"I'm back."
A plain young male voice echoed through the Feisha Sect on the mountain.
"Who? Who's back? Senior Brother, you joined the sect earlier than me. Could it be that there's a senior who has been out on a long training journey?"
The disciples of the Feisha Sect were utterly bewildered by this inexplicable voice.
The voice also echoed into the back mountain of the Feisha Sect, outside a somewhat dilapidated small courtyard.
An old woman was lazily sitting outside the small courtyard.
She seemed like any elderly woman from the countryside.
But the disciples of the Feisha Sect knew that the person residing in the small house in the back mountain was their sect leader.
Zhang Yinjun, a cultivator at the peak of Foundation Establishment who had lived for over two hundred years.
When Zhang Yinjun heard this voice.
Her somewhat cloudy eyes suddenly lifted, disbelief flickering within them.
This voice was too familiar, although it had appeared only a few times in her memory.
But there was no mistake!
It was him!
Within the Feisha Sect, a group of disciples were still discussing the voice.
But at that moment, an aged figure flew from the back mountain, appearing before them.
"Sect Leader, holy hell, it's the Sect Leader! Wasn't the Sect Leader in closed-door seclusion!"
But before these disciples could even kneel to greet her.
Zhang Yinjun's figure had already rapidly flown down the mountain.
Before Li Qi, the disciple who had just been guarding the gate looked at him with a hint of reverence.
From the display Li Qi had just shown, it was evident that this young man, who appeared to be around his age, was definitely a great cultivator.
The gate-guarding disciple's gaze couldn't help but drift towards the Feisha Sect.
Hearing Li Qi's shout, the gate-guarding disciple was also curious.
He wondered who would descend the mountain to meet this Daoist friend.
Could it be an elder?
But the next moment, the gate-guarding disciple's eyes widened, once again filled with disbelief.
Although he had only seen this figure flying down the mountain a few times, he would never forget her in his life.
"Sect Sect Sect Sect… Sect Leader!"
But Zhang Yinjun ignored the gate-guarding disciple at this moment.
She flew directly before Li Qi.
Her back was hunched, and her hair was somewhat gray.
And her cloudy eyes were fixed intently on Li Qi.
Unchanged.
One hundred years.
Not the slightest change.
While she had transformed from a little girl nearly killed by demons into a frail old woman.
Her voice, somewhat aged and trembling.
"Senior Uncle Li…"
Li Qi did not reply but first asked.
"Where is Wang Cheng…"
Although he already had an answer in his heart.
In their original realm, it was extremely difficult for Foundation Establishment cultivators to live for over two hundred years.
As expected, Zhang Yinjun's voice sounded somewhat sorrowful.
"Master… he passed away twelve years ago. It's a pity Master couldn't see you one last time before he died."
Li Qi smiled upon hearing this, seemingly unconcerned.
But this time, his tone carried a hint of fluctuation for the first time.
"What's there to see? We all have to part ways eventually. But it's fine. That brat Wang Cheng must have been two hundred and thirty or forty years old when he died. Long enough life."
Looking at Zhang Yinjun's aged face, her cultivation had now reached the peak of the ninth level of Foundation Establishment.
However, limited by the barriers of their former realm, she had been unable to break through to the Golden Core stage.
Li Qi patted Zhang Yinjun's shoulder and finally uttered a few words.
"Little girl, hurry up and break through. Strive to become a Golden Core cultivator soon, and you can live for a few hundred more years."
After that day.
Li Qi settled once again in the back mountain of the Feisha Sect.
To Li Qi's surprise, after such a long time.
The small house he had lived in in the back mountain of the Feisha Sect was still there, albeit a bit more dilapidated.
A plot of land by the house still had some vegetables planted, with a few chickens and ducks nearby.
Just then.
A hen clucked a few times, and behind it, an oval-shaped egg slid out.
The hen laid an egg!
Later, Zhang Yinjun told him that decades ago, after Wang Cheng had officially made her the Sect Leader of the Feisha Sect.
Wang Cheng had moved to the back mountain by himself and began living in Li Qi's former house.
He had taken care of the house, the vegetables, and the chickens and ducks.
Later, Wang Cheng grew old and passed away.
Seeing that the Feisha Sect could operate smoothly without her needing to worry about it.
Zhang Yinjun, now aging, also preferred to live in this small house in the back mountain.
She intended to do as her master, Wang Cheng, had done.
And one day, peacefully pass away here.
However, dying now seemed unlikely.
After all, the barriers of the realm had disappeared, and cultivators within the realm were no longer suppressed.
With Zhang Yinjun's foundation at the peak of Foundation Establishment for decades, she should be able to break through to the Golden Core stage and extend her lifespan without too much difficulty.
During this time, Zhang Yinjun did want to introduce Li Qi to the outstanding disciples of the sect.
However, Li Qi refused.
He had returned simply to see old acquaintances.
After that day, Li Qi moved into the familiar small house.
Meanwhile, Zhang Yinjun entered her sect leader's secret chamber to begin her closed-door cultivation to break through to the Golden Core stage.
The disciples of the Feisha Sect were initially abuzz with talk about the sect leader's senior uncle returning from outside the realm, and they were very curious about Li Qi.
However, as time passed, Li Qi rarely appeared before them.
The topic eventually faded.
And for a long time afterward.
Li Qi essentially disappeared from view.
He was recuperating, recovering the vast amount of vital energy and spirit consumed by the third strike of the Farmer's Three Punches.
Li Qi estimated that it would take twenty to thirty years to fully recover this vital energy and spirit.
While Li Qi was recuperating.
In the capital city of the Great Jing Dynasty within the realm, a group of extremely distinguished guests arrived.
They claimed to be an envoy sent by "King Jian of Wei," Cao Ma Yi, from the Great Wei Dynasty outside the realm, specifically to visit the Great Jing within the realm.