On Barren Ridge.
The wind swept up dead leaves and sent them spinning.
The Chief Pavilion Master stood with his hands behind his back, gazing toward Green Maple Valley in silence.
A long while passed.
The Chief Pavilion Master turned around.
He looked at Shi Qianqiu.
"Qianqiu," he said slowly.
Shi Qianqiu answered at once.
"Your disciple is here."
"From now on, keep a personal watch on the Li Family. You must not slacken in the slightest."
Shi Qianqiu's heart jolted.
Then he bowed and accepted the order.
"Your disciple understands."
The Chief Pavilion Master nodded faintly.
He paused.
"Qianqiu, how many years have you been in this world?"
Shi Qianqiu heard the question.
He froze.
He thought back for a moment.
Then he replied, "Pavilion Master, the Myriad Treasures Pavilion's passage to the Upper Realm opens once every three hundred years. I came to this world five hundred and ninety years ago."
"Five hundred and ninety years... In another ten years, the passage to the Upper Realm will open again, Qianqiu..."
He looked at Shi Qianqiu.
His gaze was laden with meaning.
"Whether you can return to the Upper Realm in ten years will depend on you."
Shi Qianqiu's head snapped up.
The Chief Pavilion Master had already turned away.
Only his back remained in view.
He gazed at Green Maple Valley, a faint outline in the distance.
An unusual light flickered in his eyes.
It was not only an opportunity for Shi Qianqiu.
For him, it might be an opportunity too.
To win over a top-tier genius—
That would be worth far more than any amount of spirit stones he could earn for the Myriad Treasures Pavilion.
The Myriad Treasures Pavilion did not lack money. It lacked powerful cultivators.
He thought of the ancestor in the Great Zhou