Chapter 144: Borrowing Your Scriptures for a Moment

The World of Cultivation.
Eastern Continent.

As the largest territory in the realm of cultivation, the Eastern Continent alone housed three ancient sects!

Just how vast was the Eastern Continent?
Many cultivators at the Nascent Soul level would spend their entire lives active in only a tiny corner of it.
While it could not compare to the Nine Passes world, where distances were measured in light-years, the Eastern Continent was nevertheless immensely massive compared to that small planet, Earth.

Magnificent mountains rose with divine grace, and deep abysses stretched out endlessly. Giant mountain ranges lay across the land like sleeping dragons. Between the peaks, vast lakes surged with rolling waves, while numerous inland seas were scattered like stars, embedded like precious jewels upon the earth of the Eastern Continent.

The three ancient sects of the Eastern Continent were Tongtian, Bodhi, and Myriad Swords.

Among them, the Tongtian Ancient Sect was said to originate from the distant Mythological Era, and the background of its founding patriarch was astonishingly formidable. Rumor had it that he had once listened to the lectures sitting before the Master of Tongtian.

At the end of the Mythological Era, the leader of the Tongtian Ancient Sect founded the Tongtian Gate.
Through the passage of long ages, it gradually evolved from a gate into a faction, from a faction into a sect, and finally grew into a colossal ancient sect!

The Tongtian Ancient Sect inherited the legendary Master of Tongtian's philosophy of teaching without discrimination. Within the sect, there were humans, demons, and even some demonic cultivators possessing the bloodline of the Demon race!
As long as one's natural talent was sufficient, all comers were accepted.

The contemporary sect master was the thirty-sixth-generation descendant of the founding patriarch.
Among the sect's living-fossil-level elders, it was said that there were still disciples from the twentieth-plus generation alive.

Time is ruthless, and years fly like arrows. Even powerful cultivators whom mortals regarded as immortals would eventually reach the end of their lifespans.
Even mighty cultivators at the Divine Separation level, who could live out a second lifetime, rarely exceeded a lifespan of twenty thousand years.
To the boundless universe, where time is measured in hundreds of millions of years, a few millennia were simply too fleeting.

Mortals wish to become immortals, immortals seek longevity, and those with longevity yearn for eternity.
Yet, even those legendary celestial gods, Buddhas, and peerless grand demons would ultimately have to face the day of the world-destroying tribulation.

Therefore, the doctrine of the Tongtian Ancient Sect was to teach without discrimination and to enjoy life while it lasted.
In terms of its atmosphere, it was perhaps the most open-minded ancient sect in the entire cultivation world.
It could truly be called a rare anomaly in the realm of cultivation.
It was not a demonic sect, but its disciples varied greatly in quality, and their behavioral style was neither strictly righteous nor entirely evil.
In the Tongtian Ancient Sect, no one would find anything strange, no matter what happened.

The second ancient sect of the Eastern Continent... the Bodhi Ancient Sect, likewise traced its heritage back to the distant ancient era of immortals and Buddhas.
It was also the largest Buddhist cultivation ancient sect in the entire realm of cultivation.
Its disciples all studied Buddhist teachings in depth, yet the paths they walked were entirely different.
Mahayana and Hinayana, Joyful Zen, ascetic monks, silent Zen, Vajra Bodhisattvas, and Arhats... this ancient sect had everything!

Generally speaking, the Bodhi Ancient Sect was a relatively low-key, colossal force that rarely courted trouble.
The Bodhi Ancient Sect's Scripture of Delivering Souls could be considered one of the supreme scriptures among all Buddhist texts!

In contrast, the third ancient sect of the Eastern Continent... the Myriad Swords Ancient Sect, appeared very young.
Its founding time was the shortest, numbering less than ninety thousand years ago.
The founding ancestor was a terrifying sword cultivator who, in his youth, had swept across all contemporary masters in the entire cultivation world with a single sword in hand.
It was said he had never suffered a defeat!
In just a few decades, he forged an illustrious reputation.
He was hailed as invincible!
Later, he founded the Myriad Swords Sect, and in merely ten thousand years, it ascended to the rank of a new ancient sect.
By now, it boasted a million disciples!
It firmly anchored itself in this pure land of cultivation in the Eastern Continent, forming a tripartite balance of power alongside the Tongtian and Bodhi ancient sects.

