Chen Xia slapped himself.
Not too lightly, just hard enough to wake himself up.
He had actually fallen asleep in a muddle-headed manner just now, which was really too inappropriate considering his strength at the Reversing Ocean Realm. This meant he had failed to control his divine consciousness.
The content of the dream wasn't too good either.
He dreamed that he had returned to Blue Sky Sword Sea, but the ending wasn't too good.
Because he had killed all the cultivators of Blue Sky Sword Sea, killed all the reserve disciples and junior elders, killed all the Fourteen Sons of the Blue Sky, and then crushed and killed the Primordial Elder's divine soul.
Finally he had taken the head of Old Fisherman.
Even Big Yellow Dog had died at his hands.
This was a dream Chen Xia could not accept, full of abnormalities throughout.
And for someone at his Reversing Ocean Realm cultivation base, having such a dream for no reason could only have one explanation.
Something was wrong with him.
Chen Xia started frowning in thought.
Could it be that after living for so long, he had finally fried his brain?
But that shouldn't be right. Zhang DaoMing was even older than him, yet he showed no signs of any problems?
Could it be because of his realm, or some disruption in the flow of time, and he had been sent to another timeline?
Chen Xia activated his mind to think of many possibilities, but couldn't confirm any of them, so he could only give up.
Hopefully it wasn't his brain that had developed problems from cultivating too long.
Chen Xia thought this as he slowly walked out of the room.
Big Yellow Dog was still sleeping, occasionally convulsing and foaming at the mouth, showing no signs of improvement, but rather growing more severe. Occasionally he would suddenly howl, and loudly chant.
"I am the Vast Expanse, severing the connection between two realms, as I step into the Great Emperor Realm!"
If someone who didn't know heard this, they would probably think someone was having a fit.
But in truth it wasn't too far off.
Zhang DaoMing was tending to the medicinal fields he had planted, while also very concerned about Big Yellow Dog's mental state.
"Is alchemy going to be reliable? If that Zhen Hu..."
Zhang DaoMing didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was clear. Just some ungrateful things, afraid that Zhen Hu would go back on his word later.
"Don't worry, Zhen Hu doesn't dare have crooked thoughts. Starry Sky Pill Sect doesn't have the qualifications." Chen Xia shook his head.
Zhang DaoMing was still somewhat worried. "What if Zhen Hu colludes with other sects, or even the upper echelons of the realm?"
Chen Xia still shook his head. "I'm more important than the entire Starry Sky Pill Sect. If I can refine a great pill, then I will also be more important than that pill. There's no reason to offend me just for the sake of one great pill."
Zhang DaoMing nodded. "It should be so. When the time comes for the Great Sects Conference, if you have any difficulties, remember to let me know. I still have some connections in the middle strata of the realm."
These were aged old events that Zhang DaoMing had never spoken of before.
Chen Xia laughed lightly and asked, "Can you still pull strings?"
"It's just some brothers from my former sect. We haven't been in contact for a long time, and our relationship wasn't even that close. But if I'm willing to swallow my pride, they wouldn't feel good about not helping."
Zhang DaoMing shook his head slightly as he spoke, his words tinged with reminiscence, yet not happiness.
Regarding matters of his former native sect, Zhang DaoMing rarely spoke of them, only bringing it up a couple times, and even then not in detail.
"No need for you to swallow your pride," Chen Xia smiled and shook his head. "You're already so old, don't damage your reputation at the last moment. Otherwise you won't even rest easy in your coffin, and I'll have to worry about you becoming an undead horror."
"There's no such thing as undead horrors, just fairy tales to frighten children. When you're dead, you're dead." Zhang DaoMing laughed and shook his head, then asked,
"How much longer until the Great Sects Conference? I'll make preparations so I can see you off properly."
Chen Xia pondered briefly. "According to what Zhen Hu said, there should still be eighty years left."
Not too long for cultivators.
Zhang DaoMing also nodded, a smile of aged wisdom on his face. "Very well, prepare yourself properly and strive for triumphant return."
"Mm," Chen Xia lightly nodded.
There were also some things he hadn't told Zhang DaoMing.
For example, matters regarding Qin Guan and Triumphant Mountain. There was no need to speak of them, no need to cause Zhang DaoMing undue worry.
And after so much time had passed with no news from Triumphant Mountain, it was as if they had forgotten the matter entirely.
But Qin Guan's Soul Lantern was solidly grasped in Chen Xia's hand.
Could Triumphant Mountain really endure this?
Chen Xia didn't think so.
Eventually someone would become impatient, whether now or later. They just didn't know how to make a move yet.
At the same time, Chen Xia's reputation had also spread through the entire middle strata of the realm.
All because he had dared to openly force Qin Guan to kneel!
And Starry Sky Pill Sect's attitude was supportive. Which meant that compared to Qin Guan of Triumphant Mountain, this newly promoted Pill Elder of their sect was much more important!
This was somewhat thought-provoking.
A cultivator who had never been heard of before suddenly became the Pill Elder of Starry Sky Pill Sect, and also forced Qin Guan to kneel. Such experiences were a bit too fantastic.
News also spread quickly amongst these sects, and they soon found Chen Xia's residence, even coming to secretly gather information.
At first Chen Xia pretended not to notice them and was too lazy to care. But later he became annoyed, and if he caught anyone he would slap them and tell them to scram back to wherever they came from. Otherwise next time it wouldn't just be a slap.
Some people didn't believe him and came back a second time.
Then they were hung on Chen Xia's door, as he pointed inside and shouted,
"Look, since you like peeping, I'll let you peep your fill!"
Chen Xia didn't do anything else to them, didn't beat them. He just hung them up like this without letting them go, calling it a 'biological doorbell'.
And disbelievers were clearly more than just one.
So Chen Xia's biological doorbell became a row.
A row of cultivators at the Great Vehicle and Mountain Moving realms were hung at the entrance, not at all disheartened. Occasionally they would squint at each other, and even plead with Chen Xia for mercy.
But Chen Xia ignored them, telling them he'd let them down once they'd seen enough, so they should hang for a few decades first.
After a long time, these cultivators became familiar with each other, cheerfully greeting and chatting.
"You're at the early Mountain Moving stage too huh, what a coincidence! I'm from White Screen Mountain, what about you?"
"I'm from Illusory Sect. Although I'm at Mountain Moving stage, my Mountain Moving stage isn't ordinary. Look, I'm hung higher than you. This is the difference in our usual foundations."
"Hey, you're right!"
The row of hung cultivators chatted quite merrily, talking about all the affairs of the sects in the middle strata of the realm.
Chen Xia would occasionally listen in to pass the time.
The fiftieth year.
Zhen Hu came by once. He stood at the entrance, looking at the row of cultivators hanging on the courtyard wall, falling silent.
Seeing Zhen Hu arrive, these cultivators welcomed him enthusiastically.
"Zhen Sect Leader is here, welcome!"
"Zhen Sect Leader is here, Boss Chen, Zhen Sect Leader is here!"
"Boss Chen, you have a guest, Boss Chen!"
Only then did Chen Xia slowly walk out from inside the room, stopping at the entrance and leaning against the wall with a laugh. "Biological doorbell, high class right?"
Zhen Hu opened his mouth, at a loss for how to respond. After a long pause he nodded. "Don't go overboard."
Seeing this, even the King of Hell would cry out 'This is Hell!'