Chapter 43

It was a story about a poor boy who caught the eye of a passing immortal and, in one fell swoop, became an immortal himself.

“What kind of immortal qualification will it be?”

Zheng Fa felt that he would likely have to rely on this to enter the immortal gate.

“You don’t know?” The Seventh Young Master looked at Zheng Fa with a hint of confusion. “Oh, you don’t really need to know.”

He didn’t hide it any longer: “To enter the immortal gate, there are actually two ways—one is like you, Zheng Fa, a lucky little rascal who gets noticed by a powerful figure and taken as a disciple.”

Zheng Fa: … That’s not me, you’ve got the wrong person.

“The other way is through the Immortal Qualification Conference, where they assess your spiritual root aptitude and then look at your skills in alchemy, formations, talismans, or artifact forging. They’ll give you a comprehensive rating, and those with high ratings can enter the immortal gate.”

Zheng Fa understood a bit better now; being noticed by a powerful figure was somewhat like a special admission process, probably akin to the traditional master-disciple model.

The Immortal Qualification Conference sounded a bit like a college entrance exam.

“So… what’s this about the conference being held early?”

The Seventh Young Master sighed. “In previous years, the Immortal Qualification Conference was held once every ten years. My sister participated in the last one to enter the immortal gate. This time, it was supposed to be held after the New Year, but my sister suddenly wrote to say it will be held two months from now.”

Zheng Fa finally understood why the Seventh Young Master had suddenly started working hard.

He had probably been waiting for this conference for ten years—though the Seventh Young Master was laid-back, he had always taken the study of talismans seriously.

The study of talismans was dazzling, and after a while, everything began to look distorted.

Yet, for the past decade, the Seventh Young Master had been studying diligently.

He claimed that he was a bit lazy, but that was only in comparison to someone like Gao Yuan, who was a real overachiever. Given his personality, maintaining this level of commitment for ten years was no small feat, and his desire to enter the immortal gate was evident.

“Actually, if it weren’t for you being noticed, you wouldn’t need to go to the Immortal Qualification Conference. I, Zhao, have two slots, and I would have wanted to give one to you.”

The Seventh Young Master suddenly said.

“Slots? There are limits on slots?”

The Seventh Young Master looked surprised. “Of course! Otherwise, anyone could go!”

Zheng Fa nodded; this was probably why the Zhao family had stood strong for a thousand years.

“I still need to remind you, this book won’t quickly enhance your understanding of talismans; it’s just the basics.” Hearing that the Seventh Young Master would be attending the Immortal Qualification Conference in two months, Zheng Fa felt that “Middle School Mathematics” wouldn’t be much help.

“I know.” The Seventh Young Master nodded, his expression calm as he said, “If the secret methods of the immortals could be understood so easily, they wouldn’t be called secret methods, would they? If ‘Ling He Shen’ is so difficult to practice, how much more so the secret methods given to you by a powerful figure…”

“What about you, Young Master?”

“I’ve hit a bottleneck in my studies of talismans…” The Seventh Young Master forced a bitter smile. “In these past few years, although I’ve continued to read ‘Complete Explanation of Talismans,’ I’ve made almost no progress.”

In this world, the understanding of Yuan Fu (元符, a type of talisman) seemed to rely on two words—intuition.

The high EQ way to say it is “insight,” while the low EQ way is “guessing.”

For those true geniuses, guessing can be a method, but for an ordinary person like the Seventh Young Master, this approach would inevitably lead to a dead end.

“So, let’s treat this dead horse as a live one.” The Seventh Young Master pointed at the Yuan Fu diagram on Zheng Fa’s desk. “At least, this secret method gives me a glimmer of hope.”

“But two months…”

“Two months isn’t enough? Then ten years. If ten years isn’t enough, then twenty…” The Seventh Young Master looked up at Zheng Fa, his gaze filled with a determination Zheng Fa had never seen in him before. “I’m not someone who can’t wait!”

Seeing the stunned expressions on Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan’s faces, the Seventh Young Master suddenly laughed. “I’m just saying that I don’t intend to rely on your book to enter the immortal gate. Ten years ago, if it weren’t for my Zhao family losing a slot, my dual spiritual roots would have been enough to enter the immortal gate. Studying talismans is just to increase my chances; I’m learning this to prepare for what comes after entering the immortal gate.”

He looked quite confident.

“Actually, I started studying talismans because my sister wrote to me asking for it, and she seemed quite eager.” The Seventh Young Master frowned, a bit puzzled. “But enough about that; tell me about this secret method.”

Just as Zheng Fa was about to explain, he caught a glimpse of Gao Yuan standing at the corner of the study, looking over but with a distant gaze, a hint of melancholy on his face.

“Gao Yuan.”

“Hmm?”

Gao Yuan snapped back to attention.

“Do you want to learn?”