Most of the disciples within the sect were hot-blooded and quick-tempered, each acting like a walking sharp edge. They frequently had friction with the Tongtian Ancient Sect, though large-scale conflicts were rare.

Aside from these three ancient sects, the Eastern Continent also possessed hundreds of sects and tens of thousands of schools!
Countless rogue cultivators wandered the land as well!
This was also the most favored region for cultivators from Earth after their ascension.
Especially the Demon race; if they could ascend here, they would feel immensely fortunate in their hearts, because in the Eastern Continent, their chances of survival were much greater than anywhere else.
They even had the opportunity to join the Tongtian Ancient Sect.
Of course, that required exceptional talent; ordinary ascended demons had virtually no possibility of doing so.

The Master, accompanied by his wife, walked among the green hills and clear waters of the Eastern Continent.
The Master wore a cyan long robe, keeping his medium-short hair from the mortal world, and looked scholarly and refined.
His young and stunning wife wore a flowing crimson dress, fluttering as though an immortal had descended to the mortal realm, accompanying him by his side.

Both of them radiated a special divine charm. Unlike other cultivators of extraordinary bearing, they belonged to a higher tier entirely.
Walking together, they looked precisely like a pair of celestial companions.
Anyone who saw them could not help stealing a few extra glances.

Their destination for this trip was none other than the Tongtian Ancient Sect, one of the three ancient sects of the Eastern Continent.

The Master and his wife had ascended for some time now. They had not entered the Nine Passes world, choosing instead to temporarily enter the cultivation world, intending to continue improving their strength here.
Although the cultivation resources of this realm were inferior to those of the Nine Passes world, its ceiling was high, and in every aspect, it was infinitely better than Earth.
Coupled with the heavy loss he had suffered years ago, the Master had no wish to repeat past mistakes.

It was difficult to conceal the news of him breaking the seal and ascending from the Three Pines Ancient Sect, but that great figure of yesteryear had once made a proclamation—Land Saint Fu was banished from the Nine Passes world, never to re-enter for the rest of his life!
To a magnate of that caliber, simply driving Land Saint Fu out of the highest-tier cultivation grounds was more than sufficient.
Leaving the finest cultivation soil behind, one would quickly be surpassed by countless contemporaries and even brilliant juniors.
The secular mortal realm lacked cultivation resources, and its boundary ceiling was horrifyingly low.
No matter how talented one was, it was difficult to achieve great things in the mortal world.

Therefore, not killing the Master was neither out of mercy nor related to magnanimity, but simply because the justification was insufficient!
Mere banishment had already caused the Three Pines Ancient Sect to bear endless infamy. While magnates could indeed act without caring about the reactions of others, they still preferred not to see public opinion boiling and the masses outraged.
When it had not reached that ultimate degree, they still had to consider their own pride and reputation.

To a true top-tier genius like Land Saint Fu, being sealed and driven back to his old home on Earth was actually far more agonizing than being killed.
As for whether he might break the seal, the person who had sealed the Master perhaps cared slightly, but not deeply.

Firstly, to break a seal personally set by a supreme existence, one either needed someone of the same realm to intervene, or... to obtain a legendary treasure.
If it were the former, it would mean a peerless grand master of the same rank had stepped into the fray to openly oppose them!
In that case, lowering their gaze to deal with a younger generation like the Master would feel somewhat beneath their dignity.
Whoever undid his seal could simply be dealt with in a proper duel.
If it were the latter, it meant that the person still possessed immensely powerful destiny and fortune!
They could either let it go with a light laugh, letting bygones be dust in the wind, which would further showcase the magnanimity of a grand master; or they could move silently, finding an opportunity to kill with a single strike, severing his fortune and seizing his treasure!

Therefore, whether the Master broke the seal or not was important to the one who sealed him, yet not all that important.

Having undergone years of sedimentation, how could the Master not understand this logic?
Thus, after his ascension, he never once thought of returning to the Nine Passes world in the short term.
He and his wife searched for cultivation resources, striving to recover the decades of time they had lost, while all the while secretly keeping an eye on Song Yue, who remained in the mortal world.

