After leaving the West Lucozian castle, Dustin returned to Oakvale. The trip to Elysium Isle hadn’t been for nothing. Cyran and Terraen had passed on their lifetime of cultivation, life essence, and their soul flames.
Dustin had also inherited fragments of Cyran’s memories. It turned out that beyond the martial arts, immortal cultivators also existed in this world. But people like them were so withdrawn from the mortal world that most people would never meet one in their lifetime.
Malthor from Elysium Isle was an immortal cultivator. However, he had strayed onto the wrong path and was essentially called a demonic cultivator. When martial artists spoke of reaching the terrestrial immortal realm, immortal cultivators called it peak core formation.
Dustin had already reached that level. He was just one step away from breaking through to form his nascent soul. The process wasn’t exactly difficult, but it wasn’t simple either.
He could already sense that the threshold to nascent soul was becoming clearer in some intangible way. But this step couldn’t be crossed by sheer accumulation of spiritual power alone.
He needed to “return to mortality” in order to break through his mental state. Only when his soul was complete and free of regret could he truly advance to the nascent soul.
After returning to Oakvale, Dustin moved back into the villa he’d stayed in before. The place wasn’t rich in spiritual energy, but was surrounded by the ordinary atmosphere of the mortal world.
But that was exactly what he needed. A quiet place where the noise of the world could wash over him, helping him temper his state of mind.
The villa looked the same as he’d left it, though the garden had grown a bit wild without anyone to care for it. He closed the door behind him and shut out all worldly disturbances.
Instead of sitting down to cultivate, he let everything go. He emptied his mind and slipped into a simple, almost mundane routine-reading, drinking tea, sweeping the courtyard, watching the sun rise and set, as well as listening to the wind and rain.
Dustin stopped using even a trace of divine sense. He even stopped drawing in the ambient spiritual energy and deliberately forgot about his earth-shaking divine abilities.
Seven days slipped by in the blink of an eye. On the morning of the seventh day, sunlight filtered through the window and fell across him as he sat quietly on the meditation mat. The vast spiritual presence that had surrounded him, perfectly harmonious and restrained, quietly receded like a tide.
It wasn’t just suppressed but truly vanished. As Dustin slowly opened his eyes, the profound depths that once saw through illusion and truth were nowhere to be found.
His gaze was clear, ordinary even, carrying a faint confusion that belonged to someone who’d just stepped back into the world.
When he stood and stretched, his joints felt heavy, and his body felt tired. All the sensations he hadn’t felt in years-hunger, thirst, the cool bite of early morning air-returned in sharp detail.
“Return to mortality… So this is what it means?” Dustin murmured, a smile of acceptance crossing his lips.
He could clearly sense that his core had been shrouded in a layer of chaotic, hazy mist. His sea of consciousness was completely silent, and he could no longer extend his divine sense to probe his surroundings at will.
Right now, whether physically or spiritually, he was no different from an ordinary person. His indestructible body, immunity to all poisons, and everything had completely disappeared. 1
Dustin understood perfectly that this was the “mortal seal” stage that preceded breaking through to the nascent soul. He needed to walk the mortal world again and experience the full weight of human emotions-joy and sorrow, life and death.
Only when the right opportunity arrived could he shatter his core to form his nascent soul and return to his peak. During this period, he absolutely couldn’t forcibly break the seal to use his true essence. Otherwise, his foundation would be damaged, and all his efforts would be wasted.
“After all this running around, it’s time to live a normal life for a while,” Dustin said with a smile, pushing open the villa’s main door.
The sunlight was glaring, and he instinctively raised a hand to shield his eyes. The thought of that bright, warm-hearted woman with her radiant smile, a wave of warmth and intense longing surged through his chest.
“Natasha…” he muttered. Dustin’s first instinct was to step onto the wind and fly straight to her. The thought barely formed before he stopped and let out a short, self-mocking laugh. After all, he was just an ordinary man now.
Shaking his head, he walked to the roadside and flagged down a taxi.
“Take me to Dash Corporation,” he said. Inside the CEO’s office at Dash Corporation, Natasha sat behind her large desk reviewing documents. She wore a sharp white suit that outlined her curves.
Bright sunlight streamed through the floor -to-ceiling windows, casting a soft halo around her refined profile. But between her eyebrows lingered a trace of persistent exhaustion and longing.
It had been months, and Dustin had disappeared without a word. She knew he was capable of handling anything and that he was off dealing with something important. But worry and frustration had only grown in her heