Chapter 2

In front of the mountain gate of the Dao Evolution Sect.

“I’m leaving.”

Lu Xuan was dressed in white and stood with his hands behind his back. He couldn’t resist the pestering of the sect leader’s grand-disciple.

Furthermore, Qing Yangzi gave Lu Xuan a condition that he could not refuse.

From the information sent by the Heavenly Water Temple, that dead city was very likely an ancient remnant land that had existed for an extremely long time.

The Laws of Heaven and Earth that were displayed were somewhat different from those in the Archean Eon World.

Lu Xuan felt that if he entered this city, he might be able to comprehend some things that would help him form his Nascent Soul.

Thus, the Golden Core stage ancestor, who had been cooped up at home for almost a thousand years, finally decided to go down the mountain for a stroll.

“Farewell, Uncle Grandmaster…” Qing Yangzi held his hands together, looking like an immortal, his sleeves fluttering in the wind.

Beside him stood an old man who also bowed respectfully. It was Qing Yangzi’s junior brother, Feng Yangzi.

Lu Xuan nodded slightly.

There were four people in Qing Yangzi’s generation. They used the characters “Ming”, “Yue”, “Qing”, and “Feng” as their Dao names.

Two hundred years ago, Ming Yangzi and Yue Yangzi passed away.

The only people in the sect who knew about the existence of Lu Xuan were Qing and Feng.

Lu Xuan remembered that Yue Yangzi should be the descendant of one of his junior sisters.

His master had ascended to become an immortal while his senior brothers had fallen outside, and his junior brothers had passed away in meditation over the long years.

In the end, even his junior sister’s descendant was sent away by Lu Xuan.

“Uncle Grandmaster, have you brought everything?” Qing Yangzi asked.

Lu Xuan raised his hand and showed his green jade ring.

“It’s all in here. I don’t know how long until I’ll be back from this trip. Keep that Nascent Soul Formation painting. If a disciple breaks through, you can use it,” he said.

“Also, in the drawer in my room, there’s a calligraphy scroll. There are seven flashes of sword qi stored in it. If you encounter an enemy you can’t defeat, open the scroll and send me a message.”

“Yes.”

Qing Yangzi was relieved when he heard this.

After giving his instructions, Lu Xuan raised his hand.

He tossed out a green bamboo leaf, which turned into a light boat and floated in the air.

“Let’s go!”

The white-robed, black-haired young ancestor stepped on the bamboo leaf and fled as a stream of light.

Qing and Feng didn’t leave immediately. They watched Lu Xuan leave.

…

Three days later in an inn in Xiaoshui City, Lu Xuan woke up in the morning and opened the window to enjoy the morning sun.

On the table by the window was a copy of the Cultivation Daily dated that day.

Lu Xuan didn’t read the newspapers much because he often read the obituaries of his old friends, which made him feel bad.

The founder of the Cultivation Daily was one of them.

The idea of creating a daily newspaper dedicated to cultivators was something that Lu Xuan had unintentionally mentioned back then. He did not expect that person to really make it happen.

In the last few thousand years, obituaries related to old friends disappeared.

It was probably because the frequency of Lu Xuan leaving the mountain had decreased over the years, and he had fewer and fewer new friends.

Soon, all the old friends he knew had passed away.

Even Mahayana stage cultivators only had a lifespan of 5,000 years.

Some with special bloodlines, such as the spiritual turtle ancient wood, could live for a few more years.

However, compared to Lu Xuan, who was always young, they would eventually grow old.

The Cultivation Daily was published by Sancai Academy. It only published news and not editorials, and the contents of the daily newspaper covered a wide range.

The old ancestor of the Dao Evolution Sect, who had retired many years ago, did not care about the affairs of the world and only read the gossip.

For example, the wife of a certain sect leader was abducted by a disciple, or a certain sect leader finally changed his mind after mastering his divine technique. For example, a certain big shot had endured humiliation for many years and wanted to take revenge on his cousin after taking charge of a sect, but in his excitement, he mistakenly issued a killing order…

He was amused by the strangeness of the world and flipped through the serious content but did not see any news related to the strange ancient city.

