Lu Yang and his group transformed into streaks of light and rushed forward, passing through the gate, through the bamboo forest, straight to the Task Hall.

"Sister Mengmeng said Eldest Senior Sister went to visit a friend and isn’t at the Sect now, so we can only report to Elder Brother Dai first," she said.

The meandering stream flowed through the bamboo forest, where River Spirit, utterly bored, blew bubbles, showing only half of its head.

It yawned and from the corner of its eye saw Lu Yang and his group fly past, spotting the person carried on Lu Yang’s shoulder, its mouth agape for quite a while.

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

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

"Did I see a ghost?"

...

In the innermost room of the Task Hall, the acting master, Dai Bufan, finished handling the last task report.

"All done~"

Dai Bufan stretched lazily, feeling content as his official duties were completed, marking the most relaxing time of his day after a hard day’s work.

He used a magic skill to wash the ink from his brush, twirling it between his fingers.

"I wonder how things are going at Mountain Moving and Sea Filling Sect, those two little rascals didn’t cause any trouble, did they?"

Recalling the recent issue of *Cultivation Monthly*, which praised more than ten cultivators from Great Xia for taking the initiative to restore the terrain, Dai Bufan knew it must have been Lu Yang’s doing.

However, he was pleased with this, as it was a good thing.

"Though there should be no major issue, Junior Brother Fang Jin also mentioned in his reply that he had bought insurance."

Dai Bufan pulled out Fang Jin’s reply, which contained only two words—bought it.

Even more concise than his own letter.

"Good that he bought it."

"Elder Brother Dai, are you there?" Lu Yang’s polite knock sounded from outside the door.

"Come in."

Lu Yang entered the room with a beaming smile, puzzling Dai Bufan, "Weren’t you and Junior Brother Meng at Mountain Moving and Sea Filling Sect for a two-month study? It’s not even a full month; how come you’re back already?"

"Elder Brother Dai, we have great news! Overwhelmed with excitement, Old Meng and I came to report the joyous news to you!" Lu Yang said excitedly, his eyes sparkling.

"What great news?" Dai Bufan toyed with his brush as he wondered about the good news brought by their trip.

"Old Meng, bring him in." Lu Yang called out to the doorway.

"Right away."

Soon, Meng Jingzhou entered the room, dragging a mat with a burly, unconscious man lying on it.

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou said in unison to Dai Bufan, "Elder Brother Dai, we have found the third ancestor of the Seek Dao Sect for you!"

"Gui… Ancestor Guiyuan?!"

Seeing Celestial Master Guiyuan, who had been missing for eighty thousand years, appear alive before him, Dai Bufan was so shocked he flung his brush away and leaned back, crashing to the ground with his chair with a loud clang.

He scrambled over the table to check on Ancestor Guiyuan’s condition.

Alive, but unconscious.

"Why is he unconscious?"

At that moment, Yun Mengmeng dragged in Si Lei God Lord and said, "The Second-in-command told me to blast him."

"I clearly told you to stop him!"

Yun Mengmeng stood firm, "But this is the only move I know; other moves wouldn’t stop him."

After spending time together, Yun Mengmeng had grown smarter and was able to understand the implied meaning in Lu Yang’s words, equating stopping someone with blasting them.

Hearing this, Dai Bufan felt his blood rush to his head, his brain surged with blood, his steps became unsteady, his body swaying, Lu Yang rushed to support Dai Bufan without bothering to discuss the situation with Yun Mengmeng further.

"Elder Brother Dai, are you alright?"

"Don’t call me Elder Brother, you are the Elder Brother, no, you are my ancestor."

He had previously overheard Daoist Xiantian saying that as soon as he met them, Lu Yang and his companion had hung him up and threatened him with a whip.

Now, upon meeting him again, Lu Yang had knocked out Celestial Master Guiyuan.

This man was truly a formidable ancestor.

