Tao Yaoye was also quite helpless. She spread her hands and said, "There was no other way. When I was constructing the illusion realm, I discovered a major problem: faces fabricated entirely out of thin air give people an uncanny sense of unreality.
"Later, Master told me this is a common issue when creating illusion realms. Whether you make a face up out of nowhere or piece together traits from several familiar people into one, it ends up looking completely fake.
"So I had no choice but to use the likeness of someone I know. I ran through options in my head, and consulted Master, the Second Elder, and the Eighth Elder. In the end, we all agreed the Sect Master's image was the most suitable.
"Senior Brother, you know the Sect Master well, so watching him as the protagonist ruins your immersion. But people outside won't feel that way—they don't know who the Sect Master is."
Lu Yang: "..."
All right, fair point.
The Fifth Elder remarked in a leisurely tone, "Putting Ninth Brother's face aside, the plot is actually quite entertaining."
Previously, the Fifth Elder had never thought about it like this, but after experiencing this illusion realm, he suddenly realized: posing as a low-level cultivator only to dramatically unveil your true cultivation at a critical moment felt surprisingly thrilling.
The Fifth Elder saw clearly what kind of business opportunity Tao Yaoye's invention held. It held absolute appeal for mortals and low-level cultivators, and even for mid-to-high-level cultivators, the allure was still very strong.
Moreover, rolling out this illusion realm would be simple, and it could be mass-produced.
Setting up the illusion realm wasn't difficult to execute. Tao Yaoye had hammered out a framework in less than half a month. If outsiders caught wind of it, pirated copies would inevitably crop up.
The only difficult part of this illusion realm was who thought of it first.
They had to apply for a patent as quickly as possible.
"The formation and talismans form a set. Have you named it yet?"
"Not yet. Senior Brother, could you help give it a name?" Tao Yaoye turned to Lu Yang for help. Senior Brother Lu had an active mind and always possessed unique insights.
"Me?" Lu Yang had just been watching the spectacle. How had the ball landed in his court?
"Let me think. An illusion is unreal. Though one is immersed in it while watching and wishes to take the protagonist's place, and feels a lingering melancholy when it ends, in the end, it's just a reflection in water, evanescent like a dream, nonexistent in reality... Why not call it 'Dream Bubble'?"
"Dream Bubble?" Tao Yaoye's eyes lit up. She silently repeated the words a few times, and the more she recited it, the better she felt the name sounded.
"Great, let's call it Dream Bubble!"
"'Dream Bubble'—a fine name." The Fifth Elder nodded. He had always felt assured by Lu Yang's naming talent.
After all, his title of "Heavenly King of Many Treasures" had been coined by Lu Yang.
"Martial Niece Tao, do you have any more talismans? I need to take some back with me to see how to file the patent."
"Yes, yes!" Tao Yaoye hadn't expected the Fifth Elder to agree so readily. She handed all the remaining talismans over to him, then rolled up the formation scroll and handed it over as well.
After stowing away the talismans and formation scroll, the Fifth Elder recalled something else. A meaningful smile surfaced on his face. "Filing for a patent isn't difficult, but Martial Niece Tao, have you considered who the patent belongs to?"
"Who the patent belongs to?"
Seeing the Fifth Elder smile, Tao Yaoye finally remembered: she had only contributed the idea. Turning the illusion into talismans and streamlining the formation had been done by the Second Elder and Eighth Elder.
Strictly speaking, the Second Elder and Eighth Elder owned part of the patent too.
How much of a share would they take? Or would they buy out the full patent from her?
She had heard that some sect elders loved usurping opportunities from disciples, leaving disciples no choice but to swallow their grievances in silence.
Old Ba pushed the mischievous Fifth Elder aside with a laugh and a scolding: "You've been sly and wicked since you were a kid! When we swindled the Nine Nether Cult's treasury back then, you barely put in less effort than Old Eighth!"
The Sixth Elder cast a cool, gloomy glance at the Fifth Elder, scaring him so much that cold sweat broke out. He hastily waved his hands to deny it.
"Just joking with a junior! She needs to know how treacherous the world is. Getting scared by me so she learns her lesson is better than being swindled by outsiders, right?"
Old Ba said kindly, "Martial Niece Tao, Old Eighth and I aren't lacking in patent royalties, nor do we have anywhere to spend spirit stones. We only helped you to find something to do in our spare time. The patent is all yours."
The Eighth Elder nodded beside him. He never took advantage of his own sect.
Tao Yaoye was deeply moved. Once Dream Bubble started earning spirit stones, she would definitely repay the sect.
Tao Yaoye and the others left, but Lu Yang lingered behind, leaving the Fifth Elder rather puzzled.
"Martial Nephew Lu, do you need something?"
"Nothing major. I just wanted to ask: did my flying car patent make any money?"
The Fifth Elder looked even more bewildered. "Of course it did. I already gave all the spirit stones to Junior Niece Yun. Didn't you receive them?"
After ensuring he hadn't suffered memory loss, Lu Yang shook his head firmly.
"Well, that's strange. Why don't you go ask Junior Niece Yun what happened?"
Lu Yang: "..."
He suddenly felt that patent royalties weren't that important after all.
No, no, no, he couldn't think like that! That was spirit stones he had rightfully earned. He had to go clarify things with Eldest Senior Sister!
"Fairy, how about you handle this on my behalf?"
The Immortal Fairy was watching the show when suddenly the spotlight turned on her.
"Huh?"
"Fairy, you've never been afraid of Eldest Senior Sister, right?"
"Of course! That mere Yun girl—who's afraid of her?" the Immortal Fairy said, craning her neck stiffly. She couldn't show weakness in front of Lu Yang.
Lu Yang applauded the Immortal Fairy's courage.
"You and I share a body. My business is your business, and your business is my business, right?"
"Right."
"Then wouldn't it be most fitting for you, Fairy, to ask Eldest Senior Sister?"
"Seems like it makes sense... Fine, don't worry, leave it to me!" The Fairy patted her chest, making a firm guarantee.
"There's one more thing." As Lu Yang spoke, he retrieved an immortal sword from his identity jade pendant—one crafted by Immortal Ying Tian and used by Immortal Kirin.
"Could you take a look at this flying sword and see if it can be repaired?" A single Green Blade Sword wasn't enough; Lu Yang wanted to forge another sword.
The moment he brought out the flying sword, the Fifth Elder's eyes went wide, and his lips trembled. "Heavens above... This is an immortal sword! A sword crafted by an immortal! Where did you find this?"
"I scoured it from a street stall at the Qingzhou Grand Gathering."
The Fifth Elder looked at Lu Yang with envy. This kid's luck was simply monstrous.
The Fifth Elder shook his head. "Difficult beyond measure. A sword forged by an immortal is indestructible. Even if a heavenly tribulation descends, it wouldn't damage it in the slightest. Don't look at how it's snapped in half—if I'm not mistaken, this was definitely caused by a colossal battle."
Lu Yang nodded. When the Dragon and Phoenix paragons discovered Immortal Kirin's forgery, they had surely vented their wrath upon Immortal Kirin. It truly had been a colossal battle.
The Fifth Elder wore a look of yearning. "A battle of that level is not something you or I could take part in. Only a great battle of that magnitude could damage an immortal sword.
"You might not believe me when I say this. You see how brittle this sword looks, and you might think I could snap it with a casual bend, like this?"
As the Fifth Elder spoke, he gave the immortal sword a casual bend.
Crack—
A faint cracking sound rang out.
The immortal sword snapped into two pieces.
Fifth Elder: "..."
How many spirit stones would he have to compensate for an immortal sword? Would selling himself off even be enough?
Chapter 376