On the way back, the two women were still bursting with excitement.
"We're moving tomorrow!"
They had reached an agreement.
After seeing the B-grade Residence and then their D-grade Residence, they didn't want to stay another day.
They'd already paid the rent. Every day they didn't live there was a waste!
When they got home, Ding Yuyao was as hyped as if she'd been injected with stimulants, and she excitedly packed their belongings late into the night.
Actually, there wasn't much to pack.
Aside from a few personal belongings, the rest of their odds and ends weren't worth much.
"Not bad."
Watching Ding Yuyao's graceful figure busily moving about, Shen Xuan felt a strange sense of satisfaction.
But soon, he came to his senses.
Wake up, Shen Xuan. Don't let your guard down!
The Cowardly Path comes first and foremost: safety!
This time, I benefited from Qin Yuehan's presence. It wasn't a reflection of my own strength!
In the Cultivation World, strength reigns supreme. Improving my strength as soon as possible is what matters!
After repeatedly reminding himself, Shen Xuan's mood finally settled.
"I'm only at Qi Refining Level 5. If anything happens at Qinglong Bay Market, I'm not even confident I can protect myself."
"And my wife is only a mortal!"
At the thought of this, Shen Xuan felt an urgent need to improve his strength.
He then strode into the cultivation room and devoted himself to training.
The next day.
At daybreak, Ding Yuyao woke Shen Xuan. Carrying the packed bundle, they headed for the B-grade Residence.
The bundle held only a few worthless personal belongings.
The valuables had already been put in Shen Xuan's Storage Bag.
"Isn't this way too early?"
Shen Xuan grumbled.
But when they arrived at the B-grade Residence, they were surprised to find that Zhao Chunsheng and his wife had already moved in.
Inside, two youths of fourteen or fifteen were cleaning under Jiang Xueqi's direction.
"Come here and greet Uncle Shen!"
Shen Xuan was older than Zhao Chunsheng.
"Uncle Shen!"
The two boys obediently stepped up to Shen Xuan and bowed.
"Zhao Dahu and Zhao Erhu."
Zhao Chunsheng came forward to introduce them.
The elder brother, Zhao Dahu, was tall and lean, with a Mid-Grade Fire Spirit Root. He was an Alchemy Apprentice.
The younger brother, Zhao Erhu, was strong and sturdy, with an Earth Spirit Root. He was an Artifact Refining Apprentice.
"What a blessing!"
Shen Xuan couldn't help praising them.
Zhao Chunsheng and Jiang Xueqi were truly blessed. They had two children, both with Spiritual Roots—and not just any Spiritual Roots, but Mid-grade ones capable of reaching Foundation Establishment.
If he had that kind of luck too...
No, he'd rather not have children!
Shen Xuan didn't want children weighing him down!
His ambition was to ascend to immortality and Attain Dao Through Longevity.
Shen Xuan casually gave the boys a few top-quality Talismans as a greeting gift.
The two boys happily accepted them.
Unfortunately, before they could enjoy them for long, their mother, Jiang Xueqi, forced them to hand them over to their father, Zhao Chunsheng.
She was probably planning to sell them for Spirit Stones.
The boys looked aggrieved, but didn't dare protest.
Shen Xuan smiled without saying anything.
They were someone else's family affairs. He couldn't be bothered to interfere.
Soon, Ding Yuyao excitedly went up to the third floor to put away their belongings.
Shen Xuan went to the Spirit Pool alone.
He had a feeling there was something unusual about it.
The Spirit Pool covered an acre. It brimmed with spiritual energy, and hundreds of Spirit Lotuses grew in its calm waters. Everything seemed perfectly normal.
But Shen Xuan, who had the Water Control talent, could faintly sense that the Spirit Pool was extraordinary.
There was no one around; Zhao Chunsheng and the others were busy tidying up the rooms.
Shen Xuan slipped around to a blind spot and used the Invisibility Technique.
After breaking through to Qi Refining Level 5, his Invisibility and Breath Concealment talents had both reached Minor Mastery.
Soon, his body turned transparent and vanished completely into thin air.
Then Shen Xuan put on the Water-Splitting Emei Dagger and used the Water Control Technique to slip into the Spirit Pool.
As expected, there was a hidden world at the very bottom of the pool.
A two-meter-wide underground river flowed gently, wisps of spiritual energy drifting through it.
"I wonder if this underground river has an exit."
Shen Xuan directed the water toward the underground river.
He could sense that the water already in the river wasn't pushing back hard against his efforts to force it aside.
That meant there was an exit at the other end. It wasn't a dead end!
Let's go in and take a look!
To be safe, Shen Xuan activated the Water Condensation Edge Shaping Art.
