“Alas.”

At this moment, Li Mu, who was standing on the side, finally came to his senses and sighed deeply.

“I’ve obtained the Highest Clouds Sketch as I wished. But now, I have an itch for more secret skills. Senior Zhang, Senior Zhang!”

“You’ve gotten the Highest Clouds Sketch and seen the complete second secret skill, the Dragon Shadow. You should consider yourself very lucky and snigger without stop,” Mo Wen glanced at Li Mu and teased.

“Yes, of course, I should be sniggering, hahahaha…” He laughed out loud.

“Come on, aren’t you supposed to laugh in secret?”

Mo Wen shook his head.

“Princess Nina, since you’re Mengmeng’s friend and bestie, there are some things and circumstances I certainly wouldn’t turn blind to. You can just cultivate with your mind at ease. I’m looking forward to your breakthrough into the Yuan Ying Realm. Well, of course, when I get back, I’ll make my breakthrough in one month. When I achieve that, I’ll set up a feast. Princess Nina, you would honor me with your presence then, wouldn’t you?” Li Mu said cheerfully.

“If I weren’t in secluded cultivation, I would go.” Nina nodded her agreement, showing Li Mu great respect. Then she added, “Provided that I have my father’s approval, of course.”

“Okay.”

Li Mu flickered a significant look at Nina and laughed again. Next, he leaped and quickly flew to the aircraft that was suspended in the air.

All good things must come to an end.

This trial on the Lost Continent had come to a close.

For many people, it was like a dream.

But for Nina and Li Mu, the most precious things they obtained from this trial were Mengmeng’s friendship and the Senior Zhang’s grace.

They also learned that some foppish young masters were not bad people, and some princesses were not scheming and conniving either.

Mengmeng was also reluctant to part with Nina. But in general, she was in good mood. She had had a good time on this journey and even befriended an elf princess. It couldn’t have been more perfect.

Thinking of that, Mengmeng happily sang a song for everyone on the boat.

After the song ended, the boat already arrived in the Lost Continent.

The sail lasted only a few minutes.

If Li Mu and the others had known that it could move so fast, they would see this seemingly shabby boat in a new light.

“There is no longer any storm outside. The Lost Continent is not very big when viewed from here,” Mengmeng blinked her big shining eyes and said curiously.

“Because the energy of the storms had massively enlarged the area of the Lost Continent. It’s like adding a secondary space to it,” Yue Wuwei answered with a smile.

“The Lost Continent looks like a fragment of a continent floating in the universe,” Mu Xue said. “What a strange world!”

“Let’s go and pick them up.”

With a whoosh, the boat appeared at the edge of the small lake. Without the stone tablet, the lake looked just ordinary.

There were dozens of people, including Shi Fenghou, sitting nearby. They had been bored these days. To find something to do, they walked around the lake. But there were no strange beasts. The spiritual beasts were also quite scarce. The ones they found were still below the Elixir Realm. Those beasts were several levels lower than the ones they met during the trial.

The only way to kill time was to sit by the lake and stare up at the Dal Star and other Star Areas.

“I remember Zhao Feng saying that the Sea Dragon Star Area is, in some sense, similar to a county-level city in our secular world. Each subarea is a district of the city. Now that I think about it, the comparison is pretty accurate. Although the distance between subareas is very far, and one may not be able to visit them all on foot in one’s whole life, the distance can be covered in the blink of an eye if one takes a spaceship. To go to the Dal Star we’re looking at, the flight will only take a little more than an hour. Well, they went there to have fun and ditched us here. I really have no words for that,” Su Beimu said, crestfallen.

“What’s the point of saying all this?”

Ye Longyuan snorted and said, “When we came here, we had a hundred people, and more than half of them were about to break through to the peak of the Elixir Realm. Many in the Sea Dragon Star Area would be aghast if they learned about our speed of cultivation. Besides, based on my observation, the Sea Dragon Star Area is just so-so. There is nothing special about this place other than the fact that it has more races, forces, and a much larger area. In the future, I, Ye Longyuan, will definitely have the power to hold the Sea Dragon Star Area in awe.”

