Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 527: The Hospitable Five-Elements Sect

The Five-Elements Sect, one of the Five Great Immortal Sects, was situated upon the Five-Elements Spirit Vein in Yun Province. The spirit vein was naturally attuned to the five elements and considered the finest location in the region.

Under the leadership of Sect Leader Qiu Jin’an, the Five-Elements Sect flourished with talent, presenting a thriving and prosperous scene. Internally, the sect maintained strict discipline, demanded rigorous cultivation, and possessed a competitive spirit for excellence. Externally, they were known for their warm hospitality and amiable demeanor.

Even when disciples of the Dao-Seeking Sect came to study, the Five-Elements Sect set aside past grievances. Elders personally led the welcoming entourage with magical treasures in hand, worried their guests from the Dao-Seeking Sect wouldn’t encounter any mishaps.

“We’re really popular, huh? So many people came out to greet us.” Man Gu grinned as he observed the crowd gathered at the sect’s entrance.

Lu Yang’s eyes twitched nonstop. From what the Everlasting Immortal Fairy had told him, those holding magical treasures were all at the Fusion Stage, undoubtedly the sect’s elders.

Do they really need to bring magical treasures when welcoming us?

After the flying vessel docked, Meng Jingzhou led the group to disembark.

Qiu Jin’an stepped forward to warmly greet them, followed by five elders with fierce eyes resembling a tiger’s. One of them held a horizontal banner in their left hand and a weapon in their right, seemingly up to something.

“Welcome to our Five-Elements Sect for your study visit! Are there no supervising elders with you?” Qiu Jin’an counted only five people. None of the Dao-Seeking Nine are here.

Refusing to believe it, he swept the surroundings with his spiritual consciousness, checking for anyone concealing their presence.

“No, the elders had other matters to attend to and couldn’t come,” Meng Jingzhou answered truthfully.

Qiu Jin’an shook his head regretfully. What a pity. Why did no one come walking into the trap today?

Behind him, the five elders activated their magical treasures, the tips glowing ominously. Meng Jingzhou nearly jumped out of his skin. Luckily, their magical treasures aren’t aimed at us but at the sky.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Five attacks exploded in the air, bursting like resplendent New Year’s fireworks across the night sky.

Amid the sounds of detonations, the horizontal banner unfurled: Welcome, Disciples of the Dao-Seeking Sect, to Our Sect for Study!

The Five-Elements Sect was meticulous, preparing two contingencies. If the Dao-Seeking Nine had come, they would have greeted them with the magical treasures, then trampled them underfoot while unfurling the banner and setting off fireworks. If Yun Zhi had come, they would have skipped straight to the fireworks and welcome banner.

Although Yun Zhi hadn’t turned up, and only a few juniors came, the banner and fireworks would make do. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

“Disperse, disperse. The old Taciturn scoundrel and his gang didn’t come.”

“I heard the old Taciturn scoundrel was spotted in Wilderness Province. Should we check it out?”

“Forget it. It’s probably another false lead. When have we ever caught him after catching wind of his whereabouts?”

“This grandson is slippery and runs faster than a rabbit!”

“Person and Sword as One, One Sword Into Ten Thousand Swords—if he unleashes these two moves in succession, he would be gone by the time you find his real body.”

“Actually, if I run into him, I could find him.”

“How?”

“See these eyes of mine? I jumped into a furnace for forty-nine days to smoke them. They’re now comparable to the White Horse Temple’s Demon-Revealing Mirror!”

“That effective? Is it easy to achieve it? Maybe I’ll try burning my eyes too.”

The elders muttered among themselves and went off after displaying the banner and launching the fireworks.

Seeing his targets hadn’t tagged along, Qiu Jin’an cleared his throat and signaled Bai Ming with a meaningful look to take over hosting duties.

The sect leader and elders might have left, but the Five-Elements Sect’s disciples remained.

“Which one is Lu Yang? Point him out to me.”

“It’s that one! The clean-cut guy there.”

