"Zhou Hong, you absolutely cannot have such thoughts. It's fine once or twice, but doing this constantly is no good. Cultivating like this is meaningless and will cause your foundation to collapse later on."
"Alright," Zhou Hong nodded, having just spoken offhand.
Zhou Hong immediately returned to his home in the sub-world.
After staying at home for a few more days, Zhou Hong left the sub-world and arrived at Taigu City.
He had previously entered the sub-world from a hidden location in Taigu City, and upon exiting, he reappeared here.
"Grandfather, I've just broken through to the early stage of Nascent Soul. What should I do next to continue progressing? I feel like I've suddenly lost all opportunities." Zhou Hong walked down the street, speaking to his grandfather in his mind.
"Don't rush. You've made so many breakthroughs in a short time. There's no benefit to advancing too quickly. For the next ten years, you should temporarily stop cultivating and just enjoy yourself."
"No way, ten years?"
"Ten years is a very short time. You've advanced so much in such a short period, your cultivation base will be unstable. Spend these ten years doing things you enjoy."
Zhou Hong felt that ten years was too much of a waste, but then he thought, with his current lifespan of at least two thousand years, ten years was indeed not much. Moreover, his grandfather was experienced, and listening to him was correct. Even for Earthlings, you know the importance of work-life balance.
"Okay, but I don't know what to do if I'm not cultivating," Zhou Hong said somewhat helplessly.
"My good grandson, do whatever your heart desires. I feel you enjoy showing off, especially in front of beautiful women. Then go and show off properly. It's all about being happy."
Zhou Hong felt a pang of embarrassment. His grandfather could even know this in his previous life.
"Forget it, Grandfather. Showing off is just a fleeting thing, fulfilling a bit of a twisted desire."
"Then you must think carefully and don't leave any lingering inner demons. Otherwise, it will be very troublesome when you face tribulations later. The reason many cultivators fail their tribulations is mostly due to too many regrets in their cultivation journey, which become inner demons."
Zhou Hong's body trembled. This could also become an inner demon?
"Grandfather, does this have a significant impact during tribulations?"
"Otherwise? Tribulations are lightning strikes from heaven. At that time, even the slightest inner demon, as fine as a strand of hair, or even a childhood memory of not getting enough to eat and feeling unhappy, will be magnified infinitely, becoming the straw that destroys your life. This will not differ whether you are a genius or a mediocre person."
"Oh, oh."
"Therefore, be the person your heart is, and do what that person would do. Don't force yourself to change for the sake of face or fear of what others might say."
"Since that's the case, then for these ten years, I'll go show off," Zhou Hong said with a laugh. He didn't have any other hobbies anyway. He couldn't sing, he didn't smoke, and he wasn't particularly interested in drinking. Only showing off made him feel a bit more interesting. He felt he hadn't shown off enough in his previous life.
Originally, Zhou Hong felt he had outgrown that phase, but after hearing his grandfather say this, he decided to go with it. So be it if it was vulgar. He would have fun for ten years, doing whatever made him happy.
However, Zhou Hong didn't want to show off using his current name, so he altered his appearance and adopted an ordinary name.
Thus, eight years passed.
During these eight years, Zhou Hong traveled alone across half of the Tianyang Continent, visiting over a dozen empires. Whenever he saw a beautiful woman, he would stay and put on a show in front of her.
However, Zhou Hong only showed off and did not play with emotions.
In the beginning, many beauties, seeing Zhou Hong's plain appearance, looked down on him. Then, Zhou Hong began to show off and slap faces, and later they would fall madly in love with him.
Zhou Hong counted, the women he had shown off to in these eight years were probably no less than eighty, if not a hundred.
"Hahaha, hahaha." Zhou Hong let out a loud laugh.
"Grandfather, I've been having fun for eight years. The time has passed so quickly," one day after eight years, Zhou Hong said to his grandfather as he walked down the street.
"Of course. Have you been in good spirits these past eight years?"
"Absolutely. I've put everything aside these past eight years and done whatever I wanted. How could my spirits not be good?"
"What are your plans now?" asked Grandfather.
"I don't want to show off anymore. I'm returning to Taigu Academy." Zhou Hong naturally hadn't forgotten that he wanted to apply to go to the Deep Space Continent. Long Xuan had mentioned before that someone would come down to pick people up every decade or so. So, he was preparing to return to Taigu Academy and head to the Deep Space Continent.
"Deep Space Continent?" Zhou Hong's grandfather seemed unaware. Zhou Hong explained it.
"Good. To progress further, you must go to more dangerous places."
Zhou Hong was still disguised at this moment, with a rather unattractive appearance.
He hadn't reverted to his true form in these eight years, but today, Zhou Hong decided to return to his original appearance and rest. Su Dan Novel Network
Zhou Hong immediately restored his original appearance.
At this moment, Zhou Hong was in the southern part of the Tianyang Continent, in a country called the Glazed Empire.
This Glazed Empire could be considered a medium-sized empire.
Zhou Hong had stayed in this empire for nearly half a year. During this time, he had used the name Xue Long and shown off in front of more than a dozen beautiful women. Now, there was nothing left to show off, so he was preparing to leave.
"Huh, Zhou Hong?" Just as Zhou Hong was preparing to return to Taigu Academy, a surprised voice called out from behind him on the street.
Zhou Hong turned around and saw it was Dugu Shuang.
"It's you. What are you doing here?" Zhou Hong asked with a smile of curiosity.
"I should be asking you that. I'm from the Glazed Empire and just returned home to visit relatives. How come you're here?"
"Haha, I'm just wandering around," Zhou Hong said with a smile, not explaining clearly.
"Are you leaving now?" Dugu Shuang asked.
"Yes, I'm preparing to return to Taigu Academy. It's been eight years in the blink of an eye."
"Yes, eight years ago, you treated us to a farewell meal at a restaurant."
"You came on your own, though," Zhou Hong said with a smile.
Dugu Shuang's face reddened with embarrassment.
"Zhou Hong, I'll be returning to Taigu Academy soon as well. Can you wait for me and go back together?" Dugu Shuang requested.
"Of course, I can. How much longer will you be?"
"Not long. I came back this time because my cousin said she knew a very talented man named Xue Long. However, this Xue Long turned out to be a scumbag who deceived my cousin's feelings. I've come back to get justice for her. After all, my cousin's beauty is no less than mine, and she's a renowned peerless beauty of the Glazed Empire. How could she possibly be deceived by a scumbag?"
"Uh!" Zhou Hong was slightly stunned. A face immediately appeared in his mind. She was indeed very beautiful. He never expected that this Dugu Dongyao was Dugu Shuang's cousin.
However, Zhou Hong hadn't deceived her feelings; he had merely shown off in front of her.