Huan'er Reaches the Qi Refinement Fifth Layer

Shen Jingchuan landed outside the market, put Treading Snow back into his spatial storage, and walked into the market. He went straight back to his rented cave abode.

In the courtyard, Xiao Mingshu was sitting at the stone table drinking tea, with Huan'er beside her, and the two were chatting idly.

Hearing footsteps, Xiao Mingshu looked up, saw it was him, and smiled at him.

"Hey, little brat, you're back?"

"So, how was your trip to Green Wilds Market?"

Huan'er quickly stood up and greeted her with a smile.

"Young master, you're finally back! Please have a seat. Are you tired? Let me get you some tea."

Shen Jingchuan waved his hand and sat down at the stone table.

"Hey, you got something too?"

"I originally intended to go, but I ran into the Bandit Cultivator halfway there and couldn't make it, so I came back."

Xiao Mingshu's smile vanished instantly, and her expression changed.

"What?"

Are you injured?

Shen Jingchuan stretched his shoulders and smiled at her again.

"Do I look injured?"

Xiao Mingshu looked him up and down, and only breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he was indeed alright. Then she asked again.

Who is it?

Shen Jingchuan picked up his teacup, took a sip, and thought to himself, "This matter is all over, there's no need to tell her."

"Hi, I don't know you."

"If I can't beat them, can't I at least run away? I hid outside for a few days, shook them off, and then came back."

Xiao Mingshu frowned.

What is the opponent's cultivation level?

How could I tell?

Shen Jingchuan put down his teacup and shrugged.

"Anyway, he's taller than me."

Xiao Mingshu rolled her eyes at him.

"See? What did I tell you? I was fine with just going along, but you wouldn't let me."

"You're coming with me?"

Shen Jingchuan was amused.

"You don't know I have Big Black, it's incredibly fast. You'll only be a burden if you follow."

"Alright, let's not talk about that anymore. I'm back safe and sound, aren't I?"

Xiao Mingshu wanted to say something more, but ultimately didn't speak, only shaking her head.

The three of them sat in the courtyard and chatted for a while before Huan'er went to prepare dinner.

At the dinner table, Shen Jingchuan looked at Huan'er and suddenly spoke.

"Huan'er, I just discovered that you've broken through?"

Huan'er nodded happily.

"Yes, just a couple of days ago, I just broke through."

Shen Jingchuan laughed, turned to look at Xiao Mingshu, and teased her on purpose.

"Sis, did you hear that?"

"You'd better hurry up, or Huan'er will catch up with you by tomorrow."

Xiao Mingshu glared at him, annoyed.

"Screw you."

Shen Jingchuan laughed and took out a bottle of pills from his Ring, handing it to Huan'er.

"Here, this is for you. It's a bottle of ten High-Grade Qi Gathering Pills, a reward for you."

"It's a good thing you've broken through; don't hold back, cultivate diligently."

Huan'er accepted the gift with both hands, both surprised and delighted, and quickly thanked her.

"Thank you, young master!"

Then, Shen Jingchuan looked at Xiao Mingshu, his expression becoming more serious.

"Sis, you need to work hard too."

He raised his hand and took out two more jade bottles, placing them on the table.

"These are Qi Condensing Pills and Spirit Concentrating Pills, ten of each, all of superior quality."

"Take this and use it to speed up your cultivation."

Xiao Mingshu looked at the two bottles of pills, opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything for a moment.

"You..."

Shen Jingchuan waved his hand, interrupting her.

"Alright, don't be so polite with me."

"I'm just hoping you'll Foundation Establishment soon, aren't I?"

Xiao Mingshu pursed her lips, finally put away the pill, and softly hummed in agreement.

After dinner, they chatted for a while longer before returning to their rooms.

Shen Jingchuan spent the whole night cultivating in his room.

The next morning, he spoke to Xiao Mingshu and Huan'er.

"I'm going back to Azure Cloud Stronghold today, and I'll be back in a few days."

Xiao Mingshu thought for a moment and didn't mention going along, since it was related to her Xiao Household and she didn't want to get involved. She only gave them one piece of advice.

"Then please be very careful on your journey."

