Junior Brother Gu, What Did You Learn from This?

"Senior Brother Dai, wake up! Wake up..." Vaguely, Dai Bufan heard someone calling out to him. Who was calling him? It was so noisy. Dai Bufan forced his eyes open with difficulty and saw Lu Yang's large face right in front of his own, gazing at him with eager concern. Seeing that he was awake, Lu Yang pulled his face back a little. Dai Bufan shook his head, feeling as though he had forgotten something. What had happened earlier? Why had he passed out? "Ah, Junior Brother Lu. What is it?" Lu Yang revealed a line of figures behind him, all bundled up like zongzi. Showing them off to Dai Bufan, Lu Yang smiled a little sheepishly. "Senior Brother Dai, I just went out for a casual stroll and accidentally captured the Four Ancient Celestials, all the slumbering ancient half-immortals, the founding Emperor Qian, the founding Emperor Yu, the first Imperial Preceptor, and the First-Generation Emperor Xia! Now our Dao Seeking Sect is guaranteed to win the struggle of the Golden Age!" "What?!" Dai Bufan snapped his eyes wide open and bolted upright, his eyes round as saucers, only to see Lu Yang's detestable face right there. He stared blankly at Lu Yang, Meng Jingzhou, and the others. The Four Ancient Celestials bundled like zongzi were nowhere to be seen. "So it was a dream... Just a dream..." A chill ran down Dai Bufan's spine. Recalling the scene from the dream, he felt immense relief over the false alarm. The Great Elder specialized in dreamscapes, and Dai Bufan knew a few dream spells himself; he hadn't had a nightmare in centuries. "Senior Brother Dai, are you alright?" Lu Yang asked with concern, thinking to himself: *Senior Brother Dai, your Dao heart really isn't up to snuff. This is barely anything. If I weren't worried you'd end up on the kill list too, I would've told you Gray Doudou's identity.* As his memories gradually returned, Dai Bufan recalled what Lu Yang had said before he fainted. Lu Yang, you kid can truly stir up trouble! Everyone said there were no half-immortals in the East Sea, yet the moment you went, not only did half-immortals appear, but two of them died! As for an immortal battle, one hadn't broken out in three hundred thousand years! "Any single event that took place in the East Sea would be enough to go down in history, and now you're telling me every single one of them was related to you?!" Catching praise so unexpectedly from Dai Bufan, Lu Yang felt oddly bashful. "It wasn't quite as amazing as you make it sound..." Dai Bufan forcibly steadied his Dao heart. "Tell me properly from the beginning. How did going to the East Sea for two days of fun turn into triggering an immortal battle?" As the primary participant, Lu Yang recounted most of the events, while Meng Jingzhou and the others chimed in with details. Only then did Dai Bufan understand the full picture. According to what the five told him, what happened in the East Sea really couldn't be blamed on Lu Yang—it was purely a matter of luck. From an intelligence standpoint, this was priceless information worth more than gold. Dai Bufan dared say that while the events in the East Sea had shocked the cultivation world, only Lu Yang and his companions knew the true ins and outs; everyone else had merely seen the surface. From the perspective of the Mission Hall manager, Dai Bufan only wished Lu Yang could take his post instead. Dai Bufan held his forehead, feeling a headache coming on, and shooed the five away like flies. "Alright, alright, I get it now. Just leave me alone so I can have some peace and quiet." He needed time to digest the intelligence from the East Sea. After the five departed, Dai Bufan sat cross-legged to steady his breathing. The events of the East Sea played continuously on a loop in his mind, until finally he let out an enraged roar. Even if it was luck, wasn't this absurdly over the top?! *Boom—* In his fury, Dai Bufan's aura surged into the sky, breaking through in one fell swoop to the middle Body Integration stage! *** By this time, a month had passed since the Dao Seeking Sect entrance trial, and the four newly accepted disciples had all formally apprenticed under various elders. Daoist Xiantian studied under Daoist Lord Hanhai, Gu Junye under the Great Elder, Zhou Xing'er under Old Ba, and Zhuang Ping under the Fourth Elder. With the Great Elder lying in who-knew-which coffin, Senior Brother Dai had no choice but to take on the master's responsibilities, teaching Gu Junye in an open clearing in the back mountain. It was a good chance