Only Eternity Would Be Barely Enough

The Rongrou city quickly descended into chaos as news spread that the city's two giant ruling families had disappeared and their residences had been destroyed. 

"Did you hear? The residence of the Gongsun family, and the residence of the Wen clan were destroyed and left none of their members alive! Especially the Wen Clan's residence was totally destroyed, even spreading to several nearby buildings in the city!" 

"Really? I thought it was just rumors!" 

"Could it be a fight to the death between the two families? After all neither of them got along well and were always fighting." 

"I don't think so! It was probably an unknown external force, strong enough to silently wipe out the two families. If it wasn't that, then how come the Wen clan's buildings were totally destroyed and in ruins, much more so than the Gongsun family's buildings?" 

"Could it have been the sects?" 

"I don't know, I feel that if that had been the case there would have been enough noise to alarm the entire city. But no one knew of any battle until someone noticed the abnormality in the members of these forces and the destruction of their residences." 

"Could it have been some terrifying powerhouse?" 

"Probably, but it would have to be at least a body condensation realm expert to be able to do it quietly, but how many experts exist worldwide? It is rare to see experts of the nascent soul realm, much less experts of the body condensation realm! So the only answer that comes to mind is that some higher sect made a move and dozens of experts attacked at the same time." 

"Hiss~ higher sects? But the sects around the capital wouldn't attack silently and suddenly..." 

"You're right, so I can only think of two answers: there was either a very powerful senior who had some annoyance with these two families or maybe disciples of great sects joined together and destroyed them!" 

"Sects of the east state!" 

"The higher sects of the east state!" 

"But what would they do in this place in the south state? As far as I know the east state cultivators wouldn't come all the way here for nothing. And how come we haven't heard of such geniuses in this place?" 

"I don't know, but now already many from the city went to see the residences of the Wen clan and the Gongsun family in search of treasures that might have been forgotten or undiscovered!" 

"Shit! Why didn't you tell us earlier? Instead of debating why this happened we should be halfway there by now and looking for the forgotten treasures!" 

"Hurry up then!" 

Exclamations and surprises filled the entire capital of the south state. Countless people exchanged words as they ran straight to the residences of these two families wanting to try their luck at finding cultivation resources in the rubble. 

Once the news was confirmed, almost the entire capital headed towards these two places to witness the reality with their own eyes. 

What was most horrifying was that the Wen Clan's residence was completely gone, with only rubble and ruins where once there were countless buildings and houses. 

Ling Tian watched and listened to all the commotion as he sat inside a building, sipping a glass of wine. His eyes briefly glanced outside before lowering his eyelids weakly, taking another sip of the wine from the glass before pushing it forward. 

He also searched for news about Hao Zhentian and the others before coming to this place, but found no information related to them. 

"You are not interested in going to look for opportunities, young master?" 

An old but still full of vigor voice spoke towards Ling Tian. The small cup was filled again by a bottle of wine that was held by a pair of adult hands. 

Ling Tian smiled slightly and shook his head, saying, "I'm barely a young man and there will be many experts in those places, besides, I'm satisfied with the small reward I got not long ago." 

The wine cup was lifted and the exquisite liquid gently went down Ling Tian's throat. Ling Tian's gaze rested briefly on the old man in front of him who had filled his cup again. 

The shock and excitement of having found a stellar stone was still present in his body, feeling like it seemed to be a dream. Even he couldn't help but want to drink wine, want to get drunk from finding a unique heaven treasure, especially since he always struggled to find these types of treasures and almost couldn't take them due to his low strength in the past while helplessly watching others take them, having to settle for normal cultivation resources. 

Therefore, at this time, Ling Tian entered a small tavern in the city. The boss of the place was this man in his mid-60s, who was also the bartender and waited on Ling Tian. 

Only three other people, adults, were in the tavern, eating their own food apart and at different tables. Ling Tian was leaning on the main bar and sitting on the chair, so the old chief asked him with some curiosity when he saw that Ling Tian had seen the commotion outside the window and he showed no signs of wanting to go, as he knew about the destruction of the two main families of the capital. 

Ling Tian's clothes and noble demeanor clearly made the old man in the tavern think that he was the young master or descendant of some important family in the capital. 

And rarer was that, this kind of young man who was not even 30 years old would enter this place, since most customers who entered this tavern were much older people, and there were other places preferred by young people like him. 

