Chapter 124: Great Elder

Lu Yang gasped, his heart hammering against his ribs. The coffin in the main chamber was made of stone, carved with intricate, ancient patterns of the sun, moon, and stars, forged in some unfathomable era. Its sheer opulence left no doubt that an eminent figure lay entombed within.

And the Great Elder of the Seeking Sect certainly fit the description of an eminent figure.

"Could the Great Elder truly be buried in here?!" Lu Yang felt as though he were facing a formidable enemy. Had he triggered some mechanism that brought the dead back to life, had the Dao Fruit of the Immortal Fairy reanimated the corpse, or was there some other unknown reason?

The coffin lid floated up slowly, and an old man with a long beard sat up from within. When Lu Yang saw him, his pupils dilated; it really was the Great Elder of the Seeking Sect!

The Great Elder had occasionally visited Tianmen Peak to ask the Eldest Senior Sister about certain matters, so Lu Yang recognized his face.

Lu Yang was contemplating whether to execute a set of the Eldest Senior Sister Imitation Boxing to summon her, or to use the Inch-Close Horizon technique to teleport himself back into the open air above the cliff.

The Great Elder's voice carried the vicissitudes of time, and his eyes were filled with confusion as he looked at Lu Yang. "Lu Yang? Why are you here?"

Lu Yang was startled. According to his deductions, there was a fake Great Elder in the Seeking Sect while the real one lay in this coffin. He had only ever seen the fake one, so how could this person recognize him?

"Great Elder, you know me?" Lu Yang asked warily.

Within the spiritual space, the Immortal Fairy pouted. Lu Yang had never been this respectful to her.

She was an immortal, yet this brat Lu Yang possessed not a shred of reverence for her!

Lu Yang's question puzzled the Great Elder even more. "Of course I know you. Aren't you Old Ninth's disciple, the Sword Root Lu Yang? I even watched you through the water mirror when you took the entrance trial for the Seeking Sect."

"I should be asking you, what are you doing running off to my place for no reason, disturbing my sleep."

"S-Sleep?" Lu Yang's mind could not process the twist. Who in their right mind would sleep in a coffin for no reason?

The Great Elder let out a massive yawn, tears welling in the corners of his eyes, looking exactly like someone who had just woken up. "Building the tomb just now was too exhausting, so I closed my eyes for a brief moment. I'm old, truly old. My past self wouldn't have felt this tired at all. One must yield to old age. Speaking of which, I am already three thousand years old."

"Building a tomb?" Lu Yang's eyes widened. He had heard that cultivators could perceive when their time was drawing near, prompting them to write wills, settle their affairs, and build tombs in advance.

Thinking of the Great Elder's contributions to the Seeking Sect, Lu Yang felt a deep sorrow in his heart. "Could it be that you are about to... about to..."

The remaining words simply refused to leave Lu Yang's mouth.

The Great Elder nodded. "Yes, it is time to think about what to do after retirement. Dai Bufan said I can still live for another five thousand years after retiring, so I should find a hobby. I thought about it and felt that building a tomb is a good choice. I'll use it sooner or later anyway."

Lu Yang: "..."

Swept up by the atmosphere earlier, his brain had temporarily short-circuited. Only now did he remember that those at the Integration Stage could live for at least eight thousand years, and with the Great Elder's profound cultivation, he would surely live even longer.

Give me back my sorrow!

"You are building a tomb this early?" Lu Yang thought to himself that this was a truly eccentric hobby.

"Why ever not? I have heard that mortals in some places borrow huge sums of money from banks to buy houses, spending a lifetime of hard labor to repay the debt."

"If mortals can toil a lifetime for a house, it is naturally no issue for me to toil the latter half of my life for a tomb."

Lu Yang was left completely speechless by the Great Elder's logic.

"Moreover, this is not the only tomb I have built. I have already finished others elsewhere. This place is just a prototype; I haven't even prepared the zombies yet, so I just threw in some white-haired zombies to maintain the atmosphere."