Four Ice Divine Dragons coiled around the Water-Splitting Emei Dagger, poised to strike.
Then Shen Xuan entered the underground river slowly, swimming like a Green Feather Fish.
There was no light source in the underground river. It was dark and lifeless, with unknown aquatic plants and moss growing everywhere.
Along the way, Shen Xuan encountered only a few Spirit Fish.
What excited him, though, was that these Spirit Fish seemed to be native to the Longze River.
Shen Xuan herded the fish and followed them onward.
The river twisted and turned, narrowing to a diameter of just half a meter at its tightest point.
Unless one was a Water Method Cultivator as skilled in the Water Control Technique as Shen Xuan, there was no way through.
An hour later, the passage before Shen Xuan suddenly opened up.
Just as he'd expected.
The underground river's exit led straight to the Longze River!
Shen Xuan was overjoyed.
This meant he could come and go from Qinglong Bay Market as he pleased, and practice Water Law in the Longze River.
He circled around near the underground river's exit but found no unusual Monster Beasts. Only a few low-grade, first-tier Spirit Fish were foraging nearby.
On the way back, Shen Xuan sped up.
He turned into a Green Feather Fish and shot forward at fifty meters per second!
It took him just a quarter of an hour to return to the Spirit Pool at the B-grade Residence.
He used the Invisibility Technique and quietly climbed ashore.
With a slight shake, he dried every drop of water from his clothes.
"Husband, where did you go? You didn't even come help me!"
After putting away the belongings, Ding Yuyao lay back comfortably on the broad, soft bed.
"I was looking around."
"By the way, have you finished setting up my Talisman Crafting Room?"
Ding Yuyao's pretty face flushed with embarrassment.
"Oh, the Talisman Crafting Room! I forgot!"
"It's fine. Get some rest. I'll do it myself."
Shen Xuan designated one of the rooms as his Talisman Crafting Room. He took out his Talisman Brush, Talisman Paper, Cinnabar, cultivation manuals on Talisman Crafting, incense, a basin for washing his hands, an inkstone for cleaning his brush, and the rest, setting everything in place one by one.
Then Shen Xuan focused completely on making Spring Return Talismans.
Several days later.
At Shen Xuan's former residence.
Shopkeeper Ding stood before the tightly shut door and reminded the long-legged young female cultivator beside him, who was at Qi Refining Second Layer.
"Xiao Qian, I told you before that Talisman Master Shen is a Mid-Grade Talisman Master, and apparently has deep connections with the Qingyun Sect. Talisman Master Shen likes young beauties, and he only married a mortal woman from our Ding Family."
"If you can marry him, you'll become his legitimate wife, a Talisman Master's wife. Your good days will be ahead of you! If it weren't for your father, this kind of opportunity would never have gone to you!"
The young female cultivator's pretty face flushed. "I'll seize the opportunity."
Talisman Master Shen was a little old, well past sixty.
But he had the skills of a Mid-Grade Talisman Master and was fabulously wealthy, earning hundreds of Spirit Stones every year.
Ever since the Lineage let word get out, countless female cultivators in the family had been willing to marry Talisman Master Shen!
Her father had swallowed his pride and promised Shopkeeper Ding generous rewards before Shopkeeper Ding agreed to bring her here, so she could get a head start.
"Ding-ding!"
After they rang the doorbell, the door soon opened.
Shopkeeper Ding was stunned to find an unfamiliar cultivator opening it.
"Where is Talisman Master Shen Xuan?"
The unfamiliar cultivator answered warily, "Fellow Daoist, are you looking for Talisman Master Shen Xuan? He's moved out!"
"Moved out? Do you know where Talisman Master Shen moved?"
The unfamiliar cultivator glanced at the young female cultivator.
"Talisman Master Shen moved to a B-grade Residence with its own courtyard!"
"What? A B-grade Residence!"
Shopkeeper Ding looked astonished.
The young female cultivator was stunned too.
A B-grade Residence was the sort of place only Late Qi Refining Stage cultivators could rent!
She'd been a little disgruntled at first.
She was only eighteen, and they'd found her a suitor who was well past sixty.
He was an old man at Qi Refining Level 4. So what if he was a Mid-Grade Talisman Master?
But now, she regretted it bitterly.
If she'd gone to see him sooner, she might already be living in a B-grade Residence with him!
Unable to resist, the young female cultivator said, "Grandpa Qingtao, why don't we go to the B-grade Residence district?"
Shopkeeper Ding shook his head and sighed. "Forget it. Talisman Master Shen is a changed man now. He wouldn't look twice at an Inferior Spirit Root like you! We'll find you another match!"
Before you continue