Chapter 1013: Qiongqi Clan's Path to Riches

Lu Yang was like a walking corpse, wandering and struggling on the very line between life and death.

A hundred and ten days passed, and his virtues achieved completion; his physical cultivation bore fruit, temporarily releasing him from the sea of bitter torment.

The moment he learned his training had concluded, Lu Yang fell into a trance and collapsed into sleep, slumbering for three full days in a single breath.

Upon waking, the Immortal Fairy met his eyes.

"Congratulations, congratulations," the Immortal Fairy cheered, clapping her hands enthusiastically.

At this moment, a hazy golden light enveloped Lu Yang's body, shielding him so that common attacks could not even come close; this was the Protective Golden Light, the ultimate symbol of a physical body cultivated to its peak.

No candles were lit within the immortal cave, leaving it pitch-black, which made Lu Yang, shining like a little golden statue with his protective light, exceptionally conspicuous; he had been glowing like this throughout his three days of sleep.

The Protective Golden Light was a part of Lu Yang, and even without any instruction, he could summon and retract it at will; his first act upon waking was to hastily conceal the golden light, as it was simply too dazzling.

Recalling those hundred days, Lu Yang felt a profound sense of gratitude.

"It was a stroke of luck that I brought Tang Chuanwu back; it would have been disastrous if he had enacted another time regression."

Though, truth be told, these past days felt no different from experiencing a time regression anyway.

Lying on the bed, Lu Yang emptied his spiritual platform, finding it an absolute blessing to be free from heavy physical training and from being stuffed into alchemy furnaces.

He clenched his hands and released them, feeling the surging power contained within his flesh, truly a world apart from before; he could even hear the rushing sound of his own blood, provided he blocked out the Immortal Fairy's incessant chattering.

"At least all that tossing and turning wasn't for nothing."

Despite the immense harvest, Lu Yang was entirely unwilling to experience another round of body refinement by being tossed back and forth between the Immortal Fairy and Eldest Senior Sister.

It was simply no life for a human being.

"Second Chief, there is someone named Ao at the sect entrance looking for you," Yun Mengmeng shouted, knocking on the door of Lu Yang's immortal cave, relaying a message sent by the disciple on guard duty at the gates.

"Someone named Ao?" Lu Yang walked out of his cave, somewhat perplexed.

Could that be Ao Ling, and what could she possibly want with him?

Stepping outside the sect gates, Lu Yang discovered three unfamiliar women standing there.

"Senior Brother Lu, can you not recognize us anymore?" one of the women teased.

"It is Junior Sister Ao Ling... Senior Ao," Lu Yang realized with a start; these three were clearly Ao Ling and Jiang Lianyi in disguise.

As for the third person, judging by her diminutive stature, it had to be Jin Caiwei.

The relationship between Ao Ling's trio and Lu Yang was a closely guarded secret, known to only a select few even within the Dao Seeking Sect; to avoid unnecessary trouble, the three had disguised themselves before coming to see him.

"Please come in, quickly," Lu Yang hurriedly ushered the three women inside.

These were three Half-Immortals after all; by any measure of reason or courtesy, he could not leave them waiting outside.

The three women followed Lu Yang into the Dao Seeking Sect and arrived at Heaven's Gate Peak, where they finally shed their disguises to reveal their breathtakingly beautiful countenances.

"What brings you all here?" Lu Yang smiled, pouring tea and water for the three guests.

"Enlightenment Tea?" Jin Caiwei displayed an expression of immense astonishment; it had been ages since she last drank Enlightenment Tea of such vintage.

"It was Caiwei who wanted to look for you," Ao Ling said with a smile, noting that she and Jiang Lianyi were merely visiting along the way.

"Senior Jin," Lu Yang murmured, looking at Jin Caiwei with some surprise.

Seated upon the imperial chair, Jin Caiwei's feet could not even touch the ground; clutching her teacup, she grew embarrassed under Lu Yang's steady gaze.

Lowering her head, Jin Caiwei said softly, "I wanted to ask, does the Elixir of Unfeeling that recently appeared on the market have anything to do with you, Young Sect Master?"

