After a few cups of yellow wine, He the Venerable was feeling a pleasant buzz. After a long, hard day's work, a drink like this was truly satisfying.
He and Jiang Yi were on pretty good terms in the Big Mixed Courtyard. Seeing the other man seemingly "drowning his sorrows," he offered some advice:
"Brother Yi, you need to let it go. That Luo Qian'er is proud and ambitious, obsessed with getting into the Inner Sect and climbing to a higher branch.
The talisman money you earn in a month isn't even enough for her to buy Elixirs and rent a Cave Mansion. Why keep bothering with her?
We have to live for ourselves! Just look at Old Li in the courtyard. Not only is he barely scraping by, but he also has to listen to his wife nag him about being useless!"
Jiang Yi sipped his yellow wine. Of course, he wasn't really drowning his sorrows. Having lived two lives and experienced many hardships, his mind had long been tempered.
It was just that, from the moment he opened his eyes and found himself a mortal servant in a Demonic Sect, toiling day and night like a beast of burden with no hope of escaping his cage...
...to then obtaining the Celestial Book, being able to investigate karma, and having a chance to seize an Opportunity and find a path to Cultivation.
The taste of these drastic ups and downs was complex and couldn't be explained to an outsider.
He had to use wine to keep it all down!
"Brother He."
Jiang Yi set down his cup and said:
"From now on, I just want to steadily earn some talisman money, see if I can get into the Inner Sect to attend a few lessons, find a technique, and make a future for myself."
A look of surprise crossed He the Venerable's face, then he lowered his head.
"Brother Yi, it's good that you're ambitious, but a single lesson in the Inner Sect isn't cheap, and... it's not very useful.
Take it from your big brother, that path leads nowhere."
Jiang Yi raised an eyebrow, seeming surprised.
"Brother He, have you been to the Inner Sect?"
According to the original owner's memories, this He the Venerable was a veteran on Red Flame Peak. After his twelve-year term had expired, he didn't leave the mountain but remained in the Qianji Sect.
He usually clocked in on time but never did any extra work, resting as soon as his eight hours were up or his quota was met.
He wasn't diligent about his meditation or practice, either, always giving off the impression that he was just coasting along, waiting to die.
"Sigh... Your big brother once studied Daoism, too. I dreamed of ascending the Twelfth Layer Floors and becoming a Foundation Establishment True Master..."
He the Venerable seemed to have his old feelings stirred up as he lamented:
"Back then, I slaved away every month to earn two thousand talisman-money, sleeping in a communal bunk and gnawing on steamed buns, all to save up the fee to attend lessons in the Inner Sect.
I went a total of eleven times over a year and got absolutely nothing out of it.
The things the Sect's Elders talked about were always related to the 'Great Dao,' 'immortality,' 'Grotto-Heavens,' and 'Blessed Lands.'
They would lay out the boundless mountains and rivers of the Five Domains before your eyes, but they wouldn't say a single word about how to take the first step."
'So the public lessons have no real substance?'
'Just as you'd expect from a Demonic Sect!'
Jiang Yi thought to himself.
'So it turns out the Qianji Sect doesn't forbid Mortal Servants from attending lessons because they just want to fleece the new blood. They never had any intention of teaching anything real!'
"Brother Yi, don't laugh, but to this day, I still dream of stepping into the Inner Sect, sitting below the platform, and listening to the lessons alongside those Qianji Sect Disciples..."
Fine wrinkles appeared at the corners of He the Venerable's eyes. Years of hard labor had deepened the marks of time, making him look like a little old man of sixty, though he was barely in his forties.
"The most potent poison in this world is the very word 'hope.'
Especially for people like you and me. Who is born wanting to be a Mortal Servant? Who doesn't yearn to be a Cultivator, to feast on mist and drink the dew, to perform Qi Collection and Refining Techniques?
But there's no chance! Mortal Servants are just expendable materials, not talents fit for Cultivation! I only understood this truth after I'd spent all my talisman money!"
Jiang Yi fell silent.
Who would have thought that He the Venerable, the man in the Big Mixed Courtyard who seemed to have the least ambition, once possessed such a firm and determined heart for the Dao.
"Brother He, is it like this in the Demon Dao and the Immortal Dao alike?"
Jiang Yi asked, changing the subject.
"I heard from my Daoism teacher that the Spiritual Energy on the Nanzhan Continent isn't abundant, far less than on the Dongsheng Continent, which is ruled by the Immortal Dao."
He the Venerable downed a few more cups of yellow wine. Perhaps feeling the effects, his words grew bolder:
"Sigh, what's the difference? It's just that the Immortal Dao is hard to get into and values your background, while the Demon Dao takes in anyone and everyone, making use of all materials.
Think about it, Brother Yi. The Immortal Dao, the Demon Dao... they're just paths of cultivation, both seeking immortality and eternal freedom.
Since their goal is the same, all roads will eventually lead to Rome. What real difference is there?!
Does being in the Immortal Dao suddenly make you compassionate and care about common Mortals? To put it bluntly, what kind of great person pays any mind to ants."
"Insightful, Brother He, truly perceptive. Tell me more..."
Jiang Yi's interest was immediately piqued. He quickly poured more wine for He the Venerable, wanting to hear more "substance."
