When Lu Yang returned to Tianmen Peak, he still did not see Eldest Senior Sister. Only the puppet was standing guard over the residence.
"The meeting took this long? Did it involve spirit stone distribution again?"
In Lu Yang's impression, meetings ran exceptionally long only under that single circumstance. The elders always harbored all manner of bizarre, peculiar ideas that could not be implemented due to insufficient spirit stones; whenever an opportunity to obtain spirit stones arose, they would argue their case with unyielding determination.
Just as Lu Yang was thinking this, eight streaks of flowing light flew out from the Discussion Hall as the eight elders departed. Eldest Senior Sister leisurely stepped out of the hall—the meeting had evidently adjourned.
"You're back?"
"Just returned."
Yun Zhi swept her divine sense over Lu Yang, confirming that Huang Doudou was still sleeping in his spiritual world. "There remain many questionable points regarding the Immortal Fairy, points to which even she likely does not know the answers. I am going out to visit an old friend to see if I can learn anything. Cultivate diligently on Tianmen Peak and strive to reach the middle stage of Foundation Establishment as soon as possible."
"Yes."
Without another word, Yun Zhi soared into the sky, her figure blurring into the distance toward an unknown direction.
Once Yun Zhi had left, Lu Yang looked toward the puppet that had once accompanied him during his training. Itching for a fight, he sparred with it, only to be beaten soundly and sent sprawling in utter defeat in no time at all.
Unable to defeat even a puppet, Lu Yang felt his sense of frustration redouble, so he obediently sat down to meditate and cultivate.
Eldest Senior Sister was bustling about for his sake, so he could not afford to slack off or be lazy.
"Disciple... is my disciple back?"
A voice like an ethereal specter drifted into Lu Yang's ears. Lu Yang instinctively covered his ears, only to discover he could still hear the voice.
The voice possessed an uncanny, magical power.
"Who's there!" Lu Yang warily surveyed his surroundings. He had no memory of having any master; Eldest Senior Sister had always been the one teaching him.
*Wait, it seems I do have a master.*
"Lu Yang has returned. I am your master, Daoist Buyu."
The Dao Seeking Sect's current Sect Master, who had disappeared for a full ten years—Daoist Buyu.
Though the Sect Master had been missing for a decade, the Dao Seeking Sect had continued running smoothly from top to bottom, even recruiting a new cohort of disciples. Having a Sect Master and not having one were practically the same.
"Master?!"
Lu Yang was utterly astonished. It had been a year since he entered Daoist Buyu's tutelage, yet he had never laid eyes on his master. Eldest Senior Sister had always said Master was in closed-door cultivation and had no time to see him. Could it be that Master's seclusion had finally ended?
"It is I. Though you have never seen me, I have watched over you all along. Seeing you successfully achieve Qi Induction and attain Foundation Establishment brings great comfort to this master." The voice was laden with the vicissitudes of time, sounding like a kindly old grandfather.
"Master, where are you? Are you in seclusion and unable to come out to meet your disciple?" Lu Yang felt something was amiss. If Master could see him and speak to him, why had there been no sound from him over the past year?
The voice let out a long sigh, sounding as though laden with endless bitterness. "Ah, it is a long story. This master has been on Tianmen Peak all along, but I am temporarily unable to leave this place. Certain matters cannot be explained in a few words. Follow the path I describe, and you will be able to see me."
Though Lu Yang harbored doubts, he did not sense any danger. This was Tianmen Peak, and the speaker was his master.
Furthermore, the most crucial point was that Eldest Senior Sister had never warned him about anything of the sort.
If there were any danger, Eldest Senior Sister would have said so long ago.
"First, find the pine forest on the mountainside. Within the forest stands a three-hundred-meter ancient pine, the largest in the entire grove."
Lu Yang easily found the ancient pine Daoist Buyu mentioned. He remembered that the puppet had once gathered pine nuts here to make pine nut sweet corn for him, which had tasted delicious.
"Knock gently on the ancient pine three times, pause for three seconds, and then knock heavily three times."
Lu Yang followed the instructions. Space twisted to the east of the ancient pine, as though a camouflage sheet had been pulled away to reveal the truth underneath.
A large swath of pine trees to the east vanished, replaced by a pitch-black immortal's cave. Affixed to the entrance was a glittering golden talisman that was impossible to miss. Daoist Buyu's voice emanated from within this very cave.
Lu Yang called out tentatively, "Master?"
"Ah, good disciple! We finally meet." An elderly man of transcendent, otherworldly bearing stepped out from the cave. A horsetail whisk rested across his arm, lending him an aura as ethereal as an exiled immortal. He looked somewhat emotional upon seeing Lu Yang. Was this his youngest disciple?
Daoist Buyu came to a halt at the cave mouth, not taking another step forward.
"Master, what happened to you? Are you trapped here? When Eldest Senior Sister returns, I'll ask her to rescue you!" Lu Yang said urgently.
"No, no, don't!" Daoist Buyu hurriedly stopped Lu Yang. If Yun Zhi had not left Tianmen Peak, he would never have dared to summon Lu Yang here in the first place.
"You must not tell your eldest senior sister that you saw me."
"Why is that?"
Daoist Buyu tilted his head back toward the cave ceiling, his gaze complex. "A person's life is nothing more than the pursuit of fame and fortune. As the Sect Master of one of the Five Great Immortal Sects, possessing monstrous authority, naturally many people covet my position.
"I can understand that. Back in the day, to claim this seat, I went through a bloody struggle before finally standing out among my fellow martial brothers.
"I thought once I became Sect Master, everything would be settled, but never did I expect to be betrayed by the person closest to me." Speaking up to this point, Daoist Buyu showed a grief-stricken expression, seemingly unwilling to recall the past yet having no choice but to do so.
"Your eldest senior sister is prodigiously gifted. When I stepped down, the Sect Master's seat would surely have been hers. Yet she could not even wait for the day of my retirement. She broke our pact, imprisoned me here, and made herself Acting Sect Master, governing all the sect's affairs.
"How has the sect developed over these ten years? Has your eldest senior sister carried things out according to my plans?"
Lu Yang was startled. He had heard several senior brothers and sisters say that the sect had been flourishing and brimming with vitality over the past ten years, with Eldest Senior Sister deserving the lion's share of the credit. Could all of that have been within Master's plans?
Lu Yang recounted the situation truthfully, earning a somewhat gratified response from Daoist Buyu: "Little Yun has done quite well. Even without me, she can manage the sect properly. It is just a pity..."
"A pity for what?"
"A pity that I am not managing it in person. Were it me, there would be even better management methods."
"Then can you come out?"
Daoist Buyu smiled wryly and tried to step out of the cave. The moment his front foot took a single step forward, thousands of streaks of purple lightning erupted across the cave entrance. Daoist Buyu was instantly bathed in the lightning, terrifying him into hastily retreating as he used his horsetail whisk to pat out the small flames on his body.
"See? I cannot get out."
"Then how can I rescue you?"
"At the cave entrance is the golden talisman written by Little Yun. As long as you tear it down, I will be able to come out."
Lu Yang looked at Daoist Buyu with suspicion. "It's that simple?"
"It is that simple. Little Yun said that if anyone tears down the talisman, it proves destiny dictates I should not be imprisoned here; complying with the Mandate of Heaven, she would naturally release me."
Lu Yang leaned in closer to look. On the golden talisman, there were none of the usual strange patterns. There were only seven large characters left behind by Eldest Senior Sister:
*Let's see who dares tear this down.*
Chapter 108