Starting Cultivation During a Trip

Chapter 660: Chapter 319: Zhang Sheng and Zhang Fan! Chu Chaoran’s Closed-door Disciple (2)

"I was complimenting you! Didn’t you get it?" Li Miaoyin said with a soft laugh.

"If you say it like that, he’ll think..." Zhang Fan pouted and hesitated to speak.

"Think what?" Li Miaoyin stared at Zhang Fan, unable to hold back a smile at the corners of her mouth.

"He’ll think I take really good care of you." Zhang Fan said helplessly.

"Day and night?"

"You win." Zhang Fan leaned back in his seat.

He had to admit, Li Miaoyin was a hundred times scarier than Li Changgeng.

"Relax, I didn’t tell him." Li Miaoyin patted Zhang Fan’s head, reassuring him.

"That’s more like it..." Zhang Fan breathed a sigh of relief, but his expression immediately changed.

"How can I relax? Is there anything I need to hide from him?"

"Then what are you nervous about?" Li Miaoyin asked.

"..."

"No matter how vast your Divine Techniques, no matter if you cultivate Supreme Pill Techniques, as long as you’re in this red dust world, there will be tribulations, there will be nemeses."

Qi Delong sighed.

"President Fan’s biggest nemesis isn’t the Three Corpses Calamity."

Fang Changle murmured softly.

"It’s women."

Qi Delong and Fang Changle exchanged a glance and said in unison.

Xia Weisheng sat on the side, silent, ears pricked, still listening intently, not wanting to miss a single word—the terror of the Mahayana Realm was on full display in this moment.

Moments later, the silver-white plane landed at Yujing City’s southern suburb airport.

Fang Changle had long ago arranged for a car to pick them up, and directly took everyone to the Bright Grand Hotel in the city center.

This five-star hotel belonged to Maoshan’s holdings in Yujing City.

Now that they were on home turf, as a Maoshan Inheritor, Fang Changle had to play host.

"Thank you all for helping me out this time. Words can’t express my gratitude. Tomorrow, the treat is on me." Zhang Fan bowed respectfully.

It was already late, so the feasting and merrymaking could only be put off until tomorrow.

"See you tomorrow." Li Miaoyin waved her hand.

"Mm, see you tomorrow." Zhang Fan looked at her and nodded.

...

Late at night, Hongfu Garden.

When Zhang Fan got out of the car, it was already past eleven o’clock. As he walked to the entrance of the complex, the light in the security booth was still on. Vaguely, a chubby figure poked out from the window.

"Fan? From afar I thought it was you." Liu Fusheng called out.

"Uncle Liu..." Zhang Fan greeted warmly.

Seeing Liu Fusheng again felt especially familiar—growing up, he ate more of Uncle Liu’s cooking than Li Linglong’s.

"Was your trip smooth this time? Fan, you keep running around outside lately." Liu Fusheng asked with concern.

"Went pretty well. Now that I’m back, I won’t be running off blindly again." Zhang Fan replied with a light laugh.

"That’s what I say, nowhere’s better than home. Staying in keeps you out of trouble."

Liu Fusheng grinned, pushing up his reading glasses. "Come by for buns at my place tomorrow morning."

"Great, hope it’s fennel pork filling. That was my favorite when I was a kid."

"No problem. It’s getting late, you better head in."

"Okay, Uncle, I’m off now."

Zhang Fan greeted him, then headed on in.

Liu Fusheng watched him leave. Just as he was about to close the window, his reaching hand paused, and he suddenly turned, sharply looking toward the direction Zhang Fan had gone.

"Since he was a kid!?"

"He broke through the tribulation!?"

Liu Fusheng muttered softly, deep suspicion and surprise flashing in his eyes.

Back home, Zhang Fan put down his backpack. In the dim yellow light, the house felt particularly lonely.

In the past, Zhang Lingzong would come back every once in a while, stay for a bit—even now, Zhang Fan himself was away more often than not.

"Maybe I should find a chance to visit Ailao Mountain!?"

Zhang Fan mused. Though he’d succeeded in Divine Fusion, he still had many questions he wanted to ask Zhang Lingzong face-to-face.

After all, family matters had always been kept from him.

Maybe it was just because he was too young back then.

"I’ll think about it later."

Zhang Fan shook his head, tamped down his tangled thoughts, took a photo frame out of his backpack, and placed it on the table.

The bright moonlight streamed through the window, shining on a group photo—a victory memento taken after the Hundred Thousand Mountains crusade.