to clear his head. "Our lineage oversees both the Mission Hall and disciplinary punishment. The most crucial rule among all of them is not to stir up trouble. Since you have joined my lineage, you must obey the rules and keep firmly in mind never to make trouble." "Yes, Senior Brother." Gu Junye sat obediently across from him, listening attentively. "If we speak of counterexamples, the most typical one is that Lu Yang kid. Every time he goes out on a mission, he is bound to cause trouble. At first it wasn't too extreme—just joining the Immortal Cult and such. But later, he attended the Qingzhou celebration and ran into two ancient Body Integration stage cultivators and an ancient Tribulation Transcendence stage cultivator. After that, he went to Huangzhou and encountered three ancient Tribulation Transcendence stage cultivators. Just recently, he returned from the East Sea, and what happened there is inextricably tied to him as well." Dai Bufan counted off Lu Yang's bizarre affinity with high-level cultivators; every single harvest Lu Yang brought back scared him half to death. "Junior Brother Gu, tell me, what enlightenment have you gained from this?" Gu Junye's eyes lit up with glowing admiration. "A real man should strive to be just like him!" Dai Bufan: "..." Was it too late to exchange him for a different junior brother? *** When Lu Yang returned to Tianmen Peak, he saw Eldest Senior Sister and Ao Ling drinking tea. Ao Ling sat with one leg crossed casually over the other, looking thoroughly carefree. "Our sect already has Senior Fairy and Senior Lianyi as guest elders," Yun Zhi said. "I wonder if Senior Ao Ling would be interested in becoming a guest elder of our sect as well?" *Damn it, Lianyi beat me to it again!* Ao Ling felt deep regret. Why hadn't she been the first to awaken instead of Jiang Lianyi? One step behind meant falling behind at every turn. Even if she became a guest elder now, Jiang Lianyi would still stand between her and Elder Sister Immortal. "What perks do I get for becoming a guest elder?" "Naturally, there are many benefits to being a guest elder. For instance, if Senior takes a liking to anything belonging to our sect, you may feel free to take it." "Oh? Such a good thing exists?" Ao Ling turned her gaze toward Lu Yang, who had just arrived, wearing a look of keen amusement that gave Lu Yang an ominous premonition. "Junior Brother is not a thing," Yun Zhi reminded her. "However, our sect has captured several half-immortals and confiscated their possessions, which are currently stored in our treasury. Senior may choose an item you like from among them." With Lu Yang acting as bait to hook an entire haul of half-immortals, the Dao Seeking Sect's reserves were now richer than even the Dragon Clan's. "Alternatively, by contributing to our sect, you can earn contribution points and redeem them for a 'One-Day Sect Master Experience' to temporarily become our Sect Master. Everyone in the sect must obey the Acting Sect Master's commands." "Even guest elders are no exception?" "Guest elders are no exception." Ao Ling slapped her thigh. "Count me in!" "Then can I earn contribution points too?" Hearing Yun Zhi's explanation, the Immortal Fairy suddenly remembered she hadn't earned contribution points in a long time. Yun Zhi said, "Senior Fairy has made indelible contributions to our sect. Naturally, you have earned contribution points." "Then I want to redeem a 'One-Day Sect Master Experience'!" The Immortal Fairy's eyes sparkled. Yun Zhi was not surprised. "How long would Fairy like to redeem? One year or two?" With the Dao Seeking Sect capturing half-immortals and the Immortal Fairy contributing so much, her contribution points could only be described as astronomical. "One year is enough." Yun Zhi nodded. "In that case, starting from today—" "Wait! This immortal is only redeeming it in advance. I don't want to be the Acting Sect Master right now." The Immortal Fairy recalled that the last two times she had immediately become Acting Sect Master, she had been tasked with organizing either the Five Elements Sect exchange or the Dao Seeking Sect's 120,000-year anniversary celebration. Both had been fraught with immense difficulties, and if not for having her cheat code Lu Yang, she really wouldn't have gotten through them easily. This time, she would pick an opportune moment before stepping in as Acting Sect Master. Now it was Yun Zhi's turn to look astonished. She had not expected that, without her noticing, the Immortal Fairy's intellect had made a sudden, massive leap.