Chapter 602: An Old Acquaintance from the Heavenly Court Arrives

The secular world's troubles are endless. Even an afternoon of quiet is a rare treasure.

For twelve consecutive years, the Celestial Wind Sect and the Fengli Sect fought nonstop. Both sides suffered casualties, and a Heavenly Immortal or two from each side had been gravely injured.

Perhaps because the flames of war didn't spread to Fengmo, many unaffiliated practitioners settled on the planet. They brought additional income to the Xinghai Sect, which had only recently stabilized after its expansion.

Maintaining the operation of an entire celestial sect was by no means easy. Following Wang Sheng's advice, the Xinghai Sect carried out a series of small-scale reforms, shifting from the old approach of "anyone handling anything" to giving each elder specific duties. Overseers were dedicated to finances, military matters, treasures, and alchemical pills, establishing a simple operational system.

Of course, Wang Sheng himself didn't really understand such management matters. The concrete plans all came from "Rice Ball," who was in Xinghai City.

These twelve years were the most comfortable and carefree years that Wang Sheng had experienced since arriving at the thirteen qi planets.

His senior sister was by his side, and Spiritless accompanied him. When he felt restless during meditation, he would go drink and enjoy himself with Lishang or Linyuan, or seek out Yao Xingzi to learn more about matters related to primal qi passages and divination. He even busied himself helping his senior sister pass her heavenly tribulation.

At the time, Wang Sheng had asked Linyuan to set up twelve layers of arrays. However, Mu Wanxuan stubbornly walked out of its range and let the heavenly tribulation strike her head-on, hoping that it would better temper her this way.

However, she forgot that she was still wearing a set of defensive spiritual treasures. The first eight of her nine heavenly tribulation lightning strikes didn't harm her in the slightest, while the ninth merely made her sway slightly.

Her small cyan bird was successfully tempered instead.

Setting aside Wang Sheng's previous, somewhat "abnormal" situation, his senior sister's nine tribulation lightning truly made many Xinghai Sect cultivators marvel.

The number of heavenly tribulations came in threes, sixes, and nines. The vast majority of cultivators faced six, while only those with exceptionally strong aptitude and cultivation were struck nine times.

From the moment Mu Wanxuan entered the Xinghai Sect, its members saw her merely as Wang Sheng's beloved woman. At most, she was considered his Daoist partner or jokingly called the vice sect master's lifelong nemesis.

But her heavenly tribulation made many cultivators pay closer attention to her, only for the Primordial Immortals and True Immortals to discover that they could not quite see through her Dao Rhythm. With clarity and turbidity intermingled, the Great Dao of Yin and Yang was never easy to discern.

After breaking through, Mu Wanxuan went back into seclusion, seemingly intending to charge straight to the Ascended Immortal Realm in one go. Haste only led to failure in cultivation, though. She remained in seclusion for another two years and only recently emerged from the meditation room.

Once again, she had reached a familiar bottleneck.

Opening her eyes, she lowered her head and, with a hint of contemplation, looked at the lines on her palm. Yin and yang flickered within it.

Several crisp bird calls came from her shoulder. The cyan bird lightly fluttered its wings and circled her several times, making her smile faintly.

Hearing sword cries outside the building and sensing her junior brother's aura nearby, she rose and pushed open the meditation room's window.

The sunlight passed through the array's light barrier, making it neither warm nor piercing. Looking ever more unrestrained, Wang Sheng practiced swordsmanship in the morning light. His sword techniques were always so eye-catching, drawing one in and leaving the heart full of insights.

Mu Wanxuan sat sideways on the windowsill's edge, letting the cyan bird circle beside her. She used her fingers to comb a strand of long hair at her chest as she watched Wang Sheng. The same sweet smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

If only I could live like this with my junior brother forever.

With a Dao to pursue, longevity to chase, and her junior brother by her side, she would never feel bored or lonely. When they reached greater depths in their cultivation, they could even have one or two children.

"Senior Sister?" Wang Sheng called, pulling Mu Wanxuan out of her daydream.

The images she had just imagined caused her cheeks to turn rosy red. Nevertheless, she smiled at Wang Sheng with quiet contentment.

"Let's go stroll through the city, buy some gifts, and pay our friends a visit."

"Okay," his senior sister answered, then added, "Lishang."

"You want to go find the vice sect master?" Wang Sheng asked.

"

Mm.

" Mu Wanxuan nodded lightly and then made a few hand gestures to explain that she had already arranged with Lishang to meet at the Lotus Pavilion after leaving seclusion.

Wang Sheng smiled. "You two are becoming really close. I'll go change robes."

Mu Wanxuan lowered her head and glanced at her long dress. She wanted to change since she had worn it for more than ten years. However, her junior brother's earlier reminder made her decide to keep it on.

Immortal maidens never sweat anyway.

Soon, the two stepped out of their place of seclusion. Wang Sheng noticed that Yao Xingzi's small building was also covered in arrays, a clear indication that he had gone into seclusion as well. Lishang probably hadn't, though. After all, the sect required someone to serve as its backbone and handle urgent matters.

Wang Sheng led Mu Wanxuan down to the back mountain valley, the arrays in their path opening and closing on their own. Without any obstruction, they landed beside the lotus pond.

Wang Sheng called out, "Vice Sect Master."

Lishang, who was cultivating at the bottom of the pond, told them to sit in the pavilion and wait for her for a moment.

With the hem of her skirt and her long hair floating freely, she looked down at her immortal dress. Frowning, she muttered, "Why did we clash outfits again?"

Moments later, she took out an emerald-green celestial dress. Since the clothing was impervious to water and fire, she changed into it underwater.

***

At the edge of the ancient battlefield, a figure stood in front of the extremely hidden great Buddha statue. He looked as though he had fused with the endless space.

