Huaxia.
Tens of miles outside the suburbs of Linchuan City, among a range of rolling mountains.
The sky, which had originally been as clear as azure and bathed in bright sunlight, suddenly resonated with a clap of thunder without any warning!
Right after, a streak of wondrous light seemed to tear the sky apart, quietly blooming with matchless magnificence, hanging across the firmament like a broad ribbon of silk!
Following that, rosy clouds filled the heavens!
The entire firmament was rendered to look like a fairyland, breathtakingly beautiful...
Yet amidst those heavens-filling rosy clouds, a figure appeared bizarrely.
He wore an azure-green long gown, his hair tied with a hairpin, his physique quite slender, and his skin as fair as an infant's. His visage was gentle and warm like jade, resembling a romantic young gentleman stepped out of an ancient painting...
However, the moment that figure appeared, he seemed to suffer a sudden, heavy pressure, plunging straight down toward the ground below.
Yet very quickly, he stabilized his posture, actually standing directly suspended in mid-air!
If anyone were to see this scene, their jaw would likely drop in shock.
Could someone in this world actually stand unsupported in mid-air?
Would they not gasp in alarm: Is this a human or an immortal?
At that moment, however, the figure frowned, looking around with deep suspicion...
"What is going on? Could it be... that this isn't the Immortal Realm?"
"But that shouldn't be! When I ascended, I clearly saw the Immortal Gate swing wide open. Yet why, after my ascent, did the immortal Qi irrigation, the tempering of my physical body and primordial spirit, and the casting of an immortal body and immortal soul—as recorded in the ancient texts—not occur?"
"Instead, I felt an inexplicable confinement that suppressed my primordial spirit and spiritual power, causing my primordial spirit to become completely unable to leave the body. Even my Divine Sense was completely suppressed and unable to project outward."
"My entire reserve of spiritual power can only be channeled to a level equivalent to the peak of the Golden Core Stage..."
Ning Wangshu pondered deeply, yet tried as he might, he could not find the answer.
Subsequently, he sensed the surroundings carefully once more, discovering that this realm possessed only very faint Spiritual Qi. This caused him to frown again.
He grew increasingly suspicious of whether this place was truly the legendary Immortal Realm...
"Forget it. I should first look around and see what the situation is here. Right now, I can't even project my Divine Sense and can only rely on my naked eyes to investigate."
"Furthermore, my cultivation has also been inexplicably confined, and I can only channel spiritual power at the peak Golden Core Stage level. I must proceed with caution..."
Thinking of this, Ning Wangshu immediately formed a spell technique to conceal his form while also shielding himself from the Divine Sense investigations of other cultivators.
Then, with a beckoning of his hand.
A flying sword teeming with Immortal Charm suddenly appeared beneath his feet...
This was his natal Magic Artifact, the top-grade spirit-tier "Wangshu Sword"! He had personally forged this flying sword himself, directly naming it after his own name.
Although he could traverse the air even without a flying sword, his speed naturally wouldn't be as fast as employing Sword Flight.
Stepping onto the flying sword, Ning Wangshu instantly transformed into a streak of flowing light, vanishing into the horizon...
Soon enough, however, a massive modern city came into his field of vision.
When Ning Wangshu saw that city, laying eyes upon the towering high-rises standing within it, a fierce shock jolted his heart. His eyes opened abruptly, revealing an incredulous expression!
"Th-This place is... Earth??"
"No, that's not right... That building is clearly the Jinjiang Building! That's right, that is the Jinjiang Building of Linchuan City!"
Ning Wangshu suddenly became exceptionally excited.
His eyes stared fixedly at the tallest building in the city ahead, gazing at the vaguely visible large characters reading "Jinjiang Building"...
Even though his Divine Sense could not be projected at the moment, his visual acuity was far from what ordinary people could achieve. Even separated by a great distance, he still saw the words on that building clearly!
Very quickly, however.
Ning Wangshu's excitement turned into shock and... utter disbelief!
"How is that possible!? I... I actually returned to Earth? Not only did I fail to ascend to the legendary Immortal Realm, but I returned to Earth, back to my hometown of Linchuan City???"
Ning Wangshu spoke in a strained tone, his breathing turning involuntarily hurried, and his mind filled with countless question marks.
A stormy sea of shock surged within his heart; he could not fathom what was happening.
It was neither understandable nor explicable.
Just like when he had suddenly transmigrated to the "Cangyuan Realm" back then...
That's right!
Ning Wangshu was originally a person of Earth, and his hometown was that city ahead named Linchuan.
Yet due to an inexplicable accident, he had transmigrated to an immortal cultivation world called the "Cangyuan Realm," and had remained there for a full ten thousand years!
Once upon a time, he had yearned immensely to return to Earth, exhausting every possible method.
Because his loved ones were here...
However, as nearly ten thousand years passed, he went from a mere mortal, enduring hardships all the way, cultivating to the Mahayana Stage, and becoming the undisputed Number One Person of the immortal Dao in the entire Cangyuan Realm, yet he had never been able to fulfill that wish.
In those long years, he had long since let go of the obsession to return to Earth, focusing solely on the immortal Dao in hopes of successfully ascending to immortality.
In the end, he did not fail his expectations.
He became the sole ascender in the Cangyuan Realm for millions of years!
Yet, never had he imagined that he seemingly hadn't ascended to the legendary Immortal Realm, but had instead returned to Earth!
At this moment, Ning Wangshu's emotions were indescribably complex.
He gazed deeply at that city ahead, one that had long been buried in the deepest recesses of his memory, once exceedingly familiar, yet now feeling extraordinarily estranged.
For a moment, he simply did not know how to describe his state of mind.
Right at that moment, Ning Wangshu seemed to suddenly think of something, his expression startling abruptly—
"No! I clearly cultivated in the Cangyuan Realm for a full nine thousand years and more, so why does this place not look all that different compared to before my transmigration?"
"Even the Jinjiang Building is still standing there! Forget nearly ten thousand years, the exterior of the Jinjiang Building doesn't even show any obvious signs of age. It looks like not even ten years have passed!"
"Otherwise, if nearly ten thousand years had truly passed, let alone the Jinjiang Building, the entire Linchuan City would likely have ceased to exist long ago or undergone earth-shattering changes..."
"Yet this shouldn't be! What is going on here?"
Ning Wangshu frowned deeply.
"Unless..."
At this, a possibility suddenly occurred to him: "Unless the time flow of Earth and the Cangyuan Realm are different! Although I spent over nine thousand years in the Cangyuan Realm, not much time has actually passed on Earth!"
"If that's truly the case, doesn't that mean... Mom and Ruoxuan are still alive?"
Thinking of this possibility, Ning Wangshu grew intensely excited once again, his body trembling slightly and uncontrollably.
Back when he was still in the Cangyuan Realm, the primary reason he let go of the idea of returning to Earth was the certainty that his mother and younger sister must have long since passed away.
Even if he truly returned to Earth, he would no longer be able to see them, rendering it meaningless.
Yet now, everything seemed to take a miraculous turn...
Even though he hadn't ascended to the Immortal Realm, failed to become a true immortal, and even had his own cultivation suppressed by an inexplicable confinement, able to display only the strength of the peak Golden Core Stage...
The mere thought of having the chance to see his mother and sister again made Ning Wangshu feel that none of that mattered!
"Go home! Go home immediately—"
At this moment, only this single thought remained in Ning Wangshu's mind.
He did not want to wait even a single second longer.
He immediately urged the flying sword beneath his feet with all his might, flying toward Linchuan City ahead at maximum speed...