Chapter 316: Qilin Immortal, I Remember You

"Oh, right, this is the soil I found—Breathing Earth Soil." The Qilin Immortal Medicine snapped out of its shock from the Immortal War, remembering its purpose for coming here.

"Breathing Earth Soil? Is that the legendary immortal soil where just a small piece can block a river?!" Lu Yang had only read about this precious soil in books; its astonishing effects had earned it the title of "immortal soil."

The Undying Immortal circled the Breathing Earth Soil a few times, recognizing its origin. "Ah, this is a good thing created by the Nine-Layer Immortal. It expands on contact with water and is used to control river floods."

"Back in our time, riverbeds were chaotic, and floods were frequent. Tribes were always settled by the rivers, which were the most densely populated areas. This meant every flood caused enormous casualties, and post-disaster reconstruction was very difficult."

"Larger tribes fared better, as grand cultivators could use water-control techniques to manage river flow and protect the tribe. But smaller and medium-sized tribes suffered terribly; their cultivators weren't powerful enough to control vast amounts of water."

"Although the Nine-Layer Immortal came from the Lian Mountain Clan, the largest human tribe, he treated everyone equally and was very kind to the smaller tribes."

"After becoming an immortal, he set out to solve the flood problem and refined a type of soil that expands upon contact with water—the Breathing Earth Soil you hold."

"Oh, and by the way, Lu Yang, you can't eat Breathing Earth Soil," the Undying Immortal reminded him.

"Is there a problem with it?"

The Undying Immortal looked at Lu Yang with pity. "Breathing Earth Soil expands with water, and saliva is no different. If you eat a mouthful, it will expand to completely envelop you."

"Never mind then," Lu Yang quickly said, moving away from the Breathing Earth Soil.

The Three-Leaf Star Grass and the Flower of Ages' End brought two other precious types of soil. Lu Yang ate them one by one, but neither had any effect.

"It's not working."

Surely the effect of all three soils couldn't simply be to improve physical constitution.

"Try two more mouthfuls?" The Undying Immortal refused to believe it.

Lu Yang ate all the soil they had brought, but there was still no change whatsoever.

Lu Yang thought he might not have eaten enough, so he continued to have the little medicine kings find more soil for him to eat. He kept eating until dawn, but Lu Yang detected no change.

"Immortal, is this 'Swallowing the Heavens and Devouring the Earth' reliable?" Lu Yang suspected the Undying Immortal had tricked him.

"How is it not reliable? This is the great Taotie divine ability that the Qilin Immortal taught me!"

Lu Yang suddenly had a bad feeling. "Wait, the Qilin Immortal taught you this?"

"Yes."

"When did he teach you? Was it after his wedding?"

The Undying Immortal was quite surprised. "How did you know?"

"Shortly after the wedding, the Qilin Immortal found me and asked if I wanted to learn the ancient great divine ability of the Taotie clan. I said it wouldn't hurt to learn."

"'Swallowing the Heavens and Devouring the Earth' wasn't difficult to learn; I picked it up quickly. After I learned it, the Qilin Immortal asked if I wanted to try eating some soil. I told him I was already an immortal, so how could eating soil be useful? Hearing that, he left, looking very disappointed."

Lu Yang was silent for a long moment before tentatively asking, "Immortal, you said earlier that you'd read stories about the Taotie clan in books. Did those books say that eating soil could improve cultivation talent?"

"No, the Qilin Immortal told me that."

Lu Yang was speechless.

Lu Yang roughly understood what had happened. "Swallowing the Heavens and Devouring the Earth" was indeed a technique for eating soil, and the Taotie clan had indeed risen to prominence by eating soil, but there was absolutely no mention that eating soil could improve cultivation talent!

The Qilin Immortal had wanted to get revenge on the Undying Immortal, so he deliberately taught her this divine ability, using the claim of "improving cultivation talent" to pique her curiosity and hope she would eat soil. That way, the Qilin Immortal could spread the word about the Immortal eating soil and mock her. Who would have thought the Undying Immortal, being wise in her apparent foolishness, wouldn't fall for it at all!

