Chapter 654: Manipulating Clouds and Rain

Daoist Buyu, Sect Master of Wendao Sect, was a writer and educator. He authored works such as "The Transformation of Dragon and Phoenix," "Two Thousand Years of Environmental Changes in the Daxia Dynasty's Prisons," "As You Wish (Partial Edition)," and "Legends of Wendao Sect." He took four disciples: Yunzhi, the strongest cultivator of the current age; Ye Zijin, enemy of the Buddhist Kingdom; Gantian, the Demonic Sound Heavenly Maiden; and Lu Yang, the Young Sect Master of the Heavenly Court Sect. His educational achievements are immortal and will be remembered throughout history.

Due to an indecent affair, he had an altercation with the Phoenix Ancestor. The Phoenix Ancestor violently attacked him. Daoist Buyu, unable to defeat the Phoenix Ancestor, died at the age of over two thousand years. This brought great satisfaction to all and was celebrated far and wide.

The flow of time resumed.

Daoist Buyu and Clan Leader Jin were beaten until they were barely alive and thrown onto the roof by Jiang Lianyi, lest they trip passersby.

Daoist Buyu was more bewildered: Who had divulged the matter of "The Transformation of Dragon and Phoenix"?

Eldest brother, second brother, third brother, Xiaozhi... The scope was too broad, and all of them had motives, making it hard to guess.

Clan Leader Jin felt wronged. His junior ancestor was the mistress, but why was *he* being beaten? Was it just because he looked easy to bully?

From the Phoenix Ancestor's few words just now, could it be that the Wendao Sect was established by the ancient Heavenly Court?

This would explain why the Phoenix Ancestor was an honored guest of the Wendao Sect.

However, judging by Daoist Buyu's expression, he didn't know about this. Could this be a secret unknown even to the Sect Master?

This was a secret! The Wendao Sect was terrifying! It appeared to be one of the five great immortal sects of the current age, but it was merely a disguise for the world.

To maintain this disguise for a hundred thousand years, it was chilling to even think about.

Perhaps he should persuade his junior ancestor not to fight alone. Either seek refuge with the Qilin Immortal or join the Heavenly Court Sect.

Jiang Lianyi glanced at Clan Leader Jin, who was lost in wild thoughts, and didn't pay him much mind.

With the imprint left by the embryonic form of the Dao Fruit, whatever he knew, he couldn't speak of it; no secrets would be leaked.

Chunjiang City.

Lu Yang sat beside Shi Chan, waiting for business to come to them.

Their luck was good today; business soon arrived.

A handsome young man approached Shi Chan with a request: "Master, can you bring rain?"

"Amitabha," Shi Chan replied, "This humble monk is certainly capable of rain-making spells."

"Then could you cause a heavy rain tomorrow evening? The price is negotiable." The handsome young man eagerly stared at Shi Chan, thrilled to finally meet a master who could bring rain.

"This humble monk must first inquire, benefactor, for what purpose do you wish for rain?"

The handsome young man dared not lie to the master, so he said: "Tomorrow, a close female friend is going on a date with me. I thought that if a heavy rain suddenly fell in the evening, and neither of us had an umbrella, we would surely get soaked."

"This way, I would have an excuse, on the pretext of changing clothes, to take her to a nearby inn, facilitating further developments."

Shi Chan put his palms together and advised: "Benefactor, please reconsider. This act is wicked. I urge you to cease this immediately."

The handsome young man, unwilling to give up, pleaded: "Master, name your price. I can provide any amount of spirit stones."

"This is not about spirit stones, benefactor. Please depart."

Seeing Shi Chan's firm stance, the handsome young man could only leave in disappointment, seeking other experts capable of controlling clouds and rain.

"Immortal, can you control clouds and bring rain?"

"Who can't? Although controlling clouds and bringing rain is a dragon's technique, the principle is very simple. Even you could learn it."

"How so?"

"The simplest method is to fill a storage ring with water, then fly into the sky, place the storage ring inside a watering can, and then activate the storage ring through the watering can – that counts as rain!"

"If you think one watering can isn't enough, you can use several."

Lu Yang nodded, "That does sound quite simple."

It doesn't even require spells, so there's no way to go wrong. The only drawback is that it's very costly in terms of storage rings and watering cans.

"All rain-making spells evolved from this principle. For instance, when the Nine Heavens Immortal ascended, there was a rain of sweet dew from the sky, golden lotuses sprang from the earth, the sound of the Grand Dao resounded, and all sorts of other strange phenomena occurred. The commotion was huge, as if he was afraid others wouldn't know he was the first to ascend."

"Later, he told us the truth. The so-called 'rain of sweet dew from the sky' was actually just him putting sweet dew into watering cans and pouring it all over himself after he ascended."

"As for the golden lotuses springing from the earth, he planted lotus seeds in the ground and used the 'Tree Cultivation Art' to accelerate their growth. Cultivating these golden lotuses required a lot of rare treasures and materials to successfully mutate the green lotuses."

"The sound of the Grand Dao was more troublesome. He secretly collected the cries of various races and then mixed the sounds together. This way, people couldn't tell what the sound of the Grand Dao actually was; they would just think the sound was incredibly powerful."

"To create so many phenomena, he almost emptied his entire fortune. He was simply suffering for the sake of his pride. Look, when this immortal ascended, there were no phenomena at all, simple and clear."

Lu Yang was speechless.

*Nine Heavens Immortal, you heard it all. The Immortal Fairy was the one revealing your secrets. Every wrong has its source, every debt its owner. Please don't come for me; I'm just an observer.*

A short while later, a young man dressed as a scholar approached, though he looked somewhat haggard.

"Master, can you exorcise ghosts?"

Shi Chan nodded. This was a specialty of the Buddhist sect. "Certainly. Is your home haunted, benefactor?"

"Possibly, but I haven't actually seen one."

"What's happening?"

The scholar said with a troubled expression: "Every night, when I'm fast asleep, I always feel someone beside me. But when I open my eyes, there's nothing there. This has been going on for a long time."

"I've also sought help from several masters. Either they left empty-handed, or they left protective talismans that had no effect."

"I even tried reporting it to the authorities, and that did work. When the officers arrived, the ghost wouldn't appear, but as soon as they left, I'd feel someone beside me again at night. The officers couldn't possibly stand guard beside me every night."

"Yesterday, I was so disturbed by the ghost that my energy was depleted. I found a friend and bought a three-hundred-year-old ganoderma lucidum to replenish myself. And the friend who sold me the ganoderma recommended you, Master."

"May I ask, benefactor, the friend who sold you the ganoderma is..."

"Brother Zhong Ming. He said he sought your help for an exorcism a few days ago."

"I see. That is correct."

Shi Chan stood up and gathered his belongings. "In that case, this humble monk and my two senior brothers will go and take a look."

"That's wonderful!" The scholar was delighted.

"May I ask your name, benefactor?"

"My name is Xu An."

"So it's Benefactor Xu."

Seeing that there was finally some proper business to attend to, Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou also packed their things and followed behind Shi Chan to see what was going on.

On the way, Xu An briefly introduced himself. He was a scholar with a wife. His parents had passed away early, leaving him a substantial fortune that allowed him to live without worries. His greatest wish was to diligently study the classics of the sages, pass the imperial examination to become the top scholar, and bring glory to his ancestors.

Xu An led the three through several small alleys. "This is the place."

Xu An's residence was no smaller than Zhong Ming's. It was understandable, given that he could afford a three-hundred-year-old ganoderma lucidum that had survived lightning tribulations, he must be quite wealthy.