Qi Cultivation Starting from the Repair Panel

The sun sliced through the clouds, banishing the night and obscuring the stars that filled the sky.

Dawn's light cast upon the river surface, reflecting layers upon layers of golden divine radiance.

More than ten ships slowly approached the shore, docking at the only harbor of Swallow Wing Island.

Merchants disembarked, commencing trade with the island, and the once tranquil isle suddenly buzzed with activity.

A figure noiselessly emerged from a cabin, dressed in ragged clothes, with movements revealing him as a young man at a glance.

He slithered along the side of the ship into the river, cautiously made his way to the shore, and upon landing, carefully began to scout around. After nearly an hour, he found himself in front of the Song Residence.

Upon seeing the 'Song Residence' signboard, his body began to tremble slightly, struggling to contain his emotions.

"Where did this beggar come from?"

The guards at the door immediately frowned, seeing this person drenched and disheveled, and approached him, ready to drive him away.

At that moment, two streaks of light descended from the sky, landing before the residence gate; the spiritual light faded, revealing a young man and woman—none other than Song Lingfeng and Song Lingping, the siblings.

"Young master, young mistress," the guards promptly knelt to greet them.

Song Lingfeng glanced at the beggar and said in a gentle voice, "Get him some food and a change of clothes. It's hard to avoid difficulties when you're away from home."

"Thank you, young master, but there's no need," the beggar replied.

He combed the hair on his head to reveal an unremarkable face and gave a bow:

"Great Zhou, Song Yun, comes to visit."

"Great Zhou? Surnamed Song?"

Upon hearing this, Song Lingfeng's expression tightened slightly. After looking around, he swiftly pulled Song Yun into the residence.

"Let's talk inside the house."

The front hall of the Song Residence.

Having heard the news, Song Tonghai hurried over and pushed the door open.

"Family head? How come you are here?!"

Song Yun, now in clean clothes, saw Song Tonghai and couldn't help feeling shocked. As he regained his composure, joy inevitably surfaced in his eyes: "Did you and the young lady arrive ahead of me?"

The moment he saw Song Tonghai, the panic and helplessness Song Yun felt from being in a foreign land vanished.

"Have you encountered any major problems along the way?"

Song Tonghai's expression slightly darkened, but without elaborating, he turned to ask about Song Yun's recent situation.

"There were some twists and turns, but I was not seriously injured."

Song Yun downplayed the dangers he had encountered and simply recounted his experiences over the past half a year.

Not long after leaving Great Zhou, he encountered robbers, led by a grandmaster-level expert, and only with great difficulty did he escape with his life.

But since he had not yet completed the task given by the family head, he could only continue on his journey, gathering information along the way.

Relying on his Qi Condensing Great Completion skills, he wandered all over, struggling to finally reach Giant Marsh and set foot on Wild Goose Wing Island.

"As long as you are alive, it is good," Song Tonghai sighed deeply, glancing around, and upon confirming there were no others present, he quietly shared some recent upheavals.

Great Zhou's attack, the envoy from the Holy Land, Chu Zheng's marriage, the Taixuan Holy Master, the Immortal Alliance, the Martial Hall...

Song Yun listened for a long while speechless, the tumultuous changes of the past half year far exceeded his expectations, even involving the Holy Land, the contemporary Pseudo-Immortals.

During his days away from Great Zhou, he had thought his perspective had broadened substantially, hearing of the Immortal Sect and even the renown of the Holy Land. But now, he felt like a mere frog at the bottom of a well.

Chu Zheng's growth rate had far surpassed his imaginative capacities; in just a short period, he had influenced not just one country... but the entire Southern Region.

The backyard of the Song Residence.

Song Lingfeng found Chu Zheng alone and, after some pleasantries and repeated hesitations, he took out a portrait and handed it over to Chu Zheng:

"Daoist Chu, it seems someone is looking for you. Shouldn't you lay low for a while?"

Chu Zheng took the portrait, slowly unrolled it, and upon clearly seeing the figure within, his gaze sharpened instantly.

The person in the painting, by likeness alone, was only somewhat similar to him. However, at a glance, one could recognize that Chu Zheng was the figure depicted.

The person who had drawn the portrait was of profound cultivation, nearly reaching Tongxuan; he captured the essence of the Spirit Soul, not merely the form.

This individual may not have even seen Chu Zheng in person, only deduced his aura through conjecture; with his brushwork, he captured both spirit and form.

Unquestionably, this was the handiwork of the Immortal Sect.

"Factions have already put out a word inside the sects, claiming your head can fetch 30,000 high-quality spirit stones, and even just for information of your whereabouts, one could get 500 high-quality spirit stones,"

Song Lingfeng's expression was solemn as he slowly spoke.

