Demon, come and cultivate for me.

After a slight hesitation, Chen Xiangzi handed over the jade box.

Now, he was even more curious than Zhou Chu about what was inside.

Zhou Chu took it, examined it over and over, then took out the jade disc given to him by Xu Kun from his bosom and placed it in the recessed area of ​​the jade box.

As expected, the jade disc and the jade box blended perfectly, without a single gap.

With a click from inside, the lid of the jade box slowly lifted up.

A painting lies quietly within it.

"The Mountain and Sea Map!" Chen Xiangzi's face lit up with joy, and he reached out to take it.

Zhou Chu took out the Mountain and Sea Map before him and handed the empty box to Chen Xiangzi.

"You..." Chen Xiangzi was about to get angry, but then he suddenly remembered that this guy had just broken through to the True Body Realm and he couldn't beat him, so he could only force himself to calm down.

In fact, even when Zhou Chu was at his peak, he couldn't beat him...

The Mountain and Sea Map slowly unfolded, revealing the entirety of this world before Zhou Chu's eyes.

It's huge! It's way too big!

On the huge map, which was four or five zhang square, the State of Yan was only the size of a thumb.

There were more than a dozen states of varying sizes in the Central Plains, among which Qin and Chu were slightly larger, but they were still only the size of a palm on the map.

Unlike the surrounding areas, these countries in the Middle Kingdom are not described; they are only marked with the character "abandoned" on the map.

Many places outside the Central Plains also have markings, such as the barbarian countries north of Yan, which are marked with "all people ride beasts".

Further north, a large area of ​​land is called "Wilderness" and marked with the word "danger".

Further north of the desolate ruins, something strange appears: there is an extremely thick pillar depicted on it, covering an area larger than the Yan Kingdom.

It is named "Pillar of the North Pole" and marked as "dangerous".

At the top of the pillar is a spring called "Longevity Spring," with the words "Danger" and "Transformation" marked above it.

The rest of the land surrounding the Central Plains includes the Sacred Realm of Yaochi in the west, the Immortal Island of Penglai in the east, and the Abyss Sea in the south. These combined account for only one-thousandth of the entire map.

Further out, there are the kingdoms of Rakshasa, the Netherworld, the Spirit Realm, and the Asura Kingdom.

Zhou Chu looked at the map and secretly clicked his tongue in amazement. This place was so big that even if you had a plane, you wouldn't be able to see it all in a year or two.

He lowered his gaze and saw that the Baiyue Ten Thousand Mountains were divided into three parts, with the area near the Chu Kingdom marked "dangerous".

The section to the south is marked "dangerous".

The southernmost point, near the Abyss Sea, is marked as "Dead Land".

He memorized all the contents of the Mountain and Sea Map, printed them on the Taixu Wuxiang Map, then folded the map and rolled it up.

Chen Xiangzi gazed at the Mountain and Sea Map and said, "This map..."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Chu handed him the map: "This is your uncle's keepsake. Keep it safe."

Chen Xiangzi was taken aback. He thought Zhou Chu would keep the map for himself, but he didn't expect him to return it to him so easily.

"What are you standing there for? It's time to go back." Zhou Chu's biggest concern right now is his several cartloads of silver.

"Wait a moment." Chen Xiangzi summoned a fire talisman, burning his uncle's body to ashes and placing it in a jade box.

He then took out incense, candles, paper money, fruits, and other offerings from his satchel and performed a soul-crossing ritual for his uncle and the wronged souls in the Thousand Souls Gathering Yin Array.

"This thing can really hold a lot." Zhou Chu looked at Chen Xiangzi's tattered satchel, making no attempt to hide the envy in his eyes.

Xie Qi patted Zhou Chu on the shoulder and said, "Do you want it?"

"Of course I want it." Zhou Chu nodded. This wasn't just a satchel; it was practically a storage space.

Zhou Chu is lacking more than just a satchel; he also lacks a handy weapon, a place to stay, a demon soul to deduce cultivation techniques, and everything except money.

"You're already a True Body Realm expert, so a mere satchel is something you can have whenever you want, right?" Xie Qi said, glancing at Chen Xiangzi.

