As he was busy with testing out and confirming what he obtained he soon felt two presences approaching from behind and turned to see Lian Zhiqiu and Hua Ziyan, the latter already wearing travel robes.

“Haa~, you leave so soon after arriving… it is a shame”

Palace Master sighed with a little lament as he chuckled.

“Don’t worry, we will have more time together as soon as this is all done with”

“Hehe, we will be together even sooner than you think”

She then suddenly mysteriously chuckled as he raised his eyebrows.

“Haha, I will look forward to that then”

He then smiled shaking his head as it did not seem like she would explain what she meant. Hua Ziyan lightly giggled at the sight of her Master being so playful as well.

“Hmm, the quality and quantity of Spiritual Qi in the air seems to have improved yet again. It means everyone will soon be making rapid progress toward the realm they could previously not reach”

Wu Long then raised his face slightly up, closing his eyes to feel the changes. Lian Zhiqiu has already received a report about the earthquakes last night, as they missed them being in the middle of sudden enlightenment.

“Is that bad for us?”

Hua Ziyan asked as she remembered that previously the rapid improvement of Spiritual Qi in the atmosphere was what in part led to the faster escalation of the conflict.

“Not really, it is rather good since it would be much easier for me to form my foundation in this environment.

And though our enemies can raise their cultivation levels so can our allies, and our side has superior cultivation techniques in comparison. Besides the main battle will happen between people of the Seven Profound Realms and our small group, so not much is going to change really, only a slight improvement in our position.

Now that Gu Zhen waits for Old Man Zhao to become weakened again, such factors matter less”

Wu Long shook his head, glad that he was able to make the move of curing the old man and temporarily restoring his strength in time. He reassuringly caressed Hua Ziyan’s cheek as she smiled, her facial features relaxing from that touch.

“By the way, how was the reunion with your Teacher when she came with that old man to the sect? She was slightly sulking that you did not visit her lately after learning everything that she had to teach, so your meeting must have been quite something”

He then suddenly remembered something and asked Lian Zhiqiu as she first expressed shock and then wryly smiled with surrender.

“Haha, did Teacher tell you about our relationship as a teacher and student? … though you probably somehow figured it out yourself. She did slightly grumble at me but that’s it. It is not like I visited her that often in the past either…

She vaguely asked about you, you know? Though I assumed it was because of her line of business…”

“Don’t worry, as you already know from her visit, she’ll be on our side. Besides, I already told her about my identity after she came to the mansion in the Fantian Kingdom, not that she didn’t suspect it…”

“Heh, that sly woman. I guess I’ll have to check with her directly what she knows and what are her intentions…”

“Hahaha, just don’t push too hard. I should warn you that she is in the Essence Awakening Realm so don’t be too confident just because you finally reached Mortal Transcendence”

“Huh? How is that… wait, so she…”

Lian Zhiqiu’s eyes widened as first surprise and then even more shocking realization hit her in quick succession.

“Mm, she is someone from times before this world fractured off”

After he nodded confirming her suspicion, Lian Zhiqiu took a moment to process this thought, since her Teacher’s identity was always a vague mystery to her, but then a chuckle escaped her as a slightly mischievous smile touched her lips.

“Haha, if you think about teasing her about her age, she’s not that old actually.

Though a cultivator’s stage of life is determined on their lifespan, and as someone in the Essence Awakening Realm with a lifespan of 12 or so thousand years, she should in theory be considered to have entered her elderly years, Madam Liang is not strictly speaking a pure human. 𝘪𝑎.𝘤𝑜𝑚

She has some very distant Spirit Race ancestry, and thus has a much longer lifespan, several times that of any realm she is in, so in terms of her lifespan she is actually quite young”

Wu Long chuckled as he could read the thought of this Palace Master that suddenly looked like a kid who thought of a fun way to tease someone.

“Eh? Haa~… and here I thought I would finally have something on that woman”

“Hahaha”

A light laughter took over Wu Long when he saw the slightly sullen disappointed look on that beautiful face. He gave her a hug and kissed her on the forehead which instantly fixed her souring mood, a blissful smile reappearing on her lips.

He then turned to Hua Ziyan who nodded, signaling that she was ready to depart.

As they descended the Peak of Unity, a group of eight people, two of whom he already knew greeted them at the foot of the peak.

Xia Jung came forward and cupped his fists with a respectful bow, the rest following his gestures from behind.

The three couples near Lei Ding were part of Lian Zhiqiu’s ‘hidden dagger’ and were passed techniques and skills from Wu Long not much worse than what he gave the couple in preparation for this event when he asked for their participation from the Palace Master.

“Mm, you did well in dealing with the troublemakers in the sect. I even heard you dealt with Grand Elder…”

Wu Long nodded with approval to him, pausing as he did not keep unnecessary information in his head for too long.

“Zheng”

“…yes, that one. Anyway, the results you showed were very promising. Make sure to not lose your head in your achievement, as there is a long way up from here”

“Yes, benefactor”

“Haa~, and as I said before, find something better to call me already”

Wu Long sighed as the group proceeded to the gates of the sect.

Visit .𝒎