"Teacher Chen, we've missed you so terribly!"
With tears and snot streaming down his face, Pang Bo came forward to hug Chen Yu's leg and wail, only for Chen Yu to dodge him outright.
Ye Fan was not quite so dramatic, but he stared at him just as eagerly.
Paired with their current appearances as young boys, those expressions actually looked rather convincing.
"What on earth happened?"
Looking at the two of them, Chen Yu could not help chuckling. "You're both half-fledged cultivators now, at least. Could someone in the Spirit Ruins Paradise really be bullying you?"
Whatever else it was, the Spirit Ruins Paradise was a place of cultivation, and Pang Bo, standing before him, was an immortal seedling whom the Spirit Ruins Paradise valued greatly.
Under these circumstances, at least until someone set their sights on Ye Fan for having eaten the divine fruit, their days were fairly peaceful.
At the very least, no one was trying to persecute or suppress them.
Yet Pang Bo and Ye Fan still complained through their tears, declaring how miserable they were at every turn.
Their biggest complaint was the food at the Spirit Ruins Paradise. Most of the meals delivered each day were bland, without even a scrap of meat.
"Before cultivators formally open their Bitter Seas, they should indeed still their minds. Your teacher had your best interests at heart in making you do this."
Chen Yu smiled and said, "But I can see that the Wheels of Life within you have already been activated, so there's no need to keep this up."
"How about this? Today's meal is on me."
He waved his hand, and a great heap of meals and snacks appeared, covering the ground before him in an extraordinarily lavish spread.
There was everything from fried chicken to French fries, and even Coke, Sprite, and beer.
Pang Bo and Ye Fan stared, their eyes fixed on the sight.
"Heavens, am I dreaming?"
Pang Bo could not help pinching his thigh, almost believing he was dreaming. "To think I'd get to eat these things again in my lifetime!"
Since leaving Earth, they had gone half a year without touching any of these things.
The comfortable lives they had once led on Earth seemed like a dream to them, so beautiful and so far away.
"How did you store all this?"
Only Ye Fan, though equally excited at the sight, also felt a little puzzled. "Don't these things have expiration dates?"
Everything before them looked very fresh. The Coke and beer in particular were giving off a chill, as though they had just been taken out of a refrigerator.
How had he managed that?
"I put a refrigerator in my Bitter Sea."
Chen Yu smiled and said, "Cultivators are pretty amazing, aren't they?"
During his past check-ins at various places, he had obtained quite a few assorted curiosities. Among them was a magical artifact that, though unremarkable in power, could emit an astonishing chill. Chen Yu had simply used it as a refrigerator.
After all, once he reached the Big Dipper, tasting those familiar things again would be difficult. With the means available, there was naturally no reason to deprive himself.
"You can do that?"
Pang Bo and Ye Fan exchanged a glance, each seeing the astonishment in the other's eyes.
After that brief astonishment, profound envy welled up.
Was this what a great cultivator was like? Even when traveling to another star domain to cultivate, he could bring local specialties along.
At this point, no further words were needed.
They sat on the ground and began drinking freely.
Pang Bo was extremely boisterous, picking up a bottle of ice-cold beer and draining it in one go.
After finishing it, he let out a long breath and exclaimed, "Refreshing!"
Ye Fan did not drink quite so boisterously and appeared much more refined, but a closer look revealed that he was no slower, finishing a bottle in two or three gulps.
Chen Yu himself, however, did not join them, merely sitting quietly to one side and drinking Coke and Sprite.
"Why aren't you drinking, Teacher Chen?"
Pang Bo asked, "With a feast like this, wouldn't something be missing without alcohol?"
"I'm only fifteen this year."
Chen Yu smiled. "At my age, do you think I'd enjoy drinking?"
Pang Bo and Ye Fan froze.
They had come from Earth with Chen Yu and witnessed his many extraordinary feats, so they had subconsciously overlooked his appearance.
In truth, they had always assumed that Chen Yu merely looked young and was actually an old monster with many years behind him.
But judging by the situation now, was he really that young?
An indescribable feeling rose in their hearts, and they did not know what to say.
As they drank and talked merrily, Pang Bo and Ye Fan relaxed considerably. Their earlier caution faded, and they became more natural around him.
At one point, Pang Bo suddenly clutched his head and burst into tears.
"Dad, Mom, I've let you down!"
He clutched his head and sobbed, lying on the ground with his entire face flushed red, as though he had thought of something sad.
"He's had too much."
Ye Fan patted his shoulder, silently comforting his friend, but his own eyes were also turned toward the starry sky, his heart heavy.
At their age, who did not have ties back home?
Not showing it in their daily lives did not mean they felt nothing. They had merely kept those feelings silently restrained.
Now, meeting an old acquaintance in a foreign land, with alcohol going to their heads, the emotions hidden within them immediately came pouring out.
"Teacher Chen, is there really no way to send us back?"
Ye Fan looked at Chen Yu before him, his eyes full of hope and even a rare hint of pleading. "I'm my parents' only son. If I'm just gone like this, what will they do..."
"Only the sages of ancient times could possibly cross the starry sky. Otherwise, it simply cannot be done."
Chen Yu shook his head, indicating that he was powerless to help.
Hearing this, Pang Bo and Ye Fan's hearts sank into despair.
Through their time cultivating in the Spirit Ruins Paradise, they had gained some understanding of the cultivation world's basic knowledge.
Although they did not know exactly what realm the sages of ancient times corresponded to, no matter how they thought about it, it was not something insignificant figures like them could reach.
"Or perhaps you could wait for me?"
Looking at them, Chen Yu smiled and said, "What if I become a Saint someday?"
Pang Bo and Ye Fan's eyes immediately lit up.
The sages of ancient times-the very name sounded extraordinary, signifying a profoundly advanced realm.
Yet for some reason, Pang Bo and Ye Fan both had an inexplicable confidence in Chen Yu.
After all, his origins were clearly extraordinary. Back on Mars, he had even been able to confront and contend with the legendary Crocodile Ancestor. He was plainly far from ordinary.
For someone like him, becoming a Saint in the future should not be too difficult, should it?
Then, once he became a Saint, he could take the two of them away. Perhaps that was another path?
"Teacher Chen."
With anticipation in his eyes, Pang Bo rubbed his hands together a little nervously. "May I ask how many years it would take your venerable self to cultivate to the realm of the sages?"