Ye Wen was still pondering why Xu Xian would suddenly appear when he abruptly heard Zhang Sanfeng's question and immediately realized this was exactly what he needed.

He had previously been distressed by his inability to prove that what he was saying was true. Then Xu Xian popped up. He couldn't figure out why this was happening: "Can I really control this Cauldron?" Overall, Xu Xian's arrival couldn't have been more timely; it perfectly annotated everything he had just said.

So, without time for pleasantries with Xu Xian, he turned to introduce him to Zhang Sanfeng: "This is my junior brother, Xu Xian. That is his wife, Huang Rongrong..."

Having been talking to Xu Xian until now, it was only when making the introduction that Ye Wen finally looked at Huang Rongrong. He hadn't paid much attention earlier, but now he realized her appearance seemed to have changed drastically!

"Huh?"

When Huang Rongrong first arrived at Mount Shu, she was only fifteen or sixteen, at most a mere slip of a girl. After living on Mount Shu for a long time, although her figure hadn't changed, her appearance had matured somewhat. Moreover, after numerous twists and turns, she no longer looked like her former self.

By the time Ye Wen shattered the void, Huang Rongrong was clearly a mature woman. Although she was still often muddled, she was no longer as reckless and impulsive as she used to be, and her looks were vastly different. But the Huang Rongrong before him now seemed to have reverted to her former appearance—no, she looked even a year or two younger.

"Rongrong, you... did you suffer a Qi deviation from your cultivation?" Ye Wen now suspected that Huang Rongrong had perhaps gone mad while practicing the Eight Desolations, Six Harmonies, Only I Am Honored Art, resulting in her reverting to a child's form! But even this didn't quite add up. If that were the case, Huang Rongrong absolutely couldn't have emerged with Xu Xian, unless Xu Xian's power had grown so formidable that he could carry an ordinary person through the shattering of the void successfully.

Having lived in this world for some time, constantly analyzing everything that happened during his own void-shattering, Ye Wen gradually understood that traversing the space, which was like a passage, involved a tearing force that was essentially a heavenly tribulation. That ceaseless tearing force wasn't simply tempering his body; it was fundamentally trying to rip him to shreds, with body tempering being merely incidental.

If he hadn't had the help of the Crimson Fruit, he certainly wouldn't have passed that tribulation so easily. Given the power of that tearing force, unless one's cultivation was so profound that shattering the void was the only option, and one's body was sufficiently robust, they could never survive it.

This was also why Ye Wen had never expected Jiu Jianxian to suddenly appear. While Jiu Jianxian's skill was undeniably powerful, due to old age and physical frailty, he had a fatal weakness: his body was far less robust than Ye Wen's. Furthermore, Ye Wen's body had already undergone tempering when he first consumed the Crimson Fruit, making it far superior to that of an average martial artist, which is why he could calmly pass that crisis.

As for Jiu Jianxian, the old man might rely on his skill to endure it if he were lucky, but the greater probability was that he would be torn to shreds by the Nine Tripods.

Connecting this to the Nine Tripods' function of tempering spiritual energy, he suspected that the tearing force and the void-shattering were fundamentally an instinctive self-preservation mechanism of the Nine Tripods. Upon sensing something within them was about to slip beyond their control, they would immediately extract it separately and attempt to destroy and decompose it into the purest spiritual energy. If that failed, they would kick it out—which is how he got out.

Considering this, Ye Wen was genuinely happy that Xu Xian and Huang Rongrong could successfully emerge from the Cauldron; at least the two of them weren't killed by the Nine Tripods during the void-shattering!

"I didn't suffer a Qi deviation? Why does the Sect Leader look so strange?"

As she spoke, she realized her voice sounded slightly different, but she didn't pay much mind until she saw Xu Xian looking at her with astonishment, upon which she realized something might have changed about her: "What? Did my face get injured during the void-shattering just now?"

"..."

Women, indeed, cared most about their appearance; even Huang Rongrong, with her bandit origins, was no exception.

Xu Xian took a sweeping look at Huang Rongrong, then suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Rongrong, you've gotten smaller..."

"What?" Huang Rongrong hastily looked down and found that that part of her was still the same size—only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.

"..."