"By the way, I specifically chose to build this tomb on a cliff face within our Seeking Sect. How did you find your way here?"

Lu Yang remained silent; he did not particularly want to recall the process.

So this place was still within the Seeking Sect. It seemed the distance he teleported was not very far.

The Immortal Fairy said lazily, "You definitely couldn't teleport far. The teleportation distance is closely linked to your realm. You are only at the Qi Condensation Stage, how far could you run? Did you really think you could ascend to the heavens?"

The Great Elder had no way of knowing the Immortal Fairy's existence.

"So the reason you are often absent from the Mission Hall is because..."

"Leaving matters to Little Dai to enjoy retirement life in advance."

Very reasonable.

Seeing that Lu Yang was reluctant to elaborate on the process of reaching the tomb, the Great Elder asked, "Do you need me to send you back?"

Lu Yang nodded hastily; this was exactly what he wished for.

The Great Elder emerged from the coffin and tapped Lu Yang. Lu Yang was instantly enveloped in a massive bubble. The Great Elder flew out of the tomb with his hands behind his back, while Lu Yang inside the bubble followed behind.

The Great Elder was as swift as a flash of thunder, leaving the cliff in the blink of an eye. Only then did Lu Yang realize why he needed to be covered by the bubble; his body could not withstand the Great Elder's speed.

Leaving the cliff, an boundless prairie filled his vision, carpeted with lush green grass. On the prairie, there were sheep grazing on tender grass alongside various wild beasts. The terrifying fluctuations emitted by the beasts made Lu Yang's heart shudder.

Presumably, this was one of the "perilous lands where insufficient cultivation leads to death" that the Eldest Senior Sister had mentioned upon entering the sect.

With his cultivation, it was absolutely impossible to fall safely from the cliff... why did that phrase sound so awkward?

The Great Elder flew with Lu Yang. Because the flying speed was too fast, the scenery below could not be discerned clearly, which eliminated any issue of a fear of heights.

During the flight, Lu Yang felt somewhat alarmed. Given the Great Elder's flying speed, they had flown for so long without reaching Tianmen Peak. Just how far had he been teleported?

While Lu Yang was letting his thoughts wander, the Great Elder stopped. Lu Yang realized they had already arrived at Tianmen Peak.

The Great Elder set Lu Yang down and left immediately.

While sleeping in the coffin, the Great Elder had encountered a difficult point in his cultivation and wanted to ask his junior brothers for their views.

He arrived at the Medicine Garden, but the Second Elder was not there. He went to the Body Refining Peak, but the Third Elder was not there. He went to the Gentleman Peak, but the Fourth Elder was also absent.

"Where is everyone?" The Great Elder was utterly perplexed. He did not recall Old Second, Old Third, or Old Fourth being the type to wander around. Usually, he could find them instantly, yet he could not find a single one today.

The Fourth Elder's eldest disciple, Ji Hongwen, saw the Great Elder looking for his master and said, "It seems Master found the whereabouts of the Sect Master and has headed to Tianmen Peak with the Second Elder."

"Old Ninth's whereabouts? Tianmen Peak?" The Great Elder had not expected to return to Tianmen Peak so soon.

He arrived at Tianmen Peak and asked Lu Yang if he knew the whereabouts of Daoist Buyu. Lu Yang pointed out the direction, and he successfully reached the pine forest, finding his six junior brothers, one junior sister, and Daoist Buyu currently eating hot pot.

Seeing the Great Elder standing outside the cave dwelling, Daoist Buyu waved enthusiastically. "We brothers haven't gathered together in a long time. Look at this, we were just preparing to eat hot pot together when you arrived, Eldest Senior Brother."

"Eldest Senior Brother, come inside quickly, you're the only one missing."

The Great Elder looked suspiciously at the enthusiastic Daoist Buyu.