Chapter 69: Severing the Past

Chapter 69: Cutting Ties with the Past

Yan Huaixuan sat alone in the snow, and soon, the wind and snow engulfed him.

Shen Mo instantly brought Shen Lian to the demon clan border where he had previously lived.

But Shen Lian frowned slightly. "Somewhere else."

Shen Mo didn't think much of it and took Shen Lian to a different place.

"Why not stay at the previous place?"

Shen Lian paused, then said coldly, "To prevent Yan Huaixuan from finding us."

This time, he was going to cut ties completely with Yan Huaixuan. Luckily, when his demon identity was exposed, he had used Lian Song's identity, so no one knew he was Shen Lian.

But after last time, he'd still hide his identity.

Shen Mo said happily, "Then Master, should we go to the demon clan?"

"Even though you no longer have demonic energy in your body, with me around, I can conceal your identity."

Shen Lian stopped in his tracks and said quietly, "Shen Mo, you're not really an ordinary demon beast, are you?"

Shen Mo froze. "Master, what are you talking about?"

Shen Lian looked toward the horizon. "I've never heard of an ordinary demon serpent with horns on its head."

Before, Shen Mo only had one horn, but now a second one had appeared.

"There's only one possibility—you have dragon blood in you."

"Leave. Go back to the demon clan. The contract between us isn't finished yet, and it can be dissolved at any time," Shen Lian said, manifesting the contract formation.

But unexpectedly, Shen Mo grabbed him. "I won't let you."

Shen Lian froze and looked at Shen Mo.

Shen Mo's eyes welled up, his voice choked. "I don't want to leave. I swear I wasn't lying to you. I don't know why I grew dragon horns, but I genuinely want to repay your kindness."

Shen Lian stayed quiet. "You've already repaid me. You brought me out of Yan Huaixuan's hands."

Seeing how firm he was, Shen Mo wanted to say more, but Shen Lian said, "Sticking with me won't help. And besides—"

He couldn't trust anyone anymore, not even...

Shen Lian glanced at the sword in his hand.

Seeing Shen Lian wouldn't budge, Shen Mo held his gaze, then turned and disappeared. "Take care of yourself. I'll come find you later."

Watching him leave, Shen Lian stood there, dropping his gaze for a moment before looking away.

Chen Xue said quietly, "Master, where are we going now?"

Shen Lian looked at his palm. Now that the demonic energy in his body had been completely cleansed, he had no more worries and could continue cultivating as a human cultivator.

"Let's stick to the old path for now."

He planned to cultivate and refine pills at the same time.

But he couldn't go to the demon clan, and he didn't want to go to those sects' lands either.

Shen Lian thought it over and ended up choosing some cities.

This time, he was super cautious, scanning his surroundings. Even if he found no suspicious Spiritual Sense, he would still move every month.

During this time, Shen Lian never left his place, spending every day cultivating and refining pills in his room, only stepping out to sell pills.

Nearly a year passed, and Shen Lian never found any sign of that person again. Instead, he discovered someone was after his pills.

Shen Lian moved to a new location. After learning someone was looking into his pills, he decided to lie low for a while.

He went to a really out-of-the-way city.

There were no sects here, and most people were ordinary—more like the mortal realm. But even so, they were still at the Nascent Soul stage.

Shen Lian changed his appearance and name, this time calling himself Song Lian.

Shen Lian found a small, unremarkable courtyard. But the moment he stepped out, he met a pair of curious eyes.

The man was handsome and lived right across from Shen Lian. Seeing Shen Lian appear, he seemed caught off guard for a moment.

After a long pause, seeing that Shen Lian was still looking at him, he snapped back to reality and hurriedly explained, "Hello, I live across from you. My name is Xu Yanzhou. I never saw your door open, so I figured the place was empty."

Shen Lian nodded. "I'm Song Lian. I was staying somewhere else before and just returned."

Even though he didn't smile, Xu Yanzhou couldn't help but feel a tug at his heart. For some reason, the young man wasn't particularly striking—just fairer-skinned than most—but his eyes were cool yet beautiful, like a bowl of amber light that drew you in.

Xu Yanzhou's cheeks reddened. "Well, I'll head back now."

"Alright," Shen Lian said without giving it much thought. With the lesson from last time, he had put extra care into crafting his face this time—he had made himself so ordinary that no one would notice him in a crowd.

Shen Lian went out for some fresh air and started getting ready to sell his pills.

As an Alchemy Cultivator, his combat abilities were weaker, so most alchemists looked for protection from a sect. With alchemy skills in hand, they were richer than kings—they could buy any magical treasure they wanted.

Shen Lian had already stockpiled a big stash of pills.

He thought for a moment and soon found a weapon shop in the city center.

Shen Lian made a paper figure. With a Spirit Transformation Pill, the paper figure instantly became lifelike, then shuffled along, holding the pills to exchange for items at the weapon shop.

The folks at the weapon shop didn't notice anything odd about the paper figure.

They gladly traded a bunch of weapons for it.

The paper figure stashed everything in a ring, then turned and left. It then went to an auction house and used spirit stones to buy a bunch of treasures.

When the paper figure came back loaded down—

On the road, a man suddenly looked up, his head slowly turning, fixing on the paper figure.

He quietly trailed it, but unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, the paper figure vanished.

The man's eyes widened, and he started looking around. "Weird, how'd it move that fast?"

Shen Lian stood at the pavilion, pulling his hand back. The paper figure instantly shrank and jumped onto his palm.

Then it waved its arms excitedly, explaining that someone was chasing it, but luckily it shrank down and hid under a carriage, so it wasn't discovered.

Shen Lian watched the little paper figure looking so pitiful and cute.

He gave her a spirit stone to eat, and the little paper figure let out a happy burp before lying down on the windowsill to bask in the sun.

Originally, Shen Lian had planned to destroy the paper figure after using her, but seeing how adorable she was, he softened.

He told her to come back after her sunbath, while he examined the items in his storage ring.

Although he had seen everything through the little paper figure's eyes, it was still better to double-check; this trip had brought in quite a haul.

Just as he finished checking, there was a knock at the door.

Shen Lian's eyes immediately sharpened, and the little paper figure scurried to hide behind a flowerpot.

Shen Lian opened the door and found it was Xu Yanzhou from the morning. Shen Lian paused, "What's the matter?"

He remained as cold and aloof as ever, but Xu Yanzhou glanced at him, then his ears flushed slightly red as he said in a low voice, "I was too presumptuous this morning, so I wanted to bring you some compensation."

Shen Lian lowered his gaze and noticed he was holding a basket in his hand.