Chapter 344: The Eighth Elder

Lu Yang reckoned that if Tao Yaoye were to defect to the Nine Nether Sect, the Sect Master would likely enshrine her as a Saintess, or simply let her lead the sect herself.

This method of minting money was far swifter than Qin Haoran’s loans; it wouldn’t even be an exaggeration to call it a venture of pure profit without capital.

Without investment, there was no need to worry about losing one's principal.

There was no need to hire actors, nor was there any need to reshoot dozens of times; illusions could be conjured at whim, and the special effects—needless to say—were indistinguishable from reality.

If one fell into an illusion during battle and perished within the phantasm, it meant true death; the hallucinations brought by the illusion were absolutely truer than the truth itself.

As for the plot, there was no cause for concern either; the daily occurrences of the cultivation world could all serve as raw material, and with a bit of dramatic adaptation, they could become movies; those with excessively long plots could be turned into television dramas.

Without looking far, their Master's storytelling epic, "Legends of the Dao Seeking Sect," could be used for a movie.

"It is a good thing, but there are areas in need of improvement."

Lu Yang pondered for a brief moment, pointing out the shortcomings in Tao Yaoye’s execution of her illusions.

"You realized that relying solely on martial combat isn't engaging enough, and adding brief plots was a good idea, but it is still not enough."

"An engaging plot must give people a sense of thorough gratification, leaving a lingering aftertaste after they finish watching; there must be foreshadowing, and there must be twists."

"Mm-hmm." Tao Yaoye nodded repeatedly; as expected of Senior Brother, his mind spun far faster than hers, able to look so far ahead upon just encountering the concept.

"For now, the plot is secondary; the primary issue is how to deploy the illusions."

Tao Yaoye was bewildered, failing to grasp his meaning: "I can deploy the illusions myself."

Lu Yang shook his head: "Of course you can deploy them, but you can't possibly go around deploying illusions everywhere, you would tire yourself to death."

"You also said you want to rely on this method to make money; if you want to make money, you must promote it, and to promote it, you need a more convenient method to deploy the illusions."

"For instance, talismans."

"If my memory serves me right, talismans are the most common carrier for illusions."

Tao Yaoye lowered her head, thinking of suitable people to consult: "As for talismans... the Sect Master excels in sword arts, the First Elder excels in dreamcraft, the Second Elder excels in formations, the Third Elder excels in body tempering, the Fourth Elder excels in Confucian Dao, the Fifth Elder excels in artifact forging, Master excels in the Immortal Physique, the Seventh Elder excels in alchemy, and the Eighth Elder excels in swindling and deception."

"It seems none of the Elders excel in talismans; should we ask the senior brothers and sisters for help?"

Lu Yang fell silent for a moment, unable to stop himself from saying: "...Is it possible that, besides swindling and deception, the Eighth Elder also happens to excel in talismans?"

Though rumors claimed that when Daoist Buyu first ascended the mountain, he was raised by the Eighth Elder, laying a solid foundation for Daoist Buyu’s subsequent crooked growth.

Though nine hundred years ago, the Eighth Elder had swindled the Nine Nether Sect until their treasury was depleted, forcing the previous-previous Sect Master to commit suicide.

Though the Eighth Elder had sold Meng Jingzhou exam questions from twenty years ago.

Though the Fifth Elder absolutely refused to let the talisman cultivator Qin Yanyan seek the Eighth Elder to learn talismans, fearing she would learn crooked ways.

Yet it could not be denied that the Eighth Elder was indeed a master of talismans.

"We shall discuss it with the Eighth Elder, but for safety's sake, it would be better to bring the Sixth Elder along." Lu Yang suggested prudently, earning Tao Yaoye’s agreement.

At the summit of Cloudless Peak, the breathtakingly beautiful Sixth Elder sat cross-legged; under the effect of the Flawless Immortal Physique, the surroundings had become a vacuum zone.

She concentrated the range of her Immortal Physique as much as possible; she had discovered that the smaller the range of the Immortal Physique’s effect, the stronger the repulsive effect became; the optimal state was to let the domain of the Flawless Immortal Physique adhere to her body surface in a paper-thin layer, rendering her fearless against any attack.

