Letter from Elder Zhang

One could never be certain—perhaps their family’s Old Ancestor’s inner demon could be completely eradicated after all…

Thinking of this, Yuan Bi suddenly felt a surge of excitement in his heart.

He couldn’t help but increase the speed of his spirit boat, eager to send Fellow Daoist Lin and the others back before rushing home to see how the Old Ancestor was doing now.

Although Yuanling City was vast, Yuan Bi’s spirit boat was not slow. Thus, not long after dropping Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu off at the inn, Yuan Bi said to Yuan Qing:

“Qing’er, stay here and look after Fellow Daoist Lin for a while. If there’s any need, just come back home and let us know.”

Though Yuan Qing was worried about the Old Ancestor, he was also concerned for Lin Xiao. Since he wouldn’t be of much help going back anyway, he nodded and said:

“Uncle, rest assured. I will.”

Then Yuan Bi hurriedly returned home.

When he arrived outside the cave where their Old Ancestor was sequestered, he heard the voice of the Old Ancestor—who had not spoken for a long time due to battling the inner demon—coming from within:

“Clan Head, come in.”

The Old Ancestor’s voice sounded extremely weary and feeble.

But after so many years, hearing the Old Ancestor’s voice again filled Yuan Bi’s heart with immense emotion.

“Old Ancestor!”

He immediately opened the massive stone door and stepped inside, only to see that the black aura surrounding the Old Ancestor had largely dissipated. Though his face and body were still covered in injuries, his eyes when he looked at Yuan Bi were clear and lucid.

Yuan Bi walked forward, his emotions surging as he bowed respectfully:

“Yuan Bi pays respects to the Old Ancestor!”

The Yuan Family Ancestor gave him a weak smile and said:

“No need for such formalities. The path of cultivation is fraught with dangers and hardships. As the Clan Head of our Yuan family, even if I truly couldn’t hold on, you must not show any sign of distress.”

Yuan Bi quickly lowered his head and replied:

“Old Ancestor… your lesson is well taken. Are you much better now?”

The Yuan Family Ancestor shook his head and chuckled:

“Although not fully recovered, I can now suppress the inner demon on my own. All of this is thanks to that fellow Daoist who purified my mind. I wonder where that fellow Daoist is now? I wish to express my gratitude in person.”

Back then, while he was exhausted from struggling with the inner demon and had little awareness of the outside world, he could still sense a completely different kind of spiritual power cleansing his spiritual sea, helping to dispel the inner demon.

Yuan Bi answered:

“That fellow Daoist exhausted his spiritual power saving you, Old Ancestor. He is currently resting at an inn in the city.”

“How could you send him to rest at an inn? Our family has guest rooms…”

As he spoke, he realized that if Yuan Bi hadn’t kept the visitor home, their relationship must not have been particularly close. That was why he didn’t think it appropriate to invite him to stay when his spiritual power was depleted. Overwise, given Yuan Bi’s social savvy, he would never have committed such a discourteous act.

After all, in the world of immortal cultivation, keeping someone weak and unfamiliar on one’s own territory would raise suspicions of coveting their abilities—especially given that this fellow Daoist possessed the ability to eliminate inner demons.

Yuan Bi had acted this way also to set his family’s stance, allowing the other party to rest peacefully without worry.

The Yuan Family Ancestor had initially thought that someone would go to such lengths to help him only if they were very close friends.

Yet it turned out not to be the case…

He nodded at Yuan Bi and let out a soft sigh.

Yuan Bi then asked:

“Old Ancestor, your inner demon… is it still serious?”

The Old Ancestor, who had just woken up and was still very weak and tired, knew that Yuan Bi and the other family members had been worried about him for a long time. So he mustered the energy to reply:

“It’s nothing serious. Now I can suppress it completely. From here on, I’ll slowly wear it away, little by little. It won’t be a problem.”

Although when the inner demon first invaded, the Yuan Family Ancestor had been completely suppressed, and as the struggle dragged on, he grew weaker while the inner demon grew stronger. But now, the power of the inner demon had been greatly diminished, far less than it originally was, so the Yuan Family Ancestor was able to suppress it on his own.

Hearing this, Yuan Bi nodded with relief. Noticing the deepening weariness on the Old Ancestor’s face, he quickly excused himself and withdrew.

The cave where the Yuan Family Ancestor was stationed was the most spiritually rich place in the Yuan residence. He intended to recuperate there and recover the losses sustained from his years of fighting the inner demon.

Yuan Bi didn’t immediately announce the news that their Old Ancestor was mostly recovered.

He didn’t even inform his own family members for the time being.

Thus, the household remained unaware that their Old Ancestor was no longer in danger of dying.

On the other side, with Lin Xiao:

After bringing Lin Xiao back to the inn, Jiang Youfu carefully examined him again under Senior Liao’s guidance, confirming that there was indeed nothing wrong—just excessive depletion of spiritual power—before letting him rest properly.

The Original Mind Sutra proved to be a formidable mental cultivation technique; his spiritual power recovered remarkably quickly.

Lin Xiao awoke about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense after arriving at the inn.

Seeing him awake, everyone was overjoyed. Yuan Qing immediately bowed to him in thanks:

“Fellow Daoist Lin, your immense kindness is something I, Yuan Qing, will never forget! In the future, if you ever need anything, I would gladly go through fire and water without hesitation!”

Although he couldn’t speak for the Yuan family as a whole, he could pledge on his own behalf.

As for the Yuan family, that depended on Clan Head Yuan Bi’s intentions.

Unexpectedly, before evening fell, Yuan Bi arrived at the inn to visit them, discreetly disguised in low-key attire.

Liu Chun opened the door. When he heard Yuan Bi announce himself, he was initially hesitant. He called Yuan Qing over, and only after confirming that the visitor was indeed the Yuan family patriarch did he let him in.

Once inside, Yuan Bi saw Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu sitting at the table eating. He paused for a moment, then cupped his hands to Lin Xiao and said:

“On behalf of the entire Yuan family, I thank Fellow Daoist Lin for your assistance and kindness!”

Lin Xiao seemed surprised that the Clan Head Yuan had come to express gratitude so soon. He put down his chopsticks, smiled, and returned the gesture with a cupped fist:

“Clan Head Yuan is too polite. I am very glad to have been of some help to the Old Ancestor.”

Seeing that Lin Xiao showed no sign of any lingering trouble, Yuan Bi breathed a sigh of relief. After listening to his words, he immediately added:

“Fellow Daoist, you are truly righteous. From now on, you are a friend of mine, Yuan Bi. If you ever have a request, I will not refuse without a second word.”

Though Yuan Bi didn’t pledge the entire Yuan family, that was unavoidable—since Lin Xiao and his companions didn’t want too many people to know about this matter.

Thus, Yuan Bi couldn’t publicize it among the Yuan household, nor have the whole family express their gratitude.

He could only do his utmost in his own name.

But Lin Xiao and the others understood that Yuan Bi, as the head of a family, carried significant weight with this commitment.

Lin Xiao was about to say something when he noticed a prompt pop up in his mind for the [Building Connections] task: the recorded number of contacts had increased from 3/5 to 4/5.