Dao Seeking Sect Master Daoist Buyu: author, educator. Author of works such as *Dragon Phoenix Transformation*, *Two Thousand Years of Changing Prison Environments in the Great Xia Dynasty*, *Size Manipulation (Localized Edition)*, and *Legend of the Dao Seeking Sect*. He took four disciples: Yun Zhi, the strongest in the contemporary world; Ye Zijin, the enemy of the Buddhist Kingdom; Gan Tian, the Demonic Sound Heavenly Maiden; and Lu Yang, the Young Cult Master of the Heavenly Court Cult. His pedagogical achievements are immortal throughout the ages and shall be remembered by history.
Due to an indecent matter, an altercation arose between him and the Phoenix Ancient Ancestor. The Phoenix Ancient Ancestor struck out with full force, and Daoist Buyu proved no match for her. He passed away at over two thousand years of age—a delightful turn of events celebrated throughout the realm.
...
The flow of time resumed.
Beaten half to death, Daoist Buyu and Clan Head Jin were tossed onto the rooftop by Jiang Lianyi so they wouldn't trip up passersby.
Daoist Buyu was mostly baffled. Just who on earth had spilled the beans about *Dragon Phoenix Transformation*?
Big Brother, Second Brother, Third Brother, Little Zhi...
The suspect list was too broad, and all of them had motives. It was simply too hard to guess.
Clan Head Jin felt thoroughly wronged. *Little Ancestor was the one being the homewrecker, so why beat me? Just because I look easy to bully?*
Judging by the Phoenix Ancestor's scattered remarks earlier, could the Dao Seeking Sect have been established by the ancient Heavenly Court?
That would explain why the Phoenix Ancestor was a guest elder of the Dao Seeking Sect.
Yet judging by Big Brother Buyu's expression, he didn't know about this at all. Could this be a secret unknown even to the sect master?
This was a supreme secret! How terrifying the Dao Seeking Sect was—on the surface, merely one of the Five Great Immortal Sects of the contemporary world, yet in truth that was nothing more than a disguise presented to the mortal world.
A disguise kept up for a hundred thousand years—just thinking about it was frightening.
Maybe he should persuade Little Ancestor to stop fighting all alone and either seek refuge with Immortal Kirin or simply defect to the Heavenly Court Cult.
Jiang Lianyi glanced at Clan Head Jin, who was letting his imagination run wild, not paying him much mind.
With the brand left by her rudimentary Dao fruit, no matter what he knew, he would never be able to speak of it. There would be no leaks.
...
Chunjiang City.
Lu Yang sat beside Shi Chan, waiting for business to walk into their net.
Their luck was good today; before long, a customer came knocking.
A handsome young man approached Shi Chan with a request: "Master, do you know how to pray for rain?"
"Amitabha. This poor monk naturally knows rainmaking techniques."
"Then could you help me make it pour tomorrow evening? The price is negotiable." The handsome young man stared fervently at Shi Chan, overjoyed to have finally encountered a master capable of bringing rain.
"This poor monk must first inquire: for what purpose does Almsgiver desire rain?"
Faced with the Buddhist master, the handsome young man did not dare lie, explaining honestly, "Tomorrow I have a date with an affectionate younger sister. I was thinking that if a heavy downpour suddenly broke out in the evening and neither of us had an umbrella, we would definitely get soaked.
"That way, I'd have an excuse—under the pretext of changing clothes—to bring her to a nearby inn, making it much easier for things to progress from there."
Shi Chan pressed his palms together and admonished, "Please return, Almsgiver. Such a deed is wicked. I urge Almsgiver to halt your steps in time."
Refusing to give up, the handsome young man pleaded, "Master, just name a number. No matter how many spirit stones, I can pay!"
"This is not a matter of spirit stones. Please return, Almsgiver."
Seeing Shi Chan's resolute attitude, the handsome young man had no choice but to leave in disappointment, off to find other masters capable of summoning clouds and bringing rain.
"Fairy, do you know how to summon clouds and bring rain?"
