One person: I, Daoist Master, am a cultivator of immortality!

This statement was made to support Sun Yao, since he had defeated Zhang Zhiwei and was now considered the number one among the younger generation. If someone didn't want to see him rise to prominence, and instead had the older generation deal with him or launch a collective attack, he worried that Sun Yao might not be able to win at this point, which is why he said that.

Only the highly respected Celestial Master could utter such words. If it were Chu Feng, other sects might not have paid him any attention. Even the Great Ying Immortal Zuo Ruotong probably wouldn't have the same face, but the Celestial Master could.

It was not only because he was the highly respected old Celestial Master of the Celestial Master's Mansion on Longhu Mountain, but also because he was the leader of the Zhengyi sect, in charge of the talismans of the Three Mountains, and under his command were the Shenxiao sect, Qingwei sect, Donghua sect, Jingming sect, Taiyi sect, etc., all of which were called Zhengyi sect or Zhengyi school, ranking alongside the Quanzhen sect as the two major sects of Taoism.

Offending the Celestial Master's Mansion of Longhu Mountain is tantamount to offending nearly half of all the Taoist sects in the world. Without a doubt, that would be tantamount to cutting oneself off from the world. After all, one can imagine the level of Taoist sects in chaotic times.

In times of chaos, the people one should never offend are Taoist priests and sorcerers, because in such times they are not afraid of incurring karmic consequences.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Jiao, a Taoist priest, proclaimed, "The Azure Heaven is dead, the Yellow Heaven shall rise; in the year of Jiazi, great fortune will come to the world!"

Before Wuzhang Plains, if it weren't for Wei Yan's treachery, Zhuge Liang's seven Seven Star Lamps would have long since extended his life.

Changing dynasties and defying fate—what immense karmic consequences must one bear? Yet, born in a chaotic era, Zhang Jiao and Zhuge Liang did just that. Had the Han dynasty's fortunes not yet run out, Zhang Jiao's Yellow Turban Rebellion might not have lost. If Wei Yan hadn't stormed into the camp, Zhuge Liang might not have died.

In short, once things get chaotic, they can stop at nothing, so just don't mess with them.

After the Celestial Master announced the matter, all the sect leaders nodded and said that the Celestial Master could rest assured that they were all their own disciples and would certainly take care of them.

The banquet at the Lu family's residence came to an end. After resting for another day at the Lu family's residence, all parties began to prepare to return home.

Sun Yao came with Huo Dezong, but returned with Longhu Mountain. This trip took him from the southwest but he returned to East China. He came with Chu Feng and Feng Ping, but left with the Old Celestial Master and Zhang Zhiwei.

However, they weren't alone on their journey back to Longhu Mountain. They encountered Zheng Zibu and his master along the way. The master and disciple were also planning to return to Maoshan, so their group became five. Throughout the journey, Zhang Zhiwei, Zheng Zibu, and Sun Yao continuously verified their respective findings.

Sun Yao also made progress in talismanic arts. He learned talismans from Zheng Zibu of Maoshan that could be passed down, such as the Five Warriors Talisman, the Scripture Sealing Talisman, and the Five Ghosts Transporting Talisman. Of course, Sun Yao also taught him some freehand techniques he had developed himself, such as the Scripture Sealing Hand, which involves attaching a Scripture Sealing Talisman to the hand and then striking the body with fists, palms, claws, etc. However, the striking techniques were soft, freehand techniques he had developed based on Tai Chi, so using them to repay Zheng Zibu was quite reasonable.

However, just as they were about to enter East China, they encountered something unusual. This town was a small place in Central China, just before they entered Xiangyin.

According to custom, a grand opera was being performed here at midnight, a ghost story. It seemed that some wealthy landowner had suffered a funeral, so they performed operas for people during the day and for ghosts and spirits at night. Unfortunately, something went wrong during this nighttime performance.

In this world, there are ghosts and immortals, but ghosts are wandering spirits, while immortals are animals that have ascended to heaven. The night opera was supposed to be performed for the ghosts, so that the wandering spirits wouldn't disturb the funeral, but unexpectedly, problems arose that night. The landlord's young master, a progressive student, refused to believe in such feudal superstitions. On his way back in the middle of the night, he stumbled upon the ghost opera performance.

He looked around and saw that there was no one below the stage, but a play was being performed on it. Thinking the opera troupe had tricked his father, he immediately disrupted the performance. However, this angered the group of wandering ghosts watching below. Fortunately, the performer was named Xia Huaizhi, who intervened and saved his life, but Xia Huaizhi ended up unconscious with his life force extinguished.

The men from the main family who came to fetch their young master witnessed Xia Huaizhi's methods and assumed he had harmed their young master. They seized Xia Huaizhi, demanding he revive their young master or they would hand him over to the authorities. Xia Huaizhi had no way of reviving their young master, and so a struggle ensued.

Xia Huaizhi and his son Xia Liuqing are similar; both play military generals, except Xia Liuqing plays Yuchi Gong, while he plays Qin Qiong. Although it could repel the wandering ghosts, it couldn't restore the young master's yang energy to its original state.

“I really have no idea how to treat this problem, young master. However, perhaps a famous Taoist sect might have a way to cure him. Instead of nagging me here, you should take the young master to a famous Taoist sect as soon as possible. This place is not far from Longhu, Maoshan, and Zaoge. It would be best to take the young master there quickly so as not to miss the best time for treatment.”

Xia Huai tried to reason with them and appeal to their emotions, but he failed to gain their understanding.

"I don't care. Since you had the means to drive away that evil spirit, you must also have the ability to save my young master. We paid you to perform, so if something goes wrong during the performance, you will be responsible."

Sun Yao initially didn't want to get involved, but the servant's attitude was truly unpleasant. It was clearly the young master's reckless behavior that caused the trouble, yet he was shifting the blame onto the opera singer. This opera singer even offered him advice and suggested he seek help from the Zhengyi Alliance and the Three Mountains—a person like that was unnecessary to save him.

Matters concerning ghosts and spirits are always best believed in, but not entirely unfounded; one should not disbelieve but must show respect. His disrespect for ghosts and spirits led to his current predicament, which he only himself had to accept. Moreover, the wandering spirits he had disturbed will likely return to disrupt the funeral. The only pity is for the Xia family's opera troupe; their ghostly performance was disrupted by the host, damaging their merits and bringing them no good end.

“Master, I think he is one of us. Why don’t we help him? These days everyone is having a hard time, and it would be a good deed.”

"Yes, a kind-hearted person should act this way. Their family has suffered an undeserved misfortune, so we should help them if we can."

The old master felt great sympathy for the Xia family's plight. He thought he could help if he could. After receiving the old master's permission, Sun Yao stepped forward, grabbed the servant's shoulder, and gently pulled him down.

"It's no use nagging him. If he says he can't save your young master, then he really can't. If you want to save your young master, bring your master here. I need his blood as a catalyst to summon your young master's soul."