“I…” Gao Yuan glanced at the Seventh Young Master. “I don’t have any talent for talismans.”

The Seventh Young Master was quite different from Zheng Fa; Zheng Fa had talent for talismans, so he followed him to study ‘Complete Explanation of Talismans.’

Gao Yuan, on the other hand, mainly studied with Mr. Shen and learned accounting.

Their training paths were clearly different.

“This book isn’t about talismans; it’s a kind of mathematics,” Zheng Fa said to him. “If you want to learn, come over.”

Gao Yuan looked at the Seventh Young Master.

The Seventh Young Master showed no expression. Seeing Gao Yuan looking at him, he shrugged. “This secret method belongs to Zheng Fa; why are you looking at me?”

Gao Yuan hurried over.

In the evening.

Zheng Fa stepped out of the Seventh Young Master’s study, with Gao Yuan following closely behind. Just as they reached the gate, Gao Yuan suddenly spoke up, “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you willing to teach me?”

Because I want to see if your brain can work…

Zheng Fa thought for a moment but ended up saying another reason: “If I can teach the Seventh Young Master, I can certainly teach you. It’s not some divine secret method like the Young Master said.”

“The Seventh Young Master and I, how can we be the same?”

“Why not?”

“What he can learn, I can’t.”

Zheng Fa stopped in his tracks, looking at Gao Yuan’s expressionless face. “Is there really a difference? We all have one nose and two eyes. If he can learn it, you can learn it too.”

“That’s not what I mean. The difference I’m talking about is…” Gao Yuan’s gaze fell on Zheng Fa’s face as he slowly said, “He’s the Young Master, and I’m just a servant. He’s the master, and I’m the servant.”

“Hmm.”

“Is that all you have to say?” Seeing Zheng Fa’s silence, Gao Yuan pressed on.

“In my eyes, there’s no difference.” Zheng Fa turned and continued walking.

“There’s no difference…” Gao Yuan fell silent, watching Zheng Fa walk a distance ahead before jogging to catch up, his tone a bit complicated as he said, “Who taught you all this? Have you always been like this?”

“Not really, it started about five years ago.”

Another silence fell. Zheng Fa heard Gao Yuan mumble softly, “A rebellious spirit, and you’re not afraid I’ll tell on you.”

Zheng Fa smiled but said nothing; the Seventh Young Master might understand this better than you do.

The two fell silent until they were about to part ways when Gao Yuan suddenly said, “Actually, there is still a difference.”

“Hmm?”

“If he scolds me, I wouldn’t dare to scold him back.”

Upon hearing this, Zheng Fa sincerely offered him a piece of advice: “If he scolds you once, you can scold him ten times in your heart.”

“That… I find it hard to do.” Gao Yuan slowly frowned, looking troubled as he hesitated. “I usually scold him a hundred times; ten times just doesn’t feel satisfying.”

Zheng Fa shot a sideways glance at Gao Yuan.

And you say I’m the rebellious one?

“Now you can tell on him too; neither of us would dare to tell on the other.” Gao Yuan grinned at Zheng Fa.

That night, the Zheng family of three was having dinner when a knock suddenly echoed at the door of the small courtyard.

Zheng Fa opened the door to find the housekeeper Gao and Gao Yuan standing at the entrance.

“Uncle Gao, you’re here… to join us for dinner?”

**Chapter 50: A Special Invitation**

“Exactly! Exactly! Just here to join for dinner!” the housekeeper Gao said, looking expectantly at Zheng Fa, his tone even more polite than the last time he visited. “I hope it’s convenient?”

“Please come in, Uncle.”

Zheng Fa welcomed the housekeeper and his son into the small courtyard, while his little sister, Zheng Shan, hurriedly brought over two small stools.

“These stools were actually a gift from you, Uncle Gao.” Looking at the two small stools, Zheng Fa smiled and said, “I should have thanked you long ago.”

“Such a small thing doesn’t matter!” Upon hearing Zheng Fa’s words, the housekeeper Gao quickly waved his hand, though his initial awkwardness had faded considerably.

“Uncle, what brings you here?”

“Dear nephew, I heard from Gao Yuan that you taught him a secret method of the immortals?” The housekeeper Gao carefully set down his chopsticks and said.

“It’s not really a secret method of the immortals.”

“Then you did teach him!” The housekeeper Gao slapped his thigh, revealing his true purpose. “I came here specifically to thank you properly.”

“Uncle Gao, you brought so many things last time; we haven’t even finished those yet.” Before Zheng Fa could speak, his mother, Zheng Mu, chimed in.

“Madam, that’s nothing compared to the secret method of the immortals!” the housekeeper Gao disagreed.

Seeing that Zheng Mu still wanted to refuse, he added, “I heard that you’ve been looking for a ready-made clothing shop.”

Zheng Fa looked up at him.

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