"The Ancient Heavenly Court is our Seek Dao Sect?"
He had heard that the Ancient Heavenly Court was replete with strong figures—there were Heavenly Venerates, Sect Leaders, Four Imperial Protectors, Protector Heavenly Kings, and all kinds of geniuses.
In particular, it was said that a Phoenix Ancestor of the Phoenix Tribe overpowered Venerate Zhu Tian and Sect Leader Yun captured two great Semi-Immortals.
Wait, two great Semi-Immortals?
Daoist Xiantian suddenly remembered the Nightmare Supreme and the Void Venerate imprisoned at Captive Peak.
Weren't these the very two great Semi-Immortals mentioned in the rumors?
At Captive Peak, he had been bombarded with one piece of news after another until he had lost the ability to think; only now did he come to his senses and realize that Sect Leader Yun would hardly send two great Semi-Immortals to the Seek Dao Sect willingly.
Unless Sect Leader Yun was one of their own from Seek Dao Sect!
With that thought, everything became clear!
But that wasn't quite right either. If the Heavenly Court Sect originated from ancient times, could it be that the Seek Dao Sect was actually an ancient Great Sect?
How did he not know about this?
"To be precise, some members of our Sect are from the Heavenly Court Sect," Lu Yang corrected him.
"Our Ancient Heavenly Court took on the role of a demonic sect in order to eradicate all demonic sects in one fell swoop, enduring humiliation and bearing heavy burdens in disguise."
Daoist Xiantian looked at Lu Yang with an odd look in his eyes.
Disguising as a demonic sect, they had become the head of the demonic sects?
With the power that the Ancient Heavenly Court had shown, if placed in their era, it would have been enough to sweep the world several times over.
As they spoke, the four arrived at the bamboo forest at the outer edges of the Sect, where a stream babbled through.
"River Spirit Elder, please show yourself," Yun Zhi called out loud.
The calm stream turned turbulent, a fountain erupted from the river surface, and an aged figure appeared above the fountain.
"What brings you here?" River Spirit asked indifferently.
"Xiao Lu!" When Daoist Xiantian saw River Spirit, his eyes lit up, and he blurted out River Spirit's nickname.
A trace of embarrassment crossed River Spirit's face; there were still people who knew his name.
No, he wouldn't acknowledge that as his name.
"Who are you?" River Spirit's gaze fell on Daoist Xiantian, not recognizing the young man.
"It's me, Qi Tongtian," Daoist Xiantian excitedly introduced himself. He did not expect Xiao Lu, River Spirit, to still be around.
The history of the stream was even longer than that of the Seek Dao Sect.
Before the Seek Dao Sect came into existence, a trace of spiritual essence had emerged in the stream without yet having developed spirituality.
When Daoist Xiantian was wandering outside, he chanced upon the anomaly in the stream. He locked the trace of spiritual essence within the stream to ensure it wouldn't dissipate and brought the stream back to the Seek Dao Sect, leading to the existence of River Spirit.
Truth be told, Daoist Xiantian had saved River Spirit's life, which was why he had been guarding the Seek Dao Sect all along.
"Damn it, you're Qi Tongtian? You're still alive?" Upon seeing Daoist Xiantian, River Spirit rarely showed an excited expression, and he couldn't suppress the smile tugging at his mouth.
"Alive, just with some mishaps," Daoist Xiantian scratched his head, sheepishly chuckling.
"Seems like quite a big mishap, you've become a mortal."
"Still being alive is good enough."
"That's right, you've always had that mentality."
"Now the Seek Dao Sect has become quite something else, completely different from when you first established it." River Spirit had personally witnessed how the Seek Dao Sect had grown stronger step by step.
Daoist Xiantian nodded, "I see that. The juniors are all very diligent, much stronger than I was."
The two exchanged words that only they understood, their expressions excited.
Having met after an expanse of 120,000 years, they seemed to revert to the times of the Great Yu Era, with endless topics to discuss. They talked for the better half of the day before taking a pause, still seeming as if they had much more to say.
Yun Zhi reminded from the side, "Elders, if you wish to chat, you can do so anytime in the future. Ancestor, you still have one more person to meet."
Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou were puzzled; they had thought that all the high-ranking members of Seek Dao Sect had been met.
Who else hadn't been met?
"Right, we haven't seen everyone yet, let's go," Daoist Xiantian slapped his forehead, remembering that they couldn't spend all their time here.
"Xiao Lu, see you later."
River Spirit laughed and cursed, "I've told you I don't want that crappy name; think of a new one for me later!"
"Eldest Senior Sister, is there anyone else we haven't met yet?" Lu Yang asked quietly.
"Yes, there's one more person, you'll see when we get there."
The last high-ranking member was quite far from this location, so Eldest Senior Sister once again plucked a cloud and took the three of them on a flying boat.
Across the great prairie, Captive Peak, the original site of the Sword Washing Pool... the cloud flew over these places without any intention of slowing down.
It was not until they reached the depths of the Seek Dao Sect that Lu Yang and his companion had never visited before that they stopped in a desolate mountain area.
"This is Cangmang Mountain, where a senior figure from our sect is in seclusion," she said.