If Lu Yang hadn't been entirely certain whether the "river water" mentioned by Alchemist Qing He was the water of the Child-and-Mother River when he first saw the pill recipe, the words spoken by the Immortal Fairy in his spiritual space soon cemented that belief.
"Huh? Qing He? That little girl was this fairy's most devout believer! Everything she did suited my tastes so well."
...
"River water?"
"I once read in an ancient text that in ancient times, there was a river whose water could impregnate any woman who drank from it."
"There was actually a river so miraculous?" The Seventh Elder was astonished. He had never heard of such a river before.
Lu Yang thought to himself, *That's nothing. Seventh Elder, have you ever seen a river that can produce twin sisters?*
Under the Immortal Fairy's guidance, Lu Yang's breadth of knowledge had already surpassed that of Body Integration stage cultivators.
The Seventh Elder wasn't surprised that Lu Yang knew ancient secrets; this had already become apparent when Lu Yang received the Five Elements Sect as Acting Sect Master. Considering Lu Yang was Yun Zhi's youngest junior brother, it was easily explained that he would know ancient secrets.
"Where did this river water come from? Could it be a natural spring nurtured by heaven and earth?"
Lu Yang hesitated for a moment. The water of the Child-and-Mother River had been refined by the Immortal Fairy, but her existence could not be revealed to outsiders.
"Just say Immortal Ying Tian refined it! He already stole credit for this fairy's cookbook anyway; taking credit for one more Child-and-Mother River won't hurt!" The Immortal Fairy waved her hand, appearing remarkably generous.
Lu Yang respected the Immortal Fairy's wishes and said to the Seventh Elder, "It was water refined by Immortal Ying Tian in ancient times."
"I see. An immortal's work is extraordinary indeed; refining river water that defies all common sense is only natural for such a being."
The Seventh Elder readily accepted Lu Yang's explanation.
"By the way, what brings you here?"
Lu Yang pulled out the Heaven Herding Grass and recounted what had happened. "That is the whole story. Eldest Senior Sister told me to hand this grass over to you to deal with."
The Seventh Elder's eyes lit up. "A spirit herb that has developed sentience! How truly rare! Most sentient spirit herbs never commit evil deeds, making it improper to refine them into pills. At long last, one has fallen into my hands!"
This was the first time the Seventh Elder was permitted to refine a sentient herb into pills, and he was overjoyed. "A sentient Heaven Herding Grass is of immeasurable value! Tell me, what do you want? Whatever it is, I will grant it!"
Lu Yang waved his hands repeatedly. "No need, no need. The Heaven Herding Grass has harmed countless people. Having it dealt with is enough."
Seeing that Lu Yang wanted nothing, the Seventh Elder made the decision on his behalf. "How could that be right? Tell you what: I will refine pills for you three times, free of charge."
Across the entire cultivation world, one would be hard-pressed to find more than a handful of people whose alchemy surpassed his. Commissioning him to refine pills even once was enough to drain the fortunes of a Void Refining stage cultivator.
Leaving Pill Cauldron Peak, Lu Yang was on his way back to Tianmen Peak when a dozen or so people approached from the opposite direction. Their eyes lit up the moment they saw him.
"Greetings, Senior Brother Lu!" Their synchronized shout gave Lu Yang quite a start.
Lu Yang noticed that among these dozen-odd disciples were both young men and women of similar age to himself.
"You are... Junior Brother Wei Nanfei, Junior Sister Jin Qinqin?" Lu Yang recognized them as disciples who had joined the Dao Seeking Sect in the same intake as him.
Junior Brother Wei Nanfei had been poisoned by his stepmother during his childhood, fortunately saved by Senior Brother Dai Bufan, who happened to pass by and lent a helping hand.
Junior Sister Jin Qinqin had once eaten a fruit in a valley—an Azure Wood Immortal Fruit, which allowed the spiritual breath in her body to flow endlessly and circulate on its own.
He had not seen them before, presumably because they had not yet established their foundations, and only recently succeeded in Foundation Establishment, thereby being permitted to move about.
