All five of them channeled their spiritual energy forward to the person in front. Because energy is lost during transmission, everyone's reserves would eventually run dry if it went on for too long.
Fortunately, Lu Yang had taught the other four the Heaven-Swallowing cultivation method. As they passed their spiritual energy along, they opened their mouths wide and devoured the ambient spiritual energy around them, leading the Merit Transmission Elder to wonder if they had been possessed.
Transferring spiritual energy was also meant to achieve a state where each was part of the other and the other was part of oneself. At this moment, Lu Yang's spiritual energy hardly belonged to him anymore; it was almost entirely from the other four. The situation was much the same for the rest, and their spiritual energies blended thoroughly.
The Merit Transmission Elder had not expected the five of them to reach this stage so quickly.
"Now, on to step three: practicing combination skills..."
***
"Speaking of which, the exchange period for the Five Great Immortal Sects is about the same. Junior Brother Lu Yang and his group should have already reached the Five Elements Sect by now. Why haven't we seen Shi Chan from the Hanging Temple arrive yet?" Dai Bufan muttered to himself, looking down as he organized intelligence reports.
"Nothing could have happened to him, right?"
***
A handsome monk walked out of a slaughterhouse and made his way toward the nearest landing site for boarding a flying boat.
"What a wonderful aroma."
The monk's nose twitched as he passed by a restaurant. It was midday, right at the peak of business, and the wafting fragrance of food brought him to a halt.
*Eating a meal won't make me miss the flying boat.*
He made an impromptu detour and walked into the restaurant.
"Waiter, do you still have any open tables?"
"Master, you've certainly come to the right place! The vegetarian fare here at Qianlixiang Restaurant is second to none!"
"I don't want vegetarian dishes. Bring me two jin of spiced beef, an order of braised pork hock, and a bowl of lamb offal noodles."
The waiter sized up the monk in astonishment, wondering if he had heard wrong.
Plenty of people impersonated monks these days, but this was the first time he had ever seen one so blatantly fake.
Still, that was none of his business. He just needed to serve whatever the guest ordered.
"Right away, honored guest. Please wait a moment."
Before long, a large platter of spiced beef, an order of braised pork hock, and a bowl of lamb offal noodles were brought to the table. Shi Chan ate through them with unhurried grace.
"Honored guest, your total comes to sixty-six wen."
Wiping his mouth, the monk said calmly, "My master often told me that without buying and selling, there would be no killing. If no one in the world ate meat, no one would slaughter livestock, and this restaurant of yours wouldn't sell meat dishes—you would sell only vegetarian food. He always admonished us never to go to restaurants and order meat dishes, lest we encourage such corrupt practices."
The waiter was utterly baffled by this speech. "So, honored guest, what you mean is..."
"To dine and dash. If I don't give you money, it doesn't count as buying and selling."
***
At the mountain gate of the Dao Seeking Sect.
Two gate-guarding disciples were yawning out of sheer boredom, chatting idly and discussing recent events.
"At long last, no one is coming around looking to arrange a marriage with Junior Brother Lu. Things are so much quieter now."
"Tell me about it. I've never seen people lining up outside the gate like that before. Truly an eye-opener."
A slender figure approached, pressed his palms together, and asked in a clear voice, "Excuse me, is this the Dao Seeking Sect?"
The newcomer was handsome, dressed in a tattered kasaya. His large eyes were bright and spirited, clear as spring water, and his head was bald and hairless.
Had he not been wearing a kasaya, the disciples might have suspected he was a victim of Lu-Style Arhat Fist coming to demand justice.
"Junior Brother Shi Chan from the Hanging Temple?" one of the gate guards asked tentatively, recalling Senior Brother Dai's instructions that a monk from the Hanging Temple would be visiting the Dao Seeking Sect during the sect exchange period.
"It is indeed this humble monk. My apologies for arriving late; washing the dishes took quite a while."
Left completely in the dark by Shi Chan's explanation, the disciple replied politely, "Please wait here for a moment. I'll go call Senior Brother Dai."
One disciple went to fetch Senior Brother Dai while the other continued guarding the mountain gate.
Before long, Dai Bufan hurried over and saw Shi Chan meditating cross-legged in front of the gate.
Noticing Shi Chan's dignified bearing, bold eyebrows, large eyes, upright aura, and rock-solid foundation free of any superficial fluff, Dai Bufan nodded inwardly in approval. As expected of a disciple raised by Master Jiesha.
Shi Chan was hovering cross-legged midair in meditation. Sensing Dai Bufan's approach, he stood and bowed in greeting. "Greetings, Senior Brother Dai."
