"And you, Junior Brother Meng, no, Vice Hall Master Meng, the Task Hall shall be left to the two of you to be responsible for."

Dai Bufan felt he couldn’t keep up with the changing times and was at the age of retirement; it was time to step down and let more capable hands take the lead.

Two years ago, before he had met Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, he thought he was doing well for his age, being an early-stage Unification cultivator with a bright future ahead.

During his tenure overseeing the Task Hall, he was able to deduce the desired intelligence from intricate and subtle matters, unravel complex issues to reveal the truth, and issue tasks that not only punished evil and promoted good but also served to train junior brothers and sisters. To say he was the backbone of the Seek Dao Sect would not be an exaggeration.

Now, he felt like he was no backbone at all, completely unable to cope with the affairs of these two!

Your first trip out, you both joined the Eternity Sect, and then the Eternity Sect was annihilated.

On your second trip out, you discovered that Junior Brother Li Haoran was the reincarnation of the former Master of the Jiuyou Sect.

The third time you went out, you created the Heavenly Court Sect and reached a deep cooperation with the Jiuyou Sect.

On your fourth expedition, you encountered a Transcendency Tribulation Stage Great Yu Cultivator at the Qingzhou festival, prompting the Eldest Senior Sister to take action.

The fifth time you went out, you ran into three Great Yu Cultivators in Hanshui City, all at the Transcendency Tribulation Stage, and you even captured all three of them.

Then, on your sixth outing, you went ahead and resurrected the legendary Phoenix Ancestor, causing a commotion at the Demon Nation’s founding ceremony.

I clearly heard you two were just helping Junior Sister Gan Tian with an archaeological investigation; how did you manage to dig up the Phoenix Ancestor while at it?

I can’t even begin to imagine what you’ll get up to the next time you leave!

The legendary Semi-Immortal, and just by taking a trip, you actually resurrected them and triggered the Battle of Semi-Immortals?!

A battle involving six Transcendency Tribulation cultivators and two Semi-Immortals was something Dai Bufan had never witnessed in his life, yet not only did you see it, you were the main causes of it!

"No, no, no, that won’t do at all!" Lu Yang waved his hands repeatedly, rejecting Dai Bufan’s suggestion.

"Sit down. I’ll talk to our master, he’ll definitely agree!"

"No way, no way, I’m of low status, with cultivation too weak to bear such a responsibility!"

Meng Jingzhou also spoke up in support of Lu Yang: "Yes, indeed, he can’t be the Task Hall Master. He’s the Young Sect Master of the Heavenly Court Sect, and Elder Brother of Elder Lianyi. Elder Lianyi is right here in our sect, and if she finds out about this, she definitely won’t agree."

Dai Bufan abruptly turned his head to look at Meng Jingzhou, his eyes full of astonishment and confusion, as if he were listening to a myth.

What exactly did you guys do in the Demon Territory?

He placed his hands firmly on Lu Yang’s shoulders and pressed him back down into his seat.

Elder Brother Dai, with a smile brimming on his face and a gentle tone in his voice, personally served Lu Yang tea and water.

"Come, Hall Master Lu, tell us about your experiences in the Demon Territory."

The two of them took turns asking and adding details about their experiences in the Demon Territory, of course, omitting the presence of Fairy Eternity, suggesting it was just Lu Yang’s luck to successfully navigate the Creation Ancient Land and awaken Jiang Lianyi.

Dai Bufan painfully tapped his forehead, unable to comprehend their outlandish experiences.

"So you’re saying that in essence, the Demon Nation already belongs to the Heavenly Court Sect?"

"That’s one way to understand it."

"..."

"Elder Brother Dai, if there’s nothing else, we’ll take our leave," Lu Yang cautiously said, taking the opportunity while Elder Brother Dai was tapping his forehead to quickly exit the Task Hall with Meng Jingzhou.

Meanwhile, Elder Brother Dai had not yet recovered from the shock of the information.

