"Eldest Senior Sister, you're back?"
Hearing Eldest Senior Sister summon him, Lu Yang trotted eagerly back to Tianmen Peak.
Eldest Senior Sister still wore her usual cool, aloof expression. "Yes. I went to the Imperial Palace to discuss some matters and just returned. I hear you have reached late Foundation Establishment."
Lu Yang thought to himself that the puppet must have told Eldest Senior Sister.
Eldest Senior Sister glanced at Lu Yang as if seeing straight through him. "Having reached late Foundation Establishment, your next step is to plan how to form your core.
"The step of Core Formation is of vital importance to a cultivator. In the most ancient times, when flying boats and such items did not yet exist, some viewed the Golden Core stage as the watershed between immortal and mortal due to its trait of allowing cultivators to fly freely in the sky. Others referred to the Golden Core as the 'Grand Dao of the Golden Core,' which sufficiently demonstrates the status of this realm.
"If you form a superior-grade core, shattering the core to form the nascent soul will come naturally and effortlessly.
"Of course, with your Sword Spiritual Root and extraordinary innate talent, forming a first-grade Golden Core will not be difficult for you. What you must consider is what kind of first-grade Golden Core to form.
"The varieties of cores formed by disciples of our sect are beyond count, and all are recorded in the Scripture Pavilion. You may browse through the Scripture Pavilion to seek inspiration."
"Yes."
"Also, take this. Keep it well; it will be of help to you." Just as he was about to leave, Eldest Senior Sister produced a small medicine vial.
"What is this?" Lu Yang wondered if it was an elixir that would prevent harm to his foundation should Core Formation fail, or an immortal pill that guaranteed a first-grade core.
As expected of Eldest Senior Sister, being able to get her hands on such good stuff.
"Eye drops. Put in two drops if you read too many books."
"..."
"Thank you for your concern, Eldest Senior Sister."
"Senior, would you please step out for a moment?" Eldest Senior Sister called out the Immortal Fairy.
"What's wrong?" The Immortal Fairy felt a bit nervous and began hastily pondering whether she had done something wrong.
She had been quite well-behaved lately; she hadn't caused trouble for Lu Yang, right? At most, she had just been sleeping while he cultivated.
Eldest Senior Sister produced a large pile of immortal treasures. Varied in shape and radiating an immortal halo, one look was enough to tell they were no ordinary objects.
"These are immortal treasures seized from the Immortal Cult. Is there anything here that Senior would like?" Eldest Senior Sister wished to return them to their original owner.
The Immortal Fairy glanced over them and curled her lip. "Nothing I want."
"Senior, what is this?" Eldest Senior Sister picked up a bamboo needle. Among the immortal treasures were many items whose original purposes even Eldest Senior Sister did not know. She and the Great Xia Dynasty had studied them for a long time without figuring them out, so now was the perfect opportunity to ask the original owner.
This bamboo needle could easily be driven by thought, flew extraordinarily fast, and could pierce defenses. It was king among concealed weapons.
"A toothpick."
"What about this?" Eldest Senior Sister picked up an iron rod. Testing had shown that the iron rod was quenched with deadly poisons, including ancient poisons long lost and recorded only in ancient texts, as well as poisons whose pharmacological structures were entirely incomprehensible.
Scholars of the Great Xia Dynasty had deduced that this must have been a stirring rod used by ancient immortals when concocting poisons, having formed its current state after prolonged contact with diverse toxins.
"A chopstick."
"And this?" Eldest Senior Sister lifted the lid of a water vat. A pungent stench rushed out at them. The vat was brimming with black liquid, inside of which seemed to churn countless wronged spirits.
"Oh, oh, oh! That's vinegar I brewed! To think the Immortal Cult still kept such good stuff. Can you give it back to me?"
Eldest Senior Sister pondered for a moment and, out of concern for safety, rejected the Immortal Fairy's request.
"You don't keep your word!" Hands on her hips, the Immortal Fairy berated Eldest Senior Sister.
Eldest Senior Sister turned a deaf ear.
"What is this used for?" Eldest Senior Sister pointed at a cloth nine zhang long and nine zhang wide.
According to confessions from high-ranking Immortal Cult members, this cloth contained spatial energy capable of enveloping all things—it could even pack living people inside. If anyone stood on the cloth, what was clearly only a few steps across would become impossible to leave, even if one exhausted all their magical power moving.