He automatically ignored the resentment and bitterness mixed into the words, picking out only what was useful.
It couldn't be helped. As a Mortal Servant, the information he had access to was far too limited.
"The real difference between the Immortal Dao and the Demon Dao is all about how you're born.
If you aren't born with a father in the Immortal Dao, or with a superior destiny and aptitude, you've got no chance in this life.
As for the Demon Dao, it doesn't matter if your origins are humble. They'll give you an 'opportunity' to try, to fight for it."
He the Venerable picked up a strip of rabbit meat, chewing on it dryly.
"I also heard from the Inner Sect Elders that Spiritual Energy on the Dongsheng Continent is abundant, but it's all gathered and controlled by the Upper Sects, who established the system of Nine-Grade Daoist Talismans.
Without the right background, it's extremely difficult to enter a sect. If you don't receive a talisman, you can't cultivate and can only be an unregistered Mountain and Marsh Wild Cultivator. That's why you often see Immortal Dao Cultivators from the Dongsheng Continent coming to our Nanzhan Continent to make a living..."
Jiang Yi mulled over these words and came to a rough conclusion.
'If Cultivation in the Demon Dao is like the endless grind of a wage slave, then the Immortal Dao sounds like trying to land a secure government job.'
"In those eleven lessons I took, there wasn't much of use, but I'll pass one thing on to you, Brother Yi."
Perhaps because he had drunk to his heart's content today, He the Venerable spoke with a frankness unlike his usual secretive and guarded self.
"On the path of the Immortal Dao, it's best to have a father who's a True Master if you want to reach Foundation Establishment. It's best to have an ancestor who reached the Qi Cultivation Twelfth Layer if you even want to get in the door.
As for the path of the Demon Dao, it all comes down to a single word: 'struggle.' If you don't fight and seize what you can, if you have no money and no backing, you have no hope of ever changing your fate in this life."
Jiang Yi pondered this carefully and found himself in agreement.
'Achieving the Dao has always been difficult, of course every step would be fraught with peril.'
He looked at He the Venerable and figured the man must have been crushed by those words from the Inner Sect Elders. Sensing only a bleak future ahead, he had chosen to just "lie flat."
"Every word from you is a pearl of wisdom, Brother He. I've benefited greatly!"
Jiang Yi raised his cup in a toast, deliberately lowering it to show his utmost respect.
"Brother Yi, I can see it in you! You look like you've got what it takes to reach the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer! Go for it!"
Jiang Yi's respectful gesture greatly pleased He the Venerable, who said boisterously:
"If you have anything else you want to ask, your big brother here knows a thing or two..."
Jiang Yi didn't press for more. He had already gotten most of the "substance" out of He the Venerable's belly and just asked one more casual question:
"Why are we called the 'Demon Dao'? The word 'Demon' doesn't sound very nice."
He the Venerable, breathing out fumes of alcohol, shook his head and recited as if from a textbook:
"The 'Demon' in Demon Dao actually has two origins.
One is the title the founding patriarch gave himself, which established the name of our Daoist Lineage and Method. The disciples who came after couldn't very well change it.
The other reason is that this 'Demon' doesn't mean doing evil or being lawless. Rather, it means not being bound by precepts and rules, not being constrained by sin and karma, but seeking to 'preserve one's true nature and not wrong oneself.'"
Jiang Yi understood. He felt this meal had not been in vain; it allowed him to cram up on "basic knowledge" and finally understand what the Demon Dao was all about.
The two of them drank, ate, and chatted idly until late into the night.
When Jiang Yi settled the bill, it came to a full four hundred talisman-money, and his purse instantly deflated.
If it weren't for the large sum he'd received from his share of the new recruitment fees, his heart would be bleeding and the pain would be visceral.
In the dead of night, Jiang Yi carried the stumbling He the Venerable on his back, making his way along the dark mountain path.
The older man was likely truly drunk, as he was still muttering incessantly:
"Brother Yi, you're still young. Don't be like your big brother, thinking you're some kind of cultivation talent, only to spend all your hard-earned talisman money and realize that Cultivation is like trying to scoop the moon from the water... That path is too, too hard... Listen to me, just muddle your way to the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer, save up some money, and go down the mountain to enjoy life..."
When Jiang Yi got back to the Big Mixed Courtyard, he simply tossed He the Venerable unceremoniously onto his bed without much care.
With his Cultivation, he wasn't about to get sick from the cold anyway.
Then, he sat in the courtyard for a while, letting the wind air out the stench of alcohol on him before washing up and going inside his room.
"Even if the path is long and treacherous, I must walk it. Otherwise, wouldn't this incredible luck have been for nothing!"
Jiang Yi leaned back against the rough earthen wall. The page of the Golden Book appeared in his vision, its small, tadpole-like characters flickering.
After he had given it the preconditions, only one Opportunity appeared!
[Matter of Inquiry: An Opportunity compatible with myself]
[Instance 1: Two days from now, at the third quarter of the Rat Hour, north of Red Flame Peak, in a place of fallen trees on the mountain's shady side, moonlight essence will gather and drip down as a flowing pulp. One may devise a way to consume it.]