Starting Cultivation During a Trip-Chapter 151 - 109: Transcendent Disciples! Human-shaped Primordial Spirit_2
"You are...?"
"My name is Zhan Xinyue, a formal staff member of Jiangnan Province Daoist Alliance."
"So that counts as being on the official payroll too?!" Zhang Fan muttered in his heart.
Before coming, he’d specially asked Jiang Hu about it; it was said that joining the Daoist Alliance was super strict. Besides exams, there were educational requirements—at least a degree from a 211 university, and he heard that it’s hard to get in even as a graduate student now.
On top of that, they’d even screen your family background for three generations.
"I’m Jiang Hu, this is Zhang Fan, our boss..." Jiang Hu started introducing.
"Jiang Hu... I’ve heard of you... This time Maoshan specially recommended you," Zhan Xinyue replied.
When the Daoist Alliance of Jiangnan Province borrows disciples, of course, Maoshan is the first to be considered.
After all, Maoshan is one of the Ten Great Taoist Sects in the world, and it just happens to be located in Jiangnan Province.
"Maoshan!?" Jiang Hu was stunned—after all, he was a discarded disciple who’d been kicked out of Maoshan.
"Who recommended me?"
"Qi Ji!"
"Him!?"
Jiang Hu froze, and then exchanged a glance with Zhang Fan. Both of them looked a bit weird.
Immediately, an image popped up in Zhang Fan’s head: Qi Ji, unbearably arrogant, always lecturing, every time he opened his mouth, Zhang Fan just wanted to roast him to death.
"That tsundere lost to you last time, and he actually went to recommend you to the Daoist Alliance?" Zhang Fan whispered.
"He probably just wanted to repay Shen Family’s favor from last time." Jiang Hu curled his lips.
That day, if it weren’t for him and Zhang Fan, those dozens of lives might have been lost at Qi Ji’s hands. Not to mention later when Wu Ma showed up, the two delayed things long enough to win a slim chance of survival.
Qi Ji recommended Jiang Hu to the Daoist Sect—if Jiang Hu built up some merits and got official recognition, returning to Maoshan one day wouldn’t be impossible.
"Does he have some kind of handle in your hands?" Zhang Fan muttered.
"Don’t talk nonsense."
"Zhang Fan..."
At this moment, Zhan Xinyue spoke again. Her eyes gazed softly, her watery glance landing on Zhang Fan, giving him a once over.
"I heard from Senior Sister Xia Weisheng that you are a disciple of Zhenwu Mountain."
"Xia Weisheng... where is she?" Zhang Fan asked casually.
"She went to Gusu City." Zhan Xinyue said quietly, "Senior Sister Xia seems to think quite highly of you, but as for Zhenwu Mountain, I know every disciple with even a little reputation. I’ve never heard your name..."
"May I ask, when did you join?"
"Well..."
Zhang Fan hesitated, a bit troubled. He couldn’t just say he’d only joined Zhenwu Mountain for barely three months.
And that it was basically a tourist visit, handled along the way.
"What’s wrong? You can’t even say when you joined?" Zhan Xinyue asked, suspicious.
"Xinyue, a guest is a guest, don’t bombard them with questions and lose your manners."
Right then, a relaxed voice came from the side. Zhang Fan looked up to see a young man walk over, also wearing a Daoist Robe, but with sneakers, looking healthy and easygoing.
"Senior Brother Chunsheng." Zhan Xinyue greeted him.
"Greetings to you both, my name is Sui Chunsheng."
Zhang Fan and Jiang Hu exchanged a glance and nodded slightly in acknowledgment.
"You two go on in. Boss Bai is waiting for you upstairs." Sui Chunsheng pointed upstairs as he spoke.
"Alright!"
Zhang Fan and Jiang Hu looked at the two in front of them, then turned and walked into the building behind them.
"Senior Brother Chunsheng, that Zhang Fan guy is suspicious..." Zhan Xinyue spoke quietly, "When we compiled the personnel lists for all the mountain temples last year, there was no such person at Zhenwu Mountain..."
"And the info we have on him is vague at best..."
"All the sects secretly groom disciples from time to time—unknown, unsung... Not so strange," Sui Chunsheng shook his head.
