After Parting Ways in a Past Life, We Never Returned Home Together

Chen Ganliu left Suiyang Immortal Market and headed straight for Shuangyun Mountain.

It was where he had cultivated in his past life, and he was intimately familiar with every blade of grass and tree. He wanted to go into seclusion for a while, and there was no better place than Shuangyun Mountain.

He had heard from his Senior Sister that she hadn't returned to this place for decades after discovering it, so he wasn't worried about being encountered by his former wife.

This time, with something on his mind, he didn't delay. He traveled at full speed, with Light Talismans enhancing his movement, and in just seven or eight days, he passed by Shuangyun Immortal Market at the foot of Shuangyun Mountain.

Chen Ganliu had something on his mind, and besides, he had visited Shuangyun Immortal Market countless times in his past life. There was nothing new or interesting, so he passed by without entering.

After passing Shuangyun Immortal Market, in just over half a day, Chen Ganliu reached Shuangyun Mountain and forged his way through the wilderness to Blazing Light Cave deep within the mountain.

This was a secret place discovered by his Senior Sister in her early travels. Surrounded by dozens of ancient trees, a narrow stone path wound its way through. Unless one knew the secret and searched carefully, or flew over from high above, all one would see was lush, verdant greenery.

Therefore, even though Blazing Light Cave was near Shuangyun Immortal Market, no one had ever discovered it, which spoke to its privacy.

Chen Ganliu, who had lived here for over forty years in his previous life, returned to the familiar place with a touch of emotion.

The place was just as it was in his past life. When he had accompanied his Senior Sister here, the cave was spotlessly clean, with a stone table and stone benches. According to his Senior Sister, these furnishings were already there and not something she had arranged.

The original owner of Blazing Light Cave, whoever they were, and how many years had passed since they left, were unknown. They had searched through ancient texts and asked fellow disciples, and his Senior Sister had even used spells to explore, but they had found no clues.

Blazing Light Cave had eighteen chambers, and miraculously, each chamber had an opening through which light leaked in, so it wasn't dark. Chen Ganliu chose the chamber where he had lived and cultivated alone in his past life. He first piled all his recent acquisitions on the floor.

This time, he had collected seventeen Storage Magic Treasures in Suiyang Immortal Market, but most of them were sealed with restrictive spells, which he couldn't break open for the time being. Of the ones without restrictions, he could only open five Storage Magic Treasures.

Putting aside the Storage Magic Treasures he couldn't open for now, among the five he could open, along with over a hundred Magic Treasures he had found on corpses, most bore the magical imprint of their original owners. He could only refine eleven of them.

He had over a hundred Spirit Stones. High-grade Spirit Stones were extremely rare, and he hadn't found any such treasures among the Spirit Stones he acquired. There were two mid-grade ones, both from the same Storage Ring. Spirit Stones of this quality were enough to fully replenish the True Qi of a Golden Core Realm cultivator once, making them very precious.

The rest were all low-grade Spirit Stones, suitable only for use at the Qi Refining level.

There were countless miscellaneous items of various kinds.

Chen Ganliu ignored the storage bags, storage gourds, storage rings, various Magic Treasures, and Spirit Stones of different grades. Instead, he piled up all the Green Jade Stones he had found, two to three hundred of them, in the chamber, almost filling it completely.

Chen Ganliu took a deep breath, found a Magic Treasure shaped like an axe, selected a piece of Green Jade Stone, and began to carefully carve it.

This piece of Green Jade Stone yielded only a piece of inferior material. He put the inferior material into a vacant storage ring and threw the crushed stones into an empty adjacent chamber. Then, he went to select the second piece of Green Jade Stone.

Chen Ganliu had purchased enough food and provisions and prepared enough clean water along the way. The next two to three months would be spent entirely within Blazing Light Cave, without stepping out.

What was frustrating was that after carving all the Green Jade Stones, he only obtained fifty-six pieces of high-grade jade material, seventy to eighty pieces of mid-grade jade material, hundreds of pieces of low-grade jade material, and countless pieces of inferior jade material, but he found no White Emperor's Legacy.

