After returning to Earth, Ye Fan first wanted to go see Tantai Wanrong and Zhao Tianya, and at the same time think about bringing Zhao Lina back to the secret realm again.

Right now he had to move everyone into the second-layer secret realm; only in this way could he maximize the safety of the women around him.

Back on the familiar Earth, Ye Fan even wanted to take a few extra deep breaths of air, because this feeling was what he was most familiar with. Yet, having successfully ascended and no longer being a mortal of flesh and blood, his return now was in the capacity of an Immortal, and many of his sensations were no longer the same as before. His vision and hearing had been further enhanced, and his mind was crowded with many more things that required filtering.

Sang Yuan and Dao Zhen followed behind him in an invisible state. At his request, no matter where he went, these two had to accompany him—Sang Yuan was his servant, while Dao Zhen was there to ensure that the Immortal Realm would not be wiped out by Ye Fan.

"Everything on Earth is peaceful, but I don’t know how long this peace can last. This time coming back, I no longer want to meddle in Earth’s affairs. I just want to live a quiet, simple life."

As Ye Fan spoke, he had already appeared inside a shopping mall in Hua Hai City. There were many people here; it was also the place he felt had the most human vitality. Right now he needed this human presence, to reassure himself that he was still a person and not a monster.

From a human perspective, an undying body was already a monster, no longer flesh and blood in the traditional sense. Even if he were to be destroyed now, it would take a far more powerful force to tear his body into dust. He had no idea how strong that power would have to be; at the very least, no one in the Immortal Realm currently possessed such capability.

So from the beginning, people in the Immortal Realm had never thought of directly killing him. Instead, they had used a powerful Immortal Array to bind him, to make him lose himself within it, and thereby imprison him.

"Mr. Ye, I wonder if you have any further instructions?" Sun Ning appeared before Ye Fan at an appropriate moment. This time she had come alone, bringing no one with her, and she had traveled here using the method of a Cultivator, which was much more convenient than when she used to drive herself.

Ye Fan knew that Sun Ning could never sense the existence of Sang Yuan and Dao Zhen. After all, Sun Ning’s cultivation was still far from those two. Sun Ning thought the two of them were alone together.

Even in the bustling crowd, the two of them could speak with full confidence that no one would overhear them, and no one would know who they were.

Ye Fan said, "This time, I plan to send you, along with most of the people around me that I want to protect, into the secret realm. Because I discovered a second-layer secret realm inside the secret realm, and it’s relatively safe for you there—far better than staying on Earth all the time."

"Mr. Ye, are you planning to take everyone on Earth over there?" Sun Ning asked curiously.

Ye Fan shook his head and said, "There’s no need to take everyone. I can’t build a second Earth for them. The resources in there are limited, and for now what can be constructed is only the size of a village or small town. The number of people who can live there is also quite limited. As for what will become of the people on Earth in the future, that depends on themselves. I don’t have the ability to fully protect them; everything will just have to be left to fate."

Sun Ning nodded and said, "I’ll make the arrangements right away."

"No rush. Walk around Hua Hai City with me first. I just got back, and I feel that many things are different from before," Ye Fan said. "Now I’m viewing the whole Earth from the perspective of an Immortal. I feel as if I’m just an onlooker, as if the good and evil, beauty and ugliness of the human world no longer have anything to do with me. Yet in my heart I still want to seek out true goodness and beauty... Sigh, maybe humans are just such strange creatures. When we’re bound by a mortal body, we struggle desperately to break that shackle. Once we’ve broken it, we begin to feel that the shackle itself is what defines humanity, and we start to yearn for it again."

Because Ye Fan’s words were so emotional, Sun Ning didn’t know how to respond. She herself took pride in being human; she would never dream about ascending, because she knew that was an unrealistic fantasy.

She didn’t understand what kind of mindset someone in Ye Fan’s lofty position would have. She only wanted to dutifully do her own job well.

"Mr. Ye, how many people are you planning to take away this time in total?" Sun Ning asked. "Those we’ve been secretly protecting all this time—including your former relatives and friends, or some women from certain professions, or even their family members... do you intend to take all of them as well this time?"

Ye Fan smiled and said, "Did I have you protecting too many people back then?"

Sun Ning said, "I didn’t mean it like that. Whoever Mr. Ye wants to protect is entirely Mr. Ye’s choice. Our job is simply to protect those people and keep them from being disturbed by outsiders. If we’re to take them all away this time, then the previous security measures will be withdrawn. But how to arrange them will still depend on your decision, because many of them have no idea you’ve been protecting them in secret, and they don’t even know that Cultivators exist... I’m afraid this would cause them considerable trouble."

"Since you’ve said it yourself—that the existence of Cultivators would cause them considerable trouble—then let’s not tell them for now. Let them continue living their own peaceful lives. Everything else can be done according to the most basic rules," Ye Fan instructed. "I’m not going to take all my relatives and friends into the secret realm. They themselves have no direct connection with Cultivators or with this calamity. Even if someone wanted to kidnap people, it wouldn’t fall on them. The only thing I need to do now is take away the people connected to this matter—such as Tantai Wanrong, Zhao Tianya, Zhao Lina and the others. They themselves are already Cultivators... and of course, you as well."

Hearing Ye Fan mention her in particular, Sun Ning couldn’t help lowering her head. She was deeply moved; she knew her own circumstances, and her attachment to Ye Fan was gradually deepening.

But in front of Ye Fan, she also felt a deep sense of inferiority, because she felt she was completely unworthy of him, that she was only fit to be a subordinate by his side who followed orders. Her sense of inferiority was extremely strong.

"Let’s set this matter aside for now. Come with me to Baiyun Residential Complex; I want to see Tantai Wanrong." After speaking, Ye Fan took Sun Ning and left the shopping mall.

At this moment, the person Ye Fan most wanted to see on Earth wasn’t even his own father, but Tantai Wanrong. That increasingly urgent longing to see her was very strong. He wished he could see Tantai Wanrong immediately, pour out all the feelings of their separation, and let her know his true feelings.

But he was also afraid that Zhao Tianya and Zhao Lina would get jealous over it, thinking that after coming back he wasn’t taking them seriously or something like that.

"Mr. Ye, ever since Miss Tantai came back, she’s been staying at home and hasn’t gone out recently. No other forces have infiltrated either... or perhaps, with my ability, I’m simply not capable of detecting them," Sun Ning said.