Chapter Seventeen: Chen Shujuang, the Master Public Relations Expert from Lishan

"You truly... truly have a child’s heart," Xue Xiaoyu managed to say after thinking for a while, following closely behind.

"It’s nothing, really," Wu Yue replied with a smiling face, graciously accepting the compliment.

"By the way, where’s the vat?" Xue Xiaoyu noticed, just one step behind, that the large vat had disappeared without a trace.

Wu Yue's expression turned peculiar. "The vat is right here." With a flick of his hand, a miniature vat slipped into his palm.

"So it’s actually a treasure?" Xue Xiaoyu was astonished. In this world, the art of forging magical implements was woefully underdeveloped, and cultivators skilled in it were exceedingly rare. Treasures were all the more scarce.

"No, I prefer to call it a technological product..." Wu Yue said, twisting his finger. The vat began to grow larger.

Xue Xiaoyu was thoroughly bewildered. Wu Yue himself wasn’t sure how to explain it; he’d only discovered the controls upon landing, noticing several small icons at the bottom of the vat. Out of curiosity, he touched them and found he could adjust its size. There were three icons: one for enlarging, one for shrinking, and one for replenishing energy...

Wu Yue was filled with emotion. This was the very thing the Black Cloud Stronghold had scoured countless times to find. Divine senses had swept and searched, but to no avail. Bai Chengxue only knew that this object was the key to a cave dwelling, but not its true form. To think, so many had died over this vat. Here alone, the Xie family couple and Xie Huanshu had perished, not to mention dozens from Black Cloud Stronghold.

Thinking of this, Wu Yue couldn’t help but sigh. Bai Chengxue was truly ruthless. When he said kill, he killed, without hesitation. Grievances settled, Bai Chengxue even gave a friendly warning: "Black Cloud Stronghold is not so simple."

Indeed, not simple.

Wu Yue shook his head, no longer dwelling on these matters. They were distant, and seemed hardly relevant to him. He had a sister, a slightly closer tie, but she had already gone off with Li Qing to rescue someone. Li Qing certainly wouldn’t kill, but whether the blind one would, that was uncertain.

The miniature vat shrank again. Xue Xiaoyu sighed, then began to survey their surroundings. The ground beneath their feet was orderly, and the dense spiritual energy all around had condensed into clouds and mist.

"So this is where you secluded yourself for twenty years? The villagers treat this place like a shrine to an immortal—amazing."

Wu Yue nodded and smiled. "I’ve heard a bit about that. If I leave, the spiritual energy here will gradually dissipate. It’s a pity," he said casually, though in truth, this place held no special meaning for him. At most, it bore witness to his life’s journey... Perhaps he would feel nostalgic in the future, but nothing more.

"Haha, fellow cultivator, congratulations on your emergence. I’ve traveled ten thousand miles to bring a humble gift to honor you." Suddenly, a voice entered Wu Yue’s ear.

What a beautiful technique, condensing qi into a thread—quite a test of skill. Seeing Xue Xiaoyu’s unchanged expression, Wu Yue knew only he had heard the voice.

Boom...

Could this be the humble gift?

Wu Yue extended his spiritual sense. Xue Xiaoyu, only at the Core Formation stage, heard the voice from the foot of the mountain, but could only see with his eyes. Fortunately, the mountain was not tall, and they could barely make things out.

A middle-aged man, dressed in shabby clothes, floated in the air. The ground below was crowded with kneeling worshippers. He chanted, forming seals with his hands.

Suddenly, he shouted, "Move!"

The towering Xie Immortal Temple began to shift, along with the earth beneath it and all the worshippers inside. The entire temple moved toward the mountain, toward the place where Wu Yue had been secluded.

Wu Yue’s eyes sparkled as the spiritual energy within him surged uncontrollably.

What skill! Destroying the temple would be easy for him, but to move it like this, with such subtle, unparalleled control—Wu Yue admitted he still could not achieve it.

