Chapter 1082: Polished It a Bit

"Senior Yingtian, thank you for your hard work." Lu Yang sent the pitch-black ancient ring back into the Laurel Divine Palace once more.

The Immortal Yingtian looked at Lu Yang with a half-smile, clapping the shoulder of this junior whom he held in high regard, flashing a hearty grin as he encouraged the youth's cultivation.

"Little Friend Lu, your cultivation progress is swift indeed. You've already reached the late stage of Soul Transformation."

"Just cultivate to your heart's content, young friend. When it's time to break through, I'll have your back. You'll be absolutely safe!"

Lu Yang smiled stiffly, his shoulder aching from the Immortal Yingtian's slaps. "There's no need for you to go out of your way to look after me, Senior Yingtian. I was just thinking during my meditation that one cannot, after all, take shortcuts in the matter of cultivation."

The Immortal Yingtian was thoroughly astonished, feeling that Lu Yang was being far too polite. "What nonsense is this? Young friend, you are Immortal Immortal's savior. It is only right that I look after you."

"Better not. I fear if others see it, they will deem you unfair, which would tarnish your reputation."

"For instance, I have a bosom friend named Meng Jingzhou. We share an exceptionally close bond, always partaking in each other's blessings and weathering adversities together."

"Upon hearing of your legendary deeds, he came to admire you immensely. Speaking of which, he shares a bit of destiny with you as well. When the 'Quotations of the Immortal' was found in the Twin Rivers Secret Realm, it wasn't just I who beheld it; Meng Jingzhou read it too."

"It's just that these quotations contain the profound workings of the universe and align with the Great Dao. They are exceedingly esoteric. After reading them, Meng Jingzhou could only exclaim that he 'could not understand a single word'."

"I worry that if he learns you are giving me preferential treatment, it might negatively impact the image he holds of you in his heart."

Lu Yang spoke with absolute earnestness, every word seemingly crafted out of consideration for the Immortal Yingtian.

"Oh? Is that so?" A cold gleam flashed through the Immortal Yingtian's eyes, replaced instantly by a benign smile.

"Rest assured, Little Friend Lu. I have always been fair in my dealings. I shall certainly treat you two brothers with equal favor."

"With those words of yours, my heart is at ease."

Having secured this connection with the Immortal Yingtian, Lu Yang could be said to have struck it rich. In the future, he wouldn't have to worry about his tribulations being too easy. Even after rising in the world, Lu Yang did not forget his promise to Meng Jingzhou; he was determined to put in a good word before the Immortal Yingtian, pulling his friend up whenever a hand could be lent.

...

When Celestial Revered Guiyuan returned to the sect, Lu Yang immediately sought him out, only to be struck with shock upon seeing his injuries.

"Grandmaster, your wounds..."

Celestial Revered Guiyuan’s face was black and blue, a clear testament to having endured a thoroughly one-sided, brutal beating.

Celestial Revered Guiyuan waved his hand. "Don't bring it up. That bastard Meng the Scholar really has some tricks up his sleeve after ascending to immortality. It's completely different from before his ascension, far more difficult to deal with than before. I truly couldn't defeat him."

Lu Yang’s lips twitched. It would be a miracle if he could. He had never heard of a half-immortal capable of defeating a true immortal.

"Little Lu, didn't you say just now that you wanted to hear me talk about the affairs of the Dao Sect from a hundred thousand years ago?"

"Yes. We now possess a method of publicity known as the newspaper. I thought that since you have emerged into the world, Grandmaster, we ought to promote both you and our Dao Sect."

"Promoting our sect? That is a splendid thing." Upon hearing this, Celestial Revered Guiyuan agreed immediately, holding a very favorable impression of Lu Yang.

"Back when I managed our sect, I wanted to publicize it too. It's just that I'm clumsy with words and couldn't narrate well. Moreover, our sect lacked talents like you at the time. When outsiders heard of us, they always assumed we were some stronghold of the demonic path, breeding misunderstandings. Later on, I simply dropped the matter of publicity altogether."

"A hundred thousand years ago, let me think... that would have to begin from when the last Emperor of Yu kicked the bucket and the Great Yu Dynasty went completely down the drain."

Previously, Celestial Revered Guiyuan had been punched by Yun Zhi until his life flashed before his eyes, causing the fragments of a hundred thousand years ago to echo in his mind. Now that Lu Yang asked, Celestial Revered Guiyuan did not need to ponder long to recount the history of that era.

"Before the Great Yu went down the drain, the world already showed signs of descending into chaos. Once it collapsed, the chaos grew even more rampant."

"Seeing the world in such a state, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to display my prowess, so I chose to leave the mountain and venture into the world."

