Chapter 460 - 455: I’m Back

Right now, Du Youqian looked a little worse for wear.

His aura was faint, and there wasn’t a single patch of unblemished skin on his entire body.

A normal person would have long since bled to death.

But for a Nascent Soul Master, such injuries weren’t particularly troublesome.

He just didn’t want to waste any more of his lifespan to heal.

Not long ago, he’d encountered a fatal situation. A spatial fissure had suddenly formed right next to him, and he was instantly sliced into a dozen pieces before he could even activate his "Inch and Mile" Divine Ability.

Forget a Nascent Soul Cultivator; even a Divinity Transformation True Monarch would die in such a situation.

Fortunately, his "Instant Healing" Divine Ability was quite potent, which was the only reason he was still standing here now.

The price was eighty years of his life.

At this point, he had already consumed over one hundred and seventy years of his lifespan in this life.

A Nascent Soul Early Stage Cultivator has a lifespan of twelve hundred years. He... only had nine hundred years left. ’How terrifying.’

But... seeing the Teleportation Array in the distance, Du Youqian broke into a smile.

The most difficult part of the journey was over.

He shot forward like an arrow, crouching down to carefully inspect the Teleportation Array.

Two hundred years of time, relentless sandstorms, and the sporadic appearance of spatial fissures both large and small had inevitably left many scars on the array.

However, the protective measures Du Youqian had put in place before had worked. Its primary functions were not damaged, so there shouldn’t be any errors during teleportation.

"Momenan, I’m here!"

~~~~~~~~

The Hundred Thousand Mountains.

Within this range was a great mountain that no beast of prey dared approach. The only inhabitants here were monkeys—nothing but monkeys.

Any beast with a bit of intelligence knew there was a certain someone in these mountains who was not to be provoked.

Though small in stature, not even the fiercest wild boars, the most battle-hardened giant tigers, or the incredibly agile cheetahs dared to challenge it.

At this moment, on the monkey mountain, hundreds of monkeys were chittering, barely maintaining their formation.

Each monkey held something in its hands: wild Spirit Fruits, root vegetables, Spirit Medicines gathered from afar, or sweet water from a Spiritual Spring.

A Little Monkey, the size of an infant, sat on a crude stone throne, spiritedly accepting the offerings of the monkey troop.

Suddenly, the Little Monkey looked up, its intelligent eyes bursting with an excited light.

It looked toward what was once Master Feng Xiaoyi’s cave-residence.

Over there, a familiar yet strange aura had abruptly appeared.

’Have you returned?’

The Little Monkey’s figure turned into a flash of lightning, and with a single leap, it vanished among the mountains.

The monkeys waiting in line to present their treasures looked around in a daze. ’Where did our Monkey King go? Where did our tiny little Monkey King go?’

~~~~~~~

"Whew... This Teleportation Array is in serious disrepair. A single trip almost takes half your life."

Du Youqian checked himself over. Thankfully, he wasn’t missing any parts.

He just felt extremely uncomfortable because his Cultivation had been forcefully suppressed to Golden Core Perfection.

Fortunately, his body still had the Physique of the Nascent Soul Realm; only his Cultivation was suppressed.

He could even use his Heaven and Earth Divine Abilities, but he could feel that if he forced it, the consumption would be immense, and he wouldn’t be able to sustain it for long.

He tried again but couldn’t send out his Nascent Soul. He wondered if he were killed, would he be able to escape with his Nascent Soul.

’Eh, is there anyone in Momenan who can kill me?’

’Probably not.’

Du Youqian thought for a moment, and with a quick transformation, he reverted to the appearance and aura of his previous life as Baili Jianxin, the Celestial Master of the Nine Countries.

’Since I’m here to see old friends, I shouldn’t use an unfamiliar face.’

’I’ll just say I broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm after I left. Everyone will believe it.’

He wondered what Momenan had become after two hundred years.

At the very least, the Spiritual Qi must have grown even thinner.

An area like the Hundred Thousand Mountains, which already had sparse Spiritual Qi before, was now equivalent to a Land of the Dead Spirit.

Du Youqian tidied himself up and was about to bring out his Flying Boat to head for the Taihe Sect on Sui Shou Mountain when a powerful aura suddenly invaded his Divine Sense.

Du Youqian instantly took a defensive stance, but it quickly melted into a delighted smile as he opened his arms.

"BANG!"

A black shadow, nearly invisible to the naked eye, slammed into Du Youqian’s embrace like a shell fired from a 406mm battleship cannon.

Even a Body Refining Cultivator at the Core Formation Realm would have had all their bones shattered and their internal organs turned to pulp by that impact.

But in that instant, a golden radiance burst from Du Youqian’s body. He only tilted back slightly as he absorbed the massive blow.

"Little Wukong! I’m probably the only one in the world who could handle that kind of welcome." Du Youqian picked up the Little Monkey and lifted him over his head.

Little Wukong’s face was filled with joy as he chittered loudly.

With this "Copper Skin Iron Bones" Divine Ability, he knew Du Youqian couldn’t be an imposter.

