Chapter 67: Prince Qi, Wang Wei, and the Upper, Middle, and Lower Daoist Doctrines

"Is the full poem available?"

The attendant spread the paper and ground the ink. Wang Wei tucked up his sleeves and inscribed the poem onto the paper.

The jade cup was already empty. Just as the attendant reached to refill it, Prince Qi brushed his hand across the air, sending the thousand-gold jade cup crashing to the floor, where it shattered into pieces. No one paid it any mind.

Prince Qi stared intently at the verses. After reading them several times, he passed the paper along. The other guests leaned in, eager to see what kind of poetry could leave the Prince in such a trance.

After a long while.

Prince Qi asked, "Did he truly encounter immortals?"

Although the descriptions in the poem were vivid enough to seem real, he did not entirely believe them. Yet, the poem was undeniably a masterpiece, and the tune was equally extraordinary. An aura of the celestial realm practically drifted from the words, filling everyone who read them with an involuntary yearning.

"Are there truly immortals in this world?"

He looked toward Wang Wei.

"You have journeyed to Xiangzhou, Mojie. Did you happen to catch a glimpse of an immortal?"

"I never had that fortune."

A trace of regret tinged Wang Wei's voice.

Three questions in rapid succession revealed Prince Qi's deep concern. Growing too urgent in his questioning, he began to press his sleeve against his mouth, coughing heavily as a pallid hue spread across his face.

Setting aside the talk of immortals, the guests all stepped forward to offer words of comfort.

In their eyes, the illusory and distant pursuit of immortality...

How could it possibly matter more than Prince Qi's health?

Once Prince Qi's breathing grew steady, a servant hastily handed him a medicinal pill to be swallowed with water. A faint, flush-like color returned to his cheeks. He suffered from a chronic affliction of chest congestion and labored breathing, which had grown increasingly severe over the past two years.

The imperial physicians had advised him to keep his mind calm and serene, to spend his time appreciating flowers and leisure, and to listen to poetry, prose, and the music of the zither.

He must neither give in to anger nor overexert his spirit.

Having regained his composure, Prince Qi summoned his subordinate official.

The guests were dismissed to the outer rooms, though none knew what was discussed within.

Left outside, they found the second half of the banquet inevitably growing chilly.

Glancing at Wang Wei, knowing it was he who had introduced the verses and the tales of deities that had so agitated Prince Qi and provoked his relentless coughing fit, the guests could not help but show him a certain aloof indifference.

Wang Wei, however, remained entirely carefree and at ease.

He gazed up at the moon in the night sky.

A faint ripple stirred in his heart.

Wondering if this bright moon was also shining down upon the immortals?

...

Behind the curtain.

Prince Qi's voice was slightly hoarse from coughing. He murmured, "Tomorrow, dispatch a carriage to Xiangzhou to investigate. Make sure to inquire thoroughly whether immortals truly reside there."

The subordinate official looked stunned.

"Your Highness, it is merely a poem..."

Observing the Prince's complexion, he cautiously added, "This subordinate will go summon the imperial physician."

Prince Qi coughed a few more times.

Hearing such a suggestion, a faint smile touched his lips.

"The imperial physician... of what use are they? It is not as though we haven't called upon them enough."

The subordinate official lowered his head and said respectfully,

"This subordinate will send men to Xiangyang immediately."

"Tomorrow, will Your Highness be visiting the Hongdao Taoist Temple? Taoist Master Taihe, the abbot of that temple, is a master of alchemy. Previously, people offered a thousand pieces of gold just for his elixirs."

Prince Qi pondered for a moment. Travel by boat and carriage was slow, and the immortals of Xiangzhou could hardly be sought and found in a single day.

"Very well, we shall go have a look tomorrow."

...

...

The moonlight was cold and clear. Sanshui and Chuyi, unable to sleep, sat upon the threshold of the Hongdao Taoist Temple's gates.

They had arrived just before the ward gates closed and were warmly received by the Taoist priests. They found that the mountainside possessed many wonders quite different from the world below. The Hongdao Taoist Temple treated them with great affection, even better than they treated their own younger disciples.

And toward their master, the priests maintained an attitude of utmost reverence.

The two children sat close together, whispering softly.

"Senior Brother is dead."

"I know. We buried him alongside Master."

"Can you see your own allotted lifespan?"

"We haven't cultivated to that level yet. Maybe we will in the future," Sanshui mused. "Master should be able to see his own lifespan. Should we ask him?"

"We'll probably get punished."