Three hundred thousand years later, the trap laid by the Qilin Immortal had ensnared him, the unlucky one, who had eaten soil all night.

"Qilin Immortal, if you can't trick the Undying Immortal, you trick me instead, huh? I'll remember this!"

When everyone arrived at the rendezvous point, Lu Yang was nowhere to be seen. Just as they were about to go look for him, Lu Yang appeared, walking with heavy steps and a sallow complexion.

Meng Jingzhou was startled by Lu Yang's appearance. "What happened to you? Did you fall into a mud pit in your sleep?"

Lu Yang waved his hand, pretending nothing had happened. "It's nothing, just a minor setback while learning a divine ability. It's quite common on the path of cultivation."

Fortunately, cultivators at the Golden Core stage don't need sleep, otherwise Lu Yang would be too tired to even open his eyes right now.

The Fifth Elder also showed concern for Lu Yang. "Are you really alright?"

"Really, I'm fine."

"That's good then."

The Fifth Elder pulled a flying shuttle from his sleeve, then tossed it gently upwards. The shuttle expanded to the size of a merchant airship. The shuttle opened, revealing seats and various exquisite facilities inside. This was the Fifth Elder's favorite flying artifact; its cost was many times that of an ordinary airship.

"Get in."

Everyone boarded the shuttle, and it closed.

"Are you all seated and buckled up?" the Fifth Elder asked indifferently from the front.

The others didn't understand his meaning but dutifully sat in their seats, collectively saying they were ready.

"Good."

The Fifth Elder nodded, raised his index and middle fingers, and activated the shuttle. The shuttle broke through the air barrier with a sonic boom and accelerated rapidly.

It felt as if something heavy slammed into them, pressing everyone tightly against their seats, immobilizing Lu Yang. This force was so immense that even with Lu Yang gritting his teeth, straining his neck, and exerting all his strength, he couldn't break free, remaining plastered to his seat. He also tried to conjure a spiritual energy barrier around himself for protection, but at such speed, the energy shattered the moment it left his body, unable to form a barrier at all.

Finally, the pressure vanished, and the four slumped forward, propping their arms on their legs, heads drooping, stabilizing themselves. The four felt a sense of relief, as if they had narrowly escaped disaster. They hadn't even felt this way when facing the Nine Nether Sect.

The Fifth Elder paced before the four of them, lecturing, "I deliberately accelerated so abruptly just now to train your reaction time to sudden situations. Remember that feeling from earlier. As cultivators, you must always be vigilant for potential dangers around you."

"When I was young, I often sped around in airships and had to deal with enforcement cultivators flying in from who knows where. Not once did any of them catch me."

The four looked at the Fifth Elder warily. Right now, the biggest danger was you!

The shuttle flew incredibly fast. Lu Yang had originally wanted to demonstrate his newly learned "Swallowing the Heavens" to everyone, but before he could speak, he heard the Fifth Elder say,

"We've arrived."

Meng Jingzhou peered down and saw Yanjiang Prefecture below. At that moment, the shuttle hovered directly above Yanjiang Prefecture, completely invisible to the naked eye.

"Let's go down."

The four exchanged glances. They looked around but found no means of descent. Only Golden Core cultivators could fly. Li Haoran and Qin Yanran were not yet Golden Core cultivators, and Lu Yang had a fear of heights. How were they supposed to get down?

The Fifth Elder slapped his forehead. "I'll take you down."

The Fifth Elder waved his sleeve. Before Lu Yang could react to what was happening, his vision went black. When he managed to open his eyes, he found himself lying on the floor of a barbecue restaurant, with Li Haoran on his left and Qin Yanran on his right.

"What happened? Does the Fifth Elder also know 'Universe in the Sleeve'?" Lu Yang was surprised, as this was supposed to be an extremely difficult divine ability to cultivate.

The Undying Immortal said faintly, "No, he just knocked you unconscious and then moved you here."