Chapter 517: Enthusiastic and Hospitable Five Elements Sect

The Wuxing Sect, one of the five great immortal sects, is situated atop Yunzhou's Five Elements Spiritual Vein. This vein naturally aligns with the five elements, making it the most auspicious location in Yunzhou.

Under the leadership of Sect Master Qiu Jin'an, the Wuxing Sect thrives with abundant talent, presenting a scene of prosperity. Internally, the sect emphasizes seriousness, diligent cultivation, and striving for excellence. Externally, they are known for their warm hospitality and kind treatment of others.

Even when disciples from the Wen Dao Sect arrived to study, the Wuxing Sect put aside past grievances. Elders led a welcoming party, holding magic artifacts, seemingly worried that the Wen Dao Sect members might not encounter any "accidents."

"Wow, we're so popular! Look at all these people who came out to greet us," Man Gu chuckled, observing the crowd in front of the Wuxing Sect's mountain gate.

Lu Yang's eyelids twitched. He knew from Immortal Fairy that those holding magic artifacts were all in the Integration Stage and must be elders of the Wuxing Sect. Did they really need to be holding magic artifacts just to welcome them?

As the flying boat docked, Meng Jingzhou led his team ashore. Qiu Jin'an enthusiastically stepped forward to greet them, followed by five fierce-eyed, menacing elders. One elder held a banner in his left hand and a weapon in his right, their intentions unclear.

"Welcome to the Wuxing Sect for your visit and study," Qiu Jin'an began. "Isn't there a leading elder with you?"

Qiu Jin'an counted only five individuals, noting that none of the Wen Dao Sect's Nine Sons were among them. Not giving up hope, he even extended his divine sense to scan the surroundings, checking if anyone had concealed their aura and followed them.

"No, the elders all had matters to attend to, so they didn't come," Meng Jingzhou honestly replied.

Qiu Jin'an shook his head regretfully. "What a pity," he lamented, "why didn't anyone walk into our trap?"

The five elders behind him activated their magic artifacts, whose tips began to glow, startling Meng Jingzhou. Fortunately, the artifacts were not aimed at people but upwards, towards the sky.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

Five attacks exploded in the air, as beautiful as fireworks blooming in the night sky during the New Year. Accompanying the explosions, the banner unfurled, reading: "Welcome Wen Dao Sect Disciples to Our Sect for Study."

The Wuxing Sect was meticulous and had prepared for two scenarios: if the Wen Dao Sect's Nine Sons had come, they would have "greeted" them with their magic artifacts, then unfurled the banner and set off fireworks over the subdued Nine Sons. If Yunzhi had come, they would have simply set off fireworks and unfurled the banner without the preceding "greeting." Although Yunzhi hadn't arrived and only a few juniors were present, they still proceeded with the banner for a welcome.

"Alright, disperse, disperse! Old thief Buyu and his crew didn't show up," one elder grumbled.

"I heard old thief Buyu was spotted in Huangzhou. Should we go check it out?" another asked.

"Forget it," someone replied. "It's probably false information again. When have we ever managed to catch him after getting his whereabouts?"

"That brat is slippery as an eel; he runs faster than a rabbit!"

"With his 'Man and Sword as One' and 'One Sword Transforms into Ten Thousand Swords' techniques, continuously casting these two moves, who can find his true body? By the time you do, he's already gone."

"You know what? If I ever encountered him, I could find him," another elder interjected.

"How would you find him?"

"See these eyes of mine?" the elder boasted. "I jumped into a furnace and smoked them for forty-nine days until they were 'cured.' These eyes can rival the Demon-Reflecting Mirror of White Horse Temple!"

"That effective? Is that method easy to practice? Maybe I should try burning mine too," someone else wondered.

After unfurling the banner and setting off the fireworks, the elders simply dispersed, muttering to themselves.

Seeing that his intended targets hadn't arrived, Qiu Jin'an coughed twice and subtly gestured to Bai Ming to entertain the five visitors.

The Sect Master and elders had departed, but the Wuxing Sect disciples lingered.

"Which one is Lu Yang? Point him out to me."

"That one, the clean-cut one."