Sanshui thought this likely. The memory of the punishment they received for stealthily plucking the feathers of a white crane made her wince with lingering pain.

After a moment of silence.

"Do you think Master is more powerful, or that senior from today?"

"Master called him a senior, so the senior must be more powerful, right?"

"That fish demon was following that senior, and the senior said it was gluttonous. Could it be a servant kept by the senior in the water?" Sanshui let her imagination wander.

"That might actually be true."

"Then why couldn't that senior master perform the art of flight and levitation?"

Sanshui found this strange and somewhat pitiful. "Even both of us learned it by the age of nine."

"Hahahaha..."

Nearby, a middle-aged man could no longer hold back his laughter. The sound startled the two young disciples, who whipped their heads around in a fright, shrinking back into themselves. They hurriedly scrambled up from the threshold to pay their respects to their master.

The middle-aged man waved a hand and sat cross-legged upon the courtyard ground.

The sky was clear and bright with moonlight, wisped by a few thin threads of cloud.

He spoke leisurely:

"You two have grown somewhat, and you have grasped the threshold of the art of flight and levitation. Well... a mere glimpse into the Way, haha."

"Today, your master shall tell you what manner of profound method lies beyond this art of flight and levitation."

Sanshui tilted her head and asked,

"Is there something even beyond the art of flight and levitation?"

She had assumed what she was currently learning was already immensely powerful. In the realm of levitation arts, she had progressed much further than her junior brother.

"Naturally."

"What you have learned thus far are the techniques taught to disciples in their youth. In truth, it is merely a lightness technique—a spark of spiritual light that seeks the vital breath of heaven and earth, allowing one to borrow momentum and travel."

The middle-aged man paused in thought.

Then he shook his head. After all, the ability to lift oneself into the air and glide across a dozen yards was a skill... rather difficult to categorize.

He simply skipped over it.

And continued, "Once you become familiar with this, you may begin to learn the art of riding the wind."

"Those literati of the world below are always writing tales of immortals and frequently mention such abilities. When you transition from 'borrowing momentum' to 'mastering momentum,' and attain the ability to ride upon the breath of heaven and earth, you will have truly crossed the threshold."

Chuyi asked, "Then how far can one fly?"

The middle-aged man stroked his beard and replied, "In the span of a breath, one may travel several leagues, soaring several dozen feet above the ground into the vast clarity of heaven."

"That is so powerful..."

A look of yearning filled the eyes of the two young disciples.

The middle-aged man nodded.

He lifted his gaze toward the bright moon and slowly said,

"However, such a method cannot be acquired lightly. It invariably demands years of bitter cultivation and great perseverance."

"Therefore, whenever our Mount Yunmeng instructs disciples, we have always taught only the lightness technique first."

"Do you understand?"

Both disciples nodded like bobbleheads.

Sanshui cast a swift glance at her junior brother, straightened her back, and thought to herself that she was surely learning faster than him. She asked her master, "Then what comes after 'mastering momentum'? How far can one fly then?"

The middle-aged man pondered.

"Beyond riding the breath of heaven and earth, our Mount Yunmeng possesses no higher teachings."

"Ah..."

Sanshui had not expected such an answer.

Seeing the bright, shining eyes of his two disciples, the middle-aged man changed the subject, speaking as if quite casually:

"Yet mortals have a saying."

"True immortals may roam the Northern Sea at dawn and wander the Cangwu at dusk."

"Perhaps that may serve as something to anticipate upon the path of cultivation... Perhaps those immortals of antiquity were indeed capable of such feats."

Having discussed the Dao,

the middle-aged man recalled the boisterous behavior of his two disciples earlier in the day, and his tone turned stern as he chided them:

"The techniques passed down by our Mount Yunmeng are already profoundly difficult. Outsiders who witness them would either be consumed by a desire to seize them or bow in supplication every single day, begging to become disciples. Look at the priests of the Hongdao Taoist Temple—they too wish to acquire our Daoist arts from me."

"You two, having obtained such wonderful methods and opportunities, how fortunate you are!"

"Yet all day long you remain idle and lazy!"

"When you meet people, you lack all sense of propriety, shouting and making a racket. Fortunately, that person was magnanimous of character..."

Sanshui and Chuyi both shrank their necks.

With bowed heads, they listened as their master lectured for a while.

The moment their master paused to draw breath, Sanshui summoned her courage, lifted her small head, and asked with utmost care, "Master, that senior's Daoist arts from earlier today... what level of mastery do they belong to?"