Chapter 1077: Senior Brother Dai, We Two Brothers Have Found All Three Ancestors of the Wind Order Sect for You!

Lu Yang and his companions transformed into streaks of flowing light, hurtling along, sweeping past the mountain gate and through the bamboo grove, heading straight for the Mission Grand Hall.

Sister Mengmeng had mentioned that the Eldest Senior Sister was away visiting friends and was not currently in the sect, so they could only report the situation to Senior Brother Dai first.

A winding stream meandered through the bamboo forest, where a river spirit idly blew bubbles, revealing only half of its head.

It let out a yawn, but catching sight of Lu Yang’s group flying past in its peripheral vision and noticing the person slung over Lu Yang’s shoulder, its mouth hung agape for a long while.

It rubbed its eyes vigorously, but by the time it looked again, Lu Yang and the others had already flown far away.

“Did I see a ghost?”

……

In the innermost chamber of the Mission Grand Hall, Dai Bufan, the Acting Hall Master, finished processing the final mission report.

“All wrapped up~”

Dai Bufan stretched comfortably; with the official business concluded after a hard day's work, this was his most relaxing time of day.

Using a spell to clean the ink from his calligraphy brush, he idly twirled the brush between his fingertips.

“I wonder how things are progressing over at the Mountain-Moving Sea-Filling Sect. Those two young rascals haven't caused any trouble for me, have they?”

Dai Bufan recalled the Cultivation Monthly published a few days ago, which praised over a dozen Great Xia cultivators for stepped forward bravely to actively restore the terrain, and he knew instantly that this was surely the handiwork of Lu Yang and his companion.

However, this was a good thing, and Dai Bufan was pleased to see it.

“Even if something happened, it shouldn't be too big of an issue. Junior Brother Fang Jin also mentioned in his reply that he bought insurance.”

Dai Bufan fished out Fang Jin’s reply, which contained only two characters——Bought it.

Even more concise than his own letter.

“It’s good that he bought it.”

“Senior Brother Dai, are you in?” Lu Yang’s polite knock sounded from outside the door.

“Come in.”

Lu Yang walked into the room with a beaming smile, leaving Dai Bufan somewhat bewildered: “Aren't you and Junior Brother Meng supposed to be studying at the Mountain-Moving Sea-Filling Sect for two months? It’s been less than a month, why are you back?”

“Senior Brother Dai, there is tremendous good news! Old Meng and I couldn't contain our excitement, so we came straight to report the happy tidings to you!” Lu Yang’s tone was filled with excitement, his eyes shining.

“What tremendous good news?” Dai Bufan toyed with his calligraphy brush, thinking that nothing good ever came from those two going out.

“Old Meng, bring him in,” Lu Yang shouted toward the doorway.

“Right away.”

Before long, Meng Jingzhou walked into the room dragging a straw mat, upon which lay a burly, robust man who was still unconscious.

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou spoke in unison to congratulate Dai Bufan: “Senior Brother Dai, the two of us brothers have found the entire trio of the Seeking-Dao Sect's Ancestors for you!”

“The—The Gui Yuan Ancestor?!”

Seeing the Heavenly Venerable Gui Yuan, who had been missing for eighty thousand years, appearing alive before his very eyes, Dai Bufan was so startled that he flung his brush away, leaning backward so hard that he crashed to the floor along with his chair.

He scrambled and crawled over the desk to check on the Gui Yuan Ancestor's condition.

Alive, but unconscious.

“Why is he unconscious?”

Just then, Yun Mengmeng walked in, dragging the Divine Lord of Thunder: “The Second Chief told me to blast him.”

“I clearly told you to stop him!”

Yun Mengmeng replied with absolute certainty: “But I only know this one move, no other technique could stop him.”

Having spent so much time together, Yun Mengmeng had also grown cleverer, capable of understanding Lu Yang’s subtext—stopping someone meant blasting them.

Hearing this, Dai Bufan felt the blood rush to his head, his brain congested, his steps faltering, his body swaying uncontrollably. Lu Yang had no time to analyze the situation with Yun Mengmeng and stepped forward to support Dai Bufan.

“Senior Brother Dai, are you alright?”

“Don’t call me Senior Brother, you are the Senior Brother—no, you are my ancestor.”

He had previously overheard the Inborn Daoist recounting how, upon their very first meeting, he had been hung up and threatened with a whip by Lu Yang and his companion.

Now, upon meeting the Heavenly Venerable Gui Yuan, Lu Yang had blasted him unconscious right away.

