Are you really trying to cultivate immortality? Something feels off.

She slowly raised her eyes, her gaze filled with a faint, unresolved pain, as she looked into the unfathomable depths of the Dragon Abyss.

Xiaolong, how did you manage to get through those four years, those 1,400 days and nights of extreme pain and utter darkness?

Alone, he forged his path with his life.

……

"Senior sister," Yu Xintang mumbled as she tidied her hair and clothes, "Little Snake told me some gossip, do you want to hear it?"

Nie Zhao paused, then condescended to tilt his head slightly: "Hmm?"

"Ni Wentian, the young sect leader of the Suyu Sect, has fallen for Huo Jiangmei, the second senior sister of the Daodao Sect," Yu Xintang gently touched the tip of her nose, "Do these two sound familiar?"

Nie Zhao crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow slightly: "They all sound familiar."

Su Yuzong and Nan Chuan Chidi had a pre-existing marriage agreement. The other party was Ni Wentian, the young master of the sect, and Nie Shiyun, the second young lady of the Nie family.

Nie Zhao scoffed lightly, coldly enunciating, "He doesn't deserve it."

I don't know if they're saying he's not good enough for Nie Shiyun, or for Huo Jiangmei.

In short, it takes some effort.

"Ni Wentian is just a spoiled brat. He's been pampered by the treasures of the Suyu Sect all these years, and he's not young anymore, yet he's still stuck in the middle of the Golden Core stage," Yu Xintang said leisurely. "Huo Jiangmei naturally looks down on him."

Since the Sword Tomb was emptied last time, the Dao Seeking Sect has been quiet for quite some time.

Huo Jiangmei has kept a low profile in recent years, and it is said that she went back to recuperate in seclusion.

There was news a while ago that she had reached the late stage of the Nascent Soul Realm, and the sect leader of the Dao Seeking Sect went to great lengths to find her a famous sword.

Huo Jiangmei has decent talent, but she is also ambitious and naturally looks down on a spoiled brat like Ni Wentian who doesn't strive for improvement.

"That fool was so persistent and audacious that he sent his men to infiltrate the sect, drug Huo Jiangmei, and try to kidnap her, a disciple of the Dao Seeking Sect, to marry her," Yu Xintang chuckled, a hint of disdain in her eyes. "After being exposed, he was just a lowly Golden Core cultivator and couldn't win, so he was ganged up on and severely injured by Huo Jiangmei and her junior sister who plays the flute. He was then thrown out of the Dao Seeking Sect's gate in broad daylight, supposedly because his source power was damaged. That old bastard from the Su Yu Sect is now frantically searching the world for someone to save his son."

Nie Zhao sneered: "Even if Huo Jiangmei is mentally ill, she's still a cultivator who can reach the Nascent Soul Realm before the age of thirty. Is that something Ni Wentian could possibly achieve?"

"He's a piece of trash, how dare he treat women as objects to be chosen at will? The mere Su Yu Sect only relies on having two Tai Xu Realm elders to oversee it," Nie Zhao spat lightly, his knuckles slowly clenching, his eyes cold, "I'll tear them to shreds sooner or later."

Yu Xintang, indignant, exclaimed, "That's right! Senior Sister is awesome! She's shameless! That Su Yu Sect is truly a disgrace to all cultivators in the world, making them ashamed to be associated with it!"

The two of them gossiped for ages and hurled eight hundred different insults at each other, and they were still going on and on.

Sudden--

A violent dragon's breath surged from the silent Dragon Abyss, causing a tremendous upheaval.

The perpetually icy mist at the bottom of the abyss surged violently, and the chaotic air currents swirling between the caves scattered in all directions like startled waves.

Nie Zhao frowned instantly, grabbed Yu Xintang's shoulder, and led her back dozens of meters.

Ice crystals that had been frozen on the stone wall for thousands of years crumbled away, and ancient dragon breath surged out along the underground currents, causing the entire East China Sea to surge and waves to rise several meters high.

Nie Zhao's expression changed drastically. He subconsciously pressed his hand on Feng Zhi at his waist, a tremor of fear rising from his bloodline instincts.

