Chapter 726 Safe Return!
ed at Zhou Liren’s retreating back, stuck out her tongue, then turned to Hao Ren and said, "What do you want to eat today I’ll treat you!""Why are you suddenly treating me…" Hao Ren was a bit confused...Chapter 726: Safe Return!
The Nine Dragons Palace and the Penglai Immortal Mountain had vanished from the ocean surface. The Sea of Ten Thousand Demons, which was just filled with rolling thunderbolts, suddenly became very tranquil.
Looking at this vast expanse of calm sea, who could have imagined it to be a perilous place teeming with demon beasts
One by one, the overseas immortal mountains emerged from under the sea as they realized that the calamity had passed and floated back into the layers of mist in the Sea of Ten Thousand Demons.
Duan Yao turned to look at Hao Ren before she was about to dive into the seawater. Suddenly, a lady wearing a wide-sleeved robe with bird and flower patterns as well as a long dress, Consort Zhen, came out from the sea water.
Her complexion was pale, seemingly injured after enduring countless heavenly tribulations.
And she was the body of a phoenix, capable of rebirth through nirvana. Yet she had sustained such severe injuries—imagine how badly hurt the qilin who just restored its true form and helped her fight off the thunderbolts must have been.
"Young Master Hao is the sworn brother of Grand Supreme Immortal, so henceforth I won't take advantage of our generational gap," Consort Zhen looked at Hao Ren with a bitter smile.
Despite being seriously injured and looking pale, she still exuded charm and seemed in good spirits.
"Can’t call you sister…,” Hao Ren said with a laugh.
"Little rascal, as long as you don't call me little sister, everything is fine," Consort Zhen glanced at Hao Ren and then turned her gaze to Su Han standing beside him. "Miss Su, if you wish, you may stay in the Sea of Ten Thousand Demons for a few more days to solidify your realm."
"Then I’ll be grateful," Su Han nodded without any formalities. She knew she had been used by Consort Zhen but when calculating carefully, she realized there were many benefits. Just this piece of Nüwa Stone alone would make countless cultivators envious.
Of course, the Nüwa Stone might not be too helpful to her cultivation per se, but with the dense spiritual energy in the Sea of Ten Thousand Demons, it could help her fuse her body completely with the Nüwa Stone. This would greatly benefit her during the tribulation.
"And you, will you go back or stay here with your little sweetheart" Consort Zhen asked Hao Ren again.
Su Han turned to look at Hao Ren.
“I’ll go back,” Hao Ren thought of Zhao Ranzhi and Xie Yujia as well as his family who were all waiting for him, so without hesitation, he answered Consort Zhen.
When Su Han heard what Hao Ren said, her eyes flashed with a hint of loneliness but she showed no change in expression. Hao Ren had his family to care about while she was just an orphan pursuing the highest realm.
Duan Yao felt a sudden pang when she saw that Hao Ren chose to go back. She didn't know from when Hao Ren became her motivation, someone often remembered during cultivation practice. She thought Hao Ren would stay here so she could spend more time challenging him.
"Yao'er, send Young Master Hao off at sea," just as Duan Yao turned around to look at Hao Ren did Consort Zhen suddenly say.
“Ah…” Duan Yao froze for a few seconds before reacting.
Consort Zhen gently picked up a tiny three-legged crow from her palm and tossed it in front of Duan Yao. She then lightly pulled Su Han's delicate hand and entered the Sea of Ten Thousand Demons with undulating waves.
Su Han's demeanor reminded Zhen Fei of her own from thousands of years ago, and she felt a trace of pity for her.
"What are you looking at! I hate it!"
Duan Yao glared angrily at Hao Ren when she saw him staring at her before jumping onto the back of the three-legged crow.
The fiery red three-legged crow was said to be a divine bird from Kunlun Mountain. With most of the demon kings in Wan妖海 having been swept away by Zhen Fei, it should be safe for Duan Yao to travel with its protection.
Qixiang (five-element chi) rose under Hao Ren's feet and followed beside Duan Yao.
Su Han would certainly feel at ease staying in Wan妖海, and since she needed to focus on her cultivation, Hao Ren didn't want to disturb her. However, from Duan Yao’s perspective, it seemed as though he was abandoning his lover and becoming a cold-hearted cad.
