Encounter

Back then, a financial conglomerate funded the restoration of an old ancient temple. During the process, it held secret talks with the temple and the local authorities, offering enormous compensation in the hope of relocating the ancient temple to New Star.

In the end, all parties compromised and gave their approval. The entire temple complex was moved as a whole—from every brick and tile to the roots of the old Bodhi tree, even the Buddhist statues. Everything was transported away.

At the original site, an even grander temple rose from the ground. It was more imposing than before, its incense offerings flourishing. From afar, it looked solemn and sacred.

Wang Xuan sighed with emotion. This was no longer something money alone could solve. All he could say was that the financial conglomerates' foundations and strength were simply astonishing.

"No wonder I couldn't find any Ascension Stones here, or discover a single strange item..." he sighed softly. Naturally, he understood everything now. The real ancient temple had long since been moved away.

Did that mean the bodhisattvas and the rest had also relocated to deep space?!

Very quickly, Wang Xuan thought of the situation near his home—the Daoist temple in Great Black Mountain... Not only were its tiles gone, even its foundations had vanished. It was probably New Star's doing as well.

They had not only excavated the things buried beneath Old Earth, but had also relocated the temples and Daoist shrines above ground, places steeped in rich mythological legends.

Wang Xuan was speechless. Old Earth was truly empty now. Hardly anything he wanted remained, which meant he had to seriously consider going to New Star.

From Pre-Qin Bamboo Slips to Thousand-Year Ancient Temples, then the ancestral grounds of various sects, as well as all kinds of ruins related to ascension—they had all been moved away, nearly disappearing from Old Earth.

Everything Wang Xuan longed for was on New Star!

"I need to prepare properly." He muttered to himself. There was no other choice. He had to set out.

Wang Xuan turned and left the temple grounds. Looking back now, although the magnificent temple stood amid the morning glow, it seemed to have shed that layer of Divine Radiance.

He felt rather wistful. First impressions and psychological suggestion could truly have a grave impact on normal judgment.

As Wang Xuan went farther away, he thought of the Old Monk whose eyes had bled, and roughly understood what he had been seeking.

"Was it because his dojo had been moved away and the Ascension Strange Items taken into deep space, so he wanted to follow them?"

However, in those hazy scenes the Old Monk had demonstrated late at night, bodhisattvas had clearly soared into the air, Arhats had risen, and Bodhi trees had been uprooted from the earth—all entering deep space.

Why had he alone been left behind? Was it because the Old Monk had made a mistake back then and been locked inside the stone wall? Or were the residual spiritual energies of those Ascension-level Buddhist experts scattered everywhere, with the Old Monk merely one part of them, now revived and wanting to go to the dojo on New Star as well?

No matter how one put it, it was connected to New Star.

"Old Chen, sleep well. You've suffered enough lately. The capable ones work harder, after all." Wang Xuan muttered, a smile appearing on his face.

He felt that since he had to consider going to New Star, he should have a good talk with Qing Mu soon. But he needed to keep Old Chen under control first, or send him away, because Old Chen had far too many ideas and was too difficult to deal with.

"Old Chen, you were really dishonorable this time. You actually schemed against me!"

Wang Xuan felt that Old Chen had gained nothing from the Female Daoist practitioner, and would probably use every possible method to plot against him. If he had not stumbled upon it by accident, with Qing Mu's "divine assist," he would have had no guard up at all.

"But I'm very generous. Aren't you unyielding enough to tough it out to the end? Since you love pondering and scheming over the Ascension Immortal Method so much, I'll give you another chance this time!" On the way back, Wang Xuan chuckled to himself.

Today was Sunday, so he did not need to work. It was still early when he returned to An City, and Wang Xuan wandered around casually.

He had lived in this city for more than four years and had grown somewhat attached to it. He would probably be leaving soon. As he passed familiar places, he looked at them again and again.

Without realizing it, he arrived at Cloud Lake, one of An City's more famous scenic spots. The lake water was clear and pure, with a few ancient buildings nestled along the shore. Water birds circled low overhead. In this noisy, restless city, such elegant lakeside scenery was indeed pleasing.

Every day, people ran around the lake or came boating here. There were quite a few of them.

"What's going on? Is someone filming a show?" someone complained ahead, where the crowd was packed together.

The Blue Stone Path along the lake had been blocked, and people out strolling and enjoying the scenery were obstructed. Everyone was dissatisfied.

"It's not a film crew scouting locations, but it's about the same. Seems like some celebrity is up ahead." Someone spoke and mentioned a name.

A group of people cried out in surprise. This was a celebrity from New Star, and she was quite popular on Old Earth as well. Once her name was mentioned, many people recognized it.

"Make way!" someone shouted loudly, shoving the pedestrians by the lake and trying to force everyone to clear a path.

People immediately voiced their displeasure. "Why should we? This isn't your family's road. Why should we make way for you?"

"Stop shoving! I'm about to fall into the lake!" someone cried out.

A group of people in black walked in front. Their movements were somewhat rough, arms stretched out to block pedestrians or shove them aside with excessive force. They looked like bodyguards.

Behind them was a woman wearing sunglasses. Though they covered most of her face, she seemed genuinely beautiful. Still, her manner of travel had stirred the passersby's resentment.

"Why should we? This is everyone's road. Why do we have to make way just because you're traveling?" someone shouted.

Although quite a few people here were fans, calling out the New Star actress's name, many others were deeply dissatisfied and felt this was going too far.

