Reflecting on the past, as one of the Five Ancient Celestials, the Immortal Fairy's immortal name had resonated throughout the universe; there was no one who did not know of her existence.
The ancient ancestors, demon tribes, and others would often erect altars and offer precious sacrifices—treasures, ceremonial vessels, and priceless heirlooms—to worship the Immortal Fairy, begging for her grace and pity.
Some tribes even revered her as their totem and guardian deity, holding grand sacrificial ceremonies every year. In those days, the Immortal Fairy's glory was truly unmatched.
Alas, since her resurrection, the seas had turned to dust and the world had drastically changed. She had fallen on hard times; only a cult of dimwits worshipped her, yet they didn't even know her real name and had even gotten her gender wrong.
Taking up lodging in Lu Yang's body, she was constantly frightened by that little brat named Yun Zhi and mocked and sneered at by Lu Yang, living an utterly wretched life.
Forget being an immortal; even someone in the Tribulation Transcendence stage shouldn't be treated like this!
Now, finally, someone had opened their Heavenly Eye, recognized her true identity, and pleaded for her to accept such a colossal flying boat as a tribute!
Look at the jewels embedded in the hull! Look at its gargantuan size! This was how an immortal ought to be treated!
Inside the spiritual space, Lu Yang eyed the Immortal Fairy askance, thinking to himself, *You seemed to have plenty of fun playing Sect Master over the past two days. An instant kill of a Soul Formation stage cultivator as a Foundation Establishment cultivator—no one has ever pulled off such a feat throughout history! Any genius would hang their head in shame before a record like that. Calling it a new historical milestone wouldn't be an exaggeration.*
"You really shouldn't have! Coming all this way and bringing such an enormous gift," the Immortal Fairy chuckled, holding out her hand to Qiu Jin'an for the magical artifact used to control the flying boat, speaking in ancient tongue as well.
"What are you doing?" Qiu Jin'an looked at the grinning Lu Yang, utterly baffled. He couldn't understand a word the Immortal Fairy was saying—that single line was the only ancient language he knew.
Qiu Jin'an scrutinized Lu Yang. Who was this youth? His cultivation wasn't high, yet judging by where he stood, he was clearly the central figure, occupying the Sect Master's position.
Most importantly... was he a bit effeminate?
"Didn't you just say, 'O great immortal, please accept your servant's humblest tribute'? Is the tribute not this flying boat?" The Immortal Fairy was also somewhat bewildered. *Backing out now? Do you still want to be Vice Cult Master or not?*
This time, the Immortal Fairy spoke in the common tongue. Qiu Jin'an understood, his eye twitching furiously as he finally grasped what that phrase in ancient tongue actually meant.
To think he would encounter a cultivator fluent in the ancient language!
"Do you truly understand ancient civilization?" Qiu Jin'an eyed the Immortal Fairy suspiciously.
The Immortal Fairy gave it some thought and spoke the honest truth: "Better than you."
Qiu Jin'an scoffed, amused by the sheer audacity. "Young man, just because you've read a couple of books doesn't mean you understand ancient civilization. Let me test you!"
"Do you know of the ancient lore regarding the 'Heavenly Court'? The Heavenly Court divided immortals into several ranks. Do you know what those ranks are?"
Recently, while exploring a ruin, Qiu Jin'an had stumbled upon an ancient text written by an immortal's own hand. It recorded the magnificent ancient era in great detail, with special emphasis on the "Heavenly Court."
"Do you mean Human Immortal, Earth Immortal, Heavenly Immortal, Golden Immortal, Great Firmament Golden Immortal, and Primordial Immortal? Or Human Immortal, Earth Immortal, Immortal King, Immortal Venerable, and Immortal Emperor? The first set was made up by Immortal Ying Tian, and the second was concocted by Immortal Kirin."
"Back then, what I made up was Rank-One Immortal, Rank-Two Immortal, Rank-Three Immortal, Rank-Four Immortal, and Rank-Five Immortal."
The Immortal Fairy scratched her head. Back then, they had concocted quite a few cultivation tier systems; she wasn't sure which book Qiu Jin'an had found.
Qiu Jin'an flared up in fury. "Cease your nonsense! This was written by an immortal, so how could it possibly be made up?!"
The Immortal Fairy looked puzzled, but then realization dawned on her. "It's not like there's a rule saying immortals have to tell the truth, is there? Ah, I know! You must have read the set Immortal Ying Tian made up. His version was the most elaborate and particularly deceptive."