"Junior Brother Shi Chan, are you the only one who came to the Dao Seeking Sect?"
"The senior brothers and martial uncles at our temple are quite busy and had no time to escort this humble monk to the Dao Seeking Sect."
"Quite busy?"
"Yes. Master heard news of your sect's Sect Master appearing in Huangzhou, so he led our martial uncles and senior brothers there."
Dai Bufan: "..."
If he remembered correctly, it was his own master who, out of misplaced brotherly loyalty, had impersonated Daoist Buyu, spreading information and performing pingshu storytelling all over Huangzhou.
Could the news Master Jiesha heard about be... his master?
Oh well, a master has his own fortunes; there was no need for a disciple like him to worry. If he got caught, he would take a beating at worst—it wouldn't kill him.
"Please come in, Junior Brother Shi Chan."
Dai Bufan personally hosted Junior Brother Shi Chan, hoping his courtesy might touch Master Jiesha enough to go easy on his master when the beating came.
The two passed through the territory of the river spirit and entered the central district of the Dao Seeking Sect. Shi Chan was taken aback when he saw the bustling, lively Dao Seeking Sect.
Compared to the Hanging Temple, the Dao Seeking Sect was truly lively to an outrageous degree.
"Junior Brother Shi Chan, how much do you know about our Dao Seeking Sect, and what are you hoping to learn here?"
"Back when Master could still speak, he told this humble monk quite a lot about your esteemed sect. Your sect possesses abundant cultivation resources along with numerous cultivation methods and divine abilities—especially the Scripture Pavilion, which holds an inexhaustible collection of techniques and arts.
"This humble monk actually has two divine abilities in mind that I wish to learn."
"Please, speak freely, Junior Brother."
"I heard Fellow Daoist Lu Yang possesses an Arhat Fist technique where anyone struck by it inevitably loses their hair. I wonder if I might learn it?"
"This..." A troubled look crossed Dai Bufan's face. Of all the people whose techniques you could learn, why did you have to pick Lu Yang's? Was that even something another person could learn?
"To be entirely honest, Junior Brother Lu's Arhat Fist is truly peculiar. In the entire sect, he is the only one who knows it, and he has already departed for the Five Elements Sect for his exchange."
"There is also Fellow Daoist Meng Jingzhou's unity of fist and spell, which features a Bachelor Curse Fist carrying karma. I wonder if that might be learned?"
"..."
*Are you sure you didn't come here to pick a fight? You're asking for whatever we don't have.*
"Neither is available, then." Learning this, Shi Chan looked visibly disappointed.
He had yearned for these two fist techniques for a long time, convinced that they were the true, authentic divine abilities of Buddhism—far superior to things like the *Scripture of Deliverance* or the *Six-Zhang Golden Body*.
Unfortunately, neither practitioner was present.
"It seems the karmic affinity has not yet arrived, and forcing the matter would be improper. Senior Brother Dai, please go ahead with your duties. This humble monk will simply walk around the Dao Seeking Sect. Your sect has long enjoyed great fame, yet I have never seen it before; this will serve as a fine opportunity to broaden my horizons."
Dai Bufan was indeed very busy. As the de facto leader of the Mission Hall, even a single day off would leave mountains of work piled up.
"Keep this medallion on you. Carrying this token is equivalent to my presence. You may wander freely through our sect and even visit places like the Scripture Pavilion. If you have any questions, you can ask any of the junior brothers and sisters nearby; they will all be happy to answer you."
Shi Chan accepted the medallion Dai Bufan handed him and offered his thanks.
Returning to the Mission Hall, Dai Bufan did not immediately attend to the work at hand. After a moment of thought, he pulled out a jade plaque, a dharma treasure used for communicating with the Great Elder.
He wrote on the treasure: *"Master, Junior Brother Shi Chan says Master Jiesha has led all the cultivators of the Hanging Temple to Huangzhou in search of the Sect Master's whereabouts. Since you are impersonating the Sect Master and performing pingshu in Huangzhou, you may run into them. Please exercise extreme caution."*
Dai Bufan tapped the center of the jade plaque with his index finger to send the message.
Very quickly, the Great Elder sent back a response:
*"Tell me sooner next time"*
Dai Bufan fell silent for a moment before analyzing, "He didn't even write a single punctuation mark. It seems the battle is fierce.
"Master is Master after all—devising strategies and planning far ahead. He must have known long ago that he would suffer such a calamity, which is why he spent so much effort building his grand tomb."
Chapter 545