It was already late afternoon, and the sun was beginning to dip toward the horizon. Jiang Youfu had taken his place at his dedicated stove in the Guiyuan Garden, working alongside Liu Shengsheng to prepare ingredients for the sect's New Year's Eve feast.
Lin Xiao, having left the task of sorting through the storage rings to Liao Pantou and Liu Yunan, made his way down the mountain to find Wang Goudan, who was currently idling away the time in the small courtyard that the village chief had arranged for Li Zhanying.
At that moment, Wang Goudan was lying in the courtyard, staring up at the sky with a long sigh. The whims of a Nascent Soul elder were truly unpredictable. Despite being left behind to attend to the elder, he had not seen Li Zhanying since the morning. Wang Goudan suddenly regretted his decision. If he had known it would be like this, he might as well have returned to his sect by now, where he could have spent the day meditating on his little mat.
Still, the spiritual energy here was quite dense—almost comparable to that of his sect's cultivation hall. No wonder Lingxian Sect had chosen this place as their base. How had Shangyang Sect missed out on such a prime location? The only downside was how remote this place was; he hadn't seen a single beautiful woman, just rustic village girls. He sighed again. If he went back to the sect, maybe he could even bring back a few pretty junior sisters to follow him…
Just as Wang Goudan was lost in these thoughts, Lin Xiao appeared at the courtyard gate. Seeing Wang Goudan's lecherous expression, Lin Xiao unceremoniously interrupted his fantasies:
"Fellow Daoist Wang, how have you been finding your stay in Xiushui Village?"
Startled out of his reverie, Wang Goudan almost reflexively blurted out, "Not great," but quickly swallowed the words when he caught sight of Lin Xiao. He adjusted his expression and replied with a forced smile, "Ah, it's Sect Master Lin! Everything is great—this Xiushui Village is truly as wonderful as Elder Li said. Just these past couple of days, I've already grown so fond of it that I don't want to return to my sect."
Lin Xiao returned the smile but didn't respond to the flattery. Instead, he cut straight to the point: "I'd like to have a chat with you, Fellow Daoist Wang. Do you have some time right now?"
Wang Goudan was indeed bored, and this was the sect master of a formidable sect that had defeated Wei Hai. There was no way he could refuse, especially not on Lingxian Sect's turf. So, he immediately stood up and led Lin Xiao into the courtyard.
Lin Xiao followed him in but stopped in the courtyard without entering the house. Although this was Xiushui Village, the place was still arranged for Elder Li, who was the temporary master of this courtyard. Since Elder Li wasn't home, it wouldn't be polite to enter the house without permission.
Seeing Lin Xiao's actions, Wang Goudan also stayed in the courtyard, curious about what the young sect master wanted to discuss.
Lin Xiao wasn't very skilled in the art of subtle conversation. After a moment of hesitation, he decided to start by asking about the history of Shangyang Sect. However, to his dismay, Wang Goudan was clueless. He was just an ordinary disciple who had only barely managed to reach the Foundation Establishment stage after many years of cultivation. Even if the elders occasionally mentioned the sect's history, he had never paid attention, often dozing off during such lectures.
Thus, Lin Xiao's first attempt at conversation quickly fell flat.
Fortunately, Wang Goudan, out of respect for Lin Xiao's status and strength—after all, this was a sect master who had defeated Wei Hai—picked up the slack in the conversation. Realizing that Lin Xiao might be interested in learning more about Shangyang Sect, Wang Goudan decided to share what he did know: the various anecdotes and minor details of the sect.
As he noticed Lin Xiao's willingness to listen, Wang Goudan became more enthusiastic, eagerly spilling every bit of information he had ever heard or witnessed. By the end of the conversation, Lin Xiao even knew the color preference of Elder Luo, the most powerful figure in Shangyang Sect, for his undergarments—yellow, though Lin Xiao had no idea who this Elder Luo was.
After probing for information, Lin Xiao finally excused himself. From the conversation, he gathered that Shangyang Sect didn't seem to have any particularly special forbidden grounds. The only mysterious place mentioned was the secluded area where their Nascent Soul Patriarch had once meditated, though it had turned out that the Patriarch had passed away long ago, his body long since dried out.
According to Wang Goudan, the sect's leader had sent some disciples to retrieve the Patriarch's remains, and there were no reports of anything unusual in that cave—just a spacious chamber with abundant spiritual energy. Wang Goudan also mentioned a rumored sect leader's token that was passed down from one leader to the next, said to be the key to truly inheriting Shangyang Sect. However, after killing the previous sect leader, Wei Hai never obtained this token. Wang Goudan suspected that the elders had taken it.
With this information in mind, Lin Xiao concluded that the Taiyin Sealing Array likely wasn't located in Shangyang Sect. After all, a sect without a restricted area probably wouldn't be harboring such a high-level, activated array. If it were a low-level array, it wouldn't be kept secret, and if it were high-level, there would surely be a restricted area guarding it to prevent accidental intrusions.
Having ruled out Shangyang Sect, Lin Xiao returned to Lingxian Sect. By now, it was dusk, and the aroma of Jiang Youfu's cooking wafted all the way to the foot of the mountain. Following the scent, Lin Xiao could have navigated back to the sect even with his eyes closed.
When he arrived at the dinner table under the Guiyuan Garden, he found everyone in the sect already seated around the makeshift wooden table. Even Tuan Tuan, Xiao Luan, and Da Tao were seated in their designated spots, leaving only Lin Xiao and the chef, Jiang Youfu, yet to sit.
"Here he is, Lin Xiao's back!"
"Hurry up and take your seat, Lin Xiao! The food's ready, and we can start as soon as you sit down!"
Seeing Lin Xiao return, everyone enthusiastically urged him to take his seat. Once he did, Jiang Youfu immediately used his control technique to send dishes flying onto the large table.
"Dinner is served!"