Chapter 539: Useful Ancient Knowledge

A popular novel recommendation: "The five elements are mutually generative and restrictive, naturally nurturing or tempering one another. As wood breeds fire, fire yields earth, earth bears metal, metal distills water, and water feeds wood, they constitute the very origin of the world. The emergence of the five tones, five flavors, five colors, five transformations, five viscera, and five senses is no mere coincidence, but rather the direct manifestation of these corresponding elements..."

Within the lecture hall, the Elder of Propagating Merits stood upon the dais, expounding upon the *General Principles of the Five Elements*. He spoke with great animation, tossing his head and spraying saliva, gesturing with his hands and dancing about whenever he reached a point of high excitement.

Deep within the spiritual space, the Immortal Fairy let out a yawn, her eyes tearing with a sudden desire to sleep. The Elder’s lecture was far inferior to the discourse of the Daoist Inverbal; it lacked any semblance of vividness or wit.

"How dreadfully tedious. Even the Immortal of Nine Heavens spoke of these matters."

"Was not the Immortal of Nine Heavens master of the Dao Fruit of Yin and Yang? What business had he with the five elements?"

"Have you forgotten the cultivation technique of the Immortal of Nine Heavens?"

Lu Yang pondered for a brief moment. The Immortal Fairy had mentioned it once during their time at the Immortal Sect, but he could not recall the precise name, remembering only that it contained an abundance of numbers.

"The *Celestial Method of Numbers*?"

"To call it the Celestial Method of Numbers is not entirely incorrect, though to be precise, it is named the *Chaos of One Qi, Two Instruments, Three Talents, Four Images, Five Elements, Six Harmonies, Seven Luminaries, Eight Desolations, Nine Lands, and Ten Heavens, Ultimate Sole Supremacy Celestial Method*."

As expected of the very first being to achieve immortality, the name of his technique was longer than any other.

"The Immortal of Nine Heavens possessed profound erudition regarding chaos, yin and yang, and the five elements. He hesitated for a long time among the Dao Fruit of Chaos, the Dao Fruit of Yin and Yang, and the Dao Fruit of the Five Elements, spending an entire Tribulation Transcendence Stage to decide before finally choosing the Dao Fruit of Yin and Yang."

"Why did he not choose the other two?"

"To borrow the words of the Immortal of Nine Heavens himself, it was likely a matter of affinity, a destiny decreed by the silent heavens."

"Affinity?" Lu Yang could sense the sentiment behind those words—a fatalism laden with a profound sense of helplessness.

The Immortal Fairy had once noted that among immortals, some believed in fate while others did not. She belonged to the defiant faction, whereas the Immortal of Nine Heavens evidently belonged to those who bowed to destiny.

"Indeed, the Immortal of Nine Heavens found the choice exceedingly difficult, as the three Dao Fruits each possessed their own merits and flaws. In the end, it was decided by drawing lots."

"To draw those lots required an extraordinary amount of effort. First, they exhausted all manner of secret treasures to construct a grand array across the cosmos capable of shielding divine sense, using entire stars as the array's nodes. Then, several of us were summoned to act as protectors. Finally, with eyes closed and his five senses and seven consciousnesses utterly sealed to ensure absolute freedom from external interference, he at last drew the lot with peace of mind."

"The result of that draw was the Dao Fruit of Yin and Yang."

"Unsatisfied with a single attempt, the Immortal of Nine Heavens disrupted the order and drew twice more, yet each time the result remained the Dao Fruit of Yin and Yang."

"If one instance might be deemed an accident, then three identical results could only signify an immutable destiny."

Lu Yang thought to himself that three identical results surely amounted to a mere one-in-nine probability.

Considering this might well be the vast disparity between himself and an immortal, he deemed it wiser not to ask.

"Though he chose the Dao Fruit of Yin and Yang, the Immortal of Nine Heavens remained highly accomplished in his studies of chaos and the five elements."

"Do not presume a Dao Fruit represents the entirety of an immortal. As immortals, we gathered frequently to exchange cultivation insights and research findings, sharing what we had and what we lacked. It is fair to say that the repository of cultivation knowledge possessed by the five of us is absolutely peerless!" The Immortal Fairy smiled with pride, her countenance radiant with erudition and wisdom.

