Legend of the Dao Seeking Sect: Lu Yang Chapter

Zhao Po was startled by Mingtai's reaction, having no clue why he was so agitated. "Haven't you heard the pingshu storytelling, *Legend of the Dao Seeking Sect: Lu Yang Chapter*?" Zhao Po shook his head. Lately, his sect master had dragged him through cultivation day and night—where would he find the time to listen to pingshu? "I haven't heard the storytelling, but I do know Senior Brother Lu Yang. What about him?" "Tell me what Senior Brother Lu Yang did in Hanshui City! Is he truly as exceptionally powerful as the legends say?" "His combat power is indeed peerless. I had a senior brother named Huang Ming, around my age. Whether in cultivation talent or combat instinct, he blew me out of the water by miles. Only later did I learn he was an expert at the Body Integration stage from Great Yu who had dispersed his cultivation to cultivate anew—that's why he was so terrifying." "Back then, I didn't know that. At the time, it just so happened that Senior Brother Lu Yang and I were out exorcising ghosts when we ran into Huang Ming. The two of them had a disagreement over me and ended up trading blows." "Who won?" Mingtai asked eagerly. "Senior Brother Lu Yang, naturally! He actually fought the newly recultivated Huang Ming, holding the upper hand the entire time and doing so with complete ease!" "That strong?!" Mingtai was astonished. Even if he were to fight a cultivator who had dispersed their cultivation to cultivate anew, while he might be confident of winning, doing so with effortless ease was something he could never manage. "You bet! Senior Brother Lu Yang and Senior Brother Meng Jingzhou told me that their opponents start at the Body Integration stage at the very least. Anyone below Body Integration isn't even qualified to be their adversary." "And events proved just that! After defeating Huang Ming, a Great Yu Body Integration expert showed up intent on killing them. And right after dealing with that Body Integration expert, the Emperor of Great Yu suddenly appeared and enveloped all of Hanshui City with the power of rules." Recalling it now still sent a wave of lingering fear through Zhao Po. He had never encountered so many high-level cultivators in his entire life; the moment he met Lu Yang, monsters, demons, and all manner of freakish figures came crawling out of the woodwork. Mingtai looked thoughtful. "No wonder. That makes everything fall into place." "Hey, since Senior Brother Lu Yang is here at the Dao Seeking Sect, do you think we might witness another battle at the Tribulation Transcendence stage?" Zhao Po waved his hand, feeling Mingtai was letting his imagination run wild. "No way. What place is this? The Dao Seeking Sect! Even if the Emperor of Great Yu came in person, he wouldn't dare run rampant here. Besides, with so many elders and sect masters gathered here, even if a Tribulation Transcendence expert showed up, they'd get a harsh wake-up call." Catching a battle between Tribulation Transcendence experts once in a lifetime was already remarkable—how could someone encounter them all the time? And even if one did, it would be after the Golden Age fully arrived; how could one possibly run into it every two months? "Want something to eat? I heard the barbecue here is amazing." Mingtai had little interest in food. He believed cultivators ought to dedicate themselves dutifully to cultivation; eating was merely indulging physical desires and entirely unnecessary. Still, Zhao Po was being so hospitable that it felt impolite to be too blunt: "Go ahead and eat by yourself. I'm not particularly fond of barbecue." "Ah, don't say that! The barbecue here really is delicious. You'll understand once you try it. Wait here, I'll go buy some for both of us." Zhao Po was enthusiastic as always. Out in the world, having another friend meant having another path. Before Mingtai could say another word, Zhao Po had already dashed off toward the commercial street, quickly vanishing into the crowd. He had no choice but to drop his hand and wait in place. Perhaps business at the barbecue shop Zhao Po mentioned was too booming, because Mingtai waited and waited, yet Zhao Po was nowhere to be seen. *Since I'm just standing around idle, I might as well ask where Senior Brother Lu Yang is. When Zhao Po gets back, we can go meet him together.