The two men parted at the entrance of the Task Hall and returned to their respective peaks.

Upon his return, Meng Jingzhou was ready to breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Stage.

Back in his abode, he saw Old Ma leisurely munching on grass at the entrance, content as could be.

"Old Ma, I’m back from the Demon Territory. You really missed out by not going this time, the trip was incredibly rewarding!"

He didn’t care whether Old Ma wanted to listen or not and went on to regale him with his experiences in the Demon Territory over the past six months.

After hearing everything, Old Ma was filled with regret, hating himself for being timid and afraid, for not witnessing the battle of the Semi-Immortal himself.

If only he had known he would have the Phoenix Ancestor’s support, what was there to fear? He could have swept through the Demon Territory with ease.

He couldn’t allow this to happen again; next time, he must follow this lad and see the world!

...

"I wonder if Elder Lianyi has met Eldest Senior Sister yet," Lu Yang was a bit worried.

Lu Yang made his way up the mountain with familiarity and reached the peak, only to find a worried Third Senior Sister, without sight of the Eldest Senior Sister and Jiang Lianyi.

The Third Senior Sister was sitting at a stone table, her fingers crossed and thumbs twirling around each other, clearly anxious and concerned.

"Third Senior Sister, where are the Eldest Senior Sister and Elder Lianyi?"

"Oh, it’s Junior Brother. Just a moment ago, I don’t know what came over her, but Elder Lianyi wanted to test Eldest Senior Sister’s skills as soon as she met her. Eldest Senior Sister readily agreed."

"Considering that sparring might cause too much commotion, they went to the alternative space Eldest Senior Sister had created to fight. I’ve been waiting here ever since."

Lu Yang gasped, Elder Lianyi, you really are bold, challenging the Eldest Senior Sister as soon as you arrive.

"Third Senior Sister, are you worried that Eldest Senior Sister might lose?"

Third Senior Sister sighed and gestured for Lu Yang to sit. Then, she shared her concern: "I’m worried that Elder Lianyi, having just come into this world, might suffer a collapse of her Dao-heart upon defeat."

"Eldest Senior Sister never knew how to hold back in a fight. Just from what I know, quite a few of our seniors have suffered a collapse of their Dao-heart due to her, and it took them hundreds of years to recover their spiritual will."

"How did they manage to recover?" Lu Yang asked curiously; it was the first time he had heard that a Dao-heart could heal, albeit the cost was drastic, requiring hundreds of years.

"They suppress their cultivation level and pretend to be juniors, swaggering among the young, often allowing others to mock them for their low realm or poor talent, and having no hope in this life. Then they would find the strength to fight back, revealing a portion of their true power and striking back at their detractors."

Starting from the Qi Cultivation Stage, they’d join a small sect. Once they reached the Foundation Establishment Stage and the sect began limiting their growth, they’d move on to a mid-size sect for cultivation, and so on through the Golden Core Stage, Nascent Soul Stage… They’d repeat the process I just mentioned throughout their cultivation journey."

"And believe it or not, this method is quite effective. There were even some seniors who found companions through this and ended up, well, a May-December romance, getting happily married and experiencing a second spring in their lives. Their mental state turned younger than before, and with the power of love, they even improved in strength."

Lu Yang: "..."

So the seniors spent hundreds of years just showing off and slapping faces, huh.

As they spoke, the space above them warped, and Jiang Lianyi, in human form, fell from the sky, smashed into the ground, and kicked up a cloud of dust.

Lu Yang and the Third Senior Sister hurried over to check the situation.

They saw that Jiang Lianyi’s breath had ceased, with no signs of life, clearly dead beyond doubt.

"Elder Lianyi, are you alright?"

Revived by Lu Yang’s concern, Jiang Lianyi abruptly sat up, her heart still pounding with fright.

"That was close, I had no idea there would be such a powerful junior in the future."

"Luckily, I committed suicide before my defeat and ended the fight, so I could barely claim a draw with her!"