"Let me tell you, you can't believe a word Ying Tian says. It's all lies! Even before he became an immortal, he lied to me all the time, and I beat him like a misbehaving grandson."
Qiu Jin'an froze. He thought the Immortal Fairy was spouting utter gibberish, yet the ancient text truly did mention Immortal Ying Tian. "You've read that book?"
The Immortal Fairy nodded. "Of course. Aside from Immortal Ying Tian, doesn't that book also feature an Immortal Hawking?"
Lu Yang thought to himself, *Why does that name sound like someone suffering from hemiplegia? Is it just my imagination?*
"If you don't believe me, take out the book, and I'll show you how to tell truth from falsehood."
Half-believing, half-doubting, Qiu Jin'an produced the ancient book. Its title was grand and imposing: *Imprisoning Heaven*.
He pointed at the cover and said, "Look, it's written clearly: 'Authored by Immortal Ying Tian.' It was written by Immortal Ying Tian."
The Immortal Fairy shook her head. "Haven't you noticed the small blank space between the characters 'Tian' and 'Xian'?"
"What do you mean?"
"You read it wrong. Your reading is 'Immortal Ying Tian, Authored,' but the actual reading is 'Ying Tian, An Immortal's Work.' So this is a book written by a guy named Ying Tian, not Immortal Ying Tian."
Seeing Qiu Jin'an thoroughly deflated, the Grand Elder and the others secretly chuckled.
"Hahahaha! Jin'an, I told you long ago not to go showing off with your meager level of knowledge." While the Grand Elder and the others laughed more subtly, Shangguan Yu, standing behind Qiu Jin'an, laughed heartily, paying no heed to Qiu Jin'an's dark expression.
Shangguan Yu spoke to the Dao Seeking Sect members in an apologetic tone, "Pardon him, everyone. You all know what Jin'an is like—thick-skinned and refusing to admit when he's wrong to his dying breath. He didn't understand the original meaning of that ancient phrase, which led to a misunderstanding. Truly sorry, truly sorry."
"Please accept these gifts."
Disciples of the Five Elements Sect carried down magical treasures, ores, pills, cultivation techniques, and the like from the ship one after another. Every single item was valuable enough to serve as a headline lot or grand finale at an auction, worth an immense fortune.
The most precious among them was undoubtedly the Five Elements ore, a specialty of the Five Elements Sect. Five Elements ore was divided into five types corresponding to metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, distinguishable by color alone. Each represented the pinnacle of its respective element and was a dream material for master craftsmen.
The moment the Fifth Elder, Zhou Xin, laid eyes on the Five Elements ore, his eyes gleamed green like a wolf spotting prey in the dead of night.
Whenever the Five Great Immortal Sects paid visits to one another, they would bring gifts.
For example, the Moon Laurel Immortal Palace often brought moon laurel branches, lunar essence, and similar treasures as gifts.
The Hanging Temple presented Buddhist scriptures and consecrated Buddhist treasures.
The Prison Suppressing Sect offered tamed demons, ghosts, and fiends.
The Dao Seeking Sect was rather unique—or perhaps more accurately, capricious—especially back when Daoist Buyu was still around.
For instance, they once gifted a top-tier body tempering art to the Moon Laurel Immortal Palace. Upon mastery, the practitioner developed bones of steel and tendons of iron, their skin as rigid as molten cast iron, unyielding even to pinching, capable of plowing through everything in their path. It had infuriated the ladies of the Moon Laurel Immortal Palace so much they nearly resorted to violence on the spot.
What kind of self-respecting female cultivator would want to look like that?!
In another instance, they gifted a long-lost Silent Chan cultivation method to the Hanging Temple, with Daoist Buyu claiming he had personally cultivated it to extraordinary effect.
The abbot had merely given a dry chuckle at the time, thinking to himself, *If a scoundrel like you could master it, would you still be called 'Buyu'?*
Daoist Buyu repeatedly insisted it was authentic, so the Hanging Temple abbot, half-believing and half-doubting, tried cultivating it once.
Afterward, he discovered that whenever he opened his mouth to speak, a stench of garlic poured out, to the point that everyone around him begged him to shut up.
Daoist Buyu's explanation was: "Isn't the point of Silent Chan having other people tell you to shut your mouth?"
The abbot had been so enraged that he manifested as the Immovable Wisdom King on the spot to suppress that scoundrel Buyu.
Chapter 162