Chapter 366: The Envious Li Haoran

Prison Peak is the Dao Seeking Sect's designated facility for detaining criminals, primarily ancient cultivators who had committed evil deeds.

Below Prison Peak, cages divide the space into numerous small cells. These cells hold ancient Integration Stage cultivators who, once commanding great influence in their time, are now reduced to prisoners, their last shred of value being extracted.

The imperial court and the four other immortal sects all maintain similar facilities to prevent these ancient cultivators from causing harm.

Inside the cages, listless soul bodies leaned against the walls, their eyes vacant. Upon sensing an arrival, their eyes lit up, and they revealed fierce expressions, hoping to intimidate the newcomer. This was their sole amusement in this place.

However, upon recognizing the newcomer as Yun Zhi, their expressions drastically changed. They quickly scurried into corners, held their breath, and trembled, trying to minimize their presence, terrified of being noticed by her.

Prison Peak contained many empty cages. In the upper right corner of each, names like 'True Monarch Po Huang,' 'True Monarch Tai Shan,' 'Profound Spirit Madman,' and 'True Man Gui Ji' were inscribed. In ancient times, merely hearing these names was enough to make people turn pale and tremble uncontrollably. Yet, all of them had now been integrated by Yun Zhi into magical artifacts, refined into artifact spirits. If they were to displease Yun Zhi, they would be the next to suffer misfortune.

Yun Zhi unsealed the Calamity Venerable. He glanced around and immediately realized this was a place specifically designed for their imprisonment. He was slightly startled. It was no wonder he couldn't contact certain individuals who should have revived; they were all here.

"This Great Xia is proving to be more formidable than anticipated…"

Suddenly, he noticed a nearby cage with 'Blood Demon Venerable' written in its upper right corner. The Blood Demon Venerable, having seen images of the Calamity Venerable, recognized this formidable cultivator who had appeared tens of thousands of years before him.

The Calamity Venerable roared, "Blood Demon, you piece of trash elevated by mere luck! You're only at the early Tribulation Transcendence stage, and yet you presume to be a Grand Preceptor!" Both were at the early Tribulation Transcendence stage, yet he was merely a subordinate to the Grand Preceptor, while Blood Demon became a Grand Preceptor. The disparity was too immense. He had studied the history of Great Yu since his slumber and was aware of the Blood Demon Venerable's existence. The Blood Demon Venerable, driven by personal greed, had propped up a worthless individual as the Yu Emperor. He then coerced the emperor to issue decrees, plundering countless resources and enacting various measures to strengthen the aristocratic families of the time. These actions greatly accelerated Great Yu's demise. With Great Yu's collapse, the world plunged into chaos, and the aristocratic families became contenders for supreme power. The Blood Demon Venerable was the root cause of it all.

He absolutely refused to acknowledge that such a scoundrel could be considered a Grand Preceptor!

"The position of Grand Preceptor was simply there. If I didn't take it, someone else would. How can that be called mere luck?"

The Blood Demon wasn't intimidated. Letting the other roar, a sneer played on his lips. "Calamity Senior," he said, "that's going too far. If the Grand Preceptor knows you're here, he will surely kill you!"

"Then I'll just wait," replied the Calamity Venerable.

"Yun girl, have you captured another one?" a childish voice echoed from Prison Peak. A white-haired child then appeared, scrutinizing the Calamity Venerable.

The Calamity Venerable was startled, having not detected how the other party had appeared.

"An incomplete soul, burning his lifespan… quite ruthless to himself. Was he once a Tribulation Transcendence cultivator?"

"Yes, he is the Calamity Venerable, a Tribulation Transcendence cultivator from the early Great Yu period," Yun Zhi replied.

The white-haired child nodded in understanding. "Ah, so it's him. Quite renowned."

"In less than half a year, you've captured two Tribulation Transcendence cultivators. It seems some forces can no longer restrain themselves."

