Chapter 1209: A Master Gains Prestige From the Disciple
Lu Yang came back from the dead, Yun Zhi retired, and the Taciturn Daoist Priest reclaimed leadership of the sect—a happy ending for everyone.
Under the moonlight, everyone carried on with their feast, toasting and laughing, while only the Taciturn Daoist Priest sat glumly in silence.
Among the four disciples, only Ye Zijin, who had spent the most time with the Taciturn Daoist Priest, was filial enough to comfort him kindly. “Shifu, today is a day of reunion for our Heaven’s Gate Peak. Try to smile more. Once you become the sect leader tomorrow, you won’t be able to smile anymore.”
The Taciturn Daoist Priest. “...”
You’ve surpassed me too.
“I was originally planning to teach Sword Opens Heaven’s Gate to Little Yang as a congratulatory gift for becoming the sect leader. Looks like it won’t be needed now.”
Lu Yang’s earlier feigned death had given the Taciturn Daoist Priest quite the scare. Recalling their duel and the Everlasting Sword Mantra, the Taciturn Daoist Priest vaguely sensed that it was a technique even more formidable than Sword Opens Heaven’s Gate.
Since Little Yang already has his unique sword mantra, there’s no need for him to learn another move.
The most important thing for sword cultivators is focus. One shouldn’t bite off more than they can chew. Sword Opens Heaven’s Gate isn’t easy to master. There is no reason for Little Yang to spend a year on it.
~~~
The news of the Taciturn Daoist Priest reclaiming leadership spread throughout the Dao-Seeking Sect, leaving everyone dumbfounded.
“Who is the Taciturn Daoist Priest?”
Of course, this was only a small minority. They were like Lu Yang at the beginning, who had known little about the cultivation world before joining and had never even heard of the famed Taciturn Daoist Priest.
“What? Our sect actually has a sect leader?”
“What? Isn’t our sect leader Big Senior Sister?”
“Are you dense? You’re already calling her Big Senior Sister. How could she be the sect leader?”
“I always thought we call her Big Senior Sister because she’s the Big Senior Sister from the elders’ generation, and that title just got passed down to our generation out of habit. So she’s actually from our generation?”
“Shush, don’t run your mouth! You’re making it sound like Big Senior Sister is over two thousand years old!”
When Lu Yang occasionally descended the mountain and overheard these junior disciples, he would sigh at their youthful ignorance. I’d once been equally reckless, but I learned to behave after Big Senior Sister tossed me to the borderlands.
“Come to think of it, we never formally clarified Big Senior Sister’s connection to the sect leader position.”
Reflecting on his experiences since joining the Dao-Seeking Sect, Lu Yang realized that Yun Zhi serving as the acting sect leader had only been spread by word of mouth. It was no wonder that the new disciples didn’t know the truth.
The Taciturn Daoist Priest fumed as he stared at the congratulatory letters that poured in like snowflakes.
“Did you all have Zijin write all these? Every one of them is laced with sarcasm!”
To his relief, a few letters were genuine—for example, those from the Demon Region, Xitian Temple, and the East Sea Dragon Tribe.
The only issue was that their openings differed from the others. They all began with: To Lu Yang’s shifu...
“So this is what they mean by ‘a master gains prestige from the disciple.’”
~~~
Outside the Dao-Seeking Sect, several Transcendent Tribulation cultivators gathered in heated discussion, slapping their thighs in indignation.
“Didn’t that old Taciturn scoundrel say he was just going back to check on Lu Yang? How did he end up as the sect leader again?”
“Crap, we fell for that old scoundrel’s trick!”
“He’s as cunning and deceitful as ever!”
“I knew that old scoundrel’s words couldn’t be trusted!”
After a lengthy discussion, they reluctantly concluded that they could only let it go. They couldn’t just camp outside the sect waiting for him. For all they knew, he might not emerge for months or even years.
~~~
The minimum cultivation to enter the top floor of the scripture library was the Fusion Stage.
Now that Lu Yang had surpassed that requirement, he entered successfully.
As he strolled through the top floor, any book he pulled out was at the Fusion Stage, with no shortage of those at the Transcendent Tribulation Stage either.
