Chapter 286: An Ordinary Departure

“Senior Sister, let’s have hotpot.” Yu Feng showed up with two bottles of sesame paste and six pieces of fermented bean curd, looking for Senior Sister Wu Lian.

Wu Lian was puzzled, unsure why Yu Feng was in such a good mood or why he had bought so much sesame paste.

Ah, he must’ve seen I was feeling down and is pretending to be cheerful to cheer me up. Her heart warmed. “Alright.”

“The pot’s boiling, time for the lamb.” The copper pot bubbled away as Yu Feng slid in a plate of neatly stacked hand-sliced lamb.

Yu Feng really was in a great mood.

He used to think his biggest advantage was being able to reincarnate and knowing how the future would unfold.

Now, he realized that Jiang Li was his true trump card.

Senior Jiang could do everything—except date.

“The hundred thousand people in Xuanji Kingdom probably don’t have much hope,” Wu Lian said sadly, but she had no solution. This was the Blood River Ancestor’s decision.

Who could make a Fusion-Stage powerhouse change his mind?

“Maybe the Blood River Ancestor changed his mind. Try the lamb.”

Wu Lian smiled helplessly. Her junior brother was really optimistic.

Unless another Fusion-Stage cultivator intervened, there was no chance of changing this.

…

“Tower Master of Death Bell, I demand an explanation!” The Blood River Ancestor stormed in furiously. This was a slap to his face.

“Do you believe I won’t report this to the Heavenly Lord? Say you defied the Heavenly Lord’s decree, publicly killed a Soul Formation cultivator, and destabilized national fortune!”

Although the Celestial Dynasty hadn’t been officially established and national fortune hadn’t yet formed, that didn’t stop the Blood River Ancestor from making wild accusations.

Make it sound big—intimidate them first.

“I was doing you a favor. Don’t be ungrateful.” The Tower Master wasn’t polite either. They were both Fusion-Stage—who was afraid of who? If not for the Heavenly Lord’s ban on Fusion-Stage fights, Blood River Ancestor would’ve gone all in.

The Tower Master snorted. “Destabilizing national fortune? That’s my line.”

“The Heavenly Lord only told you to gather mortals before the founding ceremony, not to demand people from Xuanji Kingdom using his name and the Celestial Dynasty’s banner.”

“I…”

“‘I’ what? Are you saying this order came from you personally?”

The Tower Master pressed the attack. “The Heavenly Lord made you Minister of Rites. Your every move represents his will. If he didn’t order it, then you can’t do it. Otherwise, that’s insubordination. Now you tell me—wouldn’t that affect national fortune?”

Anyone can throw around big accusations. The Tower Master hadn’t survived this long on assassination skills alone—he was also a master of twisting logic into truth.

None of the Fusion-Stage cultivators truly understood national fortune. They’d only heard the Heavenly Lord mention it a few times.

What was it? How was it formed? What could it do? They had no clue.

And the Heavenly Lord certainly wouldn’t tell them.

So all they could do was guess wildly.

That’s why every little issue got linked to national fortune. Unless you dared confront the Heavenly Lord directly, no one could say for sure what would affect it.

But no one wanted to risk annoying the Heavenly Lord over something trivial—it wasn’t worth it.

“Luckily, this had little to do with you. It was your registered disciple Ma Pingfan who used your name to demand mortals from Xuanji Kingdom. I saw he was arrogant and disobedient—truly deserving of death—so I dealt with him for you.”

The Tower Master tossed him a way out, letting the Blood River Ancestor save face.

“Rebellious Ma Pingfan abused my name—he indeed deserved to die. Many thanks for handling it, Brother Daoist.”

It was just a worthless registered disciple. The Blood River Ancestor had no interest in dragging the matter further and risking taking it to the Heavenly Lord, so he turned and left without another word.

…

Ma Pingfan’s death in Xuanji Kingdom scared the king half to death. He was so terrified, he even considered hanging himself.

A descendant of the Blood River Ancestor had died in his territory once, and they demanded 100,000 mortals in revenge. Now a disciple had died here—wouldn’t they just sacrifice the whole kingdom?

Yu Feng, who knew the truth, didn’t bother to comfort him. Instead, he and Wu Lian returned to the mountain village to visit his parents.

Upon learning their child had received an immortal’s fortune and found such a beautiful wife, his parents were thrilled. They stewed an old hen that very day.

Wu Lian blushed and kept denying it, but the parents just smiled and said nothing.

Yu Feng still had a death tribulation hanging over him and couldn’t stay long. He gave his parents some longevity and health-enhancing pills and left.

Teaching them cultivation now would only endanger them—the waters of the Celestial Dynasty were too murky.

Yu Feng planned to wait until he was truly strong before bringing his parents to the Celestial Dynasty and teaching them to cultivate.

Wu Lian noticed that Yu Feng’s eyes were red as they departed.

A few days later, the king received word from the Blood River Ancestor that he no longer needed to provide 100,000 people—for now. The king was overjoyed.

Seeing that the Blood River Ancestor didn’t mention Ma Pingfan or cause further trouble, the king sighed in relief and considered issuing another general pardon.

Yu Feng was only early Golden Core—no one suspected him of Ma Pingfan’s death.

Even the Blood River Ancestor suspected Ma Pingfan had offended some wealthy enemy who then hired Death Bell Tower. A useless fool who ruined everything—he deserved it.

Ma Pingfan, true to his name, departed in plain, unremarkable fashion—without even making a ripple.

…

Three years flew by. The Celestial Dynasty had taken shape, and the founding ceremony countdown had begun.

All cultivators were drawn to the Celestial Dynasty—some willingly, some by force.

Only then did everyone realize: Tongu Continent didn’t have just one or two Fusion-Stage cultivators—it had six.

And Fusion-Stage wasn’t the peak. There were even rumors of the legendary Tribulation Stage.

Of course, that was just for fun. So what if they existed? Could a mere mortal cultivator ever reach Fusion Stage?

They didn’t even have access to Fusion-level techniques.

The Celestial Dynasty claimed that such techniques were dangerous and unsuitable for cultivation under their rule—so they were all destroyed.

Any cultivator possessing such techniques was forbidden from copying or reciting them. Violators would be executed.

Cultivators felt they’d gained nothing from joining the Celestial Dynasty—only exploitation and threats.

For Yu Feng, these three years felt like one word: unlucky.

The increasing density of cultivators meant his death tribulations came more frequently. Walking down the street, he could catch the eye of a hot-tempered spirit beast. Going shopping with Wu Lian, he’d attract the attention of some lecherous rogue who developed murderous jealousy.

Thankfully, Wu Lian’s generous curves could still comfort his fragile heart.

Every time Yu Feng secretly killed someone, he felt emotionally scarred and would cry in Wu Lian’s arms—his senior sister and now his partner.

Even after becoming Dao companions, Yu Feng still called her “Senior Sister.”

Jiang Li kindly contacted the Ma Zhuo couple to teach Yu Feng technique—specifically, dual cultivation techniques.

Yu Feng turned beet red and hurriedly memorized them to practice at night.

Jiang Li, being proper, would neither see nor listen. Every night, he’d quietly leave to give the young couple privacy.

He really had no advice to give in that area.

Thanks to dual cultivation, both their levels soared. Wu Lian reached mid Nascent Soul Stage, and Yu Feng successfully broke through to Nascent Soul.

But as the founding ceremony approached, neither of them felt particularly happy.