"Junior Brother Lu, you have a letter of gratitude." Ten days later, a senior brother on duty at the Mission Hall delivered a letter to Lu Yang, who was currently opening his mouth wide, swallowing spiritual energy in cultivation.
Lu Yang opened it. It was from Squire Song.
The letter was mainly written to thank Lu Yang for stepping in to resolve the washerwoman issue, which had allowed the Song family's business to get back on track.
The squire also mentioned his youngest daughter and Zhou Lang. He explained that after an investigation, Zhou Lang had turned out to be his biological son, while his youngest daughter, Song Lian'er, was actually the housekeeper's daughter.
As for what mishap had led to such an outcome in the first place, Squire Song did not elaborate. Lu Yang guessed that the midwife must have mixed the babies up at birth.
Lu Yang quietly put the letter away. The Song family's relations were an intricate mess that gave him a headache just reading about them.
"This is nothing. In ancient times, everyone belonged to tribal clans, and relationships back then were far more convoluted than this."
"Fairy, which tribe did you belong to?" Lu Yang asked casually, only to be met by a prolonged silence from the Immortal Fairy.
"...A small tribe. Not worth mentioning. It was wiped out before I even grew up. A battle between a human and a beast broke out, and the tribe was caught in the crossfire," the Immortal Fairy mumbled softly, stripped of her usual vivacity.
Lu Yang fell silent as well. He had no idea what to say, and saying the wrong thing would only make matters worse.
Before the era of the Five Ancient Celestials, the world was hardly a pleasant place. Small tribes being casually crushed out of existence had been an everyday occurrence.
"Junior Brother, come over here for a moment."
Fortunately, Eldest Senior Sister's voice transmission broke the heavy silence.
"Eldest Senior Sister, is something the matter?"
Lu Yang went to see her. Eldest Senior Sister rarely summoned him out of the blue. Could Master have been arrested again, needing a guarantor to arrange bail pending trial?
Or had Master been locked up again and needed someone to visit him in jail, but Eldest Senior Sister couldn't bear the loss of face and wanted him to go instead?
Or had Master finally been caught by his enemies, beaten within an inch of his life, and now required a rescue team?
"Wait until the others arrive."
Shortly after, the other people Eldest Senior Sister had spoken of trickled onto Tianmen Peak: Meng Jingzhou, Tao Yaoye, Man Gu, and Li Haoran.
"Greetings, Eldest Senior Sister."
The four of them arrived one after another and respectfully greeted her.
"It is like this: there is a tradition of disciple exchange and study among the Five Great Immortal Sects. This time, Dao Seeking Sect disciples may go to the Five Elements Sect to study. There are five slots available, which happen to be enough for the five of you."
Originally, Dao Seeking Sect disciples could have gone to the Moon Laurel Immortal Palace to study, but Palace Master Luo had been adamant, refusing under any circumstances to allow Lu Yang near the palace. Eldest Senior Sister had no choice but to switch to the Five Elements Sect.
"Go to the Five Elements Sect?" Hearing the good news, the corners of Lu Yang and the others' lips curved up involuntarily, delight shining in their eyes.
None of them had ever visited another immortal sect.
Meng Jingzhou was thrilled as well. He had never expected to visit the Five Elements Sect again so soon.
Back then, Qiu Jin'an had possessed Meng Jingzhou's body to hit Old Ba with the Bachelor Curse Fist, and had promised to teach Meng Jingzhou a Five Elements spell in return. Four months ago, Meng Jingzhou had traveled to the Five Elements Sect to learn a Five Elements spell from Qiu Jin'an. Its power was tremendous; he simply hadn't found the opportunity to test it on Lu Yang yet.
"Then who is coming to study at our sect this time?"
"Shi Chan of the Hanging Temple."
Lu Yang had long heard Shi Chan's name. It was said the monk was still slaughtering pigs at an abattoir, though no one knew how his slaughtering was coming along.
"Go make your preparations. You depart in two days."
