Old Master, Times Have Changed - Chapter 709 (Patreon)

Chapter 709: Bring the Alliance of Righteousness Along to Play

Not long after, Xu Xing left the Free Trade Zone with Yuan and returned to the Sword Ancestor Hall.

Although Yuan had used a few excuses earlier to justify staying in the Sword Sect, that did not mean those “excuses” were fake.

He really was preparing to try letting his “spirit” return to his “body,” so he could recover further.

“Honestly, with your current condition, you could rest for a while before attempting body-spirit unification. You could have them split off an avatar to accompany them back instead.”

In front of the Sword Ancestor Hall, Xu Xing said this.

Yuan’s “spirit” had not yet recovered to its most suitable state. Trying body-spirit unification now carried a certain chance of failure.

“I’m just trying it. Even if it fails, it won’t waste much time,” Yuan explained.

As for splitting an avatar to accompany Mingyu and Wanzhu...

That raised a problem.

Who would the main body stay with, and who would the avatar stay with?

He was not about to create a brand-new headache for himself for no reason.

And if he had avatars accompany both sides back...

How would that be any different from the current situation?

“When you have time, I’ll take you to meet Lord Hong,” Xu Xing suddenly said.

Huh?

What did that mean?

Wait, no!

Rumor had it that the True Immortal Patriarch Lord Hong had many dao companions. In Yuan’s impression, he was a True Immortal with a very “Yellow Emperor” kind of vibe...

Realizing what Xu Xing was implying, Yuan was a bit speechless.

Just among the people he knew who were entangled with that fellow countryman, there were Senior Daoist Yuanjun, Wanzhu’s master, and Sword Sovereign.

And the fellow countryman still had the nerve to talk about him?

Also...

“Forget it. I think I once offended Lord Hong.”

“Oh?”

Yuan offended Lord Hong?

Xu Xing had never heard him mention that.

“How so?”

“It’s nothing much...” Yuan paused, then added, “It’s even kind of melodramatic.”

“Tell me the details. I’ll see if I can talk to him.”

Lord Hong was a bit dark-minded, sure, but his personality was usually pretty easygoing. In theory, it should not be a big deal.

And “melodramatic”...

Honestly, Xu Xing was curious.

“...”

Yuan thought it over and still said it.

After so many years, he did not care as much anymore, but if it could be resolved, that was best.

“You know, not long after I arrived in the Tai Xuan Realm, I met Wanzhu...”

Ning Wanzhu lost both parents shortly after she was born.

Fortunately, Lingyin Pavilion took her in. Through her own efforts, she suppressed her peers within Lingyin Pavilion and was ultimately accepted as a disciple by Ning Ruo.

As a direct disciple of a True Immortal, she achieved the Integration realm at a young age. She had once been a famed “fairy,” with countless admirers.

Among those admirers was someone with an enormous background: Lord Hong’s son, Hong Sheng.

At first, Hong Sheng did not take Yuan seriously.

After all, when Yuan transmigrated to the Tai Xuan Realm, he was already in his twenties and not even a Qi Condensation cultivator.

Meanwhile, Hong Sheng was already at late-stage Void Return, a top-tier genius of the era among the Seven Immortal Sects, just a step below Ning Wanzhu.

But later, after Yuan began cultivating, he gradually revealed his exaggerated talent. Through a series of experiences, his feelings with Ning Wanzhu also grew deeper and deeper.

Hong Sheng finally began to take Yuan seriously.

During the period when Yuan joined Listening to the Rain Pavilion, Hong Sheng came to find him.

Of course, Hong Sheng did not make a move. He only said Yuan was not worthy of Ning Wanzhu, and he proposed an agreement: when Yuan reached peak Void Return, they would have a match.

Yuan refused outright and tossed back a couple of casual retorts that nearly made Hong Sheng’s mentality collapse.

After that, they ran into each other a few more times.

Hong Sheng went from disdaining to act, to Yuan being able to exchange two moves with him, to the two being evenly matched.

To be honest, if it started as jealousy over Ning Wanzhu, later it became pure competitiveness.

In the end, Yuan became the youngest Integration cultivator in the Tai Xuan Realm across all ages.

At that time, Hong Sheng, still stuck at peak Void Return, came to challenge Yuan in unwillingness. He was severely injured by a casual finger flick, and Lord Hong personally came out to take him away.

“Back then I also said a little, umm... something not very nice. That guy seemed to get mad. When Lord Hong took him away, he looked like he was still coughing blood.”

In Yuan’s eyes, that whole experience was extremely melodramatic.

“So it was that kid, Hong Sheng.” Xu Xing laughed.

He had seen Hong Sheng a few times. The kid was proud, but also a bit impetuous.

The type of brainless second-generation heir who looked at people down his nose all day.

That said, his nature was not bad.

Otherwise, after Yuan’s two or three lines made him nearly break down, he would not have chosen to swallow his anger and leave.

