The next day.

Shen Xuan and Ding Yuyao rented a carriage.

Unexpectedly, they ran into a familiar person.

It was the coachman, Old Liu, from the Cyan Dragon Bay Market all those years ago.

They hadn't seen each other for over twenty years.

Old Liu now had a head full of white hair.

"Talisman Master Shen?"

At a glance, he recognized Shen Xuan standing before him.

However, he was a bit incredulous.

After all, more than twenty years had passed.

Yet, Shen Xuan looked even younger now.

"Old Liu, still doing this job?"

"It really is Talisman Master Shen, and Madam Shen!"

Old Liu quickly bowed in salute.

"Songjiang Prefecture's Hongcheng County, do you still remember the way?"

"I remember!"

"Let's go!"

Shen Xuan helped Ding Yuyao onto the carriage.

"Drive steadily! Otherwise, I'll dock your pay!"

"Don't worry, Talisman Master Shen! Old Liu has no other skills but has been driving for fifty years, it's steady!"

Inside the carriage.

Ding Yuyao clung tightly to Shen Xuan.

As if afraid he would leave without a word.

This evoked an inexplicable melancholy in Shen Xuan.

If he were still an Early Stage of Qi Cultivation loose cultivator.

He would surely grow old with Ding Yuyao.

Even as beauty fades, they would accompany each other till death.

However, after awakening the Golden Finger.

The path to immortality was once again bright.

He couldn't let himself sink and mix in the lower ranks of the Cultivation Realm for a lifetime.

After reaching Foundation Establishment, his body became strengthened.

Even during dual cultivation with his wife, Ding Yuyao couldn't satisfy him.

In fact, they had rarely engaged in dual cultivation in recent years.

Occasionally, they would, but cautiously, fearing to harm Ding Yuyao, without enjoying it to the fullest.

However, Zhu Yingying had allowed Shen Xuan to enjoy a wonderful period of time.

This time, after returning to Hongcheng County, Ding Yuyao would no longer accompany Shen Xuan.

There exists a distinction between the immortal and the mortal.

Ding Yuyao, being in a Mortal Body, was destined to only be a fleeting part of Shen Xuan's long life.

...

The gentle spring breeze and drizzle quietly nourished a majestic, perpetually cloud-covered mountain in the northwest corner of Cyan Yang Prefecture.

This was Feiyun Mountain.

Cyan Yang Prefecture, located on the border of Song Country, was on the fringe of the Cyan Cloud Sect's influence.

A bit further west, and you'd reach the Martial Mansion of Liang Country.

Song Country was dominated by the seven major Daoist Sects, while Liang Country was led by the six major Demon Sects.

Inside Feiyun Mountain existed a Tier Two Top Grade Spirit Vein, where the Su Family had resided for millennia.

It was deep into the night, and the spring breeze carried a chilling hint through the drizzly air.

The meeting hall was brightly lit.

The actual power elders of the Su Family had gathered.

"This time, Master Gu Feng has, in consideration of our ancestors' past, sent a registered disciple to support our Su Family for thirty years!"

The head of the Su Family, in the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment, with grey temples and a face full of wrinkles, rarely showed a smile.

"I hear this Fellow Daoist Shen Xuan in Foundation Establishment is highly skilled and is also a Tier Two Talisman Master!"

"A Talisman Master? That's excellent!"

An esteemed clan elder stroked his long beard, smiling as he spoke.

"If he is willing to take on a few clan members as disciples and teach them the Talisman Art, that would be even better!"

More than ten other clan elders spoke up.

Praising the Patriarch of the Su Family for inviting Master Gu Feng's disciple to assist the Su Family.

With the passing of the Great Ancestor of the Su Clan, the family began to decline visibly.

Apart from the Spirit Fields and Spiritual Ores in Feiyun Mountain, business on outer markets had been eaten away by surrounding cultivation clans.

Among the over a thousand clan members, only a mere five were Foundation Establishment cultivators.

And only one of them was a Tier Two Spirit Plant Cultivator.

The other four, including the head of the Su Family, did not have any Tier Two cultivation techniques.

In the past, out of respect for the Great Ancestor of the Su Clan.

The other three great cultivation clans in Cyan Yang Prefecture would yield to the Su Family in some matters.

Sharing some benefits with the Su Family.

Now, not only did they not share profits.

The original income was also gradually shrinking.

A crisis was quietly approaching.

The head of the Su Family gestured with his hand.

The discussions gradually subsided.