"A bedsheet. After I refined it, it replaced a mattress. That way, no matter how much I roll around in bed when sleeping, I never fall off.
"Now that I don't have a physical body, having this is useless. You guys keep it."
"What about this?" Eldest Senior Sister took out a round disc.
The disc was extremely hard and indestructible. Some scholars theorized it was an ancient shield, albeit rather small; other scholars theorized that if activated with the proper method, it could appear above an enemy's head and immobilize them.
"My custom dinner plate," the Immortal Fairy complained. "Dinner plates in our era weren't very good quality and leaked easily. I specially refined a set myself."
After asking about everything, Lu Yang discovered that the Immortal Cult's so-called immortal treasures were all the Immortal Fairy's daily household items.
One could only say that, as expected of items belonging to an immortal, each possessed extraordinary marvels. For instance, the wooden tub capable of holding ten thousand li of rivers was her swimming pool, and the Yellow Millet Pillow was still enshrined as a treasure by the Grand Elder even now.
...
"Skewers! Freshly grilled skewers, tender and succulent!"
"Exclusive recipe, guaranteed addictive!"
"Eat one skewer and you'll want two; eat two and you'll want ten—"
In the Dao Seeking Sect's commercial district, loud hawking echoed down the streets. The aroma of barbecue lingered in the air, enticing many people to come and taste it.
Night had just fallen, and disciples of the Dao Seeking Sect, having bustled about all day, loved nothing more than relaxing here, shopping, and exchanging cultivation insights.
Just as the hawkers claimed, the skewers from the "One More Skewer" barbecue stall were truly unique. Many disciples who came to eat on the first evening would want to come again the next.
Some suspected that the barbecue stall was laced with addictive poison, but after verification by Pill Cauldron Peak's Seventh Elder, it was confirmed that the food was simply delicious, not poisoned.
Three hooded figures in black robes stood blankly before the barbecue stall, lost in a daze. The bustling prosperity before their eyes felt completely out of reach, and the throngs of passing customers blurred.
One of the black-robed figures lowered his hood. Looking at the lively barbecue shop, he let out an emotional sigh:
"Little Liu, Little Gao... You're still alive?"
Hearing the familiar voice, Master Liu and Master Gao froze, wondering if they were hallucinating.
They looked up and saw the speaker, their faces filled with disbelief.
"Cult Master?!"
"Me too." The second black-robed figure pushed back his hood. It was Vice Cult Master Jin.
At this moment, the top leadership of the Immortal Cult—one Cult Master and three Vice Cult Masters—were gathered together here.
All of them were once legendary figures who commanded the absolute might of one of the Four Great Demonic Cults. Yet now, they could only reunite at a barbecue stall.
The Cult Master never believed that the fall of the Immortal Cult was the fault of the two Vice Cult Masters, Liu and Gao. The one who had truly brought wolves into the fold was himself; he couldn't blame anyone else.
"Take a seat first. We'll close up once we finish these few orders."
A long line still stretched before the stall. Master Liu and Master Gao told the people behind not to line up anymore; they would close after five more orders.
The Cult Master noticed that the busboy wiping tables and clearing skewers was an elder of the cult. He shook his head gently, an indescribable feeling welling in his heart.
Master Liu and Master Gao finished selling the last order, announced that business was closed for the night, pulled the door shut, and sat down to catch up with the Cult Master.
"How did you end up here?"
Only a tiny fraction of people knew about the destruction of the Immortal Cult. Master Liu and Master Gao were just ordinary barbecue stall owners here and had no idea about the outside world.
"It's a long story..." The Cult Master sighed deeply, his tone laden with helplessness.
He recounted in detail how Lu Yang and his companions had infiltrated the Immortal Cult headquarters and how the Immortal Cult had subsequently been surrounded by the Great Xia Dynasty.
The news of the Immortal Cult's destruction was exceedingly heavy. The group sat in silence for a while. Then Master Liu accepted the reality of the cult's demise and quickly rallied his spirits.
"Fortunately, you're here! Right now, various factions are carving up the inside of the Dao Seeking Sect—it's the perfect opportunity to flex our muscles! We were just worrying about being shorthanded, and here you come!" Master Liu looked at the Cult Master and Vice Cult Master Jin with burning eyes.
The Cult Master's eyes lit up.
Chapter 208