Chapter 295: The Return

Sima Zongheng knelt down, and the ghost generals followed suit without hesitation.

However, Sima Zongheng felt somewhat resentful inside, as if he had been forced into submission.

He couldn’t quite figure out what Shui Miao was really up to.

Quickly, Shui Miao helped Sima Zongheng to his feet and whispered in his ear, “I will only be a nominal Grand Elder of the Yellow Spring Sect; the real authority remains with you. You can use my name to control these ghost generals. Go ahead boldly—I believe in you.”

Shui Miao’s true intention was simply to gain some faith and prayers—nothing more.

Sima Zongheng thanked him and waited for Shui Miao to issue orders.

Then, Shui Miao began assigning ranks and positions to the ghost generals.

Having inherited the memories of the former Grand Elder of Yellow Spring, Shui Miao was well aware of many powerful ghost generals.

Immediately, he announced Sima Zongheng as the Grand Administrator of the Yellow Spring Sect and appointed ten powerful ghost generals as Great Generals to assist Sima Zongheng in managing the sect.

Afterward, Shui Miao, along with Sima Zongheng and the ten ghost generals, headed to the Yellow Spring Marsh.

They successfully opened the treasure vault of the former Grand Elder. Shui Miao distributed large quantities of medicinal herbs, pills, spirit stones, and magical treasures. Some items were divided among them, while others were reserved for refining potions. Once Sima Zongheng and the ghost generals received the pills and treasures, they were overjoyed and finally pledged their loyalty.

Inside the vault, Shui Miao also discovered a spatial bracelet nearly as refined as the Holy Yuan Ring. He placed the Nine Tripod Cauldron, a large amount of medicinal herbs, fire-element spirit stones, and the Zhuge Abacus inside. He tasked the Zhuge Abacus with potion refining. Naturally, the Zhuge Abacus was more than willing to assist, given the abundant spirit energy and pills available.

Old Cai and the others all received their share of the rewards and were ecstatic.

Bai Feng returned to the Holy Yuan Ring to assist Shui Miao in organizing the vast quantity of spirit stones and spirit artifacts, enthusiastically and diligently sorting through everything.

After bidding farewell to Sima Zongheng, Shui Miao returned to the human world, re-entered his original body, and began meditating on the stone platform inside the cave. He decided to push forward without pause, first mastering the Wind Riding Technique, then practicing the techniques of Yellow Spring Without Tears, Thunder Soul Body, the protective cultivation method triggered by the stone tablet’s vibration, and finally, the cultivation method of Supreme Divine Thunder.

※※※

Time passed, and more than a month flew by in an instant.

During this month, no one heard from Shui Miao. Some had grown used to it, while others still anxiously awaited his return.

Xiaotudou had made no progress in his cultivation recently, so he gave up on training and instead spent all his time with a young girl under Xiao Tang’s care. The two had started dating. Previously indifferent to romance, Xiaotudou now realized that there were indeed things in the world more enjoyable than cultivation.

One afternoon, while everyone was napping, Xiaotudou and the girl sneaked into the room with the dry well and stone cave, intending to secretly consummate their relationship inside.

Upon reaching the stone platform, they immediately embraced and kissed passionately.

Xiaotudou hurriedly tried to take off the girl’s clothes, while she eagerly unfastened his belt…

Suddenly, Shui Miao coughed, startling them nearly to death.

“Haha, Xiaotudou, can’t you just rent a room like a normal person? Don’t you know this is where I cultivate? Bringing a girl here—thankfully I just finished cultivating, or else you might’ve caused me to lose focus and suffer a spiritual backlash!” Shui Miao pressed a switch, and four large sun lamps on the stone platform lit up instantly. Looking at Xiaotudou shielding the girl protectively, Shui Miao shook his head and said, “Forget it. I won’t come here to cultivate anymore. This place is yours now. You can stay here and experience life. I’m leaving—you two continue.”

With one hand gripping the rope, he gave a slight tug and shot upward with a “whoosh!”

