Lei Jun was a little surprised as he looked at Tang Xiaotang's expression.
The other party spoke up first, "Don't you dare piss me off again!"
With that, she plopped down and started sulking all by herself.
"I just wanted to say..." Lei Jun raised his hand, gesturing with his fingers in the air near his hair and eyebrows.
Tang Xiaotang was momentarily stunned, then finally snapped out of her daze, "Oh, I got so mad I lost my head!"
As soon as she finished, both her luxurious locks and eyebrows shed their golden tint and turned back to black, her eyes returning to normal.
Xu Yuanzhen, Yuan Mobai, and Wang Guiyuan came in right then.
"You chose your master yourself, so you should have been mentally prepared for this."
Xu Yuanzhen took a seat, "It's already been decided that you'll get another exception and be taught the Three Realm True Scriptures Talisman, so your cultivation won't be delayed."
She frowned slightly, gazing out the window, *lost in thought.*
Tang Xiaotang asked curiously, "Huh, Senior Sister, are you worried about me? I thought you only liked watching people get unlucky."
Xu Yuanzhen, "First, don't flatter yourself, I don't have time to worry about you.
Second, I don't like watching just anyone get unlucky, I just like watching certain people get unlucky.
Most of the time, 'certain people' includes you."
"Well, I only like watching you get unlucky!" Tang Xiaotang snorted.
Yuan Mobai said gently, "Xiaotang, since you've decided not to take part in this Transcension Ritual, then adjust your mindset and focus on your own cultivation.
Our senior brother was supposed to come out of closed-door cultivation after New Year by decree, and although it's been delayed, it shouldn't take much longer now."
Tang Xiaotang mumbled, obviously displeased, "Got it, Master."
Lei Jun looked at her, and suddenly recalled an old joke,
"Senior Sister, you really don't have to take it so hard. With your talent and aptitude, even if you stay in the Tao Boy Court forever, every field can produce its own Number One—you'd be the boss of the Tao Boys."
Tang Xiaotang paused, "Boss of the Tao Boys? And what's that supposed to get me?"
Lei Jun, "Still a Tao Boy."
Tang Xiaotang, "Get lost!"
Lei Jun laughed, and after laughing, grew thoughtful.
*Was this situation the start of that moderately unlucky lot's fortune coming to pass?*
......
In a quiet room, a young Taoist and a female Tao Boy sat facing each other.
The young Taoist said, "What a shame about this time."
The Tao Boy was none other than Elder Ziyang's youngest daughter, Li Ying.
She sighed, "Uncle didn't come out of seclusion as scheduled, so what can we do?"
The young Taoist said, "Yeah, no telling when my uncle will exit seclusion. You can't stall your own cultivation—just come study the Tao with me under Dad."
Li Ying nodded.
"But this mess over taking masters really let us see who can't sit still." The young Taoist changed his tone, "Chen Yi, Shangguan Hong!"
Li Ying, "I heard Lei Jun from the Sixth Division and Guo Yan from the Seventh are both pretty good, too."
The young Taoist, "Whether those two have talent or not is one thing, but at least they're obedient—they know their place.
Chen Yi and Shangguan Hong? Different story. Kids like them—they think they're invincible, and they need to be put in check."
Li Ying frowned, "Second Brother, isn't that a bit much?"
The young Taoist, "Relax, I'm not planning to do anything drastic. Just trim off a couple of wild branches—their growth won't even notice the snip."
......
This year's commotion with Tao Boys trying to become direct disciples of the Celestial Master stayed under the table, and soon faded into nothingness.
When the Transmission Ceremony finally arrived, nobody mentioned it again.
Except for Tang Xiaotang, who decided to continue her grand career as the boss of the Tao Boys, the rest all openly found new masters.
Li Ying of the First Branch went straight under her father, Elder Ziyang.
Shangguan Hong of the Second Branch became the disciple of the Celestial Master's Fifth Junior Sister.
This Fifth Senior Sister of Yuan Mobai's was also Xu Yuanzhen's Fifth Uncle, also surnamed Shangguan and a distant aunt of Shangguan Hong.
Chen Yi from the Eighth Branch apprenticed under the Celestial Master's Fourth Junior Brother, Elder Yao.
Officially, these three Tao Boys had always planned to apprentice under these elders from the very start.
Trying to become the Celestial Master's direct disciple? It was as if it never happened.
But in private, rumors still spread.
There were two main characters in the rumors.
One, of course, was Tang Xiaotang—no one else could steal her share of the limelight.