The moment he learned of this news, he too couldn't help but be shocked.

He didn't know what kind of people Daoist Chu had offended, but such a huge reward had already stirred up a storm within Qionglou.

As time went on, this portrait would inevitably be widely circulated, at which time Chu Zheng's situation would become extremely dangerous, possibly even implicating the Song Family.

"That much?"

Chu Zheng slightly furrowed his brows, his thoughts whirring rapidly as he sorted through all the troubles he currently faced.

A moment later, he had already guessed part of the inside story.

Being a mere cultivator in the Spirit Spring Realm, he couldn't possibly attract such a level of bounty. The only explanation was the Hidden Dragon List.

The likelihood was because of the words 'Taixuan Holy Land'.

However, the Hidden Dragon List had been out for a while now, and with the methods of these Immortal Sect Holy Lands, they wouldn't be so slow to react.

The only explanation was that during this period, something he hadn't foreseen must have happened related to the Taixuan Holy Land.

Indeed, troublesome...

For a moment, Chu Zheng felt in a predicament; he still couldn't be sure whether the Holy Land had other means of searching for him, aside from this portrait.

Coming back to his senses, Chu Zheng looked at Song Lingfeng, with a touch of surprise in his eyes, "Daoist Song, why don't you exchange Chu's head for this reward?"

30,000 high-quality spirit stones, when converted into lower-quality ones, would be three million. Ordinary lower-class Immortal Sects couldn't bring out so many spirit stones; it was undoubtedly an astronomical figure.

Even a mighty figure in the Divine Infant Realm would be tempted.

His relationship with Song Lingfeng was nothing more than a fleeting acquaintance, not deep enough to this extent.

"You were brought here by my uncle; of course, you're considered a friend. Although my Song Family is not a grand clan, we cannot do such things as betray a friend for glory,"

Song Lingfeng shook his head slightly. To say he hadn't wavered would be a lie, but after weighing his options, he chose to lend Chu Zheng a hand.

This was not about favors but about his own standard as a person.

"With such a huge bounty on your head, personally, I would suggest that Daoist Chu find a secluded island and go into seclusion. Spend a decade or a century, then return to the mortal world."

Given the current situation, this was without a doubt the best choice for Chu Zheng.

Facing Song Lingfeng's kind reminder, Chu Zheng did not refuse, nodding slowly as he said:

"I will leave tomorrow."

No matter the reason, he needed to leave this place temporarily—not to avoid misfortune for himself, but to spare the Song Residence of disaster.

If he stayed here any longer, Giant Marsh's Song Family would only follow in the footsteps of the Great Zhou's Song Family.

He was determined that he couldn't avoid this trouble; in addition to the portrait, the Holy Lands would always have other means to discover his whereabouts.

Moreover, with the Great Tournament of Ten Thousand Sects imminent, he didn't have the luxury of time to peacefully go into seclusion and cultivate.

If he hid away, even after ten years, the peak of his cultivation would at most enter the Dao Embryo stage, and thinking of condensing the Golden Core would be a mere daydream.

In the current perilous situation, even the cultivation of the Golden Core was far from enough; to confront these Holy Lands directly, he must Refine Spirit Dao Integration or even Molt Mortality and Ascend to Immortality to have a sliver of say.

Ten years was far from enough.

"Today, another person came to the door, whom my uncle recognizes, from the Great Zhou. I wonder if you might know him,"

Song Lingfeng's words brought Chu Zheng back to focus, causing him some surprise:

"Who?"

"The man identifies himself as Song Yun, currently in the front hall."

"Song Yun?"

Chu Zheng's heart stirred, and he immediately got up and headed for the front hall.

He hadn't expected to meet Song Yun again so soon.

To the northwest of Wild Goose Wing Island, tens of thousands of miles away, on a small flat boat.

Song Lingqing was seated at the bow, dressed in black, her expression cold, her hair casually spread behind her, giving her an unkempt appearance.

Two streaks of light flashed across the sky, stopping above Song Lingqing's head, with a voice calling out:

"Where is Daoist friend headed? May we travel together?"

Song Lingqing silently pressed down on the magic artifact, lifting her head with a smile appearing on her face:

"Daoist brothers, please come aboard for a chat."

In the past few months, she had gradually gotten used to it. Being a loose cultivator without the backing of a power was inherently dangerous, and being alone made her an even more common target for robbery and assault.

With the situation in Giant Marsh in chaos and the need to interact with others to gather information, the troubles she had encountered in just a few months were no less than a dozen times.

Greed, looting, struggle for resources, power suppression, continuous conflicts... Any interaction with others inevitably involved being dragged into them.