Yue Lan’s equally excited voice sounded in his mind,
[That will be a sight to watch, I don’t think anyone has tried this before. Hehe, do it, Yuan’er.]
Shen Yuan chuckled and looked towards the sect. ‘Let’s head back for now. I will do it there since I have more than enough space on my mountain.’
Bing Rong looked at him, seeing him silent for a while now. “Yuan’er, what happened?”
Shen Yuan turned back and shook his head. “Nothing, let’s head back to the sect now.” He willed it and adjusted a few of the formation controls to set the flying ship’s course back toward the Radiant Lotus Sacred Sect.
A low hum reverberated through the forest before the ship zoomed past the forest with absurd speed.
Bing Rong stood beside him, arms loosely folded as she gazed outside. “So, we’re heading straight to the sect this time, hmm?” she asked, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye.
Shen Yuan nodded. “Yes, let’s return. The disciples in my Pagoda need a safe spot to undergo their breakthroughs, and my private mountain has enough space for them to go through their tribulations.” A slight grin tugged at his lips. “It should be quite a spectacle.”
Bing Rong gave a wry smile. “It’s good you own that entire peak. Otherwise, half the elders would be on your back about spamming tribulations in the sect grounds again and again.”
He looked at her with a weird smile. “Who told you they will be going through tribulation again and again?”
…
The flying ship soared across multiple empires under the scorching sun. Both Shen Yuan and Bing Rong took the chance to talk casually about recent events like Ling Yue’s tribulation, the increase in Shen Yuan’s personal force, and Bing Rong’s own cultivation level.
That’s when Shen Yuan got to know that Bing Rong was at the peak of the Mortal Tribulation Realm and could advance to the Nascent Soul Stage anytime.
Shen Yuan asked a lot of questions about the Nascent Soul Realm and how it was different from the rest. All he knew about the realm before this was from the novels he read—that a person would create a Nascent Soul in their sea of consciousness. As for the rest, he was nearly blank.
Bing Rong patiently explained everything while drinking tea with him.
Eventually, the distant outline of majestic peaks came into view—the outer region of the Radiant Lotus Sacred Sect’s territory.
Shen Yuan slowed the ship before descending outside the sect with Bing Rong. They soon approached the gates of the sect where the disciples hurriedly bowed as soon as they saw them.
Shen Yuan smiled and took out his Core Disciple token and showed it to them.
“Aiya, Senior Brother, you don’t have to do this every time. Everyone recognizes you from your face alone,” one bold disciple stepped forward and sheepishly said.
Shen Yuan gently smiled and shook his head. “Rules are rules, I can’t break them just because I’m a core disciple.”
The group of disciples looked at him with respectful gazes before they hurriedly parted to make way for him.
Shen Yuan nodded at them and passed along with Bing Rong, who also flashed her Inner Sect Elder token and moved after Shen Yuan.
…
After walking for a short while, they reached the Spatial Portal. The disciples there bowed before Shen Yuan entered it. He went through quite a few of them before reaching the Radiant Peak.
…
Shen Yuan stepped out of the portal and took a deep breath. “Haa… the concentration of Qi here is really comfortable, I always feel like I’m starving in the outside world with that sparse Qi.”
Bing Rong giggled as they walked towards his courtyard. “Hehe~ You are too spoiled. The Qi in the Silver Fox Territory isn’t that bad.”
The disciples whom they met on the way bowed towards Shen Yuan and Bing Rong out of respect. Bing Rong smiled sweetly, looking at the respect the disciples held for Shen Yuan.
“Finally, the entire sect seems to have accepted you. All your work was not in vain,” she said while turning her head to look at him.
Shen Yuan nodded toward the disciples while replying to Bing Rong. “I still need a higher level of authority in the sect. And the Aurora Competition will help me establish it.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Why do you want higher authority? You are already a core disciple.”
Shen Yuan mysteriously smiled. “I wouldn’t be me if I’m satisfied with merely being a Core Disciple. But anyway, that’s for later.”
He pointed towards the front. “Let’s head inside the courtyard for now.”
Bing Rong smiled gently and pushed open the gates of the courtyard. “Welcome back,” she said with a faint hint of teasing, “Lord of the Mountain.”
He rolled his eyes but smiled. “We haven’t even been out for a day. Let’s see if anyone came here while we were gone.”
They walked through the front yard. Feeling the soft breeze rustling his clothes, he headed towards the back garden. There, the cherry blossom tree stood, quietly healing and growing.
The table and chairs stood there, the same as they had left them.
Bing Rong stepped inside the courtyard with him. “Hmm, as expected. No one entered this desolate place in the time we were gone.”
Shen Yuan laughed. “This place won’t be desolate for long.”
Bing Rong raised an eyebrow. “What are you even planning? You didn’t tell me since we were on the ship.”
He laughed and settled inside one of the chairs. “Come, sit here. We didn’t get to enjoy our drink last time. Let’s have some wine.”
Bing Rong exhaled a long sigh before sitting down next to him on a chair. “Here, try this one.” She said, taking out a jar of fragrant wine. “I got it from an auction some time ago.”
Shen Yuan’s eyes lit up. He picked up the jar and opened it, the strong aroma wafting toward him. “Hmmm… it smells so good.”
He quickly took out two cups and poured them in. “Here, cheers.”
Bing Rong giggled, seeing him so excited for wine. “Cheers.” She clicked her glass with his before taking a small sip.
On the other hand, Shen Yuan gulped down the entire glass at once. “Haaa… amazing. What grade is this wine?? I was drinking the Monkey Wine I got inside the Mystique Realm till now. Its grade is indeed too low for me now.”
Bing Rong shook her head, seeing him filling his cup again. “Getting high-quality wine is not easy since there are not many wine brewers here. It’s merely Peak Earth Grade Wine. And the Monkey Wine you have is merely Spirit Grade.”
Shen Yuan repeatedly nodded his head. “So there are no wine brewers in the Aurora Zone?”
Bing Rong shrugged. “Who knows, there might be some. But none of us are addicted to drinking wine, so we didn’t go searching for them.”
Shen Yuan’s eyes twitched. “Anyways, if there are no wine brewers here, then I will become one.”
Bing Rong speechlessly looked at him. “Where will you even get the recipes for wines and other knowledge from?”
“Simple.” He smirked. “Lan’er, tell me the prices of Wine manuals.”
[Fucking drunkard.]