Lu Yang had just excitedly reached the late stage of the Nascent Soul phase when Fairy Eternity poured cold water on his excitement.

Seeing this, Fairy Eternity hastened to comfort him, "Oh dear, reaching the late stage of the Nascent Soul is already quite remarkable. Think about it, it's not every time you come across an enemy outside that they are in the Body Integration Realm."

Lu Yang recalled the enemies he had encountered: Emperor Yu Wu Youdao, Void Venerate, Nightmare Supreme, Gray Bean... indeed, none were in the Body Integration Realm.

Just as Lu Yang was reminiscing about his past achievements, he suddenly felt a token in his bosom heating up. He took it out and saw that it was the Yaoyang Sect trying to contact him.

The message on the token said that the Yaoyang Sect had recently made some breakthroughs in solar energy research and hoped that Young Master Lu could come and offer guidance. It was the same old place, the barbecue restaurant in Yanjiang County, the headquarters of the restaurant.

It also mentioned offering the annual dividends of the barbecue restaurant to the Heavenly Court Sect.

Lu Yang, having no other matters at hand, agreed to go. The Saint Heir Long Jingzhou was still in seclusion, and it was uncertain when he would emerge.

This small matter did not necessitate the need for Eldest Senior Sister to make an appearance and show support, so Lu Yang spoke with several Protector Heavenly Kings, who all indicated there was no problem.

The Heavenly Court Sect set out in a grand fashion.

…

At the barbecue restaurant headquarters, Sect Leader Chi of the Yaoyang Sect and Mu Baiyi of the Jiuyou Sect were very nervous, as if they were not just welcoming a colleague but rather preparing for an inspection by a superior.

It was only natural for the two Sect Leaders to be afraid, given the immense impact of the battle among immortals in the East Sea, which implied that there was a hierarchy of strength among immortals, and that Sect Leader Yun was more powerful than another immortal.

Add to that the outstanding performance of Ao Ling in the East Sea and the widespread fame of Heavenly Venerate Dou.

All this pointed to one fact—that the Heavenly Court Sect was the foremost power in the world.

"Haha, long time no see, Sect Leaders," Lu Yang greeted with a cheerful smile.

𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Seeing that neither Sect Leader Yun nor Heavenly Venerate Dou was there, and neither were the Dragon and Phoenix ancestors, both Sect Leader Chi and Mu Baiyi quietly sighed in relief, feeling much less psychological pressure.

But facing Young Sect Master Lu, the heir of the Heavenly Court Sect, they dared not be careless.

Young Sect Master Lu took his seat, while the five indifferent Protector Heavenly Kings stood behind him. The two Sect Leaders personally bent down to pour tea for him.

"Young Sect Master, this is the income of the barbecue restaurant from the past year, as well as the account books for revenue and expenses," Mu Baiyi said cautiously, pushing a Storage Ring towards Lu Yang. The Spirit Stones stored within the ring were massive in quantity. Mu Baiyi felt reluctant to part with so many Spirit Stones.

Lu Yang gave a signal with his eyes, and the Fifth Elder, Multi-treasure Heavenly King, took the Storage Ring and scanned it with his Spiritual Sense. He then respectfully bent over and said to Lu Yang,

"Young Sect Master, the tally is correct."

Lu Yang, utterly bored, yawned, "Then let's accept it."

Mu Baiyi felt a pang of emotion; truly, those from the Heavenly Court Sect couldn't care less about such trivial amount of money, so much so that they didn't even bother to inquire how many Spirit Stones were in the Storage Ring.

"Mu Sect Leader came for me, not just for a trivial matter like Spirit Stones, right?" Lu Yang said with a smile, sipping his tea as if he saw through Mu Baiyi's thoughts.

Mu Baiyi forced a smile, "Young Sect Master is insightful, indeed I am puzzled by a matter and seek your guidance."

"What is it?"