Lu Yang swept them with his divine sense and saw that it was indeed so—all dozen or so junior brothers and sisters had achieved Foundation Establishment.
Reaching Foundation Establishment at this age would make one a genius in the outside world, worthy of being groomed by the master of a first-rank sect as the next sect master.
Lu Yang and his four peers were exceptional cases. In Eldest Senior Sister's words, the talent of the five of them was proof of the coming Golden Age; never before had the Dao Seeking Sect accepted five disciples with peerless talent in a single intake.
The junior brothers and sisters all looked at Lu Yang with adoring eyes.
*Is this the legendary Senior Brother Lu Yang?*
They had only just reached Foundation Establishment, while Senior Brother Lu Yang had already formed his Golden Core—a whole major realm ahead.
They had heard that Senior Brother Lu Yang had even served as Acting Sect Master, a first even in the Dao Seeking Sect, where geniuses abounded.
They had heard from senior brothers who attended the exchange with the Five Elements Sect that Senior Brother Lu Yang was proficient in Five Elements spells, could use Samadhi True Fire, Shrinking the Earth, and the Water Avoidance Art, could create avatars, and was unparalleled in swordsmanship among his peers!
Mastering even one of those was difficult enough, let alone mastering them all.
A true role model!
They resolved in their hearts that they must learn from Senior Brother Lu Yang and catch up to his footsteps as soon as possible!
Lu Yang offered a few words of encouragement to his junior brothers and sisters before saying, "Eldest Senior Sister has matters to discuss with me, so I must take my leave first."
"Goodbye, Senior Brother Lu Yang!" The junior brothers and sisters warmly saw him off, reluctant to part.
All the way back, a smile tugged at the corners of Lu Yang's mouth. Having junior brothers and sisters really was quite nice.
"Eldest Senior Sister, I'm back."
Eldest Senior Sister was busy handling official sect affairs, resolving complaints against the Dao Seeking Sect from various parties. For instance, the Sect Master of the Five Elements Sect strongly condemned the Second Elder's behavior of harassing his mother.
And for another instance, the mother of the Five Elements Sect's sect master hoped that the Second Elder could send gifts with a bit more novelty next time.
And another: Daoist Buyu had stumbled his way into prison and hoped Yun Zhi would act as a guarantor to bail him out.
And yet another: some people wanted to hear the continuation of *Legend of the Dao Seeking Sect* from Daoist Buyu and had applied to be locked in the cell next to his; the Great Xia Dynasty hoped Yun Zhi would hurry and fish Daoist Buyu out, as the prison was currently packed with convicts who had come just to listen to Daoist Buyu's pingshu storytelling.
She gently rubbed the space between her eyebrows, unable to understand why, despite the flourishing prosperity of the Dao Seeking Sect, there were so many troublesome matters to deal with.
Why did she remember that when Master was Sect Master, there didn't seem to be this much trouble?
Eldest Senior Sister stood up and gestured for Lu Yang to come over. "Now that you are back, come with me."
"Where are we going?" Lu Yang asked curiously.
"After the Immortal Cult was destroyed, the Cult Master confessed the location of the sect's birthplace—the very place where the founding cult master discovered the ruins of the Immortal Celestial.
"The Great Xia Dynasty once sent people to investigate. The report stated that there are many items suspected to date back to ancient times. Because the ancient era is so distant, our understanding of its script, heritage, and ancient language is merely the tip of the iceberg. Faced with those ancient relics, Great Xia dared not make any reckless moves, fearing that hasty actions might damage them.
"Regarding ancient times, I do not know as much as Senior Immortal does. Furthermore, this matter is closely tied to Senior, so Senior ought to go.
"After the Great Xia Dynasty informed me of this, I originally intended to take you and Senior to explore the ruins together. At that time, however, you were undergoing trials in the dense forest at a critical juncture of determining what kind of Golden Core you would form, so I did not disturb you.
"Now that you have successfully formed your Golden Core, I can comfortably bring you to the ruins."
As Eldest Senior Sister spoke, she walked out of the cave abode and waved toward the sky. An opening parted across the heavens, and a white cloud descended, coming to rest before her.
"Let us go."
Chapter 277