Cultivation begins with separation.

Chapter 24 Assistant
This year was the 873rd year of Qiantian.

It’s been thirteen years since Yi Dong left the Taoist temple.

This day, the wind is sunny and sunny.

Yi Dong rode a green ox and slowly left Purple Mountain.

Yi Dong was dressed in a dark blue Taoist robe and sat cross-legged with his eyes closed on the back of a green ox.

However, his short hair makes him look less like an immortal.

Everything at Zijin Mountain has been arranged.

Dongfanghong asked for all the knowledge Yi Dong had collected and his research materials over the years, and promised to help Yi Dong guard the mountain for twenty years.

On top of Purple Gold Mountain, the most important thing is Taichu Zixing. After Dongfanghong helped to take care of it, Yi Dong handed over other matters to Yi De and Yi Fu.

This time, his target is Qingzhu Taoist Temple.

After all, he also studied in Qingzhu Taoist Academy. Even though he dropped out halfway, he was still a student of the academy.

Yi Dong planned to go to the Taoist temple to ask if there was any way to take a look at the temple's library.

The Taoist temple's library is extremely large, and the knowledge inside is all-encompassing. What Yi Dong read back then was less than one ten-millionth of it.

If possible, he wanted to copy all the knowledge in it into his own magical space.

After Qingniu left Zijin Mountain, his feet moved very fast.

Soon, Yi Dong and his cow took a flying boat from Xia County to Bowang County.

Yi Dong waited for a full day in Bowang County before he contacted Master Kong and entered Qingzhu Taoist Temple.

When he was working as a subcontractor, Yi Dong had connections with many instructors at Qingzhu Taoist Temple.

However, due to his personality, his relationship with most of the teachers reached a freezing point.

Only Teacher Kong has a good relationship with Yi Dong.

"Hey, it seems that you have not wasted these thirteen years. My spiritual eyes can't see through you anymore."

As soon as they met, Teacher Kong spoke with a look of surprise.

After listening to what Instructor Kong said, Yi Dong knew that what Instructor Kong said thirteen years ago about possession of another's body not being able to construct a spiritual power circuit was all just nonsense to evade him. It turned out that this person had spiritual eyes and was most likely a spiritual body.

"Tell me, why did you come to me?"

Teacher Kong looked Yi Dong up and down, and after not being able to see anything, he asked.

"I want to go into the Taoist temple's library and take a look."

Upon hearing this, Teacher Kong said directly:
"Impossible, there is no such precedent. The Taoist temple is not open to the public. If you were not a student of the Taoist temple, you would not even be able to enter."

"Can't you think of a solution?"

"Knowledge is valuable. If outsiders could pay a small price to enter the Taoist library, the knowledge in the library would have long been turned into family collections by each noble family."

"The Daoist Academy blocks knowledge just to prevent too many people from becoming Jin Xiu, but I am Jin Xiu myself, and I promise not to spread this knowledge."

“You promise?

How can we guarantee that? We cultivators today basically don't believe in empty things like Taoist oaths. Such things are also without any foundation. All spells in the world have a time limit for their effectiveness. Even if we use immortal arts to restrict you, the spells will no longer be able to restrict you once they become invalid.

If you want to enter the library, you must be a student of this academy."

"Oh, can I enter the academy again?"

Teacher Kong was speechless.
"What do you think?"

Yi Dong just asked. He knew that the age for admission to the Taoist Academy could not exceed 30 years old, and there was only one chance in a lifetime.

Otherwise, with a bunch of "previous students" and "holdouts", not only will it be more difficult to get into a higher-level Taoist academy, but even the places in an intermediate Taoist academy will become more expensive.

"What about becoming a Taoist temple instructor?"

"The Taoist academy instructors are usually outstanding graduates from intermediate Taoist academies. After being recommended by the instructor, they first become the instructor's assistants, and then they can become instructors after passing multiple assessments.

You are not even a graduate, and you want to become a teacher?"

"Then the assistant should be able to do it, right?"

“After saying so much, this is your real purpose.

It is true that assistants are generally outstanding graduates, but there is no requirement that they must be graduates. In theory, it is also possible for a poor student like you who dropped out of school.

However, whether you can become my assistant depends on your performance in the next test."

Teacher Kong did not directly test Yi Dong with words. Instead, he took Yi Dong to a huge experimental site and assigned him some work.

In the following days, Yi Dong moved around several experimental sites in charge of Instructor Kong.

He basically didn't understand a lot of experimental knowledge at the beginning, but he had a strong learning ability.

In just three months, he proved himself with his ability.

It can be said that three months later, Yi Dong's abilities had surpassed those of Liu Fangtian, Kong Jiaoshi's most promising assistant.

Recently, Yidong's work at the experimental site has become more and more numerous and important.

These experiments included testing new synthetic materials, researching fast-growing spiritual plants, cultivating new spiritual grains, etc. Most of these experiments did not have success or failure, and in the end there were only experimental results.

Yi Dong is very serious in every experiment. This is the process of accumulating knowledge, which may be useful in refining equipment and planting in the future.

On this day, Teacher Kong met Yi Dong alone in the courtyard where he lived.

"Your comprehension is indeed good. For our current cultivation, spiritual roots are the foundation, and comprehension is the future.