In moments, the Xie Immortal Temple had reached the very center of the "mountain top." The worshippers inside were utterly stunned, as if experiencing a great dream. Even Xue Xiaoyu was dumbfounded—what cultivation was this!

Wu Yue tugged Xue Xiaoyu, and the two soared through the air. There was no such thing as a free lunch; Wu Yue was very curious about the man's intentions.

The Xie Immortal had manifested again! That day and in the days following, the influx of funds around the Xie Immortal Temple rose by several percentage points...

"Are you satisfied with my humble gift, fellow cultivator?" The middle-aged man smiled, a young boy standing behind him—Yu Fu, who looked at Wu Yue and Xue Xiaoyu with an arrogant expression.

"Your skill is impressive, but it doesn’t seem to benefit me. I’m not one who covets fame." Wu Yue spoke frankly, feeling that the so-called gift was more a veiled threat, his tone naturally tinged with coldness.

The middle-aged man caught the dissatisfaction in Wu Yue’s words, and smiled lightly. "The wonders of incense offerings are boundless. You’ll understand one day. Then you’ll appreciate this humble gift." He smiled again. Yu Fu felt his master finally looked like a true expert, especially with those two gentle laughs—so cool.

"Oh," Wu Yue laughed along, but silently engraved the word "incense" in his heart. If it turned out incense truly had endless benefits, he could always manifest a miracle or two... He must spread the name of Xie Immortal throughout the world. What Wu Yue didn’t know was that many years ago, everyone had thought the same, leading to the chaos of the immortals, the era of declining magic, and countless legends. It was a distant age, but the world is ever cyclical. The future—who could say?

"So, what brings you here, fellow cultivator?" Wu Yue inquired.

"I am Chen Shujian. I’ve come to invite you to become a guest elder of Li Mountain," Chen Shujian replied, smiling as he looked at Wu Yue.

"Why me?" Wu Yue frowned.

"The secrets of fate cannot be revealed. You are destined to have a connection with Li Mountain," Chen Shujian answered with a mysterious air.

Wu Yue’s face twitched slightly; he thought to himself, I really should learn divination! Everywhere he went, it was the same—Chen Jishan had divined and found him, Xue Xiaoyu had divined and found him... Wu Yue wanted to ask, "Old Chen, where do you all get your fortunes told?"

"What are the benefits?" Wu Yue didn’t voice his thoughts, but he held no opposition to joining a sect. He understood the old saying: three stakes for a fence, three helpers for a hero.

"If you join Li Mountain, you’ll enjoy the highest guest elder privileges. You may go anywhere in Li Mountain, use all its resources, consult any of its secret manuals, command any of its disciples! Come and go as you please. Know that in thousands of years since Li Mountain’s founding, this guest elder position has never been granted to anyone!" Chen Shujian rattled off in one breath.

Wu Yue felt as if he was being showered with cake—piece after piece! The heritage of a millennia-old sect must be immense! Wasn’t this even more carefree than the sect leader?

As for Yu Fu, he was utterly astonished. What places in Li Mountain were worth visiting? Were the resources just a few pounds of pork in the kitchen? And the secret manuals—where were they, exactly? As for disciples, Yu Fu counted on his fingers: the sect leader didn’t count, the master didn’t count, the uncle didn’t count, and the little deaf helper probably didn’t count either. Aside from himself, there seemed to be no one else. He understood now. The sect had indeed existed for thousands of years, but that didn’t change its poverty.

Wu Yue felt it was all too good to be true, almost hard to accept. Yet it was an undeniable source of strength, whether for returning to Earth, going back to the Primordial Realm, or confronting Chen Jishan. But...

Many years later, Wu Yue would grit his teeth and say, damn it! Who said this old fox wasn’t a master of persuasion?

A newcomer to the cultivation world, accompanied by another novice, followed a crafty middle-aged man and a child, embarking on the road to Li Mountain...

Little did he know, this journey would make his name known throughout the land.