Years later, Zhao Yuebai and others finally returned to the Nine Profound Sect.
This time, in addition to Zhao Yuebai and Lu Yuzhe, they were joined by Ji Yuan's other disciple, Chen Yuluo, as well as Zheng Wanrong and her child.
During the years spent developing outside, she and Li Junxian had a child who was now over two years old.
Because of this, the two who had originally not held a dao companion ceremony had to hastily organize a simple banquet after learning of Zheng Wanrong's pregnancy.
Cultivators were different from mortals; they generally did not hold grand weddings. A simple gathering of friends and family was considered sufficient.
"How did you grow so tall all of a sudden?"
Looking at the boy standing taller than himself, Xia Dong smiled, but tears welled up in her eyes.
She remembered that when he left, he was still a half-grown child, often having his face pinched by her, and frequently hopping around Xuantian Peak behind her.
Now, it seemed as if in the blink of an eye, he was almost an adult.
"Sister Xia Dong!"
Zhao Yuebai laughed heartily. Years had passed, but their bond had not weakened.
After telling them to disperse, Ji Yuan wandered around Xuantian Peak, with Xia Dong providing detailed accounts of what had happened in his absence. Within the Nine Profound Sect, not much of consequence occurred, mostly just the daily cultivation of the disciples.
Among those who had drawn attention were the children Ye Ningyuan and Fang Lingxiu. They had successfully awakened their enlightenment and, with the supply of Xuantian Dew Elixir, had already reached the early stage of the First Realm.
Hearing this, Ji Yuan couldn't help but sigh. This speed was not much different from that of ordinary geniuses.
However, for the two of them, the path of cultivation had just begun. Whether they could maintain this pace would depend on their individual destinies.
"Give me all their records from the past year or so," he said slowly.
Before leaving Xuantian Peak, he had instructed Xia Dong to have someone record every movement and action of the two children's lives.
She nodded, then paused for a moment before continuing, "And regarding Cheng Hao..."
She hesitated, as if unsure how to proceed. After a long silence, she began to recount the deeds of the outsider who had arrived from beyond the heavens during this time.
For reasons unknown, this person showed no diligence in their cultivation, and to this day, had not even achieved enlightenment. They were constantly found either wandering around Xuantian Peak or venturing down the mountain to other places.
On many occasions, they had been spotted near important areas within the sect, and would often 'accidentally' encounter Xia Dong or strike up conversations.
"..."
Ji Yuan was at a loss for words to describe such behavior.
He even found himself wondering if all outsiders were like this.
Shaking his head, he decided to let it be. Since the Sect Master and others had expressed their stance, he would allow things to take their natural course and had no intention of interfering further.
Upon returning to Xuantian Peak, Ji Yuan took the opportunity to visit other peaks and see old acquaintances within the Nine Profound Sect, such as Jiang He and Xu Qiqi. He also paid respects to inner sect elders with whom he had formed a connection.
Each time he visited, he presented a small gift, nothing particularly valuable, but rather items with unique characteristics from the prefecture city.
In the days that followed, Ji Yuan, aside from occasionally mingling with elders from other peaks within the Nine Profound Sect, spent most of his time in diligent cultivation.
Every few days, he would either be in the furnace refining pills, guiding his disciples in their cultivation, or teaching over a dozen disciples the art of alchemy.
The Xuantian Dew Elixir, currently supplied to Xuantian Peak, his external developing forces, and for sale in the prefecture city, was now primarily refined by fifteen disciples transferred from the Ten Thousand Stars Courtyard.
They had progressed from initial mastery to being able to refine it proficiently, with one successful batch out of every three.
This success rate was already quite respectable.
The last remnants of unease among the disciples had completely vanished after receiving abundant resources.
In the Ten Thousand Stars Courtyard, they did not receive such generous resources, and the pills they refined could only meet the most basic cultivation needs. They had to painstakingly accumulate merit points to secure a seat in a lecture by an elder from Tian Ding Peak.
Now, although they were not accumulating merit, the resources they received were more than ten times what they had before, and they could receive guidance and instruction from an alchemy master every few days.
With all this, what more could they ask for?
As the days passed, the child of Li Junxian and Zheng Wanrong grew. The boy, named Li Lingxiao, spent his days following Ye Ningyuan and Fang Lingxiu, exploring every corner of Xuantian Peak.
Recently, the three children had been plotting to sneak out of Xuantian Peak for an "adventure" in the outside world.
"Was I this mischievous when I was a child?"
Zhao Yuebai, secretly watching over them, muttered to himself after hearing the three children's plan.
However, he then remembered that he had been quite quiet as a child, and felt a sense of relief.
"Actually, I wish you had been a bit more mischievous when you were younger, like ordinary children from mortal families."
Just as Zhao Yuebai was pondering whether to stop the children's scheme, a voice suddenly reached his ears.
He quickly turned his head and saw his master, who had appeared beside him at some unknown time.
"Sometimes being too quiet, or too mature, is not a good thing," Ji Yuan said slowly. Seeing his disciple about to bow, he waved his hand, indicating it was unnecessary.
He glanced at the three children nearby and then said, "Let them be."
Zhao Yuebai nodded as if he understood but not entirely, and turned his gaze back to the children.
Li Lingxiao was now six years old, while Ye Ningyuan and Fang Lingxiu were approaching eleven, an age of great boisterousness.
The three had become the "great demons" of Xuantian Peak, their footprints ranging from the Ancestral Hall and Ji Yuan's residence to the ordinary disciples' courtyards and spirit fields.
Other children of similar age were much more well-behaved.
However, this was also closely related to Ji Yuan's deliberate indulgence.
For over three years, in addition to his daily cultivation and pill refining, and instructing his disciples, he had spent most of his remaining time observing these three children.
When he had left the prefecture city of Feiyun County, Li Junxian had privately requested that if his child possessed good cultivation talent, Ji Yuan would take them as a disciple.
And if the other two children passed his assessment, they would also become his third and fourth disciples.