“Okay, you have a point,” Su Beimu answered perfunctorily.

He was not willing to argue about this with Ye Longyuan. After all, he had known him for a long time, so he knew that Ye Longyuan was exceedingly arrogant.

Only a heaven-defying master like Zhang Hanyang could deter him.

“Arrogant…

“I, Su Beimu, used to be like that, too. I was proud, unyielding, and sometimes puffed up.”

“Eh? They’re back!”

There were suddenly some noises in the crowd. The boat that they had once taken appeared above the small lake.

“Get on board,” Yue Wuwei said coolly.

“Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!”

Dozens of people on the scene moved and boarded the boat.

“Let’s set off!”

As the space around the boat vibrated, the boat transformed into a jet of light and flew out of the Lost Continent.

At this time, Jiang Yanlan looked around and was suddenly stunned.

“Some more people are missing. There were already more than a dozen missing people when we came out of the secret realm. They might have died there. But Ding Jiuming was safe. Yet, it seems he isn’t here.”

“Yes, he is not on the boat. Elder Yue, some of our people are missing,” Mu Xue informed.

“We’ll deal with the missing ones later.” Yue Wuwei shook his head. He had no intention to look for Ding Jiuming.

“You don’t need to look for him,” Ye Longyuan said casually, “I think that guy just doesn’t want to go back. He hopes to see the colorful world outside. He left the lake the day before yesterday and never came back.”

“This…”

Mu Xue’s expression stiffened.

She was not into Ding Jiuming, but she still had a certain affection for him in that they were once in the same sect.

Ding Jiuming was, after all, a disciple of the Luo Fu Sword sect, and her father liked him very much. Now that he was gone, Mu Xue frowned slightly and asked, “Why did he choose to stay?”

Obviously, he didn’t want to go back to Earth. Otherwise, he would have waited by the lake. Yue Wuwei and the others were only gone for five days. He couldn’t have been that impatient.

“Didn’t he say that he wanted to pick up girls? Maybe he wants to stay in the Sea Dragon Star Area to gain experience,” Su Beimu said, shaking his head. “I saw him talking to several cultivators of the Sea Dragon Star Area before.”

“Oh, okay.” Mu Xue curled her lips in resignation.

Apart from Yue Wuwei and Zhang Han, no one else present noticed that Ding Jiuming was standing at the edge of a cliff on a mountain that was dozens of miles away from the small lake, looking up at the boat with a calm face.

The breeze blew his green shirt backward. He looked handsome and upright, but there was a trace of an evil smile on the corner of his mouth.

“Whiz!”

He directly jumped off the cliff.

He was not committing suicide.

Falling down the cliff, his figure disappeared into the clouds and mists.

“Buzz!”

In less than two seconds, an aircraft more than 10 meters long suddenly rose from the clouds and mists, turning into a streak of light and flying in the opposite direction. In the easternmost void of the Lost Continent, a spaceship was parked.

“We’ve reached the waterfall again.”

After some time, they arrived at the waterfall. They had lost track of time, so they didn’t know how long they had traveled. After seeing the waterfall, the group knew that they would soon arrive at the Boundless Sea.

“Looking from here, the waterfall is so cool.” Mengmeng blinked her big eyes and gazed at the waterfall with great interest.

Looking from a distance, the waterfall seemed much more spectacular than it was when they first saw it from near to far.

The water on both sides, which stretched as far as the eye could see, draped to the pool at the bottom. They could even smell the surging waves.

The group continued to travel and once again came to the place where the water was as clear as air. They felt as if flying in the air. All kinds of strange beasts in the water dazzled their eyes.

After that, they reached the place that looked like a pool of mercury. It looked rather dawning. One could imagine how terrifying it would be to fall into such water.

In the end, they arrived at the Boundless Sea. This was the place that everyone was kind of familiar with. The boat sailed through the wind and waves and crossed the Boundless Sea with ease.

