Token of Trust

A dilapidated small boat swayed forward in the stream, moving quickly. Suddenly, with a bang, the bow of the boat hit an underwater reef, splitting open a large crack.

"Be careful!"

Chen Xuan abruptly grabbed the Crimson Fox by the neck and leaped like a tiger onto the riverbank. Looking back, the small boat was stuck in the river channel, and the stream was gushing into the cabin. It was unusable.

The Crimson Fox was scared silly, knowing she had caused trouble. She hugged her head with both hands, squatted on the ground, trembling, and cried out for mercy:

"Ah! Little fox didn't see the rock, it wasn't on purpose, please, Qi Refiner, spare little fox."

Chen Xuan stared at her and asked curiously, "How old are you?"

The Crimson Fox was stunned, pondered for a long time, and began counting on her fingers. Doubt flickered in her eyes as she replied, "Oh dear, little fox is one, two years old..."

"You... sigh, I'm used to it."

Chen Xuan's forehead was full of black lines, speechless for a moment.

Chu Huo Gun, Li Han Song, and those old men in their sixties and seventies said they were getting old, but it was the age to strive.

The ghosts and monsters in the Southern Wilderness were even more exaggerated.

Infant ghosts and monsters, one or two years old, whose teeth hadn't even fully grown, and who couldn't even speak clearly, also came to the dangerous Peach Blossom Garden to fight for their future.

"Young and vigorous, it's the age to venture out... Qi Refiner, wait for little fox."

As the Crimson Fox spoke, she suddenly saw Chen Xuan shake his head and leave. Her heart immediately became anxious, and she quickly trotted to catch up, looking up and trying to please him, "Little fox will carry the Qi Refiner's luggage."

She was very diligent and had sharp eyes. She immediately took the fishing net from Chen Xuan's hand and carried it on her back.

The Crimson Fox felt very safe with Chen Xuan because he was powerful and had no hostility towards small creatures like her... Having just experienced being caught by the old fisherman, she temporarily didn't dare to walk alone.

Chen Xuan didn't care about the fox's little thoughts. He moved his fingertips slightly, rubbing the blue-purple talisman in his sleeve, and sent out a message with his thoughts.

"Are you there?"

In the Mind Fast vision, the position of the light spot representing the Mystic Cat Goddess was not in this realm, it had deviated to an infinitely distant place. But the position of Yan Yushu's black light spot was very close to him, only about one or two dozen miles away.

"I am."

After a few breaths, Yan Yushu's clear and cold voice, transmitted through the communication talisman, sounded in Chen Xuan's mind and continued, "I am currently following the ancient villagers and am already on my way to the Peach Blossom Garden Ancient Village where the Heaven's Chosen is located."

"You were captured?"

Chen Xuan asked, wondering why Yan Yushu appeared to be walking with the ancient villagers.

"The people here think I have an ancient appearance. When they saw me, they shouted that I was a descending goddess and begged me to see their Old Ancestor."

Yan Yushu's charming laughter came through, seemingly finding the matter very interesting: "So I went with the flow and gladly agreed to go to their village."

With high talent and beautiful appearance, she had the right to be unrestrained. No matter where she went, she was surrounded by people and became the focus of attention, even the ancients could not resist her charm.

Ancient appearance, that is, the appearance of the ancients, representing the perfect root bone aptitude in an ideal state.

Chen Xuan frowned slightly and asked, "Are you confident in dealing with that Heaven's Chosen?"

Yan Yushu smiled, "Just a dying old immortal, the real things in the Peach Blossom Garden are all in his hands... By the way, you have cultivated a special Immortal Qi, you should have stepped into the third Ascension with it, right?"

She knew that Chen Xuan had quickly cultivated the special Immortal Qi from the true scripture inheritance in the Six Desires Heaven by relying on his extreme comprehension, hence this question.

Chen Xuan did not hide it and said frankly, "Almost."

Yellow Millet Qi is a special Immortal Qi, reflecting the present world body, and its effect is many times stronger than ordinary Mountains and Seas Twelve Qi. Now a large amount of energy is accumulated in various parts of his body, like a flood reaching its peak, ready to break through the valve at any time.

He could try to break through the limit of his physique and go further.

Yan Yushu immediately said, "Bear with it, tonight, I will come to find you tonight."

She regarded Chen Xuan as a firm ally and would never allow any accident to happen to him, so she decided to personally protect him.

During Ascension, Qi Refiners would fall into a deep sleep.

They only maintained a slight perception of external dangers, and if they were not careful, they could suffer unexpected calamities.

Afterward, Chen Xuan continued to exchange some information with Yan Yushu and then ended the communication decisively.

The two were just cooperative allies on the path of Qi refining and had no other unnecessary relationship. Therefore, after saying a few words, they each had their own things to do.

Chen Xuan had a letter to deliver, and Yan Yushu also had something entrusted by Lu Zhuan.

Peach Blossom Garden is just a small secret realm, said to be a small fragment left behind after the collapse of a certain cave heaven and blessed land in the Mountain and Sea era.

The area is not large, and the edges are surrounded by white mist. Occasionally, low beast roars are heard, which are frightening. Once a person mistakenly enters, they disappear forever.

