If it were up to Lu Yang, he reckoned that if he ever became an immortal, he would probably be even more of a slacker than the Fairy. Every day, he would just bask in the sun—basking his front, then his back, then front again, and then at night, sleeping on the sun.
Above immortals were further realms, and above those realms were yet more realms. If one kept cultivating endlessly, when would there ever be an end?
"Fairy, you also said that replacement is another form of forgetting. Could the attribution of your recipe being changed from you to Immortal Ying Tian also be a form of replacement?"
The Immortal Fairy's eyes lit up, and she slapped Lu Yang on the shoulder. "Hey, what you're saying makes sense! After someone took me out, they must have used some method to erase all traces of my existence and attribute everything about me to Ying Tian! And here I thought that bastard Ying Tian was just jealous of my talent and usurped my name behind my back while I wasn't around!"
"You're a teachable young'un!"
"It's 'a teachable lad.'"
Lu Yang thought to himself that Immortal Ying Tian would have to be suffering from food poisoning and brain rot to forcefully claim authorship of her recipes.
"Could any of the Four Immortals have possessed the means to erase your existence?"
The Immortal Fairy furrowed her brow in thought, running through all the methods of the Four Immortals, but could find nothing that fit. "No. None of their methods could accomplish that."
The mortal and immortal talked it over for a while longer, but couldn't deduce anything else useful.
Claiming that Immortal Ying Tian was the one who killed the Fairy wasn't necessarily true either. Perhaps Immortal Kirin and the others had also usurped her name on things.
Artifacts from immortals were scarce to begin with, and things left behind by the Immortal Fairy were rarer still.
Unless they could discover the inheritance the Immortal Fairy had mentioned burying on the North Star. The inheritance would surely record what belonged to whom, which would allow them to infer a clue or two.
Just as the two were chatting about how the term of the Acting Sect Master was coming to an end and what they would do after retiring, Eldest Senior Sister returned with the Imperial Preceptor.
Although no sound came through, judging by the Imperial Preceptor's contorted posture and heart-wrenching expression, it seemed the curse had yet to be lifted.
"Eldest Senior Sister, can the power of national destiny not remove the curse?"
"It can, but Emperor Xia is unwilling to lift it." Eldest Senior Sister casually tossed the Imperial Preceptor aside.
"Why? Weren't Old Meng's and Sect Master Qiu's curses lifted?" Lu Yang asked, puzzled.
"To be precise, they weren't lifted, but spread out."
"Spread out?"
"By relying on the power of national destiny, the curse was distributed evenly among everyone. The result of this distribution was that everyone will marry fifteen minutes later than their original destiny. That level of dilution is acceptable."
"However, the Imperial Preceptor's curse is far too severe. If it were spread across everyone, the consequences would be unthinkable."
Lu Yang understood. No wonder Emperor Xia was unwilling to lift the curse for the Imperial Preceptor. If it were him, he wouldn't agree either.
"Then right now..." Lu Yang glanced at the Imperial Preceptor, who was still persistently writhing on the ground.
"Let him keep screaming for now. We will deal with it once we think of a solution."
"All right."
Leaving him be was really the only option. Soul-searching him was out of the question—in the midst of the Seven Calamities and Eight Sufferings, the Imperial Preceptor's mind was in utter chaos, and nothing could be extracted.
As for refining him directly into an artifact spirit, setting aside the fact that the Fifth Elder could not yet refine a half-immortal level immortal treasure, even if he could, the Imperial Preceptor's current state would only yield a cursed immortal treasure whose power would be severely diminished.
"The yin energy on Prison Peak is too heavy. Staying here for prolonged periods is bad for you. Head back first."
Yun Zhi then turned to the Immortal Fairy and said, "Senior did quite well as Acting Sect Master this time. I am very satisfied."
Rubbing her nose, the Immortal Fairy felt rather smug. "A mere sect is nothing! With my talent, I could even be an emperor! Just watch, later I'll capture a few more Tribulation Transcendence cultivators and keep on being the Acting Sect Master!"
