Chapter 381: Heavenly Court Sect Adds a New Member Again

"Would you like to come with me to Yanjiang County?" Lu Yang asked Meng Jingzhou.

Meng Jingzhou was clearly tempted, but he shook his head in refusal. "I still need to train my shadow; I won't head out just yet."

Meng Jingzhou felt that if the Third Elder were to conduct a surprise inspection of his schoolwork and find that he had neglected his cultivation, the outcome would likely be grim.

The perils along the path of immortality were evident from this alone.

"Alright then," Lu Yang muttered, curling his lips, finding it inevitable that he would be somewhat bored all by himself.

"Hey, Junior Sister Tao, over here." At the foot of the mountain, Lu Yang spotted Tao Tianye not far away. Judging by her idle and unhurried pace, he guessed she had nothing much to do.

"Senior Brother Lu, what's the matter?" A subtle, faint smile played at the corners of Tao Tianye's lips, exceptionally pleasing to the eye, her every gesture inherently carrying a sense of aesthetic grace. It was easy to foresee what a remarkably elegant beauty she would become in the future.

"Would you like to join our Heavenly Court Sect?" Lu Yang invited enthusiastically. As the Young Sect Leader, it was his duty to recruit a few more geniuses for the Heavenly Court Sect.

"You probably haven't heard of the Heavenly Court Sect; it is the number one..."

"Sure."

Lu Yang blinked in surprise, only to see Tao Tianye smiling as she readily agreed.

The Heavenly Court Sect...

"Have you heard of the Heavenly Court Sect?" Lu Yang wondered to himself whether the Sixth Elder had mentioned this matter to her.

"No."

"Then why did you agree so quickly?"

Tao Tianye revealed a sly smile, her eyes blinking repeatedly. "Would Senior Brother Lu ever harm me?"

"Of course not!"

"Then that's all that matters. Senior Brother Lu asking me to join the Heavenly Court Sect must be for my own good. Since it is for my own good, why should I refuse?"

Lu Yang was left utterly speechless by her words, never having considered things from that perspective.

"So, what exactly is this Heavenly Court Sect?" Tao Tianye asked curiously.

"The grandest sect of the current age. The eight elders of our own sect and Master are the Heavenly Kings of the Heavenly Court Sect, Eldest Senior Sister is the Sect Leader, and I am the Young Sect Leader. We worship the omnipotent Lord Dou!"

Tao Tianye automatically ignored the name of Lord Dou, whom she had never even heard of, thinking to herself that she finally understood why her master had been so distressed lately about choosing a name, muttering about what kind of Heavenly King he ought to style himself as.

"Besides them, there is Meng Jingzhou, Li Haoran, and Li Haoran's former daughter, Qin Yanyan."

Tao Tianye's expression turned quite peculiar, finding the roster of the Heavenly Court Sect exceedingly complicated.

Furthermore, why establish the Heavenly Court Sect? Was Senior Brother Lu not satisfied with wiping out the demonic cults, wanting instead to take their place?

"The specific details are like this: at first, Meng Jingzhou, Li Haoran, and I just went out to catch ghosts..." Lu Yang recounted the entire affair from beginning to end, leaving Tao Tianye thoroughly dazed as she listened.

As expected of Senior Brother Lu—such active thinking, even capable of devising a method to fabricate a religion to cheat the Nine Nether Sect out of their trust. This was far more proactive than infiltrating the Nine Nether Sect as a deep-cover mole.

"Our Heavenly Court Sect claims to the outside world to be the ancient Heavenly Court, after all, so we need a few impressive figures. I see you, Junior Sister Tao, as a perfect fit to be an ancient genius."

Tao Tianye felt a touch of happiness, feeling that she had been acknowledged by Lu Yang.

"Right now, I happen to be going to meet the higher-ups of the Nine Nether Sect. Are you coming, Junior Sister?"

"Yes."

Yanjiang County, the main branch of the Once More Barbecue Shop.

The barbecue business was flourishing, expanding at a rapid pace; the presence of the Once More Barbecue Shop could be seen in all the counties surrounding Yanjiang County.

Had it not been for the shortage of grills and kindling, the barbecue shops would have already blossomed everywhere, forming a sprawling chain industry.

The Nine Nether Sect had invested massive efforts into opening barbecue shops, and the Sect Leader offered his full support, suggesting that everyone lay down their current work and temporarily refrain from killing people all over the place. The current objective of the Nine Nether Sect was to focus single-mindedly on opening barbecue shops.

This was far safer than using a cultist identity to take out loans.

The Sect Leader smiled so widely all day that his mouth could hardly close, and he would even chuckle aloud during meditation.

Vice Sect Leader Shi did not know that the sect had been in deficit for nearly a thousand years, nor did he know why the Sect Leader had temporarily shelved their doctrines, strictly instructing him that he must open the barbecue shops well.

Perhaps the Sect Leader loved wealth, or perhaps there was some other reason.

The Sect Leader's purpose had nothing to do with him; he opened the barbecue shops to resolve the issue of the one billion debt.

Even if his cultivation could influence the laws of creation, he could not withstand a strike of heavenly tribulation thunder arriving once a month. In case he slipped up just once and failed to hold out, it would be all over for him.

Making the barbecue shop larger and stronger was something he was determined to achieve.

Moreover, he knew that the key to running a shop lay in two factors: first, having an unrevealed secret recipe, and second, having a favorable business environment.

The first point went without saying; the barbecue shops were doing a roaring trade entirely because of the secret, unrevealed recipe.

As for the second point, there were many things that could be done, such as establishing good relations with the local authorities.

Bribery carried risks and could not be done; furthermore, bribery was unreliable—if the bribed official's crimes were exposed, wouldn't their barbecue shop go down with them?

Vice Sect Leader Shi shifted his line of thought: what the authorities needed was stability and order.

Their barbecue shop could assist the authorities in apprehending criminals and punishing wrongdoers.

When it came to crime, who could be more professional than a demonic sect?

The current crimes committed by common crooks were merely things they had played around with and outgrown; handling them could not be simpler.

Of course, this sort of thing could not be done openly, as it would be too conspicuous. The best method was to do it stealthily in the shadows, leaving the authorities to suspect it was their doing, yet without any concrete proof.

This was the ideal scenario.

In this manner, the authorities would suspect that the barbecue shop was the covert industry of some orthodox righteous power.

The barbecue shop also frequently punished evil and promoted good, maintaining stability.

Under the influence of these two factors, the authorities would inevitably lean toward protecting the barbecue shop.

Facts proved Vice Sect Leader Shi's reasoning sound. The order in Yanjiang County had become unprecedentedly stable, the jail cells were noticeably emptier, and the authorities would not conduct random inspections from time to time, nor would they hint at any bribes.

In the dead of night, when the barbecue shop headquarters closed, the disciples tidied up the main hall and the backyard. Vice Sect Leader Shi leaned over a table writing furiously, organizing his insights from running the shop over the past month.

"Sect Leader, the people from the Heavenly Court Sect have arrived," Huo Huashen said respectfully. He was the manager of the main branch, and it was he who executed Vice Sect Leader Shi's strategic policies.

Three days had passed since the message was dispatched, and during these three days, Vice Sect Leader Shi had gone nowhere, waiting consistently at the main branch.

"Sect Leader Shi, long time no see!" Lu Yang and Tao Tianye pushed open the door and entered. "It seems your honorable sect's business is thriving indeed, needing new grills and kindling so soon."

"Not at all, not at all, it's all down to luck." Seeing it was Lu Yang, Vice Sect Leader Shi did not dare to be arrogant; this was, after all, the Young Sect Leader of the Heavenly Court Sect, the personal disciple of Lord Dou, and could not be neglected.

"This lady is..." Vice Sect Leader Shi looked at Tao Tianye with doubt.

"This is also a member of my Heavenly Court Sect, Tao Tianye. Her talent is so formidable that both Master and the Sect Leader praise her endlessly."

Vice Sect Leader Shi was instantly filled with awe. "So it is the Chosen One, Tao."

Tao Tianye showed nothing on her face, but her heart was secretly filled with astonishment.

She knew Senior Brother Lu was meeting with the Nine Nether Sect, but she had not expected that Senior Brother Lu would meet with the highest echelons of the Nine Nether Sect right from the start, and commune with them on equal terms.

Was this Senior Brother Lu's usual social circle?

Interacting with the Elder-level figures within the sect, and dealing with Sect Leader-level figures outside, all of whom were at the Body Integration Stage!

Lu Yang and Vice Sect Leader Shi talked and laughed naturally, completely untroubled by how terrifying the other's status truly was.