The Archean Eon World was so big, and countless ghosts and monsters appeared every day.

Sancai Academy was a newspaper agency, not an intelligence agency.

The Heavenly Water Temple was located in a remote area, so it was normal for the Cultivation Daily not to report the appearance of the dead city.

…

In Xiaoshui City.

“The teleportation array is about to open. Fellow Daoists who have paid up with spirit stones, please line up in an orderly manner…”

At the entrance of the teleportation array, a cultivator in armor held a spear and shouted to maintain order. His voice contained some magical power.

The cultivators below the stage were bustling with activity, and Lu Xuan was among them.

He wanted to use the teleportation array to head to the Heavenly Water Temple territory.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t fly over directly, but he was really tired of riding a flying sword and a flying magic treasure.

Only newbies would be passionate about flying on swords and treat their own swords as if they were their lovers.

For an old-time cultivator like Lu Xuan who had been riding a sword for 9,000 years, he would only feel as though it was nothing special at all.

In other words, he was sick of it.

Thinking of this, he suddenly realized that he had not used a sword for a long time.

With this in mind, he took out his sword from his magic weapon storage and held it in his arms.

Lu Xuan’s sword had a scabbard and was decorated with spiritual jade. It felt very warm.

The slender sword was pressed against his heart and trembled slightly, like a resentful woman who had been abandoned by a scumbag. It conveyed a faint aura of resentment.

“Hey, hey, don’t be so weird…”

The corner of Lu Xuan’s mouth twitched. He pressed down on the sword that was rubbing against his chest and communicated with the sword spirit through the spirit technique.

“Alright, alright, alright. I won’t let you stay alone this time…Actually, I’ve been in seclusion for nearly a hundred years. I just came out and immediately came to see you.”

A real man would lie without a draft.

“What is it? Why did the Golden Core have to undergo a hundred years of seclusion? No, how does a sword spirit like you know so much? Don’t interfere in human affairs.”

Just as he was coaxing his sword spirit, Lu Xuan slowed down his pace and saw someone jump his queue.

He was a little dissatisfied. He reached out and pressed his hand on the man’s shoulder, pulling him back.

When the queue jumper turned around, he saw a burly man with a muscular body and a fierce face.

The burly man snorted, his tiger-like eyes filled with malice.

“Little brat, you intentionally…”

Before he could finish the second half of his sentence, he swallowed it down because, at that moment, he sensed the aura from the other party’s body.

G-Golden Core?

Furthermore, he was in the Exceptional Golden Core Stage.

“If you have any objections, just say it. It’s not like I don’t want to listen.”

The burly man, who was only on the Foundation Building Stage, suddenly whispered and forcefully changed his words. His face was purple from holding it in.

“Line up at the back.” Lu Xuan pointed.

“Yes, sir!”

The weak Foundation Building cultivator did not hesitate and ran to the end of the line, obediently queuing up.

The surrounding cultivators also felt Lu Xuan’s aura and took half a step back.

Generally speaking, only Foundation Building and Golden Core Stage cultivators would use the Teleportation Formation.

When Body Forging and Qi Refining cultivators first entered the cultivation world, they didn’t have many spirit stones on them, so they often couldn’t afford the cost of the teleportation array.

After reaching the Nascent Soul stage, cultivators would begin to cultivate for a long time, and the number of times they went down the mountain would be greatly reduced.

At the same time, cultivators of this stage were particular about extravagance. They would go out in their private carriages and fly in the sky.

As the saying went, Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators were rare, but Golden Core Stage Cultivators were a dime a plenty.

The Golden Core was a very subtle stage.

After a cultivator formed their Golden Core, the magic power in their body would undergo a qualitative leap, and their combat strength would be greatly enhanced.

Although cultivators of this stage were inferior, they were more than sufficient.

