A thousand clouds drifted by, and the Grand Elder sighed with relief as he saw the Seek Dao Sect drawing closer and closer.

"Finally, I have safely returned to the Seek Dao Sect."

Although the journey from being captured by the Suspension Temple to his safe return to the Seek Dao Sect was full of twists and turns, being able to return was a blessing no matter what.

...

"I think, Junior Brother Shi Chan, you may not need to pack your things."

"Ah? Why?" Shi Chan thought silently, Elder Brother Dai seemed a friendly man, would he really send him away?

"Your Sect has arrived." Dai Bufan said, emotionless, his gaze slipping past Shi Chan to a group of monks walking from a distance.

Shi Chan turned to see his own masters and senior brothers bathed in Buddha’s light, they were dazzling. Among them, Senior Uncle Jiechen held a person in his hand.

The cultivators from the Suspension Temple were highly skilled, covering hundreds of meters with each step, they already arrived at the gate of Seek Dao Sect within a blink of an eye.

"Senior Uncle Jiechen, why are you here?" Shi Chan was surprised, he didn’t hear any news that his Sect would come to pick him up.

His master, Master Jiesha, was here too, who had been mute for a long time, hence there was no point in asking him either. So, he asked his Senior Uncle instead.

"Performing a good deed every day, we came to release the living." Master Jiechen pushed the person in his hand to return him unharmed to the Seek Dao Sect.

"Master, are you okay?" Dai Bufan looked at the Grand Elder, who had been returned from the Suspension Temple, with a strange expression.l

The Grand Elder gestured to Dai Bufan not to worry about him: "It’s just exchanges between the upper echelons of the Sects, what troubles could there have been?"

Dai Bufan: "..."

Master Jiechen beckoned Shi Chan to come over.

"Thank you, Martial Nephew Dai for taking care of things this past month." Master Jiechen gave a nod of appreciation.

"Senior Uncle, you’re too courteous." Dai Bufan responded with a bow.

...

The people from the Suspension Temple took Shi Chan away. On the road, Shi Chan kept his head down, appearing very downcast.

It seems that he won’t be able to continue working at the slaughterhouse anymore.

"Shi Chan, what did you gain from your time at the Seek Dao Sect?" Master Jiechen kindly asked. Being called Jiechen, he was always full of smiles.

"I gained a lot. There are many experts in the Seek Dao Sect, and I’ve met many people who shared the same ideas as me!"

"But the most important thing is that I confirmed what my master once said. The head disciple of Daoist Buyu is indeed difficult to deal with."

"Naturally, could your master ever lie to you? The head disciple of Daoist Buyu is indeed difficult to deal with…wait, what did you say?" Master Jiechen suddenly realized something was amiss. How did this youngster know that Yun Zhi was difficult to deal with?

"Master didn’t say that Daoist Buyu’s eldest disciple is very powerful and should not be provoked? I think that learning from books is not enough, personal experience is necessary. Therefore, I went to Sky Gate Mountain to challenge Senior Yun Zhi.

Let me tell you, I certainly couldn’t beat her." Shi Chan recalled the scene, feeling aches already, Yun Zhi was really strong." he said chilled with afterthought.

Upon hearing his good disciple behaving like this, Master Jiesha’s flying body even shook a little, almost falling down.

He wanted to curse aloud, but remembering his practice of Silent Zen, he could only curse silently in his heart.

...

"We’re back." Lu Yang and his four companions returned to the Seek Dao Sect. Home was indeed more welcoming. Look, Elder Brother Dai and the Grand Elder were waiting to receive them at the gate of the Sect.

"Grand Elder, Elder Brother Dai, thank you for your hard works, I have something urgent to speak with Eldest Senior Sister, so I’ll leave first."

With that, Lu Yang quickly disappeared from everyone’s sight, leaving everyone bewildered.

"What’s the rush with this kid?"

"No idea."

Of course, Lu Yang was anxious. Regardless of what he had learned from his trip to the Five Elements Sect, just dealing with the ancient matters he had learned about, he needed the Eldest Senior Sister’s decision.

