Lu Yang even suspected that the senior brother who had shouted about the Taiji diagram was a shill hired by Old Meng.
Jiang Lianyi watched in wonder and amazement. In ancient times, she had witnessed the cultivation philosophies of countless prodigies and heroes, yet this was the very first time she had ever heard of a Taiji diagram made of pure yang and pure yang. Was this what cultivation philosophies had evolved into after three hundred thousand years?
No wonder the Phoenix Clan was worse off than the human race nowadays; their thinking simply wasn’t as advanced.
While the other phenomena were paid for out of Meng Jingzhou’s pocket, the pure yang Taiji diagram formed by two Nascent Souls was a genuine, undeniable visual phenomenon.
Lu Yang felt fortunate that no visual phenomena had appeared when he formed his Nascent Soul. If there had been one, it would probably have been his Invincible Nascent Soul beating the daylights out of him.
He would have lost face entirely.
Oh, wait, that was Young Cult Master Lu losing face. It had nothing to do with him.
Lost in thought, Jiang Lianyi noticed another unusual detail about Meng Jingzhou. “This is the first time I’ve seen someone with two Nascent Souls.”
Curious, Lu Yang asked, “Did no cultivator in ancient times ever form two Nascent Souls?”
Jiang Lianyi shook her head gently. “During the Golden Core stage, a few people did cultivate two Golden Cores, but those two cores possessed different properties. When cultivating to the Nascent Soul stage, by the law of conservation of yin and yang, they would merge into a single Golden Core before shattering the core to form the nascent soul, culminating in a single Nascent Soul.”
“Do you know why the Nascent Soul stage isn’t simply called the Infant stage, but has the character ‘Yuan’ in front of it?”
“Please enlighten me, Senior.”
“‘Yuan’ signifies origin, first, and primary. To put it simply, the Nascent Soul stage means the Primary Infant stage.”
“And so?”
“And so this kid surnamed Meng isn’t in the Nascent Soul stage right now—he’s in the Second Soul stage.”
Lu Yang’s eyelid twitched slightly. Senior Lianyi’s naming sense was truly a match for the Immortal Fairy’s.
The Immortal Fairy nodded inside his spiritual space. “The Second Soul stage is a great name! Perfectly accurate to reality!”
Lu Yang: “...”
At the very least, call it the Dual Soul stage or something.
He didn’t care what realm Meng Jingzhou’s state was called, but he possessed dual Nascent Souls himself.
*Whoosh!* The two Nascent Souls flew back into the cave abode. The various phenomena dissolved into petals, showering the area in an extraordinarily beautiful rain of blossoms.
With a smile on his lips, Meng Jingzhou pushed open the door of his cave abode, looking refreshed and invigorated. At a glance, he appeared thoroughly delighted with his breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage.
Only Lu Yang knew he was delighted that his performance had concluded without a hitch.
“Junior Brother Meng, congratulations! Shattering the core and forming the nascent soul—your future is limitless!”
“Two Nascent Souls is utterly unheard of! Junior Brother Meng has made history today! We must toast to this!”
“Congratulations to Senior Brother Meng on attaining the Nascent Soul! We shall certainly look up to Senior Brother Meng as our role model and strive forward with all our might!”
“You flatter me, you flatter me! Senior brothers, senior sisters, junior brothers, junior sisters, you exaggerate far too much. I am merely an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator and hardly deserve such extravagant praise.”
Though he claimed not to deserve it, Meng Jingzhou was practically beaming with joy inside.
Only after the crowd had mostly dispersed did Lu Yang and Jiang Lianyi walk over.
“Old Lu, you’re here! Did you see my performance just now? That’s what you get for breaking through early—you missed out on this kind of grand treatment, didn’t you?” Meng Jingzhou flaunted smugly in front of Lu Yang.
*Serves you right for lacking a conscience and breaking through ahead of me.*
Noticing Jiang Lianyi beside Lu Yang, his expression shifted slightly, and he hurriedly bowed. “Greetings, Senior Lianyi.”
Although Jiang Lianyi had disguised her appearance, Meng Jingzhou was no fool. The woman walking alongside Lu Yang right now had to be Jiang Lianyi.
Hearing Meng Jingzhou’s words, Old Horse sprinted over on all fours and spoke in human tongue: “Greetings to the Phoenix Ancestor!”
The legendary Phoenix Ancestor! The number one figure beneath the Demon Celestials! He had believed he would never have the fortune to behold the Phoenix Ancestor in this lifetime, never imagining he would see her right here!
“Holy crap, Old Horse, you can talk?!” Having known him for so many years, this was the first time Meng Jingzhou had ever heard Old Horse speak.
Jiang Lianyi glanced at Old Horse. “Demon King tier. Is he this kid’s Dao Protector?”
Old Horse didn’t dare conceal anything and laid it all bare. “Entrusted by my elder brother to ensure no one beats him to death before he returns home to be beaten to death by my brother.”
