"If Fellow Daoist Dongfang ever manages to leave this place, I hope you won't forget us," Hu Xiaofeng said, her every movement brimming with feminine charm.
"If that day ever comes, we can talk about it then." Lu Xiaotian naturally wouldn't agree so readily.
Hu Xiaofeng and the black-staffed old man had both cultivated to the immortal realm, so they were naturally perceptive. Seeing that Lu Xiaotian had no wish to talk further for now, they saw him to his lodgings in the bamboo building by the lake, then took their leave. Their recent excursion had brought them both to the brink of death several times, with more than a dozen battles of varying scale along the way. Each had gained much from the experience and needed time to reflect and consolidate their insights.
Lu Xiaotian sat in the open space before the bamboo building, facing the clear, rippling waters of the lake, as he savored some of his experiences since arriving in Taying City, along with the various battles he'd fought. Since sneaking into Muye, he'd finally found a rare place to rest.
Within the several-hundred-mile expanse of Bright Lake Retreat, there were only Lu Xiaotian and Hu Xiaofeng. After returning, Hu Xiaofeng had temporarily gone into seclusion. Lu Xiaotian wasn't in a hurry to cultivate. He meditated by the lakeside for a while, regulating his breathing until his injuries had healed, then left Bright Lake Retreat and wandered through one of the busier parts of Taying City.
Where crowds gathered, even idle rumors could provide a wealth of information.
"Map scrolls! The latest map scrolls! Just one low-grade immortal crystal. For a mere low-grade immortal crystal, you can get a map of the area around Taying City..."
A short-haired, burly man who had only just reached the Mahayana