Return to Ordinary Life

It took Divine Lord Zhenyuan and Zhang Xuezhou four days to reach Duanhun Ridge, and their return to Chang'an City was about the same speed.

After Zhang Xuezhou activated his demonic wings, his flight speed increased dramatically. However, the endurance of Zhang Xuezhou's Demon Power was only average, far inferior to the profound Law Power of the Yin-Yang School's Realm Technique. He could only fly intermittently.

"Holy Son, from now on, you must not cause trouble beyond three thousand miles of me, otherwise it will be difficult for me to lend you a hand!"

"My Lord, I don't seem like the kind of person who would cause trouble, do I?"

Knowing the limits of Zhang Xuezhou's flying ability, Divine Lord Zhenyuan couldn't help but offer some words of advice.

Zhang Xuezhou's speed was fast, but when he used his full strength, he only had a range of three thousand miles. No matter how fast or slow he flew, he could only fly that far.

If Zhang Xuezhou were to provoke any formidable enemy within the three thousand miles, he could simply fly back, and Divine Lord Zhenyuan would naturally lend a hand.

If the distance is too far and Zhang Xuezhou cannot run back, even Divine Lord Zhenyuan will be helpless.

He gave repeated instructions to prevent any unexpected incidents from happening in the future, while Zhang Xuezhou confidently stated that he was a person who never caused trouble.

"Right!"

Divine Lord Zhenyuan responded.

He agreed with Zhang Xuezhou's statement that he shouldn't cause trouble, but whether or not trouble is caused is not up to Zhang Xuezhou. If someone sees through Zhang Xuezhou's false lifespan, trouble might come without warning.

Zhang Xuezhou was in the open, Divine Lord Zhenyuan was in the shadows.

The cultivators targeting Zhang Xuezhou wouldn't be too strong. As long as some special cultivators who could see through lifespans were eliminated, Divine Lord Zhenyuan felt things would be fine.

He recounted his story repeatedly until he reached the high altitude of Anle Palace at night, at which point Divine Lord Zhenyuan finally stopped talking.

"Fellow Daoist Dou, we're home!"

Divine Lord Zhenyuan did not use any restraining techniques to bind the Empress Dowager, but instead treated her with great courtesy by lifting the cloud palanquin down.

He shouted down towards Anle Palace, which made Princess Dou, who was in charge of the palace, turn pale. She then shouted repeatedly, clearing away everyone inside and outside Anle Palace.

When Princess Dou opened the gates of Anle Palace, she saw Divine Lord Zhenyuan holding a cloud palanquin, and on the palanquin was the Empress Dowager dressed in a golden jade robe.

"If I return without the jade burial suit, it will be my rebirth; if I am still wearing it, it will be my death!"

With the Empress Dowager's instructions flashing through her mind, Princess Dou fully understood the situation.

Her face turned pale, and her body went numb instantly.

After a few seconds of meditation, Lord Dou bowed slightly to Divine Lord Zhenyuan.

As Divine Lord Zhenyuan carried the cloud palanquin into the hall, Dou Taizhu quickly closed the hall doors.

"Zhenyuan!"

"Fellow Daoist Dou said you are proficient in the Golden Thread Puppet Technique, able to pull her body and mimic her voice. This Three Talents Protective Array is enough to protect her body from decay for two years, ensuring her safety for those two years!"

"Why two years? Isn't it five years?"

"Only two years left!"

Inside the main hall of Anle Palace, Princess Dou felt an overwhelming pressure.

The things that Divine Lord Zhenyuan entrusted to him were similar to those of the Empress Dowager, but also different.

Combining her power of manipulation with the combat strength of Divine Lord Zhenyuan, a great cultivator at the True Self Realm, the two could work together to create a new Empress Dowager to guard Anle Palace.

However, unlike the five years entrusted by the Empress Dowager, Divine Lord Zhenyuan mentioned only two years.

The two-year period is not a problem with Divine Lord Zhenyuan, but rather that the Golden Jade Suit can only protect the Empress Dowager's physical body for two years.

The golden jade armor that can protect cultivators in the True Self Realm is naturally no ordinary object, nor is it something that can be replaced at will.

Although this jade burial suit is not as rare as the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation, which requires the resources of a dynasty to gather a complete set over decades or even centuries, it is still difficult to recreate without at least ten years of effort.

Even if Princess Dou wanted to extend the time, the two-year period could not be changed.

Her face turned ashen, and Divine Lord Zhenyuan was equally helpless.

It wasn't that Divine Lord Zhenyuan was unwilling to fulfill the long-term agreement, but rather that the Empress Dowager's golden jade burial suit was also affected by the heavenly lightning, resulting in damage and a far less effective outcome than before.

