Chapter 529: Useful Ancient Knowledge

"The Five Elements — they generate and overcome each other, fostering and promoting one another. For example, wood generates fire, fire generates earth, earth generates metal, metal generates water, and water generates wood. They are the fundamental source of the world. The emergence of the five tones, five flavors, five colors, five transformations, five organs, and five senses is no coincidence; it is a direct result of their correspondence with the Five Elements..."

In the lecture hall, the Elder of Imparted Knowledge was delivering a lecture on "The General Principles of the Five Elements." He swayed his head, spitting as he spoke, and at moments of excitement, he would gesture wildly with his hands and feet.

In the spiritual space, Immortal Buxiu yawned, wanting to sleep, tears welling in the corners of her eyes. The Elder of Imparted Knowledge's lecture was far less engaging and lively than that of Daoist Buyu.

"How boring! Immortal Jiuzhong has explained all this before."

"Isn't Immortal Jiuzhong associated with the Yin-Yang Dao Fruit? Does that also relate to the Five Elements?"

"Have you forgotten Immortal Jiuzhong's cultivation method?"

Lu Yang thought for a moment. Immortal Buxiu had mentioned it once when he was at the Immortal Sect, but he couldn't recall the exact name, only remembering that it contained many numbers.

"'Numerical Immortal Art'?"

"Calling it the Numerical Immortal Art isn't wrong. More precisely, it's called 'The Chaos One Qi, Two Poles, Three Powers, Four Symbols, Five Elements, Six Harmonies, Seven Stars, Eight Desolations, Nine Earths, Ten Heavens, Only I Am Supreme Immortal Art.'"

As expected of the first person to achieve immortality, his cultivation method's name was longer than anyone else's.

"Immortal Jiuzhong conducted extensive research into concepts like Chaos, Yin-Yang, and the Five Elements. He deliberated for a long time—a whole Tribulation Transcendence period—between the Chaos Dao Fruit, Yin-Yang Dao Fruit, and Five Elements Dao Fruit, ultimately choosing the Yin-Yang Dao Fruit."

"Why didn't he choose the other two?"

"In Immortal Jiuzhong's words, it was probably destiny, predetermined by heaven."

"Destiny?" Lu Yang sensed Immortal Jiuzhong's feelings when he said this—a sense of fatalism, filled with powerlessness.

Immortal Buxiu had mentioned that among immortals, some believed in fate and some did not; Immortal Buxiu belonged to the latter group. It seemed Immortal Jiuzhong was one who believed in fate.

"Well, Immortal Jiuzhong found it hard to choose; all three Dao Fruits had their pros and cons. In the end, he decided by drawing lots."

"He put in a lot of effort just for that drawing. First, he exhausted all sorts of secret treasures to construct a grand formation in the universe, one that could shield divine consciousness, with stars as its nodes. Then, he had a few of us come over to act as protectors. Finally, he closed his eyes, sealed off his five senses and seven consciousnesses, ensuring no external interference before he felt at ease to draw."

"The result of the drawing was the Yin-Yang Dao Fruit."

"Immortal Jiuzhong wasn't satisfied after drawing once. He shuffled them and drew two more times, and both times it was the Yin-Yang Dao Fruit again."

"If once is an accident, then three times with the same result must be destiny."

Lu Yang thought to himself, 'Isn't getting the same result three times in a row a one-in-nine probability?'

Considering this might be a difference between himself and an immortal, he decided not to ask.

"Although he chose the Yin-Yang Dao Fruit, Immortal Jiuzhong conducted extensive research into both Chaos and the Five Elements."

"Don't think that a Dao Fruit is an immortal's entire being. As immortals, we often gather, exchanging cultivation insights and research experiences, sharing knowledge. One could say that our five individuals' collective knowledge of cultivation is unmatched!" Immortal Buxiu smiled proudly, her smile radiating knowledge and wisdom.

Lu Yang nodded; this was true. He had heard that the higher one's cultivation level, the more one needed to exchange insights and verify experiences with peers. A single exchange with someone of the same level could yield the equivalent of a hundred years of cultivation. Given how frequently the Five Ancient Immortals gathered, regardless of purpose, their accumulation of knowledge must have grown to an astonishing degree, perhaps equivalent to millions of years of cultivation.

