Helping Lord Xingde escape had left Liu Xiaolou with a sense of exhilaration. It made him feel immensely comfortable—a delight that spread from his mind into the meridians of his body, guiding the true essence within them in smooth circulation. He desperately wanted to return to the mountain and begin cultivating at once.
He hastened back to the outskirts of the Taoyuan Mountain Range, retrieved the spirit stones, array disk, token, array manual, silver, and other items he had buried, then immediately set off home. He carried more valuables than he had on the way here, so he no longer dared cut straight across Wuling Mountain. There were simply too many bandits and spirit beasts within; there was no need to risk it. Thus, he made a detour of more than a hundred li to the south, followed the Wu Chao River upstream, and finally returned to Wulong Mountain after being away for over three months.
He lingered below Qianzhu Ridge for half a day, shared a meal of coarse rice at Uncle Tian's home, scattered a few taels of loose silver among several familiar villagers, and then steadily made his way up the mountain.
Uncle Tian said that A Zhen had returned once this past first month of the year. She had even intended to go up the mountain to visit Liu Xiaolou, but unfortunately, he had not been there. After cultivating under Master Jingzhen of Xiushan for a year, A Zhen had already entered the Qi Refining first layer. That was quite rapid progress. Liu Xiaolou himself had gone up the mountain at eight, yet had not entered the Qi Refining first layer until he was ten. Compared to her, he could not help feeling somewhat eclipsed.
If that little girl surpassed him, he would lose all face!