Therefore, no one dared to look down on Lu Xuan when he was out. He stood there because others were afraid of him.

…

“Hey, pal, please wait.”

After getting off the teleportation array not far from the city, Lu Xuan heard someone calling him from behind.

He turned around and saw a black-robed elder standing there.

The old man’s clothes had a cauldron pattern printed on them. His beard and hair were all white, and he exuded a somewhat sage-like aura.

“Is there something you need from me?” Lu Xuan said.

“I was near the teleportation array just now and was preparing to hand over a new batch of disciples to my sect elders. Seeing that you have extraordinary talent, I intend to leave this inheritance to you.”

The old man went straight to the point, radiating an expert’s aura.

Lu Xuan sensed it.

‘Whoa, a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator!’

“Thank you for your kindness, but I already have a master, so it’s not convenient for me to take someone else as my master again.” Lu Xuan waved his hand and found a random reason to refuse. He had encountered this kind of thing many times before.

He would just be walking on the road, and someone would want to give him an opportunity.

There were people who wanted to take him in as a disciple, impart their strength to him, and recruit him as their son-in-law…

Some wanted to gift Dharma treasures, spiritual herbs, and Dao companions…

There was even once when a demonic cultivator was being chased and happened to bump into Lu Xuan.

The Fiendish Cultivator was heavily injured. He probably wanted to drag a passerby into the drama to block the next blow, so he stuffed the treasure that he had risked his life to snatch into Lu Xuan’s arms.

In the end, he died before he could finish speaking.

Lu Xuan had many inexplicable inheritances that came from this.

“Are you trying to scare me? In the current large sects, who would wear such white clothes?”

The old man had a look of disbelief on his face.

“I reckon that your sect isn’t famous either. Let me tell you, our Pill Cauldron Sect has a Divine Transformation stage expert guarding it. You mustn’t waste your talent…”

Lu Xuan was speechless.

So, it was a powerful Soul Transformation sect.

He suddenly remembered that his clothes were a popular style among the Dao Evolution Sect disciples 9,000 years ago.

The fashion in the cultivation world was always changing.

The sect leader in the portrait of the founder was wearing a gray robe. At that time, everyone’s clothes were more conservative. The color of their clothes was darker and they advocated black.

When Lu Xuan was apprenticed to a master, it was popular to wear white clothes and ride a long sword. With their immortal qi, they fluttered around and resembled fairies stepping on white silk.

Nowadays, the geniuses of the sects all liked to wear green. Those from rich families would raise white exotic beasts, and bare feet were popular.

As expected of a Nascent Soul Stage expert, his observation skills were sharp and detailed.

Fashion was a circle, and one never knew when it would come a full circle.

Lu Xuan still missed the era of trampling on white silk.

“If I don’t go with you, will you keep pestering me?” Lu Xuan muttered to himself for a moment.

“I can’t just watch as unpolished jade like you is buried. Even if I have to tie you up, I will bind you and bring you back to the sect.”

The Nascent Soul cultivator snorted with a firm attitude.

The negotiation was fruitless. Lu Xuan sighed.

“May I ask which direction your sect is in?”

With one hand behind his back, the old man raised his hand and pointed with a proud expression. “Our Pill Cauldron Sect is 80,000 kilometers northwest of here!”

“That’s quite close.”

Lu Xuan thought about it.

The elder of the Pill Cauldron Sect didn’t understand his hesitance. Before he could ask, he heard a clear reply.

“In that case, I’ll send you off, old man.”

Before the elder could react, a pair of white hands grabbed his arm.

A faint light flowed through his fingers as a mysterious power sealed the Pill Cauldron Sect elder’s cultivation, making him immobile.

In the next moment, Lu Xuan lifted the elder up and spun him like a windmill.

“Let’s go!”

Lu Xuan loosened his grip and threw the terrified old man out.

The dignified cultivator had no power to resist. He screamed as he flew into the sky, turned into a stream of light, and disappeared.