The Immortal Fairy's plan had sounded wonderful in theory. Lu Yang had been personally nurtured by Eldest Senior Sister, and his innate potential would have made him an unmatched prodigy in the ancient era. Fighting above his realm should not have been difficult, and she intended to use this opportunity to show off grandly on the sparring stage.
She discovered that Lu Yang indeed could have fought across realms in the ancient era—but that did not mean he could do so in the Dao Seeking Sect.
What the Immortal Fairy did not know was that, as one of the Five Great Immortal Sects, the Dao Seeking Sect's true hallmark was not peerlessly exquisite magical arts, but rather an unrivaled, boundless imagination.
For the Dao Seeking Sect to stand tall and unshaken for a full 120,000 years was not merely due to luck, but far more to sheer strength.
By the era of the Nine Scions of the Dao Seeking Sect, each of the nine possessed unique methods, forcibly elevating the sect's might another notch.
For instance, the Seventh Elder who governed Pill Cauldron Peak: his youthful experience of establishing his foundation one hundred times had laid a solid groundwork for later Dao Seeking Sect disciples' foundation establishment, something Lu Yang had also benefited from.
When the Seventh Elder was at the great perfection of the Foundation Establishment stage, he proposed a theory, claiming that nowhere in the world was it decreed that a person could only have a single golden core. Why not dual golden cores, or even triple golden cores?
He began deducing what dual and triple golden cores would look like. Dual cores were manageable—two golden cores mutually gravitating and revolving still followed observable rules. But when it came to triple golden cores, the Seventh Elder began to struggle. The revolving trajectories of three golden cores resembled chaotic mists, entirely devoid of regularity.
With indefatigable perseverance, the Seventh Elder set up an eighteenth-order Tianyuan formula and solved the problem by borrowing his master's divine sense to compute the results.
However, the amount of calculation required for three rotating golden cores was far too enormous, beyond what a cultivator at the Golden Core stage could bear, so the concept of triple golden cores died a natural death.
Although it did not succeed, the novel algorithm created during the problem-solving process proved immensely helpful to the Seventh Elder.
Through generations of research in the Dao Seeking Sect, their understanding of core formation methods had become exceptionally profound. By laying a solid foundation in the early stages and following the established procedure, forming a high-grade golden core was by no means difficult.
Pull any random disciple from the Dao Seeking Sect and place them in the outside world, and they would be hailed as a prodigy. While one could not claim they were invincible in their realm, defeating ninety-nine percent of peers at the same level was no problem at all.
Inside the spiritual space, Lu Yang stared at the Immortal Fairy in silence.
*I understand the logic, but why is it that the Immortal Fairy was the useless one, while I'm the one who lost face?*
The Immortal Fairy's campaign had collapsed before it even began.
"Give me back my body!" Lu Yang was beginning to regret letting the Immortal Fairy take control.
The Immortal Fairy lectured Lu Yang like an elder: "Junior, cultivating immortality isn't just about fighting and killing. Does sheer might represent everything? Of course not! Cultivating immortality means experience and breadth of knowledge; it tests one's discerning eye! There are plenty of good things in this market fair of your Dao Seeking Sect. Watch me demonstrate what the discerning eye of an ancient immortal truly is!"
Lu Yang chose to believe her one more time.
"Come take a look! A glazed blue-and-white vase retrieved from a grotto-heaven ruin! A rare dharma treasure!"
"Crouching Dragon Jade Pillow! A Crouching Dragon Jade Pillow that lets you cultivate in your dreams! A southern specialty, an absolute treasure!"
"Lesser Return Pills, ten contribution points each! Buy three, get one free! Buy more, get more free! Buy a full hundred and get the pill formula thrown in!"
"Renting myself out! Renting myself out! Golden Core cultivator, available to accompany you on missions! Hardworking and willing to endure hardship, only a hundred and twenty contribution points a day!"
The Dao Seeking Sect market fair encompassed everything, from selling grotto-heaven treasures to renting out oneself.
