Dao Equaling the Heavens

Within the royal residence, crimson buildings and yellow jade adorned the space, enhancing the fragrance and warmth of the ambiance.

Dancers swirled their light gossamer garbs as the melodious strains of the pipa filled the air, while officials of high rank robed themselves in silk and satin.

Zhao Feng did not, as usual, occupy the seat of honor; instead, he sat as a guest, his handsome face graced by a smile that was both appropriate and effortlessly elegant, his body slightly bowed as if to suggest approachability, yet also to flatter.

In front of him sat a woman dressed in white.

Her hands were slender as bamboo shoots, her graceful jawline barely visible beneath her gauzy veiled hat, and her every move was suffused with an elegance that could only make one imagine the image of a solitary goddess who had transcended the world.

Her eyes lowered, she seemed miles away from the words of the Prince by her side. Zhao Feng, rich and noble as he was, could not command even a glance from her.

The more she ignored him, the more his heart burned for her.

This, this was an immortal, this was an immortal woman.

Without any grandeur of her own, it was the awe of the numerous nobles around her that lent her an unparalleled oppressive presence.

"The staple grains of mortals, I wonder if the immortals can get used to them?"

"In cultivation, we subsist on wind and dew. Before I abstained from grains when young, I mostly consumed rough food."

"That's good, that's very good."

Zhao Feng wore a placating smile, devoid of the regality he usually carried as a son of Heaven, and no one present, not his family nor his confidants, saw anything amiss.

Gu Wen, that anomaly, was probably the only one secretly laughing at him.

After all, Zhao Feng had always been seen as "imbued with the spirit of the Great Ancestor," his public persona being that of a Prince with the capabilities of a Virtuous Prince, and there were sayings among the people that "when the ninth son ascends, the world shall be at peace."

Yet here he was, bowing and speaking timidly in front of an immortal, his dignity wholly derived from his birth; bluntly put, it was the brazenness of one relying on another's power.

The woman in white seemed extremely aloof, simply sitting in silence with few words. Thinking that immortals disliked noise, Zhao Feng did not wait for his family to finish their meal before gesturing for everyone to leave, keeping only the eunuch Feng Xiang by his side.

He offered tea and asked, "May I inquire the esteemed name of the immortal lady?"

"Bearing the daoist name bestowed by my ancestral master..."

The goddess's voice paused as she set down her teacup, dignified without a change in tone, but the well-timed pause and motion made others unconsciously hold their breath to listen.

"Qingcang."

Hisss...

Zhao Feng's breath hitched.

He was no longer a mere mortal, and he had some understanding of the Immortal Land beyond the mundane world; the mortal realm and the Immortal Land had long been in contact—only ordinary people were unaware. And the Zhao family, as rulers of the world, naturally had interactions with those from the Immortal Land.

A daoist name could not be carelessly invoked; in the unknown workings of the universe, it involved the Fate Diagram. Many who claimed too prominent a name were crushed by it, and so many chose moderate titles.

Qingcang, the connotation of lifting the blue heavens.

Even the Venerables of legend, known for moving mountains and chasing moons, would scarcely dare to adopt the title "Qingcang." It was said this name belonged to a great power who was closest to becoming an Immortal and was also the ancestral master of the sect behind this goddess.

Yet she dared to take this daoist name upon herself.

Sweat formed on Zhao Feng's forehead. He wiped it away, saying, "To hear the name of the immortal family is to feel trepidation."

"Indeed, this name is too grand. You may simply call me Yu Hua."

The goddess seemed more conversational and amiable than her exterior suggested. The name Yu Hua was indeed a common daoist title, neither oppressive to one's destiny nor vulgar.

Zhao Feng breathed a sigh of relief and bowed, "Then Zhao Feng greets Immortal Yu Hua."

"Your Jade Pendant..."

The woman in white lifted her delicate finger toward the jade pendant on Zhao Feng's chest—a palm-sized piece of stone, mottled with age, and edged with a shallow circular groove.

Zhao Feng answered, "Three years ago, it was an opportunity given to me through the guidance of a wise one."

"Seizing the opportunity of another does not bring good fortune," the woman in white said bluntly, as the hint of a thought, light as cooking smoke, wound around her ear.

She needed no evidence or conjecture; heaven and earth told her of cause and effect.

In this world, there were no opportunities without an owner; they were the seeds sown by predecessors, and the fruits reaped by their descendants. The opportunity upon Zhao Feng did not belong to him, yet somehow, it had come to rest with him. Initially, Yu Hua was uncertain, puzzled as to why the one who led her here shared the name Zhao and not that of the Gu family, as determined three thousand years ago.

"Regarding this matter, it is not something I can explain in a few words," Zhao Feng said as he retrieved a prepared jade brocade from his sleeve and handed it to the woman in white, "Please peruse this, elder. Three years ago, the elders of your esteemed sect changed my fate."

The woman in white took the brocade and unfolded it to see the elegant gold-embroidered characters, indeed emanating the presence of her sect's elders.

However...

"A cause and effect determined three thousand years ago, you switched it in just three years?"

She tossed the brocade aside, and though it landed silently, it sent a drumbeat of anxiety through Zhao Feng.

"It was by Imperial Decree from Huayang Venerable," Zhao Feng further explained, "and it wasn't through forceful seizing or robbery. The heir of the Gu family had fallen to the status of a beggar, with thousands of years of heritage diminished to a solitary son plagued by obstructed meridians. Therefore, the elders of the Immortal family granted the opportunity to me, and I in turn bestowed wealth and status upon the beggar of the Gu family."

"Yet it was not the opportunity of Huayang Uncle-master. The opportunities to become Immortal are numerous, each to their own masters. The fortune that the Gu family ancestor sowed three thousand years ago was meant to bless their descendants. How can worldly wealth and status compare to the chance for transcendence?"

Yu Hua's eyes, hidden behind her hat's veiling, seemed capable of piercing into souls. Her originally soothing and elegant voice now carried profound depths.

She knew that Daqian must have given some benefit within the Immortal Sect, for them to acquiesce to the deprivation of the Gu family's fate. But how could the sect's millennial plans be compromised by private interests?

Zhao Feng's sweat poured even more freely as he said, "Huayang Venerable himself said that we should prioritize the bigger picture. My Zhao family, as the imperial family, should be more capable of helping your esteemed sect than a beggar."

When the topic turned to the imperial family, Zhao Feng's voice grew slightly firmer.

How could a beggar compare to his imperial family? Even with an opportunity in hand, it was now his Zhao family that stood as the illustrious and unspeakable nobility. Taking in Gu Wen as a servant was already a stroke of luck for him; how could there be any talk of competing for destiny with Zhao Feng?