d over a dozen villagers from nearby villages to help him search for Xiao Yu in the cornfield.In the early morning, as Xiao Yu woke up from his unconsciousness, he faintly heard Wei Jun calling out hi...Chapter 618

When Xiao Yu looked at the old man, the old man also felt that someone was looking at him and turned to look at Xiao Yu.

Their gazes met in mid-air. When Xiao Yu saw the old man looking at him, he nodded slightly as a greeting, and the old man returned the nod when he noticed Xiao Yu's demeanor.

After an instant, Xiao Yu withdrew his gaze and resumed listening to his tablemate’s loud talk. The old man, however, continued staring intently at Xiao Yu even after he turned away.

During their brief exchange of gazes earlier, not only did Xiao Yu show no sign of fear but there was a profound quality in his eyes that didn’t seem to belong on such a young person. If it had been someone of equivalent cultivation level, this wouldn't have been unusual; however, seeing it on someone as youthful as Xiao Yu and feeling no aura of essence energy from him puzzled the old man.

After all, although their gazes had only met for an instant earlier, he was in the late-stage Condensation Realm now, his aura not fully reined in yet. Even without deliberately using it just then, a hint of power still came through.

The fact that Xiao Yu seemed completely unaffected by this was astounding to him; moreover, there had been no sign of reverence or fanaticism when Xiao Yu looked at him—just as if he were looking at any ordinary person.

Forget about the youths here with Xiao Yu; even those middle-aged men now dared not look directly at this old man. Yet Xiao Yu appeared to see him as just another commoner, which baffled the old man immensely.

Suddenly, a surge of energy and pressure emanated from the old man toward Xiao Yu.

Only now that he had broken through to late-stage Condensation could he control his aura to be directed solely at Xiao Yu; if it were still middle stage, he wouldn't have been able to achieve this degree of precision with his energy pressure.

Even before the energy pressure reached Xiao Yu, he sensed its approach. When he did, he merely raised an eyebrow slightly and ignored it thereafter.

Moments later, this oppressive force fell upon Xiao Yu, but he didn’t take it seriously.

When the oppressive force landed on him, Xiao Yu ignored it completely. Not even his facial expression changed; he remained calm and continued listening to his tablemates recounting their elders' life experiences.

The elder frowned slightly upon seeing Xiao Yu's demeanor but didn't say much. Instead, he quietly closed his eyes.

Actually, the old man’s exterior appeared serene, yet internally, it was like a storm raging within him as numerous thoughts arose in his mind.

In his view, there wasn’t even a hint of天地元氣波動 (natural energy fluctuations) on Xiao Yu's body, meaning that Xiao Yu was an ordinary person. Of course, ordinary people couldn't be here in the first place. However, although he might not be an ordinary person, it seemed Xiao Yu had yet to enter the realm of cultivation, still being merely an ordinary individual now. Yet, this ordinary individual appeared completely unaffected by his oppressive force, leaving him quite perplexed.

It was important to note that even though he released only a hint of oppressive energy, ordinary people couldn't casually withstand it. If it were a cultivator, withstanding the pressure wouldn’t be difficult either; however, they likely wouldn’t display no reaction like Xiao Yu did!

Xiao Yu’s behavior proved that he wasn't just an ordinary person. After all, even cultivators could hardly remain completely indifferent.

Take those middle-aged men as an example; if the elder exerted his oppressive force on them, they'd have to resist it to counteract it, given the enormous disparity between the early and late stages of the Condensation Breath realm.

The old man's tumultuous thoughts subsided only after finishing their meal. After eating, Xiao Yu and other young people left first.

Staring blankly at Xiao Yu as he walked out, the old cultivator stood rooted to the spot.

Gazing at Xiao Yu again stirred up his previously settled thoughts anew. He still couldn’t fathom Xiao Yu despite his cultivation having reached late-stage Condensation Breath level. Apart from those powerful late-stage seniors, he was confident in seeing through anyone with lower cultivation than himself. However, when looking at Xiao Yu now, it felt as if Xiao Yu were a transparent glass to him, yet upon closer inspection, Xiao Yu appeared like an enigmatic fog, impossible to discern anything clearly.

This feeling was very strange, leaving him unsure of how to react. After all, he was a Cultivator at the後期stage, one of the top few individuals in their realm, but now he was糾結over a young man in his mid-twenties.

"Uncle Si, what's wrong" Wang Haichuan, who was walking ahead, noticed that the old man wasn't following and had stopped to stare at the direction of the main gate. He paused for a moment before looking in the same direction as the old man but didn’t see anything amiss after a long look. Thus, he asked him.

This old man was Wang Haichuan’s direct fourth uncle. The Wang family was one of the major families in Sichuan Province, and although Wang Haichuan was the head of his clan, he wasn't the highest-ranking Cultivator. That position belonged to Wang Haichuan's father, who had entered the後期stage two decades ago. He was now cultivating in a nearby primeval forest with hopes of reaching the pinnacle.

Now that his fourth uncle had broken through to the後期stage, their Wang family now had two Cultivators at this stage. This was also why he held this gathering; every five years, it was rotated among several major families in the cultivation world.

One must know that despite its small appearance, this gathering was a great opportunity for these major families to consolidate their networks. Each time, many minor families and individuals would establish alliances with them, but due to power dynamics, these alliances were almost always dominated by the major families. This was also why they held such gatherings.

Originally, this year’s gathering should have been hosted by a Zhou family in southern Yunnan according to previous agreements, but it was intercepted by Wang Family of Central Sichuan. The Zhou family couldn't object because Wang Family had produced another Cultivator at the後期stage, which elevated their status dramatically. Even the Zhou family didn’t dare to defy them.

"Eh, I'm fine. Let's go!" After hearing Wang Haichuan’s words, the old man paused for a moment before reacting and said this as he saw everyone from inside leaving out. He then walked towards the exit.

Seeing the old man’s behavior, Wang Haichuan shook his head slightly and followed him outside. Today's gathering was organized to celebrate the old man reaching the Cultivator後期stage; it was their Wang family’s second person at this stage and also his direct uncle, so even as a clan leader, he had to respect the elder’s wishes.

"Brother Xiao, come on, let's go out for some fun in the afternoon!" After Xiao Yu and others left, one of the men around thirty years old at their table said to him.

"This... Brother Liu, I think I won't join. What if something happens" Hearing this man’s words, Xiao Yu hesitated a moment before saying.

"Brother, you're overthinking it. We'll have no trouble here; we're just here to enjoy ourselves. I've been like this in previous gatherings too!" After hearing Xiao Yu's words, the man chuckled and said.

"Yeah, Brother Liu has participated in two sessions before; he should know more than us… Yes, let's go…" After hearing what the two people said, the other young men also started urging Xiao Yu to go.

Now they were almost all sitting at tables, which was the most basic division. After all, they didn't know each other before and sitting together for meals was a form of緣分 (fate/destiny). Circles formed during this time, although relationships within these small circles varied in depth.

When some people got along well and felt that they had much to talk about, friendships would start forming. After all, they were usually spread out across the country and rarely came into contact with peers who practiced cultivation, so besides their families, no one else could understand them.

But now They could freely discuss various experiences and encounters without being looked at strangely by others, making it easy to form friendships in such an environment.

Xiao Yu glanced at the man in his thirties. Xiao Yu remembered that this person introduced himself as coming from the Liu family of Gān Province, a small clan. However, his cultivation level was quite good among young people and he had participated twice in the Qimen gatherings, so he knew quite well how things worked here.

Moreover, they came just to have fun and make friends; other places were optional for them.

The same went for those middle-aged men. Unless one reached the second stage of Qi Refinement, coming here was merely a tour with no real use. But once in the second stage of Qi Refinement, things would change, as they'd become key figures and be recognized by such gatherings. Otherwise, their visit would just be about having fun and making new acquaintances without any additional benefits.

"Alright then!" Hearing these people's persuasion, Xiao Yu helplessly shook his head and agreed.

In fact, Xiao Yu only wanted to hear some gossip and didn't intend on going out to play. In his view, it was better to quietly stay at the place he was staying than go out. But since so many people were urging him, he felt awkward refusing and could only agree reluctantly.

When these young men heard Xiao Yu's agreement, they cheered and left for the outside. As they left, a lot of other young men also left; it seemed that those who came indeed intended to have fun.rniture stores to order medicine cabinets and display cases, keeping himself very busy indeed. He hadn’t expected opening a small clinic would be so complicated. For medicinal herbs, he planned to buy...