Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Misfortune: Starting from the Celestial Master’s Mansion
Chapter 30: Accelerate your practice and waive the cost

It was said that Lei Jun had been “relegated” to the Blue Stone Ink mine by Yuan Mobai. For a long moment, Fang Jian and Shangguan Hong were at a loss for words.

After what felt like ages, Shangguan Hong exclaimed, “Blue Stone Ink… isn’t it said that staying there too long will… will…”

He hesitated to finish the sentence, unable to utter the word “harm.”

Fang Jian pondered aloud, “Is Junior Brother Lei going to stay there for a long time? Or is this temporary?”

Wang Guiyuan replied, “That’s indeed what Master instructed. Junior Brother Lei has already gone. I’m sure Master has his own reasons.”

Fang Jian wanted to ask whether Lei Jun himself knew about the harm prolonged exposure to Blue Stone Ink posed to low-level cultivators.

“Hmm,” he nodded instead. “If Junior Uncle has arranged this, there must be some deeper meaning we don’t know. In that case, I won’t disturb him any further. I’ll pay my respects another time.”

Shangguan Hong also took his leave.

---

Back at his residence, Fang Jian found another young Daoist waiting for him. It was Li Xuan, who had recently lost his younger brother.

“Blue Stone Ink mine?” Li Xuan was equally stunned. “Really? Or is it just an excuse?”

Fang Jian sat down. “I’ll go check in a few days to confirm.”

Li Xuan glanced at him sharply. “Junior Brother Fang, do you think it’s possible that…”

“I don’t know,” Fang Jian interrupted decisively. “We’ve always heard that Senior Sister Xu and Junior Uncle have a good rapport, but Junior Uncle gets along with everyone. As for how close they really are, shouldn’t you be the one telling me?”

Li Xuan leaned back, staring at the ceiling. “Junior Uncle often disagrees with Xu Yuanzhen. They don’t always see eye to eye or act in perfect unison.”

“Just as you said,” Li Xuan continued, “Junior Uncle forms good connections with everyone, including my father. If he truly sides with anyone, it would probably be with my uncle, your master.”

“That makes sense,” Fang Jian agreed. “So, was Junior Uncle dissatisfied with Senior Sister Xu’s recent overreach? But no, Junior Uncle has always been magnanimous. Even if he were displeased, he wouldn’t make things difficult for Junior Brother Lei.”

Li Xuan countered, “Or perhaps Junior Brother Lei still feels loyal to Xu Yuanzhen for bringing him to the mountain and initiating him into the Dao, and he defied Junior Uncle because of it?”

He stood up. “In any case, this is an important piece of information. I’ll inform my father and Senior Brother immediately!”

If Yuan Mobai and Xu Yuanzhen could be driven apart, it would have far greater consequences than anything they could achieve by targeting Lei Jun, a newly initiated disciple.

---

“So, Master is taking the blame for me, and Senior Sister Xu now seems like she’s been abandoned by everyone?” Lei Jun looked at Xu Yuanzhen.

Xu Yuanzhen replied, “When you reach the Third Realm, sketch their expressions for me. I’ll look at them when I return to the mountain.”

Having met Yuan Mobai, Xu Yuanzhen had once again left the mountain, vanishing without a trace.

---

“Don’t try to guess the thoughts of three people in the Mansion. It’s usually a waste of time,” Wang Guiyuan remarked as he visited Lei Jun. “The Grandmaster—that is, the Tianshi himself, Senior Sister Xu, and our Master.”

The two sat in Yuan Mobai’s private grotto.

“Junior Brother Fang came of his own accord,” Wang Guiyuan continued. “As for Junior Brother Shangguan, he might represent Elder Shangguan and Senior Sister Zhang.”

A fleeting image of Zhang Jingzhen, the Tianshi’s third disciple, pure and noble, flashed through Lei Jun’s mind. They had crossed paths closely during the Cloud Sea Immortal Pool disturbance.

Counting Tang Xiaotang, the universally acknowledged “disciple of the plan,” there were five direct disciples under the current Li Tianshi. Among them, besides Li Zhengxuan and Fang Jian, the other three were all female.

This generation leaned slightly toward being female-dominated.

---

From an outsider’s perspective, the three women were exceptional, regarded as the faces of the Tianshi Mansion’s new generation—excellent for recruiting fresh disciples.

Purely based on appearance, Tang Xiaotang was unparalleled: breathtakingly beautiful and strikingly tall. But her personality was utterly unserious.

Senior Sister Xu Yuanzhen, on the other hand, was cold and austere, so much so that her gender and appearance often went unnoticed.

Ultimately, it was Third Senior Sister Zhang Jingzhen who struck the perfect balance, exuding high-class elegance and an unassailable grace.

---

Lei Jun, however, was more intrigued by another question. “Senior Brother, the ‘Zhang’ in Senior Sister Zhang’s name—is it…?”

There were many people with the surname Zhang, but a select few were unique.

Lei Jun had heard that the current Tang royal family bore the Zhang surname.

Connecting this to Zhang Jingzhen’s familiarity with the Shangguan family, he made a bold guess.

“You’re correct,” Wang Guiyuan affirmed. “Senior Sister Zhang is a royal princess, titled a County Lord. Her father and the late emperor were brothers.”

“That means,” Lei Jun realized, “Senior Sister Zhang and the current emperor are cousins. She’s also related to Elder Shangguan and Junior Brother Shangguan, enough to call Elder Shangguan ‘Aunt.’”

Wang Guiyuan nodded. “The Tang royal family puts a lot of effort into the Tianshi Mansion.”

“They have to,” he added. “If they didn’t, someone else would.”

The Fang family, to which Fang Jian belonged, was an example. Hailing from Jingxiang, they were almost a semi-independent power, deeply rooted whether in court or among the common people.

---

Lei Jun saw Wang Guiyuan off and returned to his private grotto to continue cultivating.

Though termed a mine, the grotto was serene and quiet, glowing faintly with an ethereal green hue. It felt more like a tranquil retreat than a harsh mine.

On his table lay fragments of Black Stone Ink, glowing faintly with a greenish light. This was the substance that had startled Shangguan Hong and Fang Jian.

Lei Jun had initially felt its effects: while it stabilized his Dao Foundation and refined his mana, it also corroded his body’s vitality.

The result? It could accelerate progress at the Foundation Stage, but its harm would become apparent when attempting the Third Realm’s tribulation. Many cultivators fell, unable to withstand it.

Yet Lei Jun had an advantage—a Mist-Wrapped Cloud Crystal embedded in a Spirit Gathering Talisman. This talisman neutralized the corrosive effects of the Black Stone Ink.

Thus, as Yuan Mobai had planned, Lei Jun could harness the mine’s benefits without suffering the consequences.