Chapter 3

At night, in a quiet alleyway.

Yin Xiu faced a young man with a blank and dazed expression, his face slightly stunned.

After a moment, he took a deep breath, casually touched the young man's forehead, and then instantly disappeared from in front of him.

The young man's eyes quickly regained clarity. He looked around, a hint of suspicion in his eyes, but ultimately shook his head and walked out of the alley as if nothing had happened.

"Who would have thought that in just eighty years, this world would undergo such significant changes. It's truly a case of rapid transformation."

On the rooftop of a high-rise building, Yin Xiu crossed his arms and quietly gazed at the city's dazzling night lights, muttering to himself.

Just now, he had used the 'Soul Search Technique' to probe the young man's memories, gaining a clear understanding of the current situation on Earth. However, after understanding it, Yin Xiu couldn't help but marvel at how much the Earth had changed in the eighty years since he left.

"During these eighty years, the entire Huaxia has experienced so many disasters and great changes. I wonder if my younger brother... or his descendants are still in the old family home."

Yin Xiu couldn't be certain about this.

He sighed lightly and couldn't help but hold Xiao Man, who was on his shoulder, in his arms. Looking at the modern city's bright night lights, he said softly, "Let's go back and take a look."

As soon as he spoke, Yin Xiu's body suddenly rose into the air. At the same time, an ancient-looking long sword appeared under his feet. A faint light flashed, and the sword carried Yin Xiu like a rocket, shooting into the distant night in an instant...

In Yinhai City.

In the dark night sky, a faint light could be seen rapidly approaching from a great distance. The light was so faint that people on the ground could hardly see it.

Moreover, a mysterious force enveloped it, making it impossible for the city's radar to detect the approaching luminous object.

"Yinhai, I'm back. After exactly eighty years!"

Yin Xiu stood on the sword, suspended hundreds of meters in the air, overlooking Yinhai City. His heart was filled with a surge of passion. After being away from his hometown for so long, his heart, which had become extremely calm after nearly a century of cultivation, was subtly rekindled.

Unfortunately, the Yinhai City below had undergone a complete transformation from the Yinhai City in his memory. Or rather, there was almost nothing left that was the same.

The old and ancient buildings from eighty years ago had long been replaced by towering skyscrapers. The neon lights that illuminated the entire city shone with the brilliance and atmosphere of modernization in the night.

Due to this drastic change, although Yin Xiu's spiritual sense covered the entire Yinhai City, he couldn't immediately find the location of his old home.

Without a reference point, everything had changed beyond recognition...

"This is the old city's south gate, so the old city's east gate should be near the 'Fengyu Building.' About eight or nine miles outside the east gate..."

Yin Xiu stood on the flying sword, his spiritual sense covering Yinhai City, slowly identifying the location of his original home.

The current Yinhai City was much larger than it was eighty years ago, and finding the location of his original home required careful identification and comparison.

Fortunately, he finally found a reference point, the preserved old city's south gate.

"If everything goes as expected, it should be in that area..."

The flying sword under Yin Xiu's feet suddenly moved again, flying to the area he had locked onto with his spiritual sense in the blink of an eye.

Finding a deserted place, Yin Xiu controlled the flying sword to slowly descend.

It was already past eleven o'clock at night, and there were few pedestrians on the streets.

Yin Xiu walked down the street, looking at the completely unfamiliar buildings and environment, making it difficult to determine the exact location of his original home.

His spiritual sense continued to search the small area around him, trying to find some familiar references.

After a few minutes, Yin Xiu suddenly paused. Then, a complex expression of joy and disappointment appeared on his face.

"Yinhai University? I didn't expect it to have become a university. It seems my younger brother and his descendants are probably no longer here..."

Yin Xiu muttered to himself, somewhat dazed. His right hand involuntarily caressed Xiao Man, who was in his arms.

Seemingly sensing the faint disappointment in Yin Xiu's heart, Xiao Man poked her head out and looked up at Yin Xiu, chirping softly as if to comfort him.

Yin Xiu looked down at Xiao Man and couldn't help but smile. "Don't worry, I was prepared for this."

Saying this, he gently patted Xiao Man's head twice.

Withdrawing his spiritual sense, Yin Xiu took a step toward the direction of 'Yinhai University.'

He was certain that this was where his old home used to be because he had found the cedar tree that used to be in his family's courtyard inside Yinhai University.

Before long, Yin Xiu arrived at the gate of Yinhai University.

At this time, the gate of Yinhai University was already closed, with two security guards on duty.

Yin Xiu looked around the gate of Yinhai University and then left, planning to return and take a look when it was light.

...

Under a pedestrian overpass not far from Yinhai University, Yin Xiu sat quietly in a dim corner, meditating. He was already at the peak of the Fusion stage, and he no longer needed to deliberately cultivate.

Even if he did cultivate, it wouldn't increase his true essence. Unless he could break through the bottleneck and enter the Tribulation stage.

Therefore, at this moment, Yin Xiu was merely meditating and not actively cultivating. The sparse spiritual energy on Earth was so thin that even continuous cultivation for ten to fifteen days would not increase his true essence by much.

If his cultivation could truly break through the Tribulation stage one day, he would need to rely on the spirit stones he brought back from the other side of the stars to enhance his true essence!

His storage ring contained a large number of spirit stones, mostly high-grade spirit stones, with a small portion of mid-grade spirit stones and a few low-grade and top-grade spirit stones.

At the peak of the Fusion stage, Yin Xiu was among the top cultivators in the other side of the stars. Gathering some spirit stones was extremely easy for him.

For someone at his level, only those rare treasures that were hard to come by required luck and opportunity to obtain. As for other things like spirit stones, relatively common spirit medicines, and refining materials, he was never short of them and could get as much as he needed.

Before returning to Earth, Yin Xiu had also specifically gathered some spirit stones. This was to ensure that if he could truly achieve a complete state of mind and break through the Tribulation stage on Earth, he would have enough spirit stones to cultivate and enhance his true essence.