Ye Wen was speechless again. He found this couple gave him a headache. He could only cough to interrupt their increasingly nonsensical conversation, pointing to Zhang Sanfeng beside him: "This is the foremost master of this realm, Zhang Sanfeng, the Patriarch of the Wudang Sect..."

"Patriarch?" Xu Xian and Huang Rongrong were both startled, not expecting such a term as "Patriarch" to be used in an introduction.

Generally, even if the person introducing was the founding patriarch, they would use a title like Sect Leader for the introduction, since a founding patriarch would certainly be the sect leader. If they had stepped down, it meant they were either dead or completely detached from worldly affairs, so such an introductory phrase would never be used.

Seeing their confusion, Ye Wen whispered into Xu Xian's ear: "This Zhang Sanfeng is over seven hundred years old!" Xu Xian’s mouth dropped open in surprise, then he looked enlightened and said to Ye Wen: "Did we really reach that immortal realm?" "Immortal realm?" Ye Wen shook his head with a wry smile: "Hell would be more accurate..."

Seeing Xu Xian’s confusion, he sighed: "Let's not dwell on it now. Currently, both your senior brother and True Man Zhang are trapped here, unable to enter or leave. As for you two, you are trapped here with me the moment you arrived. This whole situation..." Xu Xian was even more bewildered. He had initially thought he saw Senior Brother immediately upon arrival because Ye Wen was waiting for him, but the current situation clearly indicated otherwise—his arrival seemed to be an accident. But why was it such a coincidence that he appeared right next to Ye Wen?

He wanted to ask in detail, but with an outsider present, and based on Ye Wen's previous words, he understood this was not a place for conversation. Moreover, while Ye Wen had been respectful when introducing Zhang Sanfeng, the wariness in his expression was unmistakable, indicating that his senior brother's relationship with the current foremost expert was not as harmonious as it appeared on the surface.

Realizing this, he naturally understood what questions could be asked and what couldn't. Xu Xian pondered for a moment before shifting the conversation with Ye Wen to other matters, weaving in various trivial details about what happened to the Shu Mountain Sect after Ye Wen left.

These matters were not significant, but they revealed a few pieces of information useful to Ye Wen. Zhang Sanfeng was initially interested, but after listening for a while and realizing it was all trivial gossip, and matters concerning other sects, he stopped paying attention and went to the side to meditate.

Seeing this, Xu Xian was able to speak slowly to Ye Wen. The two walked under a towering ancient tree and began chatting slowly.

Firstly, Xu Xian shattered the void three years after Ye Wen did. It hadn't been too long since Ye Wen left the Nine Tripods. For Xu Xian to reach such a realm in such a short time naturally meant he had another extraordinary encounter, the details of which Xu Xian didn't elaborate on—Ye Wen planned to inquire later.

Secondly, Li Xuan of the Heavenly Mountain Sect, after being defeated by Ye Wen, seemed to lose the drive to focus solely on martial arts. Instead, he busied himself with managing his own sect on Heavenly Mountain. Less than a year after Ye Wen shattered the void, Li Xuan had managed to make the Heavenly Mountain Sect very powerful. Even without Zheng Ting and Li Zhen, the Heavenly Mountain Sect was still a top-tier martial arts power. Coupled with the Heavenly Mountain Sect's long-standing reputation, it was faintly poised to surpass the Shu Mountain Sect.

Finally, Xu Ping formally married Nangong Zixin in the second year after Ye Wen left. After getting married, the third disciple, Ye Jia, also moved less in the Jianghu, though he still set up residence near the Nangong family, offering some support to the severely depleted Nangong family.

In contrast, Nangong Huang, a legitimate member of the Nangong family, had completely severed ties with them. Even though his father, Nangong Tinghai, held a significant position in the family, he never expressed any desire to return, spending his days wandering, helping the oppressed, and living a carefree life.

This, in turn, brought considerable heroic fame to the Luoshan Sect. Moreover, Li Xiaoyao was also restless, and the two often descended the mountain together, having already made quite a name for themselves.

"What about Liu Muyan?" "Junior Martial Nephew Liu is currently in the imperial court. His official rank keeps growing, and he now commands a position seemingly second only to the Emperor—quite formidable!" Xu Xian said this without any underlying emotion at first, but then noticed Ye Wen’s expression subtly shift, showing a hint of worry.