Celestial Master Guiyuan, who had been sleeping on a straw mat, stirred. He groaned a few times, opened his eyes, and locked gazes with the curious Yun Mengmeng scrutinizing him, startling him into jumping up defensively against Yun Mengmeng.

"Whose side are you really on!"

"I’m on the side of the Second-in-command."

"Who is the Second-in-command?"

Hearing about the Second-in-command, Celestial Master Guiyuan grew even more wary. If Yun Mengmeng was this powerful, what kind of person was the Second-in-command?

Meng Jingzhou stepped forward to smooth things over and lighten the mood, "It’s all a misunderstanding, Ancestor. We’re all on the same side here."

"Same side?" Celestial Master Guiyuan looked skeptically at the people in the room: Si Lei God Lord, Yun Mengmeng, Lu Yang, Meng Jingzhou, Dai Bufan.

Eventually, his eyes settled on the Identity Jade of Lu Yang and his companions.

"The jade of the Dao Seeking Sect, you two are disciples of my Dao Seeking Sect?"

"Ancestor, this is the Dao Seeking Sect," they replied.

"This is the Dao Seeking Sect?" Celestial Master Guiyuan skeptically released his Spiritual Sense to inspect the surroundings.

"It really is the Dao Seeking Sect, but how has it changed so much in just over two hundred years?"

This place resembled the Dao Seeking Sect he remembered, but many details were different.

It was up to Lu Yang to explain, "Ancestor, you entered an Immortal Box crafted by the Time Immortal. In the box, a day passes for every year outside. You spent over two hundred years inside, while eighty thousand years have passed in the outside world."

"Eighty thousand years?!" Celestial Master Guiyuan was shocked and quickly pulled out the Immortal Gold Box, learning its effects, he wished he hadn’t barged right in.

"You seem a bit conflicted."

Celestial Master Guiyuan was indeed conflicted, "I guess I’ll keep this box. It doesn’t seem very useful, but then again, it’s a rare artifact crafted by the Time Immortal. It’d be a pity to throw it away."

Lu Yang really wanted to say that it wouldn’t be a pity to discard it. If he thought the box was rare, he could introduce him to the even rarer Time Immortal.

"Ancestor, how did you get into the Immortal Gold Box?" Meng Jingzhou asked curiously.

"At the time, I stumbled upon a Secret Realm and entered. At the end of the Secret Realm, there was a small box that seemed precious, so I wanted to take a look. The Restriction was troublesome though. I thought, ’My body is so sturdy, even if I trigger the Restriction, I won’t mind,’ so I just barged in."

Upon saying this, Celestial Master Guiyuan regretted it deeply and slapped his thigh: "If I had known this damned box was so unreasonable, consuming me as soon as I triggered the Restriction, I wouldn’t have barged in!"

"It sent me straight to eighty thousand years in the future, and as soon as I stepped out of the box, I was struck by lightning. The person who struck me didn’t even apologize. After a hard-won victory when I was about to catch up to him, I got bombed several more times!"

Celestial Master Guiyuan felt he was truly cursed.

Lu Yang hung his head, too guilty to meet Celestial Master Guiyuan’s eyes.

"Eighty thousand years, the world has changed so much, I’m afraid there’s no one left in the Dao Seeking Sect that I recognize."

Celestial Master Guiyuan said somewhat dejectedly.

"Uh, actually, our sect might still have a few people you know," Lu Yang reassured.

"Who? River Spirit?"

"River Spirit is one, and there’s also..."

Just then, the door was knocked on again.

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

Qi Tongtian pushed the door and entered, saw a room full of people, and felt he had come at a bad time, wanting to back out.

Lu Yang hurriedly pulled Qi Tongtian over to introduce him, "You must recognize this one, this is our sect’s founding ancestor, Daoist Xiantian!"

"Huh?"

Seeing the somewhat shy Daoist Xiantian, Celestial Master Guiyuan sank into deep doubt.

Am I in the future or have I returned to the past?