"Who doesn't know that? Although summoning clouds and bringing rain is a Dragon Clan specialty, the principle is very simple. Even you could learn it."
"How so?"
"The simplest way is to fill a storage ring with water, fly up into the sky, drop the storage ring into a watering can, and activate the ring through the watering can. That counts as rain!
"If you feel one watering can isn't enough, you can just grab a few more."
Lu Yang nodded. "That really does sound pretty simple."
It didn't even require a spell, so there was no danger of learning it crooked. The only flaw was that it went through storage rings and watering cans too fast.
"All rainmaking techniques evolved on the basis of this principle. Take Immortal Jiuchong, for instance. When he achieved immortality, sweet dew fell from the heavens, golden lotuses sprang from the earth, the Sounds of the Great Dao rang out, along with all sorts of messy phenomena. The commotion was enormous, as if he were terrified people wouldn't know he was the very first to become an immortal.
"Later, he told us the truth. The so-called sweet dew falling from the heavens was actually just him packing sweet dew into watering cans, and once he became an immortal, he poured it over himself with all his might.
"As for the golden lotuses springing from the earth, he planted lotus seeds in the ground and forced them to grow with the *Tree Planting Art*. Cultivating those golden lotuses cost him plenty of heavenly treasures just to successfully mutate the green lotuses.
"The Sounds of the Great Dao were a bit trickier. He secretly collected the calls and cries of various races and mixed the sounds together so no one could tell what the Sounds of the Great Dao actually were—they only thought the noise sounded incredibly profound.
"To put on so many phenomena, he nearly cleaned out his entire life savings. Pure vanity and self-inflicted torment. Look at this immortal—when I became an immortal, there wasn't a single phenomenon. Simple and clean."
Lu Yang: "..."
*Immortal Jiuchong, you heard that. The Immortal Fairy was the one who aired your dirty laundry. Every grievance has its author, every debt its debtor—don't come after me, I'm just an innocent bystander.*
A short while later, a young man dressed as a scholar walked over, though he looked rather haggard.
"Master, can you exorcise ghosts?"
Shi Chan nodded. This was Buddhism's specialty. "Naturally, I can. Is Almsgiver's home haunted?"
"Perhaps, but I have never actually seen one."
"What is going on?"
With a troubled face, the scholar said, "Every night when I am sound asleep, I always feel that someone is beside me. Yet when I open my eyes and look, there is nothing there. This situation has been going on for a long time.
"I have also sought help from several masters. Either they returned empty-handed, or they left behind protective talismans when leaving, but none of it worked.
"I even tried reporting it to the authorities. Reporting it did work—whenever the constables came, the ghost stopped appearing. But as soon as the constables left, I would feel someone beside me again at night. The constables can't guard me every single night.
"Yesterday, tormented by the ghost and lacking energy, I went to a friend and bought a three-hundred-year-old ganoderma to nourish my body. That friend who sold me the ganoderma recommended you, Master."
"May I ask who this friend selling ganoderma is...?"
"Big Brother Zhong Ming! He said he just sought you out for an exorcism a few days ago."
"I see. Indeed that happened."
Shi Chan stood up and packed his belongings. "In that case, this poor monk and my two senior brothers shall go take a look."
"That is wonderful!" The scholar was overjoyed.
"I have yet to ask Almsgiver's name?"
"This humble one is Xu An."
"So it is Almsgiver Xu."
Seeing that there was finally serious business to attend to, Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou also packed up and followed behind Shi Chan to see what the situation was.
Along the way, Xu An briefly explained his circumstances. He was a scholar with a wife. His parents had passed away early, leaving behind a massive fortune that allowed him to live without worry. His greatest wish was to study the books of the sages diligently, place first in the imperial examinations as the Zhuangyuan, and bring honor to his ancestors.
Xu An led the three through several alleyways. "We're here."
Xu An's residence was not the least bit smaller than Zhong Ming's. Thinking about it, anyone who could afford a three-hundred-year-old ganoderma that had survived a lightning tribulation was bound to possess substantial wealth.
Chapter 666