```

Dai Bufan heard for the first time that the demonic sect was actively offering benefits.

Does the demonic sect see you two as umbrellas for protection or what?

How come I fight the demonic sect every day, but never see them begging for mercy or bribing me?

"You can’t call it a bribe, they just want to give it to us voluntarily, we’re just too embarrassed to refuse," Meng Jingzhou corrected.

"Plus, the target of bribery charges are dynasty officials, not commoners like Old Lu and me."

Lu Yang also chimed in, "To infiltrate the enemy’s ranks, we’ve had to endure humiliation and accept their gifts under duress."

Dai Bufan: "..."

"Forget it, this is all the intelligence on the Yaoyang Sect, you two take a look," he said.

Dai Bufan stuffed a pile of files to them, instructing them to look there and return them after they were done, preparing them in advance for the role of main and deputy hall masters.

He still had a mountain of work to deal with.

In a few months, the Seek Dao Sect was due for another round of recruitment. Considering that last time he did not prepare in advance, and ended up recruiting troublemakers like Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou who always caused anxiety, promising seedlings like Bai Ming and Lan Ting were poached by other sects beforehand.

This time, Dai Bufan decided to scout out several good seedlings with excellent character, temperament, and spiritual roots in advance.

What he had to do now was to identify these people from the myriad pieces of intelligence from Cloudy Seas and Misty Clouds.

Many of the Yaoyang Sect’s pieces of intelligence were so evident that they couldn’t hide them even if they wanted to.

For instance, sending two cultivators at the Body Integration Realm to the sun to die on a regular basis, the sect’s wish for everyone to worship the sun, and treating Laurel Fairy Palace as their hypothetical enemy, and so on.

Having been established for sixty thousand years and studied the sun for that long, one could imagine how profound their research on the sun’s power techniques must be.

But no matter how profound, it surely couldn’t be more than what Lu Yang knew.

In the newly obtained library of Fairy Eternity, there was the Immortal Jiuchong’s understanding of the forces of the ultimate yin and yang.

Could the Yaoyang Sect ever be stronger than the Immortal Jiuchong who possesses the Yin-Yang Dao Fruit?

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The pair, Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, spent three full days poring over the intelligence until they had completely grasped it all.

"Finished reading?" Dai Bufan raised an eyebrow. With just a thought, the files on the Yaoyang Sect automatically returned to their place.

"More or less."

"Do you need a few elders to accompany you?" Dai Bufan would certainly not let two Nascent Soul Stage cultivators meet the master of the demonic sect alone; it was too dangerous.

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"Four elders."

"Good, wait here and I’ll make contact for you," he said.

Dai Bufan stood up and left Task Hall to invite elders from various peaks to make a move.

As soon as the elders heard there was a chance to become Protector Heavenly Kings again, their attitudes were more enthusiastic than ever. They nearly broke into a fight over it, but with Dai Bufan’s persuasion, they agreed to settle it by drawing lots.

In the end, Uncle Ba, Third Elder, Fourth Elder, and Seventh Elder would accompany Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou.

Meanwhile, Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou took out their respective tokens and notified the masters of both their sects, and then picked a restaurant for the meeting in two days.

In the matter of presenting gifts at the meeting, the Heavenly Court Sect took the initiative.

The two sect masters quickly responded, saying they would definitely attend.

...

Two days later, the restaurant was booked out, and the three sects gathered together once again.

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou took the seats of honor, backed by four mighty Protector Heavenly Kings standing tall like towers.

The Protector Heavenly Kings, with their tiger-like eyes wide and fierce, commanded a subtle yet undeniable authority.

Mu Baiyi and the master of the other sect did not expect to see each other here, leading to an awkward moment.

The other sect’s master had not expected the Young Sect Master Lu to be present.

Wasn’t it said that the Young Sect Master Lu had a rift with the Dragon Saint Heir? How come he was here when he should have given a private gift to the Dragon Saint Heir, and let Young Sect Master Lu tag along?

Could there be changes that he was unaware of?

```

"Having parted for so many days, you both still possess such charm, hahaha." Master Chi clasped his hands in greeting, adopting the demeanor of a peer to break the awkwardness first.

Behind Master Chi stood two young maidens, with their demure appearances and skins so tender they seemed capable of squeezing out water.

