However, his main purpose was to show off the exquisite sachet hanging from his waist. This sachet was made by Miss Zhong Ziqi, who gave it to him before returning home for the Dragon Boat Festival. Among all the real and fake Taoists in the palace, she only gave it to him, which made the young man so happy that he couldn't sleep for half the night. Of course, he didn't get it for nothing; he gave Miss Zhong his almost inseparable nunchucks in return. Later, when Zhang Weixin told him that in ancient times, men and women would give each other gifts as tokens of their affection, it seemed that Miss Zhong was willing to offer herself to him. This made the young man even more elated, and if his brother hadn't restrained him, he would have gone to the top of the main hall to sing. His behavior naturally earned the contempt of all the time travelers, but he didn't care and went to Qingchen to inquire about some knowledge related to betrothal. Qingchen couldn't give him a useful answer, as he himself hadn't married or betrothed to any girl, so he could only tell him to ask others. However, Qingchen also brought him some good news, or rather, good news for all the time travelers: Daoist Master Fuyao had woken up from his sleep.

When everyone learned that the legendary Chen Tuan had woken up so quickly, they were naturally very pleased. To meet such a legendary figure in person was quite an achievement. That noon, Yu Xu invited Fuyao to have lunch with everyone, and the time travelers finally met this living immortal. However, this living immortal did not have the so-called noble and refined appearance they had imagined; his small eyes were still half-closed, seemingly still not fully awake. Although the crowd was somewhat disappointed, they all stood up and greeted Fuyao with respect.

Fuyao asked everyone to sit down, slightly opened his small eyes, and stared at Wang Xiaojun, who was sitting at the lower end of the table, for a few moments. Then he turned his gaze and scanned the faces of these so-called returnees from overseas. He then raised his wine glass, said a few words to celebrate the holiday, and indicated that everyone should not be拘束, and should eat and drink as they pleased.

Although he appeared calm on the surface, he was very puzzled inside. Just now, he had basically examined everyone's faces and felt that they all had a similar appearance to Wang Xiaojun, all of whom had dual destinies. Moreover, the majority of them had one ordinary and one prosperous destiny. These two destinies were intertwined for a certain period, but it seemed that the prosperous destiny was gradually taking the lead. If it were just Wang Xiaojun, it could be explained as an anomaly or even a freak, but now that there were two or thirty people like this, it was quite unbelievable. It seemed that he would have to stay here for a year or half to observe these people thoroughly.

After the meal, Wang Xiaojun found Yu Xu to discuss a decision reached by the committee the day before. This proposal was put forward by Zhang Weixin, who, based on the dangerous situation they encountered on the road a few days ago, believed that the team's current defense mainly relied on a few modern weapons. These modern weapons were too distinctive and could easily attract attention. Moreover, their numbers were limited, and they could not be replenished at present, so they should be used sparingly. Therefore, he suggested selecting some members with a foundation and potential from the team to learn martial arts from Yu Xu, or if possible, directly from Fuyao—though the latter was just a long shot, and the team members basically did not think it would succeed. After a period of practice, at least it would increase the safety factor when going out. In a sense, every member of the team could be considered an elite, and the loss of any one of them would be a huge loss. After discussion and consultation with relevant personnel, the committee finally approved this proposal. Following the principle of voluntariness, twenty people were listed as candidates. Among them, all the military personnel except Li Junwu, who was already over fifty, signed up, including the female military doctor Lin Xiaoyu. However, none of the three women from the car club signed up, and among the men, only Wang Xiaojun, Zhang Weixin, Zeng Zhilin, Wang Feng, Liang Ziyue, and Lu Yue signed up. This showed that the spirit of endurance of these white-collar workers from the previous life was still not comparable to that of the soldiers from the People's Liberation Army.

After hearing Wang Xiaojun's request, Yu Xu pondered for a moment and said, "Since all the Taoist friends have this desire and are willing to learn martial arts under me, I am more than willing. However, I am afraid that my martial arts are rough and may hinder your progress."

Wang Xiaojun quickly praised, "Daoist Master, what are you saying? Even your disciple Qingchen, according to my cousin, is already outstanding in martial arts. If we and our companions can learn under you, it will be our good fortune."

Yu Xu humbly said a few more words and then said, "However, my great master is currently in the palace, and I need to report to him before I can take on disciples. Please be patient for a couple of days, and I will seek his approval and then discuss this matter in detail." Wang Xiaojun understood that what he said was reasonable and returned to wait for good news.

