Today was the day Xiao Xi'er's master, Gan Zhen—the former elder of the Xuan Ce Division on Luoling Sect's Main Peak—was to be released from the dungeon.
That was precisely why Xiao Xi'er had arrived outside the Law Pagoda an hour early to wait.
And Xiao Xi'er was the only one waiting outside the Law Pagoda to welcome Gan Zhen back.
Back when Gan Zhen had served as an elder of the Xuan Ce Division, he had promoted quite a few talented young cultivators.
Most of them now held important positions on the Main Peak, and a few had even reached the Qi Sea Realm and become elders of the sect.
But when it came to Gan Zhen, every one of them kept their distance, afraid of being associated with him in any way.
That was only human nature.
After all, who in Luoling Sect could afford to offend Ren Feng now?
The sound of a heavy iron door being pushed open came from the Law Pagoda nearby.
Xiao Xi'er looked up as the Pagoda's doors swung open, revealing nothing but darkness beyond.
Then came the faint, slow sound of footsteps.
Gan Zhen emerged slowly from the Law Pagoda, dressed in a clean but old Daoist robe.
He had spent twenty-three years imprisoned in the dungeon.
Those twenty-three years had left their mark on the Qi Sea Realm cultivator.
He had a few more wrinkles, and his expression had grown much more somber.
Xiao Xi'er watched her master, whom she had not seen in more than twenty years, walk slowly toward her. Her eyes flickered for a moment, then quickly returned to calm.
"Master."
She merely bowed toward Gan Zhen with an unruffled expression.
Xiao Xi'er was no longer a child.
She was forty-four years old now. Though most of