Now that things have come to this, I won’t hide it from you anymore.

It is easy to be an assistant to a Taoist academy instructor, but it is not so easy to become an instructor in a Taoist academy. In name, the assessment is the key point, but in fact, the assessment may be the least important link, because those who are qualified to become instructors are generally not fools, and they can basically pass the Taoist academy's assessment.

The key point comes after passing the assessment. There is a quota for instructors in each Taoist academy. Even the dean of the academy cannot increase or decrease the number of instructors at will.

Let me tell you this, there are two ways to join a Taoist temple. One is to become a student of a higher-level Taoist temple. After graduation, you will naturally obtain the identity of a Taoist temple, which does not conflict with the identity of an immortal official. There are many people who do not like worldly affairs, and they often take up an idle position and then engage in various research in the Taoist temple.

The second way is to become an instructor in a Taoist temple. One has to go through the Taoist temple’s examination to become an instructor. After becoming an instructor, one can be promoted step by step. For example, in a mid-level Taoist temple, above the instructor there are directors and deans.

Once you become the dean of an intermediate Taoist academy, you can even apply to teach at a higher-level Taoist academy.

Therefore, the places for teaching are millions of times more expensive than the places for students in the Taoist academy, and even many small families don’t know the ins and outs of this.

Let me tell you this, the reason I was able to become a teacher is not because of how good I am, but because of the family I came from.

Spirits are very rare in Qingzhu Taoist Temple, but in the entire fairyland, there are quite a few spirits, because many ancient families can even solidify spirits into their bloodlines and pass them down from generation to generation.

What is the use of my spirit body in the fairyland?

In general, if you want to become a teacher, there is no hope for you with me."

In the 100,000 years of the Immortal Kingdom, not every position was filled equally.

Just like the immortal officials, the ninety-nine superior Taoist temples produce batches of fresh immortal officials every year, but they cannot fill the vacancies in the official positions.

That’s because during the prosperous times, the population explodes every year, every state in the fairyland is expanding, and large tracts of uninhabited areas are developed into human habitats.

Yi Dong didn't know how big the world where the Immortal Kingdom was located was, but one thing Yi Dong knew was that after 100,000 years of existence, the number of humans in the Immortal Kingdom was simply insignificant compared to the Immortal Kingdom's infinite territory.

Logically speaking, the number of intermediate Taoist academies will gradually increase, and the number of teaching places will not remain unchanged.

However, it is obvious that there are too many people to monitor for the teaching position, and the small share of growth each year is simply not enough for the people above to share.

Yi Dong would not stay in one Taoist temple.

The specific length of stay basically depends on the number of books in the Taoist temple.

However, if I could become an instructor, it would be much more convenient to visit unfamiliar temples in the future.

pity.

"It's enough to teach, become an assistant, and be able to read the books in the Taoist temple."

Yi Dong said sincerely.

Hearing this, Instructor Kong felt a little ashamed. He really thought that Yi Dong was a talented person. If he entered the Taoist temple, he would have a good chance of building a great foundation in the future.

After thinking for a while, Teacher Kong said:
“I heard that your fellow clansman named Yi Fan is also a well-known figure in the upper Taoist academy.

Obviously, this person was valued by a big shot. Otherwise, no matter how talented you are or how unmatched your comprehension is, it would be basically impossible for you to make a name for yourself in a superior Taoist academy.

If you go find him, you might have a chance to become his teacher."

"That's no need."

Teacher Kong wanted to say something, but when he thought about the falling out between Yi Dong and the Yi family, and the various dirty things that happened in the aristocratic families, he thought that maybe Yi Dong had some unspeakable secrets, so he stopped worrying about it.
"Just follow me and go through the formalities. Becoming an assistant doesn't require a very complicated process."

In less than three days, Instructor Kong helped Yi Dong obtain the status of an instructional assistant and also obtained an ID card.

The door to the library of Qingzhu Taoist Temple finally opened to him.

From that day on, Yi Dong basically spent all his time in the library, except for helping Instructor Kong to guide the experiments and production orders distributed by the Taoist Academy.

The Taoist temple's library was built by hollowing out more than a dozen mountains and extending thousands of meters underground.

The books in it are mainly jade slips, covering a wide range of knowledge.

A lot of knowledge is recorded in different scripts, such as some ancient cultivators’ techniques and spells.

In order to understand the knowledge, Yi Dong spent a lot of time learning various languages.

With the accumulation of knowledge, Yi Dong became more adept at experiments and guiding production.

Things that used to take him three to five days to handle can now be completed in less than half a day.

However, the time he spent reading did not increase at all.

Because Confucius' conscience would only be revealed occasionally, and most of the time his heart was black.

As Yidong's abilities grew, Teacher Kong's tasks also grew.

To teach, one must accumulate “actual achievements” in order to get promoted.

With Yi Dong as a useful ox and horse, wouldn't Master Kong use him to the fullest?
Fortunately, Yi Dong also knew how to transfer the pressure. He squeezed Instructor Kong's assistants according to their abilities. If there were not enough assistants, he would pull the students from the Taoist academy to fill the gap. If there were not enough students under Instructor Kong's charge, he would borrow students from other instructors.

Time passed slowly, and three years had passed before I knew it.

(End of this chapter)