Chapter 527: Warm and Hospitable Five Elements Sect

The Five Elements Sect, one of the five great immortal lineages, was situated atop the Five Elements Spiritual Vein of Yunzhou, a realm naturally attuned to the five fundamental elements and arguably the finest cradle of cultivation in the entire province.

Under the stewardship of Sect Master Qiu Jin'an, the sect flourished with a constellation of brilliant talents, projecting an aura of absolute prosperity; internally, they maintained a rigorous and solemn dedication to hardship and excellence, while externally, they exuded warmth, hospitality, and a gentle grace to all guests.

Even when disciples from the Wendao Sect came for an academic exchange, the Five Elements Sect graciously let bygones be bygones, sending an elder-led entourage to welcome them—though every one of them held a magical treasure tightly in hand, as if deeply concerned that the visitors might otherwise arrive entirely unscathed.

"My, aren't we popular? Look at how many people have come out to welcome us," Mangu said with a hearty chuckle, gazing toward the crowd gathered before the mountain gate of the Five Elements Sect.

Lu Yang's eyelid twitched violently at the sight; having just learned from the Immortal Fairy that those holding the magical treasures were all of the Body Integration Stage, they were unquestionably the grand elders of the Five Elements Sect.

Was it truly necessary to brandish weapons of mass destruction just to receive guests?

The flying vessel docked, and Meng Jingzhou led his party down from the deck as Qiu Jin'an stepped forward with an enthusiastic greeting, followed closely by five fierce-eyed, imposing elders who looked utterly menacing, one of whom held a welcoming banner in his left hand and a lethal weapon in his right, his intentions entirely ambiguous.

"Welcome to our Five Elements Sect for your visit and studies! Did no supervising elder accompany you?"

Qiu Jin'an counted them up—only five people, and not a single one of the Nine Masters of the Wendao Sect was among them.

Refusing to give up hope, he swept the surrounding area with his divine sense, searching for anyone who might have concealed their aura to follow stealthily.

"No, the elders were all occupied with other matters and couldn't make it," Meng Jingzhou replied honestly.

Qiu Jin'an shook his head in profound regret; what a pity, how could none of them have walked straight into the snare?

Behind him, the five elders activated their magical treasures, causing the tips to erupt in brilliant light and startling Meng Jingzhou considerably, though fortunately, the weapons were not aimed at the youths but rather pointed directly into the heavens.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Five successive waves of energy exploded in the sky, bursting into a display as magnificent as New Year's fireworks blossoming against the night curtain.

To the accompaniment of the deafening blasts, the banner was unfurled: A Warm Welcome to the Disciples of the Wendao Sect for Academic Exchange.

The Five Elements Sect was meticulous in its dealings and had prepared for two distinct scenarios: had the Nine Masters of the Wendao Sect arrived, they would have greeted them with full magical force, unfurling the banner and setting off the fireworks while trampling them underfoot; had it been Yunzhi, they would have skipped the assault and gone straight to the fireworks and the banner.

Although Yunzhi had not come and only a few juniors had arrived, the banner could still be put to use for a casual welcome.

"Disperse, disperse, that old scoundrel Buyu and the others didn't show up."

"I heard that old scoundrel Buyu was spotted roaming around Huangzhou, should we go take a look?"

"Forget it, it's likely false news again; when have we ever managed to catch him even after getting wind of his whereabouts?"

"That grandson of a gun is slicker than an oil slick, he runs faster than a rabbit!"

"Unifying man and sword, turning one sword into ten thousand—executing those two techniques in succession, who could ever find his true body? By the time you do, the man is already gone."

"Don't say that, if I were to run into him, I bet I could find him."

"How would you find him?"

"Do you see these eyes of mine? I jumped into a furnace and let the smoke bake them for seven-times-seven, forty-nine days, finally perfecting them; these eyes of mine can rival the Demon-Revealing Mirror of the White Horse Temple!"

"So effective? Is that trick easy to cultivate? I might burn myself a bit too."

Having finished with the banner and fireworks, the elders muttered among themselves and went their separate ways.

Seeing that his primary targets had not arrived, Qiu Jin'an cleared his throat twice and gave Bai Ming a meaningful look, signaling him to host the five guests.

The Sect Master and elders departed, but the disciples of the Five Elements Sect remained gathered.

"Which one is Lu Yang? Point him out to me."

"That one, the one who looks so clean-cut."