Meng Jingzhou: “...”
*Dad, aren’t you holding a bit too much of a grudge? I’ve almost forgotten what I even did.*
Fortunately, Meng Jingzhou wasn’t one to hold grudges. He promptly tossed his father’s grudge against him to the back of his mind and turned to discuss his Nascent Soul stage with Lu Yang.
“Congratulations, Old Meng. Senior Lianyi said this was the first time she had ever seen someone with dual Nascent Souls—an unprecedented feat. So you’re not in the Nascent Soul stage now, you’re in the Dual Soul stage.”
Meng Jingzhou badly wanted to ask what kind of lousy name that was, but considering it had been coined by the Phoenix Ancestor and that she was standing right there, he wouldn’t dare complain even if lent a mountain of courage.
“...A fine name.”
“How is it? Now that you’ve reached the Nascent Soul stage, do you feel any unusual changes?” Lu Yang asked enthusiastically. With two babies in him, it had to be different from an ordinary Nascent Soul stage.
“Strength goes without saying—that definitely went up. But most importantly, I can feel a change in my blood.”
“A change in your blood? What kind of change?”
Meng Jingzhou straightened his face and declared solemnly, “It enhances virility.”
“...Are there any other changes?” Lu Yang looked at Meng Jingzhou with a bizarre expression. Old Meng wasn’t far off from becoming like Tang Monk’s flesh at this rate.
“There probably are, but I haven't discovered them yet. I need to explore it step by step.”
With Lu Yang’s Invincible Nascent Soul, the Immortal Fairy had paved the way, allowing him to understand its functions directly. Meng Jingzhou, however, had no precedent to consult and could only figure things out through gradual research.
“What about you? What’s your Nascent Soul like?”
At the mention of this, Lu Yang perked up. “My Nascent Soul was personally guided by an ancient immortal. It’s known as the Invincible Nascent Soul! It can deploy into combat automatically, executing the most optimal techniques at the most opportune moments and using the exact right amount of power to defeat the enemy. Even if I were to fight it as an opponent, I would fall short!”
Meng Jingzhou drew a sharp breath. Old Lu’s Nascent Soul sounded terrifyingly formidable, on an entirely different level compared to his own.
“All right, you’ve just broken through and need to stabilize your realm. Senior Lianyi and I won’t disturb you any longer.”
“Take care.”
Lu Yang said his goodbyes and headed for the Scripture Pavilion with Jiang Lianyi.
Standing in front of the Scripture Pavilion was Senior Sister Zhou Lulu, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time. As always, Zhou Lulu had her head buried in a book, utterly engrossed.
“Senior Sister Zhou, reading again?” Lu Yang greeted with a smile.
“Oh, Junior Brother Lu, long time no see.” Seeing that it was Lu Yang, Zhou Lulu let out a sigh of relief.
“I heard you spent the past six months in the Demon Domain?” Zhou Lulu looked at Lu Yang with deep envy. She had always wanted to travel outside, but due to her shyness around strangers, she rarely left the sect, let alone ventured into an entirely unfamiliar place like the Demon Domain.
“Senior Sister Zhou, you could actually take a stroll around the outer fringes of the Demon Domain. It’s very effective for boosting confidence.”
“No, no, I’m fine staying in the sect. And this is...?” Zhou Lulu noticed the unfamiliar female cultivator beside Lu Yang, who radiated an imposing aura.
According to the rules, outsiders were not permitted inside the Scripture Pavilion.
“This is a guest invited by Eldest Senior Sister, who wanted to tour the Scripture Pavilion. Here is the pass approved by Eldest Senior Sister,” Lu Yang explained.
Seeing that there was a pass from Eldest Senior Sister, Zhou Lulu said nothing more.
“Go on in, then. Just remember not to damage the books.”
“Understood.”
The two made their way to the second floor of the Scripture Pavilion, where cultivation methods for the Golden Core and Nascent Soul stages were kept. Back when Lu Yang compiled the Golden Core volume of the *Art of Illuminating the Heart and Seeing Nature*, he had stayed here for a full month before finishing it.
“Senior, feel free to browse as you like. I’ll go study some cultivation methods first,” Lu Yang said, taking his leave of Jiang Lianyi for the moment.
After Lu Yang departed, Jiang Lianyi examined the novel cultivation arts with keen interest, sensing the rapid and profound changes brought about by the passing eras.
“*Great Sun Dharma Body Art*, *Crane Cry Art*, *Farming Art*... Hmm? Why is this book hidden away?”
She noticed that the manuals on the lowest shelf on the eastern side saw very little traffic—likely the most common techniques on the market, as a layer of dust coated the covers.
Brushing those manuals aside, she discovered a hidden compartment concealed behind them, extremely difficult to detect.
Jiang Lianyi opened the hidden compartment and found a single book tucked inside.
“*Dragon Phoenix Transformation*?”
Chapter 630