Chapter 17: A Page of Golden Paper (Please add to favorites! Please keep reading!)

After transmitting her intent, Shao Heng felt the gray cocoon tremble slightly, and the hazy gray light it emitted dimmed a fraction.

Upon careful inspection, she discovered that her current outward aura truly resembled that of someone who had only recently achieved Qi Induction, which filled her with immense joy.

"There is another use for it. If needed later, this gray cocoon can help me hide my cultivation to catch others off guard."

Furthermore, using Zhao Tang as a reference, this effect was sufficient to deceive a Third Realm cultivator who had already transformed their spiritual sense into divine sense.

The gray cocoon's divine abilities had not yet fully manifested into concrete forms, yet it already possessed such power. Combined with its previous ability to contend with the [Azure Emperor], Shao Heng was truly looking forward to its true nature.

She hurried toward the Miaofa Tower, a look of panic already appearing on her face.

With a trembling voice, Shao Heng said to the gatekeeper disciple, "Greetings, Senior Brother... I... just now... that thunder..."

Seeing this, the youth in yellow comforted her, "That must have been an Inner Sect Elder practicing some high-level immortal art; do not panic. Our Zhenyi Yuan Sect's protective formation is an ancient inheritance; it is said that even a Seventh Realm powerhouse could not shake it in the slightest. The sect is the safest place to be."

Shao Heng naturally complied, entered the Miaofa Tower after expressing her thanks, and her panic vanished, her expression settling into calm.

As she ascended the stairs, Shao Heng suddenly chuckled, "The things I learned from Jiang Yunjiang are quite useful."

Having been willful and pampered for over a decade, she was accustomed to charging headlong into things; this current act was a technique she had learned from Jiang Yunjiang.

Shao Heng headed toward the fourth floor. Due to that bizarre thunderclap, there were pitifully few disciples in the Miaofa Tower; she was the only one on the stairs.

A gentle breeze blew outside, and the wooden steps creaked slightly under her footsteps.

Shao Heng suddenly looked up, reached her right hand upward, and a page of golden paper fell into her palm.

"Where did this come from?"

"The disciples of Miaofa Tower should all perform the Dust-Cleansing Technique daily, leaving not even a speck of dust behind. How could a piece of paper fall from the cracks in the floorboards?"

Shao Heng stopped her pace and checked her surroundings to ensure no one else was there before spreading the golden page in her palm.

"Ha? A Wordless Heavenly Book?"

Though she complained aloud, Shao Heng deftly tucked the golden page into her storage ring.

How familiar this felt—wasn't this exactly the trope in those storybooks where the protagonist inexplicably encounters a fortuitous event? That divine voice calling her a natural-born clown was absolute nonsense!

As for whether this golden page belonged to the Miaofa Tower?

Shao Heng glanced at the open window nearby.

*Well, it clearly blew in from the outside. If someone actually comes looking for it, I'll just say that,* she thought.

There wasn't a single word on the golden paper. Now was not the time to study it; Shao Heng had not forgotten the purpose of her visit and quickly proceeded to the fourth floor.

A moment later, she reached the entrance of the lecture hall and saw that Zhao Tang was not teaching, her face wearing a rare expression of worry.

"Why are you here... have you achieved Qi Induction?"

As soon as Shao Heng stepped onto the fourth floor, Zhao Tang's gaze turned toward her, and she asked immediately.

The youth in yellow looked panicked. He lifted his head and looked at Zhao Tang with filial devotion, replying, "Elder Zhao, I was sensing spiritual energy in my room when, with a sudden flash of inspiration, I completed Qi Induction. Before I could even rejoice, my whole body began to ache, and there were sudden, terrifying peals of thunder outside. It was so frightening I nearly fainted from the shock."

"I only dared to come out once the thunder stopped. When I looked, I saw many disciples had collapsed on the ground." Shao Heng looked into the lecture hall and indeed saw a total wipeout, with disciples sprawled on the floor.

As luck would have it, she spotted Lu Shaojia and Lu Shaojing at a glance.

The two were sitting next to each other, knocked unconscious by the thunder, foaming at the mouth with their tongues sticking out. They were currently slumped on the ground in a most pathetic state, making her want to snicker. She had to exert considerable effort not to show any unusual expression in front of Zhao Tang.

Zhao Tang looked at Shao Heng and spoke after a moment.

"You have achieved Qi Induction in less than ten days since joining the sect. No wonder I haven't seen you in class these past few days. This level of comprehension is not inferior to those with Mid-grade aptitude."