Controlling Lu Yang's body, the Immortal Fairy squatted down. As she did, she subconsciously smoothed her robes behind her hips, only to realize that Lu Yang was not wearing a skirt.
Lu Yang mentally complained, *Big surprise—I'm a guy, why would I be wearing a skirt?*
"How much for this glazed blue-and-white vase?"
The Immortal Fairy had taken a fancy to a vase with a withered flower stuck inside. Its species was unrecognizable, having died who knew how long ago.
"Eight hundred and eighty-eight contribution points."
"So expensive?!"
"Junior Brother, don't say it's expensive. This glazed blue-and-white vase is a fine treasure I found in the grotto-heaven of a Soul Formation cultivator. Look at this exquisite craftsmanship, look at this sturdy material—it's worth every point!" The senior brother picked up the glazed blue-and-white vase and slammed it onto the ground; true to his word, it did not chip in the slightest.
"Aside from being sturdy, does it have any other merits? Is being sturdy the only merit of a dharma treasure?"
The senior brother looked a bit embarrassed. This vase had been in his hands for a long time, and he had never figured out its actual use, so the only selling point he could advertise was its sturdiness.
"One hundred contribution points. I'll buy it as a decorative ornament."
"Junior Brother, you're haggling way too aggressively! Seven hundred, not a point lower."
The Immortal Fairy turned to leave.
"Don't be in such a rush to leave! Four hundred, absolute lowest!"
"Two hundred."
The senior brother gritted his teeth. This vase had been on display for ages with nobody buying it. Today someone finally wanted it, so he could not let this opportunity slip away.
"Deal!"
The Immortal Fairy boasted to Lu Yang, "See that? That's what you call a discerning eye!"
Lu Yang asked curiously, "Is there some secret hidden in this vase?"
The Immortal Fairy shook her head mysteriously. "The vase indeed only has the single trait of being hard. But the secret isn't in the vase—it's in this withered flower!"
"There is a cultivation manual hidden inside this flower. Let me decipher it for you!"
The Immortal Fairy walked to a secluded corner of the market, muttering under her breath what sounded like an ancient scripture. As the clear, resonant recitation rang out, the withered flower actually revived, returning to a budding state. When it blossomed fully, glowing characters drifted out from the flower.
The Immortal Fairy wore an "as expected" expression, concentrating on translating, and quickly produced the result.
"This is a manual that can be cultivated up to the Void Refining stage, called the *Glaze Bone Transformation Manual*. It's divided into three stages: Undecaying Bone, Vajra Bone, and the perfected Glaze Bone. This is only a fragment, covering only the Undecaying Bone stage—that is, the portion from Qi Refinement to Golden Core."
"If there's ever a chance to enter that ruin, we might even find the latter half of the manual!"
The Immortal Fairy was brimming with smug satisfaction. A fragment of a Void Refining stage manual—back in the ancient era, such a thing could easily cause small-to-medium tribes to be wiped out, with countless people bashing each other's heads in just for a chance to cultivate it.
Lu Yang fell silent for a moment, then quietly recited a passage from memory. The Immortal Fairy was greatly astonished—that was the exact conclusion of the fragmentary *Glaze Bone Transformation Manual*.
"I haven't even translated it for you yet! How did you know? Can you read the meaning of these characters?"
Lu Yang sighed and explained, "The Dao Seeking Sect retrieved the complete manual from the ruins long ago. When I was studying techniques, I read through it for reference."
"Eldest Senior Sister even corrected several flaws in the manual, continued writing it, and deduced that after the Glaze Bone comes the Imperishable Bone. The current *Glaze Bone Transformation Manual* can be cultivated all the way to the peak of the Body Integration stage."
"If you're interested, I can take you to read it. It's on the first floor of the Scripture Pavilion. Completely free, you can read it whenever you want."
Immortal Fairy: "..."
*Why on earth would your Dao Seeking Sect put such a precious manual on the first floor of the Scripture Pavilion?!*
Lu Yang also had a question: he wanted to know if those two hundred contribution points were refundable.
Chapter 119