Chapter 1004: I'll Try

The Zhongtian Emperor gazed at the spot where the dark figure had disappeared, his brow furrowed in silence. After a long while, he finally spoke.

“Eliminating one’s presence... could it be the Karmic Dao Fruit?”

As far as he knew, the second National Preceptor of Great Yu possessed a nascent form of the Karmic Dao Fruit, allowing them to do similar things. Other Half-Immortals couldn’t detect their movements.

If the dark figure possessed the Karmic Dao Fruit, then everything that had just happened made sense.

“The Karmic Dao Fruit? Yes, that’s certainly a possibility,” Sima nodded, agreeing with the Zhongtian Emperor. “Erasing karma allows one to enter and exit anywhere undetected.”

“What are you going to do?” Sima asked. The situation felt strange, yet on the other hand, a rare clue about the Temporal Dao Fruit had emerged. It would be difficult to justify not trying.

The Zhongtian Emperor remained silent for a moment, pondering, before finally making up his mind.

“I’ll give it a try.”

“Chuanwu, Qiaoqiao, are you adapting well to life here?”

After bringing Tang Chuanwu back to Wen Dao Sect, Lu Yang had either been undergoing fiery body tempering, participating in the tumultuous events of the Great Soybean Dynasty witnessing its rise and fall, or serving as Grand Tutor, improving the accuracy of the immortal’s vocabulary. He hadn't found time to visit Tang Chuanwu and his sister.

Lu Yang had arranged for the siblings to stay in an unoccupied wooden house at the foot of a mountain, a place of picturesque scenery and beautiful surroundings.

Tang Chuanwu, who was practicing his boxing, saw the long-unseen Master Lu appear. Wiping sweat from his brow with a towel, his expression was excited.

“Thank you, Master Lu, for bringing my sister and me here. We're very well adapted!”

“The masters here are all very kind. They often help us and even guide my boxing techniques.”

Tang Chuanwu's boxing skills had greatly improved, enough to be called a martial arts grandmaster in the outside world.

He hadn’t expected the masters of Wen Dao Sect to be so approachable. They weren't as inscrutable as the monks of Kaihuang Temple, speaking in riddles, nor were they as arrogant and dismissive as the cultivators he usually encountered.

In fact, any random master from Wen Dao Sect could potentially be stronger than Master Duanchen.

And among them all, Master Lu was undoubtedly the strongest.

Tang Chuanwu had heard the Wen Dao Sect masters speak of Master Lu’s legendary experiences, and he yearned for such accomplishments. For instance, challenging and defeating a Spirit Transformation stage cultivator while still in the Foundation Establishment stage, a feat unprecedented in history that no past prodigy had managed.

Another example was Master Lu’s outstanding contributions to the sect. He had served as acting Sect Master of Wen Dao Sect for a day, and after his tenure, he stood on the arena, accepting successive challenges from the masters, remaining undefeated.

Master Lu’s culinary skills were also remarkable. He had cooked for Qiu Jin’an, the Sect Master of the Five Elements Sect, who, after tasting the food, excitedly slapped the table, asking Master Lu how he made the dish…

With high cultivation, excellent talent, and strong culinary skills, the real Master Lu was even more outstanding than described in storytelling.

“Master Lu is here?”

Tang Qiaoqiao heard the commotion outside and ran out, holding a spatula.

Although no one had explicitly told her why they came to Wen Dao Sect, she had more or less guessed from her brother’s and Master Lu’s words that an unknown change had occurred in her brother, and bringing him to Wen Dao Sect was to protect him.

“How are you living here, Qiaoqiao?”

“Very well!”

Tang Qiaoqiao nodded vigorously. This place was a coveted sanctuary for ordinary people, and with her brother here, what more could she want?

Moreover, ever since her brother arrived here, he no longer seemed paranoid all the time.

“It's good that you’ve gotten used to living here.”