"Miss you? Of course, I missed you. I came back this time to get you all. I’m going to take all of you to the bustling Human World! With your bloodline, you could probably break through to the Divinity Transformation Realm smoothly in just a few hundred years there."

"Chitter chitter chitter chitter!"

"Haha, you’re getting ahead of yourself. By the time you reach Divinity Transformation, I’ll definitely have reached it too. You want to bully me? Wait for me to reincarnate; try in your next life."

"Chitter chitter chitter, chitter chitter!"

"No, I didn’t make friends with any of the Monkey Race out there, but I did run into the Golden Silk Green-eyed Ape clan and fought a few battles with them on the battlefield. There are a lot of Demon Race members out there. Some are hostile to the Human Race, and some befriend them. I have two fox friends; they’re quite soft to the touch. I’ll introduce you next time."

The man and the monkey chatted for a long time. Little Wukong hadn’t experienced much over the years; his life had been uneventful.

Du Youqian, on the other hand, had many stories to tell, but those could be told slowly later. There was no rush.

"Come with me. We’ll go get Wu Ai, and also bring along the souls of Fang Hua, Lin Sha, and Luo Jinyu. Wu Ai shouldn’t have reached the end of her lifespan yet, right? I vaguely sensed her presence the moment I arrived in Momenan. Her current Cultivation should be Golden Core Late Stage or Perfection, right? No, it must be Late Stage. With Momenan’s current Spiritual Qi density, no matter how talented she is, she could never cultivate to Golden Core Perfection."

Little Wukong leaped onto Du Youqian’s shoulder and leisurely dangled his feet. It was his long-lost throne.

’Still so comfortable, still such a perfect fit.’

Du Youqian took Little Wukong aboard the Flying Boat and flew toward the Taihe Sect.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sui Shou Mountain, Taihe Sect.

Taiyi Pavilion.

Master Wu Ai and Master Hui Feng sat opposite each other. On the small tea table between them rested a small Zisha teapot, steam rising from its spout, carrying a rich, heart-refreshing aroma of tea.

Master Hui Feng was already very familiar with this place and didn’t bother looking around.

There wasn’t much to see anyway. The Taiyi Pavilion was decorated with extreme simplicity, perfectly fitting the spirit of the Taoist School.

Master Wu Ai was lifting her teacup to her lips when she suddenly frowned slightly.

Master Hui Feng started. "Elder Wu Ai, what’s wrong?"

Master Wu Ai’s elegant brows were tightly knit, her mind troubled by some unknown matter.

After a moment, as if there were a delay in the signal, she finally seemed to process Master Hui Feng’s question. She shook her head and smiled faintly. "It’s nothing. I just thought of an old friend. Please, continue."

Master Hui Feng hesitated for a moment before saying, "Elder Wu Ai, maybe... we should just give up."

The corners of Master Wu Ai’s lips curved up slightly. "Why give up?"

Master Hui Feng tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and sighed. "The Spiritual Qi is so thin now. Is there any point in us still brandishing our swords, regulating the Yin Yang, and combing the earth’s qi? It’s been over a hundred years. For over a hundred years, not a single new Core Formation Cultivator has emerged in the entire world. Even those youngsters with Celestial Spirit Roots can’t form a core. Momenan... is beyond saving."

Master Wu Ai wasn’t angry, merely smiling. "We do our best and leave the rest to fate."

Master Hui Feng shook her head forcefully. "But it’s not worth sacrificing yourself for it. Speaking of which, it’s my fault. I was unable to reach Core Formation with the Human Dao Sword, forcing you to bear too much pressure. How much longer can you live? A year? A month? In your current state, if you brandish your sword one more time, I’m afraid you will pass away on the spot, won’t you? And it’s very likely your soul will be damaged. In your next life, it would be impossible to enter the Dao again. You might even be reborn as a child with Innate deficiencies, or even Innately simple-minded."

"Let the next life worry about the next life’s problems." Master Wu Ai didn’t refute her words, tacitly acknowledging the fact that one more swing of her sword would mean her immediate demise.

Having been her partner for two hundred years, Master Hui Feng understood her temperament. Though she didn’t approve of this choice, she could only shake her head and fall silent.

The tea grew cold and was reheated with Magical Power. After a few such cycles, Master Hui Feng finally spoke again, breaking the silence. "It seems the Demon Children are planning to make a move when we brandish our swords."

"Let them. Good. Before I die, I can remind them who it was that taught me the Sword."

’The former number one Swordsman in the world?’ Master Hui Feng recalled his name.

"Baili Jianxin... Master Baili. I truly hate that I was born several decades too late and never got to witness that elder’s unparalleled grace! It is said that all the Core Formation elders of our sect felt inferior to him. If he were still here, the world wouldn’t have fallen into such a state! The Demon Children wouldn’t be so rampant."

"There’s no need for regret. You will see him. He said he would return, so he will. It’s just... I’m afraid I won’t be able to wait until that day..." A nostalgic look was in Master Wu Ai’s eyes, along with a sense of freedom, not sorrow or bitterness.

’For someone as outstanding as you to fall so deeply in love, that man must have truly possessed an unparalleled grace!’ Master Hui Feng thought to herself.