Chapter 318: A Mistaken Encounter with Zhou Donghuang
Inside the house, Zhou Donghuang sat cross-legged and meditated until he replenished his inner essential core.
The him now had already consumed many core drugs that could help with the replenis.h.i.+ng of his inner essential core.
After resting for a while and being a.s.sured that he had enough essential core to set up formations, he began to set up energy-gathering positions within the room to allow the four Primordial Soul Powers within him to replenish their inner essential cores as well.
Of course, the Spirit energy on the Ziyun planet was definitely lacking in comparison to the Spirit energy on the other planets he had visited in the past. As a result, these energy-gathering positions had less potency, and he had to rely more on the spirit stone veins within the energy-gathering position to acc.u.mulate Spirit energy for him to train with.
After three days and three nights and after using up many spirit stone veins, Zhou Donghuang managed to get his White Tiger Primordial Soul Power back to its original state of energy.
As for his other three Primordial Soul Powers, they had only managed to regain a small portion of their essential core.
Under such circ.u.mstances, Zhou Donghuang stopped his training and decided to rest further. This was because resting would help his Primordial Soul Powers to recuperate, and it was not urgent for him to help them recover. With his strength now, he was mostly dependent only on the White Tiger Primordial Soul Power.
Furthermore, his White Tiger Primordial Soul Power had already crossed over to the ultimate Primordial Soul stage. In the entire Kaiyuan galaxy, with this White Tiger Primordial Soul Power, he would be able to take on anyone without fear, let alone mere citizens of the Ziyun planet.
Now, what Zhou Donghuang wanted to do most was to see his mother, Lin Lan and his sister, Yun Lu.
Knock knock…
After opening his door, Zhou Donghuang immediately saw some people stand up before the stone table in his courtyard. Out of this group, two were young ladies that he had met when he had first returned. The other two were the people he had wanted to meet the most but couldn’t find.
“Brother!”
A tiny and endearing figure shot directly into the arms of Zhou Donghuang. He smiled and obligingly opened his arms, embracing the little girl.
“Brother… you’re finally back! I’ve missed you, I’ve really missed you.”
The little girl who had ran into Zhou Donghuang’s arms was naturally Yun Lu. Although it had been five years, time did not seem to have any effect on Yun Lu as she still looked extremely small and childish.
Seeing this, Zhou Donghuang was unsurprised, although he felt saddened by this as well.
Yun Lu hadn’t entered p.u.b.erty yet, and she forcefully used up the maximum strength of her muscles. After that, her body could not grow at a normal speed unless she crossed over to the Primordial Soul stage and took over someone else’s body.
If not, she would have to enter the Heavenly stage and reconstruct her own body.
“I’ve missed you too.”
Zhou Donghuang picked Yun Lu up in his arms and walked over to where the other three ladies were. Seeing as his mother did not have too many changes, he spoke in a relieved tone, “Mother, I’m back.”
“It’s good that you’re home.”
The person he was standing before was naturally his foster mother, Lin Lan. It had been five years since she had last seen her son, and tears streamed out her eyes in relief.
As Zhou Donghuang had been venturing out to unknown lands, she had naturally been extremely worried for him.
It was undeniable that Zhou Donghuang had always brought her peace of mind.
However, the places he chose to go were often dangerous galaxies where he could possibly meet with problems at any time. Because of that, over the last few years, she had been concerned about her son’s safety.
Now, seeing as Zhou Donghuang had managed to return home in one piece, she could finally let go of the burden that had been weighing her down the past few years.
“Brother Zhou.”
“Brother Zhou.”
Now, both Yang Zixi and Ren Jiapei stared at Zhou Donghuang with a look of relief as well. They had both lost their childish looks long ago and now looked much more graceful and ladylike.
Although they had seen each other three days ago, that was not the right time for them to reunite, given the circ.u.mstances then. Now that they had the rare chance to meet up again, they were thankful for the opportunity as they recalled their past memories together.
“You’ve all grown up.”
Zhou Donghuang glanced at the two ladies and smiled while sighing to himself internally.
He had a.s.sumed that after these five years, when he next saw these two ladies, they would no longer be infatuated with him like they had been previously. He had hoped that they would go about their own business in their own lives.
Perhaps, they could possibly meet other men that they were interested in.
However, at this moment, upon seeing the two ladies’ hopeful glances, he could infer that he had made a wrong a.s.sumption.
In reality, be it Yang Zixi or Ren Jiapei, even though they had met him when they were still young, Zhou Donghuang’s talents had long been admired by them.
It was not like there weren’t any other suitors that were chasing after them. However, they either found them too childish or too incompetent. Either way, none of these men could match up to the great Zhou Donghuang in their eyes.
To them, he was the golden standard that others would find it hard to match up to.
“Brother, was it fun exploring other galaxies?”
Not only did Yun Lu still look like a child, but her nature was similar to that of a child as well. In the entire Donghuang Sect, everyone endearingly called her by her nickname, “little princess.”
Seeing Yun Lu stare at him with big, watery eyes that were filled with curiosity, Zhou Donghuang sat down at the stone table with her on his lap. He smiled and said, “Of course it was fun.”
Upon hearing this, Yun Lu’s face filled with antic.i.p.ation as well as desire. “In that case… Brother, when can I leave the Ziyun planet and explore other galaxies?”