“Looks can be deceiving. I heard he challenged beyond his level, defeating Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Divine Transfiguration cultivators while still at the Foundation Establishment Stage. Now that he’s at the Golden Core Stage, could he defeat a Void Refinement cultivator?”

“You need him to fight a Void Refinement cultivator? Pick a weakened Void Refinement cultivator, and even I could win.”

“Fair point.”

“Which one is the founder of the Dreamlike Bubble Mirage?”

“Are you blind? There’s only one female cultivator; why are you still asking?”

“Truly talented. Why didn’t I think of such a profitable idea?”

“What could you possibly come up with? After eating the skewers at the Dao-Seeking Sect, you wanted to open a shop outside, only to realize the barbeque market was already oversaturated.”

“Is that buff guy from the Ancient Barbarian Tribe? I thought they were already extinct.”

“It’s supposedly a once-in-ten-millenia bloodline atavism which traces back to the origins.”

The Five-Elements Sect disciples rarely interacted with Dao-Seeking Sect disciples, so they were extremely curious about Lu Yang’s group.

After Qiu Jin’an left, Meng Jingzhou was baffled to see Bai Ming. “You didn’t go for the study exchange?”

Bai Ming pouted. “There’s nowhere to go. Shi Chan went to your Dao-Seeking Sect, Yan Tianzhi went to the Hanging Monastery, and the Moon Laurel Immortal Palace doesn’t allow male disciples—two of my junior sisters went instead. I go to the Prison Suppression Sect too often that there’s no point. So I could only stay behind in the sect.”

As they walked, Bai Ming gave Lu Yang’s group an overview of the Five-Elements Sect.

“You probably have seen from the flying vessel that our sect is built upon the Five-Elements Spirit Vein. Based on specialization, we’re divided into five branches according to the five elements. The elders who greeted you with Shifu earlier were the chief elders of each branch. They had some personal grudges with your sect’s elders in their youth and hoped to catch up. It’s a pity your sect elders didn’t come.”

“What personal grudges?”

Bai Ming had heard his shifu mention several conflicts between the Five-Elements Sect and the Dao-Seeking Sect. “There were plenty. Frequent brawls, for one. When your sect elders outnumbered ours, they would overwhelm our sect elders with sheer numbers. When they were outnumbered, they would report us to the authorities.

“Sometimes they’d even use honey traps. Your Fourth Elder once wrote to one of our elders, posing as a female cultivator and claiming she had admired him for a long time. She even said she was shy to meet too many people and requested a private meeting. Our elder went, only for nine people to jump out from behind a boulder. Can you imagine that scene?”

Lu Yang found the tactic uncannily familiar. Did Fourth Elder learn from past setbacks and master this trick?

Li Haoran feared that the Five-Elements Sect’s elders might be eavesdropping and that Bai Ming’s words might rekindle old grudges at their expense, drawing the fire toward them instead. He hastily changed the subject. “Which branch do you belong to?”

“Me? I’m proficient in five-elements spell and don’t belong to any branch. I’m directly under the sect leader’s lineage. Only those adept at all kinds of elemental arts can become the sect leader’s disciple.” Bai Ming’s lips were tugged upward in pride. My talent is extremely rare even in the Five-Elements Sect.

“Then couldn’t I qualify too?” Lu Yang pointed to himself.

My talent in spells is exceptional. For metal-type spells, I know the Sixteen-Foot Golden Body; for wood-type spells, I know the Tree-Planting Mantra; for water-type spells, I haven’t learned any for the time being; for fire-type spells, I know the Three Flavor True Fire; and for earth-type spells, I know Shrinking Earth.

Bai Ming turned, eyeing Lu Yang with slight surprise. “With your talent in spells, you actually could. You’re pretty suitable to become Shifu’s disciple. Why didn’t you join our Five-Elements Sect back then?”

Lu Yang scratched his head awkwardly. “The Dao-Seeking Sect was closer to my house, so I figured I’d try there first. I didn’t expect to get in just like that.”

Bai Ming, “...”

What a plain reason...