Enduring humiliation for three years, seizing the elixir, the treasure, and the holy maiden.

The wind blowing across the Dead Sands brought a touch of coolness.

The breeze blew the small pile of grayish-white dust on the sand away into the distance.

Wang Mang's lips moved twice.

"Mahayana..."

"In the cultivation world, the realms above the Nascent Soul stage are the Void Refining stage, and above the Void Refining stage is the Body Integration stage."

Su Chen put his hands behind his back.

"Up to the Integration stage, one becomes a Mahayana cultivator."

"This realm originally only existed in the Upper Realm."

"I've never even heard of these sects on the Xuanhuang Continent."

Wang Mang plunged the sword into the sand, placed his hands on his knees, and remained silent for a long time.

"If you return to Luoyun Sect, go and find him."

Su Chen took a step forward, sat down next to Wang Mang, and draped his sleeves over his knees.

"There is bound to be a significant opportunity."

"Back then, Master was indeed biased."

"The position of true successor has been given to me."

"But your lightning magic is incredibly sharp and deadly..."

"This is enough to show that your master passed on this skill to you back then, which was also a sign of high hopes for you."

"The second way."

"Stay in Luoyan City."

"The two Void Refinement cultivators are stationed in Luoyan City. One is City Lord Li Ziran, and the other is myself."

"My word still carries weight in the city."

"I won't let you miss any opportunities I have in the future."

Wang Mang rubbed his knee twice.

With Su Chen by my side, I won't have to worry about anything.

Spirit stones, elixirs, magical artifacts, and powerful backers.

"I don't like living under someone else's roof."

Wang Mang slung the sword over his shoulder.

"I'm going back to Qingzhou."

Wang Mang pressed the sword on his shoulder down.

A streak of light rose up and headed southeast.

Wang Mang was incredibly proud.

Although I know I'll probably never catch up to Su Chen in this lifetime.

But he still refused to live under someone else's roof.

Actually, Su Chen had anticipated this guy's choice.

...

The spirit fish in the pond beneath the corridor have all sunk to the bottom at this hour.

Only a thin sliver of moonlight remained on the water's surface, shattered by the night breeze.

Wang Yuyan, wearing an outer robe, was by the window flipping through a book of medicine.

Her long hair was unbound and draped over her shoulders.

Looking up, he saw the man in the blue robe at the doorway, and he folded the medicine book over his knees.

"Was that thunder outside the city really Wang Mang?"

"It really is him."

Su Chen pushed open the door and sat down at the other end of the soft couch.

"He lost a leg and was chased from Tian Shu Star City to the Dead Sands by three Nascent Soul cultivators."

"A member of the Starry Sky Dao Sect."

Wang Yuyan's brows furrowed slightly.

"What grudge does the Starry Sky Dao Sect have against him?"

"I have no debt with him."

Su Chen propped himself up on the couch.

"I have a score to settle with you."

"They captured Wang Mang so they could use him to negotiate a price with me."

Wang Yuyan didn't ask any further questions.

Having followed Su Chen from Qingzhou to Xuanhuang over the years, she knew what questions to ask and what questions would only cause trouble.

Where are they?

"They've been sent back to Qingzhou."

Su Chen straightened his cuffs.

"Speaking of Qingzhou."

"This time, you will come with me back to Yanyu Pavilion."

Wang Yuyan stopped flipping through the medicine manual.

"Yanyu Pavilion?"

She pronounced those two words with a cold, emotionless tone.

"What are you going back for?"

"Look at your dad."

Su Chen raised an eyebrow.

"My father-in-law hasn't seen his daughter in years, it's time for him to show up."

Wang Yuyan placed the medicine manual on the couch.

A pair of jade-like feet peeked out from under her skirt, her toes tapping unconsciously on the edge of the couch.

"My father is doing very well."

"Thirty-odd mountain peaks, and several spirit mines."

"Besides, what's the point of going back to Misty Rain Pavilion?"

"Qingzhou is so big."

"There is a small town in Hanshan that is exceptionally lively and is said to be beautiful all year round."

"Further south, over at Luoyanjian, lies a thousand-year-old misty swamp."

