Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 346: Qing Province Grand Ceremony

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy was sent flying from a flick of Yun Zhi’s finger and ended up hanging upside down on a nearby tree branch, her body swaying to and fro.

“Lu Yang, you’re disrespecting immortals!” The Everlasting Immortal Fairy was furious. I was innocently dragged into this. This calamity was completely undeserved.

In my prime during the ancient era when I commanded the winds and clouds, who dared to treat me like this?

Lu Yang replied respectfully, “It’s not that I was disrespecting you, Immortal Fairy. It’s simply because I have just formed my golden core, so I’m not yet familiar with it. I was hoping you could demonstrate the proper usage of the Unbeatable Golden Core just now.

“Thanks to your demonstration, I now know how to use the Unbeatable Golden Core.”

“Really?” The Everlasting Immortal Fairy eyed Lu Yang suspiciously. She couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was amiss.

“I am but a mere mortal. How could I dare deceive you, Immortal Fairy?”

“True.” The Everlasting Immortal Fairy felt she was magnanimous and decided to let the matter slide.

The puppet jumped to pick Lu Yang down from the branch, holding him by the collar like he was a misbehaving kitten.

Yun Zhi placed two fingers on Lu Yang’s wrist like a physician taking his pulse. She nodded almost imperceptibly. “So that’s how it is. This was my oversight. When I was writing the cultivation technique, I forgot about the Unbeatable Golden Core’s unique trait of instilling you with blind confidence. The cultivation technique amplified your confidence, robbing you of rational thought and bodily autonomy.”

She retrieved the fallen cultivation technique from the ground. It spontaneously ignited and turned to ashes, as if it had never existed. “I’ll make more revisions. Wait for a while.”

Yun Zhi sat beside the stone table and sliced open space, taking out an empty book. After some brief contemplation, she figured out how to modify it, and her brush began flying across the pages.

Before long, a new version of the Clear Heart True Nature Mantra’s Golden Core Chapter was completed.

“Come. Test it out again.”

Lu Yang accepted the cultivation technique. Compared to the previous version, only select phrases had been altered. Can these minor changes really suppress the Unbeatable Golden Core’s impulses?

Lu Yang circulated energy through his Macrocosmic Loop again and stole a glance at Yun Zhi, who sat with her eyes closed in a relaxed manner.

He exhaled in relief. I have no suicidal urge to beat Big Senior Sister this time.

Lu Yang settled into the lotus position right there and sensed the changes brought about by the cultivation technique.

The biggest change was the brightness and clarity in his heart. The cultivation technique had illuminated his path, and he simply had to follow it.

Previously, his cultivation depended on piling up power without true improvement in his cultivation realm. However, with this new cultivation technique, his accumulated power came in useful, elevating him from the Basic Golden Core Stage to the Basic Golden Core Stage.

It might seem like he had made no progress, but there were some changes, though minimal.

On the other hand, his spiritual consciousness had expanded slightly, which also enlarged his mental space. The Everlasting Immortal Fairy’s bed was originally placed against the wall—the very boundary of the mental space—but now, her bed was two handspans away from it.

Noticing the change, she pushed her bed back against the edge. She preferred sitting with her back against the bed and feet against the wall, finding this posture comfortable.

“Is Lu Yang around?” Meng Jingzhou called out in a hushed voice.

Given his usual boisterous personality, he would always be hollering whenever he looked for someone. However, this is Heaven’s Gate Peak—home to Lu Yang and the terrifying Big Senior Sister. Even with eight times the courage, Meng Jingzhou wouldn’t dare to raise his voice here.

“Big Senior Sister, you’re here?” Meng Jingzhou bowed obsequiously upon spotting Yun Zhi leaning against a tree with her eyes closed.

Yun Zhi acknowledged him softly. She was alerted the moment Meng Jingzhou had stepped into Heaven’s Gate Peak. “Why are you looking for me?”

Meng Jingzhou said mysteriously, “It’s good news, of course! Have you heard of the Qing Province Grand Ceremony? It’s about to begin!”

Lu Yang’s knowledge of the common events in the Great Xia Dynasty was limited. “What is the Qing Province Grand Ceremony?”

“It’s a grand ceremony for cultivators, spearheaded by the Qing Province’s authorities in collaboration with a few first-class sects. Held every year at the start of the eighth month, it features a range of festivities, including duels and auctions. The main purpose of this bustling event is to attract young cultivators to stay in Qing Province, so participants are mostly around our age.”

Lu Yang’s eyes sparkled. I rarely get to interact with peers of a similar age. This is a good opportunity.

“Let’s go! By the way, is the Qing Province you’re talking about the same one Fifth Elder mentioned—where twenty thousand years ago, the Transcendent Tribulation Qing Province’s governor moved the neighboring city to the province under the pretense of a duel?”

“That’s the one.”

Yun Zhi opened her eyes slowly, revealing a trace of curiosity. “Fifth Elder told you about the Qing Province’s governor?”

“Big Senior Sister, you know about it too?”

“Of course. After all, that governor was our sect founder.”

Lu Yang, “...”

Meng Jingzhou, “...”

For some reason, the two were not surprised.

It does match the Dao-Seeking Sect’s style—perfectly logical yet utterly absurd.

“Keep the matter of the Qing Province’s governor to yourselves. Spreading it would tarnish the Dao-Seeking Sect’s reputation.” As the de facto leader of the Dao-Seeking Sect, she valued the sect’s prestige and reputation.

Though she had no idea how the outside world perceived the Dao-Seeking Sect.

Meng Jingzhou asked with curiosity, “Big Senior Sister, what became of that governor in the end?”

“Later, he developed Qing Province methodically. The Qing Province Grand Ceremony was his brainchild. It attracted numerous talented cultivators, achieving remarkable results, which drew other provincial governors to emulate. Under his administration, the Qing Province flourished. After attaining fame and success, he retired and returned to the sect.”

Lu Yang realized an issue. “Hold on, members of the Five Great Immortal Sects can serve as officials in the imperial court?” He had assumed that the Great Xia Dynasty would bar members of the Five Great Immortal Sects from holding office out of fear and suspicion stemming from the sects’ high statuses.

“Of course, they can.”

Meng Jingzhou began to enumerate a few examples. “The court is hungry for talents and sages. And where better to find them than the Five Great Immortal Sects? They even offered the abbot of the Hanging Monastery the position of prime minister! But he simply declined it.

“And the sect leader of the Prison Suppression Sect was also invited, but he turned it down.

“For promising young talents like you and me, the court would welcome us as officials. However, unlike the abbot of the Hanging Monastery, we have to pass the imperial examination.”

Yun Zhi reminded, “Lu Yang, you’re ineligible for the imperial examination or any official post.”

Lu Yang was flabbergasted. “Why?” I have no plans of becoming an official, but I can’t possibly not even have an opportunity to do so, right?

“It’s because of our shifu.”

Realization dawned upon Lu Yang. With his intelligence, he figured it out immediately. Twenty thousand years ago, the Dao-Seeking Sect was still not the leader of the Five Great Immortal Sects. However, the sect is no longer the same as it was. It is now the undisputed number one immortal sect.

The imperial court is worried about the Dao-Seeking Sect becoming the sole dominant power, so they dare not let the sect’s disciples, or perhaps, direct disciples of the sect leader like me, become officials. This would avoid the collusion between the sect and society, thereby threatening the stability of the Great Xia Dynasty’s ruling position.

Yun Zhi continued, “Our shifu has committed multiple offenses. His disciples and our grand-shifu are forbidden from holding any official positions.”

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