Everyone turned to look at Chu Miao, who seemed to be spacing out.

They all knew it was her call. They were loyal to her as the leader and if she said to go forward, then they would go without asking questions even though they would miss their families.

Luckily, Chu Miao did exactly as they had expected.

"Let’s go back." Chu Miao finally snapped out of her reverie and said.

"I knew you would say that." Chu Hao said with a silly smile.

"Of course, was I supposed to leave our families and friends behind?"

She could never seek fame and fortune alone and forget her family.

"We will come back once we are done with everything outside." Ye Xuan reassured her with a pat on her head.

"Mmm...we have to deal with the apocalypse first. Those zombies are getting stronger with every evolution. We need to find the source of the immortal qi." Chu Miao agreed.

"You suspect that it’s not a coincidence. The evolution of the zombies is related to the immortal qi?" Qi Long asked curiously.

"Yes. There is no such thing as a coincidence. However, I can’t figure out where the immortal qi came from. Those unscrupulous researchers couldn’t have opened another portal causing more trouble. So, what is going on?" Chu Miao wondered.

"Let’s head back first. We’ve been gone for too long, Grandpa and the others must be worried." Ye Xuan didn’t like seeing his girlfriend looking so worried.

So, he urged her to leave.

Once they were in the outside world, he would help her find where the problem was.

The immortal qi found in the zombies’ crystal cores couldn’t have come out of thin air.

He would definitely get to the bottom of the problem.

"When do you think we’ll be able to walk through those gates?" Lei Ying asked curiously while looking longingly at the golden gate in the distance.

"When we are ready. Right now we are too weak. We are not sure whether these gates lead to the upper realm or the Immortal Realm. However, going to either of those two places requires real strength. With our current strength, we wouldn’t survive in either of them." Ye Xuan said, his eyes narrowing.

"You mean even you boss and sister-in-law can’t go?" Li Kun asked in shock.

"In the upper realm, nascent soul stage cultivators are just the beginning of cultivation. Cultivators in this stage are dime a dozen. Without any competitive advantage, we wouldn’t survive. As for the Immortal Realm, even young children are stronger than we are. So, what right do we have to go there now?" Chu Miao straightforwardly laid bare their shortcomings and no one asked about crossing those gates again.

"Then we’d better go back and cultivate some more." Gu Fan said and took the lead to turn back.

The others followed suit and began walking the same way they had come.

The only difference was that in the desert, the heat was now gone.

Once they re-entered the forest, they found a place to rest and recover their spiritual energy and once they were back to their peak, they resumed their journey.

This time, due to the tempering of the environment and the battles they had fought, even the cold zone had no effect on them.

They crossed it and emerged on the last leg of their journey in just one day.

On the second day, the group emerged from the forest and crossed the stream only to find their families camping near the stream, cultivating.

It was obvious that they had been worried and couldn’t stay still in the house, so they came to this place to wait for them.

As soon as they emerged, the energy fluctuations around them woke the people who were cultivating by the stream.

Grandpa Chu and the others opened their eyes almost at the same time, but closed them the next second.

They thought that they must be hallucinating.

"Grandpa." Chu Miao called out to her grandfather when she noticed his weird behavior.

Grandpa Chu realized that he hadn’t been hallucinating. His grandchildren were indeed in front of him.

But who could tell him why his perfectly good grandchildren had turned into beggars?

Grandpa Chu wasn’t the only one surprised.

Grandpa Li and the others there were just as shocked.

"Sweetheart, how did you become like this?" He Yan, stood up immediately after making sure that the person in front of her was her beloved daughter.

She ran over quickly and began circling Chu Miao to check whether she was hurt.

"My dear, are you hurt anywhere? Mommy will heal you." She fussed around causing Chu Miao to feel like her heart had been soaked in honey.

This was why even when the gate out of the mortal world was right in front of her, she never thought of leaving without her family.

Having such a good, supportive, and living family, who wouldn’t sacrifice for them?

Grandpa Chu also shot to his feet together with Chu Mo and Butler Cheng.

While Grandpa Chu, Chu Mo, and He Yan fussed over Chu Miao, the second grandpa went to check on Chu Hao.

"At least someone still remembers my existence." Chu Hao grumbled.

However, the arc at the corner of his lips gave his true feelings away.

He couldn’t be happier that his little sister was doted on.

What was there to complain about? He wasn’t a child who needed attention from his parents. But his little sister had it tough and needed the care.

Thinking that she had had to sacrifice herself twice just to protect others and forced to reincarnate twice, he also felt sorry for her and couldn’t wait to shower her with love and care.

Grandpa Li on the other hand was also fussing over his own granddaughter, Li Pan.

Everyone who came back from the training resembled a beggar with their clothes torn to rags and their bodies covered in dirt and the sand from the desert was still sticking to them.

They looked nothing like the young masters and young mistresses of the elite family they were.

Even after the apocalypse started, they had always maintained a good image.

If those people in the sect saw them, they would be so shocked they might never recover.