Chapter 1: Xiao Haer (Part 2)

The handsome old man said, “We still have a chance!”
Guo Shier shook his head and said nothing more. He understood what the handsome old man wanted; he wouldn’t object. But he was well aware that the chances of surpassing the ninth-tier altar were extremely low. Most importantly, he didn’t have time—unless he stayed in this talisman world. Yet he didn’t want to be reborn here forever; that would be terrifying.
Though this world was wonderful, forcing Guo Shier to live here forever would be utterly despairing. No wonder Li Ran was determined to leave. Guo Shier himself didn’t want to be trapped here permanently either. The only chance was to leave with Li Ran—the greater world was where he longed to be.
Guo Shier said, “If we’re leaving soon, there’s no need to rush. Focus on crafting more defensive sacrificial treasures. I reckon… the journey ahead will be extremely dangerous. If we don’t want anything to go wrong along the way, we need to be well-prepared.”
The handsome old man nodded. “Hmm, okay. I’ll search through the ancestral memories to find some highly powerful defensive sacrificial treasures.”
Guo Shier smiled slightly. With the handsome old man’s help, he could avoid a lot of trouble. Bored while sitting, he sent a fragment of his soul into the altar’s secret realm.
Although it was a super-small secret realm, its significance to Guo Shier was immense. It wasn’t just for storing items—it also cultivated various talismanic plants, especially those that could grow unique foods. With this realm, he would never go hungry.
First, he saw a forest. It wasn’t an ordinary forest but one specially planted by the handsome old man, featuring trees with extremely strong talismanic properties. This included the ancient tree he had just obtained a wood core from, along with dozens of other huge ancient trees. There were also large areas growing Spirit-Storing Wood and Flashing Spirit Wood, as well as Stringed Snail Wood obtained from the Great Abyss Pool.
These were all woods used for talismanic purposes. The secret realm also had numerous unique fruit trees, strange and diverse, many of which Guo Shier had never seen in his past life. Quite a few were extremely rare even in the talisman world. Most of the fruits from these trees were used by the handsome old man to make wine and special dried fruits, mainly for making preserves and cooking seasonings. A small portion was used as material for talisman pills.
In the secret realm, a fragment of Guo Shier’s soul could already take on a human form, though it was very faint, nowhere near as solid as the handsome old man’s soul, which resembled a real person.

Guo Shier didn’t walk through the secret realm; instead, he floated, drifting slowly through its skies. This didn’t mean his control over the realm was inferior to that of the old man—since the realm was already integrated into the altar, he could move anything within it with just a slight thought.

He arrived by the Green Spring he had just discovered. There was more than just this spring in the realm—countless ordinary springs existed, and besides the Green Spring, there was also the Soul Spring. This Soul Spring, also known as the Golden Spring, nourished a grove of mutated Soul Vine trees. Back at the Great Abyss Pool, Li Ran had taken away the Soul Spring and the main roots of the mutated Soul Vine trees, but Guo Shier had gathered a large amount of their roots. Nourished by the Soul Spring, these trees grew exceptionally well; given even a hundred years, or perhaps not so long, they could develop consciousness.

In addition, Guo Shier had collected a great deal of minerals, all products of preliminary purification, which he buried deep underground in the realm, gradually replacing the rocks and soil there.

After circling the realm once, Guo Shier inwardly marveled. Unnoticed, he had accumulated a vast amount of things—countless plants and seeds. With this realm, as long as the altar remained intact, he could keep all of these things.

However, there was one major problem: after his death, would his soul take the altar with it? If not, everything he had collected would vanish completely. If he could take the altar with him, his next life would be incredibly wealthy.

Guo Shier shook his head, realizing he was being overly idealistic. Unless proven otherwise, he had no way of knowing whether the altar would follow his soul through reincarnation.

With a slight thought, Guo Shier thought of another crucial issue. If the altar could follow his soul through reincarnation, then with a baby’s fragile body, a powerful soul might render the baby intellectually disabled for life. It would take countless reincarnations for the soul’s strength to diminish to a level the baby’s body could handle—this wasn’t what he wanted.

“Old Man, come quickly.”

The old man arrived in the realm and asked, “Kid, what’s wrong now? Don’t you know I’m busy?”

Guo Shier gave a bitter smile and explained his doubts. The old man was stunned for a moment before saying, “It’s not entirely impossible. There might be a way.”

He continued, “Sealing the soul’s power might work.”

Guo Shier asked, “How do I seal the soul’s power?”

