Chapter 347: Where is My Patent Fee?

The Senior Sister produced a gold-embossed invitation, its mere cover betraying a staggering worth: "The Qingzhou Grand Ceremony includes a tournament for the younger generation, and the local authorities have sent our Wendao Sect an invitation, hoping we might dispatch someone to participate. I had originally intended to bring this up with you, but since Junior Brother Meng has raised the subject, it saves quite a bit of trouble."

"A tournament for the younger generation?" Lu Yang felt a sudden surge of eagerness; aside from those of the Five Elements Sect, he had yet to trade blows with any peers of his own age.

"Then let us depart, use my carriage," Meng Jingzhou called out in greeting.

"Just the two of us? Is Junior Sister Tao and the rest not joining?"

"I did indeed look for them all, but Junior Sister Tao said she is currently awaiting the results from the Second and Eighth Elders, though what manner of result she awaits remains unknown. Moreover, seeing her so intently engrossed in studying the Feathered Immortal Physique, I did not press the invitation further."

"Junior Brother Man has returned to the Barbarian homelands to visit kindred, and there is no telling when he might find his way back."

"Junior Brother Li is presently savoring the joys of domestic bliss, exhausting every artifice to aid our grand-niece in forming her Golden Core, and was similarly disinclined to venture forth."

Meng Jingzhou could not help but feel a pang of regret; such an exceedingly rare opportunity it was, for across the fifteen provinces of Great Xia, events of this magnitude transpired but fifteen times a year, and should they miss this occasion, they would have to languish until a month hence, meaning those others would simply fail to catch the auspicious hour.

He was a man who relished a bustling crowd, and naturally, the more souls that journeyed along, the better.

Once Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou had taken their leave, the Senior Sister only then recalled something and flipped open the invitation: On the third day of the beginning of the ninety-nine thousand, eight hundred and sixtieth year of the Great Xia Calendar, the Qingzhou Grand Ceremony shall be convened as is custom. We humbly request your esteemed Sect to dispatch an outstanding disciple to grace the ceremony, that they might serve as a judge to offer a word or two of guidance.

"Junior Brother Lu and Junior Brother Meng should not be ascending the tournament stage... right?"

Yun Zhi murmured softly to herself, suspecting that she was merely harboring groundless anxieties.

As the first and second ranks among the younger generation of the Wendao Sect, their prowess was beyond all question, standing a vast cut above the rest.

If they were to actually ascend the stage, it would simply be an act of excessive bullying.

"Back when I was still within the clan, I would frequently hear them speak of where such grand ceremonies were held and how spectacular they proved to be; just listening to their descriptions made me long to go and witness it."

"Regrettably, at that time I had not yet embarked upon cultivation, and lacked the qualifications to behold such a spectacle."

"The Qingzhou Grand Ceremony is a festival ordained for cultivators; to ensure the ordinary lives of mortals remain undisturbed, Qingzhou will deliberately cordon off a tract of land outside the city, where great cultivators will lend their hands to provisionally erect a city."

Aboard the carriage, Meng Jingzhou gesticulated with flying brows and dancing vividness, leaving Lu Yang thoroughly wide-eyed at the revelations.

"Beyond the contests of magical combat, the ceremony boasts auctions, appraisals of discernment, bartering of goods, exploration of ruins, appreciation of Golden Cores, and all manner of diverse spectacles; every cultivator who ventures there will surely reap a bountiful harvest."

"It is not merely our younger generation, for mid-to-high stage cultivators attend as well, though those cultivators possess their own circles of interaction and do not engage in the same commotions as we do."

The age of those mid-to-high stage cultivators far exceeded that of Lu Yang and his companion; were they present, the younger generation would inevitably find their hands and feet constrained in their actions.

Lu Yang possessed a profound appreciation for this sentiment: when classmates came to play at one's home, the manner of play when parents were present contrasted entirely with the manner of play when parents were absent.

"A grand assembly for the exchange of cultivators, we used to arrange those in our time as well, except back then everyone was steeped in a heavy aura of hostility, ready to slaughter your entire clan at the slightest provocation; quite often, what appeared on the surface to be an exchange assembly was, in the shadows, an opportunity for rogue cultivators to strike, murdering for treasures, a thoroughly perilous affair."

"Thus, only the great clans possessed the authority to host such cultivator exchange assemblies, ensuring the highest degree of safety, such as the Lianshan Clan behind the Ninefold Immortal, the Dragon Clan, the Phoenix Clan, the Four Great Perilous Clans, and their ilk."

The Immortal Fairy sighed with wistful emotion, reminiscing upon the past, noting how truly fraught with difficulty it had been.

