In the days that followed.
He left Changqing Mountain and entered the Black Dragon Mountain Range, seeking out a few Tier Two Demon Beasts to test his new treasure.
When he brought out the Magical Treasure, every Demon Beast was suppressed without fail. Not even those at the peak of Tier Two could escape.
’A Treasure from the Ancient Beast Taming Sect, indeed!’
After several tests, Li Chang’an grew increasingly satisfied with it.
He returned to Changqing Mountain and began plotting how to deal with the Zhou Family’s Old Demon King.
「A few days later.」
Li Chang’an was just planning to seek out the Zhou Clan mbers to discuss the details of dealing with the Old Demon King.
Just then.
He suddenly received a letter.
’This is... a letter from Yulan?’
Li Chang’an sensed a familiar aura from it, and a figure from his distant past surfaced in his mind.
Sun Yulan. In the beginning, she had sought the path of cultivation with him, and they had co to Qinghe Marketplace together.
「During those years in Qinghe.」
As cultivators from the sa Mortal Realm, they often gathered together.
Over ti, people in their group kept passing away unexpectedly.
At their last gathering.
Only four of them remained.
Himself, Xu Fugui, Chu Daniu, and Sun Yulan.
Sun Yulan had once been interested in him, but he was too ordinary in those years, lost in the crowd with nothing to distinguish him.
Because of this, Sun Yulan had let those feelings go.
Later, he acquired the art of Divination.
Step by step, he began to stand out among the Loose Cultivators.
Sun Yulan found him again, confessed her feelings, and asked to beco his cultivation partner.
Li Chang’an did not agree and rejected her outright.
「After that.」
The two of them gradually drifted apart.
After reaching Foundation Establishnt, Li Chang’an never saw Sun Yulan again.
Receiving her letter so suddenly now ca as quite a surprise.
’So, Yulan has already passed away.’
Li Chang’an let out a soft sigh after reading the letter.
The letter detailed Sun Yulan’s experiences over the years.
「Back then.」
After Xu Fugui, Li Chang’an, and the others left Qinghe Marketplace one by one,
Sun Yulan had also wanted to venture out to seek her own fortune, but she was soon injured by Tribulation Cultivators, who stole the opportunity she had fought so hard to obtain.
Disheartened, she returned to Qinghe Marketplace.
「Later.」
Sun Yulan heard that Li Chang’an had reached Foundation Establishnt, while she remained destitute.
Unwilling to face Li Chang’an, she left Qinghe, returned to the Mortal Realm, and lived out the rest of her days in a small county town.
She wrote that she had been too materialistic in her youth, blinded by fa and profit. She had only wanted to climb higher, and in doing so, had grown distant from the then-ordinary Li Chang’an.
If she could live her life over again, she would have made a different choice.
’Another "if only"...’
Li Chang’an mused.
’How can life have so many "if onlys"?’
...
「A few days later.」
Outside a small county town in a Mortal Realm.
Li Chang’an, Xu Fugui, Chu Daniu, and Xu Yang gathered before Sun Yulan’s grave to bid her farewell.
"Journey well, Yulan."
The rest of this old friend’s life had been very ordinary.
She had never married, had no children, and no other living relatives.
To her neighbors, she was just a reclusive old woman.
"Over a hundred years old... In the Mortal Realm, that’s considered a death worth celebrating."
Xu Yang remarked with a sigh.
He hadn’t reached Foundation Establishnt. His Qi and blood were already in decline, and he didn’t have much ti left.
Perhaps their next gathering would be for his own funeral.
After the burial.
The four of them returned to a restaurant where they had often eaten together back in their mortal days. They shared a mortal al and reminisced about the past.
...
「The next day.」
Li Chang’an returned to Changqing Mountain.
To his surprise, Zhou Sheng was waiting for him on Changqing Mountain.
「This ti.」
Zhou Sheng hadn’t brought any other Zhou Clan mbers with him.
He wore a strange expression, a mix of joy and worry. Before Li Chang’an could even ask, he began to speak.
"Daoist Li, the previous Patriarch of my Zhou Family, Zhou Yi’an, has returned from the Mortal Realm."
"Oh?"
Li Chang’an’s spirits lifted.
He imdiately asked, "Daoist Zhou, does he still have his half of the Restricted Spirit Contract?"
"He does, and it’s perfectly intact!"
This was precisely the reason for Zhou Sheng’s joy.
As long as they had the Restricted Spirit Contract, they could suppress the Old Demon King.
Even though it was only half, they at least had a way to fight back, unlike before when they were completely helpless!
Li Chang’an asked again, "Daoist Zhou, when do you plan to deal with the Old Demon King?"
"About that..."
At the ntion of this, a bitter smile appeared on Zhou Sheng’s face.
"Daoist Li, the forr Patriarch doesn’t believe the Old Demon King would ever turn against the Zhou Family. He thinks the new Patriarch is deliberately using the Old Demon King to eliminate his rivals, targeting clan mbers from other factions."
Hearing this, Li Chang’an frowned.
’This isn’t going to be as easy as I thought.’
Zhou Sheng continued, "The forr Patriarch is quite stubborn. He plans to go to the Zhou Clan Territory alone to persuade the current Patriarch, Zhou Dingrong, and demand that he put the family’s interests first."
’That’s not stubborn, that’s just stupid!’
Li Chang’an cursed inwardly.
’It’s one thing if that old fool wants to get himself killed, but he absolutely cannot take that half of the Restricted Spirit Contract with him.’
"Daoist Zhou, has he gone yet?"
"Not yet."
Zhou Sheng shook his head.
The forr Patriarch was about to leave, but many of the Zhou Clan mbers stopped him.
They’re at a stalemate right now.
They won’t let him go to the Zhou Clan Territory, and he won’t hand over his half of the Restricted Spirit Contract to them.
That was why.
Zhou Sheng had co to Li Chang’an, hoping he could devise a plan.
"Daoist Li, what do you think we should do?"
"This is simple!"
Li Chang’an didn’t have the patience for persuasion.
He planned to simply knock the forr Zhou Patriarch unconscious and take that half of the Restricted Spirit Contract from him.
"Daoist Zhou, take to your current hiding place!"
"Alright. Daoist Li, follow ."
Zhou Sheng nodded and shot away from Changqing Mountain as a streak of light.
Li Chang’an followed closely behind.
「Before long.」
The two once again entered the Ancient Wood Secret Realm.
The Zhou Clan mbers’ hiding place was still within the Ancient Wood Secret Realm.
「Soon.」
Li Chang’an arrived at the hidden cave residence.
The mont he stepped inside, he was t with the sounds of arguing and pleading.
Many Zhou Clan mbers were trying to persuade a withered old man with a full head of white hair.
It was none other than the previous Patriarch of the Zhou Family.
Zhou Yi’an!
Li Chang’an drew a little closer, sizing him up for a mont before calling out.
"Daoist Zhou."
"Hm?"
Over a thousand Zhou Clan mbers responded in unison, turning to look at Li Chang’an.
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