Take Chu Chaoran of Zhenwu Mountain—when he was young, he was nobody, not like Xia Weisheng, who’s built up a big name out there at such a young age.
Another example: Chairman Lou Hechuan, now head of the Jiangnan Province Daoist Alliance, was said to be working in the kitchen at age forty, so low-key people thought he had zero talent in Daoist Skill.
The greatest elephant leaves no trace, the grandest sound barely makes a noise—true experts know how to hide, fame doesn’t matter. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦
But still...
"Xia Weisheng said he’s a Zhenwu Mountain disciple, and even asked the Alliance to look after him..."
Sui Chunsheng’s gaze sharpened thoughtfully.
"If he really was a secret disciple, why would Xia Weisheng point it out and ask for us to watch over him?" Sui Chunsheng said coolly.
"But the very fact Xia Weisheng spoke up means he’s definitely not an ordinary figure."
"Senior Brother, what do you make of his abilities?" On Zhan Xinyue’s pretty face a look of curiosity appeared.
"No idea..."
Sui Chunsheng shook his head, "Doesn’t matter... This mission’s main burden’s on you and me—they’re just along to help out."
"If we really run into those Non-action Sect demons, it’ll be down to our Daoist Skills."
"Understood."
Zhan Xinyue nodded, her face serious, but her beautiful eyes shone with irrepressible confidence—a confidence born of true strength.
After all, within Jiangnan Province Daoist Alliance, they were the younger generation’s standouts.
...
Meanwhile, inside an office on the third floor—
An old man with white hair and a kindly face stood by the window, holding his thermos cup, watching everything unfolding in the courtyard below.
"Jiang Hu... They say this kid actually mastered Spirit Void Talisman Drawing... Well, well, Maoshan still has some luck... Even a cast-off disciple has such talent and achievement."
Lou Hechuan sipped his tea.
"If Maoshan doesn’t plan to take him back, we could have him work here."
As he spoke, a meaningful smile appeared on Lou Hechuan’s face.
"Buran, could you bear to let him go?"
"Chairman, you jest. If you think so highly of that brat, it’s his good luck. Who wouldn’t want a government job?"
Bai Buran sat on the sofa, smiling the kind of smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
"And what about Zhang Fan..."
Suddenly Lou Hechuan shifted the topic without warning.
"He’s a disciple of Zhenwu Mountain, just here for some practical experience,"
Bai Buran cut him off, repeating the lines he’d already rehearsed over eight hundred times.
"I know," Lou Hechuan nodded. "Actually, when Zhenwu Mountain recommended Zhang Fan to the Daoist Alliance, I’d already called to verify personally."
No doubt about his identity as a Zhenwu Mountain disciple, but what really caught his attention was...
"Shut-door disciple of Chu Zhenren!?"
Zhenwu Mountain actually gave that answer—making even Lou Hechuan, the Daoist Alliance chairman in Jiangnan Province, waver a little.
"Isn’t Chu Chaoran’s last disciple supposed to be Xia Weisheng?"
A shut-door disciple means it’s the last disciple taken in this life. Once they’re taken in, the door’s shut—there’ll be no more after that.
"But Chu Zhenren... doesn’t he open and close his doors as he pleases?" Bai Buran flashed an awkward grin.
"Maybe he saw that kid’s talent as exceptional, so he opened the door one more time."
"..."
"Chu Chaoran, truly a living Zhenren of our era. No rule can bind someone like him," Lou Hechuan sighed.
"Chairman Lou... what task are you giving them this time?"
Bai Buran changed gears, finally returning to the main topic.
"Those two kids have barely seen the world, hardly ones to trust with anything big."
"Relax... It’s nothing too difficult, just sending something to the Observatory of Profound Mystery in Gusu City." Lou Hechuan said lightly.
"So it’s just a delivery." Bai Buran breathed a sigh of relief.
There are thirteen cities in Jiangnan Province, none very far apart. Gusu City is only about an hour and a half by bullet train from Yujing.
"What are they delivering?" Bai Buran asked casually.
"Just a broken earthen jar!" Lou Hechuan turned to sit across from Bai Buran.
"An earthen jar? What’s inside it?" Bai Buran inquired.
"A human-shaped Primordial Spirit!!!" Lou Hechuan grinned widely and spit out those four words.
