Chapter 458: Ancient Immortals Gathering

Lu Yang, acting as the Immortal Fairy's proxy, was exercising the powers of the acting sect master and planning the content for the sect's celebration. After all, they couldn't simply gather everyone for food and drinks, have the Fairy give an opening and closing speech, and call it a day.

A 120,000-year anniversary celebration that dull would be unacceptable. Not only would it fail to impress Senior Sister, but Lu Yang himself found the idea cringeworthy. Only the Immortal Fairy would approve of such a simple celebration.

"A celebration is just for everyone to have fun," she said. "Why make it so complicated?"

The Immortal Fairy, speaking from personal experience, advised Lu Yang to abandon the modern notion that celebrations must be elaborate. "Our ancient immortal gatherings were never as complicated as yours," she stated. "When I offered to cook, even Qilin Immortal and the others would tell me not to overexert myself and to simply stop."

These so-called ancient immortal gatherings were essentially the Immortal Fairy using her personal charm to assemble four other unfortunate individuals, sometimes even including Qilin Immortal's two wives.

"So what exactly did you do at your gatherings?"

"We exchanged cultivation insights, of course. As you know, there were only five of us immortals in the world back then, making it difficult to find like-minded individuals to discuss things with. Everyone deeply cherished each gathering."

"During our gatherings, everyone spoke freely, delving into the wondrous applications of Dao fruits. The clash of ideas often led to new insights or the creation of trials for future generations."

Lu Yang nodded. This time, it sounded more like what he imagined immortals to be: discussing the immortal path and setting challenges for future generations.

"Such as?"

"Specifically, I researched how to maximize the power of self-detonation."

"Ying Tian Immortal asked if anyone could devise some particularly tricky tribulations."

"Time Immortal mentioned he had discovered a new application for the Time Dao fruit. He created a mysterious space where time flowed differently from the outside world: one day of cultivation inside the space equated to one year outside."

Lu Yang was speechless. "Please don't bring disaster upon the world," he thought.

"Alternatively, we would write stories, such as those about the Heavenly Court or Buddhism. Don't underestimate these tales; the five of us painstakingly crafted them, and each story contains profound wisdom capable of enlightening future generations."

"Ying Tian Immortal also suggested that this way, future generations would struggle to decipher ancient history, allowing them to conveniently cover up any public embarrassments."

Lu Yang thought Ying Tian Immortal was quite a formidable character. With the "help" of the Immortal Fairy, who was more of a hindrance, he had done much to maintain his image. However, Lu Yang wondered if Ying Tian Immortal knew that in the minds of future generations, he had become a figure known for impregnating countless female cultivators. He sympathized with Ying Tian Immortal and hoped the immortal would return the favor, sparing his life should he ever come seeking revenge.

"Sometimes, we'd even play with planets, tossing them back and forth. Mortals called these 'meteor showers,' viewing them as miracles, and would make wishes upon seeing us throw planets."

Lu Yang was an excellent listener, quietly taking in the Immortal Fairy's tales of ancient history, occasionally interjecting with questions for about half an hour. They say history repeats itself, and one can learn from the past. He carefully considered the Immortal Fairy's accounts of ancient immortal gatherings, searching for anything worth emulating. Ultimately, he reached a conclusion—he had wasted half an hour.

Just then, Senior Sister entered the cave dwelling. Although her expression remained as unreadable as ever, Lu Yang, as her junior brother, had a fifty percent success rate in discerning her subtle cues. He was certain she had come for something important. While the Immortal Fairy's accuracy wasn't as high as Lu Yang's, she arrived at the same conclusion. After all, she was doing a splendid job as the acting sect master, and Yun wouldn't visit the cave dwelling without a good reason. The Immortal Fairy felt quite pleased. With her as the acting sect master, Lu Yang and Yun were now her trusted assistants, helping her manage affairs.

"Senior Sister, is something wrong?" Lu Yang asked, still in control of his body.

"I just received news that Emperor Xia has an idea he wishes to implement and has requested the masters of the Five Great Immortal Sects to meet at the imperial palace."

Lu Yang and Senior Sister exchanged glances for a few seconds. Then, he pointed to himself in disbelief, thinking he had misheard. "Me?" he questioned.

"It's not you going; it's Senior Fairy," Senior Sister corrected him earnestly.

"Oh, that's fine... Wait, what's the difference?!"

"What do you mean, 'no difference'? *I* am attending the meeting, not you!" The Immortal Fairy huffed, glaring at Lu Yang and suspecting him of plotting to usurp her authority.

Lu Yang simply ignored the Immortal Fairy's protests. Despite holding a myriad of formidable titles in the outside world — Junior Disciple of the Silent Daoist, Junior Brother to Yun Zhi, Second-in-Command of the Immortal Lineage, Patriarch of the Immortal Sect, Young Sect Master of the Heavenly Court Sect, Host of the Immortal Fairy, Strongest Golden Core cultivator, and Creator of the Cross-Level Challenge Record — the prospect of sitting alongside Emperor Xia and the masters of the Five Great Immortal Sects to discuss critical matters of the righteous path still made him feel a bit apprehensive.

"I will accompany you," Senior Sister finally offered, delivering welcome news.

Lu Yang breathed a slight sigh of relief. He was merely a Golden Core cultivator; what right did he have to sit alongside the masters of the other four great immortal sects? With Senior Sister there to hold the fort, the pressure would be significantly reduced.

"Let's go," she said.

There was little to prepare for the meeting; they simply needed to go. Senior Sister stepped out of the cave dwelling, looked up at the sky, and with a pinch of her thumb and index finger, a patch of cloud vanished from the horizon, replaced by an auspicious cloud appearing beneath her feet.

"Acting Sect Master, please," she said.

With Lu Yang possessed, the Immortal Fairy unceremoniously used his body to ascend the cloud. The Immortal Fairy stood on the cloud, arms crossed, gazing forward with an indifferent expression.

"Yun, let's depart."

*Whoosh—*

The auspicious cloud suddenly accelerated. The Immortal Fairy, not reacting in time, lost her footing and tumbled from the front to the back of the cloud. She clung desperately, with most of her body dangling off the side. It took her considerable effort to scramble back onto the auspicious cloud, looking quite disheveled.

"Yun, you did that on purpose!" she pouted, glaring at Yun Zhi.

Yun Zhi replied impassively, "No, it was an accident."

"It was on purpose!"

"It was an accident."

"On purpose!"

"Accident."

Lu Yang interjected, halting the impending clash between ancient and modern cultivators. "By the way, Senior Sister," he asked, "did Emperor Xia mention the purpose of this meeting?"

"He mentioned it's to host a competition for young cultivators, specifically to select those who have dispersed and then re-cultivated their powers."

"What?"

The Imperial Advisor looked up, squinting his eyes at the auspicious cloud flying overhead.

"Imperial Advisor, is something wrong?" his subordinate asked, offering assistance.

"The one riding that auspicious cloud just now was Lu Yang."

The subordinate was startled. "What?! Should we make our move, then?"

They had come to the vicinity of the Dao Sect to study the layout and devise a plan for infiltration, conducting a reconnaissance in advance. They had not anticipated encountering their target so soon after arriving near the Dao Sect.

The Imperial Advisor shook his head, revealing his own plans. "Not yet. Killing Lu Yang now would be too easy. We must wait until the grand ceremony begins and let him die in front of everyone!" He intended not only to kill Lu Yang but also to annihilate the Dao Sect entirely!