Early the next morning, the three of them gathered at the agreed location.

Li Haoran arrived first, looking somewhat nervous.

With Old Horse around, Lu Yang didn’t need to be anxious about riding the flying boat.

“Who would have thought, you’re quite the dark horse, even having a fiancée?” Meng Jingzhou teased Li Haoran with a wink and a smirk.

As the eldest son of the Meng family, he had been sought after by the nobles of the imperial city even before he was born, hoping to establish connections with the Meng family through him.

After Meng Jingzhou was born, the number of people coming to propose marriage had practically worn out the doorstep.

“If it weren’t for my cultivation, I would be living the high life in the imperial city right now,” Meng Jingzhou said with a touch of regret and emotion.

Li Haoran advised, “As the saying goes, when you gain something, you always lose something. Although you lost the opportunity to become a noble son of the imperial city, what you gained is the pure Yang spiritual root that many people dream of.”

Lu Yang also chimed in, “That’s right, think positively. Cherish the opportunity you still have to interact with female cultivators. Once you form the single dog Golden Elixir, the Golden Elixir will automatically generate a repelling force, pushing away the women around you. You won’t even have the chance to talk.”

Meng Jingzhou was furious, “You scoundrel, don’t mess with my Dao heart! I’ve never heard of the single dog Golden Elixir having this function!”

Lu Yang calmly replied, “This is a secret from ancient times, I don’t tell it to just anyone!”

Meng Jingzhou looked at Lu Yang suspiciously, remembering the terrifying ancient True Immortal within him. With such a backing, it wouldn’t be surprising for him to know some ancient secrets.

“No, the single dog spiritual root first appeared in the Great Yu Dynasty, there was no such thing in ancient times! You’re just trying to trick me!” Meng Jingzhou quickly realized, “Take this, my turtle punch!”

The two engaged in a fierce duel in the confined space, which was eventually stopped by Li Haoran.

“Junior Brother Li, what is the identity of your fiancée?” Lu Yang thought about Li Haoran’s background. His parents were ordinary loose cultivators with Foundation Establishment cultivation level and no special talents. Li Haoran’s fire spiritual root was purely accidental, just like Lu Yang.

Speaking of his fiancée, Li Haoran looked somewhat troubled and sighed, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou were surprised. Who doesn’t know what their fiancée’s identity is?

“According to my parents, they encountered a life-and-death crisis while adventuring. A high-ranking person happened to pass by and saved them. My mother was already three months pregnant at the time. The high-ranking person saw this and said that since we met, it was fate. He suggested that our two families become in-laws and arranged my marriage on the spot.”

“After that, the high-ranking person left and was never seen again.”

“He was able to fly, so he must be at least at the Golden Elixir stage, but his exact cultivation level is unknown.”

“We don’t know his surname, his name, his title, where he came from, or where he went.”

“…Your fiancée was decided quite hastily.”

“Who’s telling me?” Li Haoran laughed somewhat helplessly.

“The main reason is that my parents felt that they were only at the Foundation Establishment stage, and the other party was a high-ranking person. What could he want from them? Even if I had some talent, it would only be enough to cultivate to the Golden Elixir stage. As you can see, I have a fire spiritual root.”

If a single spiritual root cultivator doesn’t die young, they are destined to become a great power in cultivation. This is a world-class talent worth all the noble families’ efforts to win over. For example, when Lu Yang was tested to have a sword spiritual root, many ancient families were moved and hoped to marry their daughters to him.

However, Lu Yang later became a disciple of Bu Yu Taoist and stayed on Tianmen Peak, so those families didn’t have a chance to propose.

“Could it be that the high-ranking person saw that you were a fire spiritual root at that time?” Meng Jingzhou was puzzled, “But that’s not right, I’ve never heard of such a technique.”

If there was such a technique, the Meng family would have mastered it long ago, and they wouldn’t have waited until Meng Jingzhou was four years old to test his spiritual root.

“It’s strange.”

“Never mind, don’t think about it. Once you meet your fiancée, everything will be clear.” The three of them thought about it for a long time but couldn’t figure it out, so they simply gave up thinking.

Old Horse pulled the cart for a whole day before they arrived at Li Haoran’s home.

Li Haoran’s home was in Luofeng County. It was said that a pure-blooded phoenix had died here, blessing all things, hence the name Luofeng County.

“It’s much more grand than Yanjiang County!” Lu Yang poked his head out of the carriage, seeing the grand city walls, the bustling traffic, and the faint gazes falling on him, he knew that this Luofeng County was extraordinary.

“Halt, get off the carriage for inspection.” The guard at the city gate stopped the carriage.

The three of them confidently took out the credentials issued by the Seek Tao Sect and let the other party inspect them.

“So, you are Taoists from the Seek Tao Sect, please come in.”

Seeing that the three of them were from the Seek Tao Sect, the guard immediately showed respect. Regardless of the moral climate of the Seek Tao Sect, each of its disciples was exceptional.

Moreover, as one of the five major immortal sects, the Seek Tao Sect inherently held many powers, making the local government wary.

For example, the most troublesome and terrifying power of law enforcement. If the five major immortal sects found any illegal activities or collusion with the demonic path in the local government, they could execute first and report later.

However, the five major immortal sects would give face to the Great Xia Dynasty and hand over the people to the Great Xia Dynasty for handling. Unless it was an emergency or a last resort, the five major immortal sects would use this ultimate measure.

Once they revealed their identities from the Seek Tao Sect, those faint gazes that fell on the three of them disappeared. These were the hidden guards, preventing thieves from sneaking into Luofeng County to cause trouble.

As for the Seek Tao Sect causing trouble, that was beyond their jurisdiction.

“Our house is over here.” Li Haoran directed Old Horse.

On the way, the three of them heard the storytelling voice coming from the teahouse, which was telling the “Legends of the Seek Tao Sect”.

“……Speaking of the Bu Yu Taoist, he has the demeanor of an immortal. In order to experience the hardships of the mortal world, he has been imprisoned multiple times, living and eating with the prisoners, conversing with them warmly, and caring about why they ended up in such a situation……”

“Sometimes, the Bu Yu Taoist would learn from the prisoners about places where demons were causing trouble. He would then go there to subdue the demons and eliminate the evil.”

“Today’s story begins with the Bu Yu Taoist receiving news from the prison……”

“……The Bu Yu Taoist heard from a prisoner that the An Family Village had a strange atmosphere. Anyone who left the village would become disoriented and lose their souls. Even so, those who left the An Family Village still wanted to return……”

“……The Bu Yu Taoist saw through the plot of the village chief of the An Family Village. He fought fiercely inside, making the demons beg for mercy and stop their evil deeds……”

Lu Yang had a strange expression on his face, feeling that his master’s artistic embellishment was a bit too much: “Why do I remember that the An Family Village was actually a brothel run by a group of flower demons who sucked human essence? They disguised it as a village to evade taxes. Later, the Great Xia Dynasty discovered the tax loophole and sealed off the An Family Village?”

Li Haoran was surprised: “Really? But if the sect master could make up such a story, he must have his reasons. Maybe he played an important role in it!”

“A patron, who was locked up for fifteen days.”

(End of the chapter)