Chapter 513: Strategy of Luring the Tiger Away from the Mountain

"Damn it, that old rogue Buyu runs so fast!"

"It's because you guys acted too early. I told you before, we should have waited until he stepped out of the Central Sect before making a move! Look at you all, attacking the moment he showed his face. If it were me, I would have run too!"

"We couldn't help it. Seeing our enemy made us too excited to hold back."

"So what do you suggest we do now?"

"There is a way, though I'm not sure if it will work."

"What way?"

"Don't forget, we are supposed to be a marriage proposal convoy..."

Recalling the dense barrage of attacks from just moments ago, Daoist Buyu still felt a lingering dread; had he taken that full round, it was hard to say whether he would have just lost a layer of skin or his entire life.

"Those people from the merchant alliance are something else. Is this how they treat their customers? They wouldn't even sell me insurance when I went to buy it!"

Daoist Buyu was rather incensed, feeling that the merchant alliance people were not qualified businessmen for refusing to make money, especially since he wanted to buy the most expensive policy.

"So this is the correct way to comprehend the Dao of the sword."

Lu Yang emerged from his state of sudden enlightenment, feeling that his understanding of sword intent had reached a brand new level; the Young Cult Master Lu, who had fought him to a draw three months ago, was no longer his match!

He opened his eyes and saw his eldest senior sister walking over with a stack of festive red envelopes, handing them to him.

"What are these?"

"Visiting cards from the marriage proposal convoys. They wish to enter the Central Sect to discuss marriage with you face-to-face."

Lu Yang casually picked up an invitation, and the sender was shockingly the first-rate sect, the White Horse Temple.

"...Am I really that popular?"

If Meng Jingzhou saw this, he would surely grind his back teeth to dust out of sheer envy.

"Your popularity is one reason, but the main reason is that they want to enter the sect to look for Master."

"Master hasn't left yet?" Lu Yang was surprised; he had assumed that given Master's restless nature, he would have departed right after finishing his lessons.

Actually, calling him restless wasn't quite accurate either; when the old gentleman was in the grand prison, he always sat there quite obediently until his sentence was fully served.

"He was originally going to leave, but he got blocked at the gates."

Truth be told, Lu Yang did not feel the slightest bit of surprise at such an occurrence, finding it entirely natural instead.

As far as he knew, Master's whereabouts sold for astronomical prices on the black market, and it was a seller's market through and through; any shred of intelligence regarding his location would be bought up within the shortest time imaginable, which showed just how 'popular' Master truly was.

By the same logic, the news of Master returning to the sect would naturally spread like wildfire in no time.

One had to realize that Master's enemies were all at the Fusion Stage, and every single one of them could fly at terrifying speeds; if anyone among them excelled in spatial magic, they would arrive even faster.

He now felt that comprehending the Dao of the sword could very well serve the purpose of "protection."

Not to protect others, but primarily to protect himself.

"So what should we do now?"

Looking at this enormous stack of visiting cards, Lu Yang felt a massive headache coming on; these people came to propose marriage, and if the Central Sect turned them away, they would be the ones acting unreasonably.

"There are two options," the eldest senior sister said, setting down the invitations as she analyzed the situation.

"One is to reply to them as quickly as possible, permitting them into the sect to find Master. That way, their objective will be achieved."

Lu Yang shook his head; this option was definitely out of the question.

"Then what about the second option?"

"Hand Master over."

Lu Yang: "..."

The second option was somehow even worse than the first.

"Isn't Master a master of transformation techniques? Can't he just turn into someone else and slip out?"

The eldest senior sister shook her head, rejecting the idea: "The White Horse Temple has brought out their sect-guarding treasure, the Demon-Revealing Mirror, which can see through any disguise."

"Furthermore, even if his disguise isn't seen through and Master manages to slip out successfully, they won't know about it. They will still camp at the gate to propose to you."

"Let's just hand Master over."

