He had only been promoted to the Venerable Realm a few months ago, yet he had advanced from the first to the second layer of the Venerable Realm.
"Although in the eyes of others, this is already a shocking speed."
"But I am anxious to find my wife, and this speed of cultivation advancement is still not fast enough."
"Time waits for no one, I must work hard."
Chen Jiuyang sat in a tea house in a mortal city, looking at the mortals performing tricks on the street, his gaze burning.
The Small Immortal Realm was vast. The old fellows from the Five Great Sacred Lands had a great karma with Zi Xuan, so they would not move against Zi Xuan in a short period.
However, if the time dragged on, it was hard to say.
The most important thing was the immense distance.
Even if he set off to find Zi Xuan, he didn't know how long it would take.
"Elder Chen, I didn't expect you to have such refined taste, enjoying these mundane amusements."
Shu Caiyi, with a charming young girl of sixteen years in his arms, walked up behind Chen Jiuyang, a strong scent of rouge and perfume wafting over.
"Elder Shu, please sit." Chen Jiuyang said with a smile, "Elder Shu is the one with the highest taste, coming here to find beautiful women every two or three days."
"My greatest pleasure is beautiful women," Shu Caiyi chuckled. "Mainly, I am the only one left in my Shu family, and I have the responsibility to propagate the lineage, so I need to work hard."
Chen Jiuyang's face twitched. "Shu Caiyi, don't you already have over seventy concubines and more than forty children?"
Shu Caiyi nodded slowly and said, "That's right. I alone am propagating the lineage, and I still need to put in more effort. I must have at least a hundred sons to rebuild my Shu family."
Chen Jiuyang's expression stiffened. "A hundred sons?"
Shu Caiyi looked surprised. "Elder Chen, why are you looking at me so strangely... If you have enough offspring, you can then distinguish them by their talents, deciding who should cultivate immortality, who should manage the family, and who should become merchants."
"The alchemy attainments left by my ancestors are only inherited by me. I cannot let the ancestral incense be extinguished."
"You speak the truth." Chen Jiuyang's expression softened slightly, and he cupped his fists. "It was my ignorance. Elder Shu, please forgive me."
"Elder Chen, there's no need to be so polite." Shu Caiyi said, "May I ask if Elder Chen has time recently?"
"What is it?" Chen Jiuyang asked.
Shu Caiyi said, "My eldest son recently discovered a relic sect, buried in a mountain stream. With my own ability, I cannot handle it alone. Elder Chen is a martial cultivator with extremely strong combat power."
"I wish to invite Elder Chen to explore this relic sect with me. The benefits inside, we can split them fifty-fifty, what do you say?"
Shu Caiyi's eyes gleamed, and he said softly to Chen Jiuyang.
Using sound transmission in a mortal city would cause fluctuations in magical energy, which might be detected.
Chen Jiuyang's heart stirred, and he said, "Elder Shu, please allow me to consider this matter carefully. I will reply to you tomorrow, how about that?"
"Excellent." Shu Caiyi said with a smile, "I shall not disturb Elder Chen's refined leisure."
With that, Shu Caiyi left with the charming girl in his arms.
Afterward, Chen Jiuyang continued to sit in the tea house, observing the ways of mortals.
As the sun set, he got up and returned to the sect, cultivating his Yuan Dao in his room that night.
"It seems after this, I must refine tribulation pills to quickly improve my Dao nurturing process."
Mortal pills, spiritual pattern pills, tribulation pills.
Refining tribulation pills would trigger heavenly tribulations. Heavenly tribulations contained life and death, as well as strands of heavenly tribulation power, which were extremely effective for tempering and nurturing the Dao.
Before, Chen Jiuyang had been too focused on the immediate. After arriving in this Small Immortal Realm, his state of mind had calmed considerably, truly achieving a Dao nurturing mindset.
Perhaps it was the excessive karma from before that had affected his thinking.
The next morning, Chen Jiuyang arrived at the Alchemy Hall.
He began refining pills.
After completing his daily work.
As noon approached, Shu Caiyi came to take over and asked, "Elder Chen, have you considered it?"
Chen Jiuyang showed a look of regret. "Elder Shu, I am very sorry, but I will be going out for a period of time. After hearing the Sect Master's sermon a few days ago, I have gained some insights into divine abilities and techniques, and I need to go out for some experience."
Excavating a sect's ruins was indeed a tempting prospect.
But at present, he had been in the Small Immortal Realm for five months. In another month, the Two Realms Mirror would awaken. On the other side of the Star River, his several women were about to give birth.
No matter how important other matters were, they could not compare to his women giving birth.
Shu Caiyi immediately showed disappointment. "Alright, then I can only find someone else to try."
Chen Jiuyang said, "There is truly no other way. I still need to go and ask the Sect Master for leave."
"Then I wish Elder Chen great success in his cultivation." Shu Caiyi said.
"Then I accept Elder Shu's good wishes." Chen Jiuyang said with a smile.
Afterward, Chen Jiuyang left the Alchemy Hall and went to the Sect Master's Hall, finding the Sect Master Feng Yunzi. "Sect Master, after hearing your sermon last time, I had some thoughts, perhaps gaining some insights into divine abilities and techniques. I have come to ask for leave to go out for a period of time. Of course, before I leave, I will complete the pills on the task list and will not delay the sect's need for pills."
Feng Yunzi looked at Chen Jiuyang in surprise. "Gained insights into divine abilities and techniques?"
Could this Elder Chen have quite good talent in martial arts?
Feng Yunzi calmed his emotions and asked, "How long will you be gone?"
"Perhaps about a year."
Feng Yunzi nodded and said, "Approved."
For a cultivator at the Soul Transformation stage like him, whose lifespan was thousands of years, a year was but a blink of an eye.
He never imagined that Chen Jiuyang came from a world on the other side of the starry sky. At most, he was from outside the Yun Duan mountain range, but at best, he was from the Eastern Wasteland.
Chen Jiuyang's aura was pure, not of demonic or heretical ways, so he was relieved.
"Thank you, Sect Master." Chen Jiuyang cupped his fists and bowed.
Then Chen Jiuyang returned to the Alchemy Hall to continue refining pills.
With his current Pure Lotus Sacred Fire, which surpassed its grade, refining pills was truly convenient.
In just half a month, he completed his year's worth of tasks in the Alchemy Hall, then collected his year's supply of materials from the Logistics Hall, and holding a jade slip, he left the protective formation of the Dongtian Sect and flew towards the uninhabited direction east of the Yun Duan mountain range.
He unleashed his full power, flying as fast as a meteor. Soul Transformation stage cultivators could not catch up to his speed, and even powerful cultivators in the Immortal Dao Void Returning stage would find it difficult.
After flying for several days, Chen Jiuyang returned to the uninhabited mountain range where the Two Realms Mirror was located.
This place was desolate and uninhabited, filled with poisonous insects and fierce beasts. The nearest inhabited area was two days' flight away, a distance of tens of thousands of miles.
"Although the spiritual energy here is abundant, it is full of swamps, with numerous nests of poisonous insects and fierce beasts. There are no heavenly treasures or spiritual veins. It is neither suitable for mortals to survive, nor for immortal families to settle here, nor for sects to be established here."
"No wonder no one has sought this place out over the long years."
To the cultivators of the Small Immortal Realm, this place was as poor as it could get, with no benefits whatsoever. Why would they come here?
But in this way, it was convenient for Chen Jiuyang.
In another month, the Two Realms Mirror would awaken.
"After crossing the sea, I want to return to the mortal world."