"You really can't judge a book by its cover," one disciple mused. "I heard that when he was in the Foundation Establishment stage, he fought against higher-level cultivators, defeating Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and even Integration stage cultivators. Now that he's in the Golden Core stage, can he defeat Void Refinement cultivators?"

"No need for him to fight Void Refinement cultivators," another scoffed. "If you pick a weakened Void Refinement cultivator, even I could beat them."

"True."

"Which one is the founder of 'Illusory Bubbles'?"

"Are you blind? There's only one female cultivator, and you're still asking?"

"She's truly talented. How come I can't come up with such profitable ideas?"

"What good ideas could *you* come up with?" another retorted. "The kind where you eat the Wen Dao Sect's roasted skewers, want to open your own shop, only to realize the competition among BBQ shops is too fierce?"

"Is that particularly strong-looking one from the ancient barbarian tribe? I thought the ancient barbarians were extinct."

"I heard it's a bloodline atavism, a phenomenon seen only once in ten thousand years, a true return to the origin."

The Wuxing Sect disciples, who had few interactions with their Wen Dao Sect counterparts, showed immense interest in Lu Yang and his companions.

After Qiu Jin'an left, Meng Jingzhou saw Bai Ming and asked, puzzled, "Didn't you go for exchange study?"

Bai Ming pouted. "There's nowhere left to go," he explained. "Shi Chan from your Wen Dao Sect went, Yan Tianzhi from Suspended Temple went, Moon Palace doesn't allow male disciples – though two of my junior sisters went there. I frequently visit the Prison Suppressing Sect, so there's no need to go again. I was left with no choice but to stay in the sect."

As Bai Ming walked, he began to explain the Wuxing Sect's situation to Lu Yang and the others.

"As you might have seen from the flying boat," Bai Ming began, "our Wuxing Sect is built upon the Five Elements Spiritual Vein. Based on different areas of expertise, the sect is divided into five branches, each corresponding to one of the five elements. Those who greeted you with my master earlier were the Grand Elders of these five branches. They had some personal grudges with your Wen Dao Sect elders when they were younger and had hoped to catch up with them, but unfortunately, your elders didn't come."

"What kind of grudges?" Lu Yang asked.

Bai Ming had heard his master recount several past conflicts between the Wuxing Sect and the Wen Dao Sect. "There's a lot to tell," he said. "For example, there were frequent brawls. When your Wen Dao Sect elders had more people, they'd use human wave tactics to attack our elders, but when they had fewer, they'd report us to the authorities."

"Sometimes they even used honey traps," Bai Ming continued. "Your sect's Fourth Elder once wrote a letter to one of our elders, pretending to be a female cultivator who had long admired him and wished to meet him. The letter also claimed 'she' was shy and preferred to meet our elder alone, not wanting too many people present. So our elder went, and then nine people jumped out from behind a large rock! Can you imagine that scene?"

Lu Yang found this tactic remarkably familiar. Had the Fourth Elder learned this trick after experiencing it himself?

Fearing that a Wuxing Sect elder might be eavesdropping and that Bai Ming's words could rekindle old grievances, Li Haoran quickly changed the subject. "Which branch do you belong to?" he asked.

"Me?" Bai Ming replied. "I'm proficient in all five elemental spells, so I don't belong to one of the five branches. I'm part of the Sect Master's lineage."

"Only those proficient in all five elemental spells, like me, can become disciples of the Sect Master," Bai Ming stated, a hint of pride touching his smile. His mastery of all five elemental spells was truly exceptional, making his talent one in a hundred within the Wuxing Sect.

"Then, does that mean I could too?" Lu Yang asked, pointing to himself.

Lu Yang's spiritual cultivation talent was exceptional. He knew the Golden Body technique for Metal element spells, the Tree Planting Art for Wood element spells, Samadhi True Fire for Fire element spells, and the Shrinking Ground technique for Earth element spells. He hadn't yet learned Water element spells.

Bai Ming turned to Lu Yang, a hint of surprise in his eyes. "Your spell talent is truly impressive," he remarked. "You'd be quite suitable for becoming my master's disciple. Why didn't you join our Wuxing Sect back then?"

Lu Yang awkwardly scratched his head. "The Wen Dao Sect was close to home," he explained, "so I thought I'd just try it out first. I didn't expect to succeed right away."

Bai Ming was speechless. What a remarkably simple reason.