Who Let Him Cultivate Immortality

“The sage said a gentleman’s character consists of five virtues: benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faithfulness. Old Nine doesn’t embody any of these, engaging in all kinds of deceitful practices. I can’t count how many times I’ve had to pull him out of the celestial prison.”

“Do you know what your master’s ultimate sword technique is?”

Lu Yang replied, “I’ve heard from Eldest Senior Sister about it. It’s the transformation of one sword into ten thousand swords. When fully executed, a single sword can transform into millions, overwhelming like dark clouds over a city, covering the sky, contemptuous in all directions. After slaying the enemy, the ten thousand swords return to one, without a drop of blood.”

When Lu Yang first heard Eldest Senior Sister describe it, he aspired to such freedom and elegance, believing it to be the epitome of sword cultivation.

The Fourth Elder nodded, “Right, one sword transforms into ten thousand. Old Nine, being a sword spirit root, is indeed a rare sword cultivation genius. Not many sword cultivators in the world can reach his level.”

Lu Yang found it strange; he always felt the Fourth Elder’s tone carried a mix of… grinding teeth, disdain, and frustrated expectations?

That was probably the feeling.

The Fourth Elder continued, “There was once when Old Nine executed his sword technique, transforming one sword into ten thousand, and sold those transformed swords to the Land of Gold Commerce. After receiving the payment, he then performed the ‘ten thousand swords return to one.’ If I hadn’t stepped in to smooth things over and calmed down the commerce leader’s anger, your master would still be in prison!”

Lu Yang: “……”

His master was indeed in prison now, so it seemed like karma.

“Also, have you heard of the ‘Minor Major As You Wish (Localized Version)’ spell?”

“I just heard about it from the Third Elder.”

“This spell’s existence shouldn’t be spread. Nowadays, young disciples are unaware of this spell. If we go back a hundred years, new disciples would fight to become Old Nine’s disciples just to learn it.”

“Fortunately, Niece Yun Zhi understood the bigger picture and destroyed the copies of this spell. The original was kept in the upper levels of the scripture pavilion, and with deliberate concealment, now no disciples clamor to learn such spells.”

The Fourth Elder looked pained, “The morals of the world are deteriorating.”

Lu Yang didn’t have the heart to tell the Fourth Elder that he actually also wanted to learn this spell.

Sorry, I’m reflecting.

The Fourth Elder’s tone softened a bit, “Nevertheless, Old Nine does have his merits. At least after he became the sect leader, our Dao Seeking Sect has become much stronger than before. Of course, it’s not all his doing, the eight of us also played a significant role.”

Lu Yang wasn’t sure if the Fourth Elder was complimenting his master or himself.

“Why are you suddenly curious about what kind of person your Old Nine is?”

Lu Yang chuckled, “Oh, nothing much, just that I’ve never seen him since I became his disciple and was a bit curious.”

“Curiosity is good, but don’t waste it on Old Nine.”

After asking three people, Lu Yang had a pretty good idea of what kind of person his master really was.

And he still wants to be released?

…

The Heaven’s Mysteries Sect is located on the eastern side of the continent, covering a vast area. From above, the Heaven’s Mysteries Sect looks like an inverted eight trigrams, a spectacular sight.

The Heaven’s Mysteries Sect is serene and sparsely populated, resembling a hidden sect in deep mountains and forests, quiet yet formidable.

However, the main reason for the Heaven’s Mysteries Sect’s quietness was that they had dispatched their disciples to repay debts, leaving very few people behind in the vast sect.

Cutting expenses and refining the heart in the mundane world was killing two birds with one stone.

A shout broke the serene atmosphere of the Heaven’s Mysteries Sect.

“Master, Master, I’m back!” Luobu ran into the sect and directly sought his master.

Upon hearing his disciple’s shout, the Sect Master of the Heaven’s Mysteries Sect emerged from his cave dwelling: “My good disciple, why have you returned so soon? Have you thought of a way to clear our debts?”

