After traveling through one teleportation array after another, Ye Qingxuan finally arrived at the Qing Province territory, weary from the long journey.
Along the way, he discovered an implicit benefit of being a Xuantian Sect disciple.
Within Xuantian Sect territory, as long as disciples weren’t teleporting alone but waited normally for the array to fill up before activation, they didn’t have to pay spirit stones themselves! The reason was simple: the teleportation arrays in major state cities, prefecture cities, and county cities within the sect’s territory were essentially all built by the Xuantian Sect.
This saved him quite a few spirit stones. However, his Xuantian Sect disciple robes along the way attracted many envious glances, making him somewhat uncomfortable. Fortunately, he didn’t stay long in any one place, avoiding unnecessary trouble.
Upon reaching Qing Province, Ye Qingxuan had to pass through prefecture-level and county-level teleportation arrays before arriving at Qingmu County, where the Ye Family was located.
One could only say the Di Xuan Realm was truly vast. Even with the aid of numerous teleportation arrays, the transfers took Ye Qingxuan considerable time.
Leaving Qingmu County city without delay, he eagerly took to his flying sword, heading toward the Ye Family.
Seven days later!
On a hill within Qingmu County.
Ye Qingxuan sat cross-legged on the hilltop, meditating and regulating his breathing. After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes and chuckled wryly.
“Too careless. I was so eager to get home, I overlooked the distance from Qingmu County to the Ye Family.”
Back then, when Family Head Ye Yuhong took him to the Xuantian Sect, the journey from the Ye Family to Qingmu County only took half a day. But Family Head Ye Yuhong was at the Golden Core realm and used a fourth-grade flying boat for travel, naturally taking less time.
Ye Qingxuan was only at the Qi Refinement stage now. After seven days of sword flight, he had only covered slightly more than half the distance. He estimated it would take several more days to reach Ye Immortal City.
Luckily, the Xuantian Sect wasn’t lacking in geographical maps; otherwise, on his first journey home, he might not have been able to find the Ye Family’s location.
“If I’d known earlier, I should have asked the Family Head to leave me a communication talisman. Then I wouldn’t be traveling like this on my own.”
After recovering his spiritual power, Ye Qingxuan stood up, shaking his head in mild frustration.
Back then, before stepping onto the cultivation path, his thinking wasn’t thorough enough. He would learn from this in the future.
Mentally reminding himself to be more cautious, Ye Qingxuan summoned his flying sword again, transforming into a streak of light as he flew toward Ye Immortal City.
“ROAR!”
Not long after taking flight, Ye Qingxuan was startled by a tremendous roar from below. Looking down from his high vantage point, he focused and saw a late first-grade tiger-type demon beast attacking a village.
Seeing this, Ye Qingxuan was somewhat amused and exasperated.
“A wild demon beast? Is my luck good or bad?”
Demon beasts? In the inner five regions of the Di Xuan Realm, under the powerful suppression of the various hegemon-level powers, demon beasts were no longer a major force. They were basically controlled and bred by these powers within major mountain ranges, transformed into a sustainable resource.
As for sporadically born demon beasts, the major powers also had the responsibility to cull them. As far as Ye Qingxuan knew, the Xuantian Sect’s Mission Hall frequently had patrol missions precisely to eliminate demon beasts born outside controlled areas within their territory.
It was these various measures that allowed the vast territories under the hegemon-level powers to maintain peaceful and stable development.
So, outside mountain ranges, encountering a demon beast was quite rare. Those met outside were usually recently born and not highly powerful.
The Di Xuan Realm flourished with the Path of Immortality, and spiritual energy was dense. Even most areas without spiritual veins possessed spiritual energy density equivalent to a first-grade spiritual vein. In such an excellent cultivation environment, ordinary beasts occasionally transformed into demon beasts, scattering across the realm. Attacks on villages by demon beasts were only occasional.
Moreover, most villages basically had Qi Refinement or even Foundation Building cultivators stationed there. One could say that in the Di Xuan Realm, villages composed solely of mortals were extremely rare; basically, every village had cultivators guarding it.
After all, even without spiritual veins, the Di Xuan Realm’s cultivation environment was sufficient for Qi Refinement loose cultivators to practice.
At this moment, below Ye Qingxuan…
Outside the village, two Qi Refinement mid-stage cultivators were desperately resisting the late first-grade demon beast.
Inside the village, hundreds of able-bodied young men anxiously drew their bows, continuously firing arrows at the beast. Although the arrows caused no damage to the demon beast’s hide, they did not give up, persistently drawing and shooting.
Behind this group were thousands of elderly, weak, women, and children, gazing fearfully outside the village.
As Ye Qingxuan looked on, one of the two cultivators fighting the beast happened to see him and urgently cried out for help in delight.
“Fellow Daoist, please lend a hand! Our Liu Village will surely repay you generously afterward!”
Hearing this, Ye Qingxuan maneuvered his sword slightly closer before stopping. He didn’t act immediately but began carefully observing the environment below and the demon beast.
“So this is a demon beast? Indeed, thick skin and tough flesh, but the meat is quite chewy!”
Looking at the beast, a flicker of reminiscence passed through Ye Qingxuan’s eyes. He seemed to… still owe Qingxiao a meal, didn’t he?
While Ye Qingxuan was observing, the battle below intensified. The demon beast fought more fiercely, roaring continuously. The two Qi Refinement mid-stage cultivators from Liu Village were forced back step by step, blood trickling from their mouths, and the glow from their low-grade flying swords gradually dimming.
Initially overjoyed to see Ye Qingxuan approaching, their expressions later fell into despair as he showed no sign of intervening.
“Pfft!”
“Pfft!”
Finally, under another assault from the demon beast, both coughed up blood and fell to the ground.
After they fell, the demon beast didn’t halt its attack. With a fierce pounce, its monstrous body lunged toward the two.
“It’s over!”
“If we die, what will happen to Liu Village? Cough, cough, cough!“
Just as they despaired, a streak of sword light suddenly pierced through the throat of the leaping demon beast in mid-air.
The instant the demon beast died, the sword light swept up its corpse and flew upward.
That sword light was precisely the sword escape technique Ye Qingxuan executed by controlling his flying sword.
He had been waiting for the right moment to strike. Since it was his first real combat, for safety’s sake, Ye Qingxuan didn’t approach the battlefield himself but attacked by remotely controlling his flying sword. Fortunately, it worked.
After storing the demon beast’s corpse, Ye Qingxuan resumed his flight toward Ye Immortal City.
Only then did the two men below react. Overjoyed, they hurriedly called out.
“Thank you, Fellow Daoist, for saving our lives! May we ask your esteemed name?”
“Xuantian Sect, Ye Qingxuan!”
After this trip, he basically wouldn’t leave the Xuantian Sect again, so there was no need to conceal his name.
As his voice faded, his figure disappeared into the distance.
Within Liu Village, a young child watched Ye Qingxuan’s departing figure, an unprecedented look of yearning shining in his eyes.
Another three days later!
The outline of a massive city began to appear in Ye Qingxuan’s sight. Pausing in mid-air for a moment, he gazed at the distant city. His initially excited heart surprisingly calmed. He murmured softly.
“I’m here.”
“Father, Mother… I’m home.”
