No matter how busy she was, Zhou Yuanyuan often thought of Wen Ziqing in the Langyuan Secret Realm. This was the first time she'd been apart from him for such a long time since she'd met him. In the past, Wen Ziqing, no matter how busy or tired he was, would always call her and send her a message. Even on the battlefield, whenever he had a moment's free time, he'd write her a letter.
After Zhou Yuanyuan escaped from the Langyuan Secret Realm, the front-line military district sent Meng Xiaohu to deliver a large stack of letters to Zhou Yuanyuan. There were eleven letters in total, all written by Wen Ziqing, but they were not sent to Zhou Yuanyuan in time.
One envelope contained a thin sheet of paper with just two words on it: "Be well." The handwriting was sloppy, and it was obvious that Wen Ziqing had written it in his busy schedule. Other envelopes contained a thick stack of notes, ranging from "What did you eat today" to "I miss you so much." It was obvious that Wen Ziqing had written it when he was bored.
After reading the letters, Zhou Yuanyuan sighed deeply.
From these letters, Zhou Yuanyuan "saw" Wen Ziqing's passionate heart. She had always believed that Wen Ziqing had feelings for her, and she...didn't mind having him by her side. Habits are a terrible thing. After Zhou Yuanyuan had grown accustomed to Wen Ziqing's presence, she was completely bewildered by his departure.
According to Meng Xiaohu, Wen Ziqing had made an appointment with him to go to the town to mail a letter after returning from the military hospital.
While the truth behind Wen Ziqing's "disappearance" has been thoroughly investigated, it remains a mystery. The Chinese authorities have always prioritized friendship with the cultivators within the Langyuan Secret Realm. Furthermore, Taoist Baopu had Liu Jingyun capture Wen Ziqing solely to recruit him as a disciple, not to harm him. Therefore, Wen Ziqing's former comrades, like Meng Xiaohu, believed he had gone to a secret training camp, and no specific date had been given for his return.
Meng Xiaohu and his companions missed Wen Ziqing dearly. After all, during those days of raging gunfire, the members of their "Thunder Squad" had stood together on the brink of death, a bond that couldn't be erased by Wen Ziqing's absence. After the war, Meng Xiaohu and his companions were promoted for their military exploits during that time, but Wen Ziqing, who deserved a promotion even more, hadn't appeared in public.
During these three years, Wen Ziqing seemed to have disappeared without a trace. If Hu Sanniang hadn't already refined the jade token controlling the Langyuan Secret Realm and could sense that Wen Ziqing had been cultivating there, Zhou Yuanyuan would have nearly rushed into the secret realm again.
Countless times, Zhou Yuanyuan regretted her temper that day, regretting not ignoring Wen Ziqing. Wen Ziqing wanted to practice, and she knew her own techniques. She should have ignored Wen Ziqing's approval and simply knocked him out and brought him back.
Zhou Yuanyuan recalled that day and felt that Wen Ziqing was a little strange that day, not like his usual self at all. Wen Ziqing always listened to Zhou Yuanyuan, but that day he was extremely stubborn, as if... as if his mind was clouded by something.
Could it be that Taoist Baopu did something to it?
Unfortunately, Zhou Yuanyuan could only ponder these thoughts in her mind. After all, the past was the past, and Zhou Yuanyuan wasn't so arrogant as to think her charm was boundless and could make Wen Ziqing give up everything for her. After all, compared to becoming an immortal, what was she, Zhou Yuanyuan?
After Hu Sanniang finished refining the jade token, her first suggestion to Zhou Yuanyuan was to drive all the cultivators out of the secret realm. The Langyuan Secret Realm belonged to their Qingqiu Fox Clan and was now Zhou Yuanyuan's private territory.
Zhou Yuanyuan disagreed with Hu Sanniang's suggestion. The Qingqiu Fox Clan was gone, so even if the secret realm was reclaimed, Zhou Yuanyuan would be of no use. Planting spiritual plants? The Chaos Pearl's trial world was a small world, where the speed could be adjusted at will by the Chaos Pearl. It was much better than the secret realm. Three years ago, Zhou Yuanyuan had Hu Sanniang plant a large number of spiritual plants in the Chaos Pearl's trial world. Thanks to the Chaos Pearl's enhanced time flow, many thousand-year-old spiritual plants had already matured.
Besides, the spiritual energy of the secret realm had been tainted by those self-righteous cultivators. Whenever Zhou Yuanyuan remembered that part of the spiritual energy in the secret realm was transformed from demon pills, she felt an indescribable discomfort in her heart.
The monks had lived in the secret realm for hundreds of years. If they were expelled hastily, they would have nowhere else to go and would undoubtedly seek a new home on the Chinese mainland. With so many monks with nuclear-powered strength wandering around a billion ordinary people, Zhou Yuanyuan felt it would be better to let them stay in the secret realm! At least they wouldn't be in the way. Otherwise, these "big guys" wouldn't need to do anything; just a few fights in the secular world would be enough to cause astonishing destructive power.
Hu Sanniang did not dare to go against Zhou Yuanyuan's wishes, so she had to agree to Zhou Yuanyuan's arrangement.
After returning to Kyoto City from the Langyuan Secret Realm, Zhou Yuanyuan sent several messages to Wen Ziqing. Whether the communication talisman was broken or the signal was poor, Wen Ziqing never responded. Of course, Xiaoyu would never admit that the communication talisman she had made was broken; the only problem was with Wen Ziqing. Xiaoyu assumed that Wen Ziqing was too absorbed in his cultivation to pay attention to Zhou Yuanyuan. However, for Zhou Yuanyuan's sake, Xiaoyu didn't dare to tell the truth. So what if the communication talisman was broken? As long as Zhou Yuanyuan was in a good mood, Xiaoyu was willing to take the blame.
A year later, Zhou Yuanyuan stopped sending messages to Wen Ziqing. After all, Wen Ziqing could always send a message to Zhou Yuanyuan if he wanted to. Although Zhou Yuanyuan felt sad, she had to face this reality. She and Wen Ziqing were just childhood sweethearts, a little better than just friends. Furthermore, their engagement was now off. There was no reason for Zhou Yuanyuan to interfere with Wen Ziqing's wishes.
What made Xiaoyu and Chaos Pearl happy was that during the past three years, Zhou Yuanyuan practiced hard and finally advanced to the Great Perfection of Golden Elixir, only a step away from the Nascent Soul stage.
Zhou Yuanyuan ignored Hu Sanniang's suggestion to reach the Nascent Soul stage in the Langyuan Secret Realm. For cultivators, seclusion for dozens or even hundreds of years was common. But Zhao Qingshan and General Zhou were both elderly, and the average lifespan was no more than a hundred years. Zhou Yuanyuan feared she would be left alone in the world after she emerged from seclusion.
After Zhou Yuanyuan advanced to the Great Perfection of Golden Elixir, she asked Xiaoyu to find a "soul-nourishing" technique. She found an opportunity to tell her grandfather that her grandmother's soul was still in the soul-nourishing wooden box.
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