Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 713: Meeting the Higher-Ups

When Dai Bufan woke up, he saw Lu Yang, Meng Jingzhou, and the Innate Daoist Priest squatting on the floor, their heads nearly touching as they peered down at him. He confirmed that everything that had transpired wasn’t a dream.

“Senior Brother Dai, you’re finally awake.”

“Don’t call me senior brother. I don’t dare to have a junior brother like you.” Dai Bufan got up, fixing the two rascals, Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, with an unamused stare.

I sent you out to select a few disciples, and what did you do? You brought back the Founding Ancestor himself.

Dai Bufan was renowned for his cool-headedness; otherwise, he couldn’t have managed the Great Mission Hall and the vast intelligence network.

But he felt that ever since meeting Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, his emotions had fluctuated significantly more than before.

Even now, his head was still spinning.

“Here, Senior Brother Dai, let me help you up.” Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou flanked Dai Bufan and hoisted him up by his arms, settling him back into his chair.

“Are you really the legendary Founding Ancestor, the Innate Daoist Priest who got lost?” Dai Bufan still didn’t dare to believe it.

Although Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou had never lied to him before, this matter involved the Founding Ancestor; he couldn’t afford to be mistaken.

After the Innate Daoist Priest dispersed his cultivation to cultivate anew, his appearance changed drastically and no longer matched the statues of the Founding Ancestor preserved within the Dao-Seeking Sect.

The Innate Daoist Priest waved his hand sheepishly. “Calling me ‘legendary’ is an exaggeration. My Daoist title is indeed the ‘Innate Daoist Priest,’ but unfortunately, my proof of identity was destroyed in a recent battle.”

“A recent battle? Then your current cultivation...”

“I lost the fight. My injuries were too severe, so I could only disperse my cultivation to cultivate anew, grasping at a sliver of a chance of survival. My luck wasn’t bad, and I managed to live.”

Dispersing one’s cultivation to start over was never a guaranteed success. To ensure a higher success rate, it was best to do it during one’s peak. For someone like the Innate Daoist Priest who did it while gravely injured, the probability of failure would increase significantly.

“Founding Ancestor, I believe you understand that your identity is special. I cannot make this decision alone.” Dai Bufan was in a tough position. “How about this? I’ll take you to find Senior Sister Yun and let her decide?”

“Alright.” The Innate Daoist Priest was an amenable person.

Dai Bufan deferentially invited the Innate Daoist Priest to Heaven’s Gate Peak to find Yun Zhi. Before leaving, he shot a glare at Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou. “You two, follow us!”

Lu Yang shook his head discreetly. Senior Dai Bufan is really irascible and has a poor temperament. I wonder how he had even managed to cultivate to the Fusion Stage.

