As for the Demon Race.
Seeing his only opponent leave, they naturally had to carefully count the spoils from this battle. The first place to start was Dong Wang Gong's treasure vault!
This was exactly what it meant to kill someone and seize their treasures!
However, Di Jun and the others had never expected that before they could arrive, someone else would have already gotten there first!
"What happened? Where are Dong Wang Gong's spirit treasures?!"
Looking at the completely empty treasure vault before them, Di Jun and the others were dumbfounded.
They had worked so hard to attack Dong Wang Gong, nearly suffering the extermination of their entire race in the process. Now, when they wanted to loot Dong Wang Gong's treasure vault for some consolation, they found it cleaner than their own faces!
They had practically worked for nothing!
Thinking of this, Di Jun, who was already seething with anger, could not help but let a trace of blood spill from the corner of his mouth.
"Heavenly Emperor, it seems someone has been here!"
Bai Ze's voice suddenly rang out.
Di Jun's expression changed at once. He hurriedly offered up his spirit treasure. "River Diagram and Luo Book!"
He began making deductions, trying to determine who had been bold enough to steal from their Heavenly Court!
However, he was disappointed.
Even with the River Diagram and Luo Book's assistance, he could not deduce any information at all, let alone that person's identity. It was as if the Heavenly Secrets had been completely obscured!
But at that moment, Bai Ze wrinkled his nose, as though he had smelled something. He murmured, "This seems to be the scent of the Human Race!"
The Human Race!
At these words, Di Jun froze for a moment. Then, his expression turned sinister, and endless killing intent surged around him!
"The Human Race again?!"
Let us set aside what happened inside Dong Wang Gong's treasure vault.
Now, back to Jiang Chen.
After looting Dong Wang Gong's treasure vault, he immediately headed back toward Golden Ao Island.
After all, he had been away for long enough. Tongtian's thousand-year sermon had ended long ago. Since he had some free time now, it was just right for him to return and report that he was safe, while also taking stock of his gains and refining the spirit treasures he had obtained!
It had to be said that Jiang Chen had truly gained an enormous amount from this journey through the Primordial World. When he had left, he had only been a Perfected Grand Master Golden Immortal, but by the time he returned, his physical cultivation had reached the early stage of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm!
He also had countless more spirit treasures on him!
Every one of these gains filled Jiang Chen with delight!
As he thought about this, Jiang Chen's figure transformed into a streak of light and vanished into the horizon, shooting toward Golden Ao Island!
By then, his physical cultivation had reached the early stage of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm, making him more than a hundred times faster than when he had left. Thus, it took him only several decades to reach Golden Ao Island.
"What is this?!"
The moment he arrived at Golden Ao Island, whether it was Duobao and the others who were meditating in seclusion or Sanxiao and the others who were preaching to their junior fellow disciples, they all sensed him. Those in seclusion stopped cultivating, and those giving lectures stopped lecturing. All of them appeared in the sky above Golden Ao Island!
Seeing this, the Interception Sect disciples who had been listening to the lectures were somewhat confused. It was the first time they had seen their Senior Sister Brother lose her composure like this, so they followed out of curiosity.
Jiang Chen had not expected that his return would alarm these eight junior fellow disciples and junior fellow sisters.
However, what surprised him even more was yet to come.
"Duobao pays respects to Senior Disciple Brother. Congratulations on Senior Disciple Brother's triumphant return from traveling through the Primordial World!"
"Gongming pays respects to Senior Disciple Brother. Congratulations on Senior Disciple Brother's triumphant return from traveling through the Primordial World!"
"Sanxiao pays respects to Senior Disciple Brother. Congratulations on Senior Disciple Brother's triumphant return from traveling through the Primordial World!"
"Jin Ling..."
As the eight junior fellow disciples and junior fellow sisters appeared, delight flashed in their eyes. Then, they all bowed and shouted to Jiang Chen in unison!
At this, the Interception Sect disciples who had been confused earlier suddenly understood. They immediately did the same.
"Wuyun pays respects to Senior Disciple Brother. Congratulations on Senior Disciple Brother's triumphant return from traveling through the Primordial World!"
"Jingu pays respects to Senior Disciple Brother. Congratulations on Senior Disciple Brother's triumphant return from traveling through the Primordial World!"
"Jinguang pays respects to Senior Disciple Brother. Congratulations on Senior Disciple Brother's triumphant return from traveling through the Primordial World!"
"Yuyi..."
In an instant, cheers from the Interception Sect rang throughout the heavens. Every one of them was rejoicing over Jiang Chen's return!
