If a talented young prodigy were to join the Qiankun Purple Cloud Palace, blessed by natural talent, diligent effort, and serendipity, they would cultivate all the way to the Nascent Soul stage, unite the other two major sects, collect all three tokens, open the secret realm, receive the teachings passed down by Patriarch Zhang Dao, obtain an incomplete Tribulation Transcendence stage cultivation manual from a super-rank sect, and smoothly cultivate to the Soul Formation stage.
If their luck held out even further, they could join that super-rank sect, complete the manual, soar straight into the clouds, and become a Tribulation Transcendence powerhouse.
Of course, the prerequisite for all of this was that there was an actual young prodigy, rather than an ancient monster like Venerable Wuji masquerading as a youth.
Pulling his thoughts back, Lu Yang watched the scene before him in silence.
Zhang Dao knelt on the ground, kowtowing with all his might. "Forgive me! I shouldn't have stolen anything! Venerable, please be magnanimous and spare me!"
Never in his wildest dreams had Zhang Dao imagined that merely stealing a cultivation manual—and after so much time had passed—would bring an eminent figure like Venerable Wuji knocking right on his door.
Zhang Dao had barely lived a hundred-odd years. Before he had even begun cultivating, Venerable Wuji was already a high-and-mighty Tribulation Transcendence expert, a peerless powerhouse forever far beyond his reach.
Was there something wrong with this cultivation manual? Did it harbor some secret capable of tempting even a Tribulation Transcendence master?
Zhang Dao could not fathom it.
Venerable Wuji sighed softly. "Alright, get up. Your true body is already dead, and what remains here is nothing more than a wisp of divine sense. What purpose is there in punishing a wisp of divine sense with so little time left?"
"Thank you, Venerable!" Zhang Dao knocked his head three more times before finally rising to his feet.
"However, there is one matter that requires your cooperation."
"Whatever the Venerable commands, Zhang Dao will go through fire and water to accomplish it!"
"Tomorrow, I shall join the Qiankun Purple Cloud Palace. When I find an opportunity later to gather all three tokens, I'll return here to find you. When that time comes, pretend you don't recognize me, and pass that cultivation manual down to me."
Question marks popped up all over Zhang Dao's head. What Venerable Wuji was describing was far beyond his comprehension.
Yet he didn't dare ask questions, only nodding frantically in agreement.
"Wuji, you still want to see this through?" Venerable Qianjiao teased.
Hearing how Venerable Qianjiao addressed Venerable Wuji, Zhang Dao broke out in a cold sweat. Judging from her tone, this young girl was also an incredible heavyweight.
Venerable Wuji gave a cold snort. "Why not?"
He had just taken a beating from Lu Yang's Invincible Nascent Soul and found it hard to accept that reality. He needed to go to the Qiankun Purple Cloud Palace to rebuild his confidence.
The four of them exited the secret realm. Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou hurriedly bade farewell to the two powerhouses and beat a hasty retreat. Even from far away, they could still hear the two bickering.
"Why are you following me?"
"To see what an old fossil like you is going to do at the Qiankun Purple Cloud Palace."
Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou quickened their pace.
The two returned to the stables in the city and found Old Horse. Old Horse looked at them sideways.
Within Nine Dragon City, Old Horse possessed the highest cultivation. Where others couldn't sense the commotion outside the city, Old Horse had felt it with utmost clarity.
*What in the world is wrong with you two? Didn't you go out to recruit disciples and assess their character? Why were there auras of two Tribulation Transcendence cultivators radiating from the direction you left in?*
*Could you two spare a thought for my cultivation as your Dao Protector?*
"Why are you looking at me like that? It was all an accident," Meng Jingzhou said earnestly in self-defense, noticing Old Horse's suspicious gaze.
"Right, I can vouch for Old Meng," Lu Yang volunteered as a witness.
Old Horse rolled his eyes. *What good is the two of you vouching for each other?*
The two climbed into the carriage and sped out of Nine Dragon City. Pulling out their booklet, they drew an 'X' next to "Xie An" on the first page.
"Let me see... the closest one from here should be this person named Gu Junye, a native of Lintian City in Youzhou."
"The report says that Junior Brother Wei Nanfei encountered him in a private school while disguised as a teacher during a mission in Lintian City. Junior Brother Wei praised him for being calm and composed for his age, meticulous, thinking before acting, and having excellent academic results."