"Talk about rotten luck, though. Within days of descending the mountain, my storage ring was stolen, leaving me without a single spirit stone on my person. Then I happened to cross paths with two great cultivators locked in combat. They were moving mountains and overturning seas, completely disorienting me as to where I was."

"So I stopped a passerby, wanting to know where exactly this place was, and hoping they might give me a lift if we were heading the same way."

"And that was when I ran into Zhuiyue, Tiankui, and the other two. It's just that my appearance was rather wretched at the time, and they mistakenly took me for a highwayman, starting a fight with me."

"I suppose it was a case of 'no discord, no concord'. Once the fight ended and the misunderstanding was cleared, Zhuiyue and the other three found me quite agreeable. They agreed to let me join them to carve out a name for ourselves in this troubled world."

"Later on, we did indeed make a name for ourselves, and we also befriended Meng the Scholar and Jiang Ping'an."

"Though the five of us harbored the desire to bring an end to the chaotic era, we all knew we lacked the capability. We couldn't manage the entire continent; only Meng the Scholar and Jiang Ping'an were fit for that."

"When the conflicts of the Central Continent reached their end, only the two factions of the Meng family and the Jiang family remained. The outcome you already know—Jiang Ping'an established the Great Xia."

As Celestial Revered Guiyuan narrated, Lu Yang's brush flew across the paper. By the time the Celestial Revered finished speaking, Lu Yang had finished recording.

"In an era when the world was in great chaos and conflicts never ceased, Celestial Revered Guiyuan was penniless yet harbored the ambition to achieve great deeds. He thus sought like-minded Daoists and chanced upon Perfected Zhuiyue and three others."

"At that time, martial prowess was revered by all. Perfected Zhuiyue and the three others engaged in martial arts to forge a friendship. Recognizing the noble intent of Celestial Revered Guiyuan, the five formed an alliance to venture across the world."

"Celestial Revered Guiyuan and the other four rose to supremacy in the troubled times, becoming a major power of the era. Though they possessed the heart to end the chaos and unify the realm, they humbly claimed their capabilities were insufficient and withdrew from the contention, leaving the Jiang and Meng families to vie for the sovereign rule of the world, so that the chaotic era might draw to an early close."

"Grandmaster, please take a look." Lu Yang presented the written draft to Celestial Revered Guiyuan. "This is the general gist. I merely polished it a bit, and it will be further detailed later on."

Celestial Revered Guiyuan scanned the draft, his mind filled with question marks. He felt that what Lu Yang wrote was somewhat different from what he had narrated, yet upon careful reflection, it was indeed exactly what he had said.

"Very good." Matters of professional expertise were best left to professionals; he would not interfere.

...

A month had passed since the battle at the Mountain-Moving Sea-Filling Sect. The news of Celestial Revered Guiyuan’s reappearance in the cultivation world spread rapidly across the land. Written by Lu Yang, a special edition of the Cultivation Monthly was produced, grandly proclaiming the glorious achievements of Celestial Revered Guiyuan.

The high-level cultivators were the quickest to learn of the Celestial Revered's emergence, while ordinary cultivators and mortals were not nearly as swift.

With the Cultivation Monthly, however, ordinary cultivators and mortals alike came to understand the full course of events.

Aside from recounting the events of a hundred thousand years ago, the monthly also detailed how Celestial Revered Guiyuan had been inadvertently trapped within the cracks of time. Upon escaping, he had disregarded his personal safety to fight fiercely against the Divine Lord of Controlling Thunder, rescuing the Mountain-Moving Sea-Filling Sect. It was precisely due to the Celestial Revered's intervention that the sect suffered no casualties, incurring only minor property damage.

The world could not help but marvel at the might of the Dao Sect—two patriarchs gathered together, one sect harboring two half-immortals, a spectacle without parallel.

Other rumors regarding Celestial Revered Guiyuan also circulated among the populace, such as how he stubbornly fought Meng the Scholar only to be soundly defeated by him.

However, these were not recorded in the Cultivation Monthly, so they were likely just rumors of the martial world and not to be taken seriously.

The world was deeply intrigued by this half-immortal. The monthly sold out the moment it was published, forcing Guan Shanhai to work overtime in prison to print more copies.

While Guan Shanhai was busy, the inmates of the Prisoner Peak dared not utter a word, terrified of disturbing this immortal, thereby gaining a temporary moment of silence.

Perfected Zhuiyue reclined on a chair fashioned from snow, reading this version of the newspaper three times over, both horizontally and vertically, yet utterly failed to align it with the memories of a hundred thousand years ago.

"Perhaps we should just have Lu Yang marry into our Divine Palace. Our Divine Palace is sorely lacking in this kind of talent."