"It's only a few dozen miles away. With my current foot speed, half an hour is enough."

Chen Xuan muttered to himself, and then one person and one fox continued to advance upstream along the river, wanting to reach the Peach Blossom Garden Ancient Village before dark.

But soon, he was forced to stop. A group of Qi Refiners blocked him.

There were about a dozen people, all of whom had come from all directions and finally gathered by the stream.

"Fellow Daoist is alone? Please join us and hunt the ancients together."

The leading middle-aged cultivator smiled broadly and enthusiastically invited Chen Xuan to do something big together and snatch ancient artifacts.

"The ancients were all beasts, fools who had never seen the world. They messed with the wrong people." A cultivator in the crowd laughed coldly, looking down on the ancient people in the Peach Blossom Garden.

Chen Xuan shook his head and refused, saying, "Thank you for your kindness, but I need to go to the central region."

Qi Refiners were not to be trifled with. As time passed, cultivators scattered across various locations gradually converged and gathered. They were no longer isolated lambs waiting to be slaughtered. The status between them and the ancients gradually shifted, with the offense and defense changing hands.

The middle-aged cultivator was surprised and said, "You want to go to the central area? There are many ancient people there, and a Heaven's Chosen is in charge of the overall situation. You can't just casually snatch things anymore."

In the outer areas, there were scattered dwelling places of ancient people where burning, killing, looting, and general mischief went unchecked.

However, the central area was inhabited by a large number of ancient people who were educated and managed by the Heaven's Chosen, maintaining stable order and rules. They wouldn't casually capture cultivators, but correspondingly, cultivators also couldn't fully exert themselves to seek opportunities.

Chen Xuan refused again: "Fellow Daoist, there's no need to persuade me further. My mind is made up."

His goal was very clear. He bid farewell to the crowd and continued on his journey.

The ancient artifacts in the outer areas were not of high value. The broken fish fork and tattered fishing net in his hands, even if brought out and subjected to the erosion of time, would they transform into priceless divine weapons?

The truly good things in the Peach Blossom Garden were all in the hands of that Heaven's Chosen, the 'Old Ancestor'.

"The fish fork and fishing net in this person's hands are ancient artifacts. Should we..." Someone stared at Chen Xuan's departing back and whispered, winking at the other Qi Refiners, their meaning clear.

"He can hunt ancient people by himself. Are you even worthy of coveting his things? Do you want to lead us to our deaths?" The middle-aged cultivator was shocked upon hearing this.

The others were also greatly surprised, not understanding why such foolish words would come out of someone's mouth. They all took a few steps back, distancing themselves from that person, fearing they would be infected with stupidity.

Chen Xuan possessed two ancient artifacts, clearly snatched from the ancient people, and he seemed completely unharmed. Such a person who hid his strength...

They still needed to gather in groups to have the courage and strength to hunt down isolated ancient people. How could they be so foolish as to provoke trouble like Chen Xuan?

"This person is heading straight ahead, he must be confident in entering the Peach Blossom Garden Ancient Village. Such a person is very dangerous." The middle-aged cultivator sternly warned the cultivators to be content with their lot and not harbor greedy thoughts. Afterward, they seized the time to continue discussing their plan to hunt the ancient people in the outer areas.

From afar, the sounds of discussion could no longer be heard.

Chen Xuan hurried on his way, encountering groups of cultivators several times. Some still had their eyes light up and enthusiastically invited him.

Chen Xuan refused them one by one. Later, finding it troublesome, he would detour and avoid them as soon as he saw a group of cultivators.

The Crimson Fox also saw many groups of ghosts and monsters. Several times, she even saw the figures of familiar friends, but she ignored them all, determined to follow Chen Xuan to the central area of the Peach Blossom Garden. She was also a little fox who wanted to do great things...

In the latter half of the journey, the figures of cultivators and ghosts and monsters gradually became sparse, only occasionally encountering scattered lone travelers.

Chen Xuan was very fast, overtaking many people along the way, and arrived at the foot of Peach Mountain without stopping.

"We're here."

At the foot of the mountain, there was a tall wooden archway, with peach blossoms in full bloom. A winding mountain path was hidden within, leading to an ancient village in the back where cooking smoke curled up and the sounds of chickens and dogs occasionally echoed.

Under the tall archway, some sturdy ancient people held weapons that gleamed with cold light, not rough farming tools. They wore armor, looking majestic, and were maintaining order:

"You greedy people of later generations, don't cause trouble, be well-behaved, the Old Ancestor won't forget your future!"

"We understand the rules, we understand the rules."

Four or five cultivators and ghosts and monsters who had arrived early quickly nodded. Then, someone stepped out and said loudly:

"I have a token, I have a token!"

Behind a wooden table, an ancient scholar holding a brush and flipping through a book heard the sound, raised a stern face, and reached out to demand:

"Hand over the token..."

"..."

Chen Xuan stood far away, observing for a moment with the fish fork on his back. After confirming there were no hidden dangers, he walked towards the crowd under the archway.

Sorry, I had some things to do these past two days and owe two chapters. I will make them up tomorrow.