"Senior Brother, what's wrong?" Ye Wen sighed: "When the tree stands out in the forest, the wind will surely destroy it! Muyan's current position is not safe!" If it were any other official, it wouldn't matter, but Liu Muyan lacked both a background in the court and sufficient connections. His high position now relied entirely on the Emperor's favor. If one day his imperial apprentice felt Liu Muyan's merits overshadowed his own and directly ordered his execution, wouldn't Liu Muyan be ruined, with no one to speak up for him?

Even if Liu Muyan and the Emperor were both his disciples and shared the bond of martial brothers, that didn't mean an emperor would abandon the necessary actions he had to take. No emperor would stand by while one of his subjects built up power unchecked.

However, Ye Wen couldn't concern himself with these matters now. He then asked how Yue Ning was doing as Sect Leader. Xu Xian replied: "He is steady, making no major mistakes but achieving no great merits either!"

Ye Wen nodded. He had already laid a very good foundation for the Shu Mountain Sect. The successor didn't need to make any huge moves; as long as the development continued step-by-step, the Shu Mountain Sect would grow into an influential force in the Jianghu.

Furthermore, since Zhou Zhiruo and Yue Ning had grown up together like childhood sweethearts, they could support each other. Although Ye Wen never entertained the idea of forcing them together, if the two could end up together, it would be a beautiful thing.

However, from the news Xu Xian brought, it seemed Yue Ning's family was arranging a marriage for him, though Xu Xian didn't know the outcome, as he shattered the void before the matter concluded.

"It was because I arranged a match for a contest with Li Xuan on Heavenly Mountain. I was accidentally seriously wounded by Li Xuan and stayed on Heavenly Mountain to recover. While there, I unintentionally discovered a Thousand-Year Cold Fruit in the fire spring on Heavenly Mountain!"

"... " Ye Wen was speechless. He had consumed the Crimson Fruit, nurtured by the essence of the cold spring, to shatter the void, and now his junior brother had managed to find a Thousand-Year Cold Fruit upon his return. What was more maddening was that this fruit was found at the rival sect's home! The Heavenly Mountain Sect had stood for over a hundred years, and the entire sect hadn't found this fruit, yet Xu Xian, as a guest, found it. This... other than sighing at Xu Xian's luck, there seemed to be no other explanation. He didn't need to ask about the subsequent events; even by guessing, he knew his junior brother must have consumed the fruit and then, just like him, chosen to dual cultivate with his wife and bring her along to ascend.

The two martial brothers talked for a while longer. Ye Wen casually probed Xu Xian's cultivation and found it roughly equivalent to his own when he first practiced White Cloud Smoke. He made a silent plan.

"How is Rongrong's cultivation?" During their conversation, Huang Rongrong hadn't joined them but was wandering around, perhaps admiring the picturesque scenery. She even went to the lake, using the water as a mirror to check for any changes in herself.

Xu Xian glanced over: "Her cultivation isn't far behind mine, perhaps slightly less!" Ye Wen nodded, then said: "Putting other things aside for now, I will first teach you the method for sword flight, lest you can't even fly!" He then recited the mantra he had figured out one by one to Xu Xian. After finishing, he added: "This is just the mantra I deduced; it might not be perfect, and it might not suit you, Junior Brother. If you have any insights, feel free to experiment and modify it to create a more suitable technique!" He then explained his general situation in this world. Only then did Xu Xian realize that their Shu Mountain Sect had gained some fame in this world, but it didn't seem to be very good fame, and his Senior Brother was currently being hunted by the entire Righteous path!

What surprised him even more was Ye Wen’s speculation regarding the Nine Tripods and the world they previously inhabited.

"Senior Brother means... we all came out of that Cauldron?"

The Nine Tripods still sat to the side; no one dared to touch them. Perhaps Zhang Sanfeng believed he couldn't leave either, so he lost the desire to seize them forcefully. Even though the object was right in front of him, he couldn't spare it a second glance.

Ye Wen walked over and traced the patterns on the Cauldron, sighing: "It was just speculation before, but since Junior Brother also came out of this Cauldron today, it seems the guess has come true!" Xu Xian was so shocked he couldn't speak, while Ye Wen wondered: "Why did Xu Xian also cross over to several years in the past, just like me?" While caressing the Cauldron, Ye Wen suddenly noticed the ring on his right hand faintly glowing. Ye Wen was suddenly alarmed: "Could this ring be involved again?"