Chen Ganliu broke open the last piece of Green Jade Stone, but found nothing. This piece of Green Jade Stone only had some mineral veins and no complete jade material. He sighed softly and glanced at the Storage Magic Treasures whose seals he couldn't break. He thought, I wonder if that piece of Green Jade Stone is among these sealed Storage Magic Treasures, or if it hasn't made its way to Suiyang Immortal Market yet?

He suddenly became worried.

Generally speaking, unless it was a major market, Golden Core Realm cultivators and above rarely appeared in Suiyang Immortal Market. Only cultivators at the Qi Refining Realm frequented it.

The Storage Magic Treasures Chen Ganliu obtained were all from cultivators at the Qi Refining Realm. Even so, he could only sigh in helplessness at the seals set by cultivators at the Second Layer of Qi Condensation and above.

In a few years, he might break through to the Second Layer of Qi Condensation and be able to break open one or two Storage Magic Treasures. But what about the Storage Magic Treasures sealed by cultivators at the Third Layer of Qi Condensation and above using their magical power?

Not to mention, among those twelve Storage Magic Treasures, there seemed to be a few that belonged to cultivators at the Seventh or Eighth Layer of Qi Condensation. Chen Ganliu had almost no recourse but to sigh in helplessness. He now earnestly hoped that the piece of Green Jade Stone had not yet made its way to Suiyang Immortal Market, otherwise...

With a sigh, Chen Ganliu first organized his current haul. He put all the "miscellaneous items" into a storage gourd. These miscellaneous items included materials for refining Magic Treasures, spiritual herbs, refined spiritual pills, talismans, three scrolls of Taoist texts, as well as daily clothing, gold, silver, mortal weapons, and so on.

As he put away the three scrolls of Taoist texts, he sighed softly. In all the Xianxia novels, fortuitous encounters always began with Taoist texts. But having truly cultivated for one lifetime, he deeply understood that even with the world's most powerful cultivation technique, he couldn't even cultivate the Azure Emperor Jia Yi Art. Where would he find the time to dabble in other things?

He focused wholeheartedly, giving his all to cultivate the Azure Emperor Jia Yi Art. It was uncertain if he could reach Qi Refining perfection in this life, or even cultivate beyond the Third Layer of Qi Condensation. Even if the Heaven-Swirling Five Elements True Scripture of the Bronze Drum Sect were placed before him, where would he find the lifespan to cultivate it?

Moreover, how could the Taoist arts of these rogue cultivators compare to the true transmissions of the Immortal Encounter Sect?

Although his reason told him this, his curiosity still made Chen Ganliu unable to resist flipping through the three scrolls of Taoist texts he had.

One scroll of Taoist text was a technique from the unorthodox paths. The Qi Refining technique recorded in it was similar to the Six Harmonies Qi Refining Technique he had cultivated in his past life. However, the Six Harmonies Qi Refining Technique was the introductory method of the Immortal Encounter Sect, and it could at least allow one to cultivate to Qi Refining perfection. Moreover, the Immortal Encounter Sect had follow-up cultivation methods beyond Qi Refining. This unorthodox Qi Refining technique could only cultivate to the Sixth Layer of Qi Condensation, with no further methods.

Besides this unimpressive Qi Refining technique, there were over ten other unorthodox spells. Among them were three Talismans that made Chen Ganliu's eyes light up slightly.

These three Talismans could be separated, but they were essentially one, named: Capture, Bewilder, Confuse!

They were extremely easy to learn and could be cultivated into the three spells: Soul Capture, Soul Bewilderment, and Heart Bewilderment.

These three spells had similar effects: making people dazed and obedient. The Soul Capture spell required some preparation but had a lasting effect. The Soul Bewilderment spell produced immediate results, but if the target's will was strong, or if they had magical power protecting them, it was prone to failure and the duration was not long. The affected person would be dazed for a while and then wake up on their own. The Heart Bewilderment spell had a weaker effect. Those affected by this spell would need accompanying words to provoke their emotions.

Combined, these three spells could be used to refine a minor Magic Treasure—the Soul Stirring Banner.