"Everyone, Talisman Master Shen is here by the order of Master Gu Feng. Each of you should restrain your juniors, follow the rules, and avoid making a mockery of us, thereby letting others look down on the Su Family."

The clan elders, upon hearing this, were slightly taken aback.

In the glances exchanged between them, a hint of vigilance appeared.

The Patriarch's intention was clear.

The interests brought by Talisman Master Shen belong to the entire Su Family.

The clan elders must not resort to unscrupulous means, engage in internal competition, which could instead be counterproductive and harm the overall interests of the Su Family.

"Everyone, don't blame me for speaking bluntly. Talisman Master Shen is a sect Foundation Establishment cultivator and a True Master's disciple. If anyone disregards the bigger picture and damages the family's interests, don't blame me for being ruthless and enforcing the family laws!"

The head of the Su Family spoke solemnly.

"Rest assured, Patriarch, we wouldn't dare!"

"We will heed the Patriarch's instructions and treat Talisman Master Shen with due respect."

"We take our leave."

The clan elders, each with their own thoughts, dispersed one by one.

Soon, the meeting hall became deserted, leaving only the head of the Su Family.

At this moment, a slender, graceful young girl with bright eyes and white teeth walked in.

"Grandfather, I'm not going!"

"That Shen Xuan, he's over eighty years old!"

"What's there to welcome!"

"He's only a registered disciple of Master Yang!"

The head of the Su Family dotingly looked at his direct granddaughter.

"Yuanyuan, be good! Go and handle the formalities!"

"Talisman Master Shen is a sect's Foundation Establishment cultivator; we need to show him this courtesy."

Initially, he had intended to matchmake his granddaughter Su Jiayuan with Shen Xuan.

Hoping that Shen Xuan might stay a few more years.

After all, Shen Xuan is an apprentice of Master Gu Feng of the Cyan Cloud Sect.

Even if he does nothing and just stays in the Su Family as a mascot.

Such a presence could exert substantial influence on the Su Family.

During the overt and covert struggles with the other three great cultivation clans in Cyan Yang Prefecture, they all have to consider the stance of Cyan Cloud Sect and Master Gu Feng.

...

At the same time.

Within a deep mountain hundreds of miles away from Feiyun Mountain.

This area is on the Liang Country border, with sparse Spiritual Qi, desolate and uninhabited.

Below a barren hundred-zhang cliff, it was perpetually shrouded by a faint blood-red toxic miasma, devoid of life.

At this moment, a figure in a gray robe arrived in this region, stepping on a flying ship.

As this person approached, the blood-red toxic miasma seemed to sense something, and suddenly began to churn, surging in layers of fog waves towards the gray-robed figure.

The gray-robed figure lightly waved his sleeve, and a dark green Spirit Shield lit up around him, blocking the blood-red toxic miasma, which seemed almost alive, outside.

"Master Luo, you're here!"

A sinister voice suddenly sounded.

"I wouldn't dare. Old Luo pays respects to the Saint Child!"

The gray-robed figure bowed in salute.

The blood-red toxic miasma parted to create a passage.

A blood-red figure gradually solidified, appearing before the gray-robed figure.

Both their cultivation levels were in the Foundation Establishment Realm.

The status of the gray-robed person was clearly lower.

The blood figure's gaze turned towards the direction of Cyan Yang Prefecture in Song Country.

"I am the Saint Child; I should have an establishment to my name. Master Luo, you have been lurking in Cyan Yang Prefecture for many years, what do you suggest?"

The gray-robed man pondered before speaking: "Saint Child. Cyan Yang Prefecture is within the sphere of influence of Cyan Cloud Sect in Song Country. Cyan Cloud Sect boasts many Golden Core True Masters and is at its peak, I'm afraid..."

"No matter!"

The blood figure spoke softly: "The Daoist Sects of Song Country and the Demon Sects of Liang Country reached an implicit understanding long ago. Core Formation True Masters above Foundation Establishment must not act lightly, to prevent a major war between the two countries!"

"That's good then! If the Saint Child seeks to establish a base, Old Luo is willing to be the advancing spear, to give my best until death!"

"There's currently an excellent opportunity. The patriarch of the Su Family in Feiyun Mountain has passed, and the head of the Su Family failed to reach the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment; the clan is declining."

The blood figure laughed: "Great minds think alike. That's exactly my intention."

"However, I hear that the late patriarch of the Su Family had good relations with Master Gu Feng of the Cyan Cloud Sect. Reports from spies indicate that Master Gu Feng has sent his registered disciple Shen Xuan to support the Su Family for thirty years, and he is on his way."

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