Chapter 6 — Initiation
劍問蒼天 · Page 4 of 5
The Perfected One Daoyan thought a moment. "Junior Brother Tian speaks sense. They are young and have met with great calamity; we must do well to dissolve the hatred in their hearts. Indeed it is not fitting that they dwell in one place. Then it will take two junior brothers to take them in." As he spoke, he looked over the assembly.
And lo, the eyes of the other five branch heads—Cangsong first among them, and Tian Buhui and the rest—fell almost all at once upon Lin Jinghong, circling and lingering, unwilling to leave him, while no one paid any heed to Zhang Qingyue at his side.
In the way of cultivation, aptitude is of supreme importance; the world often tells of a genius who, enlightened to the Dao, surpasses a hundred years of practice in a single stroke. And the Canglan Sect knew this better than any. In the days when the sect stood at the end of its road, it had relied on a single Ancestor Qingye, a man of dazzling brilliance: young in years, yet of surpassing natural gifts, he had fathomed the ancient scrolls of his forebears, and his cultivation far outstripped that of all the generations before him. A tiny Canglan Sect he made vigorous and thriving beyond measure, and today it stood as the leader of the righteous way under heaven.
Moreover, a famed master is hard to find, but a disciple of rare aptitude is no less so. Lin Jinghong's gifts were surpassing and his frame and constitution wondrously suited; the branch heads of Canglan had seen it at a glance.
After a pause, Tian Buhui coughed and said, "Heh heh, Sect Master, you know my Dazhu Peak has ever been thin in numbers. So this time I'll settle one of them for you."
He was about to point at Lin Jinghong when Shang Zhengliang, head of the Chaoyang Peak branch, rose first and stepped before him, saying to the Perfected One Daoyan, "Sect Master, the moment I saw this child today I felt a rare affinity with him—surely there is a bond between us from a former life. Let him enter my school."
The Canglan Sect had a long history; on the surface the branches were harmonious, but each harbored a will to outdo the others. Seeing Lin Jinghong's surpassing gifts, none could say whether he might not be the next Ancestor Qingye; and at the least, taking him in meant only one more disciple, while denying the other branches the chance. Ordinarily, given Daoyan's prestige and cultivation, none would dare contend—but Daoyan himself had said he would take no disciple, and such a windfall could not be let pass.
No sooner had Shang Zhengliang's words fallen than Tianyun, Daoist head of the Luoxia Peak branch, said from the side, "Senior Brother Shang, you already have two hundred disciples under you. If each of them has a bond with you from a former life, your bonds are somewhat too many."
Shang Zhengliang flushed and was about to speak, but Tian Buhui cut in, "Senior Brother Tianyun is right. Speaking of numbers of disciples, the least of yours is above a hundred, while my Dazhu Peak has only seven—it hardly looks proper. Better that—"
Then the Perfected One Cangyan broke in. "Junior Brother Tian, these two children are so pitiable; what we should give them is the best of care, not weigh our own numbers this way and that." He turned to the Perfected One Daoyan and cupped his hands. "Sect Master, this child is indeed fine material. Let me take him in. I will teach him with all my heart and bring him to accomplishment, as comfort to the souls of Liumiao Village."
The Perfected One Daoyan considered a moment. Tian Buhui, Shang Zhengliang, and the others all cried silently in their hearts that this was ill. And so it proved: after a time Daoyan said, "Junior Brother Cangsong speaks reasonably as well. Then let him enter your school."
Cangsong smiled faintly. "Thank you, Sect Master."