This was truly the behavior of an ancestor.

At that moment, the Heavenly Venerable Gui Yuan resting on the straw mat stirred. He groaned a few times, opened his eyes, and locked gazes with Yun Mengmeng, who was curiously examining him. Startled, he leaped up immediately, taking a defensive stance against her.

“Whose side are you on exactly!”

“I am on the Second Chief’s side.”

“Who is the Second Chief?”

Hearing about the Second Chief, the Heavenly Venerable Gui Yuan grew even more guarded. Yun Mengmeng was already so powerful; what kind of formidable figure must this Second Chief be?

Meng Jingzhou stepped forward to smooth things over and ease the tension: “It’s all a misunderstanding, Ancestor. We are all on the same side.”

“On the same side?” The Heavenly Venerable Gui Yuan looked suspiciously at the people in the room: the Divine Lord of Thunder, Yun Mengmeng, Lu Yang, Meng Jingzhou, and Dai Bufan.

Ultimately, his gaze landed on the identity jade pendants of Lu Yang and his companion.

“The jade pendants of the Seeking-Dao Sect. Are you two disciples of my Seeking-Dao Sect?”

“Ancestor, this place is the Seeking-Dao Sect.”

“This is the Seeking-Dao Sect?” The Heavenly Venerable Gui Yuan suspiciously released his divine sense to survey the surroundings.

“It really is the Seeking-Dao Sect. How has it changed so much after only a little over two hundred years?”

This roughly matched the Seeking-Dao Sect of his memory, yet many details were different.

This matter could only be explained by Lu Yang stepping forward: “Ancestor, the immortal box you entered was an object crafted by the Immortal of Time. A single day inside the box equates to a year in the outside world. While you spent over two hundred years inside, eighty thousand years have passed outside.”

“Eighty thousand years?!” The Heavenly Venerable Gui Yuan was greatly shocked and hastily pulled out the immortal gold box. If he had known this wretched box had such an effect, he wouldn't have forced his way in.

“You seem somewhat conflicted.”

The Heavenly Venerable Gui Yuan was indeed conflicted: “If I keep this box, it feels rather useless; but if I don't keep it, it is, after all, a rare curiosity forged by the Immortal of Time. It would be a pity to throw it away.”

Lu Yang felt a strong urge to say that there was no pity in discarding this item. If the Ancestor thought this box was rare, he could take him to see the even rarer Immortal of Time in person.

“Ancestor, how did you enter the immortal gold box in the first place?” Meng Jingzhou asked inquisitively.

“At the time, I happened to stumble upon a secret realm. Upon entering, I saw a small box placed at the very end of the realm. It felt quite precious, so I wanted to take a closer look. However, the restriction was troublesome. At the moment, I thought my body was sturdy enough that I wouldn't fear triggering the restriction, so I charged straight in.”

Speaking up to this point, the Heavenly Venerable Gui Yuan slapped his thigh in deep regret: “If I had known this wretched box defied all reason and would suck me in the moment the restriction was triggered, I wouldn't have forced my way in!”

“It sent me directly eighty thousand years into the future. The moment I stepped out of the box, I was struck by lightning. That person didn't even apologize after striking me. I finally managed to win and was about to catch up to him, only to be blasted several more times!”

The Heavenly Venerable Gui Yuan felt as though he had suffered a bout of atrocious luck.

Lu Yang lowered his head, too guilty to meet the Heavenly Venerable Gui Yuan’s gaze.

“Eighty thousand years have passed and things have changed. I fear there is no longer anyone I know left in this Seeking-Dao Sect.”

The Heavenly Venerable Gui Yuan spoke with a tinge of loneliness.

“Uh, actually, there should be a few people in our sect whom you recognize,” Lu Yang offered comfortingly.

“Who? The river spirit?”

"The River Spirit is one, and there is also..."

Just then, the door was knocked on once more.

"Senior Brother Dai, do you know where Junior Brother Gu is?"

Qi Tongtian pushed the door open and stepped inside, but seeing a room full of people, he felt he had chosen an inopportune moment to enter and made to withdraw.

Lu Yang hurriedly pulled Qi Tongtian over to introduce him: "You must know this person, this is our sect's founding patriarch, the Immortal Daoist!"

"Huh?"

Beholding the somewhat bashful Immortal Daoist, the Guiyuan Heavenly Venerable sank into profound doubt.

Have I arrived in the future, or have I returned to the past?