"Appearances can be deceiving; I heard that back when he was in the Foundation Establishment Stage, he fought above his level and defeated Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Deity Transformation cultivators. Now that he's reached the Golden Core Stage himself, could he defeat a Void Refinement cultivator?"

"Why would he even need to fight a proper Void Refinement cultivator? If you pick one who is severely weakened, even I could take him."

"True enough."

"Which one is the founder of the 'Phantasmagoric Mirage'?"

"Are you blind? There's only one female cultivator here, why do you even need to ask?"

"Truly brilliant, how could I never think of such a lucrative business idea?"

"What good ideas could you possibly have? You ate the barbecued skewers from the Wendao Sect, wanted to open a shop outside, only to realize the competition among barbecue places nowadays is far too fierce?"

"Is that exceptionally built fellow from the Ancient Barbarian Tribe? I thought the Ancient Barbarians were extinct."

"They say it's an atavism of bloodline not seen in ten thousand years, tracing right back to the source."

The disciples of the Five Elements Sect rarely interacted with those from the Wendao Sect, and thus harbored immense curiosity toward Lu Yang and his companions.

After Qiu Jin'an left, Meng Jingzhou spotted Bai Ming and asked in bewilderment, "You didn't go out on an exchange program?"

Bai Ming curled his lip in frustration. "Nowhere left for me to go. Your Wendao Sect took Shi Chan; Yan Tianzhi went to the Hanging Temple; the Laurel Immortal Palace doesn't allow male disciples, so two of my junior sisters went there; and I visit the Prison-Suppressing Sect so often there's no point in going. So, I had no choice but to stay behind at the sect."

As they walked, Bai Ming began introducing the layout of the Five Elements Sect to Lu Yang and the others.

"You must have seen it from the flying vessel; our Five Elements Sect is built upon the Five Elements Spiritual Vein. Based on our differing areas of expertise, the sect is divided into five lineages according to the five elements. The ones who welcomed you alongside my master just now were the Grand Elders of those five lineages; when they were young, they accumulated some personal grievances with the elders of your Wendao Sect and wanted to catch up with them, but it's a pity they didn't come."

"What kind of personal grievances?"

Bai Ming had heard his master mention the historical clashes between the Five Elements Sect and the Wendao Sect on several occasions. "Oh, there are too many to count. For instance, they used to have regular brawls; whenever your Wendao Sect had more people, they would use human-wave tactics to beat our elders, and when they had fewer people, they would go report it to the local government."

"Sometimes they even used honey traps. The Fourth Elder of your sect once wrote a letter to our elder, using the tone of a female cultivator to say she had admired our elder for a long time and hoped to meet up. The letter also claimed she was shy, unwilling to meet too many people, and wished to see our elder alone. Our elder went, and then nine people leaped out from behind a massive boulder—can you picture that kind of scene?"

Lu Yang found this stratagem remarkably familiar; it seemed the Fourth Elder had learned from past experiences and mastered this trick himself.

Li Haoran, fearing that an elder of the Five Elements Sect might be eavesdropping on their conversation and that Bai Ming's words might rekindle old hatreds and bring wrath upon them, quickly shifted the topic. "Which lineage do you belong to?"

"Me? I am proficient in all five elements of magic, so I do not belong to any of the five branches; I belong to the Sect Master's lineage."

"Only those who excel in all five elemental magics like myself can be accepted under the Sect Master's tutelage," Bai Ming noted with a touch of pride, his lips curling upward into a smug smile; mastery of all five elements meant his magical talent was one in a hundred within the Five Elements Sect, an exceedingly rare feat.

"Then wouldn't I qualify as well?" Lu Yang pointed to himself.

His talent for magic was unparalleled; for Gold magic he knew the Sixteen-Foot Golden Body, for Wood magic he knew the Tree-Planting Spell, Water magic he had yet to learn, for Fire magic he possessed the Samadhi True Fire, and for Earth magic he could perform the Earth-Shrinking technique.

Bai Ming turned his head to look at Lu Yang, his gaze holding a fair measure of astonishment. "Your magical talent actually is quite something, you really are suited to enter Master's lineage. Why didn't you come to our Five Elements Sect back then?"

Lu Yang scratched his head awkwardly. "The Wendao Sect was closer to home, so I just wanted to try it out first, and I didn't expect to pass on the very first try."

Bai Ming: "..."

What an utterly mundane reason.