Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 756: Stepping Stones

“My shifu is still the reliable one; he’s not on the bounty notices,” Meng Jingzhou, Man Gu, and Li Haoran said with smug confidence.

Only Lu Yang’s and Tao Yaoye’s masters were on the wanted posters.

Lu Yang didn’t speak, silently walking around to the back of the announcement board, where the bounties for Third Elder, Fourth Elder, and Fifth Elder were posted, priced slightly lower than those on the front.

“...Our sect has been completely wiped out.” Meng Jingzhou clicked his tongue.

Lu Yang furrowed his brows, berating Meng Jingzhou for his inappropriate choice of words. “What do you mean by ‘our sect?’ The bounty notices are all for the Dao-Seeking Sect. What does that have to do with our Five-Elements Sect?”

Li Haoran nodded repeatedly, finding Lu Yang’s words to make sense.

“Besides, it’s not a complete wipeout. Grandpa Ba doesn’t have a bounty on his head.”

Grandpa Ba hadn’t lied. He was the sole survivor among the Dao-Seeking Sect’s higher-ups.

Witnessing how dangerous the East Sea was, the five verified their cover story again, confirming they were all Five-Elements Sect disciples. Even if they encountered Qiu Jin’an, they would publicly address him as “Sect Leader” first.

Lu Yang felt that given his life-and-death friendship with Qiu Jin’an in Hanshui City, the latter probably wouldn’t mind such a trivial matter.

Before the five moved away from the announcement board, they overheard passers-by discussing other topics.

“The Immortal Appraisal Convention is coming up soon.”

“What Immortal Appraisal Convention? It’s just an event for the Three Islands’ disciples to spread their fame.”

“What else can we do? The Three Islands’ disciples are far superior to us in both cultivation talent and resources. At the same realm, who can defeat them?”

“But they shouldn’t step on the heads of us ordinary cultivators to spread their fame.”

“Just accept fate.”

~~~

“Are so many people on Penglai Island because of that Immortal Appraisal Convention?”

“Probably.”

“Hmm, this magical treasure looks a little interesting.” Li Haoran discovered an exquisitely crafted magical treasure at a blacksmith. It was a metal lotus, and judging by its structure, it should be a covert weapon. Its forging concept was completely different from that in Great Xia, so he decided to purchase it for research.

“How much for this magical treasure?”

“I’m buying this magical treasure.” A voice sounded from behind.

Everyone turned to see a cultivator dressed elegantly, with three wave patterns on his sleeves. The cultivator was handsome and at the Nascent Soul Stage. Behind him stood several attendants, all at the Nascent Soul Stage except for one at the Divine Transfiguration Stage. Among the attendants Lu Yang had encountered, they were considered to have high-level cultivation.

“Who are you?” Li Haoran frowned, finding this person rude.

“So it’s Fellow Daoist Fan Chong. Please excuse me for not coming out to welcome you properly,” the shop owner said with an apologetic smile as he came out.

“Spare the nonsense. I’m buying this iron lotus. I can use it at the convention later. How much does it cost?” The cultivator named Fan Chong didn’t even glance at Li Haoran.

“If it were someone else buying, it’d be 280,000 spirit stones. But since it’s you, it’ll be the cost price—10,000 spirit stones.”

Fan Chong signaled with a look, and an attendant took out ten thousand spirit stones to buy the magical treasure. Even then, the shop owner saw him off with a smile.

After Fan Chong left, the shop owner breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Li Haoran with lingering fear. “Fortunately, you didn’t fight with him over that magical treasure. If you had angered him, you might not be able to leave Penglai Island.”

“Who is he? Is he famous?”

“You’re not locals, are you? Penglai Island disciples are divided into outer, inner, and core, identifiable by the wave patterns on their sleeves. That cultivator just now, Fan Chong, is a core disciple of Penglai Island.

“And Fan Chong is extremely special even among core disciples. He is a disciple of the Mystic Spirit Daoist Priest, whose father is the legendary Penglai Island Lord.”

Lu Yang understood. So he’s the grand-disciple of a Transcendent Tribulation cultivator. No wonder he’s so arrogant.

Quite the entourage, bringing so many Nascent Soul attendants when going out. Look at me, my shifu is Yun Zhi, but I always keep a low profile when traveling.

The shop owner sighed. “If not for his special status, someone would have already seized his Dreamlike Bubble Mirage and flying carriage businesses.”

Lu Yang nodded and said nothing more.

The five left the shop and continued strolling through the streets.

