Eternal Life from the Golden Needle Technique

Chapter 264: Chapter 261: Harvest and Return

After entering the Spirit Realm,

the events that followed unfolded without any further complications.

Everything went so smoothly that even Shen Changchuan was a little surprised.

Originally, he had thought that,

given the precedent of Mo Lingfeng’s previous attempt to obstruct him,

he might run into some brain-dead villain spouting provocations or face other such troubles after entering the Spirit Realm.

Or perhaps some mastermind was orchestrating a grand conspiracy, waiting until he entered the Spirit Realm to unleash it and cause a series of major problems.

It was a common trope in the early fantasy cultivation web novels of his past life: an ancient demon sealed or hidden within a Secret Realm, a villain scheming in the shadows to break the seal, and the eventual escape of the demon causing the entire Secret Realm to collapse...

But clearly,

Shen Changchuan hadn’t encountered any of those novel tropes.

While entering the Spirit Realm,

the disciples from the other four major families were all exceedingly respectful toward Shen Changchuan.

Their eyes were filled with awe whenever they looked at him.

Although they were top prodigies of their respective families and possessed a certain degree of pride,

they had witnessed the battle between Shen Changchuan and Mo Lingfeng with their own eyes.

They could be arrogant in front of ordinary people,

but before a monstrous talent the likes of which appeared only once in a century, what right did they have to be proud?

Normal people weren’t the mindless villains of novels;

they wouldn’t just senselessly rush forward to pick a fight.

As for conspiracies, or the body of some great demon hidden in the Spirit Realm,

perhaps there were.

But at least, Shen Changchuan hadn’t encountered any of it this time.

Entering the Spirit Realm,

finding the Dream Traveling Immortal—

everything had gone exceptionally smoothly.

Not long after,

the Dream Traveling Immortal bloomed.

A strange floral fragrance, impossible to describe with words, spread out as if blooming within one’s very Divine Sense.

In that instant, his consciousness felt as if it were sinking into an abyss, and a profound sleepiness washed over him like a tide.

In a daze,

Shen Changchuan resisted for a time with his Soul Emergence Level Divine Sense.

After observing that everyone around him had already fallen into a deep slumber,

and determining there was no immediate danger,

he stopped resisting

and willingly let himself be drawn in.

Three days passed with him in the Dream Realm.

Shen Changchuan had now emerged from the Dream Realm.

Deep within his pupils,

a faint cyan light swirled.

For a moment, one could vaguely see concentric rings, but they quickly vanished.

Shen Changchuan paid it no mind.

The corners of his lips curved up slightly, his eyes flashing with a brilliant, confident light.

Evidently,

his trip to the Dream Realm had been quite fruitful.

’It went just as I expected... Still, while I’m more than eighty percent sure, I’ll need to test it later to know for certain...’

The brilliant light in Shen Changchuan’s eyes gradually faded.

The joy on his face subsided, replaced by his usual placid, impassive expression.

No one knew

just how much he had gained within the Dream Traveling Immortal’s Dream Realm.

Not long after Shen Changchuan collected himself,

the junior disciples of the other four major families also awoke from their slumber.

However, all four of them were frowning slightly, a hint of uncertainty on their faces.

”How do you guys feel?”

”It’s strange. The experience doesn’t feel as... vivid as the elders described...”

”It felt too short. I didn’t even have time to achieve a breakthrough in the Dream Realm...”

”Did something go wrong?”

”I don’t think so. Maybe this is just how it is. After all, the elders did say everyone’s experience in the Dream Realm is different, and the duration isn’t fixed—some are long, some are short.”

”Maybe we were just unlucky. This particular Dream Traveling Immortal might have been underdeveloped, which would explain it...”

”Sigh... I guess that must be it.”

The group whispered amongst themselves, discussing the matter in low voices.

Hearing this from the side, Shen Changchuan’s heart skipped a beat.

’There was a problem with the Dream Realm this time?’

’It couldn’t be my fault, could it?’

Though he thought this,

Shen Changchuan’s expression remained impassive.

’It can’t be. What right or power do I have to influence the Dream Traveling Immortal’s Dream Realm? It’s not like I could have used up a large amount of its... ”reality”... just because I relived its entire growth cycle in the dream, right?’

Shen Changchuan rationalized to himself.

...

The anomaly with the Dream Traveling Immortal

didn’t end up causing much of a stir.

After they left the Spirit Realm and reported the situation in detail to the Soul Emergence Realm Cultivators waiting outside,

the Soul Emergence Realm Cultivators from the five families also found it strange.

However, none of them suspected Shen Changchuan.

In truth, there was no reason to suspect him.

Shen Changchuan’s talent was certainly exceptional, that much was true.

He could be called the number one of the younger generation in the Tian Nan Domain’s Qi Introduction Realm.

But to pin the blame on him just for that?

That was clearly out of the question.

For nearly two hundred years, the aptitude of junior Cultivators had varied with each generation, but no one had ever discovered a pattern where the duration of the Dream Realm was affected by a Cultivator’s talent.

In contrast,

the possibility that this particular Dream Traveling Immortal was underdeveloped due to environmental factors or some other mishap was far more believable.

The five major families nervously began sending people to inspect the Spirit Realm,

hoping to find the source of the unexpected change.

Meanwhile,

Shen Changchuan and Shen Tingchu had already bid them farewell and departed.

The other families, of course, warmly urged them to stay.

But Shen Changchuan had already obtained the greatest benefit. He was planning to return to his Sect to properly digest his gains and had no intention of lingering, so he politely declined their offers.

He then bid farewell to the heads of the various families,

summoned Xiaofeng,

and rode away with Shen Tingchu.

The heads of the five families escorted them for a short distance before watching the two depart into the distance.

Several of them let out a long sigh of relief.

The Song Family Ancestor, in particular, had the most complex feelings of all.

’This Young Master Shen Changchuan... he’s a good person...’

the Song Family Ancestor sighed to himself.

Before this,

the Song Family had nearly bankrupted itself preparing a lavish gift for Shen Changchuan as an apology for going back on their word.

However,

faced with such a generous gift,

Shen Changchuan had merely shaken his head, stating that the root cause of the Mo Lingfeng affair did not lie with the Song Family.

He said that if Mo Lingfeng hadn’t been throwing his weight around, the Song Family wouldn’t have had to make such a choice, and it would be unreasonable for him, Shen Changchuan, to expect them to gamble their entire family’s survival for his sake.

In the end, even under their earnest pleading,

he had only chosen a few Secret Techniques that interested him and declared the matter resolved.

The young man acted with integrity, possessed immense talent, yet remained humble. His future was truly limitless!

Gazing at Shen Changchuan’s figure as it disappeared over the horizon,

the Song Family Ancestor thought with deep emotion.