"Eldest Senior Sister, we have returned!" Lu Yang and his companion immediately reported their safety to Eldest Senior Sister upon returning to the Seek Dao Sect.

It was mainly to report the safety of their ancestral master and to prove that they had completed the task assigned by Eldest Senior Sister.

"You've returned ten days later than I anticipated. Did something unexpected happen on the road?"

Yun Zhi was slightly puzzled. She had heard from her master that the matter with their ancestral master had already been clarified with the government office in Ye City and that he had been released long ago.

Why did it take Junior Brother Lu and his companion ten days to safely bring the ancestral master back to the Seek Dao Sect?

Lu Yang was embarrassed to say that the ancestral master had indeed been released, but the two of them had not made it out.

"Yes, there was a little accident on the road."

Yun Zhi nodded without dwelling too much on this matter, thinking that some kind of mishap on the way back was quite in line with Junior Brother's luck.

"Your timing is perfect. Fairy Senior has asked you to come out for a moment."

"What's the matter?" Fairy Eternity popped her head out, coincidentally resting it on Lu Yang's shoulder, making it look as though Lu Yang had grown two heads.

Yun Zhi opened a wooden box, revealing a green peach inside, the peach still attached to a segment of branch. Rather than calling it a peach, it looked more like a flawless work of art.

"Is this peach the one that Fairy mentioned before, the fruit borne by the peach tree-shaped Heavenly Root?"

Fairy Eternity looked at the peach, quite astounded, "You actually found it. I thought it wouldn't be found for a thousand or eight hundred years."

"What is this?" Meng Jingzhou whispered, glancing at Lu Yang's expression, suggesting that he knew the inside story.

"Consider it one of the top natural treasures. You know that Emperor Xia doesn't have many years left. Eldest Senior Sister asked Fairy if there was a way to prolong his life, and Fairy mentioned that in ancient times there was a peach tree, a Heavenly Root, whose peaches were natural objects that extended one's life and could save the emperor's life."

"There's actually such a thing." Even Meng Jingzhou, with the backing of the Meng Family, had never heard of such treasures in the world.

"Does that mean the emperor can be saved?" Meng Jingzhou rejoiced. Although the Crown Prince could make a competent emperor, it would be best not to change emperors if possible, to avoid destabilizing the situation.

"The item is correct, but it seems that it's not ripe yet, right?" Fairy Eternity remembered that ripe peaches were pink in color.

"That's what I thought too." Yun Zhi, getting confirmation, closed the box. The peach hadn't been completely picked, and the nutrients in the branch were enough to let the peach mature.

Then they would wait for the peach to ripen before sending it to the Imperial City.

"Speaking of which, where did you find this Heavenly Root?" Fairy Eternity asked with curiosity.

Upon hearing this question, Yun Zhi showed a momentary discomfort. She hadn't expected the peach orchard back home to actually have that Heavenly Root. No wonder the spiritual essence at home was so abundant, and it seemed it wasn't just due to the Mother-child River.

"I found it by chance. That peach tree has already run away."

"Alright." Fairy Eternity felt a bit regretful. It wasn't the first time that Heavenly Root had run off on its own legs.

"There's another matter. Junior Brother Meng, here is a letter from your family. They also asked me to relay a message, hoping you would come home for a visit."

"They're asking me to go home again." Meng Jingzhou rolled his eyes. Having caused so much trouble, he couldn't believe his father would forgive him.

As long as his father didn't say he forgave him, he was determined not to go home!

Meng Jingzhou opened the envelope, browsed through the letter, and his face grew paler and paler, his hands trembling.

"What happened?" Lu Yang asked curiously.

"The letter says that if I don't return home, my father will personally come to the Seek Dao Sect."

Lu Yang: "..."

Rather than getting beaten up at the Seek Dao Sect, I suggest you go home and take your punishment.

"Eldest Senior Sister, can we stop my father from entering the Seek Dao Sect?"

