Chapter 509: Daoist Buyu Returns to the Sect

Lu Yang looked with deep anxiety at the departing Fusion Stage cultivators, his brow tightly knit, his mind troubled.

"What is it? Sad to see them go, wishing they had come to propose marriage?" Meng Jingzhou teased with a laugh. Ever since the celebration ended, the line of suitors coming to propose to Lu Yang had been endless; he saw it all and felt a twinge of envy in his heart.

Now, seeing Lu Yang gazing longingly at the departing matchmakers, Meng Jingzhou could not suppress the smirk on his face.

Lu Yang shook his head slowly, revealing the true cause of his worry: "I am concerned they will realize that coming to propose to me is a guaranteed way to corner Master. Then, even more people will come to propose."

Meng Jingzhou: "..."

That is what you get for asking!

Given the memory of a Fusion Stage cultivator, to be unable to recall exactly what one did to offend someone spoke volumes about the scale of the problem.

Lu Yang felt that given his master’s talent for drawing hatred, it would not be at all surprising if one day news arrived that the old man had died a sudden and violent death in the outside world.

To avoid such an unforeseen disaster, Lu Yang offered a well-intentioned suggestion: "Master, have you considered writing your will in advance? I fear you might not have the time when your end draws near."

The Daoist Buyu cast a profoundly meaningful look at his youngest disciple, sensing that Lu Yang’s eloquence had already begun to mirror the flair of his second disciple’s Yin-Yang Golden Core.

"Have you seen your second senior brother?"

"Second senior brother? No. Isn't he over in the Golden Buddhist Realm?" Lu Yang could not comprehend why his master would ask such a question.

"Never mind."

Quite a few disciples had gathered to watch the Daoist Buyu. Back then, the Daoist Buyu had been forced into a ten-year solitary seclusion, never showing his face. The Eldest Senior Sister, heeding Lu Yang’s slanderous advice, had released the Daoist Buyu and sent him to the outside world to perform storytelling to promote the Dao Sect. Since then, the Daoist Buyu had never returned to the sect.

The disciples of the previous two generations had only heard rumors of such a Sect Master existing, but none had ever laid eyes on him.

Even among Lu Yang’s generation, only Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou had ever seen the Daoist Buyu; Tao Yaoye, Mangu, and Li Haoran had never met him.

"I heard the Sect Master is back, let me see, let me see!"

"Isn't the Sect Master Yun Zhi?"

"I finally get to see the real Sect Master. When I went out on missions and introduced myself as a member of the Dao Sect, people would first ask if I was a disciple of the Daoist Buyu. Only after confirming I wasn't would they let me inside."

"Have none of you ever seen the Sect Master?"

"Have you?"

"Of course."

"We are all from the same class, where on earth did you see him?"

"On a wanted poster."

The disciples jostled forward with all their might, eager to see what a living Daoist Buyu looked like. If an outsider witnessed this scene, they could easily form the mistaken impression that the Daoist Buyu was deeply beloved by his disciples.

"Junior Brother, you are back."

The Grand Elder arrived late, or rather, he only showed his face after the beating had concluded.

If even Lu Yang could rush to the scene immediately, how could the Grand Elder be any slower than Lu Yang?

He recognized the Fusion Stage cultivators who were beating the Daoist Buyu. Back when he and the Daoist Buyu were surveying a site to build tombs, their skills were still immature, and they had accidentally dug into someone else’s ancestral grave. The owners detected the commotion and, thinking they were tomb raiders, came down to check. By then it was too late for the two of them to flee, so they jumped into the coffin and slept alongside the ancestor for an entire night.

Once the matter came to light, the aggrieved party searched far and wide for the Daoist Buyu.

Since they were in the wrong, it was inconvenient for him to intervene; it was just as well to let the Daoist Buyu take a beating.

The other elders abstained for the exact same reason.

Among the several Fusion Stage cultivators who had just beaten the Daoist Buyu, all of them had been provoked by the Daoist Buyu alongside various elders, making it awkward for any of them to step in.

"Just passing by the sect, thought I'd come back and take a look," the Daoist Buyu remarked with a sigh. Having been gone for a year, the Acting Sect Master had already changed four times.

