Chapter 532: Return
Fortunately, after leaving the entrance of the Burial Province, no one followed them.
Soon after, the two boarded a flying ship and leisurely made their way to the Cangxing mountain.
When they arrived, it was five months later.
"Mountain master, deputy mountain master." Several people called in greeting when they saw the two walking towards the foot of the mountain.
At the greeting, Yu Nianzhen nodded and Jiang Yue waved while looking around.
"The Cangxing mountain looks a little more energetic." Jiang Yue observed and Yu Nianzhen nodded.
"The mountain has more people and more resources. Most importantly, our cultivation is at the peak of the ninth level which means our mountain is safer." Yu Nianzhen said.
"I don’t know if we can wait for the day the mountain is filled with people." Jiang Yue said with a hint of nostalgia in his voice.
"Even if we don’t see it, we will hear about it."
"You are..." Jiang Yue started but suddenly stopped.
"Master." He called instead and Yu Nianzhen turned to see Yang Xu walking towards them.
"Master." He also called and a trace of happiness flashed in his eyes.
He hadn’t seen Yang Xu for many years.
Now that he saw his master, Yu Nianzhen couldn’t help but be happy.
"Nianzhen, Ayue, you are back." Yang Xu said with a happy smile on his face.
"We are back." Yu Nianzhen said and respectfully bowed.
"It’s good that you are back." Yang Xu nodded in satisfaction.
"Master, how have you been these years?"
"Let’s go in and talk." Yang Xu said and led the two towards his cave.
Soon after, the three settled in Yang Xu’s cave and Yu Nianzhen served a round of wine.
"Have you been safe?" Yang Xu asked while carefully looking at the two.
"Master, don’t worry. Azhen and I are okay and didn’t encounter insurmountable troubles." Jiang Yue answered and Yang Xu nodded.
Although the cultivation of the two had long surpassed him, Yang Xu still worried about them.
After all, he had long considered them his sons.
"The mountain received the resources you sent back. You have worked hard." Yang Xu praised and Jiang Yue chuckled.
"We reserved some things for master and the rest." Jiang Yue said and Yu Nianzhen handed over a storage ring.
"What is this?" Yang Xu asked but neither Jiang Yue nor Yu Nianzhen answered him.
Instead, they looked at him and silently urged him to check the ring.
Seeing this, Yang Xu checked the ring and his eyes widened in surprise.
"Flame seeds and top-grade reincarnation stones." He muttered and looked at the two with an incredulous look in his eyes.
"You should keep these things for yourself." He said and tried to return the storage ring.
However, neither Yu Nianzhen nor Jiang Yue took it back.
"Master, this is your disciple’s heart. Please accept it." Yu Nianzhen said and Jiang Yue quickly added.
"Master, Azhen and I are at the peak of the ninth level of the reincarnation realm. We don’t need reincarnation stones and keeping them is a waste of resources. Also, I received many flame seeds and have already refined a lot. You don’t have to worry about me."
"Is that true?" Yang Xu asked and carefully looked at the two.
"It’s true." Jiang Yue assured and Yang Xu put away the storage rings.
"Where did you go?" He asked.
Hearing this, Jiang Yue immediately talked about their venture to the Burial Province.
"You were lucky." Yang Xu said and quickly continued.
"We have lost some Cangxing world cultivators to the Burial Province. Most importantly, few of those who venture into the Burial Province encounter so many good things."
"Azhen and I have always been lucky." Jiang Yue proudly said and Yang Xu rolled his eyes.
Now that Yang Xu knew the two were okay, his tense person relaxed and his mood returned to his usual state.
"Yes, you are god’s favoured children while the rest of us are a bunch of bastards and step-children." Yang Xu said and the three burst into laughter.
After they stopped laughing, Yu Nianzhen looked at his master with a solemn look in his eyes.
"Master, how is your body?" He asked.
"My body has recovered to its previous state." Yang Xu said without hiding anything.
Because his Taoist companionship contract was suddenly severed, he suffered severe injuries.
Back then, Yu Nianzhen gave him Tree of Life leaves to heal the damage.
As a result, Yang Xu went into seclusion and the master and disciple missed each other for many years.
