Chapter 350: Return to Qiyuan

Within the Wuji Gate.
Su Che and Tian Yin returned to the cultivation realm of Qiyuan Star. The portal here was located deep underground beneath a desolate mountain, just a few thousand miles away from the Wuji Gate, so it only took fifteen minutes for Tian Yin to return to her sect.
Su Che dropped Tian Yin off outside the Wuji Gate and it was time to part ways for now.
“After reaching the Infant Condensation stage, I plan to enter the Mi Xian Realm again. Will you come too?” Su Che asked gently.
“If you want me to accompany you, I will go with you,” Tian Yin replied. She said this because she felt his personal secrets were too numerous, and he might not want her around.
However, Su Che believed that Tian Yin’s past life was that of a great shaman, who knew well all about the Mi Xian Realm and the traditions of the shaman clan. With her guidance, he could avoid making foolish mistakes and taking detours.
“I’ll come to find you first, and then we’ll search together for the location of the Mi Xian Realm,” Su Che decided immediately.
“There’s no need to search,” Tian Yin replied, showing her omniscient nature. “I can guess where the Mi Xian Realm is now because, in this life, I have a human body. Without the Mi Xian Command Flag, even if I find it, I won’t be able to enter. The guardian of the Mi Xian Realm is rigid in thinking and only recognizes the command flag, refusing to listen to reason.”
Su Che nodded with a smile. “Yes, that guardian is indeed inflexible and old-fashioned. I’ve already experienced that.”
After agreeing on this, Tian Yin seemed in high spirits. Winking playfully, she said, “Don’t think just because I’m only at the mid-stage of the Golden Dan stage now. If I really focus, I might even reach the Infant Condensation stage before you. How about we bet who will reach it first?”
“Why not?” Su Che replied without hesitation, full of confidence. “I’ll be first, so I bet I’ll win.”
“Fine, I’ll bet I’ll be first too,” Tian Yin said with a smile. “The loser must agree to one request from the winner. Is that okay?”
“One is too few. Three would be better,” Su Che said eagerly.
“Then three,” Tian Yin said before turning to leave. After walking a short distance, she turned back and added, “Su Che, you’re doomed to lose!”
Her voice was clear and melodious, like heavenly music.
Watching her disappear inside the Wuji Gate, Su Che then took to the air, retrieved the Star Emperor Compass, but this time, the pilot wouldn’t be Tai Wu—it would be Yan Gu.
Inside the Immortal Prison, Lao He had already removed Tai Wu’s soul shackles and placed them on Yan Gu. In other words, the face of the purple jade statue figure had now become Yan Gu’s appearance.

The Soul Shackles have miraculous effects, capable of transforming anyone into the most loyal servant to oneself. Unfortunately, only one person can be enslaved at a time—and that person must be the strongest among those in the Immortal Prison.
Yan Gu, who possessed the cultivation level of the late Yuan Ying stage and was unknown to anyone in the cultivation world of Qi Yuan Star, was naturally the perfect candidate for transformation into a servant.
Originally irritable, Yan Gu had now become utterly obedient. As soon as he emerged from the Immortal Prison, he knelt down in respect upon seeing Su Che and said, “Yan Gu greets his master.”
Su Che waved his hand to let him stand up and then pointed out the direction—toward Tian Xuan Zong.
A distance of 100,000 miles could be covered in just two minutes using the Star Emperor Compass, which required only the cultivation level of the mid-stage Yuan Ying stage.
Since Su Che did not hide his identity, many people along the way recognized his appearance and his Star Emperor Compass. Among them were spies from various sects, who hurriedly sent messages to their respective sects: “Tian Yu has appeared in a certain area. Judging from his route, he seems to be on his way back to Tian Xuan Zong.”
However, this was all pointless. The speed of communication talismans was slower than that of the Star Emperor Compass. By the time the various sects received the messages, Su Che had already returned to his sect. Such messages were nothing but nonsense.
Moreover, with Yan Gu as his bodyguard and his own strength having greatly improved, he was no longer afraid even of those Yuan Ying-stage elders from the chaotic factions.
From now on, in the cultivation world of Qi Yuan Star, Su Che no longer needed to hide his true identity. He could walk around openly under his true face.
Although he might not be invincible in this cultivation world, his self-protection ability was more than sufficient.
Half an hour later, atop Tian Feng, the leader of Tian Xuan Zong, the seven Yuan Ying-stage elders who had already received the news gathered in the leadership hall. They watched as Tian Yu, their top disciple who had been away for eight months, strode into the hall.
Seeing Yan Gu following Su Che, who clearly possessed the strength of the mid-stage Yuan Ying stage, yet unknown to the supreme leader, the leader asked, “Tian Yu, who is this fellow?”
The Yuan Ying-stage elders from various sects in the cultivation world of Qi Yuan Star recognized each other. Especially since this person had the cultivation level of the mid-stage Yuan Ying stage and was certainly not a newcomer who had just achieved this level, the supreme leader and the other elders were curious: Where did Tian Yu find such a person?
Since the visitor was a guest and also at the Yuan Ying stage, Tian Xuan Zong had to show him due respect. Therefore, Su Che needed to introduce him before the two sides could formally exchange greetings.

To the surprise of the several elders, Su Che did not speak; instead, it was the Yuan Ying cultivator who took the initiative to bow and greet them, “I am Yan Gu, from the cultivation realm of Mu Lan Star. I am now the personal guard of Master Tian Yu. Yan Gu, it is an honor to meet all of you, fellow cultivators.”