Shui Miao had already mastered the Wind Riding Technique to the point of being as light as a swallow, capable of leaping dozens of meters in a single bound.

Seeing Shui Miao fly away, Xiaotudou was left stunned.

The girl, still burning with desire, wanted to continue, but Xiaotudou had completely lost interest.

After a long silence, Xiaotudou slapped himself twice and muttered repeatedly, “I must cultivate! I must cultivate! I must cultivate!”

※※※

Headquarters of the Chen Corporation

Following Shui Miao’s instructions, the renovations at the corporate headquarters had been completed, giving the building a fresh new look and atmosphere.

Today, Chen Meiling had called a shareholders’ meeting to discuss overseas investments.

The attendees were none other than the old tycoons of the Zhonghai Business Association—Jiang Zhihao, Sun Hao, and Jiang Tao.

However, the meeting did not go smoothly.

The proposed investment was to lease a mountain in Africa. According to technical assessments, the mountain contained vast gold deposits and several rare metals. The risks were low, and once secured, the project was guaranteed to be highly profitable. However, mining overseas required a significant capital investment. Chen Meiling proposed that each shareholder contribute at least 30 billion yuan to launch the project. She placed great importance on this deal—if successful, the Chen Corporation’s assets would rapidly expand, and once listed, it would become the largest corporation in Zhonghai.

“I know this isn’t much for you to spare, especially since this is a guaranteed profit. I really don’t understand why you’re refusing,” Chen Meiling said after presenting her proposal, only to be met with unanimous rejection from Jiang Zhihao and the others.

Seeing Chen Meiling’s frustration, Jiang Zhihao put down his cigar and sighed, “Meiling, 30 billion isn’t pocket change! Together, we’re looking at 100 billion. We could come up with it if we tried, but we must be cautious. We can’t give you an answer just yet. Oh, by the way, where has our master been lately? If we could speak with him, this matter might be resolved more easily.”

Jiang Zhihao’s meaning was clear—he wanted Shui Miao to personally endorse the project, or else they wouldn’t agree.

Chen Meiling understood the situation well. The total investment needed was only around 30 billion, so naturally, she wanted to collect more if possible.

But when it came to Shui Miao, Chen Meiling felt troubled. There had been no word from him in so long. Truthfully, she was even more anxious than these old tycoons. “Uncle Jiang, haven’t I already told you? He went into retreat and might return soon, or maybe later. Why won’t you believe me?”

“It’s not that we don’t believe you—we just miss our master!”

Jiang Zhihao spoke smoothly, but in truth, they were worried Shui Miao might have met with misfortune. If that were the case, they would immediately withdraw their investments and certainly wouldn’t fund anything else.

Jiang Zhihao was diplomatic, but Sun Hao and Jiang Tao had less patience.

Sun Hao exhaled deeply and said, “Meiling, let’s be honest—we’re really worried about our master. If you can’t bring him out today, I’m withdrawing my investment.”

“What! You’re pulling out?!” Chen Meiling was shocked.

Jiang Tao furrowed his brow and continued, “Meiling, don’t blame us. We’ve only been cooperating with you because of our master. Now that the Chen Corporation is thriving, you won’t even let us see him. It’s been over a month—we’re anxious! Please, help us out. Have mercy on us old men and give us Master Shui’s phone number!”

Indeed, money wasn’t the issue for Jiang Zhihao and the others, but not seeing Shui Miao for so long made them deeply uneasy.

So today, no matter what, they were determined to find out where Shui Miao had gone.

“Haha, you want to see me? It’s easy. Just go to the window and look down—I’m meditating in the plaza.”

Shui Miao’s voice suddenly echoed inside the meeting room.

Everyone was stunned and rushed to the window, pulling back the curtains to see Shui Miao indeed sitting cross-legged in the plaza below.

In reality, Shui Miao wasn’t meditating for cultivation—he was channeling spiritual energy to redirect the earth’s energy, which had been disturbed by the plaza’s renovations.