In contrast, despite suffering the daily harassment of the Everlasting Immortal Fairy in my mental space, I can still focus on my cultivation. It’s clear who is superior.

~~~

Heaven’s Gate Peak.

Having finished consolidating her cultivation realm, True Lord Gan Tian had also been requested by Dai Bufan to go out on a mission. That left only Yun Zhi at Heaven’s Gate Peak for now.

It was rare for Yun Zhi not to be cultivating. Instead, she sat on a throne, taking small sips of tea.

Four monarch chairs were arranged around a circular stone table, making the table seem out of place.

As she sipped her tea, Yun Zhi contemplated whether she should acquire a matching stone table from somewhere.

“Senior Sister Yun,” Dai Bufan greeted with his hands clasped together.

“Hmm?” Yun Zhi set down her teacup and looked at the four with slight bewilderment.

Junior Brother Dai, Junior Brother Meng, Little Junior Brother, and an unfamiliar youth.

“There is a matter requiring your decision, Senior Sister Yun.” Dai Bufan strained the corners of his mouth, striving to maintain a solemn expression as he explained the youth’s origins.

“In other words, you’re saying that this person is our Founding Ancestor, the Innate Daoist Priest Qi Tongtian?” Yun Zhi was also stunned, not expecting the Founding Ancestor to still be alive.

After a moment of rumination, she asked seriously, “Founding Ancestor, would you like to become the sect leader then?”

“Ah? Me? Become the sect leader?” This time, it was the Innate Daoist Priest’s turn to be stunned.

He had assumed the sects now to be similar to those from the Great Yu era, where individuals would employ unscrupulous methods and stop at nothing to compete for the position of sect leader. He was even worried that upon his return to the Dao-Seeking Sect, the members would be unwilling to have a higher “Grand Emperor”[1] above them , making things difficult for him or even eliminating him.

I never imagined this junior to directly suggest I become the sect leader.

“No no no, this won’t do.” The Innate Daoist Priest waved his hands repeatedly. “Putting aside that I am currently just a mortal, even if I recovered my Fusion Stage cultivation, I wouldn’t have the capability to manage such a massive sect.”

The current scale of the Dao-Seeking Sect is worlds apart from its founding days. How could I possibly manage it?

“It’s fine. Little Junior Brother also served as sect leader for three months. Managing the Dao-Seeking Sect is very easy.”

The Innate Daoist Priest was astonished. Are the standards for becoming sect leader so low now that even a Nascent Soul cultivator can become one?

No, I can’t think of it like that. This junior was able to defeat even Divine Transfiguration cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Stage. Now that he has reached the Nascent Soul Stage, his actual combat prowess may be comparable to that of a Fusion cultivator.

“I really can’t become the sect leader. You don’t need to treat me like this; just consider me an ordinary disciple of the sect,” the Innate Daoist Priest insisted. He only wished to focus on his cultivation, leave his past behind, and return to the Fusion Stage.

“By the way, Big Senior Sister, the Founding Ancestor’s Golden Cicada Shell is currently in the hands of the imperial court. Do you think you could help ask for it back?” Lu Yang seized the opportunity to add.

“What’s the situation with the Golden Cicada Shell?”

Lu Yang recounted the Innate Daoist Priest’s experiences after waking up, naturally omitting the part where he and Meng Jingzhou had strung the Founding Ancestor up.

I presume this memory isn’t particularly pleasant for the Founding Ancestor, so I shall refrain from mentioning it here.

Yun Zhi nodded. “So that’s how it is. This matter isn’t difficult.” She turned to the Innate Daoist Priest. “Founding Ancestor, would you like to meet our sect’s higher-ups?”

The Founding Ancestor being alive is a major matter; it’s only right to inform the sect’s higher-ups.

The Innate Daoist Priest agreed readily. It’s good to meet the sect’s outstanding younger generation.

~~~

Soon, the eight elders of the Dao-Seeking Sect gathered in the Discussion Hall, with the exception of the indescribably beautiful Sixth Elder. If her true form attended, its aura might suffocate the Innate Daoist Priest to death, so only her projection was present.

The eight elders were truly figures who had weathered all kinds of situations. Not only were their cultivation levels higher than Dai Bufan’s, but even their ability to accept the unexpected outstripped his.

“So this is our Founding Ancestor?”

“So young.”

“He doesn’t look like the statues.”

“Nonsense. After dispersing his cultivation to cultivate anew, how could he look the same?”

“Should we replace the set of Founding Ancestor statues? They look quite old.”

“Big Brother, look at you, digging graves all day and never digging up the Founding Ancestor. Now look at Little Lu and Little Meng—they found him just by going out.”

“Who’s digging graves? That’s called observational studies. Even the tomb owners tacitly permit it.”

“If the tomb owners could speak, it would be you, Big Brother, lying in the coffin.”

Suddenly, Eighth Elder seemed to recall something and quietly sidled up to the Innate Daoist Priest, asking softly, “By the way, Founding Ancestor, do you still accept disciples?”

“Ah?” Before the Innate Daoist Priest could react, Eighth Elder began promoting himself zealously.

“Founding Ancestor, don’t just look at my low ranking among the elders—that’s simply because I joined the sect late. In any case, I am a Fusion expert now, and I’m proficient in the Dao of Talismans. All you need to do is nod, and you can immediately gain a disciple already at the Advanced Fusion Stage while skipping the teaching process.

“What do you think of me?”

1. The “Grand Emperor” is an emperor that has abdicated in favor or a successor. Usually, there is a change in the emperor when the reigning emperor dies, but there are cases where the emperor retires early and appoints the next emperor. The few times it happened, most weren't out of their own volition. ☜