A death

He left Longstone Island aboard a Flying Vessel.

The Flying Vessel descended from time to time to pick up passengers and cargo, keeping exceptionally busy.

Meng Yuan had two main purposes for this journey.

First, he wanted to try his luck at finding an opportunity, to seek a way to purge his pill toxins. Any further step he could take in cultivation was worth taking. Life was hard; he could not lose his heart for seeking the Dao simply because the Great Dao lay so far beyond reach.

Over the past few years, Meng Yuan had switched to cultivating the Pure Heart Art and taken Dust-Cleansing Pills daily. Both were methods that helped remove pill toxins, yet neither had done much good.

Second, he wanted to travel around, broaden his horizons, and visit old acquaintances.

There was actually one more matter: the words the Gray-Robed Skeleton Guest had left him.

After Meng Yuan entered the late Qi Refining stage, the Soul-Tracking Thread could no longer threaten his life, but it had given rise to a karmic entanglement.

While at Goldstone Market, Meng Yuan had made inquiries. Life-bound Divine Abilities were strange things. If one could plant karma, its life-bound nature probably concerned fate and yin and yang, or it might simply be some secret technique fueled by burning lifespan.

Meng Yuan vaguely sensed that this karma had taken extremely deep root and would obstruct his state of mind after Foundation Establishment.

The gray-robed man had mentioned three tasks, all of which he wanted Meng Yuan to carry out after reaching Foundation Establishment.

The gray-robed man's schemes ran deep.

First, he had set a ten-year term for the Soul-Tracking Thread. During that time, he need not worry about Meng Yuan revealing his secrets, and if Meng Yuan could reach the late Qi Refining stage within ten years, that would show he had hope of Foundation Establishment.

If he then reached Foundation Establishment, the world would suddenly open wide before him, and his resolve to seek the Dao would surely grow firm. To avoid karmic entanglement, to prevent inner demons from breeding, and to advance further along the Great Dao, he would surely carry out the tasks sincerely.

But the man had not expected Meng Yuan to get there by gulping down pills.

The words the gray-robed man had left were simple. His surname was Jiang, and his lineage was located in West Yunzhou, not too far from the Starsea Alliance's Main Mountain-only five or six thousand li away.

The three tasks could hardly be called very difficult. First, find his hometown and choose someone to take as a disciple, continuing his Dao lineage. He had not specified a man or a woman, someone gifted or someone mediocre.

Second, avenge his household. Yet he had not said who the enemies were or what their cultivation was; Meng Yuan would have to go there and investigate himself.

Third, should fate allow it someday, retrieve his remains and bury them in his homeland.

Of these three tasks, the gray-robed man had only required Meng Yuan to perform the first two. For the last, he had merely said to leave it to fate, imposing no restrictions.

But whatever the case, the first two tasks both required a trip to his hometown.

Meng Yuan had little hope of reaching Foundation Establishment in this lifetime, so the karma the gray-robed man had left would not hold him back.

Still, Meng Yuan intended to find time to go have a look and get a feel for things. If the enemies the gray-robed man had mentioned were extremely powerful, he would have to mend the roof before the rain and recruit some teammates in advance.

That old bastard chose me instead of Pei Liuguang, so she probably had no spiritual roots. Even my four spiritual roots made me the general picked from among dwarfs. Yet he only gave me ten years!

Ten years! Meng Yuan was no greenhorn anymore. How many ordinary cultivators could reach the late Qi Refining stage in ten years?

Even the baby-faced Du Xingyi had taken eight years to reach the late stage, and fifteen to reach Foundation Establishment!

Meng Yuan could not help thinking of his old acquaintances. That little fool Yang Dayong probably had no spiritual roots. But how could someone as clever and spirited as Pei Liuguang have none?

The Flying Vessel traveled for more than ten days before finally reaching the Starsea Alliance's Main Mountain.

The so-called Main Mountain was shaped like a crescent moon, with several hundred small islands around it, like a host of stars clustered about the moon. This brilliant sea of stars was how the Starsea Alliance had gotten its name.