~~~

After half a day, they originally wanted to check out the Immortal Appraisal Convention, but it was organized by the Three Islands; entry was not permitted without an invitation.

Just as Lu Yang and the others were considering whether to employ some tricks to peek at the Immortal Appraisal Convention, a disciple dressed in Penglai Island-style attire blocked their path. The disciple had two wave patterns on his sleeves and deliberately released an oppressive aura of the Divine Transfiguration Stage.

“Who are you?” Lu Yang eyed him warily.

That disciple didn’t answer, coldly staring at the group. In his mind, he mused: Nascent Soul cultivators I haven’t seen before, likely not cultivators from our Three Islands. Just in time; a few are severely injured and won’t recover anytime soon. I’ll use you five to make up the numbers first.

“Hey, you five are in luck. I’ll take you to the Immortal Appraisal Convention later. If you perform well, you might be noticed by our Penglai Island disciples or elders and become attendants.”

The disciple’s attitude was forceful. Without letting Lu Yang and the others say anything, he took them flying toward the core area of Penglai Island.

Lu Yang and the others were merely Nascent Soul cultivators; how could they resist a Divine Transfiguration cultivator?

On the way, through the disciple’s fragmented words, Lu Yang learned his name was Xu Ze and that he was taking them to the Immortal Appraisal Convention. The convention was quite grand and invited various experts, including East Sea cultivators and even Great Xia cultivators.

Although it was called the Immortal Appraisal Convention, its main purpose was to spread the fame of the Three Islands’ disciples. Penglai Island disciples were elites among cultivators, hailed as seeds of the Immortal Dao. They possessed extraordinary combat power, and the best way to prove this was to challenge cultivators at the same level and take on multiple opponents at once.

Unfortunately, Lu Yang’s group belonged to the “multiple” opponents to be challenged, commonly referred to as stepping stones.

Defeating Lu Yang’s group would naturally spread their fame.

The main venue of the Immortal Appraisal Convention was a circular arena stage. There were passages on both sides, one for the Three Island disciples to enter, and the other for ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators.

The Immortal Appraisal Convention had already been underway for a while. As the Three Islands disciples were too heavy-handed in their strikes, over a dozen ordinary cultivators were unable to continue participating. Thus, Penglai Island sent people to capture over a dozen cultivators to fill in temporarily, and Lu Yang’s group was among them.

“I thought there would be immortals or at least half-immortals. But it turns out to be just a bunch of self-proclaimed Immortal Dao seeds participating in the convention.” Lu Yang yawned.

You Three Islands are really daring with your names.

They were waiting in a rest area on one side of the arena. Originally, they wanted to teach these ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators how to fight, but they were very vigilant and unwilling to speak with Lu Yang’s group.

Lu Yang could see that Xu Ze hadn’t been making empty promises by painting pictures of flatbreads. Ordinary cultivators who performed well at the Immortal Appraisal Convention did have a chance to join Penglai Island. This was why they viewed Lu Yang and the others as rivals, resulting in their wariness.

Just as Lu Yang and the others were bored waiting and considering whether to have an internal fight among themselves, it was finally their turn to go on stage.

“Hey, you five, it’s your turn. Hurry up.”

Lu Yang’s group walked through the passage toward the arena and saw their opponent.

They had just encountered him half a day ago.

Fan Chong.