"Perform a sword routine for me to see."
The Dijiang Clan elder gave his command. Lu Yang, seemingly robbed of self-control, obeyed without question. His long sleeves fluttered as his blade danced, the sword's edge unstoppable. Wherever it passed, air was torn apart, overwhelming all opposition.
He executed the Slash Formula and Break Formula one after another—every move designed purely for the kill. Even cultivators in the Nascent Soul stage would dread facing such strikes and refuse to clash head-on.
"Good, very good!" The elder burst into hearty laughter. Had he not known this boy was an imposter, he would have genuinely believed him to be Young Cult Master Lu.
He retrieved two masks and a scroll from his storage ring.
"These are human-skin masks refined by this seat. Once imbued with spiritual energy, they will transform you into whatever appearance you desire."
"This is Young Cult Master Lu's likeness. Yun Yang, use this portrait to take his form."
"As for you, Su Yiren, very few people have seen your true face, but we cannot rule out encountering someone who knows you on this occasion. Put on the mask and change into whatever appearance you like."
The two took the masks. They were as thin as cicada wings and felt icy cool when applied to the skin. Lu Yang shifted smoothly into Young Cult Master Lu with practiced ease.
Jiang Lianyi casually slapped hers on, transforming into a likeness that bore a sixty to seventy percent resemblance to her true appearance, then pulled down her hood to reveal the disguised face.
"Next is your acting. The look in your eyes is wrong—there is no sense of the vicissitudes of time."
"What is the Heavenly Court Cult? It is the continuation of the ancient Heavenly Court! After three hundred thousand years, you should embody the mindset of oceans turning into mulberry fields and the transience of all things. Your eyes should carry a vast desolation mixed with a trace of reminiscence, along with contempt for the present age!"
"Furthermore, the Heavenly Court was a colossal organization in antiquity, and antiquity was the most flourishing and prosperous era in the cultivation world. As the Young Cult Master and a Heavenly King Protector of the Heavenly Court Cult, you ought to display profound pride in the ancient era!"
Lu Yang: "..."
*You sure have thought this through thoroughly.*
Whenever Lu Yang appeared as Young Cult Master Lu, that was more or less his exact mindset. It served as a sort of self-hypnosis to help him quickly slip into character.
With that thought in mind, Lu Yang sneered. "What kind of dogshit is the Dijiang Clan? What ancient Dijiang? When the tiger is away from the mountain, the monkey crowns itself king! He was nothing more than a defeated dog beneath Dou Tianzun's hand, utterly unqualified to even join my Heavenly Court!"
Jiang Lianyi let out a cold snort, her expression frosty as she looked down upon the elder with disdain, not a shred of emotion in her icy gaze.
"Yes, that is exactly the feeling!"
The Dijiang Clan elder slapped his thigh, pleasantly surprised that the two had nailed it on the first try.
"Splendid! It seems you master and disciple possess quite the talent for this."
A meticulous planner, the elder proceeded to brief them on various details concerning the Heavenly Court Cult. Lu Yang nodded repeatedly as he listened. It seemed the clan's intelligence on the Heavenly Court Cult was remarkably accurate, without a single error.
"All right. Two days from now, during the founding ceremony, proceed according to my arrangements. Until then, return to your original appearances and carry on as usual. Do not expose yourselves."
"Understood."
The elder nodded and went off to report their progress to Ancient Dijiang, leaving Lu Yang and Jiang Lianyi behind.
The two stood in silence for a brief moment before Jiang Lianyi broke the quiet.
"What do you say?"
Lu Yang held out his hands. "Don't ask me. I'm currently under Dijiang's control. I do whatever they tell me to do."
Jiang Lianyi nodded. "Same here."
Having already achieved their greatest harvest in Demon City, the two wandered no further. They returned to the inn to share the news with everyone, leaving the elders smacking their thighs in deep regret.
"Would you look at that, just look at that! Why don't I ever run into good fortune like this?!" The five elders looked as heartbroken as if Daoist Buyu had dropped dead.
Meng Jingzhou was filled with utter remorse as well. As the dignified Holy Son of the Heavenly Court Cult, he had actually been denied the chance to make an appearance on such a crucial occasion.
Lu Yang patted Meng Jingzhou's shoulder in pity. "It's all fate."
