Chapter 554: Immortal Sect Exchange Ends

When the Immortal of Time returned to the North Star, the commotion stirred up by the Immortal Fairy and the paragons of dragons and phoenixes was growing ever grander, leaving him in breathless trepidation.

"Time, you're back? How are Qilin and Yingtian faring?"

With a solemn countenance, the Immortal of Time spoke, "That wretched chess-dabbler, the Immortal Yingtian, was cheating, so I taught him a lesson. Then they resumed their game. When I departed, both Qilin and Yingtian had entered a state of profound enlightenment, as if they had discerned the five elements and eight trigrams, the yin and yang of heaven and earth, all contained within the simple game of Go-moku!"

"The Immortal of Nine Heavens, as the creator of Go-moku, is currently guarding their meditation, so I returned ahead on my own."

"My, to think those two would stumble upon such fortune. That is splendid; I shall prepare some delicacies to nourish them."

Beholding the bustling silhouette of the Immortal Fairy, the Immortal of Time offered a well-meaning reminder, "You must especially nourish Yingtian. I see his enlightenment runs deepest, and he requires the greatest restoration!"

The Immortal Fairy called out in response, "Rest assured, this is where my finest talents lie!"

She rolled up her sleeves, tied her headscarf tight, and unleashed her full culinary might, and soon the wails of the ingredients echoed through the air.

The Immortal of Time sneered inwardly, *To think you, Yingtian, dared call me insidious and crafty; this time, see if I don't poison you to death!*

...

"So this is the celestial chess match, yet it feels as though nothing can be discerned," Meng Jingzhou muttered. Look as he might, from any angle, he could not perceive the profound mysteries left behind by the two ancient immortals within the chessboard.

Tao Yaoye and Mangu shared identical reactions, seeing absolutely nothing.

Qiu Jin'an thought to himself that it was utter nonsense; in the one hundred thousand years of their Five Elements Sect, not a second soul had witnessed the reflection of history, yet these youths expected to see it the moment they stepped through the door?

Lu Yang, even more disinterested, let out a yawn.

Having just awakened from the reflection of history, his spirit was exhausted, and for a moment, he could not even distinguish where he truly stood.

Before the Immortal Yingtian and his peer discovered the Immortal Fairy, Lu Yang had observed the chess match for twenty years, albeit at a pace accelerated by the Immortal Fairy.

Even so, the burden upon his mind was colossal.

To say nothing of the fact that he had faced the four ancient immortals directly through the corridor of time and space, linking the past, present, and future into one.

Qiu Jin'an noticed Lu Yang’s movement but thought nothing of it.

The grand patriarch had immersed himself for a century within the historical reflection, which was entirely different from Lu Yang's case.

To an outsider, Lu Yang had merely lowered his head and then let out a yawn, a matter of a mere two or three breaths from start to finish; no one would ever suspect that Lu Yang had beheld the reflection of history.

Though it was entirely owing to the prestige of the Immortal Fairy.

After a quarter of an hour, Qiu Jin'an asked with a faint smile, "Have you finished looking?"

As expected, nothing had occurred; the youngsters had merely come here seeking novelty.

The crowd sighed in unison, having hoped to stumble upon a celestial destiny, or at the very least, catch a glimpse of the immortals.

In the end, there was nothing.

"Fairy, was the message you transmitted just now perhaps too brief?"

The Immortal Fairy had transmitted a mere five words before the corridor collapsed due to unknown causes, leaving Lu Yang worried that this communication had been in vain.

"Rest easy. Though the wisdom of those four cannot compare to this immortal, their intellect still surpasses that of ordinary men. They will surely deduce something and leave behind a hidden hand."

"However, this immortal is dead and gone after all. The hidden hand they left behind is likely not meant for me, but for something else."

"As long as it bears fruit, it is well."

Though he knew many of the dark secrets of the four ancient immortals and ran the risk of being silenced by them—and despite the Immortal Qilin having tricked him into eating dirt—Lu Yang still hoped that the four ancient immortals were alive.

Li Haoran’s mind wandered for an instant. The moment he looked upon the chessboard, he had suddenly dozed off, and in that hazy interim, he seemed to behold four figures within a celestial realm, each wielding supreme, heaven-reaching power, rendering them impossible to gaze upon directly.

Then he awoke, blinking his eyes.

"Was it a dream?"

