Who Let Him Cultivate Immortality

“Do you want to go with me to Yanjiang County?” Lu Yang asked Meng Jingzhou.

Meng Jingzhou was clearly tempted, but he still shook his head and refused: “I still need to train my shadow, so I won’t go out for now.”

Meng Jingzhou felt that if the Third Elder suddenly checked his progress and found him slacking in his cultivation, things would not end well for him.

The dangers of the path of cultivation were evident in many ways.

“Alright then.” Lu Yang pouted slightly, feeling a bit bored at the thought of going alone.

“Hey, Junior Sister Peach, over here.” At the foot of the mountain, Lu Yang spotted Peach Blossom Leaf not far away. Judging by her aimless pace, it seemed she had nothing pressing to do.

“Senior Brother Lu, what’s the matter?” Peach Blossom Leaf smiled faintly, her expression both pleasing and naturally elegant. It was clear that she would grow into an even more graceful beauty in the future.

“How about joining our Heavenly Court Sect?” Lu Yang invited enthusiastically. As the young Sect Leader, it was his duty to recruit more geniuses for the Heavenly Court Sect.

“You probably haven’t heard of the Heavenly Court Sect; it’s the number one sect of this era…”

“Hm?”

Lu Yang was momentarily stunned as Peach Blossom Leaf agreed with a smile.

“You’ve heard of the Heavenly Court Sect?” Lu Yang wondered if the Sixth Elder had mentioned it to Peach Blossom Leaf.

“Nope.”

“Then why did you agree so quickly?”

Peach Blossom Leaf gave a mischievous smile, blinking her eyes: “Would Senior Brother Lu trick me?”

“Of course not!”

“Then there you have it. If Senior Brother Lu is asking me to join the Heavenly Court Sect, it must be for my own good. And if it’s for my own good, why would I refuse?”

Lu Yang was left speechless by her reasoning. He hadn’t considered it from that perspective.

“So, what exactly is this Heavenly Court Sect?” Peach Blossom Leaf asked curiously.

“It’s the number one sect of this era. Our sect’s eight elders and master are the Celestial Kings of the Heavenly Court Sect. Eldest Senior Sister is the Sect Leader, and I’m the young Sect Leader. We worship the all-powerful Bean Venerate!”

Peach Blossom Leaf automatically ignored the unfamiliar term “Bean Venerate.” She thought to herself that it explained why her master had been struggling with names lately, wondering what title to give themselves as a Celestial King.

“Aside from that, there’s also Meng Jingzhou, Li Haoran, and Li Haoran’s former daughter, Qin Yanyan.”

Peach Blossom Leaf’s expression turned strange, feeling that the members of the Heavenly Court Sect were quite… complicated.

And why create the Heavenly Court Sect? Did Senior Brother Lu not feel satisfied with just defeating the demonic sect? Did he want to take their place?

“Here’s the situation. It all started when Meng Jingzhou, Li Haoran, and I were just out hunting ghosts…”

Lu Yang explained everything from start to finish, leaving Peach Blossom Leaf bewildered.

As expected of Senior Brother Lu, his mind was so creative, even coming up with the idea of creating a fake sect to deceive the Nine Nether Sect for their trust. This was much more proactive than infiltrating as an undercover agent.

“Our Heavenly Court Sect at least claims to be the ancient Heavenly Court, so we need to have some geniuses to show off. I think you, Junior Sister Peach, are perfect for the role of an ancient genius.”

Peach Blossom Leaf felt a bit pleased, thinking that she had been acknowledged by Lu Yang.

“Now I’m about to meet with the higher-ups of the Nine Nether Sect. Junior Sister, are you coming?”

“Yes.”

…

In Yanjiang County, at the headquarters of the Come Again Barbecue Restaurant.

The barbecue business was booming and expanding rapidly. The Come Again Barbecue Restaurant could now be found in counties all around Yanjiang County.

If it weren’t for the shortage of grills and fire supplies, the barbecue restaurant would have already blossomed everywhere, forming a chain business.

The Nine Nether Sect put a great deal of effort into opening barbecue restaurants. The Sect Leader strongly supported this endeavor, even suggesting that everyone put aside their usual work and temporarily stop going around killing people. The current goal of the Nine Nether Sect was to focus on running the barbecue business.

This was far safer than taking out loans with their cult member identity.

The Sect Leader could hardly stop smiling, even laughing out loud during meditation.