Even Long Aotian, the cultivation with the highest realm in the thirteen qi planets, would likely only be able to see a faint human silhouette with his naked eye. His immortal perception would fail to sense even the slightest outline of the man.

The white-haired old man had sunken eye sockets and a somewhat frail build. He looked as if illness had long tormented him, yet he didn't seem severely injured or gravely sick. On the contrary, he had abundant spirit and vitality.

Gazing at that great Buddha statue, a trace of light reflected within his pupils, which were like a bottomless abyss.

Forget it. I won't return for now.

The old man breathed out slowly. He had merely once taken shelter at that place back then. With his ill fortune clinging to him, what could he accomplish by going back?

He simply had not expected that he would still have a lineage of teachings being passed down.

The old man had crossed the vast and boundless space from an unknown distance just to come here. However, he recalled that he wouldn't find the answer he sought here.

"Forget it. What good would getting the answer do anyway?"

The old man shook his head and sighed. He was about to vanish into space to quietly escape when Wang Sheng and his senior sister left the Xinghai Sect's defensive array.

Wang Sheng formed a white cloud with his immortal power, then carried his senior sister toward Xinghai City.

Huh? Pure Yang Art?

The old man flashed and vanished. He reappeared moments later above Fengmo. His gaze pierced through a thousand

li

of mist and clouds, locking onto Wang Sheng.

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Shaking his head with a light smile, the old man turned slightly and then disappeared once more.

"

Mm?

"

At the city gate, Wang Sheng looked over his shoulder, finding more than ten cultivators flying in from various directions. They all looked somewhat clueless.

Wang Sheng gave them a somewhat ugly smile and then entered the city gate hand in hand with Mu Wanxuan.

Slightly curious, Mu Wanxuan blinked. "What's wrong?"

He muttered, "I just felt like someone was staring at me."

He telepathically asked Yaoyun about it, but even she hadn't sensed anyone spying.

That's strange. A cultivator's spiritual perception is never wrong. Perhaps some cultivator behind me hurriedly glanced at me just now.

Wang Sheng was in quite a good mood, though. Casually, he hummed, "Just because I looked at you one extra time in the crowd...♪"

Mu Wanxuan snorted and laughed. "So what?!♪"

"Uh, what do you feel like eating today? Let's find a fancy tavern and buy some food and wine to take with us."

Mu Wanxuan's eyes instantly lit up. "

Mm.

"

Her immortal perception began to search continuously throughout the city.

As the Xinghai Sect's sphere of influence expanded year by year, its influence among the thirteen qi planets grew with each passing day as well. Xinghai City, which was located at the core of the Xinghai Sect's territory, also ushered in significant development.

When unaffiliated practitioners chose places to cultivate, they mostly prioritized stability and safety. However, they also considered the Spirit Stone tax and the distance to the ancient battlefield. Right now, Xinghai City was naturally the top choice among the Thirteen Stars. The Celestial Wind Sect and the Fengli Sect charged unaffiliated practitioners slightly higher Spirit Stone taxes.

At this time, Xinghai City was more or less already overcrowded. The walls had already been pushed outward dozens of

li

, yet all residences had already been occupied. It was still somewhat unable to cope with the continuous arrival of unaffiliated practitioners.

While accompanying his senior sister on a stroll through half the city, Wang Sheng felt proud of the city's development. After all, he had contributed to it quite a bit himself.

Soon, the martial siblings walked out of a tavern named Zhaoyan Pavilion. In Wang Sheng's hand was a cloth bag—a simple storage artifact that also functioned as a "takeout dining box." It contained more than ten exquisite delicacies.

They just had to find Huai Jing and the others now so they could have a meal with them. However, Wang Sheng had just taken two steps out of the tavern when he heard someone greet him from behind.

"Excuse me, Daoist Friend. May I ask for directions?"

Sweeping his immortal perception behind him, Wang Sheng sensed a gentle and rather familiar aura. He turned around and saw an old man in white robes smiling at him. The old man had a calm gaze, and the sunlight made him look a bit softer.

Heavenly Immortal? No, he seems more like a True Immortal on the verge of breaking through to the Heavenly Immortal Realm. Currently, his cultivation realm is roughly comparable to mine.

Wang Sheng sighed mentally. As it turned out, dragons and tigers were hiding among the unaffiliated practitioners.

He smiled faintly. "Of course. Where do you wish to go, Senior?"

Still smiling, the old man answered, "I happen to enjoy a bit of wine. I'm parched from the road, but I can't seem to find fine wine nearby."

Huh? He's asking about wine? That's definitely strange.

Wang Sheng didn't think much of it, though. From the cloth bag, he took out two jugs of the finest celestial wine one could buy with Spirit Stones in Xinghai City.

"If you're looking for fine wine, then I happen to have some here. If you don't mind, Senior, these can at least quench your thirst."

"

Oh?

" The old man's eyes immediately curved into a smile as he took the jugs that Wang Sheng had handed over with immortal power. "I can't just take your treasure for nothing, Daoist Friend."

He rummaged in his sleeve for a moment and took out a thin scripture.

Wang Sheng was momentarily stunned.

Have I triggered some fortuitous encounter rhythm? No, nothing in this world is truly free. This old man appeared out of nowhere and looked at me with a strange familiarity. Now, he's pulling out a scripture just for two jugs of celestial wine. This is clearly a setup!

In the next instant, Wang Sheng deeply shouted, "Wait!"

Startled, the old man looked at him with some confusion.

Wang Sheng smiled. "How can I convey my sentiments with only what's in the cup? We have some food here to go with the wine. Why not accompany us and have a few drinks together?"

The old man could not help but laugh aloud. He stuffed the scripture he had just taken out back into his sleeve. "

Hahahaha!

I respectfully accept your offer."