That Same Familiar Feeling!

On Mount Buzhou.

Inside a small cave abode quite close to Lady Nüwa's cultivation grounds, Lin Yun sat cross-legged.

It turned out that what he had told Cult Master Tongtian and the others about entering seclusion was actually true!

But he was not devoting himself to cultivation.

Cultivation? That had never been a thing with him, all right?

He had chosen to enter seclusion for only one reason: to thoroughly refine the Primordial Expanse Supreme Treasure he had obtained earlier, the Heaven-Reaching Jianmu!

Back when he had listened to the Dao in the Purple Treasure Firmament Hall, he had immersed himself in the task, intent on refining the Heaven-Reaching Jianmu with his whole heart. But it was a Primordial Expanse Supreme Treasure, after all, and even after spending a full thirty thousand years on it, he had not managed to refine it completely.

It had been on his mind ever since!

But before undertaking the painstaking work of refining the Heaven-Reaching Jianmu, he still needed to set aside time to take a good inventory of what he had gained from the Treasure-Dividing Cliff.

Only after quite some time did Lin Yunji finish counting the Law Treasures left in the Treasure-Dividing Cliff.

There were over a hundred Acquired Spirit Treasures and dozens of Acquired Supreme Treasures. There were even a few Innate Spirit Treasures!

Though there were many Law Treasures, the ones Lin Yunji could actually use were pitifully few.

After picking and choosing, he took out only a handful.

Among them were the Four Seas Bottle, an Innate Low-Grade Spirit Treasure; the Asura Nether Domain Scythe, an Innate Mid-Grade Spirit Treasure; the Qilin Seal, an Innate High-Grade Spirit Treasure; and the Kongtong Seal, a Merit Innate Spirit Treasure.

The largest of all was the Treasure-Dividing Cliff itself, outside.

"Hmm, something's not quite right!" Lin Yunji suddenly spoke up, muttering under his breath with a slightly puzzled expression.

"Speaking of this Kongtong Seal... if I remember correctly, it should have gone to my second senior martial uncle, Heavenly Venerable Yuanshi. Later on, it even... even became a supreme treasure used to suppress the Human Race's destiny. How did it end up in my hands now?"

"Besides, legend has it that whoever possesses the Kongtong Seal can share in the Human Race's destiny. Doesn't that mean..."

Lin Yun's thoughts were rosy, but she put the Kongtong Seal away without activating it.

He picked up the Qilin Seal lying beside him, examined it closely, and said, "And there's this Qilin Seal! It was the natal Law Treasure used by the first qilin of High Antiquity. I never expected Sage Hongjun to have put it in the Treasure-Dividing Cliff as part of his collection, too."

"And the Treasure-Dividing Cliff itself is an Innate High-Grade Spirit Treasure..." Lin Yunji looked the smooth surface of the Treasure-Dividing Cliff up and down several times and mused, "If... I used it to smash people, that might work too. It looks like its power shouldn't be any weaker than the Qilin Seal's!"

"Pretty interesting!"

Having finished taking stock of the treasures, Lin Yunji gave them no further thought. He tidied up and put away the assorted Law Treasures, then gathered his concentration and began refining the Heaven-Reaching Jianmu and the few Law Treasures he had specifically selected beforehand.

Before he knew it, twenty thousand years had passed.

On this day!

Lady Nüwa stepped slowly out of her cultivation grounds on Mount Buzhou, dressed in a long, milky-white gown. After coming to a stop, she could not help looking toward the cave abode where Lin Yunji was staying.

"Little Jade Bamboo... why has he been in seclusion for so long?"

"He said before that it was to stabilize his cultivation and eliminate hidden dangers, but twenty thousand years have already passed... He's only a Late-stage Great Luo Golden Immortal. How could stabilizing his cultivation take twenty thousand years?!"

"Besides, I came out of seclusion three thousand years ago, yet he's still in there!"

"He's made me wait so long. Hmph! Little Jade Bamboo, just you wait! Once you come out, I'll make you look good!"

Looking at the cave entrance, where there was still no sign of movement, Lady Nüwa spoke resentfully.