To compile the Transcendent Tribulation chapter of the Clear Heart True Nature Mantra, these reference materials were indispensable.
“But some of these cultivation techniques look incredibly old.”
Lu Yang noticed a few cultivation manuals whose color stood out from the rest. They were extremely old, with no telling how long they had been here.
“Oh, I get it. These cultivation manuals are from the Incarceration Peak prisoners.”
Every prisoner captured earns us a hidden treasure site containing the cultivation manuals they have amassed. There are no fewer than a hundred prisoners at the Fusion Stage, and the old cultivation manuals are obtained from their collections.
Senior Brother Dai must have led the raids of these hidden treasure sites, storing the valuable natural treasures in Heaven’s Gate Peak’s vault and the cultivation techniques in the scripture library’s top floor.
In the past, Lu Yang hadn’t been qualified to enter and wasn’t aware of such matters, but now, it was easy to piece things together.
“Mountains and Seas Immortal Mantra? Deity Investiture Mantra?”
These two cultivation manuals were the most conspicuous; their names alone suggested they were extraordinary.
Even with Lu Yang’s horizons, he couldn’t fully grasp the intricacies and wonders of immortal-level cultivation techniques, but he could understand the gist.
“These are Guan Shanhai’s[1] and the Fate Arbiter’s cultivation techniques?”
“They were pretty thorough in their confessions.” Lu Yang chuckled. If these two cultivation techniques were released into the outside world, it would surely stir up a storm of bloodshed. After all, these cultivation techniques were aimed directly at becoming immortals. Studying them carefully could provide a fortuitous opportunity to condense an Incipient Dao Fruit.
That said, whether one could condense an Incipient Dao Fruit would depend on one's comprehension.
“One seeks to encompass all things within the heart for heaven and earth to evolve, while the other uses faith power to enshrine the gods and become the source of faith. Both have some interesting ideas,” the Everlasting Immortal Fairy said, clicking her tongue in admiration.
These approaches were entirely original and didn’t exist in the ancient era.
Although Guan Shanhai and the Fate Arbiter were prisoners, they were still immortals, the main characters who had dominated their respective eras for a hundred thousand years.
Those who could become immortals were geniuses in their own right, each possessing signature arts of their own.
They were just unlucky to encounter Yun Zhi.
Hearing Lu Yang mutter to himself while browsing the cultivation manuals, the Everlasting Immortal Fairy was surprised. “Isn’t it because their fate profile isn’t as tough as yours, and you jinxed them into ending up at Incarceration Peak?”
Lu Yang could only roughly understand immortal-level cultivation techniques, but reading Transcendent Tribulation-level ones was a breeze for him.
No other Transcendent Tribulation cultivator could do the same, including the Taciturn Daoist Priest—Lu Yang’s horizons had already gone beyond the Transcendent Tribulation Stage. If there were levels to one’s horizons, Lu Yang would be at the half-immortal level.
“These cultivation techniques can only serve as references, but they’re not sufficient.” Lu Yang set down the Blood Devil Venerable Lord’s cultivation manual, shaking his head. He couldn’t help but feel that something was missing.
“Right, these only describe the cultivation techniques for the Transcendent Tribulation Stage, but contain nothing about Incipient Dao Fruits.”
Half-immortal cultivation manuals were also available. If Lu Yang asked, Ao Ling, Jiang Lianyi, and the others would gladly share theirs.
But intuition told Lu Yang that none of these were what he needed. He faintly sensed a sliver of inspiration regarding Incipient Dao Fruits, yet he just couldn’t articulate it.
“Does it have something to do with my cultivation technique?
“What’s this... Sword Opens Heaven’s Gate?
“Is this Shifu’s ultimate move? It’s a good chance to clear my head and relax for a bit.”
Lu Yang temporarily tossed the matter of the cultivation techniques to the back of his mind and eagerly began studying it.
Five days later, Lu Yang returned Sword Opens Heaven’s Gate to its original spot.
“It’s pretty simple; I’ve mastered it.”
1. The name “Shanhai” uses the same characters as the first cultivation technique and means “mountains and seas.” ☜