2: Fifteen years have passed in the blink of an eye; a guest has arrived at the Immortal Sect.

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, fifteen years have passed in Desolate Profound City.

Under a locust tree, green leaves shielded the scorching sun as a figure sat cross-legged in cultivation.

Although there were no signs of spiritual energy gathering as the youth sat with bent knees, his posture remained incredibly earnest.

Several younger members of the Qin Family stood outside the courtyard whispering, their eyes occasionally glancing at the thin figure inside.

"The Young Lord is still sensing heaven and earth. He's so hardworking, and he looks so handsome when he's serious."

"Hmph, what's the point of blind effort? Isn't he still a waste without any cultivation?"

"He's already fifteen and still hasn't stepped onto the path of cultivation. Being handsome won't put food on the table."

"Exactly. I think he's just putting on an act. In a few years, it'll be the coming-of-age ceremony, and many clan disciples are already itching to compete for the position of Young Lord."

After chatting and laughing softly outside the courtyard for a while, the youths left one after another.

Of course, none of these conversations escaped Qin Dong's ears.

Qin Dong slowly opened his eyes; his pupils reflected high mountain peaks, brimming with the aura of the earth.

He exhaled a mouthful of turbid air.

"Fifteen years..."

Qin Dong withdrew his Thick Earth Spirit Body, and the thick, profound aura about him quietly dissipated.

After fifteen years of research, he had already gained a thorough understanding of the Thick Earth Spirit Body.

Now, he didn't need to absorb surface spiritual energy; he only needed to sit where he was, and the underground spiritual veins within a three-mile radius would provide him with all the energy he needed.

Furthermore, this constitution greatly enhanced Qin Dong's physical defense, bringing his physical strength to a level comparable to Yellow-grade weapons; ordinary Yellow-grade weapons couldn't harm him at all.

Fifteen full years of accumulation had brought his cultivation infinitely close to the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment, making him the most powerful existence in Desolate Profound City besides the City Lord.

However, he never revealed his cultivation to outsiders, leading everyone to believe he had not yet embarked on the path of cultivation.

"Fifteen years... System, are you still there?"

Qin Dong looked up, staring at the shifting clouds in the sky as he murmured.

He knew very well that his greatest reliance was the System; without its help, he would likely still be an ordinary person without cultivation.

"Dong'er, so you're here."

A soft voice sounded, and a beautiful woman in a white dress, elegant and noble, walked into the courtyard.

"Mother."

Qin Dong didn't dare be slow and stepped forward to salute.

Looking at Qin Dong, the woman couldn't help but sigh. Her son had been born with extraordinary looks and a transcendent temperament; the only flaw was his inability to step into the first level of the Qi Refining Realm.

This situation meant he either had no cultivation talent or his talent was too poor.

Otherwise, based on her son's appearance alone, people from other families in Desolate Profound City would have long since worn down the Qin Family's threshold to discuss marriage alliances.

At this thought, her heart was filled with mixed emotions.

But she soon felt at ease; since he was her son, even being a wealthy commoner would be enough.

Wen Yajun took three exquisite cloth bags from her waist; each bag seemed to contain fifty crystal-clear stones.

They contained immense spiritual energy, giving even Qin Dong a slight shock; these were Spirit Stones.

Qin Dong's eyes lit up. In these fifteen years, he had only managed to get a mere fifty Spirit Stones, and injecting them into the system space was like throwing stones into the ocean.

Now, there were a whopping one hundred and fifty; how could he not be moved?

"Dong'er, in three days, there will be an opportunity for you to step onto the immortal path."

"Your father prepared these things for you. When the time comes, you just need to do this and that, and you can directly become a Cloud Heaven Sect disciple."

After hearing his mother's explanation, Qin Dong understood. So that was the plan for these one hundred and fifty Spirit Stones.

However, Qin Dong had his own plans.

When he was alone, Qin Dong took out the Spirit Stones.

The one hundred and fifty Spirit Stones were piled into a small hill, shining brilliantly in the sunlight like dazzling stars.

Each Spirit Stone was filled with dense natural spiritual energy; if absorbed for cultivation, it would surely double the cultivation speed.

With a thought, Qin Dong stored them one by one into the system space.

As Qin Dong silently chanted "decompose," over a hundred Spirit Stones suddenly shattered, turning into a massive ball of spiritual energy.

Soon, the ball of spiritual energy was dissolved and absorbed by the system space.

Simultaneously, a blurry System interface gradually appeared in Qin Dong's mind.

Although this interface was still unclear, its appearance gave Qin Dong a shot of confidence.

"Fifteen years... Do you know how I've lived these fifteen years?"

Qin Dong seemed to have opened a floodgate, recounting his fifteen years of hardship to the System.

Aside from eating well, drinking well, not having to work, having maids to help with dressing and bathing, and sleeping until dawn without anyone bothering him, it was simply too boring.

Qin Dong talked incessantly within the system space, but the System still didn't respond; clearly, this amount of Spirit Stones was far from enough.

However, he wasn't completely without gains; the storage size of the system space had expanded from three meters to four meters, allowing it to hold more items.

This indicated that Spirit Stones were very helpful for the System's recovery.

But where could he get more Spirit Stones?

If one were to talk about where Spirit Stones were most abundant, it would naturally be the cultivation world—a place of vendettas, schemes, and constant danger.

Stepping into the cultivation world also meant placing oneself in a dangerous place.

But this didn't align with the Great Dao of Laying Low.

At this thought, Qin Dong couldn't help but fall into a dilemma... Three days later.

Outside Desolate Profound City, three figures stood atop a giant white crane. Their auras were transcendent, and they all wore the same style of Daoist robes.

The leading female disciple had clear eyes and a calm expression as she watched the scenery passing by.

"Senior Sister Mu is truly amazing. Reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm before thirty with such extraordinary talent, she will definitely be promoted to a Core Disciple in this sect competition."

Behind the woman, a male disciple praised her, though his gaze drifted subtly toward her curvaceous body.

Another quite young female disciple rolled her eyes at the male disciple and spoke.

"Do you even need to say it?"

"Senior Sister Mu's talent is extraordinary. This trip to Desolate Profound City is also to repay a debt of gratitude."

"Oh?"

Hearing this, the male disciple's interest was piqued, but just as he was about to ask more, he was deterred by an aura and didn't dare say another word.

Mu Qingyue withdrew her true qi and focused her attention forward again.

On the ground ahead, the scenery changed.

Soon, the silhouette of a city appeared before the three of them.

"Such a small city probably won't have any geniuses."

Chen Yuan's face was full of disdain, looking completely uninterested.

"Look, a big bird! It's my first time seeing such a huge bird."

"What 'bird'? This is a Spirit Crane, a mount used by immortals."

"There are people on it."

In the square of Desolate Profound City, it was already crowded. Besides the many onlookers, over a hundred youths stood in neat rows.

They were all in their teens with extraordinary temperaments, mostly consisting of the younger generation from various families in Desolate Profound City.

Looking at the three figures on the Spirit Crane in the sky, their eyes were filled with hope.

Stepping onto the path of cultivation and rising above others—who wouldn't want that?

The crowd parted to reveal an open space, and the Spirit Crane landed.

Three figures leaped down: a transcendent-looking woman, a heroic man, and a fresh and lovely young girl.

Standing beside the Spirit Crane, the three of them had powerful auras like immortals, all possessing cultivation.

"Hahaha, three young friends have come from afar to our Desolate Profound City. We apologize for the lack of a proper welcome."

Five figures also approached; all were at the Foundation Establishment Realm, and the leading elder had even reached the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment.

Mu Qingyue looked at the elder opposite her; he was clearly the City Lord of Desolate Profound City, the local power.

This man had cultivated for decades. Although his cultivation was one minor stage higher than hers, she was confident she could kill him if they truly fought.

To this, Mu Qingyue only gave a slight nod. Her cold gaze swept across the prominent figures of Desolate Profound City before finally stopping on a Middle-aged Man.

"Brother Qin!"

Mu Qingyue's eyes showed joy as she walked toward the Middle-aged Man and hurriedly saluted.

"Haha, it's been years. Little Mu has grown up to be so pretty."

Qin Su looked at Mu Qingyue, his mind flooded with memories.

At that time, he had just recently become the head of the Qin Family and was busy developing the clan.

He happened to encounter her fighting a demonic beast and saved her. Back then, he was at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, while she was only at the late stage of Qi Refining.

He hadn't expected that after all these years, her cultivation would reach the Foundation Establishment Realm while he was still stuck in the same place, even showing signs of regressing.

At this thought, Qin Su couldn't help but give a bitter smile. The path of cultivation was indeed like crossing a great river; if one didn't move forward, one would fall back.

He sighed with emotion but soon composed himself and continued to exchange pleasantries with Mu Qingyue.

The two talked for a while, filled with sighs of nostalgia.

"By the way, Brother Qin, is this our nephew?"

Mu Qingyue blinked her eyebrows, her gaze shifting toward the calm, handsome youth not far away.

In an instant, their eyes met.

The youth was incredibly handsome, dressed in light blue robes, wearing cloud-patterned black boots, and a purple bamboo crown on his head.

He was about fifteen years old, and though he was young, he carried an indescribable temperament.

It was an inexplicable feeling.

Just by standing there, he seemed like the darling of heaven and earth.

Even though Mu Qingyue had seen countless geniuses and talents over the years, she couldn't help but feel a hint of surprise in that brief moment of eye contact.

She almost thought some genius from a sect was here playing the pig to eat the tiger.