To be honest, they hadn't even paid this much attention to their own daughter.
Therefore, virtually every move Song Yue made in the mortal world was known to the Master and his wife.

Back then, it was the Master who had someone issue a warning to the Higgins family on the Star of God.
At that time, the Master did not yet know that Song Yue's realm was improving at such a rapid pace, and he was somewhat worried that the boy might come to harm, so he quite decisively had the Higgins family warned.
Frightened out of their wits, the Higgins family hurriedly rushed to Earth with utmost sincerity and carried out those remedial measures.

Afterward, his wife even teased the Master: "Judging by Little Yueyue's cultivation speed, let alone a single Higgins family, even surpassing you as his master is just around the corner. Look at how panicked you made yourself."
Faced with his wife's teasing, the Master was completely calm: "The blue comes from the indigo and is superior to it; isn't that how it should be?"

It was also from that moment onward that the Master began to keep another matter in mind for Song Yue—the Five Elements Equilibrium!

Speaking of this, the Master had originally thought Song Yue wouldn't reach this step so quickly. Moreover, his departure back then had been somewhat hasty; under the might of heaven, let alone him, even the avatar of a supreme magnate would have been unable to resist!
To obscure the heavenly secrets and evade the laws of heaven, one had to prepare from the very beginning.
Once discovered, trying to pull strings was equivalent to cheating right under the invigilator's eyelids—it was simply making things hard for oneself.

Now that they had entered the cultivation realm, they still needed to guard against potential people from the Three Pines Ancient Sect during this recent period. Therefore, the Master and his wife had maintained a low profile and drifted constantly, never lingering long in any single place.
Even so, everything concerning Song Yue was weighed heavily on the Master's mind.

Regarding the Five Elements Balanced Physique, the Master had known of it long ago, but he had never expected that the child by his side would be connected to it.
Previously, the Master shared the same view as those who compiled and annotated the encyclopedia of the cultivation world: they believed that such a special "physique" as the Five Elements Equilibrium only existed in theory, and that no such person truly existed in reality.

Just as there are no two identical leaves in the world, how could the five elements be completely balanced?
The human body forms a microcosm in its own right, containing the spiritual essence of the five elements—this was something every cultivator understood.
The greater the sect and ancient sect, the more they valued the five-element spiritual roots, which had practically become their sole standard for recruiting disciples.
For instance, a person born with a fire-attribute spiritual root in the five elements would naturally find it much easier to cultivate fire-type techniques.
Much like mages in another cultivation system, it emphasized the degree of affinity with various elements.
This degree of affinity actually referred to the strength of one's five-element spiritual roots.
The stronger the spiritual roots, the higher the comprehension.
The same applied to all five attributes.

The vast majority of cultivators were typically proficient in only one of them.
A small number of proud prodigies would possess two or even three relatively strong five-element spiritual roots, allowing them to cultivate spells across two or three different attribute domains to extremely high realms.
Such geniuses were already as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns among cultivators; looking across the major ancient sects, they were undoubtedly inner core disciples.

Yet, there were even more formidable ones!
Those whose five-element spiritual roots within the bodily microcosm were all supremely powerful!
Such individuals were true peerless prodigies!
The holy sons and holy daughters of ancient sects were frequently of this sort.
They could simultaneously cultivate divine spells and techniques of all five elements while attaining extremely high accomplishments in all of them, easily crushing their contemporaries.

The Master was precisely such a person.
And what he excelled in went far beyond just the five elements!
Alchemy, artifact crafting, arrays, talismans, feng shui, martial arts... it seemed there was no cultivation method in this world that he did not understand.
Even certain sorceries, demonic arts, and Buddhist teachings... he possessed quite remarkable attainments in them all.
One could say that someone like him was already a peerless genius seen once in a hundred million people.

A person like the Master had no need for arrogance.
Because the vast majority of cultivators in this world found it difficult to even raise their heads in his presence.
No matter how proud a person was, upon meeting someone like the Master, they could only smile bitterly and concede defeat.

