Hearing Eldest Senior Sister's reminder, the Immortal Fairy's expression became exceedingly colorful—resembling an official who had worked hard for an entire year, only to be stopped by their superior to handle paperwork the moment they stepped out the door for vacation.
Suddenly, the Immortal Fairy remembered that she had returned through rebirth and possessed a "golden finger." Indeed, it was precisely the existence of this golden finger that had made her life so smooth sailing ever since she revived.
"Lu Yang, handle this for me."
Her third fire was once again directed straight at Lu Yang, and he regained control of his body.
Lu Yang: "..."
*Just you wait. One of these days, I'll capture three Tribulation Transcendence souls too, become Acting Sect Master, and make you work for me!*
Eldest Senior Sister hauled Lu Yang back to Tianmen Peak.
"These are all of them." Eldest Senior Sister carried over a tall stack of official documents. She had accumulated a portion while handling their master's release procedures from prison, and another portion while attending meetings at the Imperial Palace.
Little by little, it had built up into quite a mountain.
"The first matter to address is deciding who to send to Jizhou," Eldest Senior Sister reminded Lu Yang, stressing the importance of priorities.
Wu Youdao had confessed that their next objective was Jizhou. The imperial court and the Five Great Immortal Sects planned to sweep through Jizhou thoroughly to see if they could uncover any traces of Great Yu cultivators.
"As for the nine elders..."
Lu Yang was torn. To provide assistance... Jizhou had over three hundred cities. Sending too few people definitely would not do, but what was the right number?
Sixth Elder had difficulty traveling, and Eighth Elder was prone to being placed on wanted notices. Neither could be sent out.
Just as Lu Yang was agonizing over the choice, Eldest Senior Sister chimed in again. "It is true that the Dao Seeking Sect only has nine elders, but that does not mean there are only nine Body Integration cultivators. The Vice Hall Masters of the Mission Hall, the manager of the Hundred Refinements Peak cafeteria, the superintendent of the commercial district, the Restaurant Master of Baixiang Restaurant... are all Body Integration realm peers of the elders' generation."
Eldest Senior Sister rattled off a whole list of people Lu Yang had never even met.
"There are quite a few people from the elders' generation. It's just that some are away on missions, some are semi-retired within the sect, and others are guarding secret realms. Although their cultivation cannot compare to the elders, they are still considerably stronger than outside Body Integration cultivators."
Lu Yang had wondered before why he had so many senior brothers and sisters, while the elders' generation seemed to consist of only nine people. Where had everyone else gone?
After Eldest Senior Sister's explanation, Lu Yang finally understood. It turned out the eight elders and Master were merely the industrious ones, while the rest were tucked away out of sight.
For instance, the cafeteria that continually churned out divine artifacts and precious weapons—he had gone there several times to buy weapons, yet this was the first time he had ever heard of the cafeteria having a manager.
And Baixiang Restaurant—he had visited more than once or twice, but he had never seen the Restaurant Master.
"What about Elder Tao in the Scripture Pavilion?" Lu Yang recalled the kindly old man he had met there while compiling techniques.
"Elder Tao belongs to Grandmaster's generation. He has already retired and does not concern himself with outside matters."
"Alright. Then let's send Second, Third, and Fourth Elder, along with the Vice Hall Master of the Mission Hall, the manager of the Hundred Refinements Peak cafeteria, the superintendent of the commercial district, and the Restaurant Master of Baixiang Restaurant—seven people in total—to Jizhou."
Grand Elder oversaw the Mission Hall, while Fifth Elder and Seventh Elder were the main pillars of the Dao Seeking Sect's revenue, so none of them could leave.
"There are two Vice Hall Masters in the Mission Hall."
"Send both. That makes eight." With a grand wave of his hand, Lu Yang dispatched these standouts among the Body Integration cultivators to rush to Jizhou in support.
"I shall inform them at once." Eldest Senior Sister nodded, taking the initiative to carry out the task.
After Eldest Senior Sister left, Lu Yang realized something. There were certainly more than just these few individuals belonging to the elders' generation. Could it be that Eldest Senior Sister had simply mentioned those specific people because she wanted to send them?
"No, no way." Lu Yang shook his head, thinking he was overthinking things.
Lu Yang reached for the topmost document and opened it. It was an invitation to the Yunzhou Festival.
The invitation stated their hope that the Dao Seeking Sect would send young disciples to attend the festivities, followed by various polite pleasantries. It even included a special note: *If possible, please do not send disciples named Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou.*
Lu Yang: "..."