"Master, how far can you advance with your current body?" Jiang Yue asked and Yang Xu fell into thought.
Forty breaths later, the man sighed and looked at the two.
"The seventh level of the reincarnation realm." Yang Xu said and the other two were secretly relieved.
Yang Xu was in the second level of the reincarnation realm.
Since he could persist to the seventh level, it meant Yu Nianzhen had almost five thousand years to urge the growth of the Tree of Life.
After five thousand years, the leaves would be more mature.
Hopefully, their power would be enough to heal Yang Xu’s origin to a point that would allow him to advance to the immortal realm.
"Master, don’t worry about advancing to the ninth level of the reincarnation realm and breaking through to the immortal realm. XiaoYue and I will find a way to further heal your origin." Yu Nianzhen assured and Jiang Yue nodded in agreement.
"Master, don’t worry about anything and continue as you are." He said.
"I know." Yang Xu said with a helpless smile on his face.
If he had a choice, he didn’t want to rely on and become a burden to his disciple.
However, origin injuries were extremely difficult to handle.
Without the Tree of Life, there was absolutely no way to heal his injury.
Since Yu Nianzhen owned the only Tree of Life, Yang Xu had no choice but to continue relying on his disciple.
However, he didn’t want to be shameless.
Although Nianzhen and Jiang Yue were filial and didn’t mind doing things for him, Yang Xu still wanted to do his part.
Thinking of this, he took off a storage ring and handed it to Yu Nianzhen.
"Use this to raise the Tree of Life." He said.
Hearing that, Yu Nianzhen took the storage ring and checked the contents.
However, he soon frowned and returned the storage ring.
"Master, we don’t need this." He said and quickly continued before Yang Xu could argue.
"XiaoYue and I have encountered many treasure-hunting monks and people who want to deal with us. In the end, we got a lot of loot and most of the reincarnation stones have been invested in the jade box."
"Still..." Yang Xu started but Jiang Yue interrupted him.
"Master, please keep the reincarnation stones for your cultivation. Also, master is not alone and needs to raise his Taoist companion." Jiang Yue said with a sly look in his eyes.
"Have you heard about it?" Yang Xu asked with an uncharacteristically shy expression.
"We heard about it several hundred years ago. Unfortunately, master was not on the mountain and we couldn’t get together." Yu Nianzhen said and Yang Xu sighed.
"Nianzhen, do you blame me?" Yang Xu suddenly asked.
"Master, what do you mean?"
"You suffered so much to let me get married. In the end, I didn’t keep the person, suffered an injury, and eventually formed a Taoist contract with another person." Yang Xu said with a sorrowful look in his eyes.
"Master, are you happy with fellow Daoist Murong?" Yu Nianzhen suddenly asked with a solemn look in his eyes.
"Mmmm." Yang Xu nodded and subconsciously smiled.
"In that case, you are not sorry for Azhen." Jiang Yue said and smiled at Yang Xu.
"Although things didn’t work out, Azhen doesn’t blame you. It’s enough for master to be happy."
"I see." Yang Xu said but still felt a little ashamed.
"Why don’t we see fellow Daoist Murong?" Jiang Yue asked and pretended to look around.
"He is recuperating in the ancient palace."
"Recuperating? Is something wrong?" Jiang Yue asked and Yang Xu rolled his eyes in exasperation.
Seeing that Yang Xu’s mood had improved, Jiang Yue smiled at Yu Nianzhen and the swordsman looked at him with a doting smile in his eyes.
"Fengzi duelled fellow Daoist Bing." Yang Xu said and the other two couldn’t help but be surprised.
"How come?" Jiang Yue asked.
"What was the outcome?" Yu Nianzhen also asked at the same time.
"Fengzi and I accidentally met Bing Lan while travelling around the Reincarnation world. As soon as he saw her, Fengzi asked for a duel and Bing Lan agreed." Yang Xu sighed and a trace of melancholy flashed in his eyes.
"As expected, fellow Daoist Murong knows what to do." Jiang Yue said and nodded in approval.
Seeing this, Yu Nianzhen rubbed his lover’s hair and then turned to his master.
"How is fellow Daoist Murong?" He asked and quickly continued.
"Master, can you tell us what is going on?"