"What era is this? So what if she's a celebrity? Acting so high-profile, she'll be finished sooner or later!" someone yelled.

But the people in black remained unmoved, still diligently pushing the crowd apart and isolating a path.

Wang Xuan happened to run into this scene as he arrived. At the same time, he was slightly surprised to unexpectedly spot someone else standing by the lake.

It was a woman. Her long dress fluttered in the breeze, making her tall figure's astonishing curves even more pronounced. A lock of beautiful hair lifted in the wind, and her face was fair and lovely. With Cloud Lake as her backdrop, she possessed a distinctive charm.

It was Wu Yin. Wang Xuan's deepest impression of her was that she had quite a temper. Her figure was indeed excellent too—last time, when she got angry, she had nearly burst her evening gown. Yet today, he had unexpectedly seen her on Old Earth again.

Very soon, Wang Xuan understood why she was here. The actress from New Star was clearly heading for her. They seemed to know each other and had arranged to meet.

Wu Yin frowned. She did not want to attract attention like this. She waved at the actress, unwilling to meet her here and become a sight in everyone's eyes. She turned and walked away into the distance.

Objectively speaking, her bearing was even more outstanding than the actress's.

After Wang Xuan arrived here, he had intended to turn around and leave. But then he heard cries of alarm—someone had truly nearly been squeezed into the lake. He immediately frowned.

In particular, a little girl was brushed aside by a burly man in black and fell straight backward. Wang Xuan could not stand the sight of it. He shoved aside several men in black, crossed through them, and pulled the little girl up. With so many people around, if she were trampled, it would be easy for something to happen.

Clearly, Wang Xuan's act of barging through and shoving aside several men in black displeased them. A row of men in black crowded over, instead treating him as the one provoking trouble.

Wang Xuan led the little girl back several steps, wanting to take her out of the crowd so she would not get squeezed and hurt.

"Stay away from me," he said calmly.

But several men in black thought he was escalating the provocation. They continued shoving this way, pressing over together with the crowd.

Wang Xuan had not wanted to make trouble, but he could not bear to watch them either. Yet if he directly fought these men in black, it would probably turn into a complete mess. With the idea of educating people at the source, he led the little girl back toward Wu Yin by the lake.

"Don't go too far. What era is this? Do you still think a princess is traveling? The Qing Dynasty has been dead for ages!" Wang Xuan shouted.

Naturally, his original intention was to have Wu Yin step forward and teach that actress she clearly knew a lesson, correcting this sort of problem at its root today.

Because he could see that Wu Yin seemed to be deliberately keeping a low profile. She had already waved at the actress, wanting to leave.

However, when he squeezed his way over, although Wu Yin was displeased with the actress, she became even more unhappy upon seeing Wang Xuan. As soon as she saw him approach, she immediately folded her arms across her chest, looking wary and guarded.

Wang Xuan was speechless. Was that necessary? He guessed this woman was still holding a grudge. After all, when he had analyzed her condition last time, he had truly offended her badly.

Wu Yin shot him a cold glance, arms folded across her chest as she turned partly away. It was an obvious attempt to create distance, showing that she did not want to greet him, much less have any contact with him.

"Big... Wu Yin!" Wang Xuan hastily changed his words. In his heart, besides her bad temper, the most direct impression this woman gave him was that she was "broad-minded." He had nearly let it slip just now.

Wu Yin was extremely sharp. The instant he uttered the first word, she immediately guessed what he had originally intended to call her. Her eyes instantly blazed with fury.

"Don't misunderstand. I saw you secretly greeting that actress just now, so you should know each other. Hurry and talk some sense into these people. Don't be so high-profile—they're about to squeeze me into the lake."

Wu Yin had originally wanted to greet the actress and tell her to leave. But she felt that Wang Xuan had deliberately edged his way toward her, and she immediately became displeased. She did not want to acknowledge him, folded her arms across her chest, turned around, and ignored him.

Those men in black rushed over, looking at Wang Xuan with unfriendly expressions, clearly believing he was causing trouble.

"Don't let your hand touch me!" Wu Yin warned.

Wang Xuan did not retreat. They were already at the lake's edge. With the purpose of "curing illness and saving people," he decided to teach all parties a lesson, sending the men in black into the lake with one kick each.

It was like poking a hornet's nest. A whole group of men in black charged over.

Wang Xuan held the little girl and looked at Wu Yin, his meaning clear: if you still don't step forward, we'll all be squeezed into the lake.

Wu Yin ignored him, wanting to shift aside. She even shot him a glare.

Seeing that she still had her arms folded like she was guarding against a thief, Wang Xuan felt he might as well educate everyone. When the men in black charged over, he pulled the little girl aside to evade them. His hand indeed did not touch Wu Yin, but he was not polite at all—he gave her butt one kick and sent her down into the lake.

Then, whoever among the men in black stepped forward received one kick from him. Very quickly, the area nearby was cleared out. The surrounding people cheered loudly; they had long been fed up with these bodyguards.

In the end, the actress was squeezed over by the crowd as well. Wang Xuan did not know what happened, but when he looked again, the actress had fallen into the lake too.

"I think I wasn't the one who kicked her in," Wang Xuan said, looking at everyone.

"Uncle, it seems it was you," the little girl beside him said honestly in a low voice.

The people around them burst into laughter.

Wang Xuan sighed and immediately contacted Old Chen. "Old Chen, I agree. I'll give you a great fortune, but come over and deal with some problems first."