Meng Yuan was one of the Starsea Alliance's own. Once he showed his identity token, he could go anywhere except certain forbidden areas.

Without even taking much of a rest, Meng Yuan first made his way to Giantwood Island and found Li Nineteen.

"Senior brother, you're here." Li Nineteen was as wooden as ever.

Back then, Du Xingyi had brought Li Nineteen to the Main Mountain and, at Meng Yuan's request, handed him over to Wang Zhinong for instruction.

Over the years, the two had exchanged letters annually, and their relationship had not faded in the slightest.

Li Nineteen had already reached the sixth level of Qi Refining, but he had advanced steadily through his own efforts, unlike Meng Yuan, who had gotten there by taking pills.

"Look, this is the Nightlight Grass I've planted. We saw it on Deer Island. It glows at night, like a lantern, and using it in medicine can help you break through minor realms. I've also planted a few of those Red Flame Fruits you're always talking about. And I've planted peach trees here. They're ordinary trees, but they bear fruit every year and have barely picked up a little Spiritual Qi. Senior brother, are the peach trees we planted on Chaolong Mountain on Deer Island still doing well?" Li Nineteen was wooden and sparing with words. Only when he spoke about spirit plants did the words come tumbling out without end.

In this lifetime, eighteen years had passed since the two met at Old Turtle Pit on Deer Island and parted on Chaolong Mountain.

Meng Yuan stayed in his Medicine Garden for a few days, then left Giantwood Island to wander elsewhere.

The people in the Starsea Alliance's territory were both righteous and wicked. There was no alliance leader, only five Golden Core elders, and the various factions had all coalesced around those five elders.

There were plenty of wicked people, but honest ones too. In any case, everyone had their own way of getting by.

Meng Yuan remained very guarded. He always kept to the main roads and dared not flaunt his wealth.

He took a turn around the futures market. This time, unable to foresee what was coming, he lost fifty Spirit Stones in an hour, leaving him aching with distress.

At Goldstone Market on Longstone Island, Meng Yuan's monthly salary was only twenty Spirit Stones. With embezzled funds and his share of the proceeds, it came to somewhere over thirty.

A bottle of Source Origin Pills cost three hundred Spirit Stones and contained only six pills. In one go, Meng Yuan had lost an entire pill-nearly two months' pay!

Gritting his teeth, he left the futures market and saw a white-haired old cultivator sitting by the entrance, his bearing extraordinary. When Meng Yuan asked his age, the man answered that he was a hundred and twenty!

Foundation Establishment cultivators lived for two hundred years, while the lifespan limit for Qi Refining cultivators was only a hundred and twenty.

If they had suffered injuries that damaged their foundation, their lifespan would be reduced.

For someone like Meng Yuan, once he reached seventy or eighty and his pill toxins grew too difficult to suppress, he would age even faster. Living to a hundred would already count as fortunate.

In a place like the Starsea Alliance, any Qi Refining cultivator who could live safely to a hundred and twenty was bound to possess exceptional abilities!

Seeing how well the man had preserved himself, Meng Yuan sincerely asked for advice.

"I can't swallow it!" The old cultivator pointed at the futures market entrance, his face full of resentment. "I just can't swallow this anger!"

What a load of nonsense!

"..." Meng Yuan rubbed his chin, finding himself at a complete loss for words, then went to catch up with an old acquaintance.

"You've gotten old. You won't fetch much anymore." Xin Li no longer had her innocent looks of years past. She had reached the late Qi Refining stage, but had never managed to advance another step, and the years had caught up with her.

After exchanging a few words, Xin Li actually invited Meng Yuan to explore a secret realm.

"We know each other inside out. Your big sister wouldn't trick you!" Xin Li said.

Meng Yuan had seen plenty of invitations like this at Goldstone Market. Some genuinely wanted a powerful helper; others lured people inside to slaughter like pigs.