“We’re back!”

Mengmeng whooped when she saw the continent.

Her sweet and cheerful voice quickly imbued the others.

“We’re back!” Mu Xue also shouted.

“Yo-ho! I’m back! I’m already at the peak of the Elixir Realm!!”

“We’re back!” Zi Yan put her hands beside her mouth and shouted.

Gradually, almost everyone on the boat became excited.

To put it more dramatically, they were like survivors of a disaster.

Everything they had gone through seemed as transient as fleeting clouds. They were all well aware that this trip to the Lost Continent was their first step to gain a foothold in the Sea Dragon Star Area!

Finally, the boat arrived at the shore of the Ancient Mine. This was the Hidden Dragon Land, which Zhang Han was quite familiar with.

“This place is close to the Kun Xu World. It’s convenient for you to go home from here and for me to go to the King’s Domain.”

Yue Wuwei laughed and waved at the others, saying, “You can leave now.”

Ye Longyuan was rather speechless.

“Could you please express your concern for us as well?

“Even if you don’t care about us, the least you could do is to act like you are.

“You’re being too frank. Sometimes it hurts.”

However, Yue Wuwei didn’t give him any response.

After the others quickly went away, Yue Wuwei looked at Zhang Han and said with a smile, “I’ll go back to the King’s Domain now. You can fly all the way back to your place. During the flight, you’ll again get used to the environment here, which is different from the Lost Continent. From today on, I’ll take up residence in the Black White Palace. If you need anything, contact me with the pearl I gave you. By the way, Zhang Hanyang, if you have time, go visit the King’s Domain more often. With the way you spending crystal stones, your deposit will soon run out. The King’s Domain has the largest storage of crystal stones. Their spiritual herbs and resources are also the most abundant. The only valuable thing in the Kunlun Immortal World is sixth-tier gems.”

“Okay, got it.” Zhang Han nodded with a smile and said, “We’ve troubled you a lot this time, Elder Yue.”

“Bye.” Yue Wuwei waved his hand, and a Space Portal materialized. He disappeared in it in a flash.

“Now we’re back, let go to the Kun Xu World first, then visit the Heavenly Knights Sect before we go back to Xiangjiang,” Zhang Mu remarked.

He took the lead to fly to the Hidden Dragon Land.

In other regions of the Ancient Mine, the people of the worldlets and the Dark Shadow Clan of the Ancient Mine were still constantly fighting. However, on the Hidden Dragon Land, they already lived in harmony. There were few battles, because everyone had been focusing on exploring the Beast Mountain Range.

Zhang Han and the others didn’t encounter any incident along the way. They entered the Kun Xu World through the passage.

“The suppression of strength makes me quite uncomfortable, or I should say that I am not used to it. Hey, hey, I, Wang Xiaowu, am also at the Elixir Realm Last-Stage.”

He was quite smug. As soon as he returned to the Heavenly Knights Sect, he began to act tough.

“Yun Feiyang, move your ass here. I wanna see how you’ve been cultivating recently.”

If he couldn’t flaunt his strength or do everything he wanted but couldn’t do before, his strength improvement would be utterly meaningless.

That was what Wang Xiaowu thought. As soon as he found Yun Feiyang, they started to battle.

The ones here were all half a step away from the Elixir Realm. Yet, Wang Xiaowu found that his strength at the Elixir Realm Last-Stage did not gain him any advantage.

“I failed. D*mn it!”

Wang Xiaowu found that after making hundreds of moves, he was the one who was slightly at disadvantage.

“Why don’t I have heaven-defying strength as Young Lord has? I’m already at the Elixir Realm Last-Stage after all.” Wang Xiaowu was extremely confused.

“Give your poor skills, don’t even think about it.” Zhang Guangyou said sarcastically, “There can only be one Zhang Hanyang in this world.”

Seeing him bragging about Zhang Han, Zi Yan pressed her lips into a grin.