Master Chi gave a covert signal, and the two maidens obediently walked over to Meng Jingzhou, completely compliant, causing Meng Jingzhou’s eyelids to twitch.

"Master Chi, what is this about?"

"Just a small token of appreciation. You and I both practice pure yang cultivation techniques and must regularly vent out excess energy. Consider these girls a meeting gift and please, Saint Heir, accept them."

Master Chi felt that simply offering cultivation techniques to the Saint Heir might not be enticing enough, so he decided to up the stakes.

Meng Jingzhou naturally would not accept them and feigned anger, "Could it be that you wish to plant spies by my side through this opportunity?"

Master Chi quickly responded, "Saint Heir, please calm your anger, I have no such intentions."

No matter how much Master Chi persuaded, Meng Jingzhou remained vigilant and refused to take in the two maidens.

Seeing the Saint Heir’s firm attitude, Master Chi had no choice but to let the maidens return.

Meng Jingzhou narrowed his eyes, "Master Chi, do you truly have a method to enhance the absorption of solar power?"

Master Chi did not expect his previous actions to have created a gap between himself and the Saint Heir, which was against his intention.

Lu Yang laughed heartily, patting Meng Jingzhou’s shoulder, "You’re overthinking it. Master Chi wouldn’t dare to scheme against us. It’s nothing of the sort."

Seeing Lu Yang smoothing things over for him, Master Chi looked gratefully at Lu Yang, then produced a wooden box with a seal on it.

He released the seal, and inside the box were several books related to cultivation methods that utilized solar power.

The Fourth Elder stepped forward, skimmed through the books, and respectfully said to Meng Jingzhou, "Saint Heir, these are indeed cultivation methods that utilize the power of the sun for reference."

Meng Jingzhou nonchalantly hummed in response, waving his hand impatiently, "Then let’s accept them."

Master Chi had not prepared a gift for Lu Yang and had to hastily retrieve a treasure from his storage ring, "Young Sect Master Lu, please accept this with my compliments."

Lu Yang glanced at the items and recognized their origins, chuckling, "Hundred Herb Pill, True Dragon scales, Ginseng King filaments... Master Chi is most thoughtful. I won’t stand on ceremony then."

The Seventh Elder stepped up to accept these treasures on behalf of Lu Yang.

Mu Baiyi saw how much effort Master Chi had put into his gifts and if what he offered was inferior, it could easily leave a bad impression of the Heavenly Court Sect.

It seemed likely that this was why the Heavenly Court Sect had gathered their two sects together.

Mu Baiyi begrudgingly took out treasures from his storage ring and presented them to Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, who accepted them without objection.

After both sect leaders finished presenting their gifts, they suddenly said at the same time, "I have a question to ask."

The two exchanged angry glances.

Lu Yang, with a jovial smile, raised his hand to signal them to be patient, "We have plenty of time, one at a time."

"Let’s do this, Master Chi spoke first earlier, so let Master Mu speak first this time. What do you both say?"

Master Chi had no choice but to agree.

Mu Baiyi asked, "Our barbecue restaurant is thriving, making a fortune each day, but the taxes imposed by the Dynasty are too high. Does Young Sect Master Lu have a solution?"

Mu Baiyi cunningly aligned Lu Yang with his own side.

The four Protector Heavenly Kings frowned internally at this unexpected problem. How should they respond?

Lu Yang simply smiled and instead of replying, turned his head to Master Chi, "And you?"

"It’s like this, Young Sect Master Lu surely knows that our Yaoyang Sect, in our pursuit of making the populace revere the sun, has been researching solar power. Recently, our numerous attempts to ascend to the sun have failed. Do you, Young Sect Master Lu, perhaps have a method?"

Master Chi was anxious, knowing that if another attempt to reach the sun failed, he would have to resort to tax evasion again, which might land him in jail for a few decades as a refuge.

The four Protector Heavenly Kings frowned again internally. What could possibly be done? The sun is extremely yang and powerful; whoever approaches, perishes. Could the Yaoyang Sect be expecting Yun Zhi to make a move?

Upon hearing this, Lu Yang intertwined his fingers, placed them before his chest, and leaned slightly backward in his chair, resting against its back.

"The issues both your sects are facing can actually be resolved through a single method."

"Master Chi, have you ever heard of solar energy?"