The Strongest in the Five Great Immortal Sects

Meng Jingzhou clapped Lu Yang on the shoulder and said, "You've finally become outstanding enough for people to come proposing marriage at your doorstep." Lu Yang looked at Meng Jingzhou. "Also?" Meng Jingzhou said proudly, "Ever since I was little, imperial relatives, influential ministers, and people from prestigious orthodox sects have been coming to my family proposing marriage. They offered up their daughters as my betrothed as if they weren't even their own! It was just that my parents and clan elders refused every single one of them with absolute firmness. Otherwise, right now I'd at least be..." Lu Yang chimed in, "At least suffering from kidney deficiency?" Meng Jingzhou snapped, "At least be a dashing young playboy!" The two scuffled together, both throwing Tiger Fists. Gusts of wind howled through the clouds. Yun Zhi focused on flying, paying them no mind. Lu Yang transformed into a tiger demon and pinned Meng Jingzhou down with a single paw, thrashing him until Meng Jingzhou could only beg for mercy. After all, Meng Jingzhou's Tiger Fist could never beat Lu Yang's actual tiger. Once the tussle was over, Lu Yang still couldn't figure out how the outstanding qualities he had displayed in Yanjiang Commandery were enough to make someone come proposing marriage at his door. Besides, "marriage proposal at the door," "the woman reneging," "a powerful soul inside one's body"... why did these tropes sound so familiar? *** Great Xia Dynasty, Imperial City, Imperial Palace. Upon the elevated throne of the grand hall sat an imposing man clad in black robes embroidered with gold trim. Solemn and stern, he looked down as the assembled officials below cried out, "Your Majesty!" The atmosphere was grand and solemn. "Rise, my ministers." "We thank Your Majesty." Emperor Xia swept his gaze across the court and produced a memorial he had just received. "We have just received a memorial from the Regional Inspector of Qingzhou, stating that five ancient Body Integration cultivators awakened in a place called Buyi Town in Qingzhou and formed a domain. The Sect Master of the Dao Seeking Sect happened to pass by and, together with two disciples, slew three of them." At these words, the ministers breathed a sigh of relief. The revival of five Body Integration cultivators was no small matter. It was fortunate that Daoist Buyu had encountered them; had it been any other Body Integration cultivator, they would have met their end in Buyi Town. Though Daoist Buyu's reputation was rather dubious—many of them had been duped or scammed by him in their younger days—his strength was beyond doubt; he was among the pinnacle of the Body Integration stage. "However, two Body Integration cultivators still escaped, and both are at the peak of the Body Integration stage," Emperor Xia reminded the ministers. That was the crux of the problem. Emperor Xia had no expectation that they would abide by the rules. Ancient cultivation methods were brutally crude, treating human lives like weeds. Those revived beings had awakened solely to seize the opportunities of the Golden Age and would stop at nothing to do so. The Great Xia Dynasty had already learned painful lessons in this regard. The ministers murmured in hushed discussion. If the two Body Integration cultivators showed themselves, there was naturally nothing to fear; plenty of people in the imperial court could deal with them. The danger lay in them hiding in the shadows, scheming. If they colluded with people from the demonic cults, it would be even more troublesome. "These ancient Body Integration cultivators!" Emperor Xia had quite a headache. The worldly spiritual opportunities were becoming increasingly active, and more and more ancient cultivators were reviving. These Body Integration cultivators were a grave peril. Left unchecked, they could unleash catastrophic disasters, bringing untold casualties to the common people. The good news was that no Tribulation Transcendence cultivator had awakened yet. According to the intelligence gathered so far, those who awoke early were only at the early Body Integration stage. The later they awakened, the higher their cultivation. In Buyi Town, four of those awakened were at the peak of Body Integration, and one was at the late Body Integration stage. It was foreseeable that Tribulation Transcendence cultivators would awaken soon enough. When that happened, if trouble broke out simultaneously with the Eastern Ocean, the Western Buddhist Kingdom, the Southern Demon Domain, the Far North, and the Four Great Demonic Cults, the Great Xia Dynasty's rule would inevitably teeter on the brink of collapse. At that point, the rumor that every dynasty lasted only a hundred thousand years might well come true. "All for the sake of becoming immortals!" Emperor Xia's eyes turned cold. He knew many secrets. All this turmoil was orchestrated by someone scheming from the shadows, someone who wanted more immortal Dao fruits to manifest. Emperor Xia suspected this was the handiwork of the Ancient Nameless One—one of the five immortals of antiquity. *Is becoming an immortal truly that important?!