The three were buried together. Qin Sang and Qingjun stood before the grave, burning incense.

"Senior Sister, have you still not let it go?" Qin Sang asked softly, turning toward her.

Earlier, during their idle conversation, he had learned why Qingjun’s bond with Senior Qingzhu had been so distant.

"If I had never let it go, how could I have reached my current cultivation?" Qingjun replied with a faint smile.

She continued, "When I was a teenager, I hated him to the core. He was obsessed with cultivation and vengeance for his aunt, to the point of madness. From birth, I lived only with my mother.

"I thought he treated my mother merely as a substitute for that aunt, a way to mend his regrets. I hated him for not loving her, and for hurting one more person by bringing me into this world.

"But decades later, after roaming the cultivation world and gaining experience, I began to understand. Though I still felt injustice for my mother, I gradually came to terms with it.

"By the time I was a hundred years old, or even after several centuries, that brief span of youth was nothing more than a fleeting memory. My heart no longer stirred over such things. My vow to slay Leng Yuntian was more for my mother than for myself.

"Once one steps onto the immortal path, those who can keep up may share a smile and a drink along the way; those who cannot are but passing figures in my life. He was simply someone who arrived earlier, with a slightly more special identity. That’s all."

Turning away, Qingjun walked back toward the courtyard. Qin Sang stood quietly for a while, deep in thought.

"If you plan to cultivate here in Peach Blossom Valley, choose any spot on either mountain slope for your cave dwelling, as long as you don’t harm the peach trees." Qingjun’s voice drifted from ahead.

"Thank you, Senior Sister," replied Qin Sang.

Qin Sang glanced around. This place was far safer than the Wandering Man’s old cave dwelling, and the spiritual qi was much richer. He decided he would soon send a message to Li Yufu and settle here for secluded cultivation.

Beside him grew a peach tree filled with fruits. Passing beneath it, Qin Sang plucked one down.

Crunch! He bit deeply into it. The sweetness carried a faint tang of sourness, a curious balance of flavors.

In his judgment, it was not as exquisite as the one from Nether Valley, and still less so than the peaches of Sword Pass. Yet to Senior Qingzhu, this had been the taste of his fondest memories.

Qin Sang savored the fruit quietly, standing for a long time in reflection.

After circling Peach Blossom Valley, he found a small waterfall cascading down a slope. It was elegant and graceful, making it an ideal place for meditation.

He soon hollowed out a simple cave dwelling there. The day’s encounter had indeed been full of surprises. Still, Qin Sang remained clear-headed.

The titles of senior sister and junior brother were just a formality. As Qingjun had said herself, if he failed to reach the Spiritual Infant Realm, he would simply be another passerby left behind on her path.

What surprised him more was that Qingjun showed no curiosity about where he and Senior Qingzhu had gone. Yet Qin Sang kept pondering.

The frequent disturbances in Ziwei Palace and Seven-Kill Hall hinted at greater change to come.

The overall strength of the Small Cold Domain’s cultivation world was far inferior to that of Canglang Sea.

Moreover, the teleportation array between the two regions could only be opened when Ziwei Palace reappeared. This was an enormous limitation.

Even if he kept the secret buried in his heart and told no one, once he reached the Spiritual Infant Realm, returning to Canglang Sea to explore Seven-Kill Hall or seek resources on both sides would be impossible to accomplish alone. He would need allies. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Both Wandering Man and Qingjun were trustworthy candidates.

After finishing his small tasks, Qin Sang returned to the wooden house, greeted by the faint fragrance of tea. Wisps of steam curled upward.

Qingjun knelt gracefully by a red clay stove, her red skirt pooling around her, her pale hands tending to the tea.

Drinking tea brewed by a Spiritual Infant cultivator felt almost unreal to Qin Sang.

He sighed inwardly. I really wonder which side of her is the real one.

"Do you still remember Chenyan?" Qingjun asked, poking at the embers as she glanced at him.

"Of course." Qin Sang nodded, setting down his teacup and leaning forward respectfully. "Back then, I was plotted against by Dongyang Bo because of her. In the bronze hall, it was also thanks to her help that I barely escaped his grasp..."

Qin Sang calmly recounted everything, from the moment he sold himself to achieve Foundation Building to his time trapped within Ziwei Palace’s black tower, where Dongyang Bo had used him as leverage to control Chenyan.

He assumed Qingjun already knew of his past of selling himself to achieve Foundation Building.

"Oh?" Qingjun’s eyes flickered with mild surprise. "So that’s how it was. I had wondered how someone at the Fake Core Realm could escape alive under the noses of two Spiritual Infant cultivators. It seems like there was more to the story. But by your account, Chenyan and Dongyang Bo should have turned against each other long ago. Why, then, did she continue to assist him for so many years after leaving Ziwei Palace, only departing from Shaohua Mountain much later?"

Qin Sang pondered briefly before answering, "Something must have happened between them. Perhaps they struck some kind of bargain. Chenyan wanted to rescue her master, while Dongyang Bo seemed to covet a treasure in the bronze hall. After I escaped, he had no other means to threaten her. It’s possible he had to compromise."

After a moment’s thought, he asked, "Senior Sister, I remember that you once mentioned that Chenyan wasn’t originally a disciple of Shaohua Mountain. When she left, did she return to her homeland? Was she ever able to save her master?

"Her master was said to be a late-stage Spiritual Infant cultivator. If she truly succeeded, Shaohua Mountain would not be so weak today. With such a powerful ally, both domains would have found it much easier to resist Sin Abyss," replied Qingjun.

Qingjun shook her head. "Since she left, there has been no word of her. Most likely, she’s no longer within Beichen Realm."

"She’s not in Beichen Realm... Is she from another domain?" Qin Sang asked.

Previously, Qin Sang’s cultivation had been weak. He had lacked the strength to even leave Small Cold Domain, and his understanding of the immortal cultivation world had always been vague and limited.

From what he knew, Small Cold Domain, Tianxing Alliance, and Sin Abyss all existed within a vast cultivation world known as Beichen Realm.

Strangely, there were almost no tales or legends from beyond Beichen Realm that had ever reached them.

Qingjun began to explain, "That’s right. The Four Realms of the North Sea, also called the Four Islands of the North Sea. Beichen Realm where we live is only one of them.

"The other three, though often referred to as islands, are actually connected to one another, forming a landmass as large as a continent.

"Only our Beichen Realm hangs isolated over the ocean, separated by a belt of violent storms. Although it’s technically possible to cross, the journey is extremely dangerous. Even a Spiritual Infant grandmaster would find it difficult to survive the passage. Because of this, Beichen Realm is seldom affected by the other three realms.

"Within those three, there are many middle-stage and even late-stage Spiritual Infant cultivators. Their overall strength surpasses ours by far. Chenyan must be from one of those realms, perhaps even from one of the great sects there.

"What’s strange, however, is that no matter how powerful a sect is, it should never ignore the disappearance of one of its great cultivators. Yet her master has been trapped inside Ziwei Palace for so long, and no one has ever come to search for him."

Seeing that Qin Sang knew little of the matter, Qingjun briefly explained the structure of the Four Realms of the North Sea.

Another storm belt! The familiar term did not surprise Qin Sang; by now he had grown used to such things.

The Beichen Realm was indeed much like Canglang Sea and the Demonic Sea. It was yet another cage surrounded by endless storms.

However, unlike those places, Beichen Realm could actually connect to the other three regions; one only needed to pass through the storm belt to reach them.

Still, Qin Sang keenly noticed another detail. The name North Sea. What, exactly, is it north of?