The Clue to the Immortal of the Years

As the clouds drifted by, the Grand Elder breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the Ask Dao Sect draw ever closer.

"We've finally returned safely to the Ask Dao Sect."

Although the process from being captured by the Hanging Temple to safely returning to the Ask Dao Sect was somewhat tortuous, it's good that we were able to go back no matter what.

"I think you probably don't need travel expenses, Brother Shichan."

"Huh? Why?" Shi Chan thought to himself, "Brother Dai seems like a kind person, how could he bear to let me go back?"

"Your sect has arrived." Dai Bufan said expressionlessly, his gaze passing over Shi Chan and landing on a group of monks approaching from afar.

When Shi Chan turned his head, he saw that it was his master, senior brother, and fellow disciple. The Buddha's light shone brightly, which was extremely dazzling. The abbot, Jie Chen, was carrying someone in his hands.

The people at the Hanging Temple possessed profound cultivation; they could cover a hundred meters in a single step, arriving at the entrance of the Ask Dao Sect in the blink of an eye.

"Uncle-Master Jiechen, what brings you here?" Shichan was taken aback, as he had not heard any news that his sect was coming to pick him up.

My master is here who has abstained from killing, but considering that he has been unable to speak for a long time, it would be pointless to ask. It would be better to ask my senior uncle.

"Do one good deed a day and come to release animals." Master Jiechen shoved the person in his hand, making him obediently return to the Ask Dao Sect.

"Master, are you alright?" Dai Bufan asked the Grand Elder, who had been released by the Hanging Temple, with a strange expression.

The Grand Elder waved his hand, indicating to Dai Bufan not to worry about him. "It's just an exchange between high-ranking members of the sect, what could possibly happen?"

Dai Bufan: "..."

Master Jiechen beckoned for Shichan to come over.

"Thank you very much for taking care of me, Nephew Dai, over the past month." Master Jiechen nodded in gratitude.

"You're too kind, Senior Uncle," Dai Bufan returned the greeting.

The people from the Hanging Temple took Shi Chan back. On the way, Shi Chan kept his head down, looking very disappointed.

Seeing this, I realized I couldn't continue working at the slaughterhouse.

"Master Shichan, how have you gained from your Ask Dao Sect?" Master Jiechen asked kindly. Jiechen means to abstain from anger, and he always had a smiling face.

"I've gained a lot! The Ask Dao Sect is full of experts, and I've met many people who share my ideals!"

"But the most important thing is that I'm sure what Master said is true; the eldest disciple of the Silent Daoist is indeed not easy to deal with."

"Of course, how could your master lie to you? The eldest disciple of the Silent Daoist is indeed not easy to deal with... Wait, what did you say?" Master Jiechen suddenly realized something was wrong. How did you know Yun Zhi was not easy to deal with?

"Didn't Master say that the eldest disciple of the Silent Daoist was very powerful and should not be provoked? I felt that learning from books was never enough, and that true understanding required practice, so I went to Heaven Gate Peak to challenge Senior Yun Zhi. And let me tell you, I really couldn't beat her." Shi Chan recalled the scene, his body aching slightly, and he felt a wave of fear. Senior Yun Zhi was truly strong.

When the abstaining master heard his good disciple do this, his flying body swayed and he almost fell headfirst.

He wanted to curse loudly, but considering that he was still practicing silent meditation, he could only think it in his mind.

"We're back." Lu Yang and his group of five returned to the Ask Dao Sect. It was the warmth of family that greeted them. Look, Senior Brother Dai and the Grand Elder personally welcomed them at the mountain gate.

"Elder, you've worked hard. Senior Brother Dai, you've worked hard. I have something to discuss with Senior Sister, so I'll be leaving now."

Lu Yang left with a single sentence and quickly disappeared from everyone's sight, leaving everyone bewildered.

"What's the rush, kid?"

"Have no idea."

Lu Yang was naturally anxious. Regardless of how much he learned from this trip to the Five Elements Sect, he needed to ask his senior sister for advice on how to handle the High Antiquity matters he had learned about.

