The Yellow Millet Pillow

"The grass on my dad's grave is taller than me!" "You're not that short," Shangguan Yu muttered. Once Old Ba learned Shangguan Yu's identity, his eyes lit up. He clapped Qiu Jin'an on the shoulder. "From now on, you can just call me Old Ba." "Get lost!" Qiu Jin'an brushed Old Ba's hand away. The Dao Seeking Sect was truly no place to linger; he had vented practically a lifetime's worth of temper here. "Xiao Qiu, I think the Dao Seeking Sect is quite fun. It's rare for us to visit, so why don't we stay a few more days?" Shangguan Yu suggested. Qiu Jin'an took Shangguan Yu by the arm and boarded the flying boat, departing without looking back. Shangguan Yu chattered incessantly, "I taught you ever since you were little: don't lose your temper when things happen, stay calm in your work, and be steady in your conduct. Just look at you—how old are you now? You're already a sect master, yet you still throw tantrums all the time. This isn't good..." With a dark face, Qiu Jin'an offered no response. Shangguan Yu wiped away a tear. "The child is all grown up; he doesn't listen anymore." Qiu Jin'an replied helplessly, "Mom, could you please stop acting like a little child?" "What's wrong with being like a child? Your dad loved me just like this." "I..." Qiu Jin'an was struck speechless, having no idea what his father had seen in his mother back then. Aboard the flying boat, Qiu Jin'an assigned a task: "For this visit to the Dao Seeking Sect, everyone must write a two-thousand-word reflection essay! It must include personal takeaways, self-reflection, and future plans. Submit it to me tomorrow!" Instantly, a chorus of groans erupted. ... In front of the Dao Seeking Sect's mountain gate, Old Ba waved goodbye to the flying boat, looking dispirited. "Do you think I have a chance with Shangguan Yu?" The Grand Elder sized Old Ba up and down with utter scorn. "You're not even as handsome as me, and you have the cheek to pursue her?" The Third Elder spoke with earnest gravity, "Second Brother, I won't stop you if you want to bump yourself up a generation, but I'm afraid Master won't agree. Master is suppressing Prison Peak right now—he probably wouldn't mind having one more in there." Carrying on their time-honored tradition of kicking a brother while he was down, the elders all urged Old Ba not to do anything foolish. "Get lost, all of you!" Old Ba snapped in irritation. What kind of martial brothers were they? They couldn't say a single nice thing. "Come on, let's go see the Immortal Cult higher-ups we caught," the Grand Elder said. That was the pressing matter at hand. Out on Martial Arts Square, disciples of the Dao Seeking Sect had surrounded the captured Immortal Cult leaders, pointing and gesturing as though admiring rare beasts. Not all the Immortal Cult members who had infiltrated the Dao Seeking Sect were rounded up this time; two Branch Masters and the Cult Founder remained at large, disguised as Dao Seeking Sect disciples. Lu Yang held the Yellow Millet Pillow, turning it this way and that with great curiosity. This was the first time he had ever seen an immortal treasure. The Yellow Millet Pillow was a pillow-shaped porcelain headrest of a celadon green, painted with a blooming green lotus in colorful glaze. "So this is the immortal treasure Little Lu mentioned—the Yellow Millet Pillow?" The Grand Elder and the others walked over, equally intrigued by the immortal treasure. "Here, let me study it." The Grand Elder took the Yellow Millet Pillow. Dreams were his specialty, so he was exceedingly interested in treasures capable of forcing people into slumber. The Grand Elder attempted to channel a thread of spiritual energy to activate the treasure, yet his energy sank like a pebble into the sea; the Yellow Millet Pillow didn't react in the slightest. "Interesting." The Grand Elder grew all the more curious about how to activate it. Yun Zhi had intended to tell the Grand Elder how to use it. She parted her lips, but seeing how high his spirits were, she ultimately kept quiet. Better to let the Grand Elder figure it out himself. The Grand Elder tried every method he could think of, yet failed to activate the Yellow Millet Pillow, leaving him somewhat vexed. "How on earth do you use this thing?" Seeing this, Vice Cult Master Gao, now a prisoner, burst into