Chapter 119 - 102: Beauty Fades, Heroes Grow Old

Chapter 119: Chapter 102: Beauty Fades, Heroes Grow Old

Chen Jianghe didn’t ask for details. After all, he and Jiang Ruxu weren’t even casual friends; he had only hired her as a guide once.

This was only their second time meeting.

After bidding farewell to Jiang Ruxu, Chen Jianghe returned to his small courtyard to await the arrival of the Mid-Autumn Festival the next day.

「The next day.」

Chen Jianghe arrived early at the Qinghe Tavern, which was next to the Hundred Treasures Tower. He had more or less settled down in the Qinghe Marketplace now.

As such, he could be considered the host.

So, he gritted his teeth and splurged one Spirit Stone to reserve a private room on the second floor.

There was no helping it. Any expense less than one Spirit Stone wouldn’t get you onto the second floor, let alone into a private room.

About an hour passed.

From the second-floor terrace, Chen Jianghe spotted Zhou Miaoyun. Her attire was no longer as dazzling as it once was; she had changed into a simple, plain-colored outfit.

Her hair was now streaked with white and her youthful beauty had faded, but her aura remained the same.

He called her up to the second floor of the Qinghe Tavern.

There on the terrace, they began to talk.

They waited together for Yu Daniu and Gao Peiyao.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, you... your..."

The moment she saw Chen Jianghe, Zhou Miaoyun froze, her disbelieving gaze fixed tightly on him.

’Foundation Establishment?’

’Definitely not.’

She could sense that Chen Jianghe’s Magical Power fluctuations were only at the Seventh-Layer Qi Refining, so why was his appearance unchanged? He looked exactly the same as when she had left Jingyue Lake, without the slightest change.

In contrast, she was past her prime, her face full of wrinkles. She was now an old woman of over sixty, her youthful looks long gone.

"I had a stroke of good fortune and consumed a Youthful Grass,"

Chen Jianghe said.

He didn’t mention the Youthful Pill.

The Youthful Pill was a Tier Two Spirit Pill and was incredibly valuable.

It typically only appeared at auctions, and whenever it did, Female Cultivators would frantically fight over it.

A Youthful Pill, with a true value of only six hundred Spirit Stones, would almost always sell for around fifteen hundred Spirit Stones at auction.

Therefore, he couldn’t have obtained a Youthful Pill. Besides, every Youthful Pill sold at auction had a known buyer.

He could only settle for the next best thing and use the Youthful Grass as an excuse.

The Youthful Grass was one of the main ingredients for refining the Youthful Pill. It was a Tier One High-Grade Spirit Plant worth two hundred Spirit Stones.

It could delay the aging of a Cultivator’s appearance by twenty years.

Even a Youthful Grass was difficult to purchase at the Spiritual Material Counter in the Hundred Treasures Tower.

Chen Jianghe didn’t want to linger on the topic, so he asked about Zhou Miaoyun’s niece and the matter concerning Yu Daniu’s eldest son.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, did you take your niece to the Jingyue Marketplace?"

Zhou Miaoyun gazed at Chen Jianghe’s completely unchanged face, her eyes filled with envy. Female Cultivators were still women, and all of them wished for everlasting youth. Otherwise, the appearance of a Youthful Pill wouldn’t create such a frenzy.

But when she heard Chen Jianghe mention her niece, her eyes fell, and she let out a sigh.

"Sigh... My niece wasn’t fortunate enough. Fellow Daoist Yu’s sister-in-law thought she would hinder Xiaoniu’s Cultivation and politely rejected the proposal."

"His sister-in-law? Yun Huixiang."

Chen Jianghe frowned. ’What does Xiaoniu’s marriage have to do with Yun Huixiang? How could she be allowed to get involved and mess things up?’

"When you went to the Jingyue Marketplace, Daniu must not have been there."

"Yes, Fellow Daoist Yu was in seclusion. I only met his wife, his sister-in-law, and Xiaoniu."

"And what did Xiaoniu think?"

"Xiaoniu listens to his mother. But Fellow Daoist Yu’s wife was swayed by her sister, who said my niece was a vixen who would likely jeopardize Xiaoniu’s future in Cultivation."

"Sigh..." Zhou Miaoyun sighed helplessly.

These days, the Yun Family’s power is growing by the day. Many Cultivation Families want to ally with them, and it’s not just our Zhou Family that has its eyes on Yu Daniu’s son.

Chen Jianghe said no more.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, how are your Talisman Dao Skills coming along?" Zhou Miaoyun asked curiously.

"I’ve just started drawing Middle-Grade Spiritual Talismans. I should be able to become a Middle-Grade Talisman Master within the next two or three years," Chen Jianghe said modestly.

He was already a Middle-Grade Talisman Master; he just hadn’t drawn other types of talismans yet.

But even hearing this, Zhou Miaoyun felt a bitter pang in her heart.

She, a Middle-Grade Talisman Master, couldn’t survive in the Qinghe Marketplace. She ended up leaving, going to Lotus Town, and finally returning to the Jingyue Lake region.

Yet Chen Jianghe, a Cultivator who had supposedly just reached the level of a Middle-Grade Talisman Master, was able to thrive in the Qinghe Marketplace.

At that moment, she felt a surge of resentment toward her own family.

’If my family weren’t holding me back, with my Talisman Dao Skills, not only could I have lived comfortably in the Qinghe Marketplace, I might have even been able to buy a Youthful Grass, or perhaps even a Youthful Pill.’

’But it was all too late.’

’I’ve now become a slave to my family, forced to continue drawing Spirit Talismans to earn more Spirit Stones for them.’

’Forced to raise the family’s younger generation.’

’If I had known it would come to this, I would have definitely found a way to have a child by Yu Daniu back then.’

’Then, at least, I would have my own flesh and blood within the Zhou Family, and I wouldn’t be forced to use all my resources to cultivate my brother’s descendants.’

Just then,

Chen Jianghe saw Yu Daniu in the distance in front of the Hundred Treasures Tower, with Yun Xiaoniu by his side.

Chen Jianghe immediately went down from the Qinghe Tavern and walked toward Yu Daniu.

"Daniu, Xiaoniu!"

Chen Jianghe called out.

Daniu whirled around. The moment he saw Chen Jianghe, he shot forward and pulled him into a bear hug. He had clearly missed him, but his words were a complaint.

"Brother, you were gone for years, and you didn’t even see me before you left. You’re a heartless one, you are."

"We are Cultivators with long lifespans. There will be plenty of days to meet in the future," Chen Jianghe said with an apologetic smile.

"Greetings, Uncle."

"Mm, good, good." Chen Jianghe patted Yun Xiaoniu’s shoulder.

"It’s been several years, but Uncle’s appearance hasn’t changed at all. My father, on the other hand, is starting to show his age," Yun Xiaoniu remarked with a sigh.

Only then did Yu Daniu seem to notice. He stared at Chen Jianghe, realizing that his face was indeed unchanged—his skin was firm and smooth, without a single wrinkle.

"Brother, you..."

"Come, let’s go to the tavern first. I’ll explain later," Chen Jianghe said with a loud laugh, clapping Yu Daniu on the arm.

"Father, Uncle, wait a moment."

Yun Xiaoniu stopped Yu Daniu and Chen Jianghe, pointing to the side.

A stunningly beautiful woman stood amidst the crowd. Her phoenix eyes gleamed as she looked their way, a smile gracing her cherry-red lips as she slowly walked toward them.