679: Chapter 679 The Wind and Clouds Change

"Before you go into seclusion, aren't you going back to see your parents?" Qin Yu looked earnest. "Besides, I told you, Fengyun Pavilion has a surprise waiting for you."

"Oh, right, right, right. Let's go see everyone before I go into seclusion. I'm also curious about what they're like now after several hundred years." You smiled sheepishly.

"Since that's the case, why not buy a mansion in Wuji Immortal City first?" Meaty suggested.

You thought that made sense, so you immediately took them to buy a large, eight-courtyard mansion. The mansion even came with a defensive Formation and a Spirit Gathering Formation; although they were useless to you now, having them was better than not having them.

After moving into the mansion, Meaty chose a side courtyard to settle down in.

You and Qin Yu set off and returned to the Tianhuang Continent.

It was night on the Tianhuang Continent, and heavy rain was falling in many places, with dark clouds covering the sky.

You hovered in the sky and released your Divine Thought, and the entire continent instantly appeared in your Sea of Consciousness.

After reaching the Mahayana stage, your Divine Thought was unbelievably clear.

Everything was laid out before you; you could see it clearly and hear it distinctly.

The more you saw, the angrier you became, and your brows furrowed tighter and tighter.

What did you see?

Of the more than one hundred dynasties, only a dozen or so remained.

The population had plummeted to less than one-tenth of what it once was.

Traces of war were left all over the continent.

The common people at the bottom were in utter misery.

Barren plains, dilapidated official roads, abandoned villages and towns—corpses were everywhere, refugees were rising up, and bandits were running rampant.

Slavery, oppression, and the reckless taking of lives were displayed vividly at this moment.

The entire Tianhuang Continent seemed to have fallen into Hell.

Longyang City was different too.

It hadn't changed for the better; it had become extremely extravagant.

It was foul and corrupt, filled with debauchery and extravagance.

You had originally planned to lead the people of the Tianhuang Continent to storm the Heavenly Palace in the future.

Now, seeing this mess, it was simply a huge joke.

You suppressed your anger and looked at Qin Yu: "Is this the surprise you were talking about?"

She also had her brows furrowed, seemingly completely unaware of what had happened here.

You looked at her expression, and your tone softened: "You don't know what happened in the Tianhuang Secret Realm? What about Qingming? It didn't tell you either?"

"My last seclusion lasted over a hundred years. I didn't expect it to become like this in such a short time," Qin Yu said with a gloomy expression.

Qingming's voice resounded from the sky: "I have been sleeping and meditating for the last hundred years, and I only just woke up."

You were aware of the Artifact Spirit's slumber.

It wasn't lying, nor was there any need to.

Just like Xuantian, it would sleep during periods of recovery, Breakthrough, or meditation.

You took a deep breath and swept your Divine Thought over the entire Tianhuang Continent again, including the Fengyun Pavilion mountain range floating in the sky.

A moment later, you withdrew your Divine Thought and said, "Chen Yuanyuan passed away from old age over a hundred years ago. The current Acting Pavilion Master is Meng Duoduo."

You had long anticipated Chen Yuanyuan's passing. You just didn't expect that Meng Duoduo would be the one to succeed her.

Chen Yuanyuan had no Spiritual Root, so living to be over a hundred years old was already the limit.

Even if Qingming had infused her with the strength of the Nascent Soul Stage, it couldn't give her the lifespan of a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator.

That bit of strength was actually a burden to her Mortal Physical Body.

Being able to live to over a hundred was entirely thanks to Heaven And Earth Treasure.

Hearing that the Acting Pavilion Master was Meng Duoduo, Qin Yu frowned and muttered, "Why her? Her Aptitude is mediocre. She should only be at the Nascent Soul cultivation level now, right?"

Fengyun Pavilion's daily affairs were usually handled by the Elder Council, while the Acting Pavilion Master was responsible for final decisions.

After Chen Yuanyuan died, the Elder Council elected Meng Duoduo.

Qin Yu had just happened to be in seclusion for over a hundred years, so it was normal for her not to know about this.

Actually, such things were all too common in major factions, let alone Fengyun Pavilion.

Some Family Old Ancestors would come out of seclusion after a thousand years only to find their Family completely changed, and they would only realize what had happened when enemies came knocking at their door.

You didn't pursue the matter and changed the subject, asking, "Are Cheng Rongrong, Chu Chu, Xue Miaoyun, Song Yang, and Song Yu not in the Secret Realm?"

"After they achieved a Breakthrough to the Soul Transformation stage over a hundred years ago, they went out to train," Qin Yu said slowly. "Later, when everyone's strength improved, the resources of the Tianhuang Continent couldn't satisfy them, and I alone couldn't support their cultivation."

"So I had Qingming open an exit. Once their cultivation reaches the Nascent Soul Peak, they can come and go as they please to find their own ways to achieve a Breakthrough to the Soul Transformation stage."

After a pause, she added, "I have already sent messages to them; they should be back soon."

"What are their cultivation levels now?" you asked.

"They have all entered the Void Refining stage."

You nodded. It was about what you expected; their Aptitude should be on the same level as Meaty's.

But you suddenly felt something was wrong—why was Chu Chu included?

"They? Chu Chu has also entered the Void Refining stage?" you asked.

"This is exactly the surprise I wanted to tell you about," Qin Yu said. "She hid her Aptitude at first. It wasn't until she achieved a Breakthrough to the Soul Transformation stage that I realized she had an Immortal Spiritual Root and was a Grandmist Sword Body."

You frowned.

You remembered Fragrant Lord Qiao saying that Chu Chu had a Medium Grade True Spiritual Root.

So she had been hiding it all along.

Why would someone with such Prodigy Aptitude hide it?

But come to think of it, that made sense.

She had seen enough of the coldness of human relationships and was wary of people, which was reasonable.

You glanced at the Tianhuang Continent, which had fallen into chaos, shook your head, and sighed in a low voice: "Power, wealth, and status are indeed the best ways to test one's character and ability. Clearly, Meng Duoduo is not up to the task."

After a pause, you smiled again: "The fact that those Elders are willing to listen to her, a Nascent Soul Cultivator, shows she is quite adept at handling people. If she used this effort on the Righteous Path, undeniably, she would be a talent."

Qin Yu didn't respond and looked at you: "Looking at this situation, Fengyun Pavilion is rotten to the core. It won't be easy to resolve, right?"

You originally wanted to lecture her a bit, but you swallowed the words that came to your lips.

Come to think of it, you yourself had been in seclusion for over two hundred years; what right did you have to lecture her?

But once in seclusion, one must be focused; one's mind becomes immersed in it, perception decreases, and one's sense of time becomes blurred. You couldn't help it.

"Let's go, let's save the people first."

After speaking, your figure moved, and you landed inside a mansion.

Low thunder rumbled above the mansion, and a drizzle fell, blown about by the wind.

As lightning flashed, the courtyard flickered between light and dark, and everyone's face brightened accordingly.

This mansion was not large and was located in the south of Longyang City—which was formerly Nanjiang City.

After cultivation became prevalent on the Tianhuang Continent, Longyang City became the only large Immortal City, and the nearby cities were all merged into it, making Nanjiang City the southern part of the city.

At this moment, the mansion was surrounded tightly by about a hundred people. The lowest cultivation level was Foundation Establishment, there were a dozen or so Golden Core cultivators, and the leaders were two Nascent Soul Cultivators.

"Flower-Filled Tower, Winter Plum, does your Fengyun Pavilion really intend to kill us all?"

The woman who spoke had a full figure, fire in her eyes, and she gritted her teeth while glaring at the two people opposite her.

She was Zhixi, and you had met her before.

Her Aptitude was not bad, but due to a lack of resources, it had taken over two hundred years for her to just Breakthrough to the Early Nascent Soul Stage.

The dozen or so people behind her were all missing arms or legs, either blind or injured—they were all orphans she had taken in before.

Over the years, they had endured countless hardships. Also because of the lack of resources, they were generally only at the Foundation Establishment or Golden Core cultivation levels.