Gazing at the colossal blue planet before him, Zhang Fan, even with his tranquil state of mind, felt a ripple of emotion. His vast divine soul power flowed outwards, effortlessly enveloping the entire planet.
After a long moment, Zhang Fan withdrew his spiritual sense, his slightly taut heart finally relaxing.
“Let’s go, I’ll take you to see my hometown,” Zhang Fan said, turning to Liu Mu. Of the group, only Liu Mu was visiting Earth for the first time.
“This is his hometown?” Liu Mu wondered, his heart filled with curiosity and doubt.
Given Zhang Fan’s current achievements, how could he possibly have been born on such an unremarkable life-bearing planet?
While Zhang Fan’s talent was indeed monstrous, Liu Mu admitted he was not his equal. However, talent was merely one condition for cultivation. To achieve success in cultivation, one needed not only talent but also cultivation resources, techniques, and divine abilities.
Some cultivation resources could be obtained through one’s own efforts. Yet, profound techniques and powerful divine abilities could not be acquired through mere struggle or plunder.
Take body-refining techniques, for instance. The strongest body-refining inheritances of the top powers in the Wu Shan Starfield were only Royal Body Techniques. Yet, Zhang Fan cultivated an extremely powerful Divine Body Technique, a fact that left Liu Mu utterly perplexed. At the same time, he realized that Zhang Fan likely harbored great secrets.
However, he didn’t pry further, as he himself had plenty of secrets.
Within a few breaths, the group passed through the atmosphere. To avoid unnecessary trouble, they landed in the suburbs of Donghai City. Watching the vehicles coming and going on the roads, the scene evoked a sense of profound familiarity for Zhang Fan.
“Your hometown’s technological development is lacking, but its cultivation level isn't too low,” Liu Mu remarked with some surprise.
Earth’s diameter was only a little over ten thousand kilometers. Liu Mu’s divine soul power could easily encompass it. After a brief scan, he discovered that despite the sparse spiritual energy on Earth, there were several Nascent Soul stage cultivators, which seemed quite unusual.
Given the extreme scarcity of spiritual energy on Earth, it was incredibly difficult to even break through to the Golden Core stage, yet several Nascent Soul cultivators resided on this planet. This sparked his curiosity as to what could be the cause.
Following the direction of his memory, Zhang Fan led the group towards the island in the center of the lake. The lake surface was shrouded in a dense white mist, and the island within was faintly visible. A formation isolated it, preventing cultivators of even the Nascent Soul stage from breaching it.
“This is your home? How can it be so simple?” Liu Mu asked, gazing at the island enshrouded in mist, disbelief in his eyes.
Although the formation blocked spiritual sense, the formation Zhang Fan had set up earlier was now practically useless before these individuals. Liu Mu easily scanned the situation on the island.
Hearing Liu Mu’s words, Zhang Fan felt a bit speechless, but he could understand his companion’s feelings.
After all, given his status and power, constructing a palace spanning dozens of kilometers would have been effortless. Who could have imagined his home was merely on a small island barely a kilometer in diameter?
“Let’s go,” Zhang Fan said, leading the others across the lake’s surface towards the island, sensing familiar presences emanating from it.
“Look, someone is trying to reach the island.”
“Someone else wants to trespass on the island again?”
“Hmph, with the formation blocking the way, even a Nascent Soul expert would find it impossible to enter the island’s vicinity.”
Outside碧波湖 (Bibo Lake), many people noticed the scene. They watched the group walking on the water, their eyes showing no surprise, but rather a hint of amusement.
Ever since the news spread that Earth was a place of opportunity left by the True Immortal Zi Wu, cultivators from other planets had descended upon Earth every year. The weakest were Golden Core stage cultivators, and the strong ones had even reached the Nascent Soul stage. They widely spread their teachings on Earth, and now cultivators on Earth were not as rare as they once were.
Eight years was neither long nor short, but it was enough time for many things to be forgotten. Just like now, many people had forgotten about Zhang Fan as an individual, but some had never forgotten him.
“It’s the instructor, report to the leader immediately!”
“Master Zhang, it’s Master Zhang’s return!”
“Hurry and report the news.”
“Immediately send word back to the sect, Zhang Fan has returned.”
Around 碧波湖 (Bibo Lake), many factions had stationed their informants, constantly monitoring all movements on the lake. Zhang Fan’s appearance attracted the attention of many hidden observers.
Zhang Fan naturally sensed them but didn’t stop them, as these matters were no longer worth his distraction.
As Zhang Fan and the others disappeared into the mist, everyone outside 碧波湖 (Bibo Lake) speculated that they would likely return shortly, as no one had yet managed to break through the outermost mist formation of the island.
However, they waited for a long time, but their wait was in vain.
…
On the island in the center of the lake.
Su Yun and Zhang Xing’an were living quite contentedly.
Su Yun herself wasn’t particularly interested in cultivation. If Zhang Fan hadn’t told her back then that cultivation could preserve youth, she might not have embarked on this path so readily.
However, even though she hadn’t put too much effort into cultivation over the years, with the solid foundation Zhang Fan had laid for her and a large quantity of elixirs and medicinal herbs, she had still reached the Golden Core stage and cultivated her primordial core in less than ten years.
As for Zhang Xing’an, he was far more diligent in his cultivation than Su Yun. After years of practice, he had now reached the peak of the Condensing Core realm and had comprehended several true meanings of the Dao. If he hadn’t suppressed himself, he would have already condensed his Golden Core.
At this moment, Zhang Xing’an was practicing the moves from the Thirty-Six Combat Emperor techniques taught by Zhang Fan on the lake’s surface. Even without using any spiritual power, the Dao laws contained within his moves still stirred the power of heaven and earth. Each move was extraordinary, creating waves on the lake.
“Overturning Palm!”
Zhang Xing’an let out a low roar from his throat. He formed a palm seal with one hand and thrust it forward fiercely. Layers of lake water surged, instantly creating a water wave tens of meters high, which rushed towards the mist.
“Wife, how do you like this move?” Zhang Xing’an was very satisfied with the power of this move. After executing it, he couldn’t help but say to Su Yun, who was watering the medicinal field on the island.
“So-so,” Su Yun replied without looking up, diligently watering the medicinal field with spiritual liquid. Above the medicinal field, two palm-sized, colorful birds were flying around, chirping.
These were the pair of Rainbow-Eyed Sky Parrots that Zhang Fan had gifted to his parents. After years of growth, this pair of Rainbow-Eyed Sky Parrots had also reached the Nascent Soul stage.
Sensing his wife’s perfunctory response, Zhang Xing’an felt a bit bored. Just as he was about to return to the island, he suddenly felt a sense of dread. The water wave he had just unleashed was now rushing back towards him with even greater force.
…