* Just then, a young man wearing the robes of a Dao Seeking Sect disciple walked past. Mingtai caught hold of him. Caught off guard by Mingtai grabbing him, the young man jumped, momentarily thinking he had bumped into an enemy. "Greetings, Senior Brother. May I ask if you know where Senior Brother Lu Yang is?" "Lu Yang?" The young man's expression turned somewhat peculiar. He sized Mingtai up: fair skin, red lips, looking like a handsome young scholar—a completely unfamiliar face he didn't recognize. "What are you looking for Lu Yang for?" the young man asked warily. "It's like this: I am Mingtai from the Sword Tower. A few days ago, I heard the latest edition of *Legend of the Dao Seeking Sect: Lu Yang Chapter* at a teahouse. I admire Senior Brother Lu Yang immensely and wanted to take this chance to meet him." "*Legend of the Dao Seeking Sect: Lu Yang Chapter*?" The young man was baffled. What kind of ridiculous name was that? "What did the pingshu say?" "The storytelling said that Senior Brother Lu Yang has peerless talent, standing supreme even among single spiritual roots! He can fight across realms, having defeated a Soul Formation stage cultivator while still at Foundation Establishment!" "Once Senior Brother Lu Yang reached the Golden Core stage, he became even more formidable! Right in the Imperial Palace, he threw hands against the masters of the Four Great Immortal Sects, beating the Palace Master of Moon Laurel Immortal Palace until her mouth was stuffed with leaves, beating the Sect Master of the Prison Suppressing Sect until he shaved his head in resolve to become a Buddhist monk, and beating the Abbot of the Hanging Temple speechless until his hair grew back so he could return to secular life!" Originally, Mingtai had thought the pingshu's depiction of Lu Yang was somewhat exaggerated. After all, it was common street storytelling, and exaggerations were only natural. But Zhao Po had just said that Senior Brother Lu Yang's opponents started at the Body Integration stage! Didn't that match up with the storytelling? "The masters of the Four Great Immortal Sects were thrashed soundly by Senior Brother Lu Yang—the eunuchs in the Imperial Palace all witnessed it! The Palace Master of Moon Laurel Immortal Palace, the Sect Master of the Prison Suppressing Sect, and the Sect Master of the Five Elements Sect were beaten black and blue, their injuries not even healed by the time they walked out of the Imperial Palace!" "His Imperial Majesty praised Senior Brother Lu Yang's conduct lavishly, calling him a brilliant young hero endowed with outstanding talent, granting him the privileges of not having to scurry in court, being addressed without having his name proclaimed, and wearing his sword and boots into the palace hall!" The young man's expression grew weirder and weirder. A while back, his master had returned to the Dao Seeking Sect for a brief stay. Under the pretext of caring about the righteous path, Master had asked him what had happened when he attended the meeting at the Imperial Palace. He had recounted everything in detail, and Master had patted him on the shoulder with satisfaction, saying he was a derelict master who was rarely around during his disciple's cultivation, so he was determined to help his disciple make a name for himself across the world—telling him to just sit back and watch. Never, in his wildest dreams, could he have imagined that this was the way Master intended to make him famous! He did know about Qiu Jin'an and the other two being beaten black and blue. After all, it was trouble stirred up by the Immortal Fairy, so he had looked into the aftermath. The three of them—Qiu Jin'an and company—had initially competed for the title of 'Strongest Golden Core.' But as the fighting grew heated, they lost their tempers, dropped their suppression to revert to their original cultivation realms, and ended up leaving each other covered in bruises and wounds that couldn't heal in short order. Just as Mingtai opened his mouth to say more, a distant chime of a bell drifted down from the summit of Tianmen Peak. Ancient and deep, it felt as though it had been struck in an age long past, reverberating beside their ears. *Dong—dong—dong—* The bell rang throughout the Dao Seeking Sect, tolling twelve times in total, symbolizing the sect's hundred-and-twenty-thousand-year history. The tolling of the bell signaled the imminent start of the grand celebration. Everyone halted whatever they were doing and turned in unison toward Tianmen Peak. The young man strode toward the sacrificial altar. He had been heading to the altar in the first place, only to be stopped halfway by Mingtai. "Senior Brother, you haven't told me where Senior Brother Lu Yang is!" Mingtai called out urgently in a low voice. His ordinary robes dissolved into feathers of light and vanished. Immortal threads danced beneath his feet, spreading upward to cover his entire body: a coronet cap, a black upper robe, crimson lower garments, a white silk sash, yellow knee-coverings... weaving together into solemn, majestic ceremonial attire. The young man turned his head back, an amused smile in his eyes. "I *am* Lu Yang."