Chen Xiangzi felt a pang of anxiety under his gaze and quickly clutched his satchel, saying:

"This item has been passed down through generations; you can't use it even if you steal it."

"Don't worry, I'm not that kind of person."

Zhou Chu has always been principled; even if something is useful, he will not take it from others without reason.

"Are you still coming or not?" Chen Xiangzi didn't want to continue this topic.

"Walk!"

Zhou Chu used a teleportation array, and in an instant, the three of them returned to the camp.

The Nine Palaces Formation is still there, but the treacherous ghosts that surrounded the camp have disappeared.

"Are you alright?" Xie Ning asked as soon as the three of them returned.

"My sister has become more sensible since she went out for a while." Xie Qi couldn't help but smile.

But soon, her smile froze.

Xie Ning and Xie Qi passed each other, and Xie Ning met Zhou Chu, pinching and touching him here and there to see if he was injured.

"I'm fine." Zhou Chu pushed her away calmly.

What's wrong with these brother and sister? They both like to touch things indiscriminately.

"You said you were fine, but your clothes are all torn like this, you look like a beggar." Xie Ning scolded, "Come on, I'll take you to change your clothes."

After saying that, he grabbed Zhou Chu's wrist and left.

"What kind of behavior is this! Let go of each other!" Xie Qi immediately separated the two upon seeing this.

Zhou Chu said, "I'm really fine. I even broke through my cultivation level."

Xu Yuan grinned from the side. "Is this even human language? What does 'casually breaking through to a higher realm' mean?"

The thought that he was nearly thirty years old and still stuck at the middle stage of cultivation filled Xu Yuan with a sense of melancholy.

If the Xu family hadn't fallen, he might have become a top-tier martial artist long ago, just like Xie Qi.

"Really?" Xie Ning exclaimed in surprise, "You're now in the True Body Realm?"

"That's right."

"Very good!"

"Huh? What's so great?"

"It's just..." Xie Ning started to say, but a blush suddenly appeared on her face: "It's nothing."

Having said that, he skipped and hopped back to the carriage.

"What do you mean?" Zhou Chu asked Xie Qi with a puzzled look.

Why was she so happy to have broken through to the True Body Realm?

You'll find out later.

Xie Qi watched her sister's departing figure, sighed, and turned to take stock of the losses.

After Xie Qi left, Xu Yuan walked up to Zhou Chu and said:

"You really can't figure out what that means?"

Zhou Chu said, "If I could tell, I wouldn't have asked."

"Let me tell you..." Xu Yuan leaned close to Zhou Chu's ear and whispered something.

……

"What? Propose marriage at your house?" Zhou Chu exclaimed.

Xie Ning quickly covered Zhou Chu's mouth: "Keep your voice down!"

Zhou Chu dismissed Xu Yuan's words as nonsense and didn't take them seriously.

Surprisingly, this kid was right.

As the eldest daughter of the Xie family, Xie Ning must have extremely high requirements for choosing a husband.

They either come from a prominent family, hold a high position of power, or have exceptional talent.

Zhou Chu, who was not yet twenty years old, broke through to the True Body Realm, just meeting the last requirement.

The marriage between Xie Ning and the Crown Prince has not yet been finalized. It was only mentioned casually by the Prince of Yan that Xie Ning's daughter and my son could be a perfect match.

A king's words are not to be taken lightly. The Prince of Yan must have spoken after careful consideration. To say it casually in private was merely to gauge the Xie family's reaction.

The Xie family wielded immense power and influence in the Yan state.

For the Xie family, a marriage alliance with the royal family was merely icing on the cake.

For the royal family of Yan, or more precisely, for the crown prince, a marriage alliance with the Xie family would definitely strengthen their power.

The Xie family did not object to this. A woman should marry when she comes of age, and Xie Ning would eventually have to get married. Marrying the Crown Prince was a good choice.

Upon learning this news, Xie Ning reacted very strongly. In front of her family, she openly argued with her parents and declared that she would never marry a man twenty years her senior.

Her father was furious and immediately ordered someone to take her back to her room and confine her for six months.