Luobu, panting heavily, replied: “Not yet. While I was traveling and fortune-telling for people, I encountered a troublesome person. I wanted to come back and alert the sect to be more cautious.”

“Sit down and tell me slowly.”

After catching his breath, Luobu said: “I traveled to Yanjiang County. Being penniless at the time, I thought of simply telling a few fortunes, swindling some unlucky folks for money.”

“Coincidentally, I met three Dao Seeking Sect disciples and a disciple from the Moon Laurel Immortal Palace, all easy targets.”

“I didn’t plan to seriously tell fortunes, just to get by, but what I didn’t expect was that one of them was extraordinarily unusual.”

“That person, named Lu Yang, though not highly cultivated and just beginning in cultivation, has an extremely terrifying future.”

The Sect Master of the Heaven’s Mysteries Sect was intrigued: “Are you suggesting we invest in him early, and when he becomes successful, he helps us repay our debts?”

Luobu quickly quashed his master’s dangerous thought: “No, no, no. I saw that Lu Yang’s future is destined to be entangled with several immortals.”

“Entangled with several immortals?!” exclaimed the Sect Master of Heaven’s Mysteries Sect. Normally, being entangled with one immortal could easily lead to annihilation, yet this Lu Yang would have significant karma with several immortals and still not die?

What they in the Heaven’s Mysteries Sect feared most was getting involved with individuals bearing heavy karma. It was not conducive to transcendence; the heavier the karma, the more difficult the cultivation. Struggling to free oneself would only tighten the karmic bonds.

“More than that, I also discovered that Lu Yang will spread the Dao Seeking Sect’s bad practices throughout the cultivation world.”

The Sect Master of the Heaven’s Mysteries Sect gasped in shock, “Why didn’t you say something this important earlier? Compared to this, what does karma with immortals count for?”

Having karma with immortals means his future achievements are significant, but spreading the Dao Seeking Sect’s bad practices shows a lack of judgment!

“In short, we must avoid contact with the Dao Seeking Sect as much as possible, especially that Lu Yang. The farther away, the better!”

Suddenly, the Sect Master of the Heaven’s Mysteries Sect’s expression changed.

“What’s wrong, Master?”

“A very domineering presence is flying towards our Heaven’s Mysteries Sect. I suspect they come with ill intent. Activate the defensive formation immediately!”

Decisively, the Sect Master of the Heaven’s Mysteries Sect activated the sect’s protective formation.

The formation nodes lit up like stars in the night sky, forming an Eight Trigrams pattern. The gigantic Eight Trigrams formation covered Heaven’s Mysteries Sect, impenetrable, with eight complex directions making it difficult to find an exit. Once trapped within, it would take a lifetime’s effort to unravel the mystery of the formation. Many powerful cultivators at the Unity Stage have returned without success, and some with ill intentions were even trapped to death!

The power of the Heaven’s Mysteries Sect’s protective formation was evident!

Seeing the Heaven’s Mysteries Sect activate its protective formation, the approaching figure didn’t slow down, displaying an unrivaled arrogance.

Facing the complex formation, the visitor stretched out a hand and shattered the formation with a slap.

Only then did the Sect Master of the Heaven’s Mysteries Sect see the appearance of the visitor, graceful and divine, untouchable.

“Dao Seeking Sect’s Yun Zhi has come to visit the Supreme Elder of Heaven’s Mysteries Sect. I request an audience.”

The Sect Master of the Heaven’s Mysteries Sect turned pale. Speak of the Dao Seeking Sect and the Dao Seeking Sect shows up!

(TL Note: This is a play on the saying “说曹操，曹操到”. 曹操 (Cao Cao) was a famous military general and the saying translates into “Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao shows up”. It originates from the romance of the three kingdoms where an emperor was attacked and someone suggested to call Cao Cao to help rescue the emperor but Cao Cao arrived just as they wanted to call him. It’s the chinese version of Speak of the devil.)