"If this old man was a couple of decades younger I would have decided to go take a look around and see if I would have any luck in getting any treasure, never mind if it was the lowest... after all, this old man's talent is average." The old man sighed somewhat disappointed when he thought that he was no longer of the young age to fight like before while cleaning the bar. The answer Ling Tian had given him surprised him a little but he nodded understandingly, knowing that even experts would get hurt if a battle broke out. 

Ling Tian took a sip of the wine and savored it gently. His eyelids lifted and he looked at the old man who was still cleaning other glasses and cups. His expression remained calm and wise, but regret and disappointment could be found in his tone of voice, perhaps understanding his talent for cultivation very well. 

The old man had a cultivation base at the top of the chi gathering, a cultivator with average strength in this south state, but still weak in this city and worse, in the world. 

Suddenly, the face of another familiar old man came to Ling Tian's mind, remembering helping him in the past before going to the Immortal World, as well as helping other kids, youths and adults before adopting his first disciples. 

"Talent has nothing to do with how far you go and what strength you can obtain, as long as you have the will and spirit it is more than enough." Ling Tian replied lightly, sipping the glass of wine again and enjoying this brief moment, feeling that he could forget everything troublesome ahead of him for an instant. His mind quickly filled with all sorts of memories, recalling how he officially began his journey in this cultivation world. 

If cultivation talent was completely indispensable and the most important thing to cultivate, then Ling Tian could not have managed to become a hegemon of the Immortal World, much less would he have managed to cultivate at a decent level. 

He himself was an example that talent is not everything. 

If that was the case, then it wouldn't be strange if after all this time he barely had a cultivation at the Foundation Establishment stage, the maximum stage where the average, mediocre cultivator was stuck for the rest of his life unable to advance any further unless he had a chance encounter that provided him with a peerless treasure. 

The journey to the immortal world would not have happened, nor would the journeys to those lost and desolate worlds, much less would he have achieved the Great Ascension realm. Its limit would have been the state of the Foundation Establishment, while Xi Fei and Ning Xiaoyi would continue to grow stronger with time. 

After a little over 450 real years in this world, Ling Tian would have already been long dead, with his body turned to bones and dust, as the life expectancy in the Foundation Establishment was at most 200 years.... 

Ling Tian sighed inwardly, his intense jet black eyes that seemed to have the galaxy of stars in them maintained their unique glow, with countless thoughts in his consciousness. 

The old man was silent and looked at Ling Tian for a moment. His spirit sense could not see through Ling Tian, much less could he sense his cultivation level in secret, so he guessed that this young man might be a foundation establishment stage expert, a powerful and strong cultivator in this place. 

"Thank you for the young master's words of comfort, but unfortunately this old man's age has passed and nothing more can be done. I just want to enjoy and live happily with my family." 

The old man smiled gratefully but immediately shook his head. His gaze strayed to some paintings placed at the side of his work, showing some faces, a woman in her 50's, with other people in their 20's while holding some babies in their arms. 

The regret in the look was swept away by a deep happiness and peace. 

Ling Tian noticed his gaze and then looked at the small pictures with the faces of various people, quickly understanding the old man's look. He smiled slightly. 

If given the choice to live full of tranquility and peace with his wives and loved ones without anyone bothering or threatening them, Ling Tian would certainly choose it. Living with his beloved wives is undoubtedly his main goal of this life, to live happily ever after. 

"But in the world who rules is the one with the strongest fist, and therefore I have to become stronger..." Ling Tian whispered lightly, sipping the last portion of wine while closing his eyes, "Besides, a few thousand and million years is still not enough to be with all of you..." 

The smiling and loving faces of Yun Mengxin, Zhang Xinya, Tang Wanying, Long Yuyin, Mu Shuiruo, Ning Xiaoyi and Xi Fei filled his mind, causing Ling Tian to smile softly and lovingly. His heart strings trembled softly, as if he could feel his wives' hearts reciprocating despite being on the other side of the world. 

'Only eternity would be barely enough...'

The old man who was still cleaning the cups was stunned when he noticed that Ling Tian had quietly disappeared. No abnormal movement could be found in the tavern, the door at the entrance had not even moved, even the other customers had not noticed that Ling Tian had left. 

A storage ring was left on the bar where Ling Tian was before, the old man took it. Although it was very rare for someone to pay with any storage bag, more so storage rings since they are expensive in this place, it was still acceptable. 

"Thank you very much, young master. I hope you are doing well..." 

The old man was surprised to see the inside of the storage ring and bowed towards the exit door, silently thanking this young man.