Chapter 344

"Go to the military camp to find Commander Li first."

Entering the city with a gloomy face, Li Qiang led Xu Yang and the other two toward the camp of the city-guarding army.

"Sorry to trouble you to report; we are disciples of the Profound Heaven Sect and have matters to seek an audience with Commander Li."

Stating their identities, the four of them soon saw Li He.

Li He clearly already knew that the Profound Heaven Sect was going to send people, so he wasn't surprised.

After a few pleasantries, Li He said: "You few junior brothers haven't returned for many years and must be very homesick; I won't keep you long; when the Martial Arts Examination begins, you can come find me again.

Leave the horses at the military camp; I will send people to help you take care of them; when you return to the sect, you can come here to take them away."

"Then, please trouble Senior Brother Li to pass the sect's official document to the county magistrate," Li Qiang cupped his hands.

The few of them were indeed homesick and didn't stand on ceremony with Li He, immediately leaving the military camp and separating.

"In the blink of an eye, I didn't expect it to have been two years." Walking on the familiar streets, Sun Tao felt a bit dazed.

Compared to the Profound Heaven Sect, Qingyuan County was simply a beggar's nest, broken and old, but at this moment, there was an inexplicable sense of intimacy.

"I'm going to see the little girl; if she sees me in a while, I fear she's going to cry."

A smile curled at the corners of Xu Yang's mouth; thinking of the little girl crying even though she was all grown up made him want to laugh.

"That is... Xu Yang; how did he return?" Someone recognized Xu Yang.

Born to a farming family, he finally changed his fate through martial arts and ascended the dragon; he, along with Lu Ren and Zhang Yong, could be considered the role models of the bottom layer of Qingyuan County.

Plus, many people watched the Martial Arts Examination, and quite a few people in Qingyuan County recognized him; just after walking for a while, he was recognized by many people, causing discussion.

"He's returning home in glory!" Someone said.

But they were quickly refuted, because in all of Qingyuan, there were very few examples of people who ascended the dragon and left, only to return.

"I didn't expect Junior Brother Xu to be so famous," Sun Tao smiled.

He was also a person who successfully ascended the dragon at the Martial Arts Examination, but walking with Xu Yang, no one recognized him.

Xu Yang smiled: "I didn't expect so many people to recognize me either."

The two walked for a while; Sun Tao even bought some special snacks from Qingyuan County on the road, and Xu Yang ate some too.

Eating exotic beast meat every day in the Profound Heaven Sect, and then eating these things he had craved but couldn't eat as a child, he suddenly felt they were incredibly delicious.

Sun Tao suddenly said: "Junior Brother Xu, why don't you and I go pay our respects to Master first?"

Xu Yang wasn't an inner-room disciple of Lin Cheng, so logically he didn't need to go pay his respects, but he hadn't dared to tell Lin Cheng about Lin Wei's death; returning this time, he definitely wouldn't be able to hide it.

He hoped Xu Yang could accompany him on a trip and tell Lin Cheng personally.

"Good!" Xu Yang nodded.

After all, he called him Master, and Lin Cheng treated him differently from others; returning, he should indeed go pay his respects to Lin Cheng first, not to mention that Lin Cheng had also entrusted him to take care of Lin Wei.

The two walked through the streets and alleys and soon saw the familiar Weiyuan Hall.

Bursts of shouts came from inside the wall, and the number of people sounded quite large.

"Who are you two looking for? Are you here to become apprentices?"

As the two walked into the Weiyuan Hall, a disciple immediately stepped forward to stop them and ask.

The two looked at each other and couldn't help but sigh at the changes in the world; they were once prominent figures in the Weiyuan Hall, but now no one recognized them.

Sun Tao smiled: "Junior brother, we are not here to become apprentices; we were once disciples of the Weiyuan Hall and have returned to pay our respects to Master Lin."

"Then you two senior brothers, please feel free."

Hearing that the two weren't here to become apprentices, the disciple couldn't be bothered to pay attention to them and returned to his position to continue practicing his fists.

"This is really..." Sun Tao gave a bitter smile.

Seeing two Dragon-Ascending geniuses left aside like this, he could only give a bitter smile and walked toward the inner courtyard with Xu Yang.

"Eh... Senior Brother Sun Tao, Senior Brother Xu Yang, you're back?"

Just as the two were about to walk into the inner courtyard, they bumped into An Ye, who was just coming out.

The once immature youth now had a bit more firmness and maturity on his face, and even carried some dignity.

"Right, is Master there?" Sun Tao smiled.

An Ye nodded vigorously: "Yes, Master is in the small courtyard."

Saying this, he turned and ran into the inner courtyard, shouting: "Master, Senior Brother Xu Yang and Senior Brother Sun Tao are back."

Just a moment ago, Xu Yang had felt he was much more mature and steady, but he hadn't expected him to recover his true nature all at once; with a loud shout, he directly broke the tranquility of the Weiyuan Hall.

Although many people didn't recognize Xu Yang and Sun Tao's appearance, they had all heard their names.

Especially Xu Yang; there were more disciples in the Weiyuan Hall than before, and the biggest reason was that they had achieved good rankings in the Martial Arts Examination, spreading the reputation of the Weiyuan Hall.

With a whoosh, that group of outer courtyard disciples stopped practicing and ran over to pay their respects to the two.

The youth from just a moment ago kept apologizing to everyone.

The disciples of the inner courtyard also ran out, looking at the two with burning gazes.

They had already gathered Qi, and their goal was to be like the two of them, able to ascend the dragon at the Martial Arts Examination and get ahead.

"What a flourishing patch of leeks," Xu Yang felt as he met the gazes of these disciples.

If these people knew the cruelty of the Profound Heaven Sect, knew that of the sixty people who ascended the dragon from Qingyuan County two years ago, the number of people still alive today was already approaching less than forty, he didn't know what they would think.

"I have seen Senior Brother Xu Yang!"

A somewhat familiar voice rang out; Xu Yang looked and discovered it was Tian Li, the youth who often followed behind Qiu Wenjie and practiced with him.

In two years, Tian Li also looked much more mature and had the aura of a martial artist on him.

Sensing slightly, he discovered that Tian Li's cultivation base had already reached Major Success Qi Gathering; if he participated in the Martial Arts Examination, he had a high probability of ascending the dragon.

"Junior Brother Tian's cultivation base is not bad, actually having reached Major Success Qi Gathering; it seems you haven't been slack in these two years," Xu Yang smiled.

Tian Li was a bit dull and didn't like to speak, but at that time, even if everyone went to curry favor with Lu Ren, Gu Fang, Jiang Ping, and others, he had always followed Xu Yang and Qiu Wenjie.

So the relationship between the two could also be called friends.

Hearing this, Tian Li was startled and gave a thumbs up: "Senior Brother Xu's eyes are like torches, actually able to see through my cultivation base at a glance."

Even Lin Cheng didn't have this kind of ability.

Xu Yang actually had this ability because his five senses had changed greatly after Marrow Cleansing.

Of course, it wasn't by looking, but by sensing; basically, for people below Marrow Cleansing, he could sense their specific cultivation base.

Of course, it required close contact, and the other party didn't practice secret techniques like the Breath-Restraining Technique; if they practiced secret techniques in this regard, he wouldn't be able to sense their specific cultivation base.

There were quite a few familiar people in the crowd, but his relationship with them was very average; these people took the initiative to come up and greet him, and he only responded politely.

"What is your cultivation base now?"