Yun Zhi hesitated, a rare occurrence for her, feeling somewhat embarrassed to explain. She had never captured a Tribulation Transcendence cultivator before, and now she had caught two in half a year. It wasn't necessarily due to others being unable to restrain themselves, but rather a matter of pure luck. The first clue originated from Buyi Town, and the second directly involved Lu Yang. The only commonality in both instances was the presence of Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou. Considering Lu Yang had also resurrected the Immortal Fairy, it was difficult to tell whether someone was secretly making moves or if Lu Yang simply had an extraordinary affinity with high-level cultivators.

"Grandmaster, I'll proceed with some methods on him first."

"Go on, go on. I hope this time we'll gain some valuable information," the white-haired child said with a chuckle, clearly pleased with his talented junior. The Blood Demon Venerable had been active too recently, yielding almost no useful intelligence. The Calamity Venerable, however, was different; as an early Great Yu cultivator active during the second Grand Preceptor's reign, he was bound to know many secrets.

"Although my elder brother and the other eight are a disgrace and constantly cause me trouble, ninth brother has certainly taken on an excellent disciple," the white-haired child's voice faded in and out, eventually disappearing. His words were replaced by the Calamity Venerable's pained screams.

"You haven't even asked any questions, why are you hitting me already?!"

As Lu Yang made his way to Bailian Peak, he happened upon Li Haoran and his former daughter Qin Yanran enjoying a moment of family tranquility halfway up the mountain. Qin Yanran was still in the late Foundation Establishment stage, apparently still unsure of how to form her Golden Core.

Li Haoran greeted him warmly. "Senior Brother Lu, you're back? A few days ago, Senior Brother Meng invited me to the Qingzhou Grand Ceremony, but I couldn't get away. Did you attend it?"

"Indeed, Junior Brother Li, you really missed out! The Qingzhou Grand Ceremony was incredibly lively. I even found a flying sword once used by an immortal at a street stall. Unfortunately, it was damaged, having been ruined by two Half-Immortal realm grand cultivators."

Li Haoran and Qin Yanran gasped sharply. From this brief description, it was easy to imagine the tragic scale of that battle.

"Later, Old Meng and I also participated in the grand competition for the younger generation. We personally entered the arena, pointing out their cultivation flaws and making them clearly aware of the gap between us. The first and second place winners, in particular, were incredibly grateful, vowing to redouble their efforts and cultivate diligently upon returning."

"Providing cultivation guidance…" Li Haoran imagined himself sitting on a judging panel, pointing out others' cultivation weaknesses. The mere thought was exhilarating.

"Also, people from the Lunar Laurel Immortal Palace, Five Elements Sect, and Prison Suppressing Sect also participated in the competition, but their performance on the judging panel was rather ordinary, far less prominent than Old Meng's and mine. Old Meng and I received generous rewards for guiding others' cultivation, but we, being high-minded and principled, declined those rewards. Unfortunately, halfway through the grand ceremony, ancient cultivators attacked: two at the Integration Stage and one at the Tribulation Transcendence Stage. The Tribulation Transcendence cultivator was incredibly powerful; his arrival brought true despair, and we all thought we were going to die. Fortunately, Senior Sister arrived just in time to rescue us, and we narrowly escaped disaster."

Li Haoran listened with immense envy. An immortal's flying sword, cultivation guidance, Senior Sister battling an ancient Tribulation Transcendence cultivator—each event sounded like a grand tale. Unfortunately, he had to help Qin Yanran form her Golden Core and thus couldn't attend.

"Senior Brother Lu, is there something you need here on Bailian Peak?"

"I'm looking for the Fifth Elder. Is he here?" Lu Yang hadn't forgotten about his flying vehicle patent fees.

Li Haoran pointed to the mist-shrouded mountain peak. "Look, he's up on the peak. Senior Sister Tao also went to see Master just now; I'm not sure what it's about."

"I'll go on ahead, then. Farewell."

Qin Yanran, having just recovered from the shocking scenes Lu Yang described, turned to her former father and asked, "Does he encounter so many things every time he goes out? This time it was an ancient Tribulation Transcendence cultivator, and last time it was the Nine Nether Sect?"

"More than that," he replied. "You wouldn't believe it, Senior Brother Lu has a knack for finding trouble. Before the Nine Nether Sect incident, he even encountered the Immortal Cult, and the reason for that was merely going to deal with a Foundation Establishment stage tiger demon."