Yu Sheng was still a bit shy.
After mustering the courage to step forward and say a few words, she took advantage of the fact that no one dared to look her in the eye and shyly retreated to the side room.
"Thank you, Daoist Brother Lin. Opening the city and saving our lives was a truly righteous deed. I shall never forget this for as long as I live."
Gu Nanzhi waited a moment before rising to her feet, turning to Lin Shu, and bowing once more.
’Judging by the Immortal Descendant’s childlike appearance, she’s likely still a complete stranger to this world and doesn’t have any particular views on it.’
’The only reason she agreed was entirely out of respect for Daoist Brother Lin.’
Beyond that, her bow also carried Gu Nanzhi’s profound respect for the young man.
’I can’t imagine the pressure he must have shouldered, breaking through Black Water City’s restrictions all on his own.’
Lin Shu looked at her, his expression somewhat complex.
Gu Nanzhi’s attitude toward Yu Sheng had taken him by surprise.
Even after seeing the "little chick’s" true form, everyone in the Old Woodshed maintained their incredibly humble and reverent demeanor.
This sincere display gave Lin Shu a new appreciation for just how lofty the status of an Immortal Family was in this world.
In the instant of his silence, the others finally recovered from the shock of seeing an Immortal Descendant in the flesh and began to ponder what Gu Nanzhi had just said.
’The city is open?!’
It was as if the thick, dark clouds that had loomed over their heads for years had been violently torn away.
The sudden ray of light, however blinding, felt somewhat unreal.
Yan Jin slowly rose from the ground. In truth, she had guessed what had happened when she saw the Overseas Dragon’s head, she just hadn’t dared to believe it.
It was only now, hearing it with her own ears, that her body slowly began to tremble.
’Lin Shu really got me out.’
’And not by sneaking away, but by walking right out of the city gates!’
’Ten years... I can finally return to the Immortal Sect...’
"What are you gawking at? Hurry up and get that corpse back to the Government Office, then have your father post the official announcement!"
Gu Nanzhi glanced back to see her nephew staring at her as if he’d seen a ghost, and couldn’t help but scold him irritably.
"Oh."
Chang Yi quickly averted his gaze.
Beside him, Dong Cheng also lowered his head and began hastily preparing the body for transport.
For a "young wolf" like him, the city’s opening meant he no longer had to rely on that old wisp of Immortal Aura from years ago, bumbling around as a half-baked Loose Cultivator. Now, he had the chance to go out and seek proper training, to join a true Immortal Sect.
"What are your plans, Daoist Brother Lin?"
Gu Nanzhi was in no hurry to return to the Government Office. She wasn’t disappointed by the youth of the Yu Family’s Immortal Descendant.
On the contrary, the younger the Immortal Descendant, the more it highlighted Lin Shu’s extraordinary nature.
’If one is to travel through Yongzhou, it is essential to make every effort to befriend a young talent such as him.’
"What about you?" Lin Shu decided to take the opportunity to learn more about the outside world.
’The world can’t be full of fools,’ he thought. ’There has to be a reason for the Immortal Sects’ lofty status.’
"I plan to return to Anren Prefecture to see my Master."
Gu Nanzhi gazed into the distance with a sigh, wondering if her Master would even remember her after ten years.
Then, she added jokingly, "I’ll have to be more careful this time. I can’t get trapped by some Immortal Descendant again, and I definitely must not run into any of those Great Demons."
SNAP. SNAP.
Lin Shu could almost see two flags suddenly sprouting from her back.
’Don’t just say things like that,’ he thought. ’It’s bad luck.’
"I’m going to Yongzhou Pass," Yan Jin said, stepping closer.
A woman of few words, she couldn’t express her gratitude at that moment, so she simply bowed to Lin Shu as well.
"So that’s why you were trapped in the city?"
Gu Nanzhi had a strange look on her face. It was clear that while the two of them belonged to the same Immortal Sect, they didn’t know each other well.
She suddenly remembered that because of the Yu Family’s young Immortal Descendant, Lin Shu might not know much about the outside world, so she began to explain, "Yongzhou Pass is less than two hundred li from Black Water City. It’s a key post in the Border Region, and there are frequent skirmishes with the neighboring kingdom."
"That’s why most of the Immortal Families in Yongzhou send their young Immortal Descendants there to be trained... or rather, to train their own disciples."
"During this process, the Immortal Descendant builds their first batch of disciples, making it easier for them to control a territory later on."
"She was lucky, and yet, not so lucky."
Gu Nanzhi gestured toward Yan Jin. She wasn’t gloating, but she found the situation rather bizarre.
’I was just returning home to visit family, so getting trapped was one thing.’
’This junior sister of mine was chosen by a young scion of an Immortal Family. If she had shown enough skill and talent, she could have become a founding member of their retinue.’
’But she stopped to rest with only two hundred li to go and ended up wasting ten whole years for nothing.’
’It’s truly a testament to how unpredictable life is.’
Unlike her junior sister,
those like herself who served an adult of an Immortal Family might have a powerful Master, but they couldn’t hope to see them more than once a year, if that.
Only by performing meritorious deeds could one earn an audience and be taught a new Immortal Technique.
Yan Jin was silent for a few moments. She clearly wasn’t sure how far behind she’d fallen compared to the other disciples her Master had accepted back then, now that ten years had passed before she could reach Yongzhou Pass.
Lin Shu closed his eyes and exhaled, finally having gained some understanding of the world outside.
He was finally starting to understand.
’To a Cultivator, an Immortal Family meant everything.’
’Your backing, influence, resources, Cultivation Techniques, and your entire future... if you left an Immortal Sect, you could forget about all of it.’
’It felt very much like the old system of Noble Families.’
"You mentioned there are Demons outside?" he asked, organizing his thoughts and opening his eyes.
"Of course. Patriarch Yu oversees civil affairs, while Patriarch Qi handles martial matters. These two Half-Life Immortal Sects are the two great mountains governing the Yongzhou Government Office."
A look of admiration filled Gu Nanzhi’s eyes. "The martial branch, controlled by the Qi Family, is the Demon-slaying Bureau. Its disciples vanquish Demons with swords in hand—how magnificent they are!"

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