How Did the Five Elements Sect Lose Last Time?

On the way back to the Dao Seeking Sect from Tang Yunsheng, Eldest Senior Sister didn't say a word the entire journey, presumably feeling there was no need to bother herself with such matters and leaving full authority to the Immortal Fairy and Lu Yang. Meng Jingzhou and Man Gu didn't ask much either; with Eldest Senior Sister holding down the fort, they figured nothing could possibly go wrong. Upon returning to the Dao Seeking Sect, the Immortal Fairy focused wholly on planning the reception itinerary. "The Sect Master's speech at the welcoming ceremony... What a pain! Lu Yang, do you know how to write one? If you write it for this Immortal, I'll teach you an immortal art." Racking her brain gave the Immortal Fairy a headache, so she sought out her trusty helper, Lu Yang. Lu Yang gave a dry chuckle. "If it's teaching me the complete encyclopedia of cooking, forget it." "How dare you talk like that, brat! What's wrong with this Immortal's cooking?!" Lu Yang said nothing, rolling his eyes to make his stance abundantly clear. Left with no alternative, the Immortal Fairy could only bury her head and write it herself. After agonizing over it for half a day, she managed to squeeze out two sentences: "Welcome, Five Elements Sect, on your visit. Everyone, feel free to do whatever you like." Lu Yang: "...Forget it. I'll write it for you." "Really?" The Immortal Fairy's eyes lit up when she heard Lu Yang agree to help. She handed the speech over to Lu Yang and turned all her attention to figuring out what to serve for the reception banquet. Lu Yang had no choice but to help; otherwise, he would be the one losing face when the time came. "This is the first time this Immortal has hosted a major event, so it must be grand! To show how much importance I place on this occasion, I shall personally step into the kitchen and cook!" The Immortal Fairy was brimming with fighting spirit, eager to show the world that her, Huang Doudou's, culinary skills were a match for any Tribulation Transcendence Stage spiritual chef! Lu Yang only prayed she wouldn't rival a Tribulation Transcendence Stage poison cultivator. The Immortal Fairy also drew up a plan to deal with the Immortal Cult: "As believers of this Immortal, it's bad enough that they aren't helping me, but they dare make trouble? Not a single one of them is getting away!" The two of them bustled about all day and finally drafted the event proposal, presenting it to Eldest Senior Sister for her perusal. After reading it over, Eldest Senior Sister offered no objections, merely saying it was acceptable. "Starting today, Senior is the Acting Sect Master of the Dao Seeking Sect. I have already informed the eight elders, and they have all stated they will cooperate with Lu Yang's work." The elders were unaware of the Immortal Fairy's existence. Lu Yang summoned the eight elders to discuss the welcoming ceremony's itinerary. "Who's actually the Sect Master here, me or her?" Lu Yang felt he was doing quite a bit of work himself. "What are you whining about? If not for this Immortal, could you have redeemed the 'Dao Seeking Sect Master One-Day Experience Tour' voucher? This is an opportunity—no, an immortal destiny—bestowed upon you out of my immense benevolence!" The Immortal Fairy felt Lu Yang was utterly ungrateful. "In ancient times, everyone wanted to be a leader! Immortal Ying Tian and the others each controlled tens of thousands of living stars at the very least, not even counting mining stars, gravity stars, dead stars, and other stars with various uses! They fought viciously just to seize more stars, and I had to mediate multiple times!" "Then how many living stars did you control?" "One." "...Why did you control so few?" "I've never been good at managing people. If Immortal Ying Tian and the others hadn't insisted that an immortal couldn't be without territory because it would be too embarrassing to speak of, forcing one upon me, I wouldn't have bothered accepting it even reluctantly. "After they gave it to me, I found a cultivator with strong managerial abilities and put him in charge of that star. Every now and then, I'd pop down to the mortal realm to see how well he was managing it." "Then what did you do after becoming an immortal?" "Go shopping, drop in on friends, cook, and sleep." "Are you actually a human or a salted fish spirit?" The Immortal Fairy was displeased. "Have you ever seen a salted fish spirit this gorgeous?!" "I'm looking at one right now." "I also used to stalk the four of them in secret, observing their movements and spheres of activity." Lu Yang thought to himself that this finally sounded a bit like the ancient Golden Age. Was she planning sneak attacks to reduce the number of immortals? "What was that for?" "To avoid running into