Lu Yang nodded, for this was indeed the truth. He had heard that the higher one's cultivation, the greater the need to seek out peers of equal standing for validation; a single discourse with an equal could yield rewards surpassing a century of solitary practice. Given the frequency with which the five ancient immortals gathered over matters great and small, their accumulated knowledge had likely swollen to a terrifying degree, equivalent to millions of years of cultivation.

"Lu Yang, stand up and answer this question." The Elder of Propagating Merits fixed a stern gaze upon him. Though his own lecture was admittedly dry, it was his first time witnessing someone day-dreaming so flagrantly as Lu Yang.

Lu Yang rose in a flurry. Having been entirely engrossed in the ancient secrets just now, he had not heard a single word from the Elder, and hurriedly sent a divine sense transmission to Meng Jingzhou.

Fortunately, with the Immortal Fairy providing concealment, the transmission remained undetected by the Elder.

"What did the Elder just speak of?"

"Do not ask me, I wasn't listening either."

A cold sweat broke out across Meng Jingzhou's brow, terrified that the Elder might call upon him next.

He had been distracted moments before; upon hearing the Elder mention "earth," he began to contemplate that since burial in the earth followed an execution, would it not save trouble to simply bury the condemned alive?

"Mangu, do you know?"

"I do not."

Mangu was currently wondering whether he, as the last of the ancient barbarian race, might suffer from reproductive isolation when compared to the barbarians of the present day.

Lu Yang inquired all around, yet not a single soul proved reliable.

"Lu Yang, answer the question. Surely you have not been neglecting the lesson." The Elder's gaze remained locked upon him.

Lu Yang took a deep breath. Matters having reached this pass, there was no other recourse.

"The Dao Fruit of the Immortal of Nine Heavens is the Dao Fruit of Yin and Yang, mastering the ultimate power. The Dao Fruit of the Immortal of Heavenly Response is the Dao Fruit of Heavenly Tribulation, responsible for the majority of tribulations faced by cultivators. The Dao Fruit of the Immortal of Years is the Dao Fruit of Time, mastering the power of chronology. The Dao Fruit of the Immortal Qilin is the Dao Fruit of Survival of the Fittest, rendering any attack previously enacted against him utterly useless!"

The lecture hall fell into an absolute, deathly silence.

"Elder, is my answer correct?"

The Elder of Propagating Merits fell into a brief daze.

He recalled that Lu Yang had spoken a great deal just now, yet for the life of him, he could not recall a single word.

What had the youth said?

"Elder? Elder?" Lu Yang called out twice before the Elder finally snapped back to reality.

"Ah, what?"

"Elder, surely you were not day-dreaming just now?"

The Elder coughed dryly, feigning deafness to Lu Yang's final remark. "Ahem. What Lu Yang spoke of just now was largely accurate. I shall reiterate the point here: five is the number that possesses the greatest stability within the natural world."

"Take, for instance, the Central Dynasty and the four lands of the east, west, south, and north; the five great immortal sects; the five lineages of the Five Elements Sect; the four great demonic cults, and the Heaven Sect whose circumstances remain obscure."

"According to the theory of the five elements, the Heaven Sect is highly likely to become the fifth great demonic cult, thereby completing the number 'five'."

"Furthermore, there are the five of you—the five most exceptional talents of the younger generation within our Dao Seeking Sect, which likewise aligns covertly with the theory of the five elements."

Meng Jingzhou quietly transmitted his voice to Lu Yang: "Brilliant! How did you manage that just now? I heard you say a great deal, yet I failed to remember a single phrase."

Lu Yang replied with a solemn gravity: "This is an ancient secret method, executable by myself alone."

He let out a quiet sigh of relief; the immortal trait of forcing oblivion had truly saved the day.

The Elder quickly transitioned to the core focus of the day: "Next, we shall discuss the knowledge of five elements spells. Who among you is most well-versed in the magic of the five elements?"

"He is."

Four fingers pointed simultaneously toward Lu Yang, catching him entirely off guard.

The Elder expressed a mild surprise, his heart swelling with gratification. "Oh? I had heard your spiritual root was that of a sword, yet I did not expect you to be proficient in the spells of the five elements as well. Tell me, how did you cultivate your five elements magic?"

Lu Yang scratched his head in embarrassment, at a loss for words. His cultivation of spells had always been effortlessly achieved, never once encountering a bottleneck.

"It was simply by intuition. I merely practiced at random, and success followed naturally."

Though the effects of his magic remained unpredictable, the spells themselves had indeed been mastered through casual practice.

The second chapter will arrive at eleven o'clock.