Pei Xuanjing had also witnessed the scene just now.
It was only now that he truly believed that when Shen Qing said she had another master, she wasn't lying to them. It was the truth.
When they weren't aware, Shen Qing had blazed her own trail and carved out her own world.
Shen Qing no longer needed them.
After Shen Qing said a few endearing words to Ling Zhou, overcome by exhaustion, she finally fainted.
The crowd, unaware of what had happened to Shen Qing, was thrown into chaos. In the end, it was the White Dragon who took Shen Qing away.
While Shen Qing was soaking in the Heavenly River, the major sects were working hard to rebuild their own sects.
Back then, to evade Han Ze's pursuit, Real Man Heng Ling had used the Spatial Technique to move the buildings and everything on their sect's mountain peak into a secret realm.
But now, Real Man Heng Ling was no longer able to move their sect back out. So, from the sect masters and elders down to the disciples and servants in each sect, they all turned into civil engineers, striving to rebuild their own sects.
For a moment, the Nine Wastelands Continent was strangely harmonious.
Yu Xuzi, rarely rekindling his ambition, seeing that the sect didn't need his worry, joined forces with a group of elders and rogue cultivators in the sect to invade the Demon Realm, killing all the demons who had colluded with Han Ze.
After receiving Shen Qing's praise before, Yu Xuzi would occasionally show his youthful appearance, attracting the admiration of many girls.
Because of this, the recruitment plan of the Five - Element Dao Sect had been over - fulfilled in the past few years.
After Real Man Hong Hua heard this news, he beat his chest and stamped his feet. "Damn it! Heretic cultivators! They're simply heretic cultivators!!"
After that, every year during the recruitment drive, the Azure Cloud Sword Sect would send some good - looking disciples in uniform to recruit cultivators who were participating in the sect selection.
Thanks to Real Man Hong Hua's unremitting efforts, the Azure Cloud Sword Sect finally exceeded the recruitment number of the Five - Element Dao Sect in the fifth year.
After all, handsome masters were rare, but handsome and beautiful senior brothers and sisters could be seen often.
Following the examples of the Azure Cloud Sword Sect and the Five - Element Dao Sect, other sects all took out their trump cards to recruit disciples.
The Beast - Taming Sect took out cute and fluffy or mighty and obedient spirit beasts to attract disciples.
The Green Wood Sect developed all kinds of pills. There were pills that could make people ten years younger after taking them and pills that could instantly eliminate scars. For a while, it was also very popular among new cultivators.
But ultimately, it was the younger generation in the sects who were busy with these things.
In the Azure Cloud Sword Sect, Real Man Hong Hua had already let Hong Chaoyang and Qi Nian go out for training.
In the Green Wood Sect, after Qing Qing became the sect master, she also promoted the younger - generation disciples. And after Chu Lanqiu became the young sect master, he was also deliberately cultivating his subordinates.
After this incident, everyone had grown a lot.
During the great battle, the Dark Wolf led the Nether White Wolf Clan to attack the demonic beasts from the rear, so he didn't appear in everyone's sight.
After the matter was over, he led the Nether White Wolf Clan back to the Extreme Cold Glacier. After settling down his clan, he stayed in the Azure Cloud Sword Sect for a long time.
But occasionally, he would also be dragged by the Five - Element Dao Sect to do hard labor.
"Li Xian, your state of mind has become much more peaceful recently."
Ling Zhou looked at Li Xian, who was handling the situation with ease across from him. He forced a smile but was actually grinding his teeth in annoyance.
Hearing this, Li Xian hooked the corner of his lips into a smile and calmly placed a piece. "Master's praise is too much. Disciple doesn't dare to accept it."
Ling Zhou resisted the urge to strangle Li Xian and said, "Don't dare to accept! Then you should give me some leeway!"
Li Xian didn't answer. He just smiled and placed another piece.
The outcome was already decided. The black pieces won.
Seeing this, Ling Zhou directly crushed the white piece in his hand into powder.
Li Xian said with a hint of regret, "Master, why are you so excited? This Jade - Grained Double - Tone Chess Set was a wedding gift from Real Man Void to you. If one piece is missing, it won't be complete."