First, Yun Zhi served as the Acting Sect Master, then Lu Yang took over for three days, followed by Yun Zhi again, then Lu Yang continued for two months, and now it was Yun Zhi's turn once more.

The frequent transfer of power among the Acting Sect Masters clearly illustrated how chaotic the sect's management truly was.

"I thought you had provoked another enemy and returned to the sect to seek refuge," the Grand Elder said.

The Daoist Buyu did not appreciate those words at all: "What sort of talk is that? I have always been a man who bears his own responsibilities. When have I ever fled?"

The Grand Elder spoke in a low, ominous tone, his expression far from pleasant: "Then back when you imitated a woman to write love letters to the Fourth Elder, leaving him completely infatuated, smiling and laughing all day long like he had lost his soul, what was the meaning of stuffing those unfinished love letters under my pillow once the truth came out?"

In his youth, the Fourth Elder had a pen pal named Ye Qianqian. The two had never met, communicating entirely through letters. In those letters, Ye Qianqian claimed she had witnessed the Fourth Elder slaying demonic cultivators with a casual stroke of his brush and ink during a lighthearted conversation, which sparked her admiration and prompted her to write.

Seeing that Ye Qianqian spoke so beautifully, possessed elegant handwriting, and subtly brimmed with affection, the Fourth Elder quickly swallowed the bait.

Ye Qianqian also mentioned that a flood had struck her hometown, submerging all the crops, whereupon the Fourth Elder immediately sent back the letter along with spirit stones.

Regrettably, even the most meticulous plan faces unforeseen variables. Finally, one day, the truth was exposed. The Fourth Elder discovered that one of his fellow brothers had been masquerading as Ye Qianqian, and in a furious rage, he searched them one by one.

Seeing things take a turn for the worse, the Daoist Buyu promptly stuffed the unfinished letters under the Grand Elder's pillow.

Unsurprisingly, the Fourth Elder ended up in a brawl with the Grand Elder, and it was only afterward that an investigation revealed it was the work of the Daoist Buyu.

"As a Confucian cultivator, Fourth Senior Brother practices the Way of a Gentleman. He is rigid in his ways and lacks flexibility of mind. When traveling abroad, he could easily be deceived by women. Rather than being tricked by an outsider, it was better that I deceive him first, keeping the benefits within the family... Ah, no, I mean, it served to make him cautious." — This was how the Daoist Buyu had explained himself before receiving his beating.

Even now, the Grand Elder felt a lingering dread upon recalling it; when a scholar loses their temper, they are truly ruthless.

"It is just as well that you are back. Let us hold a meeting together; there is something to tell you."

The Grand Elder gathered everyone: Yun Zhi, the eight elders, the Daoist Buyu, Lu Yang, Meng Jingzhou, Tao Yaoye, Mangu, Li Haoran, and Qin Yanyan.

The Eldest Senior Sister was also present in the sect. She had watched her master get beaten with her own eyes, showing absolutely no intention of intervening.

The Eldest Senior Sister’s reasoning was perfectly sound — I am not in the Fusion Stage; I cannot defeat them.

It was evident that the Eldest Senior Sister truly had no desire to take action.

The members of the Heavenly Court Sect were all assembled. They looked at one another, their minds heavy, remaining silent, which created a very atmospheric solemnity.

In truth, it was because the Sixth Elder was present, making it inconvenient for everyone to speak.

After listening to the Grand Elder's divine sense narration, even the Daoist Buyu, renowned for his mastery of deception, was somewhat dumbfounded.

"So the Heavenly Court Sect that has been causing such a stir lately is actually you guys?"

"It is us," the Grand Elder corrected him.

"...Setting aside the fact that you pulled me into the Heavenly Court Sect as a Heavenly King Protector without my consent, being a Heavenly King Protector isn't out of the question. But why, on the grounds that I modified the spell 'Size at Will', did you name me the Growth Heavenly King?!"

Old Man Ba spread his hands, speaking with logic and justification: "We had no choice since you weren't here. Besides, our Heavenly Court Sect prides itself on democracy. This title of yours has already received the approval of everyone except you."

The Daoist Buyu flew into a violent rage, the veins on his forehead bulging: "Democracy my foot! Who is the Sect Master? Is it First Senior Brother or you? I demand justice!"

"Your eldest disciple."

"The name Growth Heavenly King sounds quite nice."