However, judging from historical records, no previous possessor of the Flawless Immortal Physique had ever achieved such a degree.

Sensing someone approaching not far away, she opened her beautiful eyes and saw Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye.

"What business brings you two here?" she asked via voice transmission.

"We apologize for disturbing Master's quiet cultivation. It is like this: Disciple recently had a new idea regarding illusions..." Tao Yaoye explained the process of her discussion with Lu Yang in detail.

"A decent idea; with Old Eighth's caliber in talismans, it should present no difficulty to operate." The Sixth Elder also realized what sort of commercial opportunity Tao Yaoye’s idea contained, feeling a touch of pride in her heart.

Tao Yaoye’s idea was far more lucrative than Ninth Junior Brother’s "As You Wish Size Modification (Localized Version)."

Look at that, this is the fine disciple I instructed!

"Come, I shall take you to find him." The Sixth Elder raised her hand, and a sphere of bizarre energy enveloped Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye, carrying them directly from the summit of Cloudless Peak to the adjacent summit of Rune Peak.

Rune Peak was the mountain peak managed by the Eighth Elder.

The trio landed; it was the first time Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye had come to Rune Peak, and they discovered that the place was carpeted with runes, even the surfaces of leaves bore rune markings, and the configurations formed by various plants faintly resembled talismans.

"Old Eighth, come out, we need a favor!" The Sixth Elder sent a voice transmission to the Eighth Elder.

"Senior Sister is looking for me?" The Eighth Elder emerged from his cave dwelling with a look of surprise; in his memory, Sixth Senior Sister rarely sought his help.

"Could it be that Senior Sister was deceived by some blind fool outside, and needs me to swindle them back? That might be slightly difficult; I haven't left the mountain to swindle anyone for several decades."

Lu Yang thought to himself, Eighth Elder, have you forgotten that you just swindled Meng Jingzhou a year and a half ago?

Tao Yaoye was unaware of this matter, and truly believed the Eighth Elder had washed his hands of his past.

"But rest assured, if anyone dares to deceive you, Senior Sister, even if I do not leave the mountain, I can dispatch my disciples to swindle him until he doesn't even have underpants left!"

"I am different from Ninth Junior Brother; I have swindled people for so many years and have never been caught once!"

"The disciples I trained are the same, all thoroughly reliable, none will be caught by the authorities!" The Eighth Elder thumped his chest in assurance, showing great camaraderie; he had received no shortage of care from the Sixth Elder during his youth.

Lu Yang was struck with solemn respect; he hadn't expected the Eighth Elder’s swindling arts to be so sublime as to never be caught once—even Master couldn't compare to this!

One had to know, Master was a ruthless character capable of tricking the Minister of Justice into a dungeon.

By optimistic estimates, Master had still not been released yet.

Lu Yang had heard that ever since the Minister of Justice was locked in the Great Wild Goose County dungeon, the entire Ministry of Justice had moved to Great Wild Goose County to conduct official business, rendering the public security of Great Wild Goose County unprecedentedly clear, with not a single illegal or criminal act occurring.

Evildoers were not stupid; with the entire Ministry of Justice stationed in Great Wild Goose County, one would have to be incredibly unhinged to commit a crime right under their noses.

They were not Daoist Buyu, after all.

However, there was a price to pay; Lu Yang heard from Meng Jingzhou that even if the officials of the imperial capital took leave, they would make a trip to the dungeons of Great Wild Goose County to see the novelty.

They called it caring for their colleague under a fine name.

While incidentally suggesting to the County Governor of Great Wild Goose County to sentence Daoist Buyu to death.

The Sixth Elder rolled her eyes at the Eighth Elder; they had been fellow disciples for two thousand years, and she knew exactly what kind of person the Eighth Elder was.

"True, you have indeed never been caught; you always turn yourself in, saying it reduces your sentence."

"Furthermore, don't think I don't know why you refuse to leave the sect; you are simply waiting for the statute of limitations to expire."

The penal code of the Great Xia explicitly decreed that if a crime had passed the statutory limitation period, the criminal offender would no longer be investigated for criminal responsibility.