"In a moment, I will head over to the stronghold Venerable Black-White confessed to," Yun Zhi said. "According to him, there is another Tribulation Transcendence cultivator still slumbering whom the Imperial Preceptor has not yet awakened. However, only the Imperial Preceptor knows where that cultivator sleeps. I will see if any clues can be found at the stronghold."
Eldest Senior Sister had the two leave first. Once they were gone, she called out the Grandmaster who guarded Prison Peak.
"Grandmaster, this is Great Yu's second Imperial Preceptor, Jin Buqun. He will be imprisoned here for now. Keep a close watch on him while he is locked up—he has condensed a rudimentary Dao fruit, likely a rudimentary Karma Dao fruit."
In the past, the Grandmaster felt that as a dignified Tribulation Transcendence cultivator, guarding Prison Peak was more than manageable, allowing him to continue contributing to the sect in his retirement.
Now, he felt he had vastly overestimated himself. Guarding Prison Peak was a task far too difficult for him.
"Grandmaster, do not worry. He is trapped in the Seven Calamities and Eight Sufferings and cannot free himself. He can barely protect himself, let alone break out of prison."
Fearing that the Grandmaster might still be uneasy, Yun Zhi laid down a formation array within the cell holding the Imperial Preceptor.
She then departed for the secret realm where the Imperial Preceptor and his entourage had been hiding.
Leaving Prison Peak, Lu Yang immediately felt the heavy burden on his shoulders lighten.
The grand celebration had concluded smoothly, the reputation of the Heavenly Court Cult had been broadcast far and wide, Great Yu's Imperial Preceptor and his cohorts were captured, and the Fairy's two-month Sect Master trial ticket had expired.
Time to cultivate!
***
Three months passed.
Lu Yang sat cross-legged. The twin swords, Qingfeng and Mingyue, hovered on either side of his body, radiating faint wisps of sword qi.
The Invincible Core rotated slowly, continuously absorbing external spiritual energy. A vortex of spiritual energy formed in his dantian, spinning faster and faster.
Bringing two fingers together, he pointed toward the heavens and gave a soft shout: "Break!"
With that point, Lu Yang's aura surged outward like a bursting mountain flood, rushing a thousand li in a single, irresistible wave.
Qingfeng and Mingyue clashed, their sword qi intertwining and leaving sharp cuts across the grass.
Compared to before, the sword qi was even sharper and truly unstoppable.
"Late Golden Core stage at last."
Two years since entering the sect, and already at the late Golden Core stage.
Lu Yang stood up with a smile, savoring the changes within himself. His current self could easily defeat the self of three months ago.
Over these three months, he had devoted himself entirely to cultivation, never taking a single step outside the sect. Even when Meng Jingzhou came inviting him out, he refused.
After the celebration concluded, his fame was at its peak. The entire world knew that the Dao Seeking Sect had Lu Yang—the number one cultivator of the Golden Core middle stage, who had bravely fought the Young Cult Master of the Heavenly Court Cult to a draw.
Some had even completely disregarded the fact that he was Daoist Buyu's disciple and came to propose marriage, which showed just how determined they were.
There was another reason Lu Yang did not go out: if he went out and bumped into another Tribulation Transcendence cultivator, wouldn't the Fairy get to be Acting Sect Master again?
The plundering of the Great Yu cultivators' legacies was proceeding in an orderly fashion. Eldest Senior Sister first visited their stronghold and hauled back everything of value.
Afterward, the various major sects launched operations based on the treasure troves disclosed by the Great Yu cultivators. If two or three sects were assigned to a single Great Yu cultivator, those sects dispatched teams together to explore.
The Dao Seeking Sect dispatched the Great Elder to lead a team to excavate the treasure trove confessed by Venerable Black-White.
As a late Tribulation Transcendence expert, Venerable Black-White had an innumerable amount of good things, dazzling Lu Yang just looking through them.
Just a few days ago, Lu Yang had also received news: Great Yu's Imperial Preceptor, having endured the torment of the Seven Calamities and Eight Sufferings for three full months, had finally tortured himself to death, his soul scattering to the winds in an utterly pitiful demise.
Chapter 507