When the Master first encountered Song Yue years ago, he initially only sensed a strange strand of primordial Qi within Song Yue's body.
Because he was sealed and unable to use many of his methods, it was only after consulting a vast number of ancient texts and analyzing Song Yue's various manifestations that he finally concluded it should be the legendary Qi of Thundering Gales.

Regarding the origin of the Qi of Thundering Gales, there were also numerous theories.
In the Master's view, the one closest to the truth was the description: "Born of chaos, the beginning of thunder, the peak of all paths, formless and traceless."
Another theory was rather absurd, claiming that the Qi of Thundering Gales was "an aggressive energy transcending the universe, created by concentrating the power of the gods," and that its possessor could use this foundation to achieve a Great Success Saint Body and forge an indestructible physique!

Were the gods so idle?
Why create such an energy?
The Master did not believe this theory.
He was more inclined to believe that the Qi of Thundering Gales within Song Yue's body was a powerful stroke of fortune bestowed by the Heavenly Dao laws!
People possessing this kind of fortune had existed since antiquity.
He himself was one of them.

Therefore, the very first thing the Master confirmed was that a formidable innate energy was concealed within Song Yue's body.
Once activated, his realm would advance by leaps and bounds, unstoppable by anyone.

However, the five-element spiritual roots... were a different story altogether.
The Hangzhou Cultivation Academy had refused to admit Song Yue back then precisely because, in their eyes, Song Yue was completely devoid of five-element spiritual roots!
A living, breathing blank slate!
What is a mortal of mediocre stock?
That was a typical mortal of mediocre stock!
Why would anyone recruit such a person—to manage the water cooler?
To cultivate, regardless of which five-element spiritual root it was, one had to possess at least a tiny shred of it!
Cultivation was not something that could succeed merely by studying hard and striving upward every day.
A person with talent, once enlightened, could advance by leaps and bounds overnight; a person without talent, no matter how hard they exhausted their life, would struggle to achieve any results.
To live a mediocre life and only sigh over wasted time when one's hair turned white... what meaning would that have?
So the academy rejecting Song Yue was, in truth, entirely justifiable.

Suspecting that there was an issue with Song Yue's five-element spiritual roots began in the past few years, and completely confirming that Song Yue was a Five Elements Equilibrium individual actually happened not long before.
Prior to that, the Master had always nurtured Song Yue as a martial arts genius.
He taught Song Yue various forms of knowledge so that before the boy activated the Qi of Thundering Gales and soared into the sky, he would first become someone with thought, culture, and the ability to stay calm at critical moments!
Rather than a reckless martial artist filled only with hot blood, charging forward foolishly at every turn and refusing to turn back until he crashed into a southern wall.

Gradually, as Song Yue grew, the Master first discovered that Song Yue's five-element spiritual roots were not entirely absent, but rather trapped in a very wondrous state of "fake death"!
During Song Yue's early childhood and youth, no matter how one looked at it, he was completely devoid of five-element spiritual roots.
When looking again in recent years, it was entirely different.
The Master felt that the five-element spiritual roots in Song Yue's body were more like a slumber falling into fake death!

Yet, following the activation of the Qi of Thundering Gales, Song Yue first rapidly comprehended the Thunder Fist, which was completely different from Miao Qiang's.
Then, he mastered the essence of the Star-Splitting Hand.
By this point, the Master could already be certain that Song Yue's five-element spiritual roots were definitely not a blank slate!
How could a blank slate comprehend the power of thunder?

The final confirmation came after the Master undid his seal using the Five-Colored Back-Flags, causing his realm to rapidly recover, giving him a "discernment" far surpassing the years he spent sealed.
He finally saw clearly what was happening inside Song Yue's body.
At that exact moment, the Master was also profoundly shocked!

Under his spiritual heavenly vision, he discovered that Song Yue not only possessed five-element spiritual roots, but they were remarkably powerful!
In other words, if Song Yue had walked the path of cultivation from childhood, his achievements today might not have been inferior to his own back then!