...

The next day, Bright Grand Hotel.

Qingyou Hall.

Zhang Fan, as the host, naturally arrived early. Fang Changle and Qi Delong also sat down.

"By the way, the thing you asked me to repair last time is ready."

With that, Fang Changle took out a paper bag and pushed it in front of Zhang Fan.

Zhang Fan took out a dharma seal from it. It was the Mighty Spirit Demon-Suppressing Gold Seal.

"A Dragon Tiger Mountain Dharma Seal!?"

Qi Delong was worthy of being a Laojun Mountain inheritor—keen-eyed, he recognized it at once.

Dharma seals were among the most common magical treasures in the Daoist sects. But when it came to Xuanmiao, none in the world could compare to the seals of Dragon Tiger Mountain.

"Finally fixed."

Zhang Fan saw that the cracks on the [Mighty Spirit Demon-Suppressing Gold Seal] had disappeared, its golden glow more subdued, and it felt much heavier and more comfortable in the hand.

"That’s truly Maoshan workmanship." Zhang Fan sighed.

He could sense that the [Mighty Spirit Demon-Suppressing Gold Seal] was much more powerful than before.

Though it was still a [Yellow Feather Treasure], it was almost at the three-hundred-year mark now.

You know, once it passes three hundred years, it becomes a Cyan Feather Treasure.

Daoist magical treasures need time to be refined, with incense night and day to build their legacy and rise step by step.

But there are shortcuts—like leveraging the foundation of a higher-grade treasure, or fusing with a naturally born exotic treasure, and so on.

This is what they call exchanging space for time—by reallocating resources, you save time.

Just like repairing the [Mighty Spirit Demon-Suppressing Gold Seal] this time, Maoshan actually used a fragment of a Cyan Feather Treasure as its new foundation, fusing it into the Great Seal to achieve this effect.

Honestly, the more than a million Zhang Fan prepaid really wasn’t enough.

"The base quality of this Mighty Spirit Demon-Suppressing Gold Seal was excellent. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been restored to this level." Fang Changle said solemnly.

Even upgrading has to depend on the original magical treasure—it’s not like all treasures can just exchange space for time.

"A senior in the sect said, after nurturing this Great Seal a bit more, it can be promoted to a Cyan Feather Treasure."

At this, Zhang Fan’s eyes lit up.

Cyan Feather Treasure—it’s enough to pass down, almost matching his White Bone Relic.

"You’d better keep it well." reminded Fang Changle.

"Relax." Zhang Fan smiled, slipping the Mighty Spirit Demon-Suppressing Gold Seal into his pocket.

Bzzzz...

Just then, the door opened.

Li Miaoyin and Xia Weisheng arrived late—as girls, it always took longer to get ready.

But the two were both stunning beauties, and even without makeup, their looks dazzled the room.

As usual, Li Miaoyin wore tight jeans and a white shirt—handsome yet still very feminine.

This time, Xia Weisheng was actually in a short skirt and shiny black shoes—a dramatic contrast to her outfit on the mountain.

"Weisheng, coming down from the mountain, it’s like a dragon returning to the sea and a tiger entering the deep woods!" Qi Delong couldn’t help joking.

"It’s rare for me to leave the mountain." Xia Weisheng pouted. "In a few days, I have to go back."

At this, Qi Dongqiang interjected, "Is it because Transcendent Zhenren is taking a disciple?"

"Transcendent Zhenren’s closed-door disciple, huh."

Speaking of this, Fang Changle gazed meaningfully at Zhang Fan. "President Fan, looks like you’ll be busy again."

"With such a great opportunity, no one would mind working themselves to the bone."

Qi Delong also couldn’t help but laugh.

To them, Zhang Fan really was special. He already had a Zhenwu Mountain disciple’s name, and with such cultivation and talent—even if Zhenwu Mountain hadn’t made an official announcement, everyone in Zhang Fan’s circle knew that the so-called closed-door disciple of Transcendent Zhenren was almost certainly Zhang Fan.

They were just waiting for the day it was made public.

"Old Zhang, you’d best get ready in advance." Qi Delong congratulated him.

"You’re making too much of it..." Zhang Fan smiled. In truth, he’d long suspected and prepared for this.

"My master taking a closed-door disciple—what’s that got to do with him?"

At this moment, Xia Weisheng’s words left everyone stunned.

"Hm? What do you mean? Isn’t it President Fan?" Fang Changle asked in surprise.

"Who said it was him?" Xia Weisheng asked, puzzled.