Return

After Li Zhōujūn returned to the Lu Family with Lu Zhining, he went to rest.

Lu Zhining, meanwhile, told her grandfather and parents about Li Zhōujūn's identity as the Cloud Dwelling Mountain Lord.

When the three learned that Li Zhōujūn was actually a mountain lord of Dao Tian Sect, they were all utterly shocked.

Lu Wuhen was even more astonished, because he knew that this Cloud Dwelling Mountain Lord was no Tribulation Crossing cultivator.

He was a Mahayana True Immortal in his forties!

Just think—throughout history, how many people had reached the Nascent Soul Realm by the age of forty?

Not to mention leaping ten thousand miles beyond the Nascent Soul Realm to reach the Mahayana Realm.

Lu Wuhen understood that his granddaughter had truly latched onto a powerful backer!

"Girl, from now on, you must follow your master and cultivate diligently, understood?" Lu Wuhen instructed Lu Zhining sternly.

"Don't worry, Grandpa. I know," Lu Zhining replied with a nod.

Only then did Lu Wuhen let out a sigh of relief.

The next day arrived in the blink of an eye.

Li Zhōujūn brought Lu Zhining to the front gate of the Lu Family, where they bid farewell to Lu Wuhen, Lu Fusheng, and Lin Wan'er.

"Girl, with your father and mother no longer by your side, you must listen to your master and behave yourself!"

Lin Wan'er's eyes reddened as she spoke to Lu Zhining.

"Mother, don't worry," Lu Zhining said.

Li Zhōujūn smiled and did not disturb the family's farewell.

"Cultivate well from now on. Grandpa will wait for you to become a great expert." Lu Wuhen lovingly rubbed Lu Zhining's head.

This parting might well be a final farewell.

Scene after scene from the past surfaced in Lu Wuhen's mind.

"Grandpa, I want to ride a horse!"

"My good granddaughter, what's so difficult about riding a horse? Come, climb onto Grandpa's shoulders..."

"Yay!"

Thinking back on those moments, Lu Wuhen felt a pang of emotion.

"Everyone, wherever there are mountains and rivers, there will always be a chance to meet again. Li Mou shall take his leave." Seeing that the farewell was nearly over, Li Zhōujūn smiled at them.

"Mountain Lord, take care," Lu Wuhen said, cupping his fists toward Li Zhōujūn.

"Mountain Lord, take care."

Lu Fusheng and Lin Wan'er also cupped their fists toward Li Zhōujūn.

Li Zhōujūn slightly cupped his hands toward them, then looked at Lu Zhining with a smile. "Let's go."

"Okay," Lu Zhining replied.

Then Li Zhōujūn led Lu Zhining into the sea of people, vanishing from Lu Wuhen and the others' sight.

"With the little girl gone, the house will be much quieter." Lin Wan'er wiped the corner of her eye.

"That's true. But the little girl has become the Cloud Dwelling Mountain Lord's True Disciple. We should be happy for her." Lu Fusheng embraced his wife and comforted her.

"Greetings, Mountain Lord."

"Disciple pays respects to the Mountain Lord."

"Greetings, Cloud Dwelling Mountain Lord."

Two days passed in the blink of an eye.

Li Zhōujūn had already brought Lu Zhining back to Dao Tian Sect. Along the way, Dao Tian Sect disciples and elders constantly greeted him.

As Lu Zhining watched these people greet her master, she discovered that every one of them possessed an incomparably profound aura. Outside the sect, each would have been a first-rate expert.

She could not help sighing inwardly. "So this is the number-one sect in Azure Continent? It truly lives up to its reputation."

"Li Zhōujūn, what have you been doing all this time?"

A cold female voice came from behind Li Zhōujūn.

Li Zhōujūn turned around and saw that it was Murong Xue.

"So beautiful!" When Lu Zhining saw Murong Xue, dressed in white as pure as snow and with skin as smooth as jade, she could not help feeling a little inferior.

"Me? I wandered around Azure Continent and enjoyed a taste of the mortal world." Li Zhōujūn smiled.

"Uh..." The corner of Murong Xue's mouth twitched.

But when her gaze fell on Lu Zhining, she froze. "A Taiyin Body?"

"That's right. She's my new disciple. Girl, hurry and greet Murong Mountain Lord." Li Zhōujūn spoke to Lu Zhining.

"Zhining greets Murong Mountain Lord!" After coming to her senses, Lu Zhining bowed to Murong Xue.

"Mm." Murong Xue nodded. "There's no need to be so polite."

With that, Murong Xue looked at Li Zhōujūn somewhat enviously. "Why is your luck so good?"

Li Zhōujūn grinned. "Because you bring your husband good fortune."

"Hm?" Murong Xue was startled. Once she understood, her face flushed slightly. "That joke isn't funny."

Seeing this, Lu Zhining instantly understood that Murong Mountain Lord had feelings for her master!

"Right, it isn't funny at all. Hahaha." Li Zhōujūn laughed.

Murong Xue: "..."

"By the way, where's that girl Sū Nán?" Li Zhōujūn asked.

"She and Shui Nianyao went to the Shuiyue Dynasty. They're preparing to enter a secret realm," Murong Xue said.

"I see." Li Zhōujūn nodded.

He was not worried, after all. Sū Nán had one of his divine-sense avatars on her.

Since it had not been triggered, it meant she had not encountered any danger.

After bidding farewell to Murong Xue

Li Zhōujūn brought Lu Zhining back to Yunju Mountain.

Meanwhile.

Sū Nán and Shui Nianyao had successfully entered the Ice Water Secret Realm.

Ice mountains surrounded them in every direction, presenting a scene of frozen earth and snow-covered skies.

"Senior Sister, look over there!"

Sū Nán pointed at a dilapidated ruin and shouted.

"That should be the ruins of the ancient great sect, the Ice Water Sect!"

Seeing it, Shui Nianyao spoke. "Let's go take a look."

"Okay." Sū Nán nodded.

The two entered the enormous ruins and made their way unhindered to a great hall.

"There don't seem to be any treasures here either." Sū Nán scratched her head, her face filled with confusion.

"Indeed." Shui Nianyao furrowed her brows. "Let's search again."

"Okay," Sū Nán replied.

Just as the two prepared to continue searching for something,

the old man in a portrait directly above the great hall looked at them—and actually blinked!

"I think I just saw the old man in the portrait move his eyes." Sū Nán stared at the portrait above the hall and swallowed before speaking.

"That's impossible, isn't it? This ancient great sect has been destroyed for a very long time. The person in the portrait appears to be the Ice Water Sect's founder, the Ice Water Daoist. It's all recorded in the archives of my imperial palace," Shui Nianyao said.

"Heh heh heh, who would have thought that someone would still remember this old ancestor?" Suddenly, an old man's voice echoed through the entire empty great hall.

When Sū Nán and Shui Nianyao heard the voice, their eyes widened. "Who is it?!"

As soon as their voices fell,

a phantom floated out of the portrait above the hall and transformed into the figure of a thin, wizened old man.

"Ice Water Daoist?!"

When Shui Nianyao saw the thin old man, she immediately sucked in a cold breath.

"That's right. It is indeed this old man." The Ice Water Daoist's lips curled upward slightly.

"We pay our respects to Senior!"

After coming to their senses, Shui Nianyao and Sū Nán both respectfully bowed to the old man.

It was said that the Ice Water Daoist was a mighty expert of the Tribulation Crossing Stage, so naturally, the two did not dare slight him.

"You two little girls, there's no need to be so polite." As the Ice Water Daoist looked at the two bowing girls, a strange glint appeared in his eyes.