Chapter 1565: Tang Jun's Descendants

Zhou Dingtian was secretly regretting his decision. He had intended to lure the Realm Devourer further away before returning to join forces with the two Constellation cultivators from his realm to fight the enemy. However, he found himself utterly unable to escape. Moreover, for some unknown reason, the creature had suddenly become enraged and was relentlessly charging towards Qingfeng Realm, leaving him somewhat powerless to stop it.

Fighting and retreating in this manner, they were rapidly approaching Qingfeng Realm.

Suddenly, spiritual energy fluctuations rapidly approached from the direction of Qingfeng Realm. To Zhou Dingtian's astonishment, the newcomer's aura was completely unfamiliar.

Stealing a glance, he saw an unfamiliar young man, transformed into a streak of light, arriving with a drawn saber.

Zhou Dingtian was momentarily perplexed. Who was this person, and why were they in Qingfeng Realm? He then became overjoyed, realizing that no matter their origin, they were a human cultivator he could communicate with. He immediately shouted, "Fellow Daoist, please come and help!"

"Alright!" Lu Ye replied. As he leaped forward, he pounced in front of the Realm Devourer, effortlessly dodging its lunge, his long saber spinning like a crescent moon.

Zhou Dingtian instantly felt a chill down his spine, realizing with horror that if that saber strike had been aimed at him, he would have been utterly unable to defend against it.

Immediately after, Zhou Dingtian's figure paused, his eyelids twitching as he stared at the previously enraged Realm Devourer. He clearly saw terror in the Realm Devourer's eyes. Its massive body inexplicably froze, then a line of blood appeared down the center of its form, and its flat body simply split in two...

Zhou Dingtian was completely dumbfounded, almost unable to believe his eyes. Only after standing stunned for a while did he confirm that this Realm Devourer, which he couldn't stop at all, had actually been cut down by a single saber strike from someone else!

He looked at Lu Ye, carefully sensing the spiritual energy fluctuations on his body and confirming they were only at the late-Constellation stage. For a moment, he felt as if he were dreaming.

Lu Ye had already approached the Realm Devourer's corpse with his saber. After some searching, he found a fist-sized crystal core within the massive body.

He had crushed the crystal core of the smaller Realm Devourer found under the lava to replenish Qingfeng Realm's lost foundation. However, he would keep the crystal core of this larger Realm Devourer, as it was quite valuable and could be taken back to Kyushu for Little Nine.

He had also retrieved the crystal core of the Realm Devourer killed within Qingfeng Realm earlier.

"Fellow Daoist, are you alright?" Lu Ye asked, looking at the still-stunned Zhou Dingtian.

Zhou Dingtian snapped back to attention and quickly said, "I'm fine, thank you for your assistance, Fellow Daoist." He then suddenly remembered, "Oh, right, there's still another one inside the realm..."

"You don't need to worry, Fellow Daoist," Lu Ye reassured him, "that one is already dead too."

Zhou Dingtian finally relaxed. It made sense; this person had just emerged from the realm. If they could cut down the Realm Devourer out here with one strike, the one inside the realm certainly wouldn't have fared any better.

"However, your two junior martial siblings seem to be badly injured," Lu Ye added. "You'd best go check on them!"

Zhou Dingtian's heart tightened upon hearing this, and he quickly sped towards the realm. After flying a short distance, he looked back and said, "If you have no urgent matters, Fellow Daoist, please don't rush off. Once we have dealt with the matters of this realm, we will bring my junior martial siblings to express our gratitude in person."

Lu Ye nodded slightly. "No rush!"

He had originally intended to wait for people from Qingli Dao Realm. Now that they had actually arrived, he naturally wouldn't leave at this moment.

Zhou Dingtian and Lu Ye returned to Qingfeng Realm one after another. Zhou Dingtian went to find his injured junior martial siblings, while Lu Ye returned directly to Qingfeng City.

Inside Qingfeng City, there was an uproar. Many cultivators had clearly witnessed the astonishing battle in the sky just now. However, the highest cultivation level among the cultivators in this realm was only the True Lake stage, so no one knew the exact situation. They only knew that some high-level cultivators from the Upper Realm seemed to be injured, someone had displayed immense power, and a fierce beast they had never seen before had been killed.

Everyone was discussing it animatedly, but couldn't make sense of it.

Lu Ye found Lishang and Ya Ya. The elder and the child were still wandering around, looking very enthusiastic. When Lu Ye found them, Lishang was with Ya Ya in a teahouse, eating the realm's unique delicacies. Ya Ya's mouth was greasy from eating, and Lishang was wiping her mouth for her.

"Quite the show-off, aren't you?" Lishang teased, glancing at him.

"Since I encountered it, it wouldn't be right to just stand by," Lu Ye replied, playing with the two Realm Devourer crystal cores in his hand and feeling the wondrous energy contained within them. He vaguely felt as if he had forgotten something but couldn't recall it no matter how hard he tried. Ya Ya held up a bowl, scooped a dumpling-like item with a spoon, and held it to Lu Ye's mouth. "Daddy, it's delicious."

Lu Ye ate one and found it indeed quite delicious. He called the shop owner and ordered another bowl, savoring it carefully. There were also storytellers and opera singers in the teahouse, making it quite lively.

Until evening, three people walked into the small teahouse together and came directly to Lu Ye's table. Zhou Dingtian, leading them, cupped his fists in a salute. "Zhou Dingtian of the Divine Martial Palace, Qingli Dao Realm, greets Fellow Daoist!"

The man and woman following behind him also saluted and introduced themselves.

Sun Ye was from Baimang Mountain, while Tang Xiaoyue was from Qinghua Pond.