What was wrong with Meng Jingzhou and him? Hadn't the two of them shone brilliantly at the Qingzhou Festival, indirectly making the Qingzhou Festival famous throughout the entire world?!
Looking across the festivals of every province, only the Qingzhou Festival was the most renowned, which fully proved how well-intentioned the two of them had been.
Lu Yang drafted his reply: *Send Wei Nanfei and Jin Qinqin to attend the celebration.*
These two were disciples who had joined the Dao Seeking Sect in the same intake as Lu Yang. One had been saved by Senior Brother Dai Bufan in his youth, and the other had accidentally consumed an Azure Wood Immortal Fruit as a child. Both looked up to Lu Yang as a role model. While their cultivation speed fell short of the five foremost talents including Lu Yang, their strength lay in their solid foundation, advancing steadily step by step. Once they reached Lu Yang's realm, they might very well put up a fight against Li Haoran. They were future mainstays of the Dao Seeking Sect.
Participating in large events like this would be immensely helpful for their future.
For example, if a few Great Yu cultivators popped up at the festival, it would broaden their horizons.
The next document was an official letter sent to the Dao Seeking Sect from the Golden Buddhist Kingdom.
The dispatch stated that Lu Yang's never-before-seen Second Senior Brother had mastered the sixteen-foot golden body. He spent all day hauling away the Buddha statues in the temples, activating his sixteen-foot golden body, and sitting upon the altars himself. Because his mastery of the sixteen-foot golden body was so superb, appearing even more sacred than the statues, the monks failed to notice anything amiss.
Only after a full week did the old abbot realize that what they had been venerating was not a Buddha statue, but Second Senior Brother.
Throughout that entire week, Second Senior Brother had remained continuously in his sixteen-foot golden body state.
Judging by the tone of the official letter, this was not the first time Second Senior Brother had pulled such antics. The people of the Buddhist Kingdom desperately hoped the Dao Seeking Sect would call him back as soon as possible.
"Second Senior Brother is truly Second Senior Brother—a disciple worthy of Master's mantle at a single glance," Lu Yang praised sincerely.
Next was an invitation from the Sword Tower, accompanied by a letter. It stated that the senior elders of the Sword Tower had unanimously decided that Daoist Buyu was the contemporary champion of the sword dao. They hoped Daoist Buyu would visit the Sword Tower to receive a plaque titled 'Sword Dao Champion.' Many mighty figures of the sword dao realm would attend the gathering, and the Sword Tower respectfully awaited Master's grand arrival.
The Sword Tower was situated in Shuzhou, renowned even among first-rank sects, representing orthodox sword dao. It had once been a super-rank sect; only when its Sword Dao Sovereign passed away of natural old age did the Sword Tower decline into a first-rank sect.
Although the Sword Dao Sovereign was gone, his legacy and heritage remained. The Sword Tower possessed more than a dozen Body Integration cultivators, all formidable swordsmen of tremendous skill.
One could say that the Sword Tower's power was even greater than that of a half-baked super-rank sect like the Corpse Driving Sect.
The Sword Tower represented orthodox sword dao, whereas Daoist Buyu represented the pinnacle of sword dao.
Daoist Buyu had once visited the Sword Tower to seek guidance in the sword, defeating over a dozen Sword Tower cultivators in succession, and ultimately besting the Sword Tower Master himself.
Yet the Sword Tower had always looked down on Daoist Buyu. Did conferring a plaque upon him this time signal a concession on their part?
By then, Eldest Senior Sister had finished delivering the notifications. Upon returning, she saw Lu Yang pondering over the Sword Tower's invitation.
"Are you thinking of having Master go to the Sword Tower to receive the plaque?"
"Yes. Wouldn't that help ease the relationship between Master and the Sword Tower?"
"Give up on that. Master won't go."
"Why?" Lu Yang asked in confusion. "Master doesn't want to make peace with the Sword Tower?"
"The Sword Tower recognized Master long ago, acknowledging his standing in the sword dao. This is not the first time they have wanted to confer a plaque upon him, and Master has never gone once."
"Is Master indifferent to fame and fortune?"
"Because everyone invited to the gathering has had grievances with Master. If he went, he'd be walking straight into a trap."
"...Master's enemies truly pop up in the most unexpected places. Right, can we dispatch Master to Jizhou?"
Eldest Senior Sister pondered for a moment and said seriously, "You are the Acting Sect Master, while Master is the Sect Master. You cannot order Master around."
"So we can't?"
"Therefore, I can write a letter suggesting that Master go to Jizhou."
Chapter 459