At this time, Yun Feiyang coughed softly and said, “Excuse me, two weeks ago, I broke through to the Elixir Realm Middle-Stage in the Kunlun Immortal World, and I had gained some enlightenment. It won’t be long before I reach the Elixir Realm Last-Stage.”

Wang Xiaowu was lost for words now.

“Gosh, I wanna hurl some swear words to him!”

“Forget it. Let’s go back to Mount New Moon. You can stay here if you like.”

Seeing that Zhang Guangyou and the others were about to leave, Wang Xiaowu followed them in a hurry.

“I’ll go too.”

Yun Feiyang hastily caught up with them. These days, some of the talented disciples of the Heavenly Knights Sect often visited Mount New Moon. It was already a common occurrence in daily life.

There was even an unwritten rule in the Heavenly Knights Sect.

Only the top 10 in the Sect Competition could go to Mount New Moon for further study.

The so-called further study was actually to mooch secret skills and resources off Zhang Han.

Then, the group left the Kun Xu World and went to the secular world.

“Well, this is the air I’m familiar with.”

Ah Hu took a few deep breaths and said, “The exhaust gas of cars and the haze are sort of characteristic. Haha, let’s go home. My baby is still waiting for me!”

As a married man, Instructor Liu also couldn’t wait to go home.

Jiang Yanlan’s face darkened when she saw this.

“What? Your wife is right here. Why are you in such a hurry to go home?”

Then Instructor Liu whispered something in her ear, which made Jiang Yanlan blush.

Seeing this, Zhang Han took a meaningful look at Zi Yan.

Zi Yan gently bit her lower lip. Her pupils rolled shrewdly. Then, surprisingly, she showed a shy and alluring expression to Zhang Han. Although it was only for a second, Zhang Han’s heart was already burning with desire.

“Let’s go.”

Eager to go home, they flew rapidly toward Xiangjiang.

Mount New Moon had already become their home.

The flight took less than two hours.

At dusk, they returned to Mount New Moon.

“I’m back!”

“Ah Hu!”

Liu Jiaran looked surprised.

“Fengfeng!” Liang Mengqi threw herself into Zhao Feng’s arms.

“Hahaha, you’re finally back.” Zi Qiang laughed. “You took my granddaughter away from me for so long. I haven’t seen my sweet Mengmeng for a whole month. I missed her so much.”

“Didn’t you miss me?” Zi Yan snorted.

“Of course.” Zi Qiang grinned from ear to ear.

“You all made it back, not one less,” Rong Jiali said with a broad smile. “Let the restaurant prepare a banquet to welcome the warriors back.”

In an instant, the whole Mount New Moon seemed to have perked up.

Mengmeng, who was the most popular girl, was extremely busy.

“Sister Mengmeng, Sister Mengmeng!”

After cuddling in Chen Changqing’s arms for just a minute, Chen Chuan ran to Mengmeng and said, “I missed you so, so much.”

“I didn’t miss you at all.” Mengmeng tilted her head and snorted.

“Ah, boo-hoo…” Chen Chuan burst into tears at once.

He was only six years old. He was still a naive kid.

Mengmeng was shocked when she saw this.

“This brat’s tears are running nonstop. He must be sad for real.”

“Oh, what are you crying for? I was just kidding. Look, I brought you many gifts.”

Mengmeng quickly fished out a small toy from her Space Bracelet.

“Eh?”

There were still tears hanging at the corners of Chen Chuan’s eyes. He was now sobbing, but his tears had stopped rolling down. Looking at the gift Sister Mengmeng just took out, his eyes glistened. He asked, “What is this?”

“A fun toy.”

Mengmeng was holding a palm-sized, white hexagonal item that looked jade-made. A flexible ring was attached below it.

Mengmeng explained, “Look, put this on your finger, and then you can control the dart. If you hold your hand up, the dart will fly upward. If you put your hand down, it will fly downward. You can also make it turn left and right. Wanna have a try?”

Mengmeng demonstrated the function of this item to Chen Chuan. As the little girl moved her fingers, the hexagonal dart zoomed back and forth.

