A Spark

The woman that spoke up was short, really short. She might have only reached Zhou Ziyun's chin with shoes on. She looked like a child who was lost and had wandered into the field.

"Who…" Zhou Ziyun started to say but the crowd answered for her.

"It's her!"

"Little Devil Tang Liang!"

"Wow!"

"The rumors were true!"

It was indeed her, Little Devil Tang Liang, one of the four geniuses known across the city.

The story supposedly went like this. This Tang Liang was born with a birth defect that gave her a small stature. She had a direct lineage to the house master, Immortal Grand Spear Tian Yong, so she was still able to live a privileged life. But due to her physical limitations, her cultivation progress always fell behind her peers. If others gained two levels of cultivation, she would be lucky to gain one. Training sessions that were considered easy for others would leave her exhausted.

However, this Tang Liang was incredibly smart and was rumored to have a flawless memory. She could read ten thousand words in one go and recall everything without error. She could reproduce a painting just by seeing it once. She could comprehend martial arts moves in one afternoon that would take others weeks or even months.

It was through her mind and not her body that she managed to reach the 7th Level of the Spirit Initiate Realm at the age of twenty-five, putting her at the same level as the likes of Huang Yaoying and Deng Lun.

The pixie-like Tang Liang rushed over and pulled one of Zhou Ziyun's sleeves, "Sister Zhou, come, don't listen to those smelly kids."

Zhou Ziyun was taken aback and let herself be pulled along. This person reminded her of a mix between the twins, Su Xue and Su Yue, and Jasmine. Jasmine was even smaller than her and had a bigger attitude. It wasn't difficult to see why she got the nickname of Little Devil.

"Who are you calling smelly kids?" Huang Yaoying snapped back, "Little devil, don't talk big when you haven't even grown hair down there!"

"Rabbit bastard, you dare? I do have hair down there, I just shave! Do you want to check?"

Zhou Ziyun snorted with laughter. This little big sister talked like a gangster. It was difficult to imagine that such a person had one of the sharpest minds in the city.

"Miss Tang? Thank you for that but I don't think we have met before for you to refer to me as sister?" Zhou Ziyun asked.

Tang Liang waved her small hands nonchalantly, "My elder sister got to know several disciples from your sect, Sister Xu Lanyi and Sister Lin Qingcheng, during the Golden Feather Hunt. She was in charge of some events in the Old District, Executor Tang Xiang. Do you remember that name?"

"Ah, so it is Executor Tang Xiang's young sister, Sister Tang Liang. I hope you can offer my thanks to your Executor Tang for her assistance during that time and her hospitality." Zhou Ziyun said respectfully.

Out of the four king sects, the one that chose to be friendly with Ten Thousand Flower Valley was the House of Armament. They had made that intention clear during the Golden Feather Hunt. Whether there were any ulterior motives didn't matter right now since having better relations was better than having none.

"Sister Zhou is too polite. I have heard of all of Sister Zhou's feats. I am sure you will amaze everyone during the Dao preaching." Tang Liang said.

Zhou Ziyun shook her head, "I am still young and unlearned. There are so many things I do not know of. My achievements in various Daos are too shallow. How can I compete with Sister Tang Liang?"

"Hehe, don't worry, things aren't that complicated. Here, let me explain…"

The two sat down in a corner and Tang Liang described the preaching convention's format in more detail. She was a resident of the city so she had seen several in years past. Each time, there were multiple sessions based on a specific area of cultivation. And for each session, there were two distinct events.

The first one tested one's comprehension by allowing them to examine the secret art of a mortal sect. One lucky mortal sect would be chosen to offer up their complete secret art to be studied by the geniuses for a period of time. Then, everyone had an opportunity to point out flaws or offer suggestions in that secret art. Disciples of the mortal sect would be present to test out these theories, thus providing proof to conjecture.

The idea was that by testing a mortal Dao, it would not reveal any worthwhile secrets held by immortal sects. But with enough improvement, a mortal Dao could still transform into an immortal Dao. The world was endless and there were infinite ways to cultivate. One had to rely on their comprehension as well as creativity to progress toward the heavens.

The second event was for individual cultivators. Loose cultivators or ones from lowly mortal sects, they could get a chance to go onto the stage to present their abilities. The participants would be given an opportunity to offer pointers and give advice. This was less about the theoretical aspects of the Dao as with a secret art and more about practical application.

Each person was different, as different as flakes of snow and grains of sand. Each person's path toward the Great Dao was different from the next. This second event tested each participant's ability to be flexible and ability to apply their vast knowledge in the real world.

Zhou Ziyun nodded along as Tang Liang continued with stories from past conventions. She was already fully impressed and excited. What a Great Dao Preaching Convention! It was really wonderous. It was lucky that she could attend. She would have kicked herself if she had missed it. Everything here, including these events, exactly matched her interests.

She felt that cultivation held endless possibilities. Coming from a small place like River East City, she didn't have grand dreams of the Great Dao. She simply wanted to let her clan live prosperously. She simply wanted to support her master and not let him down or lose his favor. Although she competed with Lin Qingcheng in gaining levels quickly, there had been no real aim to her efforts. She simply didn't want to be left behind.

Everything had been for others; for her clan, for her master, for her sisters.

But now, before a hundred thousand souls at this Great Dao Preaching Convention, she felt the first spark of desire to reach the heavens for herself, to satisfy her thirst for knowledge.

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