The reason he had previously appeared entirely devoid of five-element spiritual roots was because a massive amount of the Qi of Thundering Gales had completely and thoroughly sealed those five-element spiritual essences!
Just as that supreme existence of the Three Pines Ancient Sect had sealed him!
Only, that had been artificial, while Song Yue's... was the will of heaven!

This discovery left the Master deeply shaken.
He couldn't figure out why this was, but after careful observation, looking again and again, he finally made an even more shocking discovery that left him speechless.

Within his powerful perception, the five-element elements inside Song Yue's body... actually maintained an astonishingly uniform balance!
Could this miraculous disciple of mine truly be a Five Elements Equilibrium individual?

Coupled with Song Yue's experiences over the past year, the Master fell silent.
From the moment he activated the Qi of Thundering Gales, Song Yue had acted as though cheats were enabled; the speed at which his realm improved was fast enough to make even the Master's heart skip a beat.
Even more terrifying was that Song Yue walked the path of martial arts!
If he did not make a move, no one could probe what his true realm actually was!
This was far too terrifying!

The Master could even imagine that one day, when Song Yue left the mortal world and stepped into the cultivation realm and the Nine Passes world, how many people would suffer devastating losses simply by underestimating him!

These things were already astonishing enough, but what was even more staggering was Song Yue's fortune!
A "heterodox" stone tablet like the Yuxu Tongtian Monument, which had never appeared on any battlefield.
A bronze sacred tree that existed only in legends, whose specific usage even he could not fully figure out!
The Five-Colored Back-Flags that had undone his seal!
The Heavenly Venerate's Spiritual Art!
A lecture by a Heavenly Venerate.
The True Monarch's Physical Body Art!
The Dao-preaching of a True Monarch!

These miraculous experiences, one after another, even made the Master wonder if this kid Song Yue was the reincarnation of some ancient deity?
Otherwise, how could he possibly deserve all this?

It was also from that time onward that the Master thoroughly engraved this matter upon his heart.
After entering the cultivation realm, though he and his wife drifted constantly, they had been searching everywhere for supreme scriptures.
He wanted to prepare five supreme scriptures before Song Yue entered the cultivation realm, wishing to see just how far the legendary Five Elements Equilibrium individual could go!

On his own person, he possessed only a single Confucian supreme scripture, named *Words of the Saints*.
Many years ago, he had heard that the Tongtian Ancient Sect possessed a Daoist supreme scripture called *The Scripture of Dao*.
Back in the Nine Passes world, he had once seen a holy son of the Tongtian Ancient Sect who had cultivated one-tenth of *The Scripture of Dao*, possessing immensely formidable battle prowess and summoning all kinds of divine arts at will.

The learning of the Master back then was already vast enough, and he had mastered countless top-tier Daoist peerless techniques; though curious about *The Scripture of Dao*, he hadn't desired it all that intensely.
Now, for the sake of his disciple, he wanted to try and see if he could borrow *The Scripture of Dao* from the Tongtian Ancient Sect.
Preferably the kind that didn't need to be returned.

The two arrived before the huge, towering mountain gates of the Tongtian Ancient Sect, submitted their calling cards, and attached a token of trust.
The person they requested to see was none other than Lan Jiuyou, the holy son of the Tongtian Ancient Sect whom the Master had once met in the Nine Passes world.

Although the disciples guarding the mountain gate did not recognize the Master and his wife, seeing their transcendent bearings, they did not dare to be negligent. Stating that the two of them should wait there for a moment, a disciple hurried back inside to report.

The wife gazed at the mountain gate of the Tongtian Ancient Sect and smiled. "This mountain gate is quite extraordinary!"
The Master nodded. "It conceals profound mysteries and wondrous techniques!"

On the surface, this mountain gate was about a hundred meters high, integrated with the gatehouse as though carved entirely from a single giant boulder.
On the gate pillars on either side, a stone dragon coiled respectively, scales and claws distinct, horns sharp and majestic.
On the massive stone surface of the gatehouse, the two characters "Tongtian" were carved in ancient divine script; anyone with even a sliver of cultivation could derive different insights from those two characters.
On the eaves of the gatehouse stood various rare birds and divine beasts of the ancient era, nine on each side, each with a different appearance, radiating ancient Daoist essence.