Qinghua Pond, Baimang Mountain, and the Divine Martial Palace were the three top sects of Qingli Dao Realm, each overseen by a Moon Centurion. However, after a shocking upheaval some years ago, only Wu Zhuo of the Divine Martial Palace remained among the three Moon Centurions. Qin Yuandai of Baimang Mountain had died somewhere unknown, and Tang Jun of Qinghua Pond was missing. It could be said that when the news spread that year, the entire Qingli Dao Realm was demoralized.

Unfortunately, no one dared to inquire.

Now that Zhou Dingtian and his companions had encountered Lu Ye here, and had preemptively assumed he was a cultivator from Jade Spiral, they couldn't help but feel wary, even despite his previous life-saving kindness.

But kindness was kindness, after all. Regardless, they had to come and express their gratitude in person and inquire about Lu Ye's intentions for being here.

Hearing the three introduce themselves, Lu Ye couldn't help but glance at Tang Xiaoyue again. Her surname was Tang, and she was from Qinghua Pond. If he wasn't mistaken, she should be a descendant of Tang Jun. The old fellow had lived for thousands of years; and while his own cultivation wasn't exceptional, he should have no trouble with descendants.

He stood up and returned the salute. "Lu Yiye of Jiutian!"

"Jiutian?" Zhou Dingtian was stunned for a moment. After he had found Sun Ye and Tang Xiaoyue earlier, he had heard them guess Lu Ye was a Jade Spiral cultivator and had thus assumed the same. He hadn't expected the person was not from there, but instead from a realm called Jiutian.

The three exchanged glances, each seeing the doubt in the other's heart, because no one had ever heard of this Jiutian Realm.

"Are you from a different star system, Fellow Daoist?" Zhou Dingtian asked.

Lu Ye shook his head. "Jiutian is actually within Jade Spiral; it's not surprising that you haven't heard of it, because Jiutian only became a large realm less than ten years ago!"

"I see!" Zhou Dingtian suddenly understood. If it was a newly promoted large realm, then it was possible. Although they were Constellation cultivators, they couldn't claim to know everything about the Jade Spiral star system; there were too many places they had never explored.

Tang Xiaoyue, however, looked puzzled. "You said Jiutian became a large realm less than ten years ago, Fellow Daoist, but I observe your cultivation is already at the late-Constellation stage..."

Logically speaking, for a newly promoted realm to nurture a Constellation cultivator to such a level in less than ten years, even with some growth in strength, it shouldn't have been so rapid. Lu Ye's cultivation level clearly contradicted his statement.

"I didn't cultivate in Jiutian," Lu Ye explained casually. "I went to other places these past few years, which allowed me to advance so quickly."

Zhou Dingtian and the others were still wondering what kind of place that could be to allow one's cultivation to improve so quickly, when they heard Lu Ye speak: "Junior Sister, you are a descendant of Fellow Daoist Tang Jun, aren't you?"

Tang Xiaoyue was startled and looked at Lu Ye suspiciously. "Do you know my Grand Ancestor, Fellow Daoist?"

Lu Ye nodded. "Fellow Daoist Tang didn't abandon me; we became fast friends despite our age difference. I have been with Fellow Daoist Tang these past few years!"

Tang Xiaoyue's eyes suddenly lit up, and she asked urgently, "Fellow Daoist, where is my Grand Ancestor? Is he alright?"

Qinghua Pond had always known that Tang Jun was still alive because his soul lamp hadn't extinguished, but they never knew his exact whereabouts. Even if they speculated that Tang Jun was imprisoned by Jade Spiral Realm, they didn't dare to go verify it.

Now hearing Lu Ye say this, Tang Xiaoyue suddenly realized that all her sect's previous speculations were wrong. Her Grand Ancestor was not in Jade Spiral Realm but in a place they didn't know at all.

"Fellow Daoist Tang is perfectly well," Lu Ye said. "His lifespan has even increased, and he lives a carefree and comfortable life every day. You don't need to worry."

Tang Xiaoyue exhaled a long breath upon hearing this. "That's wonderful!"

Tang Jun was the stabilizing force of Qinghua Pond. With Tang Jun missing all these years, Qinghua Pond had been in a state of panic. Now, learning that Tang Jun was not only alive but had even increased his lifespan, years of worry vanished. Tang Xiaoyue wished she could return to Qingli Dao Realm immediately and tell the people of Qinghua Pond this good news.

Calming her excitement, Tang Xiaoyue said, "Fellow Daoist, can you tell me where my Grand Ancestor is? How can I find him?"

"Fellow Daoist Tang Jun's current location is extremely far away," Lu Ye said. "Even if I told you, you wouldn't be able to reach him." Tang Xiaoyue's expression darkened upon hearing this. He then changed the subject: "However, I came here specifically to take some cultivators from your realm with me. But before that, I need to first pay my respects to Fellow Daoist Wu Zhuo from your realm. I'll need to trouble the three of you to lead the way."

Zhou Dingtian pondered for a moment and said, "There's no problem with you wanting to meet the Palace Master, Fellow Daoist. However, it will take some time to travel to Qingli Dao Realm..."

"No problem, I can wait."

Having traveled for so long, and now that he was back in his home star system, he figured it wouldn't take too long to reach Qingli Dao Realm.

Afterward, Zhou Dingtian warmly invited Lu Ye to stay at Qingli Palace, and Lu Ye obliged as a guest.

Qingli Palace was specially built by Qingfeng Realm as a resting place for high-level cultivators from the Upper Realm. It only opened once every ten years, and outsiders were generally not allowed near it. When it was open, the maidservants chosen within the palace were all the most beautiful and outstanding female disciples from various sects. It could be said that this single palace almost gathered the highest quality female cultivators from Qingfeng Realm over the past decade.