As soon as Lu Yang returned to Sky Gate Mountain, the Eldest Senior Sister touched the ground with one foot, the other foot rooting at its side. She sat in a half-lotus position, her hands in a flower-holding gesture, holding two Golden Cores, with her breath as long as nature, her presence surprisingly low.

Before Lu Yang could utter a word, the Eldest Senior Sister slowly opened her eyes and asked, "Junior Brother, what makes you in such a hurry to find me?"

While speaking, she got up and flicked the Golden Cores in her hand into the sky, where they transformed into meteors, suspended high in the sky.

Lu Yang was stunned by the sight.

Seeing Lu Yang’s surprise, Eldest Senior Sister casually explained, "A month ago, someone came to challenge me, hoping that I would suppress my realm to the late stage Golden Core. I agreed to his conditions, plucked two Golden Cores from the sky to temporarily suppress my realm. Then I thought since I had this opportunity, why not try to refine it for a while.

I just finished refining and let the two Golden Cores return to their original place."

A twitch appeared at the corner of Lu Yang’s eye, he thought to himself, he would have been better off without her explanation.

"Where did you get this piece of wood?" The Eldest Senior Sister crooked her finger, and the piece of the Firmament Tree hanging around Lu Yang’s neck flew up, bringing Lu Yang with it to face her.

As the Eldest Senior Sister examined the piece of the Firmament Tree, Lu Yang had never been so close to her before, and his mind was in a whirl. He could even feel her breath.

"A part of the Immortal Tree?" The Eldest Senior Sister raised an eyebrow, released Lu Yang, curious where he found such a precious item.

"Yes, it’s a part of the Firmament Tree, and it was given to me by Sister Shangguan!"

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"A part of the Firmament Tree? ’Time Immortal’?"

The Eldest Senior Sister was slightly surprised, so Sister Shangguan had the clue to the ’Time Immortal’?

Or perhaps Sister Shangguan didn’t know it was the Firmament Tree, but only knew it was precious, and gave it to Lu Yang in advance to build a good relationship?

"Let me explain." Fairy Eternity chimed in, as she knew the most.

"When I and Lu Yang went to the Wood Vein of the Five Elements Sect, we found the Wood Vein was thriving with extraordinary vitality. I saw the amulet Sister Shangguan had given Lu Yang, so I scanned the entire Wood Vein with my Spiritual Sense, and then made the discovery."

Fairy Eternity moved her Spiritual Sense, recreating the corpse of the ’Time Immortal’ buried underneath the Wood Vein.

"This is..."

"The corpse of the Time Immortal."

Yun Zhi’s eyes widened in surprise, as she had not anticipated this news. She had visited the Five Elements Sect before, but out of courtesy, she had not scanned with her Spiritual Sense to see what was beneath the Wood Vein.

She had never expected the body of an immortal to be buried beneath the Five Elements Sect!

"The ’Time Immortal’ died? No, just by a corpse, we still can’t make a conclusion."

"Senior Sister, I want to confirm one thing. I read in the ancient books that the Nian Beast is a pet of ’Time Immortal’. Is this true?"

"Yes, the Nian Beast is a Demon Beast cultivated by the ’Time Immortal’ using the Time Dao Fruit."

"Then there’s no mistake. Every New Year, the Nian Beast is active, and then it disappears. One time, I tried to track the Nian Beast to see where it goes, but I startled it by using too much strength. Since then, the Nian Beast flees as soon as it sees me."

Mortal beings have a lifespan of only a hundred years and cherish their time. They celebrate the New Year once a year. But for cultivators who have a long lifespan, a year is nothing more than a snap of the fingers.

In the Cultivation World, the tradition is to celebrate the New Year every ten years, and the Nian Beast also appears once every ten years. Since Fairy Eternity resurrected, she has not yet caught up with the New Year of the Cultivation World.

"What I can confirm is that every New Year, the Nian Beast comes from the east and goes back to the west. Therefore, I suspected that the clue to the ’Time Immortal’ lay in the East Sea or Buddha Country, which is why I asked my second Junior Brother to venture more towards the west."