He strove to recall the events of the dream, trying to remember who those four figures in the secret realm were, but the harder he thought, the fainter the memory became.

"What happened just now?"

Li Haoran knit his brows, sensing that something had transpired, yet upon careful reflection, nothing had happened at all.

The group departed from the celestial realm, and none noticed a figure seated upon the mountain peak, still as a stone statue. The figure raised its eyelids, casting a glance at the departing youths, before floating down into the celestial realm.

Finding the celestial realm unchanged and identical to its past state, a hint of doubt surfaced in the figure's eyes.

"Strange. Was it an illusion? Why did it feel as though someone caught a glimpse of the historical reflection just now?"

The figure shook its head, tossing the matter to the back of its mind.

It must have been an illusion; how could anyone contact the reflection of history without becoming entirely immersed within it?

...

In the blink of an eye, a month passed. The five including Lu Yang had reaped a bountiful harvest at the Five Elements Sect. Following the alignments of the five elements, they cultivated within the five lineages, smoothing their meridians and sorting through what they had learned over the month.

Lu Yang cultivated within the Metal Lineage, advancing from the first heaven of the late Golden Core stage to the peak of the minor consummation of the second heaven, a tremendous leap in realm.

"Daoist Bai Ming, we shall meet again in the martial world!" Aboard the flying boat, Lu Yang and the others waved vigorously and shouted.

The people of the Five Elements Sect all came out to bid them farewell.

...

The livestock farm of the Askew Sword Sect.

"Of old, within the Primeval Azure Heaven, the empty songs of the jade wilderness, the vast land of Floating Li..."

The high officials of the Immortal Cult swayed their heads, chanting Buddhist verses with resonant clarity.

After nearly a month of baptism in Buddhist dharma, they were no longer the men they once were. The Immortal Cult Leader, in particular, possessed the highest comprehension of the dharma, and his progress could be described as advancing by leaps and bounds.

Had he not deliberately restrained himself, his body would be radiating a golden glow.

"Almsgiver Bu possesses a profound affinity with the Buddha. In the future, it is not impossible for you to enter our Hanging Temple."

"You flatter me; it is all due to the excellent teachings of the young master."

The Immortal Cult Leader and Shi Zhan exchanged formal bows.

"Alas, the time has come. This little monk must return to the slaughterhouse to comprehend the method of laying down the butcher's knife to become a Buddha on the spot."

Shi Zhan expressed deep regret. He felt a mutual affinity with the Immortal Cult Leader, as if they had met too late; many of his views found agreement with the Cult Leader, who was far more open-minded than his own master.

This was an almsgiver of grand wisdom!

By virtue of making the acquaintance of Almsgiver Bu, his journey to the Askew Sword Sect was not in vain!

Under the edification of the Buddhist dharma, the three female ghosts including Xiao Wu successfully advanced to the Golden Core stage.

This was only natural. Even if the high officials of the Immortal Cult had been refined into ghost servants and barred from accessing cultivation resources, a few casual pointers from them could grant the three ghosts a world-turning understanding of cultivation, rendering resources entirely unnecessary.

Furthermore, with Shi Zhan expounding the dharma to transform their souls, reaching the Golden Core stage was as natural as water forming a channel.

The disciples of the Askew Sword Sect all felt that the skewers had tasted even better over the past month.

Slaughtering livestock inevitably carried the resentment of the beasts into the meat. While true fire could dispel the resentment, its effect was still a step behind that of the Buddhist dharma.

The Cult Leader and Vice Cult Leader Jin would recite Buddhist verses while slaughtering the beasts to dissolve the resentment.

Upon discovering this, the Immortal Cult Leader was overjoyed, "This is an excellent method! If an opportunity arises, I must speak with the Second Chief to see if this method can be promoted to all barbecue shops!"

This was proof of positive reformation through labor.

"Junior Brother Shi Zhan, come again when opportunity permits. If you have any requests, I shall certainly fulfill them," Dai Bufan personally came to see Shi Zhan off.

Upon learning that his master was still among the living, he became utterly convinced that it was his own virtuous deeds that had reached out across the vast distance to touch the heart of Master Jiesha, thereby preserving his master's precious life.

Indeed, there was one matter with which Shi Chan truly required assistance.

"Could you perhaps spare a little traveling money for this humble monk, Brother Dai?"

(End of Chapter)