Return to a Familiar Place

Where should the Secret Abode be established?

This world was far too vast.

Chen Sheng's next life would undergo another random Rotation.

He had no idea where he would end up in his next life.

Therefore.

This question had long troubled Chen Sheng.

He had once considered establishing the Secret Abode beside Linglong Immortal City.

There were two reasons for this.

The first was that he would soon be heading there, so he could do it along the way.

The second was that in his next life, no matter where he was, once he gained the ability to travel afar, he would go to Linglong.

Both to seek the Dao and to take revenge!

However.

Chen Sheng soon abandoned this location.

"The Secret Abode I establish is, at its core, merely the collection of a Qi Refinement great perfection cultivator."

"As my cultivation gradually rises, this Secret Abode will become less and less useful."

"In my next life, by the time I can travel afar and safely reach Linglong, my strength will surely be considerable."

"At that time, this Secret Abode will merely be icing on the cake."

"When will I need this Secret Abode the most?"

"Without question, it will be in the early stages, at the beginning of a Rotation!"

"At that time, my strength will be low and I will urgently need resources to improve. That is when I will need this Secret Abode most. It will be a timely help, allowing me to rise quickly."

"At that point, I will be weak and unable to travel afar. If this Secret Abode is too far away, it will be nothing but an unattainable dream."

"In other words, the worse the environment I find myself in during my next life, the closer this Secret Abode needs to be for it to help me most."

Having sorted out his thoughts.

Chen Sheng quickly had an answer.

He took out a map and drew a circle with an ink brush.

He soon marked the location of the Secret Abode.

The Land of Promise from his first life.

—Yan Land of Great Jing.

"My descendants should be most numerous here, so the chance of Rotating here is relatively high."

"At the same time, this is the mortal world, a Spirit-Poor Land. Cultivation resources are scarce, and there are not even any cultivation grounds."

"If I Rotate here, my need for resources will be extremely great, and the Secret Abode's usefulness can be brought to its fullest."

"Lastly, as a Spirit-Poor Land, it will greatly improve the Secret Abode's security and keep it from becoming someone else's wedding dress."

Having chosen the location.

Chen Sheng began his journey.

Yan Land lay between Thousand Mechanisms Workshop and Qinghua Sect.

The distance was roughly twenty thousand li.

Along the way stretched endless yellow sands, vast expanses of Spirit-Poor Land, and quite a few Mortal Kingdoms.

The journey was long, and dangers of all kinds were never lacking.

To reach his destination safely.

Chen Sheng slept in the open and traveled by day and hid by night.

He deliberately chose routes through uninhabited places, among lofty mountains and steep ridges.

Chen Sheng could use a Dharma Artifact at any time.

To fly over cliffs and precipices.

Roads that mortals found arduous.

Were smooth paths to him.

The human heart was the most treacherous thing of all.

The safest choice was not to deal with people!

When hungry, he simply ate Grain Abstinence Pills.

When thirsty, he cast a spell to gather moisture from the air.

He even had a minor cleansing technique for personal hygiene.

From time to time, he used the top-grade Dharma Artifact, the Spirit-Peeking Mirror, to observe spiritual energy fluctuations within ten li ahead.

This allowed Chen Sheng to avoid unnecessary conflicts in advance.

Whenever it was time to rest.

Chen Sheng concealed his aura.

Using a Dharma Artifact, he quickly carved out a temporary cave dwelling.

Then, holding a Formation Disk, he planted several inconspicuous Formation Flags amid dense grass within a hundred zhang.

The flags were the same color as withered leaves, forming a simple formation.

This formation could not only conceal his aura with the aid of the terrain.

It could also sound an alarm.

Once someone approached, the flags would flutter without wind.

Thus, two months passed.

The journey left his mind and spirit exhausted.

Fortunately, he encountered no mishaps.

Chen Sheng successfully reached Yan Land.

Yan City.

Chen Sheng looked at the familiar city gates, delight appearing in his eyes as he murmured inwardly:

"I'm back again!"

He entered the city.

After circling the city once and learning much information, he made his calculations.

"It is now Taiping Year Seven. Before that, there was..."

"By my count, a hundred and fifty years have already passed!"

Chen Sheng slowly shook his head.

He was now a hundred years old, and he thought to himself:

"That means the interval between Rotations is fifty years."

"Still, after so many years, the city has not changed much."

Chen Sheng looked around as he walked.

He saw many familiar streets, buildings, and market signs.

Though most had been rebuilt in later years.

They had retained their old appearance.

It made Chen Sheng feel quite nostalgic.

Prince of Yan's Mansion had not changed much either.

Chen Sheng secretly used a Dharma Artifact to peer inside.

He recognized none of the descendants within the mansion.

Only on the wooden tablets in the Mourning Hall.

Did he see one familiar name after another.

"A hundred years of change, all ending in a mound of yellow earth."

"Things truly remain while people are gone!"

Chen Sheng sighed inwardly and, without realizing it, arrived at the southeastern corner.

He looked up.

There stood a familiar restaurant.

—Drunken Immortal Abode.

Though the gold lettering on its signboard had faded, someone had carefully touched it up with vermilion paint.

A Plum Tree before the building had grown immensely thick, its branches nearly reaching the second-floor window lattice.

At the sight!

Chen Sheng was filled with memories and emotion:

"Who would have thought Drunken Immortal Abode would still be here!"

Back when he had traveled the Jianghu.

He had been entangled for years with a female hero from Hundred Flavors Pavilion, who became his confidante.

This Drunken Immortal Abode.

Had been founded by that confidante.

Its many delicacies had been specially tailored to his tastes.

Chen Sheng had practically treated the place as his dining hall.

That Plum Tree by the entrance.

Had been planted by Chen Sheng himself back then.

After a hundred years of change, it had grown into a towering canopy.

"Please come in, sir!"

Just then.

The waiter's call rang out.

Chen Sheng chuckled and stepped inside.

By a second-floor window.

The waiter handed over a menu.

Chen Sheng looked at it.

It was almost unchanged from back then.

His heart stirred.

He ordered several dishes he had loved in those days.

The waiter grinned.

"Looks like you're an old regular, sir. You ordered all of our specialties."

"Legend has it that these were all Benevolent King's favorite dishes back in the day."

Chen Sheng nodded.

They really were dishes he had loved back then.

He could not help laughing heartily.

"I'm no old regular."

"This is my first time coming to Yan City in this life."

"Since they're specialties, bring them out quickly!"

Before long.

A table full of exquisite dishes was served.

He picked up a piece of Lotus Fish.

Chen Sheng's eyes lit up even more.

The flavor was not far from what it had been back then.

It suited his palate perfectly, and his appetite immediately grew.

Half an hour later.

Chen Sheng leaned by the window, sipping wine.

At this moment.

The street outside became extremely lively.

Chen Sheng looked out.

Sixteen strong and robust men carried a towering statue in procession. The statue wore a crimson robe embroidered with gold, its face stern yet smiling.

Dragon dancers and stilt performers followed before and behind the procession.

The colorful dragon's scales gleamed beneath the sunlight, while the stilt walkers turned somersaults, drawing waves of cheers from the crowd.

Chen Sheng promptly called over the waiter.

"What is happening outside?"

The waiter replied with a smile:

"It's your first time in Yan, sir, so you may not know. This is a Yan State tradition—the Benevolent King's Tour!"

"The eighth day of the eighth month is Benevolent King's birthday every year."

"Benevolent King was merciful. He was a king in life and became a god after death. He is the local City God, with the full title of 'Divine Lord Benevolent King, Protector of Yan, Responsive Spirit, Merciful Savior of the Afflicted.'"

"He protects favorable weather and abundant harvests, and also blesses childbirth and safe deliveries. He is said to be quite efficacious."

The waiter went on and on about Benevolent King's story.

Things like subduing Flood Dragons, eradicating evil ghosts, praying for rain, granting children... it was quite legendary.

By the end of it all,

the waiter concluded with considerable pride:

"By that count, I'm also the Benevolent King's thirteenth-generation descendant."

A nearby patron burst into laughter:

"Then you ought to call me Grandfather. I'm from the eleventh generation."

The waiter's face reddened slightly:

"How can you count it that way?"

"The Benevolent King had Hundred Sons and Thousand Grandsons, with hundreds of branches between them. You're not from my branch."

By the window,

Chen Sheng merely smiled as he listened to the two argue until their faces turned red.

The waiter had said so much

that Chen Sheng had naturally long since figured out the Benevolent King's identity.

—Chen Sheng from his previous life.

Though he had never slain Flood Dragons or eradicated evil ghosts,

he had raised crocodiles.

He had also led men to wipe out the Ghost-Faced Bandit.

As for praying for rain and granting children, that went without saying—it had been his job.

Chen Sheng laughed inwardly:

"Who would have thought that, a hundred years later, I'd become a deity?"

"Out of reverence for the honored, all those absurd things I did in my youth have become legends of slaying demons and vanquishing evil."

"Still, these people haven't exactly lost out."

"After all, I have countless descendants throughout Yan Land. Every last one of them is my offspring—so this counts as ancestor worship too!"