"Why don't we go for a walk in those places?"

"make a sightseeing tour."

Wang Yuyan turned her face, a smile spreading across her eyes.

"You are now a Void Refinement cultivator."

"The world is vast, there's nowhere I can't go."

After listening, Su Chen remained silent for two breaths.

"Yu Yan."

"Your husband is now so poor he's practically penniless."

Wang Yuyan was stunned.

"What?"

"We've run out of spirit stones."

Su Chen reached into his sleeve, pulled out a storage bag, and dumped it onto the couch.

"If you don't return to Misty Rain Pavilion, what will you use to travel and enjoy the scenery?"

Wang Yuyan covered her mouth and smiled.

"Then let's go back."

"But this time, we need to collect more."

"I haven't taken a single share of the profits from the seven spirit mines over the years."

"Move everything out at once."

"So that we won't have to go back to it when we're old."

Su Chen responded with a verbal reply.

But he muttered something to himself.

A married daughter is like water spilled from a bowl.

If his father-in-law heard this, he'd probably be furious.

...

The flame of the bronze chandelier in the front hall was dimmed by the wind blowing through the corridor.

Li Tianqi sat under the lamp, using a silver needle to pick at the wick. He was extremely impatient and threw it away after a couple of tries.

"Back to Qingzhou?"

Li Tianqi propped himself up with his hand and sat down directly on the table.

Her legs dangled under the edge of the table, the apricot-colored skirt stretching out in an arc.

"Shall we take Sister Yuyan with us?"

"Aren't you taking me?"

"You stay in Luoyan City."

Su Chen pressed down on her swaying leg.

"You are now in the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, with a stronger foundation than Yu Yan, but you have learned a wide variety of killing techniques."

"I'll take advantage of this time to teach you that ancient cultivator's technique."

Li Tianqi's eyes lit up immediately.

"Wanwan."

"You should lead her in practicing this technique first."

...

A gust of hot wind swept over the tea fields at the foot of the mountain, turning the tea leaves on the mountainside into a layer of white foam.

The gate of Yanyu Pavilion has never been closed, not even for 360 days a year.

Thirty-seven mountain peaks, each with its own spiritual veins.

A platform was carved out halfway up the main peak, and on the platform was Zhang Zizhu's rocking chair.

The person in the rocking chair is playing with a pair of walnuts.

Wang Chongshan rolled the walnut twice in his palm.

Nascent Soul cultivators have a lifespan of a thousand years.

He has now entered the Nascent Soul stage.

He has a long lifespan; based on his current lifespan, he has at least five hundred years left.

Wang Chongshan knew perfectly well that his talent had reached its limit.

Transformation into a Deity?

It requires talent and opportunity.

Even if I were to spend another three hundred years, I would only be circling around the threshold of the mid-Nascent Soul stage.

Since that's the case, then we must live these five hundred years to the fullest.

If you need spirit stones, you won't lack them.

The seven spirit mines of Yanyu Pavilion produce so much in a year that even the warehouses of second-rate sects in Qingzhou couldn't hold it all.

In terms of cultivation level, Misty Rain Pavilion is still a small sect, that's true.

In the cultivation world, realm of cultivation determines one's status.

But who dares to touch the Misty Rain Pavilion?

Everyone in Qingzhou knows that Yanyu Pavilion is Su Chen's maternal home.

The maternal family of Su Chen, a true disciple of the Luoyun Sect.

The Misty Rain Pavilion still bears the name of an affiliated sect of the Falling Cloud Sect.

"Master, the tea has gone cold."

With one hand, he replaced the cup of tea next to Wang Chongshan.

Wang Chongshan then opened his eyes a crack.

I haven't seen my own daughter even once in all these years since she got married.

To say I don't want to would be a lie.

But to say that I think about it every day is not true.

Wang Chongshan has been living a very carefree life these past few years.

He carried his daughter on his back and found another Daoist partner.

That person is fifty years old this year.

In the world of cultivation, a fifty-year-old female cultivator is about the same age as a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl in an ordinary family; she is so tender that you'd be afraid to pinch her and leave a mark.

...