CHAPTER 978: CHAPTER 309: "SEVEN YEARS HAVE PASSED.

He didn’t think much more.

Instead, he took a deep breath and continued his Cultivation. He had been in the palace for seven years now, and during these seven years, most of the Spirit Stones were almost used up, with only over twenty million left. If it weren’t for the continuous supply of Spiritual Energy, these Spirit Stones would have been exhausted long ago.

...

Seven years.

Seven years can change a lot of things.

For example, the Bai Family on the "Qi Tian Continent".

Originally, with the help of Chen Qiu, they were preparing to advance into the Bai Family on the Fourth-grade Jiang Taiping Continent. However, after Chen Qiu had been gone for seven years, they ultimately remained on the Qi Tian Continent.

"Truly, the world is unpredictable..."

At this moment, the Bai Family Patriarch was standing in the Bai Family courtyard, gazing at the white clouds on the horizon with a dazed expression. It had been seven years since the incident with that Secret Realm, and the thing he regretted the most in his life was handing over the ticket to that Secret Realm to Chen Qiu.

He didn’t know what happened in the Secret Realm.

But he knew something big had happened.

He spent a lot of manpower and resources to find all the names of those who entered this Secret Realm, and the conclusion he reached was that in these seven years, not a single one of those people returned. That is to say, including Chen Qiu and the Bai Family’s three Heavenly Prides, all died in that Secret Realm.

But...

How could it be!

With the senior’s strength, how could he stumble in a realm that only allowed "Unification Realm" at most? It was simply unreasonable!

Although he was reluctant to believe it, the incident had already happened, and he could only choose to believe it.

In the days before, he still hoped that the senior would suddenly return, but as time flowed, he had to accept reality. The senior indeed fell in that Secret Realm, and the Bai Family’s three Heavenly Prides, whom they had invested a large financial cost to cultivate, would not return either.

After this incident, his ambition suddenly diminished a lot, and his whole personality became somewhat resigned to fate.

He didn’t have much fight left in him.

Even someone like the senior could perish just like that; is there anything eternal in this world? Even if his Cultivation was higher, even if he led his family to greater heights, so what? Isn’t it still possible that one day, it could all end abruptly?

It was all meaningless.

No one can resist; it’s best to go with the flow.

...

And at this moment, on a certain First Grade Continent,

a Deceit Buddha known as "Grinding Plate" was sitting in a deserted temple with a few scholars, warming themselves around a bonfire, trying to ward off the cold.

"I say, scholar, your leader isn’t coming back, so why are you still trying to complete your leader’s task?"

"Feels somewhat meaningless, like answering test questions when the examiner isn’t even there."

"..."

The scholar looked up at Deceit Buddha, then lowered his head to gaze at the small flames in the bonfire, softly saying, "If that’s the case, then why do you still deliver to us every month?"

"It’s a promise!"

Deceit Buddha scratched the back of his head with some annoyance: "The Evil Demon Clan values integrity very highly, alright? I promised your leader to deliver for three hundred years, but in the end, your leader only gave me two strands of ’Luck of Yin Soul’, missing one by agreement, meaning I can only deliver for two hundred years."

"This is the spirit of the contract; the Evil Demon Clan values this spirit very much!"

"What you promise, you must fulfill, otherwise why promise it at all?"

"But your leader, one strand of ’Luck of Yin Soul’ is still owed to me. Doesn’t he know I have Immortal Cancer? Where has he been all these years? I almost died, damn it!"

The scholar, expression calm, picked up a stick and tossed it into the bonfire casually saying, "Are you dead now?"

"Didn’t I already give you that missing strand of Luck of Yin Soul?"

"It’s not the same!"

Deceit Buddha’s expression turned serious and solemn: "The contract was set with your leader, so that strand of Luck of Yin Soul must be given to me by your leader. Since your leader still owes me one strand, I can only deliver for two hundred years. So far, almost eight years have passed, leaving only 192 years."

"As for the one you gave me, that’s between you and me; a separate matter."

"To be honest, your leader might really be gone. I know you’ve all been waiting, thinking your leader will definitely not die. In fact, your leader ranks among the top three individuals I’ve ever seen, in terms of both potential and destiny."

"An absolute Evil Heavenly Pride."

"But—"

"Even greater Heavenly Prides, I’ve witnessed their deaths with my own eyes. Nowadays, there’s no one who won’t die. Waiting endlessly is pointless; it’s better to do something more meaningful."

"Then what do you say is meaningful," the scholar asked in a soft tone, lifting his head. "Establishing a sect? Or training in a Secret Realm, or perhaps raising Cultivation?"

"For example, teaching your mute little brother to speak."

"I’m not mute."

The scholar’s younger brother, who hadn’t spoken in ages, suddenly shook his head and said.

"You can talk?"

Deceit Buddha looked at the scholar’s younger brother in shock, then his expression turned slightly strange: "You articulate quite clearly. Since you can speak and aren’t stuttering, why haven’t you spoken all this time?"

"What’s the name of your little brother?"

The scholar did not respond, only brushed the dust off his clothes, walked towards the temple exit, stretched, and said casually, "Alright, I’m off to work. I’ll see you next time for a chat."

"Bring some Burning Knife next time," Deceit Buddha shouted, watching the scholar’s departing figure. "In this freezing weather, how can we survive without spirits? Bring some prepared food too; don’t always come empty-handed, damn it, did you hear me?"