After Wang Xiaojun left, Yu Xu immediately went to see Fuyao and repeated their request. Fuyao pondered for a while and then said, "Since that is the case, we should fulfill their request as we discussed a few days ago. I see that these people are all full of true qi, making them suitable for practicing our school's internal martial arts. From their behavior over the past few days, they can be considered righteous. Especially in the battle the other day, according to Qingchen, the young man named Wang Feng performed very well. The other scholars, although they had no martial arts skills, could remain calm in danger and find appropriate opportunities to use their so-called enchanted weapons to defeat the enemy, which is quite remarkable."

Yu Xu, seeing that his great master did not object, agreed and was about to leave. However, Fuyao called him back and, after stroking his beard for a while, said, "I think it is not appropriate for you to take them as disciples." Yu Xu was surprised and did not understand why his great master suddenly changed his mind. Just as he was about to ask, Fuyao continued, "I am not against taking them as disciples, but I think it is not appropriate for you to take them. Given their foundation, if they practice diligently, it won't take long for some of them to surpass you in martial arts. At that time, you won't have the ability to teach them, and it would be a laughingstock for other schools. Therefore, I intend to take them as my grand disciples and have you, as their senior brother, teach them martial arts. When the more talented ones reach a certain level, I will personally guide them. What do you think?"

Yu Xu, though somewhat不服, thought that the "returnees" might have a good foundation but not necessarily surpass him in a few years. How could they reach a level where he couldn't teach them? However, since his great master had not taken disciples for many years and now had this intention, he couldn't strongly oppose it. Moreover, it would take time to see what level these people could reach. He decided to agree and deal with it later.

So, Yu Xu bowed and said, "I will follow your instructions, Great Master. In two days, I will convey your intentions to Leader Wang."

Two days after the Dragon Boat Festival, Yu Xu found Wang Xiaojun and told him Fuyao's intentions. Wang Xiaojun was naturally more than willing and agreed readily. Yu Xu calculated with his fingers and said, "In two days, which is the ninth day of the fifth month, is a lucky day for the ceremony. Why don't we choose this day for the ceremony?"

Wang Xiaojun had no objections and the two discussed the specific ceremony. Wang Xiaojun said that he would leave the arrangements to Yu Xu, as the "returnees" were clueless and might mess things up. Yu Xu, seeing that he had no choice, took on the responsibility and assured Wang Xiaojun that he would teach them the relevant etiquette over the next two days to ensure they wouldn't make a fool of themselves during the ceremony. Wang Xiaojun thanked him repeatedly.

After sending Yu Xu away, Wang Xiaojun immediately informed the team of the good news. Those who had signed up were naturally overjoyed, and even those who hadn't signed up were happy and congratulated the sign-ups.

On the ninth day of the fifth month in the third year of the Liao Yingli (953 AD), early in the morning, in the courtyard of the Jade Void Palace, a crowd of people knelt, and the ceremony for the time travelers to become disciples was underway. Since Fuyao decided to keep everything simple, the twenty disciples only had to kowtow three times and offer a cup of tea. However, after the twenty people each offered a cup of tea, Fuyao had drunk a lot of water. When the last and youngest disciple, the Mongolian warrior Mutuer, finished offering his tea, the ceremony was over. Everyone stood up and bowed to Fuyao, then turned and bowed to Yu Xu, calling him "Senior Brother." Yu Xu quickly extended his hands to help them up, saying, "Junior brothers, you are exempt from the ceremony." The crowd then stood up, and the atmosphere of brotherhood became lively, and the distance between them seemed to have shortened.

The enthusiastic atmosphere brought by the ceremony lasted less than half a day and was broken by Fuyao's training tasks in the afternoon. Since most of the new disciples had no martial arts foundation, although their true qi was quite abundant, their bodies lacked speed and flexibility. Therefore, Fuyao instructed Yu Xu to start all the new disciples, except Wang Feng and Zeng Zhilin, with the most basic leg-stretching and horse-stance exercises. Thus, starting that afternoon, the woods behind the Jade Void Palace were often filled with "pitiful" cries. The time travelers, who had long passed the best age for martial arts training, underwent various physical strengthening exercises, a process that, as Wang Xiaojun put it, "was truly beyond the imagination of ordinary people."

That night, except for Wang Feng and Zeng Zhilin, the other eighteen martial arts learners basically went to bed with sore hips and dragging legs. Wang Feng, Zeng Zhilin, and the other time travelers who did not practice martial arts became volunteer masseurs, giving massages and relaxing their "tortured" companions. After a long time, it was not until around midnight that they went to bed. Although both the martial arts learners and non-learners were quite exhausted, this interaction deepened their friendships, which was both unexpected and what Wang Xiaojun, Zhang Weixin, Xu Shaowan, and others most hoped to see.

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