Before coming, Su Che had already instructed Yan Gu not to reveal his status as a servant, not to mention the soul shackles, and certainly not to disclose anything about the internal spaces of the Immortal Prison to anyone. Moreover, servants also deserve dignity—he could present himself as his own personal guard and treat the elders of Tian Xuan Sect as equal fellow cultivators, without having to bow low or act subservient.

Yan Gu was deeply grateful for this. Although controlled by the soul shackles and unable to disobey his master’s orders, he remained clear-minded, with normal thoughts and a sense of pride and integrity. He would feel extremely frustrated and uncomfortable if forced to act humbly around others other than his master.

Hearing Yan Gu’s self-introduction, the Supreme Patriarch and the others were utterly shocked and filled with wonder: Master? Personal guard? What was going on? How could Tian Yu have acquired a subordinate with such profound cultivation? It was utterly inconceivable that a Yuan Ying elder would address Tian Yu as master.

“Over these eight months, I traveled to other planets in the vast starry sky and broadened my horizons,” Su Che said vaguely. “By chance, I acquired such a companion. There are some details I can’t explain, but since he is my companion, it’s as if Tian Xuan Sect now has another Yuan Ying elder.”

Eight Yuan Yings!

What Su Che meant was that from now on, Tian Xuan Sect would have its eighth Yuan Ying elder. As for the matters related to the Mi Xian Realm and the Witch Clan, Su Che didn’t intend to mention them, not wanting the elders to worry needlessly. To put it bluntly, these matters were beyond their comprehension. A mere Tian Xuan Sect neither had the ability to confront the Spirit Realm nor to interfere in the affairs of the Witch Clan. As the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind—often, ignorance is bliss.

The Supreme Patriarch and the others immediately understood that these matters were Su Che’s personal secrets and couldn’t be disclosed. But that didn’t matter at all. What mattered was that Tian Xuan Sect now had another Yuan Ying elder—a truly wonderful thing worth celebrating!

The several elders were already accustomed to Su Che’s extraordinary abilities. Every time he left and returned, he always amazed them.

After being shocked so many times, it eventually became a habit. The several elders had just been discussing: Tianyu had been away for eight months. Who knew what surprises he would bring back this time? Unexpectedly, they still underestimated him—he had once again added a Yuan Ying cultivator to the sect, and he was even at the mid-stage of Yuan Ying. What’s more, this surprise was just the beginning… Su Che stood in the center of the grand hall and took out a huge pile of items—over 200 in total, all being extremely rare Five Elements Spirits of level 9 or above. Holding a bronze treasure gourd, he first said to Guang Wu with a smile, “Elder Guang Wu, I was really lucky on this trip. I managed to obtain seeds for nine types of level 10 spiritual flames. So, I need to ask you to spare some effort to cultivate them.” Spiritual flame seeds could be used to cultivate more of the same kind of spiritual flames. On the surface, it seemed that Guang Wu, who was at the mid-stage of Yuan Ying, would do a much better job than Su Che. In the same amount of time, if Guang Wu cultivated spiritual flames and gave half of them to Su Che, it would still be far more than what Su Che could cultivate on his own. But this was just superficial. The third layer of the Immortal Prison had incredible functions for cultivating, merging, and creating spiritual flames. In reality, Su Che had already produced many more types of level 10 spiritual flames there. What he showed now was just an excuse to show gratitude to Guang Wu. In fact, talents like the Five Elements Spirits could be cultivated infinitely. By giving these spiritual flames to Guang Wu today, after some cultivation, Guang Wu would end up with several times, or even a dozen times, as many of the same kind of spiritual flames. It could be said to be a mutually beneficial arrangement, and Su Che would definitely not suffer any loss. “Nine types of level 10 spiritual flames?” Guang Wu’s old eyes widened, his disbelief evident. No matter how well he controlled his emotions, he couldn’t hide his shock. Having lived for hundreds of years and traveled almost throughout the cultivation world of Qi Yuan Star, he had only managed to obtain one type of level 10 Yin flame. Later, when Su Che uncovered the ruins of Tian Ya Hai Ge, he obtained level 10 Yang flames—the Five Elements Heavenly Spiritual Flames—which allowed Guang Wu to also obtain level 10 Yin and Yang flames. But today, Su Che had suddenly produced nine types of level 10 spiritual flames—this was simply… Guang Wu didn’t know how to describe it. He felt that Tianyu wasn’t just a reincarnation of an immortal but rather an immortal descending to the mortal world. Otherwise, how could he accomplish such things? After shocking Guang Wu, Su Che then went on to shock the other elders one by one—level 10 spiritual water, spiritual wood, spiritual soil, spiritual metal, and various Five Elements Spirits were presented before everyone.

It can be said that many of these Five Elements spirits had never even been heard of by the ancestors; they clearly were not products of the Qi Yuan Star’s cultivation realm, but rather unique to other cultivation realms in the starry skies. Aside from spiritual fire, Su Che lacked the ability to cultivate other types of Five Elements spirits. For example, if someone like Su Che, who specialized in fire cultivation, tried to cultivate level-10 spiritual water, it would only degrade its quality, wasting a precious resource. Therefore, by leaving their cultivation to the ancestral masters, Su Che would be able to acquire more Five Elements spirits in the near future. Although he might not need them himself, storing them in the Immortal Prison as a backup could never hurt. Each ancestor could obtain about ten types of Five Elements spirits, which would undoubtedly be of great benefit to their own cultivation. Especially for the five ancestors who had not yet reached the later stages of the Yuan Ying stage, what they gained today would play an extremely important role in their future progress.