Chapter 151: The Official Departure

Watching the mountain gate of the Xuanoyang Sect slowly fade from view, He Li covered her mouth, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes and trickling down her fingers onto her clothes.

"Wuwu..." He Li's shoulders trembled as soft sobs escaped her lips.

"Bah! What's there to cry about? It's not like we're never coming back..." He Zuo said casually, lying lazily on top of a magical artifact.

At this moment, he was dressed in tight black martial attire, looking very much like a mortal warrior. With both hands resting behind his head, he wore a completely relaxed expression.

Hearing He Zuo's words, He Li ignored him and continued to shed silent tears.

Finding it uninteresting, He Zuo turned to Bai Qingzhou, who was standing nearby, and asked, "By the way, Senior Brother, aren't you going to say goodbye to them?"

Hearing the question, Bai Qingzhou replied indifferently, "I already said my goodbyes yesterday. Besides, I left letters behind, and the sect disciples will deliver them to the junior brothers and sisters who are currently away handling affairs."

"Uh... Junior brothers and sisters away on affairs, you mean Chen Lin, Meng Li, and Ruan Xiuqi?"

"Correct." Bai Qingzhou gently nodded, then turned his gaze to the tearful He Li, offering a soft word of comfort, "Xiao Li, stop crying. Even if you both return to the Heavenly Master Sect, you can always come back whenever you like in the future."

He Li wiped away her tears, looked up at Bai Qingzhou, and said dejectedly, "But Senior Brother also said the journey is extremely long, and making the trip might take over two years. The chances of coming back will be so rare..."

"It's only a little over two years, not that long..." Bai Qingzhou walked over to He Li, gently patted her head, and smiled, "You two just need to cultivate diligently. Once you reach the Foundation Establishment stage, your lifespan will extend to over two hundred, nearly three hundred years. By then, a span of two years will feel like nothing more than a fleeting moment."

"Mm..." He Li lowered her head, lost in thought.

"That's right! Once we reach Foundation Establishment, we can come back whenever we want!" He Zuo sat up, raising both hands in agreement. After a brief pause, he turned to Bai Qingzhou and asked excitedly, "Senior Brother, where are we heading first, then?"

Hearing this, Bai Qingzhou crossed his legs and sat down in front of He Zuo, smiling. "Speaking of that, let me test your knowledge. Do you remember how the regions of Lizhou and Chuzhou are divided?"

"Uh..." He Zuo was caught slightly off guard and stammered vaguely, "Distribution? Well, we are currently in Lizhou, and then... Chuzhou is right next to us! And the trip takes over two years!"

Seeing He Zuo's vague answer, Bai Qingzhou shook his head and said helplessly, "You, you never listen carefully in class..." He then turned his gaze to He Li, who had stopped crying, and asked, "What about Xiao Li? Do you remember?"

He Li wiped the remaining tears from the corners of her eyes and nodded, "I still remember a little..."

"Let's hear it."

"The world is divided into nine provinces, and each province is divided into a number of regions. Our Lizhou has eight territories, while Chuzhou is divided into nine territories, and we are currently in the Jiuzhen Territory. Each region is further divided into various prefectures, and the location of our Xuanoyang Sect is in Linjiang Prefecture, Jiuzhen Territory, Lizhou."

"Xiao Li is quite right." Bai Qingzhou smiled and continued, "Within each prefecture, there exist various dynasties, alliances, sects, and other factions. There are eight alliances within Linjiang Prefecture alone, and our Wuji Alliance is one of them. An alliance is composed of various sects, and each sect governs subordinate state cities. The Ningshui State currently managed by your Senior Brother Chen Lin is one of those six state cities. Grand province, region, prefecture, faction, state city, village and town—descending in that order. This is the most common territorial distribution across the Nine Provinces Continent."

With that, Bai Qingzhou looked at the two deep in thought, smiled, and continued, "Xiao Li, do you know where your Heavenly Master Sect is located?"

Hearing the question, He Li's face flushed slightly, and she muttered, "I only know it's in Chuzhou..."

"Haha... Chuzhou is far too vast. Remember, your Heavenly Master Sect is located in Daxing Prefecture within the Yong'an Territory of Chuzhou. Setting out from our sect, we are already considered quite close, but we still need to cross four regions and dozens of prefectural cities to arrive," Bai Qingzhou explained slowly.

Having recently reviewed various materials, he had long since committed the route to the Heavenly Master Sect to memory.

"Four territories..." He Zuo said dumbly, "No wonder it takes over two years of travel..."

"So you two must prepare yourselves for hardship along the way. We will be sleeping in the open and eating in the wind; it won't be easy," Bai Qingzhou reminded them.

"Don't worry, Senior Brother Bai! I've been prepared for this for a long time!" He Zuo proclaimed loudly, his face beaming with excitement.

"Prepared?" He Li arched an eyebrow slightly, lifting her chin. "Tell me then, what preparations have you actually made?"

He Zuo immediately stood up, spun around in place, and said, "Didn't you notice? This set of black martial attire is the preparation I made!"

"Psh, a set of clothes counts as preparation?" He Li said with disdain.

"Hmph! What do you know? I asked Senior Brother to help me buy this at the marketplace! It cost ten low-grade spiritual stones! You're probably the one who hasn't prepared anything at all, right?"

Hearing He Zuo's taunting tone, He Li immediately pulled several talisman papers from her pouch and retorted, "Who says I didn't! These talismans are what you call proper preparation! Your clothes are completely useless; talisman attacks are what actually matter in a fight!"

"You're the one who's useless!" He Zuo refused to back down.

"What did you say?" He Li quickly stood up, stepped close to He Zuo, and clenched her hands into tight fists.

"N-nothing... I'm the useless one," He Zuo waved his hands frantically, a look of sheer panic on his face.

"Hmph!" Seeing He Zuo concede, He Li finally sat back down.

Bai Qingzhou watched the scene with amusement, choosing not to intervene. The two always loved to bicker, but arguments usually ended with He Li preparing to use physical force.

Having spent many years together, Bai Qingzhou naturally knew them inside and out.

The two were originally mortals from a state city located on the border between Chuzhou and Lizhou. They were cousins, and when Qin Xiu had traveled to that city, he unexpectedly discovered that both possessed spiritual roots. He then decisively accepted them as disciples on behalf of his master, teaching them the techniques of the Heavenly Master Sect.

In the end, they did not fail expectations and successfully ascended to the path of immortality...

Bai Qingzhou glanced at the bickering cousin and cousin, then raised his head to gaze at the distant sky. As a gentle breeze brushed across his face, a surging wave of ambition rose within his chest.

When he first entered the sect, he had heard Elder Chen recount tales of the Nine Provinces, and from the very first time he heard them, he had harbored a free-spirited desire to travel across the vast continent.

Back when he was merely in the Qi Condensation stage, venturing into the wilderness meant that even a single ordinary second-tier demonic beast could take his life, so traveling was naturally out of the question. But now that he had reached the Foundation Establishment stage, his desire to roam the pugilistic world burned brightly once more.

Moreover, there was a reason he simply had to go.

At this thought, the face of a childhood companion involuntarily surfaced in his mind.

Qin Feng......

"Senior Brother Bai..." He Li's voice abruptly interrupted Bai Qingzhou's thoughts. "Where is our very first stop?"

Bai Qingzhou snapped out of his reverie, smiled, and said, "Our first stop is to travel beyond the borders of the Wuji Alliance, heading toward the final marketplace within our territory—Wazi Marketplace."

He Zuo chimed in, "How long will it take to get there?"

Bai Qingzhou pondered for a moment and replied, "Fifteen days."