Yun Zhi shook her head: "Our Seek Dao Sect does not prohibit family members from entering the sect to see their disciples."

Meng Jingzhou scratched his head anxiously after much deliberation, it seemed he had no choice but to go back.

"Old Lu, you should come back with me too. If there's an outsider present, my dad probably won't beat me too harshly,"

"Will that really work?"

"Definitely, my dad admires you so much, he even wants you to marry my sister, he'll definitely give you some face." Although he didn't know if it would work or not, he'd drag Old Lu into it first.

"Seriously?" Lu Yang always felt that Meng Jingzhou's words weren't quite sincere.

"Would I lie to you?"

Lu Yang said earnestly, "Considering I often deceive you, it would be normal for you to trick me a couple of times."

"Why do you sound so righteous when you say that? Just tell me if you're going or not."

"I'll go." Lu Yang of course wanted to go, since it was a rare opportunity to visit Imperial City.

His last trip to Imperial City was when he was acting as the Sect Leader, where he went straight to the Imperial Palace to meet with Emperor Xia and the leaders from the other four Immortal Sects. He had not yet seen what the rest of the city was like outside the palace walls.

To call Imperial City a holy land for cultivation wouldn't be an overstatement. A multitude of cultivators gathered there, it was a dazzling spectacle. The strongest cultivators of the Cultivation World, the most skillful artifact refiners, the best alchemists—were all in the Imperial... no, wait, they seemed to be all from the Seek Dao Sect.

"But should we disguise ourselves?"

"Disguise as what?"

"Look, you're a Meng Family Member, and I'm a disciple of Daoist Buyu. If both of us go to Imperial City together, I'm worried we won't even make it through the city gates before being stopped by someone."

The two looked at each other and silently took out their masks, changing their appearances.

Old Ma had long finished visiting relatives in the East Sea and had returned to the Seek Dao Sect.

He was quite happy to hear that Meng Jingzhou was going back to Imperial City.

But he soon realized something was amiss. Meng Jingzhou going back by himself was no problem, but why was Lu Yang also going? Could there be trouble in Imperial City?

Old Ma laughed at himself, thinking he was overreacting. How could there be a problem? That was the unassailable and mighty Imperial City, filled with strong people—how could anything happen?

"Great, let's go to Imperial City and overthrow Emperor Xia to establish the Soybean Dynasty!" Fairy Eternity, hearing they were going to Imperial City, was also very excited.

In celebration of the soon-to-be-established Soybean Dynasty, Fairy Eternity took off her prison garb, washed up, and changed into a bright yellow imperial robe, her head crowned with a diadem. Little Face was tight with concentration, trying hard to look serious.

Meanwhile, with a wave of her hand, she transformed the cages in the Spiritual Space into a palace built with immortal stones. Fairy Eternity sat upright on the throne, as if enthroned in the heavens, looking down at her sole subject—Lu Yang.

Lu Yang felt that Fairy Eternity's rise to power was even faster than Goujian's period of hardship.

"Subject Lu Yang pays his respects to your Majesty."

"Address me as Your Holiness." Fairy Eternity commanded.

Lu Yang, quite amenable to suggestion, corrected himself, "Your Holiness, Lu Yang pays his respects to your Majesty."

"I always feel like there should be something embroidered on these clothes," Fairy Eternity muttered, but considering emblems like dragons, phoenixes, and kirins, it wouldn't reflect her standing.

Even collectively, Little Ling Lianyi and Qilin Immortal were not her match; including them on the imperial robe would be undervaluing herself.

"Second-in-command, what do you think I should embroider on this imperial robe?" the founding Soybean Emperor inquired of her chief steward, Lu Yang.

"Your Majesty, historically, imperial robes always bear the strongest beings," Lu Yang reminded.

Fairy Eternity had an epiphany, and instantly began embroidering on the imperial robe using her thoughts.

"Done."

When Lu Yang looked, he saw that the imperial robe was embroidered with Fairy Eternity herself and the Eldest Senior Sister.