255: A moment of remembrance for the Three Realms

"But Senior Brother, why didn't you say something before coming back? We could have gone to pick you up."

Wang Yao said as he served himself a bowl of soup and began to drink.

"I reported to Master before I came back. Did he not tell the Junior and Senior Martial Uncles?"

Wang Yao thought back for a moment and then shook his head.

"Master has been dragging me along to perform Alchemy lately, saying he wants to study the principles of my Poison Pills. He hasn't visited the Fourth Elder either, so he probably missed the news."

Hearing this, Zhou Yan became interested.

"So, how is the research going?"

He remembered that Wang Yao later developed many strange Poison Pills. Compared to normal Medicinal Pill refinement, he was actually more interested in Wang Yao's pure Poison Pills.

He hadn't had time to exchange ideas before, but now that he was back at the Sect, it was a good time to see if he could learn Wang Yao's Poison Pill fabrication methods and refine some himself for emergencies.

"Well..." Wang Yao gave an embarrassed smile.

"The principles haven't been figured out yet. Master only helped me find a way to bypass the toxicity so I can refine some decent pills."

"But the success rate still isn't high. It's just that while others' failed pills turn into furnace slag, mine turn into Poison Pills."

"Let's not talk about that for now. Senior Brother, how was your Saint trial? Did it go smoothly?"

Zhou Yan's hand holding the soup trembled slightly, as if he had recalled some unpleasant memory, but since it was over, he naturally had to show off a bit.

"I am a Prodigy of my generation, after all. A mere trial was, of course..."

"Disciple Zhou Yan, from this day forth, is appointed as the Saint of our Qingxu Grotto-Heaven!"

A voice like a resonant bell suddenly echoed throughout the entire Qingxu Grotto-Heaven, its momentum undiminished as it spread toward the surrounding areas.

"Is this a freaking server-wide announcement?!"

Zhou Yan was stunned. After listening to the information surfacing in his mind, he realized what kind of massive event the Sect had arranged for him.

He quickly finished the rest of the soup, scooped up Yuan Chenling, and sped toward the Sect's Main Hall.

As he left, he only threw back a single sentence.

"Let's catch up later, there's an emergency right now!"

Wang Yao watched the direction where Zhou Yan and Yuan Chenling had departed, looking somewhat dazed. Then he shrugged and started cleaning up the dishes.

Yuan Chenling had originally hidden the most fragrant chicken butt, planning to enjoy it at the very end, but before he could even take a bite, he was dragged away by Zhou Yan.

He was quite unlucky. After entering, he had wanted to find Zhou Yan, but after circling around, he had somehow been mistaken for some kind of pill thief.

Then, for some reason, a surge of hot blood rushed to his head as if someone was fanning the flames in his ear. Unable to hold back, he started a fight and was eventually dragged off to test medicine, losing a precious lock of hair.

He thought his hardships were over when Wang Yao rescued him; with spirit fruits and spirit food, he was enjoying himself immensely.

But then he was forcibly snatched away by his boss. Being snatched away was one thing, but...

"Why is it this posture?!"

At this moment, Zhou Yan was forming a sword seal with his hand, "driving" Yuan Chenling in a sword-riding posture.

That's right, Yuan Chenling's limbs were spread wide, suspended in the air like the character 'Gan', while Zhou Yan stood on him to fly.

"It's an emergency, I need to be faster. Your job is to be a Mount anyway, so consider this starting your shift early."

Zhou Yan couldn't care less about the details, using all sorts of acceleration methods.

As a Mount, Yuan Chenling provided a percentage speed bonus when being ridden. So, although the posture was bizarre, every bit of speed counted. Right now, speed was of the essence.

"Eh?"

Zhou Yan thought he caught a glimpse of a person whose entire body was purple, lying on a small mountain peak, peacefully sunbathing.

Qingxu Grotto-Heaven has purple alien races too? He looked like Thanos; that's certainly something new.

The flight speed of the Nascent Soul Stage was very fast, and it didn't take long for Zhou Yan to reach the Sect's Main Hall.

He shoved at the hall door, but it didn't open.

Looking at the door before him, Zhou Yan felt an ominous premonition.

Then he tried sliding it to the left, and the door opened.

"How is even this door a sliding one!"

The commotion at the door alerted the people inside.

Seeing that it was Zhou Yan, the Fourth Elder ran over with tears streaming down his face.

"Disciple! Save me, Disciple!"

The Fourth Elder's clothes were disheveled as he grabbed Zhou Yan's leg and wailed. Zhou Yan looked up and saw the Sect Master in the center of the hall, holding a small whip.

At this sight, Zhou Yan's eyes widened, and his mouth hung open involuntarily.

He looked at the Fourth Elder, then at the Sect Master. For a moment, only the Fourth Elder's crying filled the hall.

