“Let’s think about this later; I will plan further about it when Mom comes out of seclusion,” he said to her while examining his cultivation base.
His eyes twitched as he felt it at the 7th level of Foundation Establishment Realm, “That Abyssal Qi really did a number on me, huh.”
[You can easily improve it again, don’t try to act as if you lost something dear to you.]
Yue Lan interjected, unable to handle his act.
Shen Yuan shook his head, “You don’t understand; it’s not about being able to cultivate again but that I lost to some random bastard inside the Mystique Realm. How will I face my big sisters and mother if they find out about it?”
[They will be proud that you managed to win against someone even stronger than your Sect Leader, and you know this as well. Stop trying to act clueless. How will you even take care of that Mystique Realm now that you have it?]
“Oh, good thing you reminded me. I took back the Mansion before leaving, but I don’t know what to do about that spatial crack either.” He fell into deep thought as he said that.
[You don’t really need to do anything; they won’t be able to leave the Mansion as they are much weaker than the Mansion. And now you are the ruler of the Realm after refining the Realm Heart, so you can heal that crack if you increase your cultivation base.]
Shen Yuan’s eyes lit up as he considered this option, “This sounds good, then that’s one less problem for me to worry about.”
As he was about to continue talking, Wan Ling came up to his back and spoke softly, “Senior Brother?”
Shen Yuan turned around to see her, “Ah, Wan Ling, do you need anything?” he asked with a slight smile on his face.
Wan Ling’s face turned a little red as she replied, “It’s nothing, just wanted to check up on you. We are finally going back after such a long time. I didn’t even know if I could make it back alive in the past, yet here I am. I got so many opportunities because of you. I can’t thank you enough for that.”
Shen Yuan patted her head, “No need to thank me. You got all your opportunities with your own ability; I only led you to them.”
“I still want to thank you, because without you, all of us would have died hundreds of times over in the Mystique Realm.” Wan Ling smiled softly as Shen Yuan patted her.
“Alright then, I accept your thanks, haha.” Shen Yuan laughed and took a step back to look at her again, which made her blush, but before her thoughts could wander, he continued,
“You seem to be on the verge of breaking through to the Inner Sea Realm. So, will you enter seclusion to break through after going back?”
Wan Ling nodded her head seriously, “Yes, I will enter seclusion and take the Inner Disciples test after breaking through.”
“Good luck with that; I hope you pass it exceptionally.” Shen Yuan smiled and encouraged her.
“What about you, Senior Brother? Your strength is already far higher than most Inner Sea Realm cultivators I have seen. Will you take the test as well?” she asked, her face blossoming into a beautiful smile at his encouragement.
“I will enter seclusion as well to break through to the next realm after going back and making a few preparations,” Shen Yuan spoke a bit about his schedule.
[I know what type of seclusion it will be.]
Shen Yuan ignored Yue Lan’s teasing remark and continued to chat with Wan Ling for some time until the rest of the disciples came out, and they all began to chat.
Shen Yuan smiled, seeing them as he thought about his plan from before. Another plan began to form in his mind as he tried to increase his influence among the disciples here.
…
After quite a while, the disciples could see the outline of Sacred Lotus City, and they exclaimed,
“We are back!”
“Finally!!”
“It seems like forever since we left.”
…
Shen Yuan looked at the city as he remembered something; he went toward Xiang Mei and spoke, “Elder Xiang Mei, can you drop me off at the city? I need to get a few things from there.”
Xiang Mei furrowed her brows as she looked at Shen Yuan seriously, “Are they important?”
“Very important.” Shen Yuan nodded his head in all seriousness.
Xiang Mei continued to stare at him for a few more seconds before releasing a sigh, “You already emptied the Outer Sect market, what else do you even want?” She shook her head and continued, “Alright, you can leave.”
Yun Lan’s eyes slightly widened in surprise as she took a step forward to interject, but Xiang Mei raised her hand to stop her in her place.
Shen Yuan looked at Yun Lan for a second before jumping off the ship after saying his farewells to Wan Ling, Ling Mei, Chen Yue, and the others.
Yun Lan looked at the place where Shen Yuan had been standing and asked Xiang Mei, “Senior Xiang Mei, you do know the Sect Leader will want to have a chat with Shen Yuan after such a successful harvest inside the Mystique Realm.”
“Indeed, I do know that,” Xiang Mei nodded in agreement, “But we can’t restrict him either. He will head to the sect after finishing his work anyway. And this gives us time to share the details with the Sect Leader and decide on appropriate rewards for Shen Yuan.”
Yun Lan paused as what Xiang Mei said made sense. She thought for some time more and then nodded, “I see, it seems I was too rash. Let’s go ahead and inform Sect Leader about what happened in the Mystique Realm and the deaths of the elders of Ironwood Mountain Clan.”
Xiang Mei’s gaze turned toward the nine disciples, “Well, they can share what happened inside the Mystique Realm, as from the looks of it, they were with him the entire time.”
The disciples looked at each other, wondering how much they should share.
…
Shen Yuan was now in the forest outside of Sacred Lotus City. After making sure there was no one around and the ship had already left, he called out to Yue Lan.
“Is she ready to leave the Dual Cultivation Chambers?”
[Yep, she was just meditating while waiting for you. Let me call her out.]
Shen Yuan’s heart raced with anticipation as a light soon started to materialize in front of him.
It soon began to take the shape of a woman, and slowly, Bing Rong appeared in front of him.
[Quite the dramatic entrance if I say so myself.]
Yue Lan’s teasing words sounded between the two.
Bing Rong shook her head slowly as she had gotten used to Yue Lan in the time she spent inside the Mystique Realm.
She slowly walked toward Shen Yuan, who stared back at her with a bit of longing in his gaze.
“I missed you,” Bing Rong said as she wrapped her arms around Shen Yuan’s neck and gave him a deep hug.
