One morning in January of the year 4620 of the Great Tang Calendar, Liu Changxu returned safely to Little Penglai Island with his wives and children aboard the Ruyi Void-Escaping Shuttle.
Seeing Liu Changxu and the others return, his wives Xiao Zier, Murong Yuyao, Chen Yufei, Liu Qingying, Su Jinxiu, Li Zhenxin, and Lian'er, his sons Liu Fujin and Liu Fusheng, his daughter Liu Fujiao, his daughter-in-law Murong Yuzhu, and his grandson Liu Zeming all hurried over from various parts of Penglai Island.
In the exquisite, sumptuous hall of the Ruyi Lotus Palace, Liu Changxu sat with his wives and children around a translucent jade table laden with high-grade spirit fruits, their colors enticing and their spiritual energy spilling into the air.
A warm smile lit his face, and his eyes brimmed with the joy and affection of returning home. His wives and children were equally excited, chattering eagerly as one voice followed another.
"Husband, did everything go smoothly on your journey?" Xiao Zier asked softly, her voice full of concern.
"Well enough. We encountered a few setbacks along the way, but fortunately, everything turned out well in the end. Was everything peaceful at home while I was away?"
"Thanks to you, husband, the island has been very peaceful lately. Only small groups of sea monsters appeared in the outer waters, and we successfully drove them all away!
"On the other hand, more and more immigrants have been arriving from the continent. Our investigations confirmed that the vast majority belong to branch families of large cultivation lineages.
"In just the few months you were away, twenty thousand immigrants arrived, even with our strict restrictions. Had we not established such stringent immigration policies, there would probably have been several million or more.
"Even so, the immigrant population on Penglai Island has