And this... was merely the surface.
If one opened the spiritual eyes to look, this stone gate resembled the gates of a heavenly palace, ten thousand zhang high, radiating a terrifying pressure.
The two stone dragons coiled around the pillars of heaven, resembling ancient divine beasts that could spring to life at any moment. If one stared directly at the dragon heads, a terrifying dragon roar capable of shattering the spiritual sea of consciousness would even echo in one's ears!
The two characters "Tongtian" on the gatehouse could likewise transform into two peerless, razor-sharp sword auras at any moment, executing all external enemies!
The rare birds and divine beasts on the eaves on both sides also carried heavy pressure, looking as though they could spring back to life at any second.

This was the foundation of an ancient sect passed down through endless ages.
Even a peerless prodigy dominating the world like the Master would feel a sense of reverence when facing such an ancient sect.

Before long, a figure drifted over from afar.
From afar, a hearty laugh rang out: "Daoist Lu, after all these years apart, your grace and style remain unchanged!"

A smile appeared on the Master's face. "Daoist Jiuyou has also ascended to a higher level, hasn't he? Have you shed your shell yet?"

Subsequently, a young Daoist wearing a blue long robe and a hair bun appeared before the Master. Seeing the Master's wife by his side, he smiled slightly. "Jiuyou greets Lady Huang."
The wife smiled faintly. "Daoist Jiuyou is too polite."

Lan Jiuyou looked at the Master and smiled with unconstrained ease. "Shed it I have, but not entirely. To speak of it is disheartening; a few crucial supreme herbs remain firmly controlled by those people... You understand, for people like us to completely cast off our shackles is simply too difficult!"

For a dignified holy son of an ancient sect in the cultivation world to sigh that it was "too difficult"—if ordinary cultivators, especially those rogue cultivators without a background, were to witness this scene, they would probably want to die on the spot.
Yet, in truth, Lan Jiuyou was not speaking falsely. After reaching a certain realm, cultivators with exceptional talent found every step forward excruciatingly difficult.
Relying on top-tier supreme herbs to elevate oneself was practically the universal choice of everyone.

Things were slightly better in the cultivation world; given the foundation of the Tongtian Ancient Sect, whatever supreme herbs existed in this realm could eventually be acquired.
However, for supreme herbs that did not exist in the cultivation realm and could only be obtained in the Nine Passes world... that was simply too difficult!
Any supreme herb that could be found had already been firmly grasped in the hands of those giant figures of supreme existence since endless ages ago.
Controlling those supreme herbs meant controlling the upward path of all rising stars and young peerless prodigies!

Want to refine pills with supreme herbs?
Certainly!
Enter my mountain gate, take me as your supreme sovereign.
Simple?
It seemed quite simple.
It was merely a choice.
Yet where in this world was there a free lunch?
Once stepping onto this path, a peerless prodigy who might one day become a saint or an ancestor would essentially reach their limit right there.
There would no longer be any invincible intent in their heart, and dark clouds would forever shroud their head.

Back then, the Master had been brilliantly talented and unwilling to walk this path, unwilling to live under the breath of others.
Thus, he had chosen to join rather than submit to the Three Pines Ancient Sect, and the ultimate consequence had been—his realm sealed, banished beyond the passes!

If the Master were given another chance to make a choice, he still would not choose to submit.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Lan Jiuyou looked at the Master and said, "Decades of time have passed like a white horse galloping past a crevasse. Congratulations to Daoist Lu for transforming from a trapped dragon into the heavens and regaining your freedom!"

The Master smiled faintly. "It was merely good fortune."

Lan Jiuyou did not delve deeper. How could breaking the seal of a supreme magnate in the mortal world ever be described simply as good fortune?
He looked at the Master and said, "Daoist Lu's sudden visit must be for some important matter. Come, come, please enter; let's go to my dwelling, drink tea, and chat in detail!"

"Very well!" The Master agreed with a nod.

Lan Jiuyou led the Master and his wife through the mountain gate, produced a palm-sized, archaic little boat, and tossed it into the sky. The boat instantly expanded, and he leaped aboard.
The Master and his wife also flew onto the boat.