"Duan Yao, did your foster mother Zhen Fei cultivate anywhere before" As Hao Ren's sword qi skimmed the sea surface while following after Duan Yao, he suddenly asked.
Duan Yao didn't want to answer at first but couldn’t help herself when Hao Ren suddenly spoke up. "I'm not quite sure—…" The moment she opened her mouth, however, she realized that she shouldn't be speaking with this villain.
"I... I will definitely kill you!" She coldly threw another threat at Hao Ren; she hated these seemingly loyal but actually fickle rascals! Yet, she couldn’t understand why those women found him attractive and wanted to be around him.
At times when it was late at night in the small palace Zhen Fei had arranged for her in a tranquil environment, flipping through comic books beside her bed would remind Duan Yao of Hao Ren’s room.
The content of these comics wasn’t entirely clear to her, but they were one of the few gifts she received from the human world.
Perhaps one day I’ll be able to live like that Zhao Yanzi…
Thinking about Zhao Yanzi made Duan Yao feel an endless jealousy.
"That’s the boundary of Wan妖海 up ahead," Duan Yao suddenly pointed forward and said.
Hao Ren nodded slightly as he saw a tiny black dot appearing in his line of sight from afar.
This Duan Yao always threatened to kill him but seemed unable to act on it due to Zhen Fei's restrictions, which was quite frustrating.
Hao Ren looked at her and thought to himself.
"My master… She used to cultivate under the Queen Mother of the West in Kunlun Mountain. Later, for some reason, she ended up staying in Wan妖海." As Duan Yao flew towards the boundary, she suddenly said again.
"Oh…" Hao Ren nodded.
He guessed that Zhen Fei wasn’t originally a demon king from Wan妖海 and seemed more powerful than those demons. If according to what Duan Yao was saying, then it made sense for Zhen Fei to be familiar with Kunlun Mountain’s environment, able to obtain the lamp of the Kunlun deity, and have some connection with Zhuanyuanzi.
Especially this three-legged crow, a legendary divine bird from Kunlun Mountain. The fact that it could follow Zhen Fei also indirectly proved her connection with Kunlun Mountain. She might not be an official disciple of the Queen Mother of the West but had been influenced by Quniu to cultivate under her. Regardless, Zhen Fei’s level was certainly high.
As Zhen Fei, staying in the Demon Sea where demon scourges run rampant and becoming a demon consort is indeed quite shameful from Qiu Niu's perspective.
Hao Ren could roughly infer the connection before and after based on a sentence from Duan Yao.
The Demon Sea is like a prison for Heavenly realm, housing all kinds of evil beasts. Hao Ren put himself in others' shoes; if his own daughter ended up in such a place, he wouldn't be happy about it either.
Qiu Niu probably had his reasons for taking Zhen Cunming out of the Demon Sea. However, Zhen Fei willingly stayed behind to accompany her 'Tai Lang.'
It seems like no one was at fault.
Hao Ren pondered as he flew beyond the borders of the Demon Sea.
Duan Yao saw Hao Ren fly away without even saying goodbye, leaving only a calm silhouette behind. She immediately stomped her feet on the three-legged crow's back in frustration.
The three-legged crow flapped its wings and dashed across the waves to return swiftly to the center of the Demon Sea.
Without the Purple-Gold Hairpin, Hao Ren felt somewhat awkward.
The Purple-Gold Hairpin carried a trace of Zhen Fei's divine consciousness but didn't possess independent spirituality. Any reactions it had were simply a reflection of Zhen Fei’s personality—it was akin to a strand of her soul.
Therefore, the hairpin breaking wasn’t an attack on its own; it was just Zhen Fei controlling it as an offensive weapon. This kind of magic item is different from those that are spiritually sentient like Golden Light Shield.
In retrospect, when Golden Light Shield first challenged Purple-Gold Hairpin, it was actually challenging Zhen Fei herself. How could the shield ever win against her, whose original form was a phoenix
Being bullied so many times for nothing, now that there’s no longer any restraint from Purple-Gold Hairpin, Golden Light Shield truly enjoys its freedom.
