Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 354 A Meal That Wasn't "Sumptuous"
Thinking of this, Yan Wuqi couldn't help but sigh softly.

Soon, the two bypassed the noisy market, passed through the somewhat deserted disciples' courtyard, and arrived at the westernmost guesthouse area built against the mountain.

The houses here are arranged in a well-organized manner, and as you go further back, the terrain rises, offering an excellent panoramic view of the entire White Stone Immortal Sect's plaza.

The courtyard where the Jade Void Sect resides is not located on high ground, so it didn't take long to get there.

As soon as Yan Wuqi entered the courtyard, he saw an old man in a black Taoist robe with a gaunt face standing with his hands behind his back under a pine tree, talking in hushed tones with a middle-aged man beside him. It was his master, Xuan Yangzi, the head of the Jade Void Sect.

Xuan Yangzi's real name is Li Shu. He is not actually that old, not even sixty years old. However, he had premature gray hair when he was young, and now that he is over fifty, his hair and beard are completely white, making him look like someone in his seventies or eighties.

"Master!"

Zhong Hui was the first to call out cheerfully, quickly stepped forward, gave a perfunctory bow, and hurriedly claimed credit, saying, "Master! I've brought Senior Sister Yan to find you!"

Xuan Yangzi turned his head upon hearing the sound, saw Zhong Hui, and smiled kindly, nodding slightly as a greeting. Then, he turned his gaze to Yan Wuqi beside Zhong Hui.

At this moment, Yan Wuqi showed no trace of true qi cultivation, appearing like an ordinary person. However, her even and long breaths and radiant complexion indicated that she had long since entered the path of immortality and become a cultivator.

"It's indefinite. I was just thinking you would come with Sect Leader Qu, but I didn't expect you to come before the competition even started."

As Xuan Yangzi spoke, he stroked his beard. His snow-white hair was meticulously tied up, with only a simple jade hairpin inserted. Paired with his wide-sleeved Taoist robe, he looked even more ethereal and otherworldly than the cultivator with the goatee beside him.

"Greetings, Miss Yan."

Indeed, the person standing and speaking with Xuan Yangzi was actually a disciple of the White Stone Immortal Sect, a cultivator. Although he looked unfamiliar, he was quite polite and even cupped his hands in greeting to Yan Wuqi: "I am Zhu Ye, a disciple of the White Stone Immortal Sect. Greetings, Miss Yan."

Upon hearing the name, Yan Wuqi paused for a moment before realizing who it was, and quickly returned the greeting with clasped hands: "Greetings, Senior Zhu Ye!"

This person used to be very famous in the martial arts world, but recently disappeared without a trace. Rumor has it that she has become a disciple of the White Stone Immortal Sect, but unexpectedly, the rumors are true, and she even ran into her master.

Zhu Ye cupped his hands again and said, "I dare not call you senior. I have heard that Miss Yan has also started practicing the immortal path. Why don't we just follow the rules of immortal cultivators and call each other fellow Daoists?"

Yan Wuqi had no choice but to comply: "Fellow Daoist Zhu."

Xuan Yangzi watched this scene with a smile and said gently to Yan Wuqi, "Wuqi, you've come at the right time. I was just discussing with Fellow Daoist Zhu Ye the key points of body tempering and cultivation in the immortal path, as well as the differences between the spiritual power of the immortal path and the true qi of the martial path in terms of tempering the body and prolonging life. Young Fellow Daoist Zhu's insights are unique and truly enlightening."

Zhu Ye hurriedly waved his hand modestly and said, "Sect Leader Li, you flatter me. As a grandmaster, you have reached the pinnacle of martial arts. Your insightful views have greatly benefited me."

"These two paths, Immortal and Martial, may seem to be different, but they lead to the same goal. Both are achieved through 'qi' and both involve controlling the power within the body. One is true qi, and the other is spiritual power. The essence of pursuing the sublimation of life and exploring the mysteries of heaven and earth is the same."

"Master Li's ability to set aside sectarian biases and devote himself to research is truly admirable."

Zhu Ye's words were not entirely polite.

He talked with Xuan Yangzi for several days and could clearly sense that the other party was not simply asking out of curiosity or for personal gain, but was truly trying to understand, compare, and even absorb the aspects of the immortal system that could be learned from it from the perspective of "Dao".

Such an attitude is truly rare for a martial arts master who has been famous for a long time and holds a very high position.

Xuan Yangzi smiled and said politely, "Young friend Zhu, you flatter me. I really couldn't bear to lose this true energy, so I sought another way out." Then, the two chatted for a long time. Yan Wuqi could occasionally chime in with his own insights, while Zhong Hui was much more bored. She listened with a mixture of understanding and confusion, blinking and looking at this and that. Unable to understand anything, she shrank to the side and started playing with her fingers.

The conversation in the courtyard only ended when the sun was directly overhead and the paper puppet servants of the White Stone Immortal Sect came to deliver food to the Jade Void Sect members.

"Sect Leader Li, Fellow Daoist Yan, Junior Sister Zhong, the paper puppet has delivered lunch, so I won't bother you any longer," Zhu Ye said, taking his leave as it was getting late. "The Grand Competition will begin precisely at 1:00 PM. At that time, there will be a spiritual light guiding you over at the plaza. Just follow the guidance to attend the ceremony."

Xuan Yangzi and Yan Wuqi had just thanked him when Zhong Hui waved his hand with a grin: "I know, Senior Brother Zhu, I'll take them there in a bit!"

After Zhu Ye left, the food was laid out on the stone table in the courtyard by paper puppets. Several doors in the courtyard were also opened. The elders and disciples of the Jade Void Sect who had been meditating in the rooms must have heard Zhu Ye's farewell and came out at the appointed time.

After exchanging greetings with his senior uncle, Master Ziyang, and several fellow disciples, Yan Wuqi took his seat.

Xuan Yangzi looked at the meal brimming with spiritual energy and sighed inwardly.

Such ordinary food in the White Stone Immortal Sect was so tempting and beneficial that even a martial artist like himself, a second-rank grandmaster, could hardly resist it. The difference between martial arts and immortality was truly vast.

The meal on the table wasn't particularly lavish, consisting of about a dozen dishes, but the portions were all quite large, and there were only six people living in the courtyard—

Although the Jade Void Sect was led by its leader, Xuan Yangzi, the number of people who came was not large. Even including Yan Wuqi, who arrived halfway, and Zhong Hui, who came to freeload, there were only eight people. This amount of food was more than enough to fill their stomachs.

Actually, these dishes were not made by the sect's restaurants or teahouses. There were too many people attending the sect competition this time. If they were to entertain everyone, there would be no way that two or three cooks could prepare enough food, even if they included An Che He Xiang, who was not yet an adult. So, the food served to the public was all made by Zhang Chengdao himself and put into the warehouse. When needed, he would send paper puppets to pick it up and deliver it.

Pan-fried tofu, stewed winter melon with pork, stir-fried cabbage, stir-fried bamboo shoots with pork, pickled radish, mushroom and chicken soup, stir-fried mixed fish, Mapo tofu, steamed fish, braised ground lily...

The dishes were all of green quality; Zhang Chengdao didn't even bother to give out the blue-grade dishes like "Phoenix Soup" and "Dragon Soup." Even so, these dishes, which would be considered meager outside, were considered delicacies by the martial artists and cultivators. The spiritual energy they contained was so abundant that even Zhong Hui, a disciple of the sect who was never short of money or spirit stones and could buy whatever he wanted from the sect's canteen, shamelessly came over to freeload for several days!
This was the first time Yan Wuqi had tasted such "spiritual food".

Xuan Yangzi had been eating for several days and had gradually gotten used to it, from the initial shock. He even felt that after eating the "spiritual food" for more than ten days, his cultivation level seemed to be fluctuating, as if he was about to break through to the Grandmaster level.

Yan Wuqi, on the other hand, couldn't help but chew slowly and carefully, feeling the warm current spreading through his stomach as he absorbed and digested the spiritual energy contained within.

After lunch and a short rest, Xuan Yangzi, estimating that it was about time, led Yan Wuqi, Zhong Hui, and the Yuxu Sect members toward the square in front of the Lingxiao Palace.

The closer you get to the square, the more enthusiastic the atmosphere becomes.

Along the way, in addition to greeting several familiar sect leaders, manor lords and other leaders of martial arts forces, he also encountered several unfamiliar leaders of forces whose status was completely different from his own as the leader of the Jade Void Sect.

In fact, Xuan Yangzi knew them all. One of them was Tang Yinxiang, the leader of the newly established Tianji Sect. It was said that he was a descendant of the Tomb Guardian Sect and also came from the Tang Clan, with a lot of power behind him.

There were also the emperor of the Great Changhe Kingdom and the ruler of the Lingwu Kingdom, Da Lingwu, whose clothing reflected the style of the southwestern frontier. These two were not fluent in the Central Plains language and did not like to communicate with the Central Plains forces, so Xuan Yangzi had not spoken to them yet.

Even more remarkably, there was a highly popular and well-liked sect leader who was rumored to have originally come from a humble background in the paper craftsmanship trade. Later, through a fortuitous opportunity, he became a member of a Taoist sect called the Hundred Blessings Sect. Furthermore, because of the sect's expertise in puppetry, he did a lot of business, and even Xuan Yangzi was somewhat tempted by him.

Unfortunately, the Jade Void Sect is a martial arts sect and has not yet cultivated the path of immortality, so it cannot join the Immortal Alliance, nor can it do business with the immortal sects within the Immortal Alliance.

They don't accept worldly things like gold and silver, so even if the Jade Void Sect has a strong foundation, it's useless!

(End of this chapter)