After hearing the description from the sect leader Xuri, the elders present exchanged astonished glances for a moment.
Then they began to whisper amongst themselves.
Some felt such an event was abnormal and wondered if the Grand Elder should be summoned. Others speculated if Zhu Xiongying might have encountered the ruins or remnants of an ancient immortal, whose methods they couldn't detect, making the display of skill appear incredibly masterful.
Still others felt there was no need to overthink it.
They should just take the person in as a disciple first.
The ultimate outcome was that Zhu Xiongying smoothly joined the Qingyang Sect as a disciple, and even became a disciple of Sect Leader Xuri. He finally cleared the suspicion of being possessed by a great cultivator or cultivating demonic arts.
Although the Qingyang Sect did not issue a formal clarification for him, his acceptance into the sect was enough to clear his name in the eyes of the world. After all, the Qingyang Sect was the foremost among the three major righteous sects in the Southern Region, and would absolutely not accept someone possessed or practicing demonic arts as a disciple.
Of course, this was the surface situation. In private, both the Qingyang Sect and other sects were diligently investigating the relevant circumstances, hoping to ascertain the truth.
If there truly was some immortal site.
They still wished to claim it for themselves.
During their investigation, Ding Yun, except for the entire day of moving and ancestral worship, was quite busy. She didn't have time to control her River God avatar to scatter wealth and treasures. On other days, she would specially set aside a few hours each day to randomly select people who dropped items into the river, manifest, and activate her River God abilities.
However, for many days, there were no significant catches.
The items dropped into the river were all ordinary trinkets, which even with one or two evolutions from her, wouldn't have much effect and were unlikely to cause any stir.
Until one day, over a month later.
On this day, Ding Yun had just given a honest child a silver peach pit and a golden peach pit when she suddenly detected a treasure falling into a certain river. To avoid missing the opportunity, she quickly teleported there and firmly grasped the treasure. After activating her abilities for a few seconds, Ding Yun emerged holding three pagodas:
"Young..."
"Oh, old man, did you lose this unremarkable Myriad Treasure Pagoda, a semi-immortal artifact with only the effects of suppression and smashing people, or this shimmering silver Myriad Treasure Pagoda containing ten thousand top-grade spirit artifacts, or perhaps this golden, dazzling Myriad Treasure Pagoda that contains a small cave-heaven and blessed land within itself, nurturing myriad treasures, a top-grade immortal artifact Myriad Treasure Pagoda?
Old man, please answer honestly!"
Because the River God's fixed procedure began with "young," as in the original version of the young woodcutter, Ding Yun, upon appearing, habitually started with "young."
Then she saw an old man standing by the river, with a group of old men standing behind him. So, she had to change her address to "old man," but other aspects remained unchanged, and she was giving him good things.
"This..."
"Wait, let me sort this out. Did the Sect Leader just become dissatisfied with the intelligence we brought back and angrily threw the sect's supreme treasure, the Myriad Treasure Pagoda, into the river, shouting, 'I'm throwing the thing into the river now, and you all said a River God would appear. Now where is the River God?'"
"That's precisely what happened..."
"No, don't you see that the fairy maiden has, in addition to our sect's supreme treasure, the Myriad Treasure Pagoda, an immortal artifact-level Myriad Treasure Pagoda, and a top-grade immortal artifact-level Myriad Treasure Pagoda? This is simply a windfall! Quickly, quickly urge the Sect Leader to answer honestly.
Remember, you must answer honestly.
Did we tell our Sect Leader just now?"
"I think so. Let's remind him again. Our Sect Leader is famously greedy for treasures. I'll remind him via divine soul transmission."
Facing the subtle movements of these old men behind her, Ding Yun simply turned a blind eye, pretending not to see them. She repeated her words once more, urging the old man who had truly lost the treasure to answer quickly.
That old man, the Sect Leader of the Myriad Treasure Sect, was not foolish. Seeing the utterly unexpected scene before him, and with continuous reminders from the elders behind him, he quickly made a wise choice, stating that the unremarkable semi-immortal artifact was what he had lost.
Then, he waited anxiously for Ding Yun's reaction.
He was afraid Ding Yun wouldn't play by the rules.
However, Ding Yun, of course, did not deviate. She immediately followed her principle, stating that he was an honest old man and that all three items were a reward for him.
With that, Ding Yun threw the three treasures in her hands to the Sect Leader of the Myriad Treasure Sect and disappeared.
The Sect Leader of the Myriad Treasure Sect, naturally, excitedly picked up the three Myriad Treasure Pagodas and examined them carefully. The elders standing behind him also quickly surrounded him, either speaking or reaching out to examine whether the three treasures were real, creating quite a lively scene for a long time.
After about an hour, they finally became completely convinced that the three treasures were real, that the two extra ones were indeed a low-grade immortal artifact and a top-grade immortal artifact, and that they were not dreaming but experiencing reality.
"Such an outrageous thing is actually true?"
"Are we just incredibly lucky, or have we gained an immortal destiny? Sect Leader, your luck is too good! I've thrown treasures into rivers where fairies have appeared more than once, and nothing happened. Yet you just casually throw something in and encounter this. Could it be that the core issue of whether a fairy appears is whether you don't believe?"
"Or perhaps a river only manifests once!"
"Sect Leader, with this, shouldn't the Myriad Treasure Sect be the wealthiest sect in the world now? That single low-grade immortal artifact alone contains over ten thousand top-grade spirit artifacts.
Very few sects in the world have that many!
Not to mention the top-grade immortal artifact with a cave-heaven and blessed land.
It feels like from now on, our Myriad Treasure Sect's name will truly be well-deserved and fitting!"
"Don't get too arrogant. I've heard that some sects in the Central Region are located in places that are themselves cave-heavens and blessed lands. From now on, everyone must remember to try their best to throw their treasures into lakes and rivers whenever they encounter them. It doesn't hurt to try more!"
"Um, Sect Leader, several of my disciples have already reached the Golden Core realm, and they are still using low-grade spirit artifacts. Given how much benefit we've received this time, shouldn't you share some with us elders and disciples? We don't dare to ask for immortal artifacts.
But those top-grade spirit artifacts within the low-grade immortal artifact.
You should at least share some with us!"
"That's right, Sect Leader, you can't be too stingy!"
"We dare not ask for immortal artifacts, nor do we dare to touch the sect's supreme treasure, but we must get a share of the top-grade spirit artifacts!"
"Alright, alright, I understand. You're all just like this. Let's go back to the main hall first, and we'll carefully sort out those ten thousand top-grade spirit artifacts. We don't have that many core disciples anyway. I guarantee everyone will get some, alright? Let's go back and sort them out first!"
"Okay..."