"What if someone kidnaps you again?"

Shen Jingchuan smiled.

"Don't worry, I'll be careful."

After breakfast, he bid farewell to the two men and left the market.

Once outside, he released Little Black and mounted his horse.

Little Black leaped into the air with a powerful push of its four hooves and flew towards Azure Cloud Stronghold.

Since killing the elder of the Tian Household, Shen Jingchuan felt much more confident.

He started to become less cautious than before.

This time, the light sphere was upgraded, and there were eight second-tier high-grade talismans alone, including both offensive and defensive ones.

In addition, he had been away for so long and hadn't brought back the things he had prepared for Azure Cloud Stronghold yet, which made him anxious.

He didn't care about being conspicuous; once he left the market, he mounted Little Black and rode back home.

Little Black was fast; they arrived at Azure Cloud Stronghold in less than an hour.

The sentry on the stockade suddenly saw a dark shape on the horizon, flapping a pair of huge wings, flying straight towards them at an alarming speed.

Everyone was startled and didn't react for a moment.

While in the air, Shen Jingchuan, fearing that the villagers might not recognize him and could mistakenly injure him, gathered his strength and shouted loudly.

"I'm back!"

Those people below were all ordinary folks, their eyes couldn't keep up, and they couldn't see the person on horseback clearly, but the voice clearly belonged to a young master.

They didn't dare fire the crossbow bolts.

In fact, ordinary crossbow bolts wouldn't have been able to harm Shen Jingchuan if they hit him at this moment.

What he was truly afraid of were the machine guns on the stockade wall.

Fortunately, it was broad daylight and everyone could see clearly, so they understood what he was saying.

Little Black folded its wings and flew straight to the small square in front of the Hall of Righteousness, where it landed.

Inside the Hall of Righteous Gathering, Hu Tieniu, Lin Shan, and Lin Yue were discussing something when they heard the commotion outside and got up to come out.

As soon as I stepped out of the gate, I saw a black horse flapping its wings and landing on the square.

Before the horse even landed, a figure jumped off its back and landed steadily on the ground; it was Shen Jingchuan.

Hu Tieniu's eyes lit up, and he quickly went to meet him.

"Young Master!"

"You're finally back."

Lin Shan and Lin Yue followed, smiling at him.

"Jingchuan, you're back."

Shen Jingchuan looked up and called out to the two of them.

"Big brother, second brother."

Then, he walked up to Hu Tieniu and patted him on the shoulder.

"How is it, Chief Hu?"

"How's the village been lately?"

Hu Tieniu had been staring blankly at the long-winged black horse, and it was only when he was patted on the shoulder that he came back to his senses.

He swallowed hard, pointed at the horse, and looked somewhat bewildered.

"Young Master."

"This horse... it looks so familiar."

Is it Big Black?

Shen Jingchuan turned around, glanced at it, and smiled.

"No."

"This is Little Black."

Hu Tieniu's eyes widened, and he looked him up and down again.

"Little Black?"

"To me, its head looks about the same size as Big Black's used to be."

"Didn't you see? It's grown wings."

Shen Jingchuan walked over and reached out to touch Little Black's neck.

"It has now advanced to a spirit beast, no longer the ordinary horse it once was."

Little Black stood in the square, its wings slightly spread, its magnificent appearance radiating an aura of power.

Hu Tieniu watched, not daring to move forward, and just smacked his lips.

"Good heavens..."

"That's really something, you've really made something of yourself."

Shen Jingchuan withdrew his hand and waved to the three of them.

"Alright, this isn't the place to talk."

"Come on, let's go inside and talk."

Having said that, he raised his hand and with a thought, the Little Black horse vanished into thin air.

Hu Tieniu, Lin Shan, and Lin Yue were stunned, their eyes wide with disbelief.

"Why?"

"This... this horse, how could it just disappear like that?"

Shen Jingchuan smiled and patted the beast-taming pouch hanging at his waist.

"This thing is called a Beast Taming Bag."

"In the cultivation world, it's specifically used to capture spirit beasts."

The group walked and talked as they entered the Hall of Gathering Righteousness and took their seats.