Senior Brother Dai, Guess Who This Is

Old Horse watched with slight surprise as the youth climbed into the carriage, wondering who he was and why Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou were bringing him back to the sect. Was he a promising seed they had just discovered? Even so, he should have to pass the entrance test before he could join the Dao Seeking Sect. *Forget it, what does that have to do with me? I'm just a carriage-puller.* Old Horse stopped overthinking it and focused peacefully on pulling the carriage. "Don't worry, Grandmaster. We will definitely get the Golden Cicada Slough back for you." "We just received word that the Luoshui Guards—cultivators working for the Great Xia authorities—have already captured True Monarch Guanqi." "So fast?" Daoist Xiantian was quite astonished. *How do you two know that?* "However, dealing with the return of stolen goods is best left to our sect seniors. We two juniors carry little weight, so it wouldn't be appropriate for us to step forward." Daoist Xiantian nodded. That made sense. "Grandmaster, you might not know this, but the sect's atmosphere today is quite different from your era. It's much more open-minded." "Currently, the sect isn't managed just by the elders; several disciples are involved as well." Old Horse took only a single day to haul the three of them all the way to the Dao Seeking Sect, leaving Daoist Xiantian thoroughly amazed. Even if he were traveling at full tilt, he could barely match this speed. Oh, wait, that wasn't right. Considering his tendency to get lost, ten days wouldn't even guarantee he'd reach the Dao Seeking Sect. That was why he had previously wanted to work hard and save up money to ride a flying boat. What hadn't crossed his mind, however, was that he was currently an unregistered resident, which meant he couldn't board a flying boat anyway. With some fellow disciples returning from their assignments, the Dao Seeking Sect was slightly livelier than when the two had left, though it had not yet returned to its usual bustle; some disciples were still out conducting the character observation missions. "Whoa, the Dao Seeking Sect has gotten so big," Daoist Xiantian marveled. Setting aside how many times larger it was compared to when it was first founded, the mountain gate alone was vastly more imposing than before. Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou brought Daoist Xiantian to the entrance of the Mission Hall. "Grandmaster, please wait here for a moment. As you know, your identity is rather special. If we bring you right in, we're afraid the sect leadership won't be able to process it all at once." "How about this? We two will head inside first to explain the whole story from start to finish, and then you can come in." "All right, I'll leave it to your arrangement." Daoist Xiantian chuckled cheerfully. Indeed, such a matter would require time for people to accept. ... A thick stack of mission reports lay before Dai Bufan, detailing the results of the character evaluations. The mortals selected for character observation had all been screened by him, and facts proved his eye was sharp: the majority of these observed mortals met the Dao Seeking Sect's standards. "This kid who went to visit someone in prison isn't bad—very filial. I wonder if he'll come to the Dao Seeking Sect." "This young girl isn't bad either. She stumbled upon a storage ring by chance and used it for farming—clever girl. It's just that her clan's atmosphere isn't great." "I just wonder how those two rascals, Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, are doing," Dai Bufan muttered. He felt somewhat on edge, anxious that the two might have stirred up some fresh nonsense again. "There shouldn't be any problem. I haven't received intelligence about Tribulation Transcendence stage battles erupting anywhere recently." A faint smile touched the corner of Dai Bufan's mouth. After his recent experiences, he had thoroughly steeled himself mentally. Even if those two caused trouble, triggered a battle between Tribulation Transcendence experts or half-immortals, or brought back one or two ancient half-immortals, he wouldn't react too strongly. Just as Dai Bufan was muttering to himself, he heard a polite knock at the door. "Senior Brother Dai, we're back." "Come in." The wooden door opened, and Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou walked in, high-spirited and beaming. "Are you done with your observations?"