"Who is the elder leading our group?" Lu Yang asked. By all rights, an elder should be escorting them; letting five juniors wander off to the Five Elements Sect on their own didn't conform to the rules.
"The Grand Elder impersonated Master and left the sect last time, and has not returned since. The Second Elder volunteered to go to the Five Elements Sect, but the Five Elements Sect refused.
"Due to legacy issues from years past, the remaining elders are afraid that going alone would invite retaliation and retribution, so none of them dare to go.
"Therefore, you will have no lead elder for this trip to the Five Elements Sect."
Lu Yang: "..."
Why did this trip to the Five Elements Sect sound so dangerous?
Were they going to walk in on two feet and be carried out on stretchers?
"No problem! I've been to the Five Elements Sect before, so I'll lead the way," Meng Jingzhou said, immediately stepping up to take charge now that he saw a chance to be team leader.
Lu Yang eyed Meng Jingzhou sidelong, suspecting this scoundrel was seizing the chance to mess with him. "Are you reliable?"
"More reliable than you."
"Fair enough."
Lu Yang didn't argue. In any case, there was no one else available to lead.
"The Five Elements Sect's philosophies regarding the five elements have much to offer. When you arrive, study them diligently," Eldest Senior Sister instructed the five.
The five replied in unison.
"The five elements, huh? Speaking of which, Immortal Jiuchong's Dao fruit is somewhat related to the five elements."
"What Dao fruit did Immortal Jiuchong have?"
"The Yin-Yang Dao fruit. It represents the extremes of the world—extreme heat and extreme cold, absolute speed and absolute stillness, strength and weakness, and so on. Its applications are quite complex and can't be explained in just a sentence or two."
"What about Immortal Kirin's Dao fruit?"
"The Survival of the Fittest Dao fruit. To put it simply, no move used against Immortal Kirin can ever work a second time. For instance, if you strike him with Universe in the Palm, slamming him to the ground or pulling him into your hand, his Dao fruit will rapidly adapt to the technique. The next time you use it, it won't be able to harm him.
"Once, Immortal Jiuchong roasted Immortal Kirin with the most scorching flames in existence, making him howl in agony. But the next time he used that move, Immortal Kirin was dancing and taking a bath in the sea of fire."
"So Immortal Kirin won?"
"Nope. Immortal Jiuchong recorded Immortal Kirin taking a bath and used the footage to blackmail him into surrendering."
Lu Yang: "..."
Why does the way you celestials win battles seem so different from what I imagined?
"Then was Immortal Kirin fine eating the food you cooked?"
Wouldn't that mean Immortal Kirin became immune after being poisoned by the Immortal Fairy once?
The Immortal Fairy was baffled by the question. "What do you mean, fine or not? Are you asking if he got sick of eating my cooking? Never! As a celestial chef, I always strive for culinary innovation! Every dish I make is unique and different!"
Lu Yang felt that if she hadn't innovated, Immortal Kirin would have been much happier.
"There's one more thing. I remember hearing that the prodigies of the dragon and phoenix clans lost to Immortal Kirin when competing for the seat of immortality. Is there a fixed quota for becoming an immortal?" This had always puzzled Lu Yang. Was there really a need to compete over becoming an immortal? What had those ancient figures actually been fighting over?
"Not quite. It was simply that the Dao fruits of those two little girls clashed with Immortal Kirin's."
"Clashed?"
"Their rudimentary Dao fruits were called the rudimentary Natural Selection Dao fruit and the rudimentary Law of the Jungle Dao fruit. The laws represented by those two rudimentary Dao fruits are extremely close to Immortal Kirin's, aren't they?
"Just as there can only be one Immortal Dao fruit—meaning that as long as I exist, no rudimentary Immortal Dao fruit can ever become a true Dao fruit...
"There can only ever be one Dao fruit governing similar rules.
"Among the three of them, only one was destined to achieve immortality. The other two could, at most, become half-immortals infinitely close to being celestials."
Chapter 525