Meng Yuan declined the invitation and turned down dual cultivation, merely giving her a few bottles of healing pills as a token gesture.

"I've been preparing for years, and everyone I've found is trustworthy! We're only two or three people short. We'll probably go within the next few years. If you're interested, come find me anytime!" Xin Li was exceptionally earnest.

After bidding Xin Li farewell, Meng Yuan wandered for a few days, then returned to see Li Nineteen.

"Senior brother, these are for you." Li Nineteen took out a large quantity of pills, all of which helped purge pill toxins.

He was terribly wooden. He had long since noticed that Meng Yuan was suffering from pill toxins, but could not find any words of concern to say. He had simply prepared things to purge the toxins behind the scenes.

"Good old Nineteen!" These things were of little use, but such friendship was precious. Meng Yuan hugged Li Nineteen hard.

When he learned that Li Nineteen had never even touched a woman, he insisted on dragging him off for some fun.

"Senior brother! Senior brother, don't!" Li Nineteen's face turned red beyond description, yet he did not struggle.

Meng Yuan took Li Nineteen to Hehuan Island, intending to give him his first taste, but he did not dare go inside. Rubbing his hands in embarrassment, he said, "Senior brother, I'd still rather find someone honest, someone I can build a life with."

"All right! I'll keep an eye out for you!" Meng Yuan laughed heartily.

Another two years passed before Meng Yuan had barely gotten a clear picture of the lay of the Starsea Alliance's Main Mountain. He knew which fellow Qi Refining cultivators had extensive connections and which Foundation Establishment cultivators were strong in battle.

Another year passed, and Li Nineteen came to find Meng Yuan, saying that someone had put together a group and invited Wang Zhinong along.

Wang Zhinong had been injured in his earlier years, damaging his sea of consciousness. Hearing that the secret realm contained something that could nourish it, he had immediately agreed.

Li Nineteen had received Wang Zhinong's instruction for many years, and they shared the bond of master and disciple, so naturally he would follow.

This was about repaying kindness, and Meng Yuan could not stop him.

"Let me go in your place! You're such a sealed gourd, you'll only throw your life away!" Meng Yuan had lingered around the Starsea Alliance's Main Mountain for the past few years, yet had never found a way to purge his pill toxins. Seeing little to look forward to in this lifetime, he might as well repay a debt of gratitude for Li Nineteen.

"I haven't even repaid your kindness in leading me onto the path of cultivation, senior brother. Now that you're troubled by pill toxins, how could I let you run around for me again? There won't be much danger on this trip. If I can find anything that clears the heart or purges toxins, I'll definitely bring it back for you." Li Nineteen rarely spoke at such length.

Seeing his determination, Meng Yuan could do nothing, so he gave him a little notebook. In it, Meng Yuan had recorded many cultivators' experiences exploring secret realms, along with ways to handle what they encountered, during his time at Goldstone Market.

A year later, Xin Li came looking for him.

She had lost an arm, most of her hair had turned white, and there were even wrinkles on her face. "He's dead! Died with Old Wang! These are his belongings."

Meng Yuan had never imagined that the person who had assembled the group was Xin Li!

When he first arrived at the Main Mountain, Xin Li had invited him, and Meng Yuan had politely declined. Yet he had never expected that, after all those twists and turns, Xin Li would approach Wang Zhinong, who would bring Li Nineteen along, and Meng Yuan would nearly go with them.

He had stayed away both times, yet Li Nineteen had ended up going!

"Didn't you say there wasn't any danger?" After coming to this world, Meng Yuan had associated with many people, but only Li Nineteen had known him from his humble beginnings. Whenever he saw him, he thought of Yang Dayong. He truly regarded Li Nineteen as a younger brother.

"Who can be certain about something like that?" Xin Li pointed at her face. "Even I've lost thirty years of life!"

Xin Li's face resembled an old crone's, and a measure of helplessness showed through. She said, "That lad left some final words. Said to bury him beside some peach trees you'd planted together. I didn't bring his remains back, so you'll have to make do with his belongings."