Ever since purchasing candles in an attempt to short the market, the already impoverished Qiongqi Clan had become even more destitute.

Jin Caiwei had accidentally learned that the Elixir of Unfeeling, which was currently taking the Great Xia by storm, originated from the Dao Seeking Sect; sensing a connection to Lu Yang in his capacity as Young Sect Master, she had thick-skinnedly come to seek cooperation.

During the three-odd months of Lu Yang's grueling torment, the Elixir of Unfeeling had been successfully tested, received imperial approval, and gone on sale across the Great Xia territory to widespread acclaim, such that describing its profits as pulling in gold by the day seemed an understatement.

"There is a slight connection, but truly, I only offered a minor suggestion," Lu Yang replied modestly, having roughly guessed the purpose behind this visit from the Grand Emperor of Abundant Wealth of the North Pole.

Hearing that it indeed had to do with Lu Yang, Jin Caiwei's eyes lit up instantly: "Then can you find a way, Young Sect Master, to let our Qiongqi Clan serve as the agents for selling the elixir in the Beast Domain?"

If they secured the agency for the Beast Domain, their Qiongqi Clan would certainly no longer be this poor.

Lu Yang shook his head gently: "Senior Jin, you have forgotten that the relationship between us must remain secret and cannot be known to the world; if the sect grants the agency to your Qiongqi Clan, it might cause those with ulterior motives to deduce our connection."

"Is that so..." Seeing Lu Yang refuse her, Jin Caiwei grew exceedingly dejected.

"However, if Senior Jin wishes to earn money, the agency is not necessarily the only path to take."

"What other method is there?" Jin Caiwei snapped her head up, gazing at Lu Yang in disbelief.

Instead of answering directly, Lu Yang asked, "There is an idea I have never had the chance to verify with you, Senior; I wonder if you could clear up my confusion?"

"What is it?"

"Since the prototype of Senior's Planar Fruit can flatten three-dimensional things into planes, and turn planar things into three-dimensional forms, have you ever attempted to flatten the things you see?"

"What do you mean?" Jin Caiwei did not understand.

Lu Yang rose with a smile and pointed toward the scenery of the Dao Seeking Sect: "When painters behold a beautiful vista, they paint it to commemorate the sight; could Senior emulate this act, flattening this beautiful scenery and printing it down?"

Jin Caiwei seemed to comprehend, yet also seemed not to; she produced a sheet of white paper and activated the prototype of her Planar Fruit, printing the scenery of the Dao Seeking Sect onto the surface of the paper.

"Like this?"

Lu Yang picked up the paper, noting that the 'painting' upon it was identical to the actual scenery, and said with certainty, "Exactly like this."

"Could Senior imbue an object with this capability, a telescope for instance?"

"Naturally, it is a simple matter," Jin Caiwei nodded, for it was merely a thought away.

Lu Yang's smile widened: "Then Senior can try imbuing telescopes with this ability, and then sell them."

Jin Caiwei was puzzled: "Would anyone actually buy such a thing?"

"Senior can give it a try."

Seeing Jin Caiwei's skepticism, Lu Yang took out an image-recording orb: "If Senior feels that is uncertain, you could also try this."

"Senior can turn planar things into three-dimensional ones, so can you turn the images within an image-recording orb into three-dimensional forms?"

Taking the image-recording orb, Jin Caiwei felt somewhat unsure, never having considered such a question before: "Let me try."

She activated the prototype of her Planar Fruit, and the image-recording orb projected a beam of light, within which appeared two three-dimensional figures engaged in a fierce battle.

"Is this my battle with Zhu Tian?" Jiang Lianyi spotted herself within the recorded image.

Back then, the battle between Jiang Lianyi and Zhu Tian at the founding ceremony of the Beast Kingdom had been recorded by many and widely circulated; Lu Yang had also purchased an image-recording orb as a keepsake.

"Senior can apply the capability of the Planar Fruit's prototype onto image-recording orbs, making all such orbs display three-dimensional images when played; I imagine they would fetch a very good price."