Yun Lu’s big eyes widened, and she stared wistfully at Zhou Donghuang.
“If you wish to go out there, I can bring you anytime.”
Zhou Donghuang smiled. “After I’ve finished settling my work, let me take you on a trip. Does that sound good to you?”
“Yes!”
Yun Lu’s eyes shone. “Brother, don’t go back on your promise.”
“When have I ever done so before?”
Zhou Donghuang rubbed Yun Lu’s head affectionately and smiled in an indulgent way.
Afterwards, Zhou Donghuang chatted with Lin Lan, Yang Zixi and Ren Jiapei before putting Yun Lu down back on the ground and saying to her, “Yun Lu, let me go find Valley Head Jin. I will return shortly.
“You and Mother can wait here for me.”
As he spoke, Zhou Donghuang glanced at Yang Zixi and Ren Jiapei again. He nodded at them before leaving the yard and heading to where the Lightning Sword Sect’s Autumn Valley Head, He Jin, was currently residing.
“Valley Head.”
Upon reaching his destination, Zhou Donghuang promptly called out a greeting.
Even before he saw He Jin, a door opened from the room adjacent to He Jin’s, and a huge, stocky man walked out with his eyes s.h.i.+ning, “Little brother, you’re here.”
“Mm.”
Zhou Donghuang nodded to Da Zhuang. Using his Divine Will to scan the latter, it was not difficult to sense that Da Zhuang was now at the ultimate Dharma stage, and he was close to crossing over into the Divine Transformation stage.
“Da Zhuang, you have been working hard these few days.” Zhou Donghuang smiled. “You’re about to cross over into the Divine Transformation stage.”
Upon hearing this, Da Zhuang rubbed his head abashedly and said, “Third Senior Sister has been training hard. Because of that, I haven’t slacked off either. Furthermore, like Third Senior Sister said, in the future, we will have to return to the Lightning Sword Sect to take our revenge. If we do not work hard now, we will not be able to do so.”
“Third Senior Sister…”
As he thought of He Mengxi, Zhou Donghuang could not help but sigh to himself.
Perhaps, to Da Zhuang, the loss of the Lightning Sword Sect was not too devastating. He had only truly cared for He Jin and He Mengxi, his two saviors, and the other people were not too much of a concern to him.
However, to He Mengxi, the Lightning Sword Sect had been her home and where she had grown up as a child.
Now, that home was gone.
“Donghuang is here.”
With the sound of a door opening, He Jin walked out of his room as well. Compared to the He Jin a few days ago, the He Jin now was still skinny. He hadn’t completely recovered, but he had regained most of his energy.
“Come, sit.”
He Jin sat down at the stone table in the yard before calling out to Zhou Donghuang. At the same time, he glanced at Da Zhuang and said, “Da Zhuang, do help us brew a pot of tea.”
“Yes, Valley Head,” Da Zhuang replied courteously and went off to find a teapot.
As for Zhou Donghuang, he descended from the skies and sat down in front of He Jin.
“Valley Head, I’m sorry to have implicated you, the Autumn Valley and our sect.”
After sitting down, Zhou Donghuang spoke up apologetically.
“It is not your fault.” He Jin shook his head. “It is merely that our biggest enemy came to find us ahead of time… As you said before, it is also because of the Spring Valley Head’s son, Liu Lang.
“You merely brought forward what was bound to happen eventually.
“Furthermore, in your dream, I died… Instead, I was well prepared and had trained hard with the Thousand-Star Sword Technique that you had pa.s.sed down to me to reach the Divine Transformation stage, and I managed to escape with Mengxi and Da Zhuang, saving three lives in the process.
“I could even say that if you had not appeared, the ending that had befallen the three of us would have been similar to your dream where only Mengxi managed to survive,” He Jin said.
“However, although I had crossed over to the Divine Transformation stage and am technically stronger than any typical Divine Transformation adept, when the strong force of the Qi Dynasty attacked us, I was only able to save two people, Mengxi and Da Zhuang.
“As for the rest, I was unable to be of any help…”
As he spoke to this point, He Jin’s face, which had originally been peaceful, now became slightly pinched. Subconsciously, he began to clench his fists and his fingernails cut into his palm, causing him to bleed.
“Father, you tried your best.”
He Mengxi appeared beside Da Zhuang, who was ready with a fresh pot of tea. Clearly, he had informed her that Zhou Donghuang was here.
“Little brother, I’m extremely relieved to see that you are fine. I was worried that you would have returned to the sect and run into the poison master of the Qi Dynasty. After we left, we knew that the Qi Dynasty had stationed some servants near the sect to lie in wait for you. After all, you are perceived as a great threat to them.
“However, because Father was poisoned, we had no chance of stopping them or getting rid of them.”
As she spoke, He Mengxi sat down as well.
At this point, Da Zhuang began to give out teacups and pour fresh tea for the other three.
“Third Senior Sister, I did return to the Lightning Sword Sect.” Zhou Donghuang smiled and glanced at He Mengxi before shaking his head.
“I only returned to the Ziyun planet after realizing that the Lightning Sword Sect had been executed and knowing that you all had escaped.
“This was because I had guessed that you three would be waiting here for me, and clearly, my guess was right.”
Upon hearing Zhou Donghuang’s words, He Mengxi’s facial expression changed drastically.
“What!?… You made a trip back to the sect?”