Chapter 347: Where's My Royalty Fee?
Chapter 347: Where's My Royalty Fee?
Translator: yikaii Editor: yikaii
(TL Note: Extra chapter 1/5)
Eldest Senior Sister took out a gold-embossed invitation; just from the cover, it was clear that this invitation was of significant value. "The Qingzhou Festival includes a competition for the younger generation, and the Qingzhou government has sent our Dao Seeking Sect an invitation, hoping we can send someone to participate. I was going to mention this to you, but since Junior Brother Meng brought it up, it saves us a lot of trouble."
"A competition for the younger generation?" Lu Yang was eager to try; besides the Five Elements Sect, he hadn't faced any peers yet.
"Let's go then, and use my carriage," Meng Jingzhou suggested.
"Just the two of us? Aren't Junior Sister Peach and the others coming?"
"I did ask them all. Junior Sister Peach said she's waiting for results from the Second Elder and the Eighth Elder, though I'm not sure what results she's waiting for. She's also focused on studying the Feathered Immortal Physique, so I didn't press further."
"Junior Brother Barbarian has gone back to his tribe for a family visit, and who knows when he'll be back."
"Junior Brother Li is enjoying family life, doing everything he can to help our niece form her core, so he didn't want to come either."
Meng Jingzhou sighed in disappointment. This was such a rare opportunity. There were only seventeen events of this scale occur annually across the Great Xia's seventeen states. Missing this one means waiting more than half a month, and they're just missing the perfect timing.
He was someone who enjoyed lively events, so the more people that joined, the better.
After Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou departed, Eldest Senior Sister remembered something and flipped open the invitation: "On the third day of the ninth month in the year 98,960 of the Great Xia Calendar, the Qingzhou Festival will be held as per tradition. We kindly request your esteemed sect to send outstanding disciples to participate in the festival and serve as judges to offer guidance."
"Surely Junior Brother and Meng Jingzhou won't enter the arena... right?" Yun Zhi mumbled to herself, feeling like she might be overthinking it.
Both of them were the first and second among the younger generation of the Dao Seeking Sect, their strength undeniable and far above others.
If they were to enter the arena, it would be too much of a bullying situation.
...
"When I was at home, I'd often hear about how grand these ceremonies were. Hearing their descriptions always made me want to see it for myself."
"It's a pity I wasn't cultivating back then and didn't have the qualifications to attend."
"The Qingzhou Festival is a grand event for cultivators. To avoid disrupting the normal lives of ordinary people, Qingzhou will cordon off a specific area outside the city, and high-level cultivators will temporarily construct a city."
In the carriage, Meng Jingzhou animatedly described the event, and Lu Yang listened with great interest.
"The festival includes not only combat competitions but also auctions, appraisal challenges, bartering, ruin explorations, Golden Core evaluations, and more. It's a mix of everything, and every cultivator who goes there is sure to gain something valuable."
"It's not just for our younger generation—there are also mid- to high-level cultivators, though they have their own circles and won't mingle with us."
Mid- to high-level cultivators were much older than Lu Yang and the others, and if they were present, the younger generation would find it hard to act freely.
Lu Yang deeply understood this feeling: when classmates visited his house, there was a stark difference between when parents were around and when they weren't.
"A cultivator exchange conference, huh? We used to have those back in the day, but back then, everyone was full of hostility, and it often escalated to 'I'll kill your whole family' threats. What was supposed to be an exchange often turned into robbery and ambushes in the dark, making it extremely dangerous."
"That's why only major races were qualified to host such cultivator exchanges; they had the highest safety standards, like the Lianshan Clan behind the Nonuple Immortal, the Dragon Clan, the Phoenix Clan, and the Four Ancient Fiends Clans."
Everlasting Fairy sighed nostalgically, remembering how difficult things were back then.
Lu Yang recalled that there was a time when the Nonuple Immortal asked Everlasting Fairy to cook to force prisoners into confession. Those prisoners must have been cultivators like the ones involved in robbery, who had crossed the bottom line of the ancient Lianshan Clan.
"Later, the five of us became immortals and would hold exchange meetings from time to time. Our meetings were very safe—no one dared to commit murder or robbery. I'm not good at organizing such things, so Qing He would take care of it for me."
"One time, I suggested that since we were meeting at my place, we should pick a unique location, like the Mother-Child River or the Twin Rivers. With mountains and water, the scenery was beautiful. If anyone wanted to play in the water, they could just go down to the river."
"Qing He sternly rejected my suggestion, saying it was too dangerous."
Lu Yang thought to himself, Fairy, your river is the biggest enemy of family planning; who would dare go in?
"Sometimes, Ying Tian Immortal would discreetly leave some books at these exchanges, which recorded our five immortals' great achievements."
"I asked Ying Tian Immortal why he did that, and he said that books publicly bestowed by immortals would lead people to question their authenticity. But if they seemed to be leaked unintentionally, the public would believe them much more."
Lu Yang found Ying Tian Immortal's reasoning sound and learned a clever trick. What Lu Yang didn't know was that the rumor of Ying Tian Immortal making countless women pregnant spread in just the same way.
The old horse trotted slowly for two days, crossing mountains and rivers, and finally arrived in Qingzhou.
As soon as they entered the Qingzhou territory, the old horse suppressed its space-traversing ability. It had previously been taking hidden mountain paths, unseen by anyone, but that was no longer possible here in Qingzhou, where crowds and prying eyes were everywhere, and it might frighten passersby.
Meng Jingzhou poked his head out and, seeing the distant scenery, beamed with joy. "We're almost there."
Lu Yang also poked his head out from the other side. The dense, lush mountains were interspersed with carefully arranged buildings made of green stone, beautifully laid out like a painting.
Though temporarily constructed, the structures were intricately designed, reflecting the effort that went into them.
Many tiny black dots moved between the buildings—these were the cultivators.
Their carriage was plain and unremarkable, so the arrival of Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou went unnoticed.
Swish—
A dark shadow streaked overhead. The two looked up and saw a high-speed flying boat.
The arrival of the boat caused a stir among the pedestrians.
"Look, that's the Thunderfire Sect's flying boat! Look at that speed! I wonder how many Spirit Stones this boat costs. I heard the Thunderfire Sect has produced an extraordinary genius this generation. The people following behind must be the genius's protectors."
"Oh, I was mistaken. The Thunderfire Sect's flying boat was speeding, and those behind are law enforcers."
"What's that strange artifact? The mark on it belongs to the Yunmeng Sword Sect!"
"There's a sword beneath the artifact, and on the sword is a large metal shell. I've never seen anything like it."
"I know this! It's called a flying carriage. I heard it was invented by a Dao Seeking Sect sword genius, but it hasn't become popular yet. In the past, sword flight was limited to a single person, but this carriage can carry five."
"As expected of the Dao Seeking Sect—such creativity is beyond us."
"Exactly! I heard the Dao Seeking Sect is increasingly becoming the leader of the Five Great Immortal Sects. Everyone in the sect is a peerless talent!"
Meng Jingzhou turned to look at Lu Yang, whose expression was odd.
The flying carriage was his invention. The Fifth Elder had later asked Li Haoran to file for a patent, but Lu Yang hadn't followed up on it since. He hadn't expected it to already be in mass production.
"Wait, where's my royalty fee?"
(End of the chapter)