Chapter 36: Return to the Mortal World

Shen Lian stood up, but Gu Caiwei had already turned her head away. When Shen Lian stepped ashore, a feathered robe appeared on him as if from thin air—an art of pocket dimensions, nothing extraordinary.

After dressing neatly, faint wisps of black smoke drifted from his body, dissipating with the wind. This was the vapor of the Youhe River, also known as soul smoke.

By his true physical age, Shen Lian was just over thirty, yet his appearance had barely changed since he first entered Qingxuan Academy—his delicate eyebrows and refined visage resembled a young man yet to come of age.

In the mountains, time seemed to stand still; Shen Lian had hardly changed.

Gu Caiwei remained unchanged as well, but Shen Lian sensed a subtle decay in her aura. Even with the world’s most invincible cultivation techniques, without breakthroughs in one’s realm, once one’s lifespan ends, one still becomes a lifeless skeleton in the tomb.

Yet Shen Lian himself had not even entered the gateway of the Void Divine Strategy, so he could offer Gu Caiwei no real help.

The path to entry was so arduous that the difficulty of refining the elixir was even more unimaginable.

But this was the path he had chosen; there was no one to blame.

Besides, he had only endured fifteen years of dullness, and it was not as if he had made no progress.

Chen Jianmei had lingered at the doorstep of the elixir stage for forty years. That torment was something Shen Lian, even now, found hard to comprehend. He had the Supreme Clarity Spiritual Treasure’s Natural Heart-Calming True Method to cultivate, and he even felt that if he cultivated it to an extremely high level, even if his body perished, he might continue to exist in another form of life—though perhaps at some cost.

Whenever he delved deeply into his visualizations, he felt as if he had forgotten joy and sorrow, leaving only silent loneliness and solitude.

When he pulled back, he rejected that state, yet the demonic obstacles brought on by the influx of the eight energies required the method of spirit refinement to counteract.

It seemed he was trapped in a paradoxical situation, one that could only be resolved by breaking through the Void Divine Strategy and entering its gateway.

Moreover, changing to cultivate some other method now was out of the question.

The path of the Dao was fraught with difficulties and dangers beyond measure. If one cowered and retreated today, tomorrow other obstacles would halt progress. By old age, one would have gained nothing but awaited death.

Shen Lian recognized his internal contradictions clearly but never lightly gave up. From the moment he vowed to seek the Dao, he knew cultivation would never be easy.

Today’s situation was even better than his worst expectations.

Gu Caiwei faced Shen Lian directly. Initially, Zhang Ruoxu had instructed her to take on disciples on his behalf, and she had agreed out of respect for him.

But Shen Lian truly possessed exceptional qualities—not simply because of his talent, but because he was somewhat different from the vast majority of cultivators in the world.

Most cultivators fought against fate, seizing every moment and rarely wasting time on others.

Moreover, those not yet at the elixir stage mostly focused on breaking through their current bottlenecks. Unless necessary, they wouldn’t waste time instructing others.

Even when they did, it was usually with a purpose, considering the other’s talent and potential.

Shen Lian, however, whenever he was not in seclusion or occupied with urgent matters, would patiently offer his views on cultivation difficulties asked by others, doing so without subjective bias, merely outlining possible approaches.

Whether senior disciples or juniors, most maintained a polite distance, and only a few close acquaintances shared greater intimacy—nothing more.

He never dismissed or half-heartedly dealt with anyone simply because their cultivation was low.

In this regard, Gu Caiwei saw a shadow of Zhang Ruoxu in Shen Lian.

Zhang Ruoxu was neither the strongest nor the most gifted leader in Qingxuan’s history, but he was undoubtedly the best.

Had Zhang Ruoxu not suffered an incurable grievous injury, he would likely have broken through the illusion and emerged, as his state of mind was flawless.

Shen Lian softly asked, “What are you thinking, senior sister?”

Gu Caiwei was taken aback, then said, “Nothing. I’m just passing a message from the leader.”

Shen Lian nodded. “The leader hasn’t checked on me for a long time. What matter this time?”

“When I first entered the Void Divine Strategy, it was partly because the patriarch and master laid the foundation for me. You have better talent but no such support. Unfortunately, my understanding of the Void Divine Strategy is limited; I can’t explain everything clearly. The leader, though deeply accomplished, has not practiced the Void Divine Strategy. But since all methods are interconnected, I explained it to him and shared my insights from cultivation. He cannot directly instruct you to breakthrough, but he told me to pass on this: ‘Go down the mountain for now. If you have not refined the elixir, do not return to the sect.’”

The leader’s order that Shen Lian not return without the elixir was somewhat baffling to Gu Caiwei.

When Chen Jianmei was stuck without breakthroughs and wished to descend the mountain for experience, Zhang Ruoxu had stopped him.

Chen Jianmei guarded Qingxuan for forty years until the clouds parted and the moon shone bright.

Now, Shen Lian was similarly trapped in a bottleneck, trying to calm his restlessness through stillness, yet the leader reversed this approach, sending him back into the mundane world.

The situation seemed similar, but the method was different.

Shen Lian pondered aloud, “The leader hasn’t even seen me. How does he know my current situation? How can I be sure his words are not mistaken?”

Gu Caiwei said, “The leader anticipated you would ask that. He told me to tell you: your difficulty lies only in your true nature, nowhere else. He also said, if you refuse to go, to let me take action and send you on your way.”

At the end, Gu Caiwei smiled gently. If Shen Lian had not refined the elixir after his transformation, it would be hard to discipline this little junior brother. She secretly hoped to see his resistance, to give him an unforgettable lesson.

Of course, Shen Lian knew well that beneath Gu Caiwei’s gentle exterior lay a mischievous streak, so he would not give her the chance.

Unhurriedly, he said, “Then I shall obey the leader’s decree.”

Shen Lian carried nothing with him. Even his sandalwood sword was stored in his pocket dimension, requiring no packing.

He simply bid farewell to Gu Caiwei and did not go to see Leader Zhang Ruoxu.

This was his second time descending the mountain, unlike the first, for now he did not know when he would return—perhaps never.

A person’s life was but naked coming and naked going.

Shen Lian felt little reluctance, but once outside Qingxuan, he found the vast world still paled in comparison to Qingxuan—an undisturbed, blessed realm.

Putting aside these scattered thoughts, Shen Lian thought of the Shen family. Perhaps it was time to visit. After all, it was tied inseparably to his physical body.

Sixteen years had passed. Though the world had not changed beyond recognition, the mortal realm was enough to bring great transformation.

The greatest change was that the Great Wei dynasty had been replaced by the Zhou dynasty.

This world was vast and boundless. Shen Lian had read a record in Qingxuan that some practitioners, choosing a random direction, rode their artifacts flying for a hundred years, only to die of old age along the way, never discovering the limits of this realm.

The Great Wei dynasty had occupied a continent tens of thousands of miles across, but only a portion of it.

In Qingxuan’s records, this continent was called Yuan Continent. Most inhabitants never traveled to other continents in their lifetime.

Only immortals possessed the divine means to traverse such distances.