Wei Nanfei had entered the Dao Seeking Sect in the same intake as Lu Yang. He cultivated the Heaven-Burning Blood-Igniting Art. Although his talent wasn't quite on par with Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, out in the wider world he was a top-tier genius who had displayed great prowess in the tournament finals, taking first place in the late Foundation Establishment bracket.
After hearing this, Lu Yang analyzed, "In other words, this Gu Junye doesn't like to talk, likes to overthink, and hates physical activity?"
"You could put it that way."
Just as the two were about to continue studying the intel on Gu Junye, they felt the carriage shake and come to a halt.
"Old Horse, what's wrong?" Meng Jingzhou poked his head out and asked.
Old Horse let out a snort from his nostrils, gesturing for Meng Jingzhou to look up at the sky.
A cultured laugh drifted down from above.
"Junior Brother Meng, did Old Dai send you out too?" A young man in scholar's robes descended to greet them, having recognized the carriage.
"Senior Brother Ji?"
The newcomer was Fourth Elder's eldest disciple, Ji Hongwen, who was at the early Body Integration stage.
Hearing the commotion outside, Lu Yang poked his head out as well.
Ji Hongwen grinned when he saw Lu Yang. "Old Dai sent both of you out? Looks like the sect really has run out of people."
"Senior Brother Ji, what are you doing out here?"
Ji Hongwen waved the booklet in his hand. "Well, Old Dai said staying in the mountains all day isn't good for my cultivation, so he sent me out to assess the character of the people on the list as well."
"How many have you observed?"
"Just one, and I only just finished. He's quite a promising seedling. His father is a mortal and his mother was a cultivator, but his mother went missing when he was young, leaving behind only half a jade pendant as a clue. He and his father depended on each other to survive. He said he wants to cultivate diligently and become a great cultivator so he can use that half of a jade pendant to find his mother.
"When he said that, his eyes showed unyielding determination. His root bone is rather mediocre, though—three spiritual roots, barely meeting the sect's entry criteria.
"Seeing that the lad's filial piety was commendable, I thought I'd help him find his mother, so I examined the jade pendant closely.
"Wearing that half of a jade pendant long-term can enhance one's root bone and improve one's constitution. What's more, a cultivation manual is hidden inside, which can only be unlocked once the kid achieves Qi Induction.
"From that half of a jade pendant alone, I concluded that the boy's mother was no ordinary cultivator.
"Still, that was all I could figure out, and I couldn't locate her.
"Left with no choice, I had to take a trip to the Heavenly Strategy Sect and ask a friend there to help trace the cause and effect back to the source using a karmic divine ability to find his mother."
"So you just came back from the Heavenly Strategy Sect?" Lu Yang asked.
Ji Hongwen shook his head. "From the Heavenly Strategy Sect, I learned that the karmic origin of the jade pendant pointed to the Listen Ocean Sect, a first-rank sect in Yuzhou, so I went straight there.
"Only after arriving at the Listen Ocean Sect did I discover that the lad's mother was their Holy Maiden. Going against the sect's wishes, she secretly wed a mortal. In a fury, the Listen Ocean Sect captured the Holy Maiden and imprisoned her beneath the sect."
Meng Jingzhou had a sudden realization. "Then Senior Brother Ji, you must have taken decisive action, battled the Listen Ocean Sect Master, and rescued the Holy Maiden?"
Ji Hongwen looked at Meng Jingzhou with a puzzled expression. "No, I reported it to the authorities. The Listen Ocean Sect restricted someone's personal freedom, which constitutes the crime of unlawful detention. Naturally, that's a matter for the authorities to handle."
"Then... was the family of three reunited?"
This time, Ji Hongwen nodded. "They were reunited.
"After the authorities rescued the Holy Maiden, they arrested a batch of people from the Listen Ocean Sect, including the Sect Master and the Supreme Elder. I reckon they'll be locked up for a few hundred years.
"Upon investigation, they discovered that the half-pendant the kid was wearing was a prized treasure of the Listen Ocean Sect, stolen by the Holy Maiden. She committed the crime of theft, so she'll probably be locked up for a few hundred years too.
"And so, I just finished escorting the lad to the prison for a visitation.
"Before leaving, I told him that if he still wants to cultivate, he can come to the Dao Seeking Sect on the second day of the second lunar month next year to take the entrance examination. Who knows if he'll show up, though."
Chapter 699