Hao Ren accelerated using sword qi and traveled at the speed of an early-stage Core Formation cultivator in a flash. He returned to Donghai City, crossing the East Sea.
At this moment, classes were still ongoing at Donghai University. Hao Ren erected a barrier and landed inside the campus.
"Brother Hao! Brother Hao is back!"
The dragon cultivators in Donghai University sensed Hao Ren's return.
When Hao Ren suddenly left the campus, no one could find him for over ten days. This included Lu Qi and other dragon cultivators from the Calligraphy Club.
They asked Xie Yujia about it, but she only said that he had gone on a trip and would be back soon. However, her eyes betrayed her worry.
Just as they were growing anxious over whether something unfortunate happened to Hao Ren, he suddenly returned.
During these past few weeks, many princes successfully transferred into Donghai University. When they came out from various corners of the campus and sensed Hao Ren’s cultivation level... It had already become Middle-Rank Wind Realm!
After just over ten days, Hao Ren had advanced from the兌 (Dui) rank to the巽 (Xun) rank!
So he must have been in seclusion!
The calligraphy club members exchanged glances and thought that it was incredible. In just over ten days, Hao Ren managed to advance from Dui rank to Xun rank's middle tier!
Hao Ren is truly a genius among geniuses!
Of course, the one who felt most surprised was Lu Qi; he had been following Hao Ren since his Zhen (Zhen) rank. Every time he saw him, Hao Ren would have made progress, and this time he even reached the middle tier of Xun rank — stepping into the realm of experts!
"What about Xie Yujia" asked Hao Ren.
Lu Qi kept his expression surprised as he looked at Hao Ren and said, "I've already informed her."
"Hao Ren!"
The moment Hao Ren mentioned Xie Yujia, he saw her pedaling furiously on a bicycle from the direction of the library. As soon as she arrived in front of Hao Ren, she practically flew off her bike and threw herself into his arms. Seeing that Hao Ren was unhurt, tears poured out uncontrollably.
These past few days, she hadn't been able to eat or sleep properly; when returning home, she had to force a smile and comfort her grandmother, saying that Hao Ren was participating in a school activity and conducting an investigation in the mountains with no mobile phone signal.
She genuinely worried whether Hao Ren would ever return. Every day, she thought about what to do if he didn't come back; even while spending time at the library, she couldn’t concentrate on reading anything. When she suddenly heard news of Hao Ren's return, she almost flew out of the library!
Seeing usually gentle and strong Xie Yujia crying with tears streaming down her face like a blooming pear blossom, Hao Ren felt quite bad about it.
He only wanted to make one last attempt; he hadn't thought whether or not he could actually return.
Xie Yujia's white shirt under her black jacket soon became wet with tears. In these days, she had secretly cried countless times; the longer Hao Ren didn’t return, the more anxious she felt in her heart.
Now that Hao Ren appeared suddenly, all the burden on her mind instantly eased.
The Dragon Palace Crown Princes surrounded Hao Ren and Xie Yujia, thinking how deep Xie Yujia's feelings for Hao Ren must be; just ten days of separation had made her so distressed… Still, it was understandable; after all, breakthroughs during seclusion are always somewhat risky.
They couldn't have imagined that Hao Ren had actually gone to the Nine Dragon Palaces and even ventured into the Sea of Ten Thousand Demons!
The risks at these two places were enough to kill an ordinary cultivator a hundred or a thousand times over!
"What day is it today Where’s Ah Zi" Hao Ren noticed more and more students peering curiously, wiped away the tears on Xie Yujia's eyelids with his fingers, and asked.
He hurried back for two reasons: Firstly, he feared that the Heavenly Earth Holy Fruit (Ginseng) would gradually lose its spiritual energy, so he needed to rush back to give one each to Xie Yujia and Zhao Yanzi. Secondly, he wanted to inquire about Zhao Kuo's condition — whether his uncle who was also at the Nine Dragon Palaces had returned safely or not!a friendly smile and recited an incantation to shrink the jade cauldron down to thumb size before placing it in his Ring of Infinite Space.What a fine young man!The Benevolent Cloud Dragon King secret...