Chapter 354

Chapter 354: The Big Nephew’s Fulfilling Life

It was impossible to infer the black-robed cultivators’ origins from their techniques alone—and Yu Sheng was still trying to process the idea of cultivation by “correspondence course”—but Immortal Yuan Ling did have a few useful findings.

“Their body-cultivation foundations were solid,” Immortal Yuan Ling said, “and most had signs of marrow cleansing and bone remodeling, as well as bloodline alteration. That trait is common on some underdeveloped border planets. Many migrant worlds aren’t fully terraformed. Outside the dome there can be extreme cold or heat, corrosive toxins, radiation, and so on. Settlers may have protective treasures, but for full security they also make additional… modifications to their bodies.”

Yu Sheng caught the implication immediately. “So they weren’t locals of the Grand Void Spiritual Axis. They came from the Featherwing Sector border?”

Immortal Yuan Ling nodded. “Very likely.”

Yu Sheng frowned, then shared what he’d learned. “I used some of my own methods and got a clue from one of them. They were looking for something called ‘the Emperor Lord’s remnant,’ and it’s tied to the otherworld that appeared on Nethermoon…”

He explained everything. As he spoke, Immortal Yuan Ling’s expression grew heavier and heavier.

“I’ve never heard of ‘the Emperor Lord’s remnant,’ either,” Immortal Yuan Ling said at last, voice low. “But a group of likely border criminals coming to a satellite of Capital Star to search for an inheritance connected to an ‘Emperor Lord’… This is not a small matter.”

He turned to Xuan Che. “When you fought them, did you notice madness or delusion? Sudden bodily mutations? Strange shifts in technique?”

Xuan Che hesitated, then shook his head. “No. They were clear-minded in combat and even coordinated formations. When captured, they had backbone. They didn’t look… unstable.”

Yu Sheng felt something in the question and asked, “Why do you ask?”

“Cultivators far from Grand Void Star are often easier to be tempted by evil,” Immortal Yuan Ling said grimly, “especially those whose mind-tempering in the Foundation Establishment Stage was insufficient, whose roots are unstable. This is one of the risks of the path.

“Cultivation seeks transcendence, but people are still born of flesh. If the mind cannot keep pace with the technique, falling into demonic paths can happen in an instant. And the farther you are from Capital Star, the closer you are to the sector border—the farther from humanity’s ancestral home of life. In such places, the mind grows fragile. Add the vast darkness beyond the star river, hiding countless strange secrets… If you stare into that darkness long enough, who knows what you will hear, what you will see.

“More importantly, border regions are difficult to manage. No matter how diligent the Grand Void Spiritual Axis is, it’s inevitable that outside evil slips in. They tempt border cultivators and deceive borderfolk from time to time. Holy Revere Hermitage infiltrated that way before.”

He paused. Some of the gloom eased. “But it isn’t hopeless. You wiped out this wave, and that gives me a direction. I will notify border disciples and the other four sects to investigate along this line—and to look into what that so-called ‘Emperor Lord’ truly is.”

“Need our help?” Yu Sheng asked.

“Absolutely not,” Immortal Yuan Ling said at once, waving him off with a smile. “You are guests from afar. You barely arrived, and before you could rest, you were attacked and forced into battle. That alone is enough to shame me. Rest first. Tomorrow I will arrange for you to see more of these mountain seas of clouds. There are also good places down below.”

“All right,” Yu Sheng said, not bothering with further polite back-and-forth. “If anything comes up, call us.”

Immortal Yuan Ling cupped his hands and watched Yu Sheng open a door beside him and step away from the grand hall—straight onto the Cloud Viewing Terrace.

When the door faded, Immortal Yuan Ling let out a slow breath and sighed. “I think I finally understand what Director Bai Li meant when she told me that.”

Xuan Che blinked. “What did Director Bai Li tell you?”

“To get used to Mr. Yu’s habit,” Immortal Yuan Ling said dryly, “of opening doors wherever he pleases, stepping through, and leaving the moment he’s done.”

Xuan Che gave a helpless laugh. “…That’s accurate.”

…

On the Cloud Viewing Terrace, the sun was sinking.

The moment Yu Sheng arrived, he spotted a familiar figure near the courier pickup point—Zheng Zhi.

To be honest, on the way back Yu Sheng had felt a pinch of guilt. Leaving the big nephew alone on an unfamiliar planet to “watch the door” didn’t sit right, especially when everyone else had gone out to see the world and even gotten a taste of space tourism… though the final part had been a little intense.