laughter. "Foolish! This is a divine object of our cult. How could mere mortals like you be worthy of wielding it?" While the Grand Elder studied it, Vice Cult Master Gao mocked him, and the five captured Immortal Cult leaders chimed in with sneering chuckles from time to time. Unable to endure it any longer, the Grand Elder seized the porcelain pillow and slammed it squarely against Vice Cult Master Gao's head. Vice Cult Master Gao peacefully fell asleep. "So this is how the immortal treasure is used," the Grand Elder murmured thoughtfully, finally understanding how to use the Yellow Millet Pillow. Yun Zhi could hold back no longer and reminded him, "Grand Elder, weave threads of spiritual energy on the back of the pillow to form the same green lotus as the front, and you will be able to activate it." "I see." The Grand Elder wove threads of spiritual energy to form the matching green lotus on the back of the pillow, then slammed it squarely against the head of another Immortal Cult leader. That person peacefully fell asleep. "Works pretty well." The Grand Elder handed the pillow back to Lu Yang. Lu Yang tried following Eldest Senior Sister's instructions, but there was no reaction whatsoever. The Immortal Fairy scoffed, "With just your Foundation Establishment stage cultivation, you think you can activate my treasure?" Lu Yang had no choice but to hand the pillow over to Eldest Senior Sister for her to handle. Yun Zhi formed a hand seal with one hand. An imprint sank slowly into the Yellow Millet Pillow. Once the imprint vanished, she handed the porcelain pillow to the Grand Elder. "Grand Elder, you are our sect's foremost expert in dream realms; this item will be put to its greatest use in your hands. I have placed an imprint upon it, so even if an outsider steals it, I can retrieve it." Both surprised and overjoyed, the Grand Elder solemnly thanked Yun Zhi. This was an exceedingly precious immortal treasure, and holding it would elevate his combat strength to an entirely new level. He was already a paramount powerhouse among the Body Integration stage; with this immortal treasure in hand, he would be virtually invincible within the Body Integration realm. If Daoist Buyu were careless, even he might fall victim to his tricks! Yun Zhi also passed along a passage of ancient words for the Grand Elder to memorize, saying that chanting them while using the Yellow Millet Pillow would enhance its power. Curious, the Grand Elder asked Yun Zhi if she knew the meaning of these ancient words. With a strange look on her face, Yun Zhi told him that it was best he didn't know their meaning. "By the way, why is your pillow called the Yellow Millet Pillow?" Lu Yang asked the Immortal Fairy. "Is it because you were cooking millet porridge, lay down on the pillow to sleep, lived through an entire lifetime in your dream, and woke up to find the porridge still wasn't cooked yet?" Lu Yang recalled a certain legend. The Immortal Fairy nodded. "Pretty close to your guess." "Back when the pillow was freshly forged, I invited Immortal Ying Tian and the others over for a meal, with millet porridge as the staple. My mind was elsewhere at the time, so the porridge boiled too long. Giant bubbles welled up, and it was about to spill over the pot. "Right then, I remembered something Immortal Jiuchong said—that when conducting experiments, if a liquid boils, tossing in a few broken porcelain shards will stop it from boiling over. "I didn't have any porcelain shards on hand, only a porcelain pillow. So I threw the pillow into the millet porridge. When I fished it back out, it was covered in millet porridge, and thus it was named the Yellow Millet Pillow." Lu Yang: "..." Did that have anything at all to do with what he had guessed?! "So after you threw it in, did it still boil over?" Lu Yang inquired about how it ended. "Nope, didn't boil over." Just as Lu Yang was about to say the method actually worked, he heard the Immortal Fairy continue: "I threw it with too much force and smashed a hole right through the pot." The Immortal Fairy wore a lingering look of dread. "Luckily, Immortal Ying Tian and the rest stood me up. Otherwise, having no staple food for dinner would've been utterly humiliating." The rumors said immortals possessed the ability to seek fortune and avoid calamity. The rumors were truly spot on.