Mu Baiyi chose his words carefully, observing Lu Yang's reaction as he spoke, fearful of touching upon any taboo, "I heard that Ao Ling, the Ancient Ancestor of your sect, once said at the Old Dragon Emperor's birthday banquet, 'The mortals no longer know about Heavenly Court and Netherworld.' I wonder what this 'Netherworld' really is..."

Lu Yang had anticipated that Mu Baiyi would ask this question and there was a hint of mirth in his eyes, "What, have you forgotten what I said? I told you long ago that our Heavenly Court Sect and your Jiuyou Sect had an ancient bond."

Mu Baiyi's heart slowed at these words, his face filled with an excitement he couldn't conceal, "Then this Netherworld really is..."

"The ancient place that governed the Nether and Reincarnation. All things under heaven, after death, have their Souls enter the Netherworld to undergo the six paths of Reincarnation."

Lu Yang didn't deceive Mu Baiyi; the underworld was indeed just as he said, a fact that Ao Ling had told him.

Not only Mu Baiyi but also Sect Leader Yun, who had always been at odds with the Jiuyou Sect, widened his eyes in disbelief.

It wasn't just them who had taken note of Ao Ling's mention of the underworld; many people in the Cultivation World were speculating about its meaning.

But no one could clearly define what the underworld actually was.

Now, at last, Young Sect Master Lu had confirmed that the underworld was the ancient Nine Nether!

The five Protector Heavenly Kings also heard this for the first time, but they knew that Lu Yang was bluffing and didn't react much.

Mu Baiyi's face flushed with excitement; luckily, the Heavenly Court Sect kept their old ties, otherwise, the good job at the barbecue shop wouldn't have fallen to the Jiuyou Sect.

There was also what Young Sect Master Lu had said before, that if the Jiuyou Sect wanted to make a presence in the strife of the Great Era, they had to plan gradually, with an aim to "allying with the Demon Territory and East Sea"!

Now that the Long Clan had unified the East Sea, that saying was soon to come true!

What Young Sect Master Lu said that day was gradually coming to fruition!

Was it a stroke of genius or a carefully premeditated plan?

Whichever it was, it was enough to demonstrate the terrifying nature of the Young Sect Master Lu!

"Sect Leader Yun, let me take a look at whatever your sect has been researching," Lu Yang said with interest.

It had been over a year to produce results, which was not a slow pace. Things like solar-powered lights and solar water heaters were innovations that had never existed in the Cultivation World. The Yaoyang Sect had not only to research but also to reduce the costs for mass promotion among the public, which were challenging points.

In Lu Yang's anticipatory gaze, Sect Leader Yun took out a scroll from his storage ring.

The scroll was spread open, depicting a sun with several panels of unknown material around it; given the size of the sun, those panels were terrifyingly large.

The panels were engraved with many complex arrays. Lu Yang, who knew nothing about array methods, had no idea what they were for.

Uncle Ba, the Hundred Medicine Heavenly King who was an expert in array methods, let out a light gasp.

"Sect Leader Yun, this is…?" Lu Yang didn't need to feign understanding; the complexity of these array methods was such that probably only a cultivator in the Body Integration Realm could comprehend them.

When asked about his specialty, Sect Leader Yun was very excited: "Ever since Young Sect Master Lu mentioned solar energy to me, our entire sect was shaken and has been researching how to fully utilize solar energy."

"But halfway through our research, we encountered a problem. There are six sides to the continent and we, Central Continent, are just one side."

"This means that no matter how fully we utilize solar energy, we can only use one-sixth of it, with the remaining five-sixths going to waste."

"So?" Lu Yang guessed what the scroll's contents might be.

"So, we are planning to assemble an array method on the surface of the sun that can collect solar energy, ideally enveloping the entire sun to prevent any waste of solar energy."

"Then transfer the collected solar energy down here."

"Only, researching this set of array methods is quite difficult, but fortunately, our entire sect has worked together and finally overcome the technical hurdles."

"The array method on the scroll is the fruit of our research."

Lu Yang: "..."

Aren't you taking steps that are a bit too large?