Chapter 403: Chaotic Immortal City

"So those are the glowing things? How amazing!" Mei Xuan exclaimed in surprise.

"Go up, pick one and eat it. Remember, the fruits have protective auras; be careful and approach slowly!" Wei Yuning instructed.

"Alright, thanks, senior brother!" Mei Xuan activated her body technique and floated upward.

The last time, Wei Yuning spent a green wooden crown to exchange for a whiff of the fruit's scent; this time he deliberately gave no warning, wanting to see what Mei Xuan would encounter.

Moreover, he prepared himself so that if Mei Xuan faced the same situation, he could catch the fruit as it fell.

"Senior brother, why is it a single peach? Doesn't it look like a peach tree? Should we pick it?" Mei Xuan's voice came from the foliage.

"You pick it, but slower, be careful!" Wei Yuning reminded, then he focused all his attention, staring intently upward.

At the same time, he was a bit puzzled why the fruits differed between the two appearances.

"Got it! Ah, such a fragrant smell—can't hold back, senior brother, I want to take a bite first!" Mei Xuan shouted.

"…Eat, eat, it was meant for you anyway!" Wei Yuning felt his stomach churn with sourness, thinking how different fates could be—why would this dead tree treat him differently?

The sound of chattering chewing came, and he realized for the first time how ungraceful junior sister Mei Xuan's eating manner was!

A figure dropped from the foliage—it was Mei Xuan.

She held a peach about the size of an adult's fist; its shape resembled a pumpkin, yet its enticing red‑green hue instantly marked it as a peach.

Mei Xuan's face blossomed like peach flowers, flushed, and she raised the half‑eaten, imperfect peach, saying, "Senior brother, have some too; I'm too full to swallow any more!"

"That little bit made you full?" Wei Yuning asked, curiosity on his face.

"I really am full; now I need… to sit in meditation for a bit, senior brother—just don't despise what's left of my eating; this peach is a good thing!"

Wei Yuning took the pitted, chewed peach without rejecting Mei Xuan's saliva; the fruit fragrance was overwhelming, yet its scent differed clearly from the yellow fruit he had eaten before.

"I'll go down first!" Mei Xuan said as she hurriedly descended, sitting cross‑legged beside the tree root.

In a flash, Wei Yuning ate the peach clean, even sucking out the flesh inside the pit; at that moment, a huge force suddenly surged from the peach pit, and caught off guard his hand immediately slipped free.

The peach pit left Wei Yuning, raced toward the ground, and upon touching the earth, vanished abruptly.

Wei Yuning let out a belch, felt his body blaze, finally understanding what Mei Xuan meant by being full. After landing, he brushed the spot where the pit had vanished, finding no trace.

Just as he was puzzled, a tender sprout emerged from the ground.

Within sight, the sprout grew larger; after a few dozen breaths, a sapling half a human's height formed, standing opposite another tree nearby. The earlier sapling had broad leaves, while this one's leaves were slender and rounded.

"So that's how it grows!" Wei Yuning muttered to himself.

His body swayed and could no longer sustain the surging qi and blood, and he collapsed onto the ground.

Three days later, Mei Xuan reluctantly said goodbye to Wei Yuning.

"Don't worry; once we reach Green Forest Guard City, we'll contact the sect and have them appoint a new sect head, and you can cultivate in peace!" Wei Yuning said.

"Better not! I'm just venting—students of the Cloud Hidden Sect are all doing fine now; if the sect head changes, I'm afraid the new leader might not know how to help the disciples, which could be worse! Besides, my current realm is stable, my cultivation is rock‑solid, and there's no need to focus on cultivation any more." Mei Xuan brushed away the earlier melancholy, her expression turning supremely confident.

Cultivators are not ordinary mortals; they can perceive their own condition clearly. After both ate the peach and reflected, they immediately discerned its function.

Besides nourishing the flesh, the peach's greatest effect was to increase longevity essence; according to their estimate, the boost was at least twenty thousand.

This longevity essence differs from the increase a Nascent Soul cultivator gains; it belongs to the body itself. By the standards of those born in the Celestial Realm, they would already be top‑tier spirit immortals without any cultivation, just one step away from true immortals.

If they remain in the Celestial Realm's environment without cultivating, they will automatically become true immortals within a hundred years. Though such true immortals are the most ordinary, with weaker combat power, they are still genuine immortals, stronger than cultivators who have not yet passed tribulation.

Mei Xuan returned to Bi Yi Island, while Wei Yuning led a large convoy of supplies back to the real world.

Shortly after returning to his seclusion chamber, Monk Cheng Xin's voice sounded from outside: "Lord Wei, are you awake?"

"Lord Wei, Lord Wei, the teleportation portal is open; we can leave!" Qin Wu's booming voice echoed as well.

"Alas, what should we do? Master, you and Lord Wei are old friends; could you go in and take a look?" Ji Qiuhé's voice rang out.

"Definitely not! Before this seclusion, he specifically told me he'd be heading to the Immortal City soon; he wants to solidify his cultivation, so this was a death‑seal seclusion, timed perfectly. No one could have guessed the teleportation array would suddenly activate, cutting the time in half." Monk Cheng Xin hurriedly interjected.

Seeing several people fidgeting, Monk Cheng Xin couldn't help but say, "If anyone wishes to leave first, I'll explain to Lord Wei on their behalf; after all, we won't need the celestial shuttle for the remaining journey, and we can regroup at Green Forest Guard City later."

The usually silent Shui Yong said.

"I'll stay too!" shouted the Fire Cloud Daoist.

"If Lord Wei doesn't go, we wouldn't dare," Shui Xiuer's voice rang, "There are all kinds of cultivators near the Immortal City; I only trust Lord Wei to protect our safety!"

"Hmph, if you don't go around provoking other cultivators, we won't have to offend the Blood‑Spear Mercenary Corps!" Qin Wu said discontentedly.

"How would I know these cultivators are so unruly? The Celestial Realm is nothing like that!" Shui Xiuer replied in a delicate voice.

"Miss Shui, within the Celestial Realm's sphere of influence, the Cultivator Alliance's celestial soldiers maintain order; cultivators are mainly orthodox practitioners and beast cultivators. Even the force demons among the demonic cultivators are tolerated in the Immortal City, let alone the myriad other strange cultivators, so the two sides are not comparable!" Ji Qiuhé explained, though a hint of schadenfreude lingered in her tone.

Indeed, although Qin Wu was blunt, he grasped Ji Qiuhé's meaning; as a native of the Immortal City, he hadn't forgotten to uphold its reputation: "Freedom—it's what the founders of the Immortal City cherish above all. Aside from prohibitions on violent killing, anything else, as long as both parties consent, the city won't interfere. Shui Xiuer broke the rules herself, so the Blood‑Spear Gang can't be blamed."