"Lu Yang, stand up and answer this question." The Elder of Imparted Knowledge glared disapprovingly at Lu Yang. Although his lecture was indeed boring, it was the first time he had seen someone so blatantly distracted.

Lu Yang hurriedly stood up. He had been too absorbed in listening to ancient secrets to pay attention to the Elder's lecture, so he quickly sent a telepathic message to Meng Jingzhou.

Fortunately, Immortal Buxiu provided cover, so the Elder didn't notice the telepathic communication.

"What did the Elder just say?"

"Don't ask me, I wasn't listening either."

Cold sweat dripped down Meng Jingzhou's face; he was terrified the Elder would call on him next.

He had zoned out earlier. When he heard the Elder mention "earth," he wondered if, since people were buried after execution anyway, wouldn't it be simpler just to bury them alive?

"Manggu, do you know?"

"No."

He was thinking about whether, as the last ancient barbarian, he would have reproductive isolation from the current barbarians.

Lu Yang asked around, but no one was reliable.

"Lu Yang, answer the question. You weren't paying attention, were you?" The Elder continued to glare at Lu Yang.

Lu Yang took a deep breath. Things had come to this; there was no other way.

"Immortal Jiuzhong's Dao Fruit is the Yin-Yang Dao Fruit, granting mastery over ultimate power. Immortal Yingtian's Dao Fruit is the Calamity Response Dao Fruit; most cultivators' tribulations are orchestrated by it. Immortal Suiyue's Dao Fruit is the Time Dao Fruit, granting control over time. Immortal Qilin's Dao Fruit is the Survival of the Fittest Dao Fruit; any attack that has already been executed becomes ineffective against him!"

The lecture hall fell silent.

"Elder, was my answer correct?"

The Elder of Imparted Knowledge was momentarily dazed.

He remembered Lu Yang had just said a lot, but he couldn't recall a single word.

What did he say?

"Elder? Elder?" Lu Yang called twice, and only then did the Elder of Imparted Knowledge snap back to reality.

"Huh? What?"

"Elder, you weren't spacing out just now, were you?"

The Elder of Imparted Knowledge cleared his throat twice, as if he hadn't heard Lu Yang's last remark: "Ahem, what Lu Yang just said was largely correct. Let me re-explain it here: Five is the most stable number in nature."

"For example, the Central Dynasty and the four regions (East, West, South, North), the Five Great Immortal Sects, the Five Branches of the Five Elements Sect, the Four Great Demonic Cults, and the Heaven's Court Cult whose situation is unclear."

"According to the Five Elements theory, the Heaven's Court Cult is very likely to become the fifth great demonic cult, forming a 'five'."

"And you five. You are the five most outstanding individuals of the Dao-Seeking Sect's young generation, which also subtly aligns with the Five Elements theory."

Meng Jingzhou secretly telepathically messaged Lu Yang: "That was incredible! How did you do it? I heard you say a lot, but I didn't remember a single sentence."

Lu Yang said seriously, "This is an ancient secret technique that only I can perform."

He breathed a sigh of relief; the immortals' forgetting trait had been a huge help.

The Elder of Imparted Knowledge quickly moved on to the main point of the day: "Now, we will discuss the knowledge of Five Elements spells. Among you, who is most familiar with Five Elements spells?"

"Him."

The four individuals simultaneously pointed at Lu Yang, who was almost too slow to react.

The Elder of Imparted Knowledge was slightly surprised but also greatly pleased: "Oh, I heard you have a sword spirit root. I didn't expect you to be proficient in Five Elements spells too. How did you cultivate your Five Elements spells? Tell me about it."

Lu Yang scratched his head awkwardly. How was he supposed to explain? Cultivating spells came easily to him; he had never encountered any bottlenecks.

"I just relied on feeling; I practiced casually and succeeded."

Although the spell effects were uncertain, the spells themselves had indeed been successfully cultivated with casual practice.

The second update will be at eleven o'clock.

(End of Chapter)