The Longevity Person Who Bids Farewell to the Past

The next day.

The morning mist cleared.

Li Changsheng rose early. He had woken up around the latter half of the night, then sat cross-legged on his bed to cultivate until the present hour.

He could clearly feel his soul power becoming increasingly dense, pushing toward the fourteenth level. He reckoned it wouldn't be long before his soul power reached that milestone.

The benefits of the Mysterious Heaven Skill manifested bit by bit as his soul power improved.

The hour was still early; in the sky outside the window, there was only a pale, fish-belly glow. The orange sun remained hidden beneath the horizon, exhaling vast amounts of mist.

Li Changsheng did not practice the Purple Demon Eye during this optimal time.

Instead, he organized the items he needed to bring, including changes of clothes and his refined iron spear, before placing them into the storage space of his Sign-in and Clock-in System.

Li Changsheng also possessed a storage-type soul tool.

It consisted of two exquisite rings.

They were storage rings from ten thousand years ago, the earliest class of soul tools. He had spent a great fortune to acquire them specifically for his wedding.

In this world, there was no custom of wearing rings for marriage, but Li Changsheng was a man who valued such details.

However, now that he had the system storage, he could tuck away his long refined iron spear with ease.

Usually, he found it difficult to use the Night-Startling Spear for cultivation at all times.

After all, once the Night-Startling Spear was truly unleashed, the amount of power required to wield it was immense. Even the current Li Changsheng could not swing it with continuous fluidity.

He hadn't risen so early out of excitement, nor was he trying to be a model student by being the first to arrive at the Sea God Awakening Hall.

He simply wanted to walk through Spirit Soul Village one last time. No—in his heart, Spirit Soul Village had never existed; there was only Holy Soul Village, a place covering that single plot of land with no more than three hundred households.

Ten thousand years had passed, and he was finally leaving this place.

Li Changsheng stood before the mirror, observing his current self.

His small frame, his brilliant starry eyes, his fair and translucent skin that seemed naturally sculpted, and his thin lips pressed slightly together. His short hair had grown longer, now covering his forehead.

Li Changsheng wore new clothes; the white top fit well, though the cuffs were a bit large, making him look somewhat unkempt.

"Time to go. One last look at the village, no need for lingering attachments!"

Li Changsheng paused for a moment, brewing these words before letting them out.

Afterward, he left the room and checked out.

The streets were already dotted with a few scattered people and street vendors setting up their stalls.

Li Changsheng bought a breakfast from a roadside stand. The taste wasn't as good as it used to be, but it was filling.

While eating, he walked toward the high mountain situated outside Holy Soul Village.

Over ten thousand years, Holy Soul Village had transformed from a scattered farming settlement into the current Spirit Soul Village—a place with a structured layout, rows of houses, and a population living off the residual grace of the Sea God's name.

Li Changsheng felt the benefits of development, yet he couldn't help but feel something was missing.

He had called it a final look at the village, but now that it had become like this, there was nothing left worth remembering.

He glanced from afar at the former residence of Tang San, which he had robbed over ten days ago; it was already guarded by many soldiers.

He stopped to watch the Li Family residence where he had lived for ten thousand years for a while, then continued walking down the street.

Soon, following the mountain path stairs, he arrived at the peak where Tang San once cultivated—a place he himself had frequented.

He gazed into the distance.

The churning sea of mist rolled like a dragon entering the ocean.

The orange sun flickered at the line where the clouds met the sky, tearing through the horizon.

The Spirit Soul City lay beneath Li Changsheng's feet.

The orderly, bustling town was prosperous; the paved bluestone streets were smooth to walk on, and the former farmlands had all been replaced by various shops.

The only plant visible everywhere was probably the Blue Silver Grass, right?

He took a deep breath.

Then, he exhaled heavily.

From left to right, he scanned the buildings lying at his feet.

In his clear, black-and-white eyes, he did not see a city, but a few scattered, lonely buildings.

After watching for a while, he did not linger. Treating it as merely passing through, he quickly descended the mountain, heading toward the final place he intended to visit.

To the due east of Spirit Soul Village, where the stars and moon reflected, lay a place of blooming flowers isolated from the forest. Legend held that this was the forbidden ground of the Li Family.

There were no treasures here, nor any buildings; apart from the sea of flowers, there was only a solitary grave.

It was covered and surrounded by flourishing blossoms.

Li Changsheng stepped forward, slipping through a gap in the flower wall with practiced, light movements.

He stopped beside the lonely grave.

Looking at the grave, looking at the upright tombstone, he stood stunned for a long moment.

He stepped forward, his pace shifting from light and brisk to heavy and labored.

He crouched down, reaching out to stroke the weathered tombstone.

Faint, carved characters were still visible on its surface, though they were no longer clear.

Li Changsheng offered a faint smile, teasing with a sense of lost longing, "Oh my, it's been a long time since I last visited you."

His fingertips traced the deep, sunken carvings. Li Changsheng wanted to continue, but his lips trembled, and it seemed he had nothing left to say.

He remained like that for a while.

He stood up, took a few more steps forward, and leaned down slightly, pressing his face against the weathered tombstone and rubbing against it.

Afterward, he turned his back and walked away without looking back, merely waving his hand.

Yet, when he reached the gap in the garden wall, he turned his head once more to look at the lonely grave surrounded by flowers, calling out in a slightly hoarse voice:

"I'm leaving. I probably won't be coming back this time."

As his voice faded, Li Changsheng slipped through the gap in the flower wall.

He headed toward the Sea God Awakening Hall located outside Spirit Soul City.

He walked very slowly, taking tiny, measured steps as if gauging something, taking nearly an hour to cover a single kilometer.

With every step he took, though his figure was small, the rising sun stretched his shadow longer, and longer, and longer...

Li Changsheng remained expressionless, letting the blinding light strike his face without blinking. He did not even activate his Purple Demon Eye, yet he managed to maintain that state.

It was subtle.

It was not until he reached the Sea God Awakening Hall, where the surrounding scenery had long since changed, that he reached up to rub his eyes, tried to blink, and offered a bitter smile:

"Oh my, the sun is truly blinding; it's made me tear up."

He wiped two tears away with his fingertips, touched them to his lips, and tasted them with the tip of his tongue, murmuring, "The taste of tears... salty..."

Yes, that was what tears were like. There was no bitterness or sorrow in them; as the saying went, they were indeed just "salty."

He wiped his eyes, which were faintly tinged with rose-red, and then took out his Martial Soul certificate. He walked toward the window where Martial Souls were registered. Through the rising mist of Blue Silver Grass, a few figures were already visible.

It seemed there was a sentiment that suited Li Changsheng—the former Li Gou'dan—perfectly:

Having transmigrated for so long and lived for so long, the vanity of the world had been washed away. Even in this other world, one could feel the trepidation of returning home; thus, do not ask of the horizon, and do not ask of the date of return...