As expected, Liao Minmin had married Du Yuxi, a man five years her junior. The two lived in the Broken Daoist Temple, looking for all the world like a harmonious and carefree couple.

Du Yuxi, once a scheming young man, was now the father of five children. He lived a life of peaceful contentment, a genuine smile always on his face.

One of their sons had taken the Liao surname, presumably to carry on the Liao family line.

Du Youqian didn’t want to cause any unnecessary trouble, so he didn’t reveal himself to meet them just yet.

He did, however, perform a divination for them.

The result... The hexagrams showed that Liao Minmin was destined to become an empress, and Du Yuxi an emperor.

As for Du Yuhuan, the hexagrams indicated a dramatic life but a worrisome end.

This was strange. When Du Youqian had performed divinations for them in his past life, their fates had been completely different.

’Could it be that my teaching them an Immortal Cultivation Technique and Martial Arts changed their destiny?’

Of course, it was also possible that he was misinterpreting the hexagrams.

If he had also trained in the Qi Observation Art, he could combine it with his divination for a more accurate reading.

But Du Youqian clearly hadn’t had the spare time for that in recent years.

Du Youqian then thought of Fang Yuantang, whom he hadn’t seen in decades. He cast another hexagram, which showed that Fang Yuantang was likely still alive and that they would have a chance to meet again in the years to come.

After observing them quietly for a long time and offering a silent blessing in his heart, Du Youqian departed without a sound.

His second stop was the place where he had died in his past life, right after using the Thousand Miles One Line Secret Technique to make his final escape.

His consciousness had been fading at the time, so it took him a while to pinpoint the exact location.

In the end, he came up empty-handed.

’Where’s my body?’

’My whole body was here! Where did it go?’

’And what about the Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact Flying Sword on my corpse? The Top Grade Defense Spiritual Artifact? The several Small Top Grade Spiritual Artifacts? That Portable Array, the Sealing Array, which was valuable enough to trade for a Foundation Establishment Pill? And what about the Jade Pivot Divine Thunder Talisman and the Golden Radiance Breaking Talisman, whose value rivaled a Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact?’

’And all the Spirit Stones and Spiritual Jade in my Storage Treasure Pouch? And the various materials and Magical Artifacts that weren’t precious enough for the treasury but were still worth a pretty penny...’

Du Youqian’s heart ached so much he could barely breathe.

He would have gladly given up the chance to loot ten other bodies just for the opportunity to loot his own.

’Sigh! If I’d known this would happen, I would have just given everything to Lin Sha.’

’Now, some lucky junior has hit the jackpot.’

He had originally planned to kill Helan Ruojin, then return to Soul-shaking Mountain to bury himself.

He never expected Helan Ruojin to be so much more tenacious than he’d anticipated, leaving him no time to return to Soul-shaking Mountain.

And now his inheritance was lost to the world!

Whoever took it didn’t even pay an inheritance tax.

He considered the possibility that Lin Sha had followed him, dealt with his remains, and collected his belongings...

Du Youqian thought about it. ’In my last life, as I was dying, my physical body was already breaking down.’

’My flesh, blood, and bones were practically melting into sludge, plopping off in clumps like an ice cream bar melting under the summer sun.’

’It really wasn’t a pretty sight.’

’No matter if Lin Sha was a Demon, she was truly in love with me. It’s for the best that she didn’t see me in that gruesome state. That would have been too cruel.’

’I hope it wasn’t her who took care of my body.’

’Otherwise, witnessing that horrific scene with her own eyes would probably have turned her into some kind of psychologically twisted super-Demon.’

’It’s better to let her cling to that sliver of fantasy, to believe I’ve just hidden away somewhere to practice a secret technique to restore my Yishou Yuan.’

Du Youqian didn’t doubt Lin Sha’s intelligence.

It’s just that people, being the creatures they are, would sometimes rather deceive themselves.

~~~~~~~~~~~

After finding a small Marketplace to sell a few items and trade for some needed resources, Du Youqian set off once more.

He steered his Flying Boat west along the Woniushan Mountain Range, crossed the border between the Han Kingdom and the Jin Kingdom, and arrived at the East Sea Market on Yu Kun Mountain, where he did some more buying and selling.

The place he was being sent to garrison was a barren and dangerous land; he couldn’t expect to find anything of use there.

Therefore, if he wanted to craft Magical or Spiritual Artifacts, or practice Alchemy, he had to prepare all the necessary materials beforehand.

Once his shopping was complete, he continued his flight north. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Several times, Du Youqian felt the impulse to go visit Feixian Peak.

He wanted to see how his master, Ma Chongyu, was doing, and whether the dashing Master Lei had made any breakthroughs with her Arrays.

’And then there was Little Fatty... After taking so many concubines of all shapes and sizes, he must have had his hands full by now, right? Surely he’s slimmed down?’

’Considering the time that’s passed, he might even be at the Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer. If he’d had an epiphany and started cultivating diligently, he might even have a shot at reaching Foundation Establishment before he’s sixty.’

’And my Registered Disciple, Shen Miao... by my calculations, he should be in his early thirties now.’

’Did he manage to join the Zhongxuan Sect?’

’Is anyone giving him a hard time?’

In his past life, after obtaining the Shangqing Purple Qi Divine Pill Creation Technique, Du Youqian had planned to pass this Cultivation Technique to his first disciple. Shen Miao would then bring it back to the Zhongxuan Sect as a small repayment.

If possible, he would have also helped Shen Miao reach Foundation Establishment and master a Tier Three Cultivation Technique.

He might even have raised him to the Core Formation Realm to help the Zhongxuan Sect elevate its status.

However, he had been under house arrest at the start of this life and never had the chance to see Shen Miao.

And now was not a good time, either.

He still hadn’t created a suitable identity for himself.

Du Youqian desperately wanted to see his old acquaintances from the Zhongxuan Sect, but in his current guise... ’Even if I saw them, what then? What could I possibly say?’

He would never, under any circumstances, reveal the secret that he could reincarnate with his memories intact.

He could only let out a melancholic sigh and continue north in his Flying Boat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Du Youqian’s Flying Boat flew past Feixian Peak.

In a dusty corner of the Soul Calming Hall in the Zhongxuan Sect, where the Life Soul Plates of fallen disciples were kept...

Here lay the Life Soul Plates of all the inner disciples, True Disciples, Elders, and Hall Masters who had fallen over the years.

Each plate was dim and lusterless, some covered in cracks, all coated in dust and draped with cobwebs.

Suddenly, a relatively new-looking Life Soul Plate began to emit a faint glow.

It glowed for ten breaths before dimming once more.

No one was there to see it.

~~~~~~~~

Du Youqian crossed the territory of the Wei Kingdom, then traversed the northernmost nation, the Dai Kingdom.

Only then did Du Youqian descend in his Flying Boat, landing in a remote, windswept location near the Desolate Desert.

This was his destination, the place where he was to carry out his Sect mission.

"Someone’s outside. Must be one of our own, here for the relief." Luo Jinyu, who had been idle for so long he was dozing like a tired old dog, finally stirred with a flicker of energy.

He controlled the Array, zooming in on the image of an unfamiliar young Cultivator who had just put away a Flying Boat and was now standing silently outside the perimeter.

"Qi Cultivation Late Stage... and so young. But he’s wearing the robes of an Outer Disciple. That’s strange." After studying the image for a moment, Luo Jinyu looked up. "Brother Zhang, do you recognize him?"

Brother Zhang studied the image carefully for a moment before shaking his head. "Never seen him. Probably one of the Sect’s rising stars. Heh, thank heavens. I can finally get out of this godforsaken place."