"Now that you have achieved Qi Induction, you must prepare to practice the 'Qi Cultivation and Essence Nourishing Manual.' Let me ask you, have you ever heard of the Three Scriptures and Five Classics?"

Shao Heng felt a bit numb under Zhao Tang's intense gaze and replied, "I have not heard of them."

This was the truth, and she spoke with such sincerity that there was no flaw in her expression.

Only then did Zhao Tang say, "The Zhenyi Yuan Sect inherits from ancient times, and within that inheritance, the Three Scriptures, Five Classics, and Seven Arts are considered the highest."

"The Three Scriptures and Five Classics refer to eight volumes of high-grade cultivation methods, rumored to allow one to reach the Ninth Realm with infinite utility. The Seven Arts refer to seven high-grade immortal arts with the power to move mountains and overturn seas."

"When the thunder roared just now, I probed with my divine sense and suspect it was the emergence of the 'Mystic Jade Pivot Thunder Classic,' one of the Five Classics, or perhaps the 'Divine Lightning Manifestation Record' from the Seven Arts, causing this phenomenon."

These sect secrets were difficult for ordinary Outer Sect Elders to know; it was only because Zhao Tang had ascended to the Third Realm and had acquaintances in the Inner Sect that she had learned of them by chance.

As Shao Heng listened to the mention of the Three Scriptures, Five Classics, and Seven Arts, a look of longing unconsciously surfaced in her eyes.

She asked Zhao Tang, "Elder Zhao, do we have the chance to practice these inherited cultivation methods and immortal arts?"

"If I can successfully promote to the Inner Sect during the Outer Sect Disciple Competition a year from now, will I have a chance?"

Zhao Tang's hand tightened around her staff. If these words were heard by others, they would surely mock Shao Heng for being overly ambitious or even delusional.

But she merely replied, "The Three Scriptures and Five Classics rarely appear in the world. It is said that such extraordinary scriptures possess spirit and can even choose their masters spontaneously. Though they exist within the sect, their whereabouts are unknown; I only know they manifest after resonating with the energy of heaven and earth, sometimes with great fanfare, sometimes silently. Even the Inner Sect disciples, who are a gathering of geniuses, flock to them but cannot obtain them. As for the Seven Arts, one must make immense contributions to the sect to be granted them by the Sect Leader."

With her hundreds of years of experience, Zhao Tang looked into the young disciple's eyes and clearly saw a profound desire, one so candid it lacked even the slightest concealment.

"If you truly want to earn the qualification to practice the Seven Arts, then put all your effort into winning the disciple competition a year from now."

Shao Heng nodded, but then asked another question: "But Elder, I have heard that some disciples come from cultivation clans. They receive instruction from childhood and complete Qi Induction before even entering the sect, so their cultivation is naturally higher. Isn't it unfair for such people to compete with us in the Outer Sect competition?"

Zhao Tang chuckled softly, "Outer Sect disciples all possess Low-grade aptitude. Even with an extra ten years of cultivation, they cannot reach the middle stage of the First Realm; their cultivation cannot be much higher. Furthermore, how can family resources compare to the sect? Entering the sect late is merely a self-inflicted disadvantage."

Since all the disciples in the hall were unconscious—and this was a coma caused by external forces—Zhao Tang would wait for them to wake naturally to avoid injuring their divine sense by forcing them awake, so she was uncharacteristically patient.

After a moment of thought, she spoke bluntly to Shao Heng, "And even if you feel it is unfair, so what?"

"Where in this world is there such a thing as fairness?"

Shao Heng's lips pressed into a straight line, as if she wanted to argue, but ultimately she remained silent.

Every age has its own scenery, and the experience formed by the accumulation of years contains things that cannot be leveled by outstanding talent alone.

Seeing the conflict in her eyes, Zhao Tang asked a question.

"What is it you truly want: fairness, or to win?"

Shao Heng felt as if she had been jolted awake from a dream. She heard her own inner voice: *Yes, when a person is thirsty, they must drink; when hungry, they must eat. These things need no explanation or teaching. And isn't the constant emphasis on fairness precisely because this world is inherently unfair?*

*When I was the daughter of a Marquis, commanding servants and slaves, why didn't I think about fairness then?*

*Wanting fairness now is merely a veneer I paint over my own baseness. What I want is not fairness at all; what I truly want is to win—to always occupy the superior position.*

*Whether others give it to me or not doesn't matter, because I will take it myself!*

Shao Heng: The "Take It" Philosophy.