The Dragon Clan and the Phoenix Clan share an ancient bloodline, and in some respects, they can be said to share the same roots.

For the past four years, the depths of Longyuan have remained a deathly silent undercurrent.

Some clansmen even privately speculated that the spirited Crown Prince had probably already perished in the violent dragon's breath at the bottom of the abyss.

But at this moment, an overwhelming pressure swept over them, cold and desolate, making the Dragon Guards' breathing difficult and their backs unconsciously hunch slightly.

From the depths of darkness, a figure emerged.

Four years of suffering, like a whetstone, have erased the youthful naiveté and sharpness that remained in his youth. His blue robes, soaked by the cold air from the abyss, have turned a slightly frosty color, and the fabric is still stained with dried blood that has not yet dissipated.

This is Tan Suiting.

His long eyelashes drooped, concealing the cold glint in his eyes. A faint, deep red halo shone in his pupils, the ancient dragon blood awakened by the relentless tempering of the raging dragon's breath, carrying with it an indifferent gaze.

The dragon servants waiting outside stood frozen in place, their eyes wide with shock.

Everyone knows that four years ago, when His Highness the Crown Prince insisted on entering Dragon Abyss, the Dragon Clan Empress vehemently opposed it.

Among the Dragon Clan of the East Sea, quite a few dragon cultivators went to Dragon Abyss to cultivate in order to become stronger, only to eventually perish there.

They would rather their son become an ordinary person, or even someone with mediocre talent, than have him perish in the Dragon Abyss for the sake of cultivation.

Ke Tan Suiting only said one sentence.

I want to enter Wanjian Mountain.

Four years have passed, and the boy before me now possesses a restrained yet powerful aura, with a phantom of space tearing around him.

They have definitely entered the Tai Xu Realm.

At twenty-three years old, in the custom of the dragon race where the age of adulthood is twenty-five, one can even be considered a child, and needs extra care when going out.

The Realm of Great Emptiness.

This is beyond rare.

This is appalling.

Tan Suiting lightly grasped Feng Lian with his fingertips, and the sword intent resonated gently in his sea of ​​consciousness.

The dragon scales are nowhere to be found.

When it returned to the East Sea that year, the whip, which had become a spirit, seemed resentful. Its new master, whom it hadn't even warmed up yet, had taken away Fusheng, but it had left it to Tan Suiting.

He stormed off to the entrance of the Feng Hua Sect and stood atop the giant spirit stone at the gate.

Its entire body is black and red, and its shape resembles a crescent moon, inspiring awe in those who behold it.

The whip, in its discontent, fell into a deep sleep, presumably waiting for Xie Wei to return to the sect, ready for a life-or-death battle.

Feng Jilan coldly asked, "Why did you bring back a magical artifact to serve as a gatekeeper?"

Shen Chunri chuckled: "I don't know, I don't know, Master."

Nie Zhao, quick to speak, concluded: "Having been abandoned by Xie Weixing, I'm standing here like a waiting-for-husband stone, preparing for revenge."

Feng Jilan suddenly realized, raised his finger and pointed: "So that's how it is, no wonder the resentment was so strong."

He cleared his throat and earnestly said, "Master is telling you, the way to live is to never start something and then abandon it. You can't pick up magical artifacts from outside. You have to..."

Shen Chunri felt dizzy: "Master, I'm going into seclusion. Yu Xintang has been bullying me lately. I'm not a snake if I don't reach the Nascent Soul stage."

After saying that, he ran away in a flash.

Before he knew Xie Weixing was still alive, Shen Chunri would sit in the disciples' courtyard in a daze every day, and would occasionally shed a couple of snake tears.

Feng Jilan aged ten years overnight.

Of course, upon learning that his heinous third disciple was still alive, Shen Chunri regained his youth on the spot. He stopped shedding tears and, upon hearing that Tan Suiting was leading troops to attack the southern border, he rolled up his sleeves without hesitation to go and help.

---

Tomorrow we'll be welcoming back the Emperor! I'm so excited!