Chapter 1114: Return to the Capital in Triumph

"Lu Yang is the target of the great contention?" Emperor Xia gasped inwardly. As expected of the Ancestor, his way of thinking was truly unique. The more Jiang Pingan thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed, and he continued pacing around Emperor Xia with his hands behind his back.

"During the Battle of Emperor City, I already saw that Lu Yang was extraordinary," he mused. "I even wanted him to marry into my Jiang family, but unfortunately, Yun Zhi interfered. I never imagined Lu Yang's importance would far exceed my imagination; he's actually caught the eye of both the strongest in ancient times and the strongest in the current era."

Jiang Pingan paced and pondered for a long time, but he simply couldn't think of anything substantial he had to win over Lu Yang.

Jiang Pingan suddenly stopped, turning to ask Emperor Xia, who was almost dizzy from being circled, "Tell me, between Fellow Daoist Yun Zhi and Fellow Daoist Immortal, who is stronger and who is weaker?" "Huh?" Emperor Xia was surprised that the Ancestor had thrown the question to him.

He considered his own cultivation level, the Nascent Divinity Stage. Wasn't the gap between him and an Immortal a bit too vast? "Immortal Immortal, I suppose," he replied. "Haven't they always said the older, the stronger?"

"Moreover, we've never heard of five ancient immortals before; it's always been the Four Ancient Immortals. The only clue is that battle in ancient times when shattered stars transformed into continents, where a mysterious immortal fought against the Four Ancient Immortals. In my opinion, that mysterious immortal is Immortal Immortal."

"Fighting one against four, it shows Immortal Immortal's power." "You have a point," Jiang Pingan agreed.

Jiang Pingan nodded, feeling that Emperor Xia joining the Great Bean Dynasty was truly a brilliant move.

***

"Second-in-charge, I'm really letting go!" "Taking one step counts as success!" "Believe in yourself, you can do it!"

Under everyone's eager gaze, Lu Yang got out of bed and bravely took his first step. Everyone celebrated joyfully.

After a week of bed rest, Lu Yang could finally walk on his own without Yun Mengmeng and Qing He supporting him on either side. Although Lu Yang felt that with a quiet environment, he could have been up and about in five days.

However, since they were all Half-Immortals and kindly put their own matters aside to accompany him, he couldn't exactly chase them away. Still, listening to their encouraging tones, it sounded less like he was recovering from an injury and more like he was a toddler learning to walk.

"It's time to continue writing the cultivation methods," Lu Yang decided.

Lu Yang felt he couldn't waste time like this anymore; he needed something to do, such as compiling cultivation methods for the Void Refinement stage.

Since Qing He, Ao Ling, and others were a secret within the Dao Seeking Sect, Lu Yang could only be accompanied by Yun Mengmeng when visiting the Scripture Repository.

Yun Mengmeng insisted on supporting Lu Yang to the Scripture Repository, but Lu Yang insisted on walking by himself. After a brief stalemate, Yun Mengmeng eventually gave in and followed behind Lu Yang instead.

"Sister Mengmeng, you don't need to be so cautious," Lu Yang said, looking helplessly at Yun Mengmeng.

Yun Mengmeng had her hands poised as if ready to support him, ready to react immediately if Lu Yang showed any sign of falling. "That won't do!" she declared. "Sister Qing He and Sister Ao Ling couldn't protect you; now only I can."

Along the way, every disciple who saw Lu Yang greeted him warmly, which made Lu Yang a little shy.

Although Yun Mengmeng was not a disciple of the Dao Seeking Sect, everyone in the sect knew about her relationship with Yun Zhi, so no one would stop her from entering the Scripture Repository. The two entered the Scripture Repository and headed straight for the Void Refinement stage section.

Lu Yang studied several representative cultivation methods for the Void Refinement stage, gaining a comprehensive understanding of it for the first time.

Although he could directly ask Immortal Immortal and others for guidance, asking without any prior study or deep understanding would make it difficult to truly internalize the knowledge. "So that's how it is," he murmured. "The Void Refinement stage has no early, middle, or late phases. The only way to categorize it is by the degree of realm fluctuation."

"The smaller the realm fluctuation," he noted, "the closer the Void Refinement cultivation is to completion."

"When the realm barely fluctuates anymore, it means Void Refinement cultivation has reached its peak, and one can begin to break through to the Integration stage. However, Void Refinement cultivation is extremely difficult, and over ninety percent of cultivators in this stage never manage to break through in their entire lives."

"There are many ways to reduce realm fluctuation," he continued. "For example, one can become a mortal and experience life in the mundane world, witnessing all facets of human existence, and re-understanding the gap between immortals and mortals."

"Alternatively, one could become an official in the imperial court. This way, one not only witnesses human life but also uses their official identity for self-protection, making it a relatively safe method. However, my master is Daoist Silent, so I don't need to consider this method."

"Another way is to commit a crime and enter prison. Observing joys and sorrows within the prison can also provide a form of self-protection. But my master is Daoist Silent, and I cannot follow in his esteemed footsteps."

"Furthermore, I am a Pillar Minister of the Great Bean Dynasty," Lu Yang muttered to himself, constantly reminding himself of his identity. "I hold a high and powerful position, second only to one and above tens of thousands. I cannot be an official of Great Xia anymore; if I were to enter prison, it would damage the prestige of our dynasty."

"Second only to one and above tens of thousands?" Immortal Immortal wondered. "Does our Great Bean Dynasty even have that many people?" She counted on her fingers several times but couldn't even reach ten thousand.

There was herself, Little Yangzi, the Four Pillar Minister; Prime Minister Emperor Xia; Historian Qing He; the three Grand Generals; Minister of Rites Yun Mengmeng; Minister of Works Zhu Tian; and Jiang Pingan, who had no official post yet.

That made a total of just ten people.

"Besides these," Lu Yang continued, "there's also the method of someone like Third Senior Sister, who undergoes trials in the Demon Realm, tempering oneself in danger to accelerate cultivation progress."

Since Lu Yang was injured, he couldn't stay in the Scripture Repository to study indefinitely. He could only borrow some Void Refinement stage cultivation methods to take back and study at his leisure.

After returning to his cave dwelling, Lu Yang devoted himself to studying the Void Refinement stage cultivation methods. The others didn't dare disturb him, leaving most of the cave dwelling's space for Lu Yang while occupying only a small area themselves.

Each with a small stool, they sat in a circle as Immortal Immortal said seriously:

"Although you are Half-Immortals with considerable combat power," she stated, "your coordination abilities are still lacking, and you need more practice."

Yun Mengmeng raised her hand. "Leader, how should we practice?" she asked.

"That's a good question," Immortal Immortal replied. "Little Yangzi often says that practice yields true knowledge, and theory must ultimately be applied in practice. Our dynasty's ultimate goal is to defeat that girl Yun, so let's practice with her first!"

"I'm injured, so I can't personally intervene," she continued, "but I can arrange formations and tactics to give you a fighting chance against Yun Zhi!"

"Are we fighting Little Zhi again?" Yun Mengmeng was the most enthusiastic, as fighting Little Zhi was a lot of fun.

The others leaned back slightly, having not expected this kind of practical combat.

Immortal Immortal muttered and drew on the ground, outlining interconnected combat strategies for everyone. Everyone who listened felt Immortal Immortal's tactics were brilliant.

"Got it all? Let's go!" she declared.

As the saying goes, time flies when cultivating. Lu Yang had been immersed in the cultivation methods for half an hour.

When he came back to his senses, the others had just returned to the dwelling, utterly defeated.

Lu Yang gasped. What happened? Why did it seem like they were more severely injured than he was?