"What's this? Just as I was about to come out, I heard you saying you'd make me look good! Although I do think I'm quite good-looking already... when you put it that way, Lady Nüwa, I can't help wanting to stay in seclusion and cultivate for a while longer before coming out!"

Suddenly, a familiar voice filled with laughter came from inside the cave abode.

Lady Nüwa was taken aback for a moment, then broke into a smile. Her eyes sparkling, she looked over and saw a figure slowly emerge from the cave abode-the figure she had been longing to see for thousands of years.

It was none other than Lin Yunji!

A smile played at Lin Yunji's lips, and his eyes and brows were full of amusement. He looked back at Nüwa, only to see her suddenly suppress her smile and snort. "Hmph! So you could finally bear to come out of seclusion?"

Her tone was full of resentment. Clearly, she was very displeased that Lin Yunji had spent twenty thousand years in seclusion!

"What could I do? Even while I was in seclusion inside the cave abode, I could smell the thick resentment drifting through the air! If I didn't come out soon, I was afraid the cave abode wouldn't be able to take it and would collapse outright." Lin Yunji smiled as he teased Lady Nüwa.

Lady Nüwa shot Lin Yunji an annoyed glare, but then pressed her lips together in a smile. "Pah, what a glib tongue!"

It really was that same familiar feeling.

This boy still loved being glib as ever!

After seeing Lin Yunji, Lady Nüwa was in high spirits, all her earlier gloom swept away. She changed the subject. "Little Jade Bamboo, did you gain anything from this seclusion? I severed my benevolent corpse and stepped straight into the Mid-stage Quasi-Sage realm!"

As she spoke, she could not help puffing out her chest, looking very pleased with herself.

"Tsk, not bad." Seeing Lady Nüwa's expression as she waited for praise, Lin Yunji deliberately spoke in an airy tone.

"I was asking you!" Lady Nüwa snorted. "Of course I did well. What about you?"

In fact!

During those twenty thousand years, Lin Yunji had not only successfully refined the Primordial Expanse Supreme Treasure, the Heaven-Reaching Jianmu, but had also finished refining several Law Treasures, including the Kongtong Seal and the Qilin Seal!

Moreover, after refining the Heaven-Reaching Jianmu, Lin Yunji had figured out the three little leaves on the sapling. People said that each leaf of the Heaven-Reaching Jianmu contained a world, and the little leaves did indeed each hold a world, but they could not compare at all to the Primordial World he was in now!

Still, they were not entirely without use to Lin Yunji!

After thoroughly refining the Heaven-Reaching Jianmu, he had discovered that he could draw on the power of the small worlds to enhance himself, thereby increasing his combat strength!

It was like the Sages of the Primordial World: by entrusting their Primordial Spirits to the Heavenly Dao, they could borrow its power to increase their combat strength!

That was precisely a Sage's method!

And right now, the Heaven-Reaching Jianmu was still only a sapling! As it grew in the future, it would have more and more leaves, and the power he could borrow would increase accordingly!

Thinking of it that way, how much Power of Heavenly Dao would he be able to borrow once the Heaven-Reaching Jianmu had fully matured?

Though Lin Yunji had never been very interested in cultivation, he was quite determined to improve his combat strength!

At the thought, excitement surged within him!

It really was a Primordial Expanse Supreme Treasure-its ability truly defied the heavens!

Besides, he could sense that the Heaven-Reaching Jianmu was not nearly as simple as what he knew of it now!

"Little Jade Bamboo, now that you've finished your seclusion, why don't we continue traveling the Primordial Wilderness together?" Seeing that Lin Yunji was a little lost in thought, Lady Nüwa spoke up.

Her eyes shone with hope, and Lin Yunji naturally caught it!

"Of course!" He nodded at once.

"Then..." Lady Nüwa suddenly turned her gaze and raised a hand, pointing in a direction with a delicate finger. "How about we make the Lunar Star our first stop?"

"The Lunar Star?"

Lin Yunji was taken aback. Why go to the Lunar Star?

Was there some particular reason for it?

"Because... because I want to! Oh, why so many questions? We're going to the Lunar Star!"

Lady Nüwa settled the matter with a single stroke, removing even the option of saying "all right?" for Lin Yunji.

But as she spoke, a rosy blush quietly crept over her cheeks, and she averted her eyes.