Dual Cultivation

"This is the Tranquil Bamboo City, and it is also where I first met my wife. Things have changed drastically since then, but this place used to be at war with the neighboring cities, and my wife was a general for this city." Su Yang said as he stood before the city walls.

"Who was your first wife, Master?" Xiao Rong asked him.

"Her name was Meiqi, and after our marriage, she took my surname, becoming Su Meiqi," he said.

"Meiqi was a powerful general who fought in the frontlines. Her bravery knew no limits, not to mention her beauty. Unfortunately, she was only fated to reach the Heavenly Spirit Realm, so she passed from old age. That's when I left this place to explore the world."

"Tranquil Bamboo City… It's been a few thousand years since I've been to this place."

An overwhelming feeling surged from a place in Su Yang's heart that he'd kept sealed for thousands of years.

If he was even slightly less experienced with controlling his emotions at this moment, he would've probably shed a few tears by now.

"Let's go, Xiao Rong. I will give you a tour around this place before we continue our journey since this is a rare opportunity and I don't know when we'll return to this place." Su Yang said to her.

Xiao Rong nodded and followed closely behind Su Yang as they approached the city entrance.

"Are you here to visit or stay? Personal or business?" The guard asked them when they got close to the entrance.

"Visit. Personal." Su Yang said.

"That would be 50 low-grade spirit stones for each person." The guard then said.

Su Yang quickly handed 100 low-grade spirit stones to the guard.

Once he'd counted the spirit stones, the guard handed Su Yang and Xiao Rong a copper token.

"You have seven days inside. That token will break once your time is up, and if you're caught without a token inside the city, you will be fined heavily. If you still decide to stay after that, you will be looking at a few years of imprisonment. Do you have any questions for me?"

"No." Su Yang said. They will be gone long before the token even expires.

"This place has changed a lot since I left. It wouldn't have cost even a single spirit stone to enter this city before, yet it costs 50 now, and we only get to stay for seven days. Either it's inflation or something happened to this city." Su Yang said to Xiao Rong after they entered the city.

Unbeknownst to Su Yang, the reason for the hike in prices was because of him, as it was widespread knowledge that Su Yang grew up in this city, and after his death, many people flocked to this place, treating it like some sort of tourist site, hence the increased price.

"Although thousands of years have passed since I last visited this place, I still remember every street and building like it's on the back of my hands."

A gentle smile appeared on Su Yang's face as he wandered the city with Xiao Rong, even giving her some backstory to some of the buildings.

"You see that building over there? It used to be a dumpling shop back when I still lived here. It was one of the cheapest places in this place, yet the food was on par with even the luxurious restaurants. I remember coming here often when I was still in training. Unfortunately, they closed down after the owner was killed during a robbery."

"Ah, I personally pursued the killer until I had his head in my grasp, and that took me a couple of weeks. I miss that old man's soup dumplings even now."

"That building over there used to sell weapons and even some cultivation techniques— it's where I learned my first sword technique, which was also the same technique I used to defeat Meiqi and conquer her heart."

"As for that building there— the one with the red sign— it used to be a small training dojo. I had spent countless hours honing my sword mastery there. The place still stood even after Meiqi passed away, but unfortunately, shortly after I left the city, the master of the dojo had offended an expert who tore the entire place down the next day."

"Oh, that building over there—"

Su Yang spoke about many things in a manner that Xiao Rong has never seen before, and it gave a weird feeling in her heart that she doesn't fully understand, but it was not an uncomfortable feeling.

Su Yang also talked more than he normally would, and he would go on to talk nonstop as they spent almost an entire day touring the city, almost like he was reciting an extremely long script.

Once they reached the center of the city, Su Yang finally stopped talking, but it was not because he'd run out of things to talk about.

Instead, the reason he stopped talking was because he was taken by surprise by something he saw there.

"Master… is that…?" Xiao Rong looked at this thing with raised eyebrows, as there was a massive statue of an exceedingly handsome man with a sword in his right hand, and he was also in a heroic pose.

"Since when did they make that? It was certainly not there right before I left the city…" Su Yang mumbled with a dumbfounded expression on his face as he stared at the statue that was clearly himself standing majestically in the middle of the city that he grew up in.

"Papa, who is that statue?" A young kid standing beside Su Yang suddenly asked his father.

"That is Su Yang. He's an Immortal who grew up in this city," said the kid's father.

"Wow! A true Immortal?! I also want to be like him!" The kid said.

"I wouldn't pick him as a role model…" The father suddenly said.

"Huh? Why not?" The kid tilted his head in a puzzled manner.

"While we cannot deny that he has countless achievements and was definitely beloved by countless people, he was also the most hated man in the Four Divine Heavens. With every person that adores him, two or more people would hate him."

"Eh? But he has a statue, right? Only beloved people would have a statue! Why do people hate him?"

"Let's just say he loved to steal things from people…" The father said with a bittersweet smile.