them! For example, when I attended an auction, some blind fool would flaunt his status, claiming to be the son of some tribal chief and declaring that bidding against him was disrespecting his tribe. Right then, I'd step forward, reveal my identity as an immortal, and scare him until he shook like a sieve. "Or when two tribes had a conflict, I'd step forward to mediate. Neither side recognized me, pointing at me and sneering, 'Who do you think you are?' That was when I'd release my immortal aura—it worked wonders! Both sides would invite me to be an honored guest in their tribes. "Or if someone provoked me, I'd swat him away with a palm strike. He'd go bring his backer, and his backer would bring an army to surround me. Right then, their ancestor would recognize my identity, gasp out, 'Y-You're the Immortal Fairy!', and drop to his knees with a thud, begging for my forgiveness. "From my experience, the effect is best when I'm the only immortal present." Lu Yang's eyelid twitched. The Fairy's life after becoming an immortal really was colorful; calling her a salted fish spirit truly didn't do it justice. As they talked, the eight elders trickled in one after another. Lu Yang paid special attention to the Eighth Elder—this was the first time he had ever laid eyes on him. "We pay our respects to the Acting Sect Master," the eight elders said with bows. "Move, move, let me run the meeting!" The Immortal Fairy shoved Lu Yang aside and seized control of the body. Becoming Sect Master was all for enjoying moments like this! "My beloved ministers may rise." Lu Yang covered his face with his hands, regretting that he had ever uttered the Immortal Fairy's true name in the first place. At first, he had thought the Immortal Fairy was a golden finger, but now he realized her sole functions were recounting dark ancient history and embarrassing him. The eight elders were slightly unnerved by Lu Yang's bizarre behavior, but remembering that he was Daoist Buyu's disciple, everything suddenly made sense. "Acting Sect Master, allow me to pour your water." A cool, familiar voice came from behind Lu Yang, startling the Immortal Fairy into a cold sweat. Carrying a teapot, Eldest Senior Sister poured water for the Immortal Fairy with flawless poise, making one marvel that no matter what Yun Zhi did, it was always impeccable. As Yun Zhi bent over to pour the water, she cast a chilly glance at the Immortal Fairy. The Fairy vigorously nodded, indicating she would definitely behave herself and not cause any trouble. The two didn't even use divine sense to communicate; it was all conveyed through looks. Tamed, the Immortal Fairy cleared her throat and spoke: "As you all should know, people from the Five Elements Sect will visit our Dao Seeking Sect the day after tomorrow. I have summoned everyone here precisely for this matter. What thoughts do you have?" The Grand Elder was the most composed: "They come with ill intent." "Why do you say that?" "The Five Elements Sect has already visited us once. According to convention, this time we should be paying a return visit. For them to breach convention and come knocking on our doors again can only mean one thing: they want to wash away their past humiliation and defeat us on our own home turf!" The Immortal Fairy hadn't expected such an underlying reason. "Then, in the elders' opinion, what should we do?" The Second Elder made a slashing motion across his neck. "Ambush them on the road, throw sacks over their heads, and beat them to a pulp so they'll know when to back off! Don't worry, I have experience. My work is clean and leaves no loose ends—they'll never trace it back to me." The other elders nodded in succession, agreeing with the Second Elder's proposal. "I've found the Five Elements Sect an eyesore for a long time. After they lost last time, they even claimed our Dao Seeking Sect 'lies outside the five elements.' What kind of talk is that?!" "Mess with them! Let them taste the might of our Dao Seeking Sect!" "Ever since that kid Old Qiu became Sect Master, he's let it get to his head. I'd say he's forgotten the consequences of provoking us Nine Scions of the Dao Seeking Sect back in his youth!" The Immortal Fairy asked out of curiosity, "How did the Five Elements Sect lose last time?" The Eighth Elder replied, "Oh, quite simple. When they came over last time, they insisted on a disciple duel where elders weren't allowed to interfere, pitting our finest disciple against theirs." "And then?" "And then Xiaoyun stepped up." The Immortal Fairy jerked her head around to look at the expressionless Eldest Senior Sister. She had almost forgotten—you count as a disciple too! The Grand Elder sighed. "It's probably because Xiaoyun is so strong that Old Qiu forgot she doesn't belong to our generation, but is Old Ninth's disciple."