Homecoming

Morninglight Town.

The town belonged to the Eighth Province of the Dao Realm, under the jurisdiction of Zisha County, Donghe Prefecture, Lihuo Commandery, Zhu Province, and lay in eastern Zhu Province.

It served an area spanning hundreds of li, with a population of roughly ten million.

The town had no walls. As Jiang Yan rode the Golden Treasure Toad onto the main street, only the last of the eight great suns overhead retained a little of its fading light.

Although night was approaching, plenty of people remained on the streets. The shops were all open, with customers coming and going from time to time, making for a bustling scene.

There was nothing strange about ordinary people having ample food and clothing.

Under the Immortal Dynasty's rule, once Daoists entered the immortal path and achieved success in cultivation, moving mountains, filling seas, plucking stars, and grasping moons were commonplace feats, let alone minor techniques for everyday needs.

To give just one example, even the village households scattered around the town would periodically invite the Immortal Dynasty's agricultural officials to perform techniques that summoned wind and brought rain, ensuring favorable weather year after year.

Yet although having enough food and warm clothing, or even strengthening the body, was not difficult, getting one's children onto the immortal path was no easy matter for an ordinary family. Even five to seven years of scrimping and saving might not be enough to support a single child.

Just look at that Wolf Lord. He was already a monster who had cultivated to the ninth-rank lower realm, possessing bronze skin and iron bones.

Yet when his son went to the County Daoist Academy to serve as a disciple's slave, he considered it a tremendous honor and wanted to hold a feast to celebrate.

Jiang Yan paid no attention to the people around him. His eyes slightly open and his expression placid, he sat cross-legged atop the extraordinary-looking Mutant Golden Toad, dressed in a blue Daoist robe of fine fabric, utterly ignoring the curious, envious looks around him.

Though he looked young, his unusual appearance and demeanor already lent him something of an accomplished master's bearing.

The golden toad continued without stopping, bounding along the spirit-pet lane straight toward the center of town.

Some people wore expressions that said this was only to be expected. The town's wealthy households all lived in the center.

The youth looked like a promising Dao Seed, and his exotic mount was extraordinary too. It was hard for someone like that to emerge from among the common people.

The town was truly large. Ordinary residents mostly traveled on Earth-Crawling Worms bred by the Immortal Dynasty.

Riding the golden toad as it hopped along, Jiang Yan took a full hour to reach home, arriving only after the sky had gone completely dark.

Two vermilion gates stood open, and the spirit screen inside was fashioned in a partially openwork design.

Murals of various kinds covered the enclosing walls, many with corresponding verses inscribed beneath them. Viewed from high overhead, the unbroken walls stretched for more than a dozen li, enclosing a sizable area.

Two enormous stone lions stood on either side of the entrance, but there was no dedicated gatekeeper.

Without dismounting, Jiang Yan took a token from inside his robe with his right hand, raised it, and waved it.

"Ah, achoo~"

The stone lion on the right sneezed, shook its great head, and looked up at Jiang Yan.

"Ah, the fifth young master is back! This humble servant will open the gate right away!"

Shi Da cried out and hurriedly flicked his tail to open the gate.

Jiang Yan nodded and said, "Sorry for the trouble."

These two lions were far from ordinary. They were spoils of war brought back by some ancestor of the Jiang Household, though no one knew which generation, while campaigning in Other Realms with the Immortal Dynasty's armies.

After being ritually refined into Dao soldiers, they had been stationed here to guard the gate for who knew how many years.

From this, the Jiang Household's ancestors had clearly once enjoyed great prosperity. After all, joining a military campaign in Other Realms required cultivation of at least the seventh-rank Daoist realm.

But the Jiang Household was no longer what it had once been. The patriarch was only in the eighth-rank Fangshi realm. Although he was in the eighth-rank upper realm, seemingly just one step from the seventh rank, that step was like a heavenly chasm.

Apart from the patriarch, the family had one Eighth-Rank Lower Fangshi Realm cultivator and several members in the ninth-rank Daoist Attendant realm, which still counted as a considerable force in this town.

Having exchanged greetings, he patted the golden toad beneath him to signal it to enter. At home, Jiang Yan had never liked to say much.

Shi Da watched Jiang Yan pass through the gate before turning to Shi Er, who was still asleep beside him.

"Still sleeping, you great oaf. If another young master wants to go in, you can open the gate. That token reeks."

Naturally, Shi Da did not admit people merely by looking at their tokens. The immortal path offered countless methods, with all manner of bizarre tricks emerging endlessly. Substitutes and painted skins were only commonplace means.

They came from beyond this world and were different in other ways too, judging authenticity through the special scent on the tokens.

