Chapter 565: The Silent Daoist's Two Lessons

Lu Yang was deeply moved by the bond shared by the Five Ancient Immortals. He admired their grand vision and magnificent execution in creating an unprecedented prison, one that could only be unlocked by combining the powers of all Five Ancient Immortals.

Lu Yang had no other thoughts, only one pressing question: with the Immortal of Time gone, how could they gather the power of the Five Ancient Immortals?

Even the Immortal of Immortality was perplexed. After a moment's thought, she suggested a seemingly impractical solution: "What if you become an immortal and then comprehend the Dao Fruit of Time?"

Lu Yang was speechless.

"Immortal, aren't you overestimating me?" The rules of time are incredibly difficult to master. The Immortal of Time, leveraging his identity as Jianmu, slowly honed his understanding with an endless lifespan, essentially exchanging time for time, until he finally mastered them. "I'm only eighteen this year; am I supposed to already be planning to master the Dao Fruit of Time? How would I master it? By taking over the Immortal of Time's corpse, or by you, Immortal, teaching me the rules of time?"

"It's a pity that Ying Tianxian and the others are missing; even if they're alive, we don't know where they are," the Immortal of Immortality said, shaking her head regretfully. Yet, Lu Yang could tell she was in good spirits. Previously, the culprit's identity was unknown, and one of the Four Ancient Immortals was suspected. After this investigation, that possibility was finally ruled out, bringing a sense of relief.

"Alright, it's time to go back."

They had finished exploring the deepest layer of the continent, and there was no need to stay any longer.

The man and the immortal regrouped. Lu Yang employed the Earth Shrinking Technique, "swimming" through the ground as if it were water. He kicked with both feet and pushed aside layers of soil with his hands, like a fish, attempting to move through the continent... but he didn't budge.

Lu Yang blinked. His movements were standard, but he simply couldn't "swim" upward. He took a deep breath, kicked with both feet, and pushed aside layers of soil with his hands, like a fish, trying to move through the continent... still, he didn't move. He looked down at the barrier at the continent's lowest layer; it was holding him in place.

Seeing Lu Yang's predicament, the Immortal of Immortality suddenly remembered something. "Oh, I forgot," she said, "there's still gravity here; you're being pulled down."

The Four Ancient Immortals were incredibly skilled; when they refined stars into a continent, they didn't just knead them like clay. During this process, they either preserved gravity or constructed gravitational arrays with spells... In any case, the continent had gravity.

"Just use a bit more force, and you'll go up," the Immortal of Immortality encouraged Lu Yang.

Descending hadn't been difficult for Lu Yang; at most, he'd used "Drawing a Prison" to slow his descent when he was moving too fast. Going back up, however, was proving to be a significant hassle. Lu Yang had no other option but to painstakingly "swim" his way up. It had taken him five days to descend to the earth's core, but thirteen days to return to the surface, leaving him utterly breathless. Fortunately, the Immortal of Immortality had guided his direction, preventing him from straying. Even a slight deviation could have led him into the territory of the Suan Ni or Qiong Qi clans.

"That trip took you quite a while," Meng Jingzhou remarked. He had been meditating with his eyes closed but woke up early when he sensed Lu Yang burrowing up from the ground like an earthworm.

Lu Yang rolled his eyes at Meng Jingzhou. "It would take you just as long to go down and come back," he retorted.

The Third Senior Sister looked at Lu Yang, who had returned earlier than expected, with a hint of surprise. His round trip had taken a few days less than she had estimated. "At this speed, even a Nascent Soul cultivator would feel inferior," she mused. Her junior brother was even stronger than she had thought, which explained why the Eldest Senior Sister had appointed him acting sect leader.

"So, what did you gain? Your senior sister didn't lie to you, did she?"

Lu Yang nodded. The trip had been very fruitful, but the details of his gains couldn't be revealed to others due to their significant implications. Besides, even if he were to discuss the contents of the Four Ancient Immortals' Dao Fruits, it would be useless, as people would simply forget them immediately.

"Since you're back, you two stay here and keep watch. I'll go outside and see if those old geezers have left," the Third Senior Sister said. She stretched her limbs, cautioned them not to wander off, and promised to return quickly.

The Third Senior Sister picked up a talisman, which spontaneously ignited. Before their very eyes, she vanished on the spot. Neither their sight nor their divine sense could detect her. This was a very advanced invisibility talisman; only the Immortal of Immortality could still see her.

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou breathed a sigh of relief, finally feeling safe.

"Where do we go now?"

"To the Qiong Qi clan; I have my second stronghold there."

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou gasped. "Third Senior Sister," they thought, "you're taking us right into their main camp!"

"It's fine. I've been to the Qiong Qi clan countless times," she reassured them. "Don't let their formidable reputation in the outside world fool you; their internal management is quite lax, incomparable to our Dao Seeking Sect."

The two followed the Third Senior Sister out. Only after leaving the cave did they realize it wasn't located *in* the mountain but *under* it; to exit, they still had to ascend. The mountain was thick with fog and dew. The muddy path was uneven and riddled with small puddles everywhere, suggesting it had rained recently.

The Third Senior Sister suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong, Senior Sister?"

The Third Senior Sister pointed to a small puddle and said, "Follow me and jump in."

"Huh?"

Without further explanation, the Third Senior Sister jumped into the puddle. Strangely, this puddle, formed by recent rain, appeared to be only two or three inches deep, yet when she jumped in, she completely vanished. Although puzzled, the two didn't doubt the Third Senior Sister and imitated her, jumping in.

Lu Yang felt his body completely submerged, as if plunged into the depths of the East Sea. He lost all sense of direction, unable to distinguish north, south, east, or west. He desperately swam in one direction. After a couple of strokes, his head suddenly felt light, and he surfaced, crawling out of the puddle.

The surrounding scenery was identical to what it had been before they jumped in.

"This is the outside world," the Third Senior Sister said with a smile. She had created this place when she first arrived in the Demon Realm, and its ability to remain undiscovered naturally held hidden secrets.

Lu Yang understood. The Third Senior Sister had leveraged the mountainous region's frequent rainfall, using a puddle as an entrance to establish a mirrored underground space. They had been hiding in this subterranean area for the past few days.

"This was the second lesson Master taught me: learning how to hide." Daoist Burying Silence's first lesson to the Third Senior Sister was how to escape, and the second was how to conceal oneself. Lu Yang recalled the Eldest Senior Sister's teaching methods: her first lesson involved making him juggle a large jar like a circus performer, and her second was making him bathe in boiling water. It was hard to say which method was more effective.

"The Qiong Qi clan is one hundred and fifty li from here," the Third Senior Sister said, pointing in a direction. "On the way, we'll also have to pass through a branch tribe of the Qiong Qi clan."

"Keep these two invisibility talismans. Light them when we get close to the branch tribe," the Third Senior Sister said, handing each of them a talisman.

"A branch tribe?"

"They are Qiong Qi with impure bloodlines," she explained. "These Qiong Qi aren't eligible for the main clan's genealogy. As you've seen, the Demon Realm is very dangerous, so they live near the Qiong Qi clan, serving as guards and servants."

"Wasn't the first demon beast we killed a mixed-blood Qiong Qi?" Meng Jingzhou whispered.

Lu Yang nodded. Indeed, it was true. That was when he, Meng Jingzhou, and Mang Gu had gone to eliminate a tiger demon, and that tiger demon had Qiong Qi blood, making it a hybrid.