Steering the craft, Lan Jiuyou said, "Coming early is not as good as coming at the right time. I happen to be on rotation duty recently and can return to the sect to rest for a while. Someone just delivered the newest Enlightenment Tea of this year—truly, there is a destiny ordained in the dark!"

The Master smiled as well, thinking to himself that since the matter concerned his disciple, even if there hadn't been an ordained destiny, there would be one now.

Arriving at Lan Jiuyou's dwelling, he dismissed his Daoist boy, personally brewed and infused the tea, and served it to the Master and his wife before smiling and saying, "Back then, I held deep admiration and appreciation for Daoist Lu. Now that you have broken free and come to visit, speak freely of whatever matter you have. As long as Jiuyou can help, I will certainly not decline!"

The Master took a gentle sip of the tea, looked at Lan Jiuyou—who had also picked up his teacup—and said, "I wish to borrow *The Scripture of Dao* for a use."

Magnates at the shell-shedding level possessed exceptionally powerful self-control.
Thus, Lan Jiuyou did not spit out a mouthful of tea.
He drank a mouthful very steadily, though he still choked slightly, neutralizing it by employing a powerful cultivation technique.
Without changing his expression, he looked up at the Master: "Borrow?"

The Master nodded, looking at Lan Jiuyou with utmost sincerity: "Yes, because I don't know if I can return it."

Lan Jiuyou: "..."

If it were anyone else, his reaction right now would probably consist of four words—Walk slowly and don't see you off!
How could anyone be so shameless?
Running into someone else's ancient sect, claiming they wanted to borrow the sect's founding treasure, and not even knowing if they could return it?

If not for his sufficient self-cultivation, coupled with the fact that the visitor was truly extraordinary and belonged to his idols of the past, Lan Jiuyou really would have found it hard to resist flipping the table.

The Master looked at Lan Jiuyou and asked, "Have you ever heard of the Five Elements Balanced Physique?"

Lan Jiuyou froze for a moment, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly. He suddenly felt that entertaining this former idol with such warm hospitality today had been a mistaken choice.
He felt as though Land Saint Fu had been sealed for so many years... that his brain had gone broken!
Even if you had found a slightly better reason, I could have considered whether to take out a partial handwritten copy for you to comprehend... The original version was impossible to take out; that was the founding treasure of the Tongtian Ancient Sect!
Never mind that he was currently only the highest-voted candidate for the next sect master; even if he, a forty-generation disciple, truly became the sect master, it would still be utterly impossible to casually bring it out for display.
Yet this brother of his was fine—he actually fobbed him off with such an absurd reason.

Maintaining an unchanging expression, Lan Jiuyou looked at the Master and said, "Daoist Lu, don't tell me you've found someone like that."

The Master smiled. "Precisely!"

Lan Jiuyou grew somewhat unsettled—not because he was shocked, but because he felt that the man before him, though maintaining his grace and bearing, had clearly gone mad after decades of hardship!
Could decades of being sealed really be... that severe for a grand master?
He deeply doubted it.

Looking at the Master, who spoke with a completely serious expression, Lan Jiuyou replied, "For this matter, please forgive me for being powerless."

The Master let out a soft sigh. "Is there not even a sliver of a chance?"

Lan Jiuyou shook his head, saying earnestly, "Daoist Lu, please do not make such jokes anymore. If you came exclusively for this matter, then I truly am powerless. Considering our past friendship, I can make the executive decision to gift Daoist Lu a Divine Separation supreme herb!"

A Divine Separation supreme herb was naturally a fine item, and the Master lacked one too.
The problem was that he only wanted *The Scripture of Dao*!

Thus, he looked at Lan Jiuyou with a smile and asked, "Might you introduce me to Sect Master Mo?"

Lan Jiuyou finally couldn't help furrowing his brow slightly. He looked at the Master and said, "The Sect Master has been in closed-door seclusion for many years, currently striving for perfection. Let alone me, even the Supreme Elders are unwilling to disturb him."

The Master sighed, retrieved an item from his person, and said, "Using this, it should probably work."

Lan Jiuyou's eyes widened abruptly, and he looked at the Master in sheer terror: "How is this thing in your hands?!"