Third Senior Sister remained silent beside them. She belonged to the Dao Seeking Sect, not the Heavenly Court Cult.
...
Two days flashed by in the blink of an eye, and the founding ceremony formally commenced.
The towering perimeter wall erected around the Altar of Heaven had been dismantled. Viewed from afar, the altar radiated a brilliant white glow so dazzling it forced onlookers to squint.
"Is that glazed white jade? Such a massive piece?"
The visiting cultivators were deeply moved. Even Tribulation Transcendence grandmasters secretly gasped in shock. The Altar of Heaven was not assembled from stacked blocks of glazed white jade, but carved from a single, unbroken slab.
Calling it a priceless treasure was by no means an exaggeration!
The Altar of Heaven was divided into nine tiers, corresponding to the nine realms of cultivation.
The factions attending the founding ceremony were separated into two groups. One consisted of those invited by the Dijiang Clan, such as the Buddhist Kingdom and the East Sea Dragon Clan. The Dijiang Clan dared not neglect these powers, providing them with prime viewing seats laid out with spirit fruits and other spiritual delicacies.
The other group comprised rogue cultivators and uninvited minor factions. These smaller groups clustered around the perimeter of the Altar of Heaven, where their view depended entirely on luck.
As rogue cultivators, Lu Yang and Jiang Lianyi were temporarily separated from the elders.
Since Third Senior Sister was still gaining experiential training in the Demon Domain, she also stayed among the crowd of rogue cultivators.
"Old Qiu, we meet again!" the Great Elder greeted jovially with clasped hands. Seated to his left was none other than Qiu Jin'an.
In a public setting, Qiu Jin'an could hardly show irritation, so he could only return the greeting with a smile.
"Second Prince, so you are the one representing them this time!" The Great Elder stood up and called out across several sect delegations.
Great Xia had not sent the First Prince, Jiang Qun, but the Second Prince, Jiang Zhu.
Jiang Zhu stood tall and heroic, possessing notable accomplishments in both scholarly and martial pursuits. Rumor had it he harbored ambitions for the imperial throne.
Jiang Zhu clasped his hands, responding to the Great Elder with the etiquette of a junior.
"Daoist Ao Li, it has been two hundred years since we last met! Is the Old Dragon Emperor keeping well?" To the Great Elder's right sat Ao Li of the East Sea Dragon Clan, the envoy dispatched by the Old Dragon Emperor.
Dragon horns rested atop Ao Li's head, and he was adorned with gemstones from his horns down to his feet. The net worth of what he was wearing alone matched the entire life savings of an ordinary Body Integration cultivator.
Upon seeing the Great Elder seated beside him, Ao Li's expression turned somewhat sour. He gave a cold snort, clearly disinclined to chat.
"The Old Palace Lord is well."
"Look at you—acting so distant makes it seem as though there's bad blood between us! Could you have forgotten how I helped you survive your inner demon tribulation back then?"
At the mention of that incident, Ao Li's face darkened even further.
Two hundred years ago, he had been trapped in his inner demon tribulation. Dragons were by nature lustful, and he had succumbed specifically to the lust tribulation. The East Sea Dragon Clan had been utterly at a loss, not knowing what to do. As fortune would have it, the Great Elder had been visiting the East Sea Dragon Clan at the time and stepped forward. Through pills and acupuncture, he forcibly rendered Ao Li impotent, enabling him to pass the tribulation.
Back then, the inner demon had manifested as all kinds of stunning beauties to seduce him, but he had simply lacked the ability to respond, leaving even the inner demon bewildered as to what to do.
Afterward, Ao Li consulted renowned physicians across the realm, spending a full century before he was finally cured and capable of marital relations once more.
Being a broad-minded man, the Great Elder paid Ao Li's sullen attitude no mind and turned to greet Master Chenyuan, the envoy from the Buddhist Kingdom seated next to Ao Li.
"Master Chenyuan, it has been fifty years since our paths crossed. How have you been of late?"
Master Chenyuan sat as steady as a mountain. Seeing the Great Elder calling out across the space, he chuckled, placed a single palm before his chest, and politely replied,
"Monks do not speak falsehoods. To be frank, I never expected to cross paths with Benefactor here. What wretched luck."
Chapter 609