* Emperor Xia was furious inside, yet he showed no trace of it on his face. If the mastermind truly thought the Great Xia Dynasty was a mere pawn to be manipulated at will, they were sorely mistaken. Setting aside his thoughts about the Ancient Nameless One, Emperor Xia turned his attention back to the two fleeing Body Integration cultivators. At that moment, the Chief Eunuch received a memorial. Seeing where it came from, he hurriedly presented it to Emperor Xia. Upon reading it, the Emperor beamed with delight. "Good! Splendid!" The ministers were puzzled, wondering what was written in the memorial to bring such joy to His Majesty. "No need to worry about those two Body Integration cultivators any longer! Yun Zhi of the Dao Seeking Sect has already captured both of them!" "Yun Zhi?" Some less knowledgeable ministers wondered, having never heard of her. None of the Dao Seeking Sect's eight elders seemed to go by the name Yun Zhi. Meanwhile, well-informed veteran officials knew her identity and just how terrifying she was; capturing two Body Integration cultivators alive was trivial for her. "The Demon Domain has dispatched an envoy..." Emperor Xia and the ministers turned to other matters. *** After the court session dismissed, Emperor Xia returned to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to review new memorials. "Your Majesty, Duke of Qin Jing Yansong requests an audience to submit a memorial," the Chief Eunuch murmured softly. Without looking up, Emperor Xia said, "Enter." Entering the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the Duke of Qin saw Emperor Xia busy reviewing memorials. He remained respectfully silent, standing attentively until the Emperor finished the most pressing documents before daring to speak. "What business does the Duke of Qin have?" Emperor Xia asked with a solemn expression, gazing at him with eyes that would make the fainthearted shrink back in fear. "Your Majesty, this subject believes we must guard against the Dao Seeking Sect. Years ago, as a mere disciple, Yun Zhi of the Dao Seeking Sect defeated the masters of all Five Great Immortal Sects, setting an unprecedented record. Ever since, she has kept a low profile and rarely made a move. Yet whenever she does, she leaves everyone utterly terrified. In the centuries that followed, her cultivation must have reached a truly horrifying level. "This subject fears her existence will shake the foundations of our dynasty. After all, the Dao Seeking Sect was established during the Dayu Era and has weathered both the 'Division of the Realm' and the 'Founding of Great Xia.' Who is to say they might not harbor ambitions to replace us? "Nor is this merely this subject's personal opinion. On my way to the morning court, I even heard a tavern waiter singing: 'When Dao Seeking thrives, the realm knows peace.'" Emperor Xia frowned. Seeing this, the Duke of Qin assumed His Majesty had grown suspicious of the Dao Seeking Sect. Without pressing further, he took his leave. Emperor Xia summoned the Chief Eunuch. "Investigate who the Duke of Qin has met with recently. Focus particularly on his dealings with the Demon Domain." "At once." Emperor Xia sneered inwardly. It seemed not everyone in this imperial court stood on the side of Great Xia. "Sowing discord between Us and the Dao Seeking Sect—what a clever scheme." After ascending the throne, Emperor Xia had visited each of the Five Great Immortal Sects in turn. When he visited the Dao Seeking Sect, he met Yun Zhi and was struck with awe; she seemed bottomless and unfathomable. Even after sending agents to investigate, he still could not gauge her depth. In the end, he went straight to the imperial palace's forbidden grounds to ask the Old Ancestor if he knew of a female cultivator named Yun Zhi in the Dao Seeking Sect. The Old Ancestor fell silent for a long time before offering only a single sentence: "The strongest in the Five Great Immortal Sects." Refusing to let the matter rest, Emperor Xia had pressed further, "And compared to you, Old Ancestor?" "Ask no more." Emperor Xia had been kicked out by the Old Ancestor, who seemed almost like someone exasperated to the point of anger.