Vice Sect Leader Petrified had no idea that the sect had been running a deficit for nearly a thousand years, nor did he understand why the Sect Leader had paused all religious doctrines, simply urging him to focus on opening barbecue restaurants.

Perhaps the Sect Leader loved money, or maybe there was some other reason.

Whatever the Sect Leader’s motives, they had nothing to do with him. He was opening barbecue restaurants to solve the problem of his one billion spirit stone loan.

Even if he had profound cultivation, he couldn’t withstand the monthly punishment of heavenly lightning. If one day he slipped up and failed to endure it, it would be the end of him.

Expanding the barbecue business was a must.

Moreover, he knew there were two key factors to opening a successful restaurant: one, a secret recipe, and two, a good business environment.

The first point was obvious—the barbecue restaurant’s booming success was entirely due to its secret recipe.

As for the second point, there were many ways to achieve it, such as maintaining a good relationship with the local government.

Bribery was risky and unreliable. What if the bribed official got caught? Wouldn’t their barbecue business be finished?

Vice Sect Leader Petrified had a new strategy. What the government needed was stability and order.

Their barbecue restaurant could help the government catch criminals and punish wrongdoers.

When it came to crime, who was more professional than a demonic sect?

Nowadays, all the crimes were things the Nine Nether Sect had long mastered, so handling them was a piece of cake.

Of course, they couldn’t do this openly—it would attract too much attention. The best way was to act secretly, letting the government think they were responsible, but without leaving any evidence.

That was the ideal situation.

In this way, the government would start to suspect that the barbecue restaurant was a hidden operation of some Righteous Path faction.

Moreover, the barbecue restaurant was constantly punishing evildoers and maintaining order.

With these two factors combined, the government would undoubtedly favor and protect the barbecue restaurant.

Vice Sect Leader Petrified’s thoughts were proven correct. The order in Yanjiang County had never been so stable; many cells in the prison were empty. The government no longer conducted frequent inspections and dropped any hints of suspicion.

Late at night, when the headquarters of the barbecue restaurant had closed for the day, the followers cleaned the hall and the backyard. Vice Sect Leader Petrified sat at a table, writing down the lessons he’d learned from running the business over the past month.

“Sect Leader, the people from the Heavenly Court Sect have arrived,” Huo Huashen reported respectfully. He was the manager of the main branch and the one responsible for executing Vice Sect Leader Petrified’s policies.

Three days had passed since the message was sent, and during those three days, Vice Sect Leader Petrified hadn’t gone anywhere, staying at the main branch, waiting.

“Vice Sect Leader Petrified, long time no see!” Lu Yang and Peach Blossom Leaf pushed the door open and entered. “It seems your sect’s business is going well—you’re already in need of more grills and fire supplies.”

“Oh, it’s just luck,” Vice Sect Leader Petrified replied modestly upon seeing Lu Yang. He dared not act too casually; after all, this was the young Sect Leader of the Heavenly Court Sect and the direct disciple of Bean Venerate, someone he couldn’t afford to slight.

“And this is…?” Vice Sect Leader Petrified asked, puzzled as he looked at Peach Blossom Leaf.

“This is also a member of our Heavenly Court Sect, Peach Blossom. Her talent is so extraordinary that both my master and the Sect Leader sing her praises.”

Vice Sect Leader Petrified respectfully bowed: “So this is Peach, the Heavenly Prodigy.”

Peach Blossom Leaf remained outwardly calm, though she was secretly astonished.

She knew that Senior Brother Lu was going to meet with the Nine Nether Sect, but she hadn’t expected him to immediately meet with the higher-ups and to engage as equals.

Is this the kind of social circle Senior Brother Lu usually moves in?

Within the sect, he talks with elders, and when outside, he meets with sect leaders—all of them at the Unity Stage!

Lu Yang chatted casually with Vice Sect Leader Petrified, completely unfazed by the other’s high status.

(TL Note: While doing research for Peach Blossom Leaf’s name, I found out it comes from a poem called 《桃夭 – Tao Yao》which is called Peach Blossom in english. Here’s a translation of it online:

The peach tree is young and elegant;

Brilliant are its flowers.

This young lady is going to her future home,

And will order well her chamber and house.

The peach tree is young and elegant;

Abundant will be its fruits.

This young lady is going to her future home,

And will order well her house and chamber.

The peach tree is young and elegant;

Luxuriant are its leaves.

This young lady is going to her future home,

And will order well her family.

Here is the source https://ctext.org/book-of-poetry/tao-yao/ens)

(End of the chapter)