Bring Out the Best Disciple of Your Dao Seeking Sect!

"Your Dao Seeking Sect has gone too far!" Qiu Jin'an roared, flipping the table in fury. The dishes crashed upside down onto the ground, hissing and sizzling as they corroded the floorboards, making the onlookers' eyelids twitch. To the outside world, he had always maintained the image of an elegant, refined gentleman who could laugh and chat seamlessly with mortals and cultivators alike, bridging any gap. In fact, he genuinely was such a person. Yet Qiu Jin'an felt the Dao Seeking Sect was his natural nemesis, capable of provoking his temper with effortless ease. In a sense, the Dao Seeking Sect had accorded Qiu Jin'an extraordinarily high treatment, enough to rival that of the Four Ancient Celestials. After all, only the Four Ancient Celestials had ever been qualified to experience Huang Doudou's culinary skills. In his spiritual space, Lu Yang's scalp went numb at the sight. *There really was a good reason the Four Ancient Celestials refused to eat your food!* When the Immortal Fairy was cooking, she had blocked Lu Yang's view on the pretext that "this is an ancient secret, and you're not allowed to steal my techniques." Back then, Lu Yang had possessed an ominous premonition. Seeing the outcome now, it had indeed come true. And these were merely two dishes. The Immortal Fairy had prepared a full eight courses; Lu Yang didn't even dare imagine what monstrous abominations were yet to appear. And that wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was that everything the Immortal Fairy did was done using his face. To outsiders, it looked as though he had done all of this himself! The day before yesterday and yesterday, she had exploited the authority of the Acting Sect Master to recklessly challenge across cultivation realms, drawing a wave of hatred. Now, here came another fresh wave. *What sin did I commit in a past life to have recited the Immortal Fairy's true name and revived her?* Lu Yang now felt the karma of resurrecting an immortal was as heavy as a mountain—he was on the verge of collapsing under its weight. *The mastermind behind the scenes refused to resurrect the Immortal Fairy personally, and there was certainly a good reason for it!* Seeing Qiu Jin'an fly into a rage, the Grand Elder and the others secretly breathed a sigh of relief and exchanged voice transmissions. "Fortunately, our Dao Seeking Sect observes proper etiquette and let the Five Elements Sect eat first. Otherwise, we would be the unlucky ones." "Little Lu is quite considerate. He holds no personal grudge against the Five Elements Sect, but upon hearing they have friction with us, he immediately sprang into action to teach Qiu Jin'an a lesson. What a good boy!" Over on the Five Elements Sect's side, disciples were also marveling, "In the past, when I heard about observing etiquette, I scoffed and thought it was outdated nonsense. Now I see the ancients had a point—elders really should eat first." "Only after the elders finish eating and prove it's not poisonous do we get to eat. Truly the wisdom of the ancients!" "The Sect Master risked his life to test the poison. We should learn from this spirit of self-sacrifice." "I heard the Sect Master say long ago that the Dao Seeking Sect's pills and poisons are peerless. Today I've truly broadened my horizons." "Others slip poison into their food; they cook food out of poison." While Qiu Jin'an had been occupied with eating, Second Elder took the opportunity to show concern for Shangguan Yu: "Fairy Yu, it has been so long, and you are as beautiful as ever." Shangguan Yu looked calmly at Second Elder. "Little Ba, there's no possibility between us, nor are we suited for each other. Give up." Second Elder grew anxious. "Is there something wrong with me? I can change!" Shangguan Yu shook her head without saying anything more, merely shifting her seat a little further away from Second Elder. "We have all long mastered fasting, so there is no need to eat this meal. It's all superfluous red tape anyway. Why not go straight to a contest between our disciples!" Qiu Jin'an abandoned all pretenses, laying bare the purpose of his visit. Grand Elder said, "It should indeed be so. We planned to divide the competition into four tiers: the Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Soul Formation stages." Qiu Jin'an sneered inwardly. *The Dao Seeking Sect really did plan to divide the matches by realm to keep Yun Zhi from taking the stage.* He waved a hand dismissively and declared, "I have only one condition: bring out the best disciple of your Dao Seeking Sect to face our best disciple. A single battle to decide the victor! How about it?" Grand Elder hesitated, fearful of re-enacting that classic scene where Yun Zhi brutally slaughtered the Five Elements Sect. "That's hardly appropriate. Everything has already been arranged. If you were to suffer a humiliating defeat, it wouldn't look good for you." *Don't actually provoke Qiu Jin'an into a stroke or something—at the very least, nothing can happen to him at the Dao Seeking Sect.