Jiang Yan naturally knew nothing of the lion's grumbling at the gate. He was hurrying toward his home.

The Jiang Household had many members, and the entire clan estate resembled a town within a town, with separate residential areas divided according to main and collateral branches and cultivation levels.

He belonged to the fifth household of the main branch, so naturally he lived in the central area.

Once he entered the clan estate, more family members appeared around him. To avoid being recognized and held up, Jiang Yan urged the golden toad beneath him to pick up speed.

"Oh, is that the fifth young master back?!"

"It really is the fifth young master!"

The golden toad's size was indeed conspicuous, and Jiang Yan himself was well-known throughout the Jiang Household. Every appearance drew plenty of attention.

Fortunately, he had prepared for this. Often, by the time these family members looked up and confirmed who he was, the golden toad had already leaped a hundred meters away.

Thus, no one stopped him, and a short while later, Jiang Yan reached home.

The golden toad shrank to palm size and settled on his shoulder. Jiang Yan reached out to straighten both sides of his Daoist robe before pushing open the door and entering the courtyard.

The courtyard was sizable, but most of it had been converted into spirit plots, leaving only a few rooms for living quarters.

Jiang Yan kept his voice as low as possible, but the people inside still heard the golden toad's movements, and a rustling sound followed.

"Who is it?"

"Second Uncle, Second Aunt, I'm back."

As soon as Jiang Yan spoke, the first to push open a door and rush out was a little chubby boy who looked about three or four.

His arms looked segmented like lotus roots. He wore only a red bellyband, with his little thing swinging beneath it.

"Fifth Brother, you're back."

This little chubby boy was Second Uncle's son, Jiang Li. By the main branch's birth order, he was Jiang Yan's thirteenth younger brother.

Jiang Yan picked him up, then greeted the middle-aged man and woman who emerged behind him with a bow.

"Second Uncle, Second Aunt."

Jiang Yan's parents had passed away when he was small, dying on a mission outside for the Jiang Household.

Since his parents had died for the clan, Jiang Yan had been raised by his second uncle.

But the Jiang Household had not treated him poorly either. Over the years, he had received the same treatment as the other children, along with an additional subsidy.

Moreover, ever since he had displayed talent on the immortal path, his benefits had been raised again and again. Now, they were already in the clan's highest tier.

"It's good that you're back. Come inside first, and we'll talk."

Jiang Yan's second uncle had a middle-aged appearance and looked steady and composed, while his second aunt was a gentle woman.

They entered the room and took their seats.

"How have things been at the county academy? Have you..."

Seeing his second uncle hesitate, Jiang Yan smiled faintly and said:

"Don't worry, Second Uncle. The annual examination is over. As I see it, there shouldn't be any problems."

"That's good. That's wonderful!"

Second Uncle knew Jiang Yan's temperament. He had always been steady, so it seemed this time should be in the bag.

"How long can you stay home this time?"

Jiang Yan shook his head and replied:

"This time, I want to hone my body to perfection, then set off for the academy to choose a cultivation method. I won't need any resources, just the use of one of the clan's stone cultivation chambers."

"That's easy enough. I'll go get a stone cultivation chamber opened for you right now."

With that, Second Uncle Jiang hurried straight out.

The people who ordinarily worked around the house were members of the Jiang Household's collateral branches. At this hour, they had already gone back to rest.

Second Aunt went to the kitchen to cook for Jiang Yan. Second Uncle Jiang had Upper Ninth-Rank Realm cultivation, but Second Aunt had never successfully entered the Dao.

Anyone seeking to enter the Dao had to work hard from childhood. The older one grew, the more the body deteriorated, making entry into the Dao still more difficult.

Second Aunt had been born a commoner and had not built a good foundation in childhood, so it was normal that she had failed to enter the Dao.

Commoners had few resources, and establishing the body's foundation required the aid of many medicinal ingredients, often making it difficult for them to enter the Dao.

Still, it was not entirely unheard of, and commoners who managed to enter the Dao were often even more gifted.

At the County Daoist Academy Jiang Yan attended, several students came from commoner backgrounds, and all ranked highly in the monthly examinations.

Drawing back his thoughts, Jiang Yan looked at the little chubby Jiang Li in his arms and reached out to play with him.

Second Uncle Jiang returned quickly. As one of the outstanding members of the Jiang Household's current generation, Jiang Yan naturally had little trouble applying for a stone chamber for cultivation.

Not only had he brought back the Command Tally that opened the chamber, but he had also applied for an additional Qi and Blood Pill for Jiang Yan.

After eating, Jiang Yan did not stay to rest. Taking the pill his second uncle had given him, he walked through the night toward the stone cultivation chamber.