Cheng Yuhuan had spent a lot of money this time, booking the best private room in the Floating Fragrance Pavilion, and inviting eight Qi Refining Stage Twelve female cultivators from the pavilion to join them for drinks.

Dragging Shu Han along, they drank till midnight. During the banquet, Liu Wanchang's long, iron-blue face turned redder with each drink. Soon, he was slurring his words, arm in arm with Cheng Yuhuan, recalling the amusing anecdotes from their days of cultivation under the same master.

Shu Han watched the two inebriated men, thinking that the cultivation world was not all about intrigues and backstabbing.

Despite the two often mocking each other, their bond as fellow disciples remained strong.

Just like Xu Zimo and Fei Zhengyang. Even though the latter often played tricks, their bond held firm.

The next day, Shu Han's injuries were much better, so he visited the Earthfire House at Treasure Peak.

Even though Kong Tianrui had died, and no one came to collect debts from Fei Zhengyang, considering the precious materials involved, Shu Han still came to help him refine his magic tools.

Fei Zhengyang was quite considerate, bringing three kinds of materials needed for the Silent Heartbreak Formation to Shu Han that day.

However, the amount and manner in which he brought them was quite astonishing. Each type of material had been scraped into tiny fragments, hidden under his fingernails.

He picked at his nails, delivering the materials to Shu Han. A small pile of material fragments mingled with dirt from under his nails.

Looking at Shu Han, Fei Zhengyang said, "I had no choice, it had to be this way. If you don't mind the dirt, I can bear the pain and cram more materials in my…"

"That's enough!" Shu Han quickly cut him off. "This will do!"

Although the quantity was small, as long as there was a little bit, the black jar could replicate a sufficient amount.

Later, Shu Han received a daily delivery of material fragments from Fei Zhengyang, brought back from Treasure Peak. There was a wide variety of materials, and in less than two months, he had gathered all the materials for the Stellar Wish Formation and Silent Heartbreak Formation. He took the time to send these material fragments out of the Purple Sun Sect, handing them over to his main body.

Within two months, Shu Han had successfully crafted an ordinary quality top-grade magic tool and handed it to Fei Zhengyang.

Although Fei Zhengyang found it incredible, he had already grown accustomed to Xu Zimo's incredible abilities. He happily hugged the top-grade magic tool and went out to auction it.

In the following days, the Purple Sun Sect remained peaceful, with no trace of any demonic cultivators.

However, his stingy master had been hiding in his dwelling and refusing to meet anyone since he went to Elder Kang's cave to express his gratitude.

Once when he passed by Purple Abyss Peak, he was pulled aside by Liu Wanchang who was also passing by, and was complained to at length, "This old dog, having secured a place in the Immaculate Realm, has become so arrogant. He doesn't even receive me, does he truly think himself an elder of a sect? His airs are even bigger than the sky!"

Shu Han was helpless, he could only listen to his rant before he could return to the Earthfire House at Treasure Peak. He didn't have time to take care of his Master Uncle's feelings, as he had a series of refining techniques and consumable production methods to research and develop.

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Meanwhile, his main body was steadily cultivating the Heaven-Earth Transformation Technique and the Shrinking Earth into Inches Technique with Shangguan Ruolin in Zhang Village.

With the nourishment of Shangguan Ruolin's Golden Core essence, Shu Han's main body's injury was recovering quickly, and his cultivation had also advanced further.

Furthermore, because he had to cultivate in unison with Shangguan Ruolin every day, leveraging her understanding of the Core Formation stage's spells, he had mastered a certain degree of these two profound techniques.

However, despite all this, he was still unable to break through the bottleneck of the initial peak stage of the Foundation Establishment.

The remaining three months passed by in this calmness. The Immaculate Realm would open in five days.

On this day, Shu Han, along with Shangguan Ruolin, bid farewell to the villagers of Zhang Village.

He lied that his family had found them and that someone was waiting for them in the nearby town to take them back to the city. When the villagers heard this news, everyone came to the entrance of the village to see them off.

Madam Song stood in front of Shangguan Ruolin, red-eyed, holding her small hand and not wanting to let go, while Gua was standing behind his mother, sniffling and forcefully holding back his tears.

After living in Zhang Village for a year, Madam Song had long regarded Shangguan Ruolin as her own daughter. She continuously rubbed Shangguan her hands, choking back tears, "Linlin, you must listen to your brother in the future. There are cakes and malt sugar that I made in the bundle. Take them on the road. If you miss it later, remember to come back to Zhang Village, I will make some more for you then…"

As she said this, Madam Song was already sobbing uncontrollably. Shangguan Ruolin showed a sweet smile, hugged Madam Song's neck, and patted Gua's head, saying, "Thank you for taking care of us this past year…"

Then, Shu Han took her hand and gradually walked out of the villagers' sight.

After leaving Zhang Village, Shangguan Ruolin changed back to her original appearance, her nose stinging as she looked at Zhang Zhang Village in the distance, and asked, "Shu Han, you came out from among ordinary people, how do you think they will fare in the future?"

Shu Han, hugging her, comforted her by saying, "The lifespan of a mortal is but a hundred years, undergoing birth, aging, sickness, and death. In the grand scheme of the universe, they only leave a fleeting instant."

Leaning on Shu Han's shoulder, Shangguan Ruolin said with a melancholic tone, "I want to take them all to Sky Palace Sect and use spiritual medicines and spirit stones to prolong their lives, ensuring they live hundreds of years without worries."

Shu Han shook his head and replied, "It's not appropriate. Mortals have their own lives. If we forcibly pull them into the world of cultivators, it might backfire. Let them live in the environment they are familiar with, living the life they are accustomed to."

"We have been under their care for a year, are we just leaving like this?"

Shu Han chuckled, "I wasn't idle this past year. All the farmland in Zhang Village has been improved by me with spiritual medicines, the water veins of the village have been improved with spirit stones by me, and I've cleaned up all the harmful forces around the village. They will be safe and sound, and live this life peacefully and happily. For mortals, this is the greatest happiness."

Shangguan Ruolin responded, "That can't guarantee they will absolutely have a peaceful life."

"Yes, the world is like this. No one can be certain they can live a peaceful life in this turbulent world. Whether mortal or immortal, everyone has to struggle for survival in this world."

Shu Han looked towards Zhang Village, "They should strive for their own future, as should we."

With that, Shu Han took Shangguan Ruolin and soared into the sky, turning into a streak of light, heading straight for the Purple Sun Sect.

At this time, at the headquarters of the Golden Silkworm Association.

Shangguan Ruotong was sealing her own Golden Core with a profound sealing technique in a secret room. Golden runes were carved onto the Golden Core, gradually suppressing her cultivation to the late peak stage of the Foundation Establishment.

Outside the secret room, someone from the Golden Silkworm Association quietly called, "Senior, it's time. We should set off for the Rainbow Light Sword Valley."

Shangguan Ruotong awoke from her meditation, opened her mouth, and swallowed her Golden Core.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror with clear eyes, as if Shangguan Ruolin was looking at her. The two sisters had been almost identical since they were little. Shangguan Ruotong smiled at her reflection in the mirror, "Sister, I can feel it, you have really changed a lot this year. We sisters, let's settle our matters in this Immaculate Realm!"