“Don’t worry. Lord Hong won’t get angry over something that small.”

Huh?

In front of the father, you beat his son into that state and even made him cough blood.

And that counted as “small”?

“Between peers... no, you can’t even be considered the same generation as him!”

Yuan’s experiences were so legendary that many people compared him to the older generation of Soul Transformation and Integration experts.

“You beat him fair and square. You didn’t use any tricks, and Hong Sheng was the one who provoked you first.”

Lord Hong was not that petty.

“What about later? Did Hong Sheng ever come looking for you again?”

“He did, once. He said he was going into seclusion, and after he succeeded at Integration, he’d come and have a proper showdown with me...”

Unfortunately, all the way until Yuan advanced into the Integration realm, and even until he reached Soul Transformation, there was still no news of Hong Sheng leaving seclusion.

Integration was just like that.

Some people wasted thousands of years and still could not break through, while others achieved it in a single thought.

“No rush. If he comes out and still refuses to accept it, just beat him up again.”

“...”

As they spoke, the two entered the Sword Ancestor Hall and arrived at the room where Yuan’s Soul Transformation body was kept.

The room was brightly lit. Looking around, there were no extra decorations at all.

A flat stone platform stood in the center of the room, and what lay atop it was Yuan’s “body.”

His complexion was still deathly pale, his aura faint, but at least there was a trace of vitality now. He was slowly recovering overall, no longer in that damaged, leaking, constantly worsening state.

“Your ‘spirit’ has recovered a lot, but compared to your ‘body,’ there’s still a gap,” Xu Xing said heavily. “Even if you succeed at body-spirit unification, your movements afterward will be very inconvenient.”

Yuan nodded.

“Understood.”

He did not hesitate. His entire being turned into a streak of light and plunged into the space between the “body’s” brows.

Hummm.

A thin layer of spiritual glow suddenly lit up across the previously motionless “body.”

The “body,” which had carried only a faint aura, now gained a sense of “harmony” and “wholeness.”

A ring of visible distortion spread outward.

It was the spatial tide spontaneously generated by the Dao Yuan comprehended after body-spirit unification.

If this were elsewhere on the Central Continent, that spatial tide could even spread across an entire province.

If it were out in the starry sky, that single spatial tide could even sweep across an entire galaxy cluster.

And if it were in the Chaos Sea, it would be even more outrageous.

A Soul Transformation cultivator’s Dao-triggered spatial tide was enough to shake the myriad worlds.

Of course, under the special rule suppression of the Sword Ancestor Hall, it only formed a negligible ripple around Yuan’s body before rapidly dispersing into nothingness.

Soon, the various phenomena vanished. As the glow dimmed, the “harmony” and “wholeness” emanating from the “body” also disappeared.

Hah.

A faint exhale sounded.

Yuan’s eyelids trembled. After a while, he finally opened his eyes.

First his fingers, then his forearms, then his whole arms.

Like a patient who had lain in bed for a long time and just awakened, every joint seemed stiffened. Even the smallest movement looked incomparably difficult.

After a good while, Yuan finally managed to rise from the stone platform.

Once he was sitting a bit straighter, he let out a soft breath and frowned.

“As expected, it feels really awkward.”

He felt like an ordinary person recovering from a serious illness, forced to wear a suit of heavy armor.

And every thought needed a delay before it could be relayed to the body and produce the corresponding movement.

“Successfully doing it on the first try is already quite good.”

Xu Xing observed his condition for a moment, then flicked a finger.

Hummm.

A strand of invisible sharpness shot out and stopped in front of Yuan.

“This sword qi can help you control your body more easily. But you’ve relied on external things too many times lately. Whether you use it is up to you.”

With that, Xu Xing lowered his hand.

“If you don’t use it now, keep it. In the future, if you run into existences beyond the Soul Transformation level, you won’t be completely helpless.”

“Next, adjust yourself.”

“I’ll come check on you later.”

Xu Xing turned and left, leaving Yuan alone sitting on the stone platform.

Feeling the invisible edge in front of him radiating a chilling aura, Yuan’s expression was complicated.

The legendary “True Immortal Who Hands Out Gifts”...

Truly lived up to the name.

It was a pity that when Yuan first arrived in the Tai Xuan Realm, that fellow countryman happened to be in seclusion.

Otherwise, if he had latched onto his thigh back then, Yuan would not have had to be so on edge in the beginning.

…

On the other side, Xu Xing arrived at the storage location of the Ascension Web core.

Beep beep beep!

A notification sounded.

When he opened it, it was a message from the Core Members’ Retirement Chat Group.

Overlord: “Yuan has been brought back. Dao brother, what are your next arrangements? @Sword Ancestor”

Pill Patriarch: “If I’m not mistaken, dao brother wants to use Yuan’s return as the opportunity to let the Alliance of Righteousness participate in the Ascension Plan as well.”