The other was Chen Yi.
It was said that he also didn't want to participate in this Transmission Ceremony, and wanted to keep waiting for the Celestial Master to exit seclusion.
That in itself wasn't much—even the Mansion allowed it, they'd just say he was stubborn and risked wasting his talent.
But then Chen Yi pushed for the same special treatment Tang Xiaotang got.
Uninitiated by the transmission, but still taught the Mansion's teachings, getting treatment nearly equal to—or above—a Talisman-bestowed Taoist with true inheritance.
Once the word got out, people were privately shocked.
Lei Jun's first thought was,
"Isn't that the Li Clan leaking the rumor? Can anyone confirm if it's real?"
"Probably some Li Clan Tao Boy heard about it and let it slip to make trouble for Chen Yi," Wang Guiyuan shook his head. "But it really did happen, for sure."
Lei Jun could guess with his knees that, even though the Li Clan stoked the fire under Chen Yi afterward, they actually supported him in this whole affair.
*There was already an exception made for Tang Xiaotang. If Chen Yi could follow suit and pry the door wider, it wasn't hard to tell who, in the Mansion, stood to benefit the most.*
But at the same time, Chen Yi probably knew he was being used as a pawn, but he still wanted to fight for himself.
The result? Tang Xiaotang, feeling challenged, snapped back with a "golden quote,"
"I've got the Immortal Body, what are you?"
That one left a lot of folks absolutely speechless on the spot.
"An Immortal Body, huh? No wonder..." Lei Jun rubbed his brow.
Above the normal five grades of Root Bone Talent—low, moderately unlucky lot, middle lot, moderately good lot, high—in cultivation, there were even rarer bodies.
Like Lei Jun's Hidden Dragon Spirit Body.
Above the Spirit Body, the Sacred Body.
And then...
Above the Sacred Body—the Immortal Body.
Even for the Taoist Holy Land of the Celestial Master Mansion, it had been years since they'd seen one; you basically had to get lucky for an Immortal Body to show up.
Compared to so-called geniuses and freaks, people like this were genius among geniuses, freak among freaks, like banished immortals walking among mortals.
*Well, it was rare, but Spirit Bodies still had room to rise. If I could keep playing my cards right, maybe I'd get another lucky break to improve my root...* Lei Jun thought.
But then again...
Lei Jun put his hand over his face, "...Senior Sister really doesn't fit the image of a Banished Immortal. Honestly, it's hilarious just thinking about it."
Even though Tang Xiaotang was talking to Chen Yi, she really just carpet-bombed everyone with that line.
Not just Li Ying, Shangguan Hong—their Tao Boy peers—even all the elders probably took a hit, too...
Lei Jun, "Back to Senior Sister's question—she's got the Immortal Body. What about Chen Yi?"
Wang Guiyuan glanced at Lei Jun, "Didn't hear a peep before, but this time we found out: Chen Yi has the Purifying Spirit Body."
Purifying Spirit Body—a body that excelled at absorbing global Spiritual Qi.
Physically, it was a bit weaker than the Hidden Dragon Spirit Body.
But as a tradeoff, with the body reflecting upon the soul, those with the Purifying Spirit Body had clarity of mind—sharper focus and deeper comprehension—so it still ranked higher than a high grade Root Bone, qualifying as a Spirit Body.
According to Wang Guiyuan, Chen Yi, when blasted by Tang Xiaotang, stayed amazingly calm. He simply said that while he wasn't an Immortal Body, he could still offer great contributions to the Celestial Master Mansion and asked the elders to decide.
Lei Jun, "Oh? What kind of contribution?"
"No idea."
Wang Guiyuan spread his hands, "Everything was kept secret. Only Master, a few elders, Senior Sister, and Senior Brother were allowed to stay—everyone else was sent away."
Lei Jun wasn't disappointed, "In the end, Chen Yi didn't get what he wanted. Whatever he offered, it wasn't enough to move the elders."
Wang Guiyuan, "That's about it."
Lei Jun, "Now, that's the kind of drama that actually puts Senior Sister in a good mood."
Wang Guiyuan didn't care, "The less you get involved in stuff like that, the better. Don't chase the limelight—best to dodge when you can."
Lei Jun smiled and nodded.
Right now, what he cared more about was what kind of Fourth Rank Opportunity the moderately good lot he'd drawn would bring him.
After that, as rumors circulated about Tang Xiaotang and Chen Yi, no one dared say much on the surface.
This year's Transmission Ceremony began on schedule.