* Seeing Grand Elder's hesitation, Qiu Jin'an felt even more certain of his deduction. "Face? Cultivators speak with their strength! A loss is a loss, a win is a win. Who cares about face?!" Qiu Jin'an gestured for his eldest disciple behind him to step forward. "This is my eldest disciple, Lin Shaoyou, and the finest disciple of my Five Elements Sect. He possesses a wood-attribute single spiritual root and early Body Integration cultivation. Ordinary wood single spiritual root cultivators are suited for healing and mending wounds, ill-fitted for battle, but he is different!" "Shaoyou has carried our Five Elements Sect's philosophy of elemental mutual generation and overcoming to the absolute pinnacle. He can turn wood into fire, fire into earth, and earth into metal, mastering spells of both fire and metal attributes—Liuding Divine Fire and the Mad Demon Golden Body. He has even elevated these two elemental spells into taboo techniques of immense destructive power!" "Shaoyou combines the enduring, boundless qi of a wood spiritual root with mastery over extreme offensive arts. His combat prowess far exceeds the early Body Integration stage. Just a few days ago, he defeated a Supreme Elder of a first-grade sect who possessed late Body Integration cultivation!" Lin Shaoyou was dressed like a scholarly man of letters, well-steeped in knowledge. He wore a relaxed smile and carried an elegant aura, giving off an impression of effortless composure. And he was indeed entitled to such composure. Among his peers, he could scarcely find any rival; his gaze was already set upon the previous generation, or even the generation before that. "Is my opponent Dai Bufan or Ji Hongwen?" In his view, among the Dao Seeking Sect's generation of his peers, only those two were qualified to stand as his opponents. Last time, he had crossed paths with Yun Zhi and was defeated before he could bring many of his techniques to bear. This time, he was determined to unleash every single one of them and win back glory for his master! "It is me." A calm tone tinged with cold indifference rang out, sending a shiver down the spine. Yun Zhi, who had remained silent the entire time, stepped forward. Sect Master Qiu and his eldest disciple felt their hearts nearly stop beating. Qiu Jin'an forced a sneer. "Don't try to scare me! I made inquiries long ago. Yun Zhi is the Acting Sect Master and cannot participate. Your best disciple is either Dai Bufan or Ji Hongwen!" Yun Zhi produced an official document with black ink on white paper stating that Lu Yang would serve as Acting Sect Master for three days. Pointing at Lu Yang, she said, "He is the current Acting Sect Master. As for me, I am currently an ordinary disciple of the Dao Seeking Sect." The Immortal Fairy was still hopping with excitement. "That's right, that's right! I'm the Acting Sect Master right now!" "What kind of joke is this? How could someone in the Foundation Establishment stage serve as Acting Sect Master?!" Qiu Jin'an fumed. Grand Elder shook his head. "You are mistaken. Sect Master Lu here is a genius among geniuses. Though only at the Foundation Establishment stage, he can leap across realms in battle, having vanquished opponents in the Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Soul Formation stages!" At these words, every gaze from the Five Elements Sect snapped onto the Immortal Fairy. A Foundation Establishment cultivator defeating a Soul Formation cultivator? Even with the aid of external artifacts, that was utter fantasy, an impossible feat—even myths wouldn't dare spin such a tale! Yet while the Dao Seeking Sect had a terrible reputation, they never lied, especially about matters like this. Qiu Jin'an's expression grew solemn; he had never imagined the Dao Seeking Sect had produced such a terrifying monster of a genius. Compared to Lu Yang, any genius in history would pale in comparison! *The Dao Seeking Sect truly is formidable. They anticipated this move of mine long ago and made preparations in advance, clearing the way for Yun Zhi to fight.* Qiu Jin'an found himself in an awkward bind. He had already boasted so proudly; if they backed out now, wouldn't they lose tremendous face? Just as Qiu Jin'an was caught in this dilemma, Lin Shaoyou took a step forward, touching Qiu Jin'an deeply. *Truly worthy of being my eldest disciple, daring to step forward at such a moment and face the pressure of Yun Zhi directly.* Lin Shaoyou took a deep breath, steadying his breathing and composure. Looking straight at Yun Zhi, he declared in ringing tones: "In that case, I quit being a disciple of the Five Elements Sect!"