Grand Elder

Lu Yang was shocked, his heart pounding. The coffin in the main chamber was a stone coffin, carved with intricate and ancient patterns of the sun, moon, stars, and other celestial bodies. He didn't know when it was cast, but its high standard meant that it was definitely the burial place of a great figure!

The Grand Elder of the Ask Dao Sect definitely meets the criteria of a "great figure".

"Could it really be that the Grand Elder of the Ask Dao Sect is buried inside?!" Lu Yang was on high alert. Had he triggered some mechanism that brought the other party back to life, or was it the Immortal Fairy's Dao Fruit that revived the corpse, or was there some other unknown reason?

The coffin lid slowly rose, and an old man with a long beard sat up from inside. When Lu Yang saw this, his pupils contracted slightly; the man was indeed the Grand Elder of the Ask Dao Sect!

The First Elder happened to go to Heaven Gate Peak to ask the Senior Sister some questions, Lu Yang had seen what the First Elder looked like before.

Lu Yang was considering whether to perform a set of the Senior Sister's Imitative Fist to summon the Senior Sister, or use the "Close at Hand" technique to teleport himself back to the cliff.

The elder's voice was hoarse, and his eyes were filled with confusion. He looked at Lu Yang and asked, "Lu Yang? What are you doing here?"

Lu Yang was startled. According to his guess, the Ask Dao Sect had a fake Grand Elder, and the one in the coffin in front of him was the real Grand Elder. He had only seen the fake Grand Elder before, so how could the other party recognize him?

"Elder, do you know me?" Lu Yang asked cautiously.

Inside the spiritual space, the Immortal Fairy pouted, for Lu Yang had never been so respectful to her before.

He was an immortal, yet this brat Lu Yang showed him absolutely no respect!

Lu Yang's question puzzled the Grand Elder even more, "Of course I know you. Aren't you Lu Yang, the disciple of Ninth Brother, with the Sword Spirit Root? I even saw you through the water mirror when you participated in the Ask Dao Sect Seeking Sect."

"I'd like to ask you, what are you doing here, disturbing my sleep?"

"Sleep, sleep?" Lu Yang's mind hadn't quite caught up. Who would sleep in a coffin for no reason?

The elder yawned widely, tears welling in his eyes, clearly having just woken up. "I was so tired from building the tomb that I only managed a short nap. I'm getting old, really old. I never used to feel this tired. You can't deny getting old, you know. Come to think of it, I'm already three thousand years old."

"Build a tomb?" Lu Yang's eyes widened. He had heard that cultivators could sense their impending death and thus make a will in advance, explaining their affairs and building a tomb.

Lu Yang felt a pang of sadness thinking of the Grand Elder's contributions to the Ask Dao Sect: "Could it be that you're about to... about to..."

Lu Yang simply couldn't bring himself to say what came next.

The Grand Elder nodded. "Yes, it's time to think about what to do after retirement. Dai Bufan said I can live for another five thousand years after retirement, so I should find some hobbies. I've thought about it and I think building a tomb is a good option; we'll need it sooner or later anyway."

Lu Yang: "..."

He was so caught up in the atmosphere that his brain short-circuited for a moment. Only now did he realize that those in the Body Integration Realm could live for at least eight thousand years, and those with such profound cultivation as the Grand Elder would certainly live even longer.

Give me back the emotion I felt just now!

"You're building a tomb so early?" Lu Yang thought to himself, "Your hobby is quite unique."

"Why not? I've heard that in some places ordinary people borrow a large sum of money from banks to buy houses and then spend their whole lives working hard to pay off the debt."

"If ordinary people can toil their whole lives for their houses, then I can certainly toil my later years for my graves without any problems."

Lu Yang was rendered speechless by the Grand Elder's theory.

"I didn't just build this one tomb; there are other ones already built. This is just the beginning. I haven't even prepared the zombies yet; I just threw in some white-haired zombies to maintain the atmosphere."

"By the way, how did you find the tomb I specifically chose to build on a cliff in our Ask Dao Sect?"

Lu Yang remained silent; he didn't really want to recall the events.

So this is still the Ask Dao Sect. It seems the distance I teleported wasn't very far.

The Immortal Fairy said lazily, "You definitely can't teleport very far. Teleportation distance is closely related to your Foundation Establishment Realm, how far can you run? Do you really think you can fly to the heavens?"

The Grand Elder was unaware of the existence of the Immortal Fairy.

"So the reason you're often absent from the mission hall is because..."

"I'll leave things to Xiao Dai and start my retirement early."

That makes perfect sense.

Seeing that Lu Yang was unwilling to elaborate on how he came to the tomb, the elder asked, "Do you need me to send you back?"

Lu Yang nodded quickly; this was exactly what he wanted.

The Grand Elder emerged from the coffin, touched Lu Yang, and Lu Yang was immediately enveloped in a giant bubble. The Grand Elder flew out of the tomb with his hands behind his back, and Lu Yang followed behind him inside the bubble.

The Grand Elder moved as fast as a thunderbolt, disappearing from the cliff in the blink of an eye. Only then did Lu Yang realize why he had been encased in a bubble; his body couldn't withstand the Grand Elder's speed.

Leaving the cliff, a boundless grassland came into view, with lush green grass, sheep grazing on the tender grass, and various wild and monstrous Demon Beast. The terrifying aura emanating from the Demon Beast made Lu Yang's heart tremble.

This must be the place my senior sister mentioned when she joined the sect. "There are some dangerous places where one's cultivation is insufficient, or one will die and perish."

With his cultivation level, there's absolutely no way he could have safely fallen off the cliff... Why does that sound so awkward?

The Grand Elder carried Lu Yang through the air. Because the flight speed was so fast, they couldn't see the scene below clearly, so there was no issue of fear of heights.

During the flight, Lu Yang was somewhat alarmed. Given the Grand Elder's flying speed, how could he have flown for so long without reaching Heaven Gate Peak? How far had he been teleported?

Just as Lu Yang was lost in thought, the Grand Elder stopped, and Lu Yang realized that they had already arrived at Heaven Gate Peak.

The Grand Elder put Lu Yang down and then left.

While the Grand Elder was sleeping in the coffin, he encountered a difficult point in his cultivation and wanted to ask his fellow disciples for their opinions.

He went to the herb garden, but the Second Elder was not there. He went to the Body Refining Peak, but the Third Elder was not there. He went to the Gentleman Peak, but the Fourth Elder was not there either.

"Where are they?" The First Elder was very puzzled. He didn't remember that the Second, Third, and Fourth Elders were people who liked to run around. They were usually easy to find, so why couldn't he find any of them today?

When Ji Hongwen, the eldest disciple of the Fourth Elder, saw that the First Elder was looking for their master, he said, "It seems that Master has found the Sect Master's whereabouts and has gone to Heaven Gate Peak with the Second Elder."

"Where is the Ninth Prince? Heaven Gate Peak?" The First Elder never expected to have to return to Heaven Gate Peak again.

He arrived at Heaven Gate Peak and asked Lu Yang if he knew the whereabouts of the Silent Daoist. Lu Yang pointed him in the right direction, and he successfully arrived at the pine forest, where he found his six junior brothers, one junior sister, and the Silent Daoist eating hot pot.

When the Silent Daoist saw the Grand Elder standing outside the cave abode, he waved warmly and said, "It's been a long time since we brothers have gotten together. We were just about to have hot pot when you arrived, Senior Brother."

"Senior Brother, come in quickly, you're the only one left!"

The Grand Elder looked at the enthusiastic, silent Daoist with suspicion.