It seemed like it wanted to linger a bit longer, but time was running out.
At that moment, the village seemed to sense something and looked down, seeing the giant tortoise Zhu Luo and the two members of the Li family standing beside it.
They were also looking at it, appearing to have a lot to say. The village felt the same.
But in the end, it said nothing, just nodded to Zhu Luo for a final farewell, and then closed its eyes.
The dragon of the village transformed into green light, dissipating in the early spring rain.
In mid-air, Zhang Ze looked at the scattered light and sighed.
Firstly, he had mixed feelings about the village's departure.
Secondly, his body was going numb again.
Due to the village's departure, the power he had obtained from it vanished completely.
And with it came the aftermath, Zhang Ze and Li lost control over their bodies, and their internal spiritual qi was completely drained, leaving them falling towards the ground.
Actually, when the village was flying towards the sky, Zhang Ze wanted to remind it, but felt it would spoil the atmosphere, so he kept quiet.
One should keep quiet while bidding farewell to this world.
But Zhang Ze wasn't particularly worried, as both he and Li had those magical artifacts that automatically triggered, and this height wouldn't kill them.
Moreover, Zhang Ze glimpsed downwards and saw Li Yueqi, who was raising her hand as if she wanted to catch him.
The fatigue of being completely drained swept over again, and Zhang Ze peacefully closed his eyes.
As the feeling of weightlessness faded, Zhang Ze fell into an embrace.
But he felt something was not quite right.
Zhang Ze struggled to open his eyes and saw Li nestled comfortably in Li Yueqi's arms, fast asleep.
Zhang Ze looked up and saw Old Mr. Li Wenzhou with his fearsome face, feeling the old man's chest muscles as hard as purple gold meteorite iron, he awkwardly smiled.
"Good morning, Old sir."
After speaking, everything went black as he fainted.
Li Wenzhou stared at Zhang Ze for a moment, then said to the giant tortoise Zhu Luo.
"I'll take them back first."
Zhu Luo nodded, "You go, I'll stay here a while longer."
After speaking, Zhu Luo said no more, quietly watching the sky, watching those lights dissipate into the heavens and earth.
Zhu Luo sighed, as one of the Guardian Holy Beasts of the Beast Taming Sect, it released its aura, enveloping the whole Wolong Marsh.
The message was clear, I want to be quiet here, and it's best for all unrelated people to stay away.
Several days later, at the Beast Taming Sect.
Zhang Ze woke up in an unfamiliar bed, under an unfamiliar beam, with an unsympathetic old man sitting beside him.
Zhang Ze had already learned the name of this old man when chatting with Li Yueqi and her brother; he was their grandfather.
The previous Sect Leader of the Beast Taming Sect.
But just as he was about to greet the old man, his gaze shifted downwards to see something that shocked him.
Zhang Ze saw the Beast Taming Ring, containing Li Jue, still securely on his hand.
So, instead of the formal greeting, "Sword Sect disciple Zhang Ze pays respect to the old Sect Leader," it turned into a question.
"Old Mr. Li, has your grandson been released?"
Seeing the momentary blankness in Old Mr. Li's eyes.
Zhang Ze was sure that the old man had indeed forgotten about his grandson.
Due to Li Jue, the conversation between Zhang Ze and Old Mr. Li Wenzhou, full of pent-up words, suddenly had nowhere to go.
At such times, it's best not to speak; the more you talk, the more awkward it becomes.
Leading Zhang Ze to an open area outside, Li Wenzhou took the Beast Taming Ring, glanced at it, and in a flash of white light, Li Jue and the others were released.
"Pair of twos, do you want it? If not, I'll pass."
Only after throwing the cards on the ground did Li Jue suddenly realize something was off. He looked up to see the bright sun hanging splendidly in the sky.
The few of them had long since awakened and learned the situation from Bai Xiao, so to avoid causing trouble for Zhang Ze, they had stayed quietly inside all this time.
Because staying inside was boring, they started playing cards. But after several rounds of "Duel Inn," they helplessly found that not only their spirit beasts but they themselves weren't playing cleanly.
Except for the Giant Elephant, everyone else was making up rules as they went, explaining effects on the fly, drawing extra cards, discarding fewer cards—it had become routine.
Finding no fun in this and realizing refereeing was too tiring, they switched to poker, also brought over from Thousand Mechanism Pavilion.
In teams of three, they enthusiastically played Fight the Old Ascender.
Li Wenzhou looked at his grandson's face full of paper notes and sighed helplessly.
He felt his grandson was a bit too undependable.
"Good afternoon, Grandpa." Li Jue removed all the paper notes from his face and stood properly.
Perched on Li Jue's shoulder, Bai Xiao was looking up at the sky, longing to fly a round right now, but with the old Sect Leader present, it could only wait quietly.
But after all, he was his grandson, and seeing that Li Jue was indeed unharmed, the old man's frown relaxed, "It's not morning anymore; it's noon. By the way, this incident..."
"Must not be disclosed?" Li Jue, unsure of what happened, thought of the dragon.
Old Mr. Li shook his head, "There's no need, those who should know already do."
With that, Li Wenzhou waved, indicating for Li Jue to take the two disciples and leave.
After the clueless Li Jue and the others left, Li Wenzhou led Zhang Ze to the highest Beast King Tower in the Beast Taming Sect.
The whole Beast Taming Sect is centered around Cang Mountain, and from this place, one can overlook the entire sect.
"What do you think?" Li Wenzhou asked, standing atop the tower.