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"Senior, will you remember Xiang'er?"

More than half a month later, At the sky harbor of Heavenly Office Immortal City, A Four Directions Commerce Association aerial treasure vessel was about to depart for its next stop: Nether Mystery Immortal City of the True Dao of Netherworld Communion.

He Sheng had followed the ship all the way here, ready to part ways with Kou Xiang'er for good.

Seeing the faint expectation mingled with a touch of resentment in Kou Xiang'er's eyes, He Sheng clenched his fist and coughed softly into it.

Honestly, he could not quite understand Kou Xiang'er.

By all rights, he should have been the great villain in this woman's eyes. He had ruined her former life as an attendant, turned her into a traitor to the Celestial Sea Commerce Association, and left her unable to remain even within the territory of the Supreme Mystery Orthodox Unity.

Even though he had later taken her away as promised and given her magical artifacts worth over ten thousand spirit stones, as he had pledged, With attack, defense, support, and warding all covered—two mid-grade sets for her current rotation, two high-grade sets held in reserve for the late Qi Refinement stage—plus five thousand low-grade spirit stones, a solid twenty percent of the stolen loot.

Logically, this woman ought to hate him to the bone, or fear him as one would lions and tigers.

But that syrupy gaze...

Could she still be looking to bleed him dry of his gold?!

Absolutely not!

"Cultivate well from now on."

He Sheng took the initiative to look away. His voice was flat, without the slightest ripple.

At this, the light in Kou Xiang'er's eyes dimmed for an instant. Yet the gentle, obedient smile soon returned to her face. She gave He Sheng a graceful curtsy and said softly, "No matter what, Xiang'er thanks Senior for your mercy.

The mountains are high and the waters long. I hope there will come a day when I see Senior again."

Take care.

He Sheng did not say those three words aloud.

He merely watched in silence as the enormous aerial treasure vessel slowly rose amid the rumble of its formation. Its vast shadow swept over his face, and only after it pierced the sea of clouds and vanished beyond the horizon did he withdraw his gaze.

Over the journey of more than half a month, He Sheng had followed the Four Directions Commerce Association's aerial treasure vessel on a great circuit through the lands ruled by the Four Bright Mystical True Dao, traveling a full seventy to eighty thousand li. He had taken in no small amount of scenery and used the opportunity to carefully observe the similarities and differences among the several immortal cities along the way.

He discovered that the immortal cities under the Four Bright Mystical True Dao were in fact all under the jurisdiction of major immortal sects. Compared with Primordial Mist Immortal City, their rules were far stricter, and their control over unfamiliar cultivators was far more apparent.

Take the merchant vessels passing through, for instance. It was fine if the cultivators aboard did not disembark, but the moment they wished to go ashore—even for a temporary stay—they had to endure all manner of questioning and even complete various procedures.

Just like now, a Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivator approached He Sheng and handed him a sheet of yellow paper, saying with considerable arrogance, "One day of temporary stay costs ten spirit stones. You must leave the immortal city before sunset tomorrow."

Though the other party's cultivation was far below his own, that lofty attitude made it seem as though their cultivation levels were reversed.

He Sheng had experienced or witnessed similar scenes ever since entering Nine Origins Immortal City, which lay under the Four Bright Mystical True Dao's rule. By now, he was no longer surprised.

This was also the greatest difference between the immortal cities under the Four Bright Mystical True Dao and Primordial Mist Immortal City. Most of these cities' administrators came from great immortal sects, from the descendants of vassal families, or were simply outer disciples of those great immortal sects.

Moreover, He Sheng vaguely sensed that these people possessed some method of distinguishing ancient cultivators from modern cultivators. No matter how high an ancient cultivator's cultivation might be, they did not take them seriously.

Just as Ye Shaochen had said, they treated ancient cultivators as nothing more than rustic, miscellaneous cultivators.

"Looks like Wind Spirit held something back that day. He most likely has that same method and identified me as an ancient cultivator—that's why he came looking for me."

As the thought flashed through his mind, He Sheng's expression remained unchanged. He accepted the sheet of yellow paper that served as a temporary residence permit, then cupped his hands to the man.

The Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivator immediately left with his head held high.

"Primordial Mist Immortal City really is better. Worthy indeed of being a holy land for rogue cultivators."

He Sheng sighed inwardly. He had originally intended to inquire in the immortal cities along the route about relatively safe channels for disposing of the stolen magical artifacts. But the state of those cities swiftly made him abandon the idea; he only wished to leave as soon as possible.

Fortunately, before disembarking, he had asked the people from the Four Directions Commerce Association. A Four Directions treasure ship traveling against the trade route would arrive at Heavenly Office Immortal City at noon tomorrow.

He Sheng promptly hired a broker, familiar with the process by now, to purchase a ticket. Afterward, he settled into the Spirit Official Inn near the sky harbor.

That night, within a superior room at the Spirit Official Inn.

He Sheng finished regulating his breath and meditating, then awoke from his trance.

"With Kou Xiang'er gone, the matter of the Lower River Branch can be considered concluded.

"As for the resources in the He Family's secret vault..."

Although he had yet to obtain the resources Ji Yunlai had hidden away, the Treasure-Swallowing Snake appeared unlikely to be subdued anytime soon. He Sheng decided to set the matter aside for now and first choose a place for his future cultivation.

"Long Sun Mountain is the first to be ruled out.

"Although Old Turtle pleaded for me, and Ye Shaochen agreed not to pursue the matter further, who can truly fathom the thoughts of such a prodigy from a lofty gate?

"Not to mention that I directly wiped out the Lower River Branch this time. Though I believe I did it seamlessly, the cultivation world has countless methods. What if they uncover some trace or clue?

"Therefore, returning to Long Sun Mountain to cultivate under Brother Piao's identity carries far too many unknown risks. It is the worst possible choice."

Then the remaining choices were either to rent a cave abode in Primordial Mist Immortal City and cultivate under the identity of the Rogue Cultivator Xiang Yue...

Having made the rounds, He Sheng now understood why Primordial Mist Immortal City was a holy land for Rogue Cultivators. Naturally, he would return—but the question was whether or not to settle down in Primordial Mist Immortal City.

"The other choice is to return to Heaven Capital Mountain and make the water residence Old Turtle left me my future place of cultivation."

He Sheng was more inclined toward the latter.

For one thing, the great demons of central Heaven Capital Mountain had now all departed, making this the perfect time to gain a foothold there;

Furthermore, the cultivation environment in the water residence was exceptionally favorable. He Sheng had experienced it himself—the second-rank spirit vein within Longevity Pool contained an abundance of spiritual energy and was remarkably compatible with his water-element cultivation arts.

Of course, the most important reason was that He Sheng had already tentatively decided on the focus of his future cultivation: artifact refining!

With a flip of his hand, he took out the <Heavenly Peak Mountain Artifact Refining Essentials> he had obtained from Wu Feng's storage pouch and murmured:

"In this manual, the path of artifact refining is divided into water refining and fire refining.

"There is no need to say much about fire refining; it is the choice of most artifact refiners.

"But water refining is vastly different. Aside from preparing spirit materials and engraving restriction patterns, which are much the same as fire refining, the crucial stage of firing and forging is entirely different."

He Sheng's fingertips brushed across the jade slip, and a sharp glint flashed through his eyes.

"Water refining uses spiritual water or spirit springs to purify spirit materials, remove impurities, nurture their spiritual radiance, and finally refine and shape them.

"It uses the softness of water to temper the hardness of gold and stone. Not only does this result in a higher success rate, but the artifacts refined this way naturally carry the spiritual charm of water, complementing my own water arts cultivation."

He Sheng was even more inclined toward the path of water refining, and within the Longevity Pool water residence were several spirit springs at the bottom of the pool—truly an excellent place for water refining.

"Then I shall return to Heaven Capital Mountain and settle down first. Once I attend that South Mountain Assembly gathering, I can make further arrangements."

With his mind made up, He Sheng no longer hesitated.

More than twenty days later, When He Sheng returned to Heaven Capital Mountain and saw that Longevity Pool was already close at hand, his divine sense caught two figures by the pool, confronting the green and white serpents within the water.