The handsome old man said, “You just need to keep a trace of your soul outside, sealing the rest inside the altar. After reincarnation, as your body grows stronger, the power of your soul will gradually be released. Once it reaches a certain level, you’ll be able to use the altar again.”
Guo Shier smiled bitterly. “Every time my soul reincarnates, I’m in a daze. How am I supposed to seal it?”
The handsome old man snapped, “You idiot! Your soul is in a daze during reincarnation because it’s not strong enough! You’re now focusing solely on cultivating your soul. Compared to its current strength, your soul in your past life… must be thousands of times weaker. How can it compare?”
Guo Shier still shook his head. “I think… I won’t die of old age naturally. For professionals, almost none of them die a peaceful death—they usually die in battles or adventures. I simply won’t have time to seal my soul’s power.”
The handsome old man said calmly, “You don’t need to seal it. Don’t I exist?”
Guo Shier was shocked. He said, “Handsome old man, you also know the Soul Scriptures. Once I die, you’ll be completely free and able to reincarnate. Why stay?”
The handsome old man smiled bitterly. “That’s impossible… I’ve long realized that since entering your altar and growing with you, I’ve become one with it. If you die, I can’t survive. If the altar is destroyed, so am I. I can only stay with you forever… Damn it, don’t you think… I’m really unlucky?”
Guo Shier was speechless for a while before saying, “What should we do? I… I thought you could break free from the altar and reincarnate…”
The handsome old man smiled bitterly. “I used to think so too, but ever since you reached the ninth-level altar, I understood I can’t leave. Heh, because my soul has fully merged with the altar. When you reached the ninth level, I became part of it—separable no more.”
Guo Shier said guiltily, “Handsome old man, it’s my fault for delaying you. I…”
The handsome old man said, “Stop it. Don’t apologize. This is my fate! Since stepping onto your altar, it’s like boarding a pirate ship—once on board, there’s no way off. Don’t be sad either. This was my own choice. If you hadn’t brought me out back then, I might have long since perished. I wouldn’t have seen a professional at a ninth-level altar emerge. So… I’m not regretful.” He spoke with great acceptance.
Guo Shier was deeply moved. He said, “Handsome old man, it seems we’ll be tied together for lifetimes.”

The handsome old man rolled his eyes and said, “I’m not interested in men…” He added, “I’m going back first to prepare the sealing spells, so I won’t be in a rush later.”
Guo Shier was stunned. Watching the handsome old man disappear, he said, “Uh, I’m not interested either…”
…
After waiting on the mountain top for over ten days, Halechi was the first to return. He looked disheveled and listless. Curious, Guo Shier asked, “Old Ha, did you suffer a loss?”
Halechi replied, “Don’t even mention it. I fought against Aizek… Damn it, it was completely baffling…”
Guo Shier said in admiration, “Old Ha, you’re amazing… You actually managed to fight Aizek. That guy is like a humanoid monster, and you still managed to hold your own?”
Halechi retorted, “What do you mean ‘like a humanoid monster’? He’s a fucking humanoid monster, an even more mutated one at that. Who did I offend? I can’t even control my own wife… yet she comes to bring me trouble. Damn it, it makes me furious.”
Guo Shier was amazed. He knew that Meili liked Halechi, but Aizek was extremely powerful. Even a professional at the ninth-tier altar might not be able to gain the upper hand against him. It was truly remarkable that Halechi, a professional at the eighth-tier altar, could withstand Aizek’s attacks. He asked, “Did Meili help you?”
At the mention of Meili, Halechi almost exploded. Grumbling angrily, he said, “I don’t need her help… Ugh, damn it… I’ve never been this unlucky!” He cursed repeatedly, clearly furious.
Guo Shier couldn’t help but laugh—not out of schadenfreude, but because he found Halechi amusing. It must have been Meili who helped him; otherwise, Halechi would have suffered greatly. Aizek might not dare kill Halechi, but beating him up wouldn’t bother him at all. If he hit Halechi, Halechi could fight back if he had the ability—though that was obviously impossible.
Guo Shier said, “Meili is pretty good… After all, she’s protecting you.” He said this with a smile, tossing out trivial remarks. Though he knew it was best not to provoke Halechi at this time, seeing his aggrieved expression made him want to tease him a little.
Halechi glared and demanded, “Are you mocking me?”
Guo Shier quickly denied it, “How could I? I’m just sympathetic to you, haha, sympathetic… You know?”

Halechi became even angrier. He shouted, “I don’t fucking need sympathy… You… I want your sympathy? I… Halechi is a man of integrity, a top expert on the Eight-Level Altar… Who the hell does I need to sympathize with?” He was completely frantic, scaring Guo Shier to step back quickly to avoid getting into a fight with him. Though he wasn’t afraid, it wasn’t necessary.

At that moment, Meili flew back. She looked much more energetic than Halechi, beaming with joy, and her wounds had fully healed. Guo Shier couldn’t help but admire her resilience—it was truly remarkable. Not long ago, this woman had fought against a wild beast and managed to kill it despite being covered in wounds. Who would have thought she’d recover completely in just over ten days?

“Xiao Haer, you’re back! I had to look everywhere for you…”

Guo Shier’s legs turned weak. He thought, “Damn, Xiao Haer… What an affectionate nickname.”