“You have a three-element spiritual root, which is enough to meet our sect’s entry requirements. If you can pass the entrance test, you can officially become a member of the sect.”

Although Tang Qiaoqiao was a clone cultivated by the Left Protector of some Skeleton God Cult, and her cultivation progress would be much faster than ordinary cultivators if she practiced, such an identity wasn't particularly remarkable in Wen Dao Sect. Anyone’s background there was more outrageous than Tang Qiaoqiao’s, so no one would care about this aspect of her identity.

“As for you, Chuanwu…”

Seeing Master Lu mention him, Tang Chuanwu’s expression fell. After arriving at Wen Dao Sect, he had tested his spiritual roots and found he had none, making cultivation impossible.

Seeing Tang Chuanwu like this, Lu Yang knew exactly what he was worried about. He smiled and said, “Leave cultivation to me. I’ll find you some elixirs and spiritual treasures, enough to cultivate spiritual roots.”

Cultivators could use certain methods to implant spiritual roots in mortals, but the cost was exorbitant, far beyond what low-level cultivators could afford.

“Really?” Tang Chuanwu looked up sharply, his eyes bright.

“Of course, it’s true. When have I ever lied to you?”

“However, you are not allowed to use your ability when taking the entrance test,” Lu Yang warned. With time rewinding twice, Tang Chuanwu would certainly pass any entrance test the sect set, which would be cheating.

“I won’t!”

“Someone is coming to our sect, and they don’t seem friendly,” the Immortal Fairy suddenly warned, pointing upwards, signaling Lu Yang to look at the sky.

“Who is it?”

Lu Yang was puzzled. Who would be so tired of living as to cause trouble at Wen Dao Sect? Even if they did, they’d surely pick a time when the Eldest Senior Sister wasn’t around.

Lu Yang looked up in the direction the fairy pointed, and just then, an imperial figure bathed in golden light abruptly appeared above Wen Dao Sect, emanating boundless pressure. The entire Wen Dao Sect seemed to sink into a mire of terror.

“The Zhongtian Emperor?!”

Lu Yang recognized the newcomer. Although no portraits of the Zhongtian Emperor circulated in later generations, the Ying Tian Immortal had seen him, and Lu Yang knew the Zhongtian Emperor’s appearance from the Ying Tian Immortal’s description.

The Zhongtian Emperor was indeed worthy of being the founder of the Great Qian Dynasty. He commanded respect without anger, every gesture radiating imperial might. Under this imperial pressure, mortals could only tremble, unable to muster any thought of resistance, only to prostrate themselves in worship. Lu Yang had only experienced a similar feeling from the Ying Tian Immortal.

“Why would the Zhongtian Emperor come here, out of all places? And with such a display?”

The Zhongtian Emperor held a gourd entwined with purple and gold, pulled out its stopper, aimed it at Wen Dao Sect, and loudly intoned:

“Tang…”

Just as he uttered the word "Tang," a white streak of light flashed from the summit of Tianmen Peak, shooting straight into the sky. Accompanied by a clanging sound, it instantly seized the Zhongtian Emperor’s head and slammed him downwards. The Zhongtian Emperor had no time to react.

Boom—

Then silence fell, as if nothing had happened.

Tang Qiaoqiao blinked, not understanding what had just transpired.

“Oh no, the pot’s burning!”

She hurried back to the kitchen, holding her spatula.

An unknown location, the Great Qian Immortal Palace.

The Zhongtian Emperor lightly coughed twice, opened his eyes, and severed the connection with his clone.

Upon seeing this, Sima quickly asked, “How was it?”

The Zhongtian Emperor turned and glanced at Sima, his eyes revealing the usual authority, the kind only possessed by those who have long held high positions. After a long silence, he slowly said:

“I tried. Couldn’t win.”

“Also, I’ve thought about it. I was a bit too hasty in searching for the Temporal Dao Fruit before. There’s no need to be in such a rush to find it.”