Anyone who did not know better might have thought they were the ones who had obtained spirit treasures.
What was going on?
At that moment, Jiang Chen was completely bewildered, and the doubts in his heart deepened.
"Senior Disciple Brother, there is no need to be confused. We are simply happy that you have returned safely!"
Duobao seemed to see Jiang Chen's confusion and explained with a smile.
It turned out that after the battle that had swept across the entire Primordial World, Duobao and the others had been constantly worried about Jiang Chen. If their master Tongtian had not told them that Jiang Chen was not in danger, they might well have disregarded the Calamity and gone out to search for him.
After all, the Interception Sect was different from the other forces. It was more like a family. Everyone was united and valued loyalty above all else. Moreover, Jiang Chen had preached to them before, was their Senior Disciple Brother, and was the only Interception Sect disciple currently undergoing experience outside.
As the saying went, an elder brother was like a father. In light of both emotion and reason, how could they not worry?
Now that they saw Jiang Chen return safely, it was as if they themselves had come through safely. As his family, they were all delighted!
After hearing Duobao's explanation, Jiang Chen understood. His heart felt warm, and an indescribable emotion stirred within him!
At that moment, the Interception Sect seemed to give him the warmth of home!
"Thank you for coming to welcome me, all of you. You should go back to your tasks. There is no need to delay your cultivation for my sake!"
Suppressing his emotions, Jiang Chen swept his gaze over those innocent faces, returned their bows, and thanked them.
Just then, Tongtian's figure suddenly appeared out of thin air as well.
He looked at Jiang Chen with satisfaction. Though he stood there without speaking, Jiang Chen could feel his happiness and relief. He looked just like an old father watching his children safely return home!
Clearly, his master Tongtian had also been worried about his safety all this time, just like Duobao and the others!
"Master, I'm back!"
Jiang Chen stepped forward and spoke softly, reporting that he was safe.
"Mm. It's good that you're back!"
Tongtian nodded slightly.
Speaking of which, Tongtian had never expected that one day he would constantly worry about one of his disciples. After discovering that Jiang Chen was absent during the previous sermon, he had immediately stopped lecturing. He had not been willing to stop until he had calculated Jiang Chen's whereabouts.
Later, afraid that his disciple might be bullied by others outside, he had immediately muddled and obscured the Heavenly Secrets. Not only had he helped clean up the mess, but he had also let anyone seeking trouble know that Jiang Chen was not someone to provoke!
When he had seen Jiang Chen during the Witch-Demon War, Tongtian had remained extremely vigilant. If Jiang Chen had encountered even the slightest danger, he would have immediately descended to protect him!
Fortunately, Jiang Chen had now returned safely, and Tongtian could finally relax!
"Sanxiao, take Senior Disciple Brother to his residence."
After leaving this instruction, Tongtian vanished from the spot.
Then, under Sanxiao's guidance, Jiang Chen headed toward his residence.
Now that the Interception Sect was flourishing and its number of disciples was increasing, everyone naturally had to occupy their own places. They could no longer be without residences as they had been before.
Although Jiang Chen's residence was called a cave dwelling, it was more like a luxurious palace. After all, its scale was not much smaller than Biyou Palace. The spiritual energy gathered there was also terrifyingly dense, transforming into droplets of spiritual liquid that filled the air!
In addition, a powerful formation guarded the main hall. Even a Quasi-Sage could not break it!
Looking across the Primordial World, aside from the Sages' abodes, there were likely few places that could compare!
"Master."
Seeing this, Jiang Chen was moved once more, feeling a warm current spread throughout his body.
As his master, Tongtian had not only set aside his dignity to personally welcome his disciple's return, but had also transformed his disciple's residence into one of the finest blessed lands in the Primordial World. He had even made many other arrangements behind the scenes. A master like this had probably appeared only once in countless ages!
More importantly, Tongtian had also made him feel something he had never experienced before!
"Senior Brother, I'll be leaving first."
After bringing Jiang Chen there, Sanxiao turned and left.
Jiang Chen also recovered from his emotions and focused his thoughts on the spirit treasures inside the Sea-Calming Divine Pearls!
He knew that if he wanted to repay his master, he should never merely speak of it. Practical action was worth more than a thousand words!
For example, during the later Calamity—the Battle of the Investiture of the Gods—would it not be better if he could change the course of events and save the Interception Sect's fate during that tribulation?
Thinking of this, Jiang Chen did not act coy. He gathered his thoughts, took out all the spirit treasures he had obtained during this experience, and began refining them in seclusion.
The first was the Wuji Apricot-Yellow Banner.
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