It did not take three years.
A little over two years later, Liu Tiesheng returned.
He had matured considerably and grown far more weathered, as though everything he had experienced had shaken him to the core.
Upon his return, Liu Tiesheng visited Qin Hao at once.
He came to thank Qin Hao.
Outsiders did not know, but Liu Tiesheng did.
The armor plate Qin Hao had given him had saved his life several times.
"Now that you're back, learn blacksmithing from your father," Qin Hao advised him. That was all he had to say.
The outside world did not suit Liu Tiesheng. Wind-Sand City was where he belonged.
Having fulfilled his wish, Liu Tiesheng no longer yearned so fiercely for the outside world. He settled down and began learning blacksmithing from Liu Tiezhu.
For this, Liu Tiezhu was grateful to Qin Hao to the point of tears.
Without Qin Hao, he truly would not have known how to guide Liu Tiesheng.
Liu Tiezhu had grown old by then, but he still devoted himself wholeheartedly to teaching his son.
As for Liu Lili, she had long since married and built a life of her own.
The days passed, one after another.
The pill shop's Cultivation Chamber.
Rumble!
Streams of Xuanhuang Qi flowed without end through Qin Hao's Eight Extraordinary Meridians and into his Self-World.
Qin Hao's True Self and his Fire Doppelganger remained utterly still.
His Devouring Doppelganger cultivated beside them.
"Phew."
At that moment, Qin Hao's True Self opened his eyes. He sensed the Great Dao Miasma within him, and a faint ripple stirred in his otherwise placid gaze.
"I've only dispelled a little of the Great Dao Miasma."
Qin Hao's expression did not change, but inwardly, he sighed.
This pace was far beyond what he had expected.
It