Lu Yang returned to Heaven Gate Peak. The eldest sister sat in a lotus position with one foot on the ground and the other foot resting on the opposite thigh. Her hands were clasped in a flower-picking gesture, holding two Golden Core pills. Her breath was long and deep, as if she were one with nature, and her presence was very low.

Before Lu Yang could speak, the senior sister slowly opened her eyes and asked, "Junior brother, what brings you to me in such a hurry?"

As she spoke, she finished her work and stood up. She flicked the two Golden Core pills Golden Core was holding in her fingertips into the sky, and they turned into shooting stars, hanging high in the sky.

Lu Yang was dumbfounded.

Seeing Lu Yang's surprise, the senior sister casually explained, "A month ago, someone came to challenge me, hoping that I would suppress my cultivation level to the late Golden Core stage. I agreed to his conditions and plucked two Golden Core from the sky to temporarily suppress my cultivation level. Afterwards, I thought that since I had this rare opportunity, I might as well refine them. Now I have just finished refining them and returned the two Golden Core to their original positions."

Lu Yang's eye twitched slightly, thinking to himself, "You might as well not explain at all."

"Where did you get this wooden plaque?" The senior sister beckoned with her index finger, and the Jianmu fragment hanging around Lu Yang's neck flew up, bringing Lu Yang with him to her.

The eldest sister held the Jianmu fragment in her hand, examining it closely. Lu Yang had never been so close to the eldest sister before, and he felt inexplicably flustered. He could even feel the eldest sister's breath.

"A piece of immortal wood?" The senior sister raised an eyebrow, releasing Lu Yang. This thing was extremely precious; where did Lu Yang obtain it?

"That's exactly what I wanted to say. This is part of the Jianmu tree, given to me by Sister Shangguan!"

"A part of the Jianmu tree? The Immortal of Time?"

The eldest sister was slightly surprised. So Senior Shangguan had clues about the Immortal of Time?

Or perhaps Senior Shangguan didn't know it was Jianmu wood, only that it was very precious, and wanted to establish a good relationship with Lu Yang beforehand?

"Let me, the immortal, speak," the Immortal Fairy stepped forward, for she knew the most.

"When I went to the Five Elements Sect's wood vein with Lu Yang, I found that the wood vein was full of vitality and its life force was astonishing. I also saw the protective talisman that Shangguan Yatou gave to Lu Yang, so I scanned the entire wood vein with my divine sense and then discovered this."

With a thought, the Immortal Fairy restored the corpse of the Time Immortal buried beneath the wood vein.

"This is..."

"The corpse of the Fairy of Time."

Yun Zhi's eyes widened slightly, not expecting this news. She had visited the Five Elements Sect, but out of politeness, she hadn't used her Divine Sense to scan what was beneath the wood veins.

To everyone's surprise, a celestial corpse was buried beneath the Five Elements Sect!

"The Immortal of Time has fallen? No, we can't make a judgment based on just one immortal corpse."

"Senior, there's something I want to confirm with you. I read in ancient books that the Nian beast is a follower of the Time Immortal. Is that true?"

"Yes, the Nian Beast is Demon Beast cultivated by the Immortal of Time using the Dao Fruit of Time."

"Then that's it. Every year during the New Year, the Nian beast becomes active and then disappears. I once tried to find out where the Nian beast went, but I used too much force and startled it. Since then, the Nian beast runs away whenever it sees me."

The lifespan of mortals is no more than a hundred years. They cherish time and celebrate the New Year once a year. For cultivators with long lifespans, a year is but a fleeting moment.

In the cultivation world, it's customary to celebrate the New Year once every ten years, and the Nian Beast also appears only once every ten years. After the Immortal Fairy was resurrected, she hadn't yet caught up with the cultivation world's New Year celebration.

"What I can confirm is that every year during the Lunar New Year, the Nian beast comes from the East and returns to the West. I suspect that the clues to the Immortal of Time are in the East Sea or the Buddhist Kingdom, which is why I sent my second junior brother to travel to the West more often."

The second update will be at 11 PM.