In Green Luo, Xu Xuan had recently gone into seclusion, leaving Liu Xiaowen to manage the sect's affairs.
His cultivation advanced extremely quickly. Three years later, he had already broken through to the third level of Qi Refining.
Fan Qingzhu now served as an Attendant of the sect and lived on a spiritual peak on the outskirts of Green Luo.
Fan Huayan occasionally sought out Liu Xiaowen, hoping to have a look at that jade pendant. Where was Liu Xiaowen supposed to find it now? His master had told him that the pendant was gone, so he could only find an excuse to avoid her each time.
Liu Xiaowen received word that the sect leader would emerge from seclusion today, so he went ahead to wait outside the cave residence and see his master.
He rode the wind all the way to the cave residence on Azure Sky Peak. After waiting for an hour, he saw the stone doors open. A man in a black Daoist robe strode out from within. It was Xu Xuan.
"Congratulations on completing your cultivation and emerging from seclusion, Master."
Liu Xiaowen vaguely sensed that Xu Xuan's presence had grown even stronger, so he offered his congratulations first.
"Has anything important happened in the sect lately?"
Xu Xuan sat down with Liu Xiaowen to discuss the sect's affairs. Liu Xiaowen replied in a low voice:
"Construction of the town in Crouching Ox Wilds is complete. It is called Green Plain, and all the mortals under our jurisdiction have moved there."
"Most of our disciples' relatives live in town. Some have tried to secure private gains for their families and stirred up trouble."
"Even some of the villagers from White Ridge have been throwing their weight around town in my name. There are quite a few