Lu Yang recalled that once, the Ninefold Immortal had commanded the Immortal Fairy to cook in order to make a prisoner confess; the prisoner spoken of here must have been a cultivator of the rogue variety, one who had transgressed the boundaries of the ancient and great Lianshan Clan.

"Later on, when the five of us attained immortality, we would hold exchange assemblies from time to time, and the assemblies we conducted were exceedingly safe, with no blind fools daring to murder for treasures; however, I am not adept at such matters as convening meetings, so Qinghe managed the arrangements on my behalf."

"On one occasion, I proposed that since they had come to my domain to hold the exchange assembly, we ought to choose a place of distinct character, such as the Mother-and-Son River, or the Twin Rivers and the like, where hills and waters combined into such exquisite scenery, and should anyone desire to sport in the waters, they could plunge into the river to play."

"Qinghe rejected my proposal with righteous severity, declaring that place to be fraught with extreme danger."

Lu Yang thought within his heart that your river water, Fairy, is the greatest enemy to family planning; who would dare plunge into such a river.

"Occasionally, the Yingtian Immortal would even feign carelessness during the exchange assemblies, allowing certain volumes to leak out, wherein the glorious achievements and monumental deeds of us five immortals were recorded."

"I asked the Yingtian Immortal why he acted thus, and he replied that if an immortal were to bestow a book openly before the masses, the world would harbor doubts regarding the veracity of its contents; yet if it appeared to have leaked out through an immortal's negligence, the world would perceive its authenticity to be vastly higher."

Lu Yang felt that the Yingtian Immortal spoke with profound reason, and thus he absorbed a new trick.

What Lu Yang did not know was that the very rumor alleging the Yingtian Immortal had caused countless maidens to become pregnant had been spread abroad in precisely this fashion.

The old horse journeyed leisurely for two days, crossing mountains and fording rivers, before finally arriving in Qingzhou.

The moment they entered the boundaries of Qingzhou, the old horse restrained its ability to traverse space; previously they had trodden upon wild mountain paths where no eye could see, but now such a course was impossible, for this was Qingzhou, teeming with people and a chaos of eyes, where it might startle the wayfarers.

Meng Jingzhou poked his head out, and beholding the scenery not far distant, his face broke into a radiant smile: "We are almost there."

Lu Yang likewise poked his head out from the opposite side; the mountain forests were dense, a verdant and luxuriant expanse, and nestled between the great peaks were structures fashioned from green stone, arranged in orderly disharmony, beautiful as a painted scroll.

Though provisionally constructed, the craftsmanship was exquisite, fully demonstrating the care invested therein.

Multitudes of tiny black specks were in motion, flitting from one structure to another; these were all cultivators.

The carriage appeared utterly ordinary, and the arrival of Lu Yang and his companion drew no notice from the throngs.

Whish—

A dark shadow hurtled past overhead with great velocity; the two raised their eyes, discovering it to be an exceptionally swift flying vessel.

The arrival of this flying vessel provoked cries of astonishment from the wayfarers.

"Look quickly, that is the flying vessel of the Thunderfire Sect, what incredible speed, how many spirit stones must such a vessel be worth? I have heard that this generation of the Thunderfire Sect has brought forth an extraordinary prodigy; those few figures closely pursuing the vessel, could they be the Dao-protectors of that Thunderfire Sect genius?"

"Ah, I misread the situation, it is the Thunderfire Sect vessel speeding, and those behind are the constables."

"What strange artifact is that? The insignia upon the artifact belongs to the disciples of the Yunmeng Sword Sect!"

"Beneath the artifact is a sword, and upon the sword rests a massive iron hull, an object quite unseen before."

"I know of this, it is called a flying car, rumored to be an artifact invented by a certain sword dao genius of the Wendao Sect, which has not yet achieved widespread popularity. In former times, flying upon a mastered sword permitted only a solitary traveler to fly, but this flying car can carry five persons."

"Deserving indeed of the Wendao Sect's reputation, such whimsical genius is far beyond what the likes of us can compare to."

"Who could say otherwise? I have heard that the Wendao Sect subtly shows signs of becoming the foremost of the Five Great Immortal Sects, and every soul within that sect is a paragon and a genius!"

Meng Jingzhou turned his head to look at Lu Yang, whose expression had grown exceedingly peculiar.

This flying car was an invention of his own doing; later, the Fifth Elder had instructed Li Haoran to apply for a patent, and since that time he had paid no further heed to the matter, never imagining it had already entered mass production.

"Hold on a moment, where are my patent royalties?"

Recommending a book, which also follows a humorous style and is nearing its conclusion; the author is San Xing, who wrote "This Curse is Splendid."

(End of Chapter)