"Hmm? Old Horse, what are you doing?"
Meng Jingzhou saw Old Horse guarding the entrance to the cave abode, sitting on the ground with its two hind legs crossed and its two front legs resting on its knees, white vapor continuously puffing in and out of its nostrils.
"Are you cultivating?" It was Meng Jingzhou's first time seeing Old Horse cultivate, so he was not entirely sure.
Old Horse cast a sidelong glance at Meng Jingzhou. In the past, it had felt that being at the Body Integration stage was pretty good—after all, as long as old monsters of the Tribulation Transcendence stage stayed out of sight, it was an invincible existence.
Now it knew better. Three years had passed since it had pulled Meng Jingzhou away from the Meng Family, and during that time, every enemy they had encountered had exceeded its capabilities.
Either there were too many of them, or their cultivation was too high.
In any case, not a single one was someone it could handle.
Only that clay statue it had encountered not long ago had given it a slight sense of comfort, reassuring it that it truly was an almighty Body Integration expert capable of roaming the world unhindered.
If it didn't start cultivating diligently now, who knew which one of them would end up being the Dao Protector for the other in the future.
...
"What a bustling street." Daoist Xiantian and Daoist Lord Hanhai arrived at the market street. Since having two unfamiliar faces appear in the Dao Seeking Sect looked far too out of place, Daoist Lord Hanhai cast a Dao technique to conceal their presence.
Daoist Lord Hanhai thought to himself that he had finally found a place the Founder hadn't visited yet.
He had just made a trip to Prison Peak to confirm that Nightmare Supreme and Void Supreme had indeed been captured, and had listened to the child Grandmaster, Tang Shengyi, ramble on and complain for half the day, saying things like there were too many half-immortals and Tribulation Transcendence cultivators imprisoned on Prison Peak, and that as a mere Tribulation Transcendence cultivator himself, he could barely keep the lid on it anymore.
After several twists and turns, the two finally arrived at the market street.
Passing through the prosperous street, they moved like passersby detached from the world; neither the disciples of the Dao Seeking Sect nor the experts hidden within the market street noticed their presence.
"Mutton skewers! Fresh, authentic mutton skewers!"
Daoist Xiantian twitched his nose as he caught the sizzling aroma of mutton fat dripping onto True Fire.
"Smells wonderful."
If he were at the Body Integration stage, he would have long moved past the need to satisfy bodily appetites and wouldn't be tempted by mere mutton skewers.
But he was currently a mortal, and mortals needed to eat.
"Founder, would you like to have some?" Daoist Lord Hanhai asked considerately.
"Gentlemen, care to step inside and have some mutton skewers?" the person hawking outside the barbecue shop asked with a smile.
"We'll have... Wait, you can see us?" Daoist Lord Hanhai answered reflexively on Daoist Xiantian's behalf, only to suddenly realize something was wrong.
They were currently maintaining a Dao technique; no one should have been able to notice them.
Unless the other person was at the Tribulation Transcendence stage!
Where would a third Tribulation Transcendence cultivator come from in the Dao Seeking Sect?!
Daoist Lord Hanhai snapped his head up, glaring at the barker—a soul body, and one with the fluctuations of a rudimentary Dao fruit!
"A half-immortal?"
"Who are you?!"
"Me? I used to be the Immortal Celestial, and now I'm the owner of this barbecue shop and slaughterhouse."
"Immortal Celestial? You're from the Immortal Cult!" Daoist Lord Hanhai grew even more alert. To think the Immortal Cult possessed a half-immortal expert, and had even slipped into their Dao Seeking Sect!
Looking at it this way, among the Four Great Demonic Cults, the Immortal Cult was the most powerful!
Daoist Lord Hanhai channeled his rudimentary Dao fruit, preparing to strike.
"Wait, wait! You've got it all wrong! I was captured and brought to the Dao Seeking Sect!" the Immortal Celestial hastily explained. He had recognized the other man at a glance as Daoist Lord Hanhai—he looked identical to the statue.
"What's going on?" Daoist Lord Hanhai frowned and retracted his rudimentary Dao fruit. He had been in seclusion for three hundred years, so why did it feel like tens of thousands of years had passed? It was as if earth-shattering changes had swept through the Dao Seeking Sect while he was kept completely in the dark.
If he were to investigate the timing of these changes closely, he would realize that the sect hadn't transformed over those three hundred years—all these changes had unfolded over the span of just three years.
The Immortal Celestial ushered the two patriarchs into the barbecue shop, telling Master Liu and Master Gao to bring out their signature skills and serve up all their best fare.
"If you want to know how I came to your Dao Seeking Sect, we have to start from the very beginning. It all began when disciples from your Dao Seeking Sect went out on a mission to slay a tiger demon..."
Chapter 739