Considering that turning Daoist Buyu over was an exceptionally high-risk venture, the two of them first made their way to the Pill Cauldron Peak to find the Seventh Elder.

"Nephew Yun, Nephew Lu?" The Seventh Elder was highly astonished to see the two arrive, as it was rare for them to seek him out together.

"Is there something the matter?"

Since it concerned their master, things couldn't be stated too bluntly. Lu Yang carefully chose his words: "Hypothetically—and I mean just hypothetically—suppose there is a very powerful Fusion Stage cultivator, but he has many enemies who are also at the Fusion Stage. This particular cultivator falls on bad luck and gets surrounded by his enemies, numbering perhaps fifty or sixty of them."

"Is there any pill that could allow him to survive under the siege of such a crowd?"

Lu Yang hadn't held much hope initially, but to his surprise, the Seventh Elder actually nodded: "Legend has it that in ancient times, there was a kind of pill called the Child-Bearing Pill. Nephew Lu, you have even seen this recipe before."

"As long as one consumes the Child-Bearing Pill and causes that unlucky Fusion Stage cultivator to become pregnant, out of humanitarian considerations, the attackers probably wouldn't strike with lethal force."

"...This Fusion Stage cultivator is male. Is there any other way?"

"You could also pray that he leaves behind an intact corpse. After tens or hundreds of thousands of years, the corpse might develop spiritual intelligence, which is akin to resurrection. However, that is just a legend; who knows if the revived soul would still be him."

"Is there a more reliable plan?"

"There is. This Fusion Stage cultivator you speak of must have committed all sorts of evils and be laden with crimes. Report him to the authorities and have him locked up. Although he would lose his freedom, at least he would save his life."

Lu Yang and the eldest senior sister both felt that this was an excellent plan.

"Oh, so you two are here." Daoist Buyu found Lu Yang and the eldest senior sister in the alchemy chamber, taking the opportunity to ask the Seventh Elder for several bottles of top-tier healing pills.

"It just so happens I should let you know that I am leaving."

Lu Yang was greatly shocked; he hadn't even resolved to place righteousness above family ties and betray his master yet, and Master was already leaving on his own accord?

"Aren't you afraid of those people at the gates?"

"I certainly can't beat them in a fight, but your master has other ways."

"What ways?"

"I've asked Eldest Brother to leave the Central Sect and cause a commotion in the neighboring province, making those people believe that I have already left. Once they swarm over to the neighboring province, I can seize the opportunity to slip away from the sect."

Daoist Buyu laughed triumphantly; he had traversed the world for two thousand years, so trying to catch him was nothing short of a pipe dream.

Things went exactly as Daoist Buyu had planned. As the eldest brother among the Nine Disciples of the Central Sect, the Great Elder usually didn't do many things to attract hatred; at the very least, he had no enemies among the current marriage proposal convoy.

The Great Elder headed to the neighboring province and, pretending to be Daoist Buyu, delivered the latest chapter of "The Legend of the Central Sect—Meng Jingzhou Chapter," recounting how Young Master Meng, despite possessing immense family wealth, kept himself pure, focused solely on cultivation, steered clear of feminine charms, and went so far as to place a curse upon himself such that he couldn't even lay eyes on a female for a long period of time—a truly admirable feat.

Upon learning that the old rogue Buyu was in the neighboring province, and taking into account his legendary stealth techniques, the marriage proposal convoy suspected nothing and immediately set off for the neighboring province.

Daoist Buyu used this golden opportunity to smoothly escape the Central Sect.

After his master left, Lu Yang sighed softly. He had thought of this method too, and it could be considered the safest approach, but he had been unwilling to use it for his master.

He always felt that letting his master leave the Central Sect in peace weighed somewhat heavily on his conscience.

A few days later, an unexpected person sought out Lu Yang.

"Senior Brother Lu, can you accompany me out to do a mission?" Tao Yaoye invited with a beaming smile.