Chapter 433

He Pingsheng put away his belongings.

During these three months of seclusion, he not only mastered the Heavenly Gang Three Transformations technique and achieved minor proficiency in it, but also crafted each of the remaining teleportation array plates.

After bidding farewell to the Biyun Immortal in the Biyun Palace on Biyun Peak, He Pingsheng departed from the Xiao Yao Immortal Sect with Qiao Hui Zhu and Xiao He.

They traveled eastward.

Upon reaching Hongshi City, they did not stop but continued flying east.

After another two or three days of flight, they finally crossed the border between Liang and Qi, arriving at Shangdang Commandery of Qi.

Of course, now this Shangdang Commandery belongs to Liang.

"Master!" Xiao He pulled on He Pingsheng's sleeve from behind and said: "Is this… near my home?"

If Xiao He hadn't mentioned it, He Pingsheng would have forgotten entirely.

Home?

It seems so!

He nodded.

"Um… Master… could you…?" In Xiao He's eyes glimmered hope and pleading.

Qiao Hui Zhu walked over and said: "Xiao He probably wants to see her home one last time—it's where she was born and raised."

"Sigh…" He Pingsheng sighed deeply and said: "The mortal world decays easily. It's been a full six decades since you left your home?"

Xiao He nodded: "Yes… sixty-seven years!"

"Let's go!" He Pingsheng said: "But I warn you—after you've seen it, don't cry or shed tears…"

"And don't let it shake your Dao heart!"

Xiao He beamed: "Don't worry, Master!"

He Pingsheng altered the flight path of the airship; after about an hour, they arrived at Jixi City.

This was the westernmost small city in Shangdang Commandery—not large, but it did house cultivators.

After passing Jixi City and heading north, they soon reached that familiar mountain.

Seeing the familiar mountain range, Xiao He's eyes grew moist.

Soon, the airship hovered in midair above a low hilltop.

The three looked down and saw only wild grass stretching endlessly.

The thatched cottage from sixty years ago had lost its thatch.

Only a few crumbling earthen walls remained, buried beneath thick, tangled weeds.

The fields once cleared by Old Cheng's family had become wasteland, overgrown with weeds and a few scattered trees.

The fertile land had long since lost its shape.

If not for those few remaining earthen walls, all traces of life here would have vanished entirely.

"I want to go down and pay respects to my parents!"

Xiao He looked at He Pingsheng.

He Pingsheng nodded.

He retracted the airship, and the three landed amid the wild grass.

"This is our family's well!"

"This was our house!"

"This was the outhouse…"

"Wu wu wu… this was our old ox!"

Amid the weeds, they suddenly spotted a white skeleton.

It was the ox's bones.

After sixty years, even bones turn to dust—but the thick, massive skull remained intact due to its strength.

Xiao He said: "When my grandfather and I left, we let the old ox go free, told it to fend for itself. I never thought it would return and die right here at home!"

"Wu wu wu wu…"

To be moved by the scene—this is human nature.

After crying for a while, Xiao He offered three sticks of incense to her parents, then boarded the airship again and soared away with He Pingsheng.

She turned back, gazing long at the direction of her homeland, silent.

After a long while, Xiao He suddenly asked: "Master… look, both my grandfather and I are single Fire Spirit Roots. Do you think… if my father were alive, he'd have been a single Fire Spirit Root too?"

He Pingsheng smiled: "Not necessarily."

"But… he likely had a spirit root."

Xiao He said: "What a pity."

He Pingsheng said: "No need to regret it. Immortal destiny is preordained—no human effort can change it."

He's dead—that means he had no destiny.

Forget single Fire Spirit Root—how many 【Empty Spirit Root】 people die pointlessly in this world?

If not for an extraordinary stroke of fate, how could Xiao Xuan have awakened at all?

It's all just destiny.

…

The airship continued onward; three days later, they passed through Shangdang Commandery and finally entered Dingxiang Commandery.

He Pingsheng was headed to the capital of Qi, while Qiao Hui Zhu was going to the Dingxiang Commandery Cultivation Alliance.

Here, their paths diverged.

The Eight Treasures Ship hovered in midair.

He Pingsheng said: "In about a year or so, I'll finish my business. If I succeed, I'll wait for you here!"

"No!" Qiao Hui Zhu shook her head: "I'm only going to check on the Cultivation Alliance—I'll finish much sooner. See that big mountain down there?"

"I'll wait for you on its peak!"

Qiao Hui Zhu extended her jade hand, pointing to a distant peak.

He Pingsheng checked his map and confirmed: "Understood, Sister, stay safe!"

The two parted ways.

As for Qiao Hui Zhu, He Pingsheng wasn't worried.

She was a prodigy of the Eighth-Ninth Tribulation, now at the Nascent Soul realm—her combat power wasn't far behind his own.

With such cultivation, even within the Cultivation Alliance, she could dominate and come and go as she pleased.

Boom…

He Pingsheng's airship flew steadily toward the capital of Qi.

From here to the capital, there were still several major commanderies to cross.

Another half-month passed before He Pingsheng finally arrived at the capital of Qi.

Upon arrival, he did not immediately seek out Long Yuan Dao Ren; instead, he concealed himself among the common folk.

First step: find a place to stay.

Settle in first.

"Hello!" He Pingsheng, with Xiao He, entered a grand hall in the capital.

Here, cultivators managed housing rentals and sales across the entire capital.

The spacious hall had over two hundred windows, all handling property transactions in the capital.

The rules here were identical to those in Dingxiang Commandery: only a hundred-year usage right could be purchased, along with a hundred-year tax payment.

"I'm looking for a house in a bustling area, right next to a sect—do you have any?"

"Size doesn't matter!"

He Pingsheng looked at the woman behind the window.

Her cultivation was only Foundation Establishment Stage Two.

"Senior, we do have one… please wait!" The woman pulled out a map: "In the southern part of the city, thirty li from the palace, there's a courtyard with sects on both sides."

"Would this suit you?"

He Pingsheng looked.

The estate was large—nearly a thousand zhang across.

"What's the price?" He Pingsheng asked.

The woman replied: "One hundred years of usage rights: one million spirit stones—medium-grade."

Hiss…

He Pingsheng sucked in a breath.

One million?

Medium-grade spirit stones?

Converted to low-grade, that would be… one billion?

Good heavens.

But the house was truly huge, and the location was prime.