That guilt evaporated the instant he saw Zheng Zhi.

Zheng Zhi had somehow dragged a recliner onto the terrace. Beside it sat a small table—clearly borrowed—piled with colorful pastries, fruit, and wine jugs that looked one nudge away from disaster. He lounged in the chair with a Special Operations Bureau–issued tablet in hand, scrolling short videos and laughing. Every so often he bit into an immortal fruit or took a satisfied sip of nectar and jade dew.

Pure enjoyment.

Yu Sheng hadn’t even opened his mouth when Irene bounced up on his shoulder and shouted across the terrace, “Big Nephew!!”

Zheng Zhi jolted so hard his tablet nearly flew. Then he sprang up, turned, and beamed at them. “Hey, Brother Yu! You’re back?”

Irene planted her hands on her hips like she owned the place. “You sure know how to enjoy yourself. We were in the otherworld fighting a bunch of black-clothed psychos until our brains almost fell out, you know that?”

Foxy leaned in and gently corrected her, tone mild. “Um… looking at the results, they didn’t really have the ‘killing without blinking’ trait. Luna didn’t blink once the whole time.”

“That’s rhetoric,” Irene snapped. “Rhetorical style. You judge by vibe. Those guys were clearly black-robed, parentally deprived losers. Look at us—we’re upright and bright.”

Foxy scratched her cheek, giving Irene a doubtful look. “I feel like something about that is wrong.”

Luna nodded. “Mm. Wrong.”

No one could tell which sentence she meant.

Zheng Zhi had already walked over, looking a little helpless. “Uh, I—”

“Don’t mind her,” Yu Sheng said. “Her mouth is always like that.” Then his eyes landed on the tablet. “…You’re on interstellar roaming, scrolling short videos?”

“Oh, no!” Zheng Zhi waved his hands quickly. “I’m using Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain’s wifi.”

Yu Sheng stared. “Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain has wifi?!”

“Yeah. The format’s different from Boundary City’s ‘civilian signal,’ but it’s compatible with stellar broadcast. Bureau devices can connect directly,” Zheng Zhi said with a grin. “I asked an immortal maiden I ran into while wandering.”

Yu Sheng had to let that one sit for a moment. Then he asked, “Did anything happen while we were gone?”

“Nothing much on the Cloud Viewing Terrace. It’s been quiet.” Zheng Zhi thought, then his eyes brightened. “But while I was walking around, I ran into a lot of interesting things.”

Yu Sheng raised an eyebrow. “Interesting things?”

Zheng Zhi nodded enthusiastically. “This afternoon, on the way to Mid-Mountain Pavilion, I saw two groups of Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain disciples fighting.”

“Fighting?” Yu Sheng echoed.

“Yeah. They said a Beast Taming Peak disciple’s final project ate a Spirit Infusion Peak disciple’s final project.”

Yu Sheng’s face twitched. “…What else?”

Zheng Zhi barreled on, growing more animated with every sentence. “I also saw a young lady crying on another platform. She was from Divine Armaments Peak, specializing in forging. She spent ten years nurturing a flying sword until it finally developed an artifact spirit… but the spirit was an idiot. It fell in love with the hammer she used for smithing.

“Oh, and I met a talking rabbit in Little Lin Zi on the mountainside. He seemed shocked I could see him. The first thing he said was, ‘How the hell can you see me?’ I asked what was going on. He said he’s an inner disciple from Beast Taming Peak. Because he cultivated a mosquito that can survive winter and live for ten years, his senior brother and senior sister are hunting him down. He had to shapeshift and hide in the woods. But right after I promised to keep it secret, his senior brother and senior sister showed up… That poor kid cried like crazy.

“And behind a cliff I found this steep path down to a small river. There was an old man fishing there. I thought I’d stumbled into some kind of lucky encounter—you know, the kind where a hidden elder hands you an ancient manual. But when I asked, it turns out he works as a dorm watchman at Enlightenment Hall. He doesn’t want to go home after work, so he sneaks there to fish. He was also shocked to see me. First thing he said was basically the same as the rabbit: ‘How the hell did you find this place?'”

By the time Zheng Zhi finished, he looked genuinely thrilled, as if he’d lived an entire novel in one afternoon.

Yu Sheng’s expression moved from surprise… to blank… to a numb sort of acceptance.

How do you even put it?

Of course it was him.