In short, Divine Lord Zhenyuan lost the Longevity Fruit Tree, Zhang Xuezhou lost his magical Law Power, and the Empress Dowager's plan to stabilize the Great Han Dynasty was also shortened.

Since Divine Lord Zhenyuan and the Empress Dowager agreed to cooperate, neither of them has been able to live a good life.

But no matter what, life goes on.

The Empress Dowager's body lay behind the screen where she usually sat and reclined, still bathed in the fragrance of ambergris.

Divine Lord Zhenyuan moved into Anle Palace and became the Empress Dowager's de facto bodyguard and henchman.

Zhang Xuezhou hovered above Anle Palace for a moment, then felt as if he were being slid through warm water. Before long, he landed in the Zhang family compound.

"Well!"

Zhang Xuezhou folded his wings, and the pale white, jade-like light emanating from his body disappeared.

He touched his naked body and couldn't help but sigh heavily again.

In the past, he relied heavily on the convenience of the Heavenly Robe, but now his clothes are tattered, and the Heavenly Robe has lost its former carefree feel.

Even the finest Heavenly Robe cannot withstand heavenly lightning.

In Qin Meng's world, he lost his unlimited guns and swords; here, he too is bound to suffer financial losses and misfortune.

"A clash of energies, this is definitely a clash of energies!"

Zhang Xuezhou repeated the instructions to himself several times before opening his bedroom door, turning on the light, and finding one of his few clothes to change into.

Shedding his tattered Heavenly Robe, now lacking the fine fabrics of the real world, the feeling of rough cloth piercing his skin washed over him. Zhang Xuezhou, in a daze, snapped back to reality, returning from the solitary and unrestrained cultivator to his ordinary self.

Even something as simple as getting dressed caused a lot of trouble, diminishing Zhang Xuezhou's previously unpredictable abilities.

This forced him to get used to his current self and return to a normal state.

Of course, as the Holy Son of Kunlun, Zhang Xuezhou felt that obtaining a set of Heavenly Robe in the future would not be difficult for him, but that would be in the future.

As for him now, he needs to return to normalcy and get used to being himself in a normal state.

"Brother Dongfang, are you back?"

Zhang Xuezhou eliminated conveniences, took the rare opportunity to reflect and calm down, and tried his best to adjust some of his past habits to avoid getting into trouble.

As he was trying to calm himself down, he heard someone knocking on the door.

"Yi Shuo, aren't you asleep yet, it's so late?"

Zhang Xuezhou and Divine Lord Zhenyuan carried the Empress Dowager's body. Since it was inconvenient to do such a thing openly during the day, the two chose to do it in the middle of the night.

It was now the fourth watch of the night, the darkest time before dawn. Zhang Xuezhou hadn't expected anyone to visit so late at night.

He unlocked the door, and there stood Yi Shuo, looking beautiful and charming, outside.

Compared to when I saw Yi Shuo more than ten days ago, who was covered in injuries and hanging on by sheer willpower, Yi Shuo was now in good physical condition, with no other symptoms except for a slight feeling of weakness.

"Your body was injured, and you relied on the Supreme Purity True Technique to forcibly heal it. After the injury, you not only need to eat more, but also need to rest more," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"I've already rested. I just saw the lights on Brother Dongfang's side this morning, so I climbed over the wall to take a look," Yi Shuo replied with a smile.

"Up so early?"

Zhang Xuezhou replied in surprise.

"The art of acupuncture and needle insertion utilizes the first rays of dawn to achieve the best results for practice. I was afraid of wasting time, so I got up a little earlier!"

Yi Shuo maintained a composed demeanor.

Although Yi Shuo still occasionally climbs over walls, her behavior now carries a hint of sophistication, no longer displaying the mindset of a mere junior or young person. This makes her even more mature than Rong Tianding.

Clearly, the gourd case not only allowed Yi Shuo to take revenge, but also instilled in her qualities such as patience and resilience, which led to her having this mindset.

Suffering is never something to be celebrated, but people grow faster by experiencing it.

Even Changkong Luo and others in the real world only realized this belatedly. Yi Shuo was not defeated by this suffering, which obviously brought about a change.

Zhang Xuezhou observed Yi Shuo and saw that her aura was circulating on its own, with faint signs of the unity of essence, energy, and spirit.

Unbeknownst to them, their opponent had already approached the Body Transformation Realm.

With just a push, Yi Shuo would break through this realm, thus becoming only a wall away from the Divine Ability Realm.

This allowed Zhang Xuezhou to immediately understand Yi Shuo's purpose after his observation.