Chapter 691

Upon hearing that these two had been found, He Pingsheng sighed in relief.

They've ascended!

Good that they've ascended.

"Then…" He Pingsheng's spiritual sense surged open, sweeping every corner of Solitary Pine Mountain, yet he saw no trace of Su Zhenzhen or He Tianya; he asked curiously, "Where are they?"

"Sorry!" This time, it was Zhou Qingmei's avatar who spoke.

She bowed to He Pingsheng, then said, "Young Master, of all the names on your list, we found only Su Zhenzhen and her son He Tianya!"

"We intended to bring them here as you requested, but… the Lady said it's inconvenient to come here, and both of them already belong to sects on that side—they won't be coming for now!"

He Pingsheng's brow furrowed slightly.

Inconvenient?

But upon reflection, he understood what Su Zhenzhen meant.

Qiao Huizhu was there—she dared not come.

After all… her relationship with He Pingsheng hadn't developed naturally; Su Zhenzhen had taken advantage of his weakness to manipulate him.

She could face He Pingsheng, but never Qiao Huizhu.

Qiao Huizhu had acknowledged Liang Huaqiu—but not her!

"Alright," He Pingsheng understood Su Zhenzhen.

If she didn't want to come, fine.

Perhaps it really was inconvenient.

"When I have time later… I'll go visit them," He Pingsheng nodded. "Any other matters?"

"None," Hao Cang shook his head.

He Pingsheng waved his hand, dismissing the two.

He sat cross-legged on the mat, looking restless.

Then he pulled out the Treasure Gathering Basin from his dantian and glanced at it.

During these three years of seclusion, he had barely used the Treasure Gathering Basin to strengthen anything.

So what remained inside was still a slightly damaged flying sword.

This sword had been taken from the White Tiger Crown Prince's storage pouch after he slew him.

It was a broken low-grade Heaven-Piercing Magic Treasure, meant for a Body Integration cultivator—its rank should be seventh-grade.

He'd planned to strengthen it, but unfortunately, its rank was one level too high—he couldn't enhance it.

Next, He Pingsheng pulled out five or six rings in quick succession.

Three years ago, on his way to the True Fire Immortal Sect, he killed the White Tiger Crown Prince.

And Zhou Qingmei had slain four White-Haired Cultivators.

Five people total—many rings.

Back then, He Pingsheng had only had time to check the White Tiger Crown Prince's rings; the others had never been opened!

Hmm…

Let's see if any surprising treasures are hidden inside.

The result? Deep disappointment.

Nothing!

Every ring held vast quantities of items: fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade materials.

Everything needed for alchemy, weapon forging, and talisman crafting was present.

But nothing stood out as exceptional.

He Pingsheng didn't idle—he used the Treasure Gathering Basin to strengthen all these items at once.

He obtained countless jade slips.

These jade slips contained cultivation methods of various elemental affinities, but he didn't strengthen all of them to Heavenly Grade.

Most were strengthened only to Earth Grade Supreme.

He gave all these methods and techniques to Solitary Pine Sect, placing them in the Scripture Hall.

Most of the fifth-grade materials were given away.

He kept only fifth-, sixth-, or higher-grade items for his own use.

Thus passed about a month, until one day, Qiao Huizhu emerged from seclusion.

"Husband… look!" Qiao Huizhu rushed joyfully into He Pingsheng's cultivation hall, then moved instantly to another spot.

Technique: Void Swift Movement.

"Mastered it?" He Pingsheng asked happily.

"Mm-hmm-hmm!" Qiao Huizhu nodded eagerly like a chick pecking grain. "Mastered it! Hehehe… now no one can dare hit me!"

"By the way, another piece of good news!" Qiao Huizhu sat facing He Pingsheng. "During my seclusion, I tried crafting sixth-grade talismans—guess what?"

He Pingsheng's eyes lit up. "You succeeded?"

"Mm-hmm-hmm!" Qiao Huizhu placed a sixth-grade talisman beside He Pingsheng. "Look—I made it!"

"This is a sixth-grade Fire Talisman—【Fire Dragon Talisman】. I just learned to make it; my success rate is still low!"

"No problem!" He Pingsheng took the Fire Dragon Talisman happily. "If you have any failed talismans that didn't explode, give them to me—I'll use them!"

"Huh?" Qiao Huizhu asked. "What use could they be?"

He Pingsheng said, "I want to study them."

"Sometimes, failed talismans that didn't explode still have other uses."

"Alright!" Qiao Huizhu said. "I've got plenty—I'll bring them all to you later."

"By the way, husband!" She then pulled out another jade slip and placed it beside him. "Look—this is the list of sixth-grade talismans. See which ones you need, tell me, and I'll make them for you!"

He Pingsheng took the jade slip.

Inside was indeed a talisman list.

It listed over a hundred talismans in dense script.

Each had a brief description.

He Pingsheng glanced once, then tossed the jade slip aside and grinned at Qiao Huizhu. "Wife… let's put talisman-making aside for now. Let's do something meaningful."

"Something meaningful?" Qiao Huizhu frowned. "What do you mean?"

He Pingsheng said, "Aren't you always wanting to have a child?"

"Now that we're finally settled… wouldn't it be time…?"

Qiao Huizhu's face flushed red.

…

Several days later, He Pingsheng picked up the discarded jade slip again and pressed it to his forehead.

This time, he finally had the patience to carefully examine each talisman's function.

Most were elemental talismans: metal, wood, water, fire, earth.

Lightning and ice talismans were also included, falling under the five-element categories.

These talismans were all relatively ordinary.

He Pingsheng scanned them one by one, dismissing most at a glance—until he saw a peculiar name: 【Soul-Tracking Talisman】.

Below it was the talisman's description.

Upon reading it, a sharp light flashed in He Pingsheng's eyes.

This was a talisman capable of tracking and locating a cultivator's avatar.

Once activated, it could be attached to a Void Refinement cultivator's body.

It emitted a mysterious aura linking the cultivator's true body to their avatar.

After killing the true body, one could still follow that aura to find and slay the avatar.

A talisman for total annihilation.

"Perfect!" He Pingsheng smiled.

Previously, he had slain Bing Yi, Mingyue's avatar, the White Tiger Crown Prince, and even the four White-Haired Cultivators.

But none were truly killed.

Others still had true bodies or avatars—once they regrew their Nascent Souls, they could create new avatars.

Now, with this talisman, he could kill the true body and then hunt down and destroy the avatar—truly cutting the roots, eliminating all future threats.