“Wow!”

Chen Chuan immediately stopped crying and said happily, “Sister Mengmeng, you bought this for me?”

“Of course.” Mengmeng handed the ring to Chen Chuan.

“Haha, thank you, Sister Mengmeng.”

Chen Chuan was satisfied. Smiling brightly, he immediately began to play with it.

The adults standing on the side watching them laughed with amusement.

Chen Changqing scratched his forehead and said to Zhang Han, “Mengmeng was quite bright when she was about six years old. But why does my son look a little dumb? Alas…”

By ending his words with a sigh, he was implying that his son probably had no chance to win Mengmeng’s heart. He had been harboring a “wicked” design for years. Back then, when his son was born, he had vowed that he would make his son marry Mengmeng. But a few years later, he reluctantly gave it up.

“Chen Chuan must have got it from you,” Zi Yan teased.

“Are you saying I’m dumb?” Chen Changqing retorted.

“You tell me. Don’t you know what you were like when you were a child?” Zhang Han taunted mercilessly.

“Pfft…”

Zhou Fei burst out laughing and said, “I still remember that when you were a kid, you didn’t like to talk to others. You were kind of slow, and couldn’t do anything right.”

“Fine.” Chen Changqing touched his chin, shook his head, and sighed. “People like me are likely to rise abruptly with our accumulated strength. You wait and see. When my son grows up, he will become a popular cutie with graceful bearing.”

“You are so confident.”

Everyone started to chat in the open space by the magic paradise. Some were seated, some were standing there.

Mengmeng, who was the most popular one, began to hand out gifts one by one.

“Grandpa, Grandma, these are the gifts I bought for you.”

“Grandma, I bought beautiful flowers for you.”

Soon, she came to where the children were playing. Many of them were younger than Mengmeng. There were also some two or three years older than her. All of them were looking at Mengmeng expectantly.

Their eyes were gleaming with eagerness. They all hoped to get gifts from Mengmeng.

Of course, Mengmeng didn’t let them down. She had bought a lot of toys. Some of them were just for other children.

As the gifts were distributed, Mengmeng received many thanks.

“Thank you, Sister Mengmeng.”

“Thanks, Sister Mengmeng.”

“Cousin, it’s so nice of you.”

In addition to where the children were, the place where the adults had gathered was also very lively. They were chatting with one another. First Elder, Yun Feiyang, and the others listened attentively to Dong Chen and Wang Xiaowu’s preposterous stories of what they had seen and experienced on the Lost Continent. As the two bragged with great enthusiasm, their spit flew everywhere.

An hour later, everyone went back to their places.

“Well, no place is better than our sweet home!”

Zi Yan took a strode and threw herself on the big bed of her own.

“Of course.” Mengmeng rushed forward and landed beside Zi Yan.

“Then let’s lie down and enjoy for a while.” To not be left out, Zhang Han rushed to the bed as well. He looked at Zi Yan and Mengmeng with a smile and said, “Mengmeng, you’ve grown taller again. You’re about to start your second year of junior high. How can time go so fast? Mengmeng, I do miss the time when you were a baby girl. How about I cast a spell to change you back?”

“Huh?”

Mengmeng just started to feel very proud of herself. When she heard this, she pouted and said, “No, it took me so long to grow so tall. Don’t make me change back. Gee, that thought alone gave me goosebumps.”

“Haha, how chicken-hearted you are!” Zi Yan chortled and said, “Yes, you’ve grown into a young lady. Now you even know to be particular about your appearance.”

“Mummy, we’re the same. You pay a great amount of attention to your looks too,” Mengmeng said seriously.

Zi Yan could find no words to retort. Eventually, she reluctantly mumbled, “Well, all women pay attention to their looks.”

“Mummy, when we were shopping, everyone mistook us for sisters. You still look very young.”

“Wow, why are you suddenly so honey-tongued?” Zi Yan smiled and pinched Mengmeng’s pink cheek.