After a while, Zhou Yan blankly kicked the Fourth Elder away, cupped his hands in a polite bow, and turned to leave.

Just as silence fell over the hall again, Zhou Yan ran back in, picked up Yuan Chenling from the floor, bowed an apology, and quickly left again.

Only then did the Sect Master snap out of his daze, reaching out a hand in a classic 'Erkang' gesture.

"Don't go! My innocence!"

Fifteen minutes later.

"So, Sect Master, what you mean is..."

"Because you were in seclusion before, you had my Master take over as acting Sect Master for a few days."

"But as soon as you came back, you found that he had made a complete mess of the original work schedule. Not only was the work unfinished, but he also converted your Immortal Cave into a couple's suite to rent out, and even provided free props."

"That's why you were so angry and came to settle the score with him."

The Fourth Elder sat to the side with a bruised and swollen face, head down and sulking.

"It's not like I've been Sect Master before! Your peak has a financial deficit; how was I supposed to know where the money went? The financial reports were about to be settled, and I couldn't very well pay out of my own pocket, could I?"

"It's your peak's business anyway. Since you weren't around, what's wrong with renting out your Immortal Cave for a few days?"

"You little brat, see if I don't kill you today!"

With that, the Sect Master used a move to strike directly at the Fourth Elder's eyes.

The Fourth Elder was already on guard and raised his hand to block.

Just then, a strange expression appeared on the Sect Master's face.

The Fourth Elder knew something was wrong, but it was too late.

The Sect Master vanished instantly from before him and teleported behind him, a talisman held between his fingers.

The moment the talisman was slapped onto his buttocks, the Fourth Elder felt a heat behind him. Under his horrified gaze, he turned into a human rocket on the spot, crashing through the hall's roof and becoming a shooting star.

"Go up there and fly like a kite for a while to cool down. If you act without thinking again, I'll make sure you truly feel the pain."

Once the Fourth Elder had soared into the distance, the Sect Master finally showed a kind smile mixed with a bit of awkwardness.

"Um... that's the gist of it. Just don't misunderstand."

"Did you come to see me or him for something?" The Sect Master pointed to the hole in the ceiling.

Zhou Yan actually regretted traveling so fast; if he had known, he would have taken his time.

But since he was already here, he had to speak up.

"What was that Sound Transmission just now? I feel like the people who heard it aren't just those within our Grotto-Heaven."

Hearing this question, the Sect Master realized.

"Oh, that. I almost forgot."

"You haven't seen this kind of scene before, so you don't quite understand. Actually, the range isn't as small as you think; it basically spread through the entire Three Realms."

"After all, the one speaking was a Mahayana."

"Huh? It wasn't just a server-wide announcement, but an cross-server one too?"

Although the Sect Master didn't fully understand Zhou Yan's words, he continued to explain.

"I know some of you young prodigies like to hide your strength and play the pig to eat the tiger."

"Spreading through the Three Realms might have some impact on you."

"But you don't really need to worry. Even if no one spread the word, with your current achievements, you are already a famous Prodigy within the Four Regions."

"Of course, you don't need to be overly concerned about the matter of it spreading through the Three Realms either."

"This is just a small benefit of becoming a Saint."

"The voice of a Mahayana is difficult for ordinary people to comprehend. After spreading through the Three Realms, almost no one will remember it. The information will naturally fade from their minds, except that in that moment, everyone will remember you."

"After all, you will likely have to deal with other Mahayana experts in the future. Some Venerables are not friendly; if they were to act against you, this 'Remembrance of the Three Realms' is a trump card that can negate one Mahayana-level technique."

"Of course, the reason I know and can tell you this now is that the Old Ancestor informed me before leaving. I didn't find out just by hearing the voice."

Fearing Zhou Yan might overthink it, the Sect Master added.

"Don't worry about any impact on the living beings of the Three Realms. This is essentially a dialogue with heaven and earth; it just has a wide range of effect that covers living souls."

"Them remembering you once won't cause any harm, so you don't need to have any psychological burden."

Actually, when the Sect Master said 'it spreads through the Three Realms but no one remembers,' Zhou Yan had already relaxed. But the thing he really wanted to ask next had nothing to do with that; he had just been constantly interrupted by the Sect Master.

"No, what I wanted to ask is, where am I going to live from now on?"

Hearing this question, which was completely unrelated to the previous topic, the Sect Master momentarily froze.

"Huh? You still want to live here?"

This sentence made Zhou Yan freeze as well.

"What do you mean 'do I still want to live here'? Am I an outsider?"

The Sect Master pondered for a moment and, as if possessed, handed the whip to Zhou Yan.

"How about you stay at my place for now? It's already been renovated anyway, and it'll take some time to refurnish it. You can just treat it as a guest room for a temporary stay."

Looking at the whip being handed over, Zhou Yan felt that his future was looking quite bleak.