To the Tai Xuan True Immortals, the people of the Alliance of Righteousness were not much different from their own sect members.

Everyone was human. So many Soul Transformation, Integration, and Dao-reaching experts...

Not letting them contribute to the Ascension Plan was simply a waste.

As for the Immortal Sect itself...

At the very least, these Tai Xuan True Immortals wanted to bring the Alliance of Righteousness along to play.

But the situation within the Alliance of Righteousness was too complicated. Some people were very resistant to the Immortal Sect, believing that accepting the Immortal Sect’s goodwill meant becoming the Immortal Sect’s subordinates.

In the current situation, it still was not the time to “unify all力量” with harsh measures. There was no need to use forceful tactics.

For all those reasons, they had deliberately kept things hidden.

On one hand, there were no True Immortals within the Alliance of Righteousness. Revealing things too early might instead let Gu notice.

Even though Gu was rather stupid.

But its authority was disgusting to deal with.

Anything that happened would become “the past,” and once it became “the past,” it fell within the scope of its authority.

If Gu learned about it while the Ascension Web was still unstable, it would definitely find a way to interfere.

On the other hand...

There was a saying: “What you can’t get is always the best.”

With those people in the Alliance of Righteousness, if you did not bring them along, they would instead rack their brains trying to stick their hand in.

Sword Ancestor: “Correct. Yuan’s return really is a great opportunity.”

Sword Ancestor: “/thumbs_up”

Pill Patriarch: “/low_key”

Sword Ancestor: “Next, once Yuan recovers a bit and goes back to handle the Alliance of Righteousness side, I’ll send over the Ascension Platform hub.”

Lord Hong: “If you do that, a tiny handful in the alliance will probably think Sword Ancestor wants to lay a hand on the Alliance of Righteousness. /side_eye_laugh”

For example, that old bastard who founded the Myriad Techniques Dao Sect.

Back when he founded his sect and picked that name, the goal was to compete with the Supreme Dao Sect.

Even earlier, he had pursued Dieyu and even went to provoke Lord Hong in person!

Lord Hong could not tolerate that even a little. He directly called in his dao brother and Overlord, and on a dark and windy night, they put a sack over that old bastard’s head and beat him up.

Thinking about it now, it really was something.

They had had their youthful, reckless days too.

Sword Ancestor: “Let them think whatever they want.”

Sword Ancestor: “As long as the Alliance of Righteousness as a whole can accept it, the thoughts of a few individuals are not important.”

Sword Ancestor: “Besides, once they experience the convenience of the Tai Xuan Ascension Web, they probably won’t be willing to refuse.”

Chen Shang had previously wanted to seek an Ascension Envoy opportunity for Chen Yuanlin.

After all, Chen Yuanlin had left in too much of a rush back then, and his foundation was somewhat unstable.

Going to outer-realm worlds more often, seeing cultivation methods from different worlds, and enriching his understanding would help him solidify his foundation.

It was just that he had always felt awkward bringing it up.

Overlord: “But it still depends on whether Yuan can stabilize the situation.”

If Yuan went back and could not seize control of the discourse...

Then, with certain people fanning the flames, the Immortal Sect’s involvement would definitely cause unnecessary trouble.

It was not that it could not be resolved.

But that would defeat the original purpose. They wanted a smooth transition and to avoid trouble in the first place, which was why they chose to proceed slowly.

The current era was good. No one wanted to break the balance.

Sword Ancestor: “That part is fine. I believe in Yuan.”

Sword Ancestor: “Back then, what he wanted to do was harder than this, and didn’t he still manage it?”

Meizu: “/little_yellow_duck_spinning”

Meizu: “/sprinkle_flowers”

Meizu: “Speaking of that, when he did some things back then, it seems he also borrowed dao brother’s ‘momentum,’ right?”

Pill Patriarch: “Indeed. For a time, I even truly thought dao brother was pushing everything from behind the scenes.”

Lord Hong: “+1”

Overlord: “I heard him personally admit that everything he did was just borrowing momentum, but I didn’t really believe it.”

Overlord: “Later I realized he did it on purpose. /complex_expression”

Even though dao brother was in seclusion, his cultivation was so high that who knew if he had secretly slipped out.

After all, his desire to change the Tai Xuan Realm’s overall pattern had already turned into an obsession.

Pill Patriarch: “That’s normal. You really don’t need to take it to heart.”

Huh?

This guy changed personalities today and actually comforted him?

No, wait!

Overlord: “What the hell do you mean?!”

Meizu: “You should have known Yuan was deliberately borrowing dao brother’s momentum.”

Meizu: “Why didn’t you come forward to clarify it? @Sword Sovereign”

Unlike them, Sword Sovereign, who came from the same master as dao brother, definitely knew the truth.

Sword Sovereign: “What he did is exactly the goal junior brother has always wanted to achieve. Why would I stop it?”

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