Trouble

He Song's move might have seemed rash, but in truth, it was the best possible response to Meng Guan.

If it had been him—

Before He Song spoke, he would not have thought of it either.

As he pondered this, Wei Fan's gaze upon He Song immediately gained a trace of admiration.

This was someone who truly knew how to consider his friend's needs.

Worthy indeed of being the friend he had known for five years!

Meanwhile—

Upon hearing He Song's words, Meng Guan froze.

He had originally thought that He Song wanted to persuade him again. He had even prepared how he would refuse.

Yet He Song not only did not try to persuade him, but instead offered to resolve his lingering concerns.

This...

He glanced at Wei Fan beside him, who remained silent, then looked back at He Song, who was earnestly watching him.

Warmth filled Meng Guan's heart.

Though his aptitude was somewhat poor, the friends he had made were each better than the last.

Still, since He Song had already asked, Meng Guan thought it over and quickly shook his head.

"I grew up in Thick Earth Courtyard and have no family. Within this Bamboo Mountain Immortal Market, aside from you two friends, I have no Dao companion either, so there is no need to trouble yourselves."

"However, should I soar to great heights someday, I will certainly not forget you both!" At the end, Meng Guan rose to his feet and gave He Song and Wei Fan a deep cupped-fist salute.

Seeing this, He Song and Wei Fan hurriedly stood as well.

They returned the salute in kind.

When they sat down again, the three looked at one another and chatted idly, but each harbored his own thoughts.

Meng Guan was looking ahead to his future.

After today, he would resign from his position as a manager at the Spirit Medicine Pavilion.

He would go mine at the Red Spirit Gold Mine, save up the Spirit Stones he earned, and once he had enough, head to Qingyuan Immortal City to purchase a Realm-Breaking Pill.

With the methods he had accumulated over so many years, he believed his chances of success were high.

Once his cultivation successfully broke through to Qi Refining stage 7 and he became a Qi Refining Late Stage cultivator—

He believed he would count as one of the stronger figures within the Red Spirit Gold Mine.

That way, his chances of survival would rapidly increase.

By then—

Not to mention catching a glimpse of the Foundation Establishment realm, even if a Qi Refining Late Stage Rogue Cultivator lost his status as an Immortal Market cultivator and left the Red Spirit Gold Mine, he could still live quite well.

That was his plan. As long as he could quickly break through into the Qi Refining Late Stage, the seas would be vast and the skies boundless.

As for Wei Fan, even as he chatted, a trace of worry arose in his heart.

Meng Guan possessed only five spiritual roots, and his cultivation had been stuck at Qi Refining stage 6 for a long time. Wei Fan could understand why he would risk everything to change his fate.

But he himself possessed only four spiritual roots, and breaking through to Foundation Establishment in the future would also be extraordinarily difficult.

If, when he was in his fifties, an opportunity to risk everything lay before him, would he take it or not?

Even in peace, one must prepare for danger.

Right now, Meng Guan needed to risk everything.

As for his future self...

Unaware of what the other two were thinking, He Song himself was not dwelling on much at the moment.

Meng Guan had already made up his mind. It was not something He Song could persuade him out of.

He had wanted to help settle Meng Guan's lingering concerns, but Meng Guan had not started a family, so naturally he had no such concerns.

In that case—

Since he had already done everything he could and still could not change the outcome, there was no need for him to interfere further.

Though he knew full well that the Red Spirit Gold Mine was a pit of fire—

Meng Guan insisted on jumping in.

He could not be pulled back even if someone tried.

Then so be it. He Song could only hope that Meng Guan, blessed by heaven, would turn misfortune into good fortune.

With Meng Guan's Qi Refining stage 6 cultivation, He Song felt there was still a sliver of hope.

After a long, pleasant chat—

He Song and the other two went their separate ways.

Walking through the bustling streets, He Song let out a soft sigh.

His steps paused, but he soon continued toward his home.

He Song had learned quite a bit today.

He needed to return home and sort it all out properly, to see whether these pieces of information were connected in any way.

At the same time, he needed to assess the safety of Bamboo Mountain Immortal Market.

If its safety level declined, then no matter what, He Song could only choose to leave. He would not continue staying here.

With matters weighing on his mind—

He Song quickly returned home.

After brewing himself a pot of fine tea, He Song sat beside the only table in the house.

Five years had passed, yet the scene in He Song's home remained unchanged. There was no additional furniture, nor was anything missing.

Everything seemed exactly as it had been five years ago.

Other than his cultivation rising from Qi Refining Layer 1 to Qi Refining Layer 3, it seemed that nothing had changed.

"Meng Guan is about to resign from his manager position at the Spirit Medicine Pavilion. This post should have nothing to do with me. Though its annual stipend is high, my cultivation is too low. I cannot compete for that position."

He had learned beforehand that Meng Guan was about to leave.

Yet this information held no real value for He Song.

On the contrary, with Meng Guan's departure, He Song would no longer have an acquaintance in the Spirit Medicine Pavilion.

But with Wei Fan, a Qi Refining Late Stage cultivator, standing behind him, He Song was not worried that anyone in the Spirit Medicine Pavilion would make trouble for him even after Meng Guan left.

It could only be said that Meng Guan's departure brought He Song no benefit, but neither did it bring much harm.

That was all.

Though that was what he thought, He Song still sighed inwardly.

From now on, the gatherings of the three at Lingjian Pavilion would likely become gatherings of two.

A friend who had accompanied him for five years was leaving just like that. Whether they would ever meet again was another matter entirely.

For a moment, He Song felt strangely bereft.

But he soon recovered.

"There will be plenty more things like this in the future. I'll slowly get used to them." A glimmer flashed in his eyes as He Song silently thought to himself.

As an Immortal, he would surely experience scenes of parting like this many times.

At first, he would inevitably feel somewhat bereft.

But after experiencing them often enough, he would naturally come to terms with them.

As He Song thought this, he quickly began organizing all the information he knew in his mind.

He began to tease apart the threads and draw out the strands, trying to deduce whether Bamboo Mountain Immortal Market was still suitable for him to continue living in.

This was something He Song did every month.

Though it might seem somewhat unnecessary, it could actually prevent many troubles.

"The Red Spirit Gold Mine seems like trouble. Even the Thick Earth Sect wants to excavate it as quickly as possible, lest delays breed new complications. I should observe it for now. If the situation turns bad, I'll slip away at once."

After reviewing and compiling all the information, He Song reached his conclusion.

Recently, not many vicious incidents had occurred around Bamboo Mountain Immortal Market, nor had anything major happened.

Other than the Red Spirit Gold Mine, things were generally still peaceful.

Even so, He Song decided to keep an eye on developments at the Red Spirit Gold Mine.

The moment anything went wrong, he would be able to slip away.

After preparing himself to flee at any time, He Song pondered for a moment before finally closing his eyes and beginning his cultivation.

Time passed.

In the blink of an eye, the night was over.

The next morning—

He Song was still cultivating when a paper crane shot through the window at tremendous speed, stopping before him in the blink of an eye.

The paper crane flapped its wings, and wisps of spiritual energy rippled from its body, instantly startling the cultivating He Song awake.