Su Hongzhen took the Xun-Li Sword handed over by Chen Yan, then withdrew that pure white Swift Sword engraved with crimson flame patterns back into the scabbard at his waist.

The Xun-Li Sword originally had no scabbard.

The scabbard currently hanging at Su Hongzhen’s waist was obtained three years ago from an auction house when Chen Yan had taken him on a journey westward from the Southern Region, heading northeast.

It was the scabbard once used in his youth by Realman Cangyue, the fifth generation Steward of Heavenly Summit Mountain.

This was a scabbard that had once belonged to a great power of the Immortal Ascension Realm.

Moreover, its original owner was none other than Realman Cangyue, a Swordsman renowned for his swordsmanship, who possessed Innate Sword Intent and could be ranked alongside Realman Bai Shang.

For any Swordsman, having such a scabbard hanging at their waist was an immense point of pride, and there was no need to elaborate further.

On the auction floor, the highest price called at the time was thirty thousand high-grade spirit stones.

That price was offered by the most outstanding disciple of a Top-Tier Sect from the Southern Region of Chenping Continent.

Then Chen Yan bid one hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones.

After all, spirit stones were external possessions.

Since he found the item somewhat interesting, bidding to acquire it and having a bit of fun was perfectly reasonable.

“Time to head back.”

Chen Yan glanced at the sky, then turned and left the clearing, walking toward the small town.

There were still two months until the Dao Inquiry Assembly of Chenping Continent.

Currently, the distance between Chen Yan and Little Su and Heavenly Summit Mountain was still three thousand li.

About two years ago, Chen Yan had brought Little Su on their travels to this small town and had stopped here.

This town was called Fulong Town.

The town was not very large, with only about three hundred households in total.

“Hey, Immortal Master Chen, done with your practice today?”

A thin, dark-skinned old man with a carrying pole and water buckets on his shoulders walked toward Chen Yan from the fields.

“Ah!”

Chen Yan responded with a smile and a nod.

Then the old man’s cloudy, yellowish eyes fell on Su Hongzhen, and he sighed in reflection:

“Time sure flies. Little Su has grown up so much.”

“Uncle Zhao.”

Su Hongzhen greeted the old man.

“I really envy you cultivators. These old bones of mine will be buried in the ground before long.”

Sighing like this, the old man whom Su Hongzhen called Uncle Zhao strode away steadily with his carrying pole on his shoulders.

Even though the old man’s body still looked quite robust, for ordinary mortals, aging was just a matter of a moment.

The residents of Fulong Town were not at all afraid of cultivators.

Because most of them had been dealing with cultivators ever since they could remember.

It should be known that sixty thousand years ago, Heavenly Summit Mountain was undeniably the sacred cultivation ground of Chenping Continent.

Unlike the Five Great Sects that “sucked blood,” the cultivation sects within ten thousand li centered around Heavenly Summit Mountain were all influenced by the mountain and developed quite prosperously.

There were at least thirty to fifty sects that could be considered Top-Tier Sects.

Even today, there were still seven cultivation sects around Heavenly Summit Mountain that could be called top-tier on Chenping Continent, each capable of fielding at least one great power from the Upper Three Realms.

As for first-rate and second-rate sects, there were countless numbers.

In a town as unremarkable as Fulong Town, cultivators often appeared, and cultivators at the Martial Spring Realm or even the Qi Sea Realm were not at all rare.

Chen Yan had bought a small courtyard in the town. It was not large.

It consisted of one main room, one side room, and a storage shed.

In the courtyard, there was only a stone table, two wooden stools, a tree, and a well.

Chen Yan led Su Hongzhen as they walked slowly along the town’s streets.

“Hmm?”

As they walked, Chen Yan raised his eyebrows slightly.

“What’s wrong, big brother?”

Su Hongzhen asked in confusion.

“Heading home. Someone’s waiting for us.”

The two walked onto the street of the small courtyard Chen Yan had purchased in the town, and from a distance, they could indeed see a figure standing in front of the courtyard’s gate.

That person wore a deep green daoist robe from Mirage Palace, looked to be quite young, just over twenty years old, and had a Martial Spring Realm cultivation.

Judging by the patterns and style of the robe, the daoist robe he wore was from the Weaving Dreams Tower.

Chen Yan roughly understood who had come.

Then, Chen Yan and Su Hongzhen arrived in front of the courtyard.

Upon seeing Chen Yan and Su Hongzhen, the young disciple from Weaving Dreams Tower immediately cupped his hands in greeting:

“May I ask, sir, if you are Senior Chen?”

“I am.”

Chen Yan replied.

Then, the young Weaving Dreams Tower disciple in the deep green daoist robe reached into his bosom and pulled out a letter. He presented it to Chen Yan with both hands:

“Dao Traveler Zhou entrusted me to deliver this letter to you. Please accept it.”

Seeing this, Chen Yan reached out and took the letter handed over by the young Weaving Dreams Tower disciple, then nodded:

“Much obliged.”

“Then, this junior will take my leave… If you ever need me for anything, Senior Chen, feel free to come find me at Heavenly Summit Mountain. I am currently stationed there permanently, handling Mirage Palace’s miscellaneous affairs on Heavenly Summit Mountain.”

The young Weaving Dreams Tower disciple said this, then promptly and cleanly left Fulong Town.

He had no idea who these two young men of similar age—one in plain white daoist robes and the other in cyan daoist robes—in Fulong Town really were.

This young Weaving Dreams Tower disciple only knew that the current foremost genius of Mirage Palace, and perhaps even the foremost genius of Chenping Continent, Zhou Jinyun, addressed the young man in plain white daoist robes as “Senior Chen.”

Even Dao Traveler Zhou had to call him “Senior,” so sucking up a little more on his part certainly couldn’t draw criticism.

It might even lead to an opportunity.

That was the thought of this young Weaving Dreams Tower disciple.

But Chen Yan didn’t care at all.

He simply fixed his gaze on the letter in his hand. With just a light pinch of the paper, Chen Yan knew that the material used for this letter must have been quite valuable.

“Little Zhou’s letter.”

Chen Yan said as he took another step forward:

“We’ll read it at home.”

Su Hongzhen, following behind Chen Yan, nodded.

Little Su hadn’t seen Zhou Jinyun in a full four years now.

Ever since Imperial Law Elder Shang of Mirage Palace brought both Chu Fan and Zhou Jinyun back to the sect, not a single whisper had leaked out about the various conspiracies behind all this.

There was no telling what the current situation was at Mirage Palace, nor whether Imperial Law Elder Shang had managed to clean house.

But none of this mattered to Chen Yan.

He knew that Mirage Palace’s so-called “taboo” would eventually be broken.

He also knew that his goal was simply to let Little Zhou return to Mirage Palace and then become a Daomen Xingzou.

That was all.