None of the five people—including Daoist Buyu—had expected Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou to make it out of the town alive.
Setting aside the fact that a Body Integration cultivator was holding down the fort in Buyi Town, the town's overt and covert rules were far beyond what ordinary people could fathom.
Merely surviving in Buyi Town was already an ordeal, to say nothing of escaping.
Just how had the two of them pulled it off?
Daoist Buyu did not dwell on the thought. Seizing the moment when the four Body Integration cultivators were coughing up blood, their momentum faltering, and their attention diverted toward Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, he struck with explosive force.
Azure sword qi blossomed around him, rippling lightly like a pool of clear water. Deft as a serpent, the sword qi traced an elegant arc through the sky, sending two heads tumbling through the air.
The Immortal Fairy marveled, "Your master certainly has some skill. He's good enough to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the greatest sword cultivators of our era. That single strike severed both body and soul, killing two Body Integration cultivators outright."
Lu Yang was awestruck. Taking on four opponents single-handedly, catching them off guard, and slaying two of them—Master was truly worthy of the title.
The Immortal Fairy and Daoist Buyu had both made such terrible first impressions—one sealed away, the other confined to his immortal cave for ten years—that Lu Yang had subconsciously overlooked who they actually were.
One was an ancient immortal, one of the five who had attained immortality during the chaotic ancient era, the five mightiest figures of that time.
The other was the Sect Master of one of the Five Great Immortal Sects, a man whom even the reigning emperor had to receive with the highest ceremony. He was the youngest among the Nine Scions of the Dao Seeking Sect and had started cultivating the latest, yet his combat prowess was the greatest of them all.
Any ordinary cultivator who formed even the slightest connection with either of them would have their fortune made, living the rest of their days without a care in the world. Yet Lu Yang had never felt that way at all.
*Is it really because Eldest Senior Sister is around?* Lu Yang felt he had found the root cause.
Both of them had fallen flat on their faces upon their introductions entirely because of Eldest Senior Sister.
Now that Eldest Senior Sister was not here, they finally had their chance to shine.
Daoist Buyu raised his sword, gathering strength. His spirit was radiant, looking as though he might unleash another strike.
Seeing that the situation was dire, the remaining two cultivators abandoned all thought of recovering their companions' corpses, wheeled around, and fled.
Daoist Buyu did not give chase. While he certainly could have unleashed another strike, those two were now on guard and might have parried it. Once blocked, they would counterattack. While he had no fear of another clash, Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou would never be able to withstand the shockwaves of a battle between Body Integration cultivators.
"Are you two all right?" Daoist Buyu quickly descended, checking on them with concern. Seeing they bore no injuries, it seemed they had actually fared quite well in Buyi Town over the past few days.
"We're fine," the two said, waving their hands. Feeling the ambient spiritual energy around them, they could not help but sigh with relief. Escaping Buyi Town and regaining control of their spiritual power felt truly wonderful.
Being unable to use spells in Buyi Town had sorely cramped their style.
"As long as you're all right. That's what matters," Daoist Buyu said, letting out a sigh of relief. "It's just a shame those two got away."
"Speaking of which, wasn't there a Body Integration cultivator inside Buyi Town as well? How did you deal with him?" Daoist Buyu looked at Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou in confusion. He figured Xiaoyun might have given Lu Yang a life-saving trump card, or perhaps the Meng family had given one to Meng Jingzhou.
Believing Daoist Buyu was trustworthy, Lu Yang explained, "To be honest, an ancient immortal is sealed within my body. She guides my cultivation on normal days, and lends me power at critical moments. Even slaying a Body Integration cultivator is nothing to her."
Daoist Buyu looked at Lu Yang with pity, patted his head, and thought about his age before letting out an understanding chuckle.
It made sense. A boy of sixteen or seventeen was right at that fantasy stage.
Back when he was sixteen, he had also fantasized about having an ancient ferocious beast sealed inside him. If anyone provoked him, the seal would loosen, and the beast's energy would leak out and harm the innocent. In severe cases, it would destroy heaven and earth, causing irreversible catastrophe. Thus, to keep the beast at bay, he had forced himself to maintain an aloof, cold demeanor at all times.
Who hadn't gone through that phase?
What ancient immortal? He had lived for two thousand years and had never once seen an ancient immortal. Could this kid Lu Yang really be so lucky that he not only met one, but had the immortal living inside his body?
It had to be some life-saving measure Xiaoyun had left him.
"Is this ancient immortal of yours an old man or a beautiful maiden?" Daoist Buyu asked.
Lu Yang recalled the Immortal Fairy's appearance. When she stayed quiet, she was indeed an exquisite beauty on par with Eldest Senior Sister. "A beautiful maiden," he answered.
*Just as I thought,* Daoist Buyu said to himself. *Nailed it in one guess.* Immortals imagined by boys that age were always either old men or gorgeous beauties—never teenage boys, middle-aged men, or elderly women.
Looking back at Buyi Town, which was still shrouded in its bizarre rules, Daoist Buyu paused and said, "Let's first head to the nearest government office and hand the aftermath over to them."
There were simply too many townspeople in Buyi Town. While his cultivation was supreme, matters that could not be resolved by cultivation alone were best left to professionals.
The incident in Buyi Town involved five ancient Body Integration cultivators, far exceeding what a commandery governor could handle. Thus, Daoist Buyu needed to find the regional inspector in charge of this province.
The Great Xia Dynasty divided the Central Continent into seventeen regions, commonly known as the Seventeen Provinces. Below the provinces were commanderies, and below the commanderies were counties and towns.
Knowing he was terrible with directions, Daoist Buyu went to a nearby commandery to ask around, learning that they were currently in Qingzhou, located in the western reaches of the Central Continent.
"Wait, why are we in the western part of the continent?" Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou looked at Daoist Buyu with suspicion. Hadn't he said they were flying south when they left the Dao Seeking Sect?
Daoist Buyu gave a hearty laugh, offering no real explanation, and simply told them to follow along.
After asking for directions and orienting themselves along the way, the trio finally found the Regional Inspector of Qingzhou.
The moment the Regional Inspector of Qingzhou heard that the Sect Master of the Dao Seeking Sect had come to visit, he immediately set aside all his official business to receive Daoist Buyu in person.
As the Regional Inspector of Qingzhou, he oversaw boundless resources across an entire province and enjoyed high esteem and flattery, but in terms of status and cultivation, he was far inferior to Daoist Buyu.
Daoist Buyu skipped pleasantries and laid out the situation in Buyi Town directly, letting Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou fill in the finer details.
When the regional inspector heard what had happened in Buyi Town, cold sweat broke out all over him. Five ancient Body Integration cultivators had awakened. Fortunately, the Sect Master of the Dao Seeking Sect had discovered it in time and handled the matter properly. If those five had fully recovered and lurked somewhere within the dynasty, they could have obliterated several commanderies on a whim. The death toll would have been unimaginable.
The regional inspector made his decision on the spot: he mobilized local Soul Formation and Body Integration officials and sent missives to the imperial army stationed in Qingzhou and the imperial court, alerting them that two ancient Body Integration cultivators had awakened and fled, warning everyone to stay on high alert.
As for submitting a memorial to the imperial court requesting honors for the Dao Seeking Sect, there was no time for that at the moment; resolving the crisis facing the people of Buyi Town had to come first.
Lu Yang noticed that the regional inspector had not mobilized a single Void Refining cultivator.
Daoist Buyu explained, "The Void Refining stage is a very peculiar stage. A cultivator's strength during this period is extremely erratic, fluctuating wildly. At their peak, they can rival the pinnacle of the Body Integration stage, but at their lowest, they might drop all the way to Qi Refinement. Because of this, Void Refining cultivators prefer to stay settled in one place and rarely take action.
"And no one would provoke a Void Refining cultivator lightly, either. After all, you never know what realm they'll be in the next moment."
Chapter 143