Ling Zhou waved his sleeve and directly put the chess pieces back into his storage bag. He roared, "Out of kindness, I wanted to accompany you to play chess to relax your mind, but look at you! Five years! You've only let me win five games in five years!! One game a year, right? Are you afraid that no one else will accompany you to play chess except me?!"
Li Xian touched his nose and turned his head. "No way..."
"I'm so angry! That's it for today. I'll come again tomorrow!"
After saying that, Ling Zhou's figure disappeared directly, leaving only the still - warm rattan chair swaying.
Li Xian收起 the smile on his face and stood up silently. He walked to the side of the Heavenly River.
In the Heavenly River, a person and a dragon were quietly soaking in the water. Five years had passed.
After the great battle ended five years ago, the Azure Dragon was seriously injured and Shen Qing was in a coma. The Dark Wolf and the White Dragon jointly created a new secret realm and placed the space in the jade pendant into the secret realm, creating a new Dragon Abyss.
Then they placed the Azure Dragon and Shen Qing in the Heavenly River to heal their injuries.
But after soaking like this, five years had passed.
Li Xian had also stayed in the Dragon Abyss for five years.
Everyone almost thought that Li Xian had gone crazy, so they tried every means to take Li Xian out. But with Li Xian's cultivation level, except for the elders and the sect masters, no one could defeat him.
But Yu Xuzi and other elders were busy rebuilding the sect, so they didn't have the energy to take care of Li Xian.
So everyone had to think of other ways. When Li Xian was handling sect affairs in the secret realm or checking on Shen Qing's situation through the glass mirror, they would let Li Xian talk more.
Fortunately, after five years, Li Xian didn't show any signs of a mental breakdown. Only then did everyone feel a little more at ease. Ling Zhou would come to accompany Li Xian to play chess every day without fail.
Li Xian sat cross - legged by the stream and reached out to touch Shen Qing's cheek. Only when he felt the warmth on his fingers did he feel at ease.
"Shen Qing, five years have passed. It's time for you to wake up."
Li Xian's voice was muffled, as if filled with boundless melancholy.
But Shen Qing still closed her eyes and didn't give him the slightest response. She just breathed steadily and remained in a deep sleep.
Although Li Xian was disappointed, he was used to it since this happened every day.
After staying with Shen Qing for a while, he stood up and returned to the small hut he had built in the Dragon Abyss. Then he sat cross - legged to practice.
But this time during his practice, he seemed to have understood many things. He was so absorbed that he didn't know how much time had passed.
After finishing his practice, Li Xian opened his eyes. His amber pupils slowly returned to black. After exhaling a mouthful of turbid air, Li Xian opened the door and walked out of the wooden house.
He thought he would see Ling Zhou, but unexpectedly, Ling Zhou had left a note and the jade chess set they often used on the table where they usually played chess.
The note said that Ling Zhou was going to the Demon Abyss to deal with matters related to the demons and wouldn't be able to come for a long time.
Li Xian smiled and folded the note, putting it aside.
Then he took a look at the chess game left by Ling Zhou. After thinking carefully for a while, Li Xian came up with a way to crack it.
But he wasn't in a hurry to place the chess piece. Thinking that he hadn't seen her for a long time, he had to go and see Shen Qing first to feel at ease.
But when he walked to the familiar stream, only the Azure Dragon remained in the Heavenly River. Shen Qing's figure had disappeared.
Li Xian's face darkened, and his heart was immediately filled with panic.
Where had Shen Qing gone!
Had she been taken away by someone?!
Or had Shen Qing already woken up!
The secret realm hadn't been opened by anyone, so it must be that Shen Qing had come out of the water by herself!
Li Xian endured his emotions and looked around. Then he walked towards the water stains left on the grass.
It wasn't until he walked into the dense forest behind the temple, under the phoenix flower tree he had planted with his own hands, that he finally saw that familiar figure.
"Shen Qing..."
Li Xian's throat tightened, as if something was choking him.
The girl under the phoenix flower tree was slightly startled. The wind blew, fluttering her long hair. The girl curled her fingers and held the phoenix flower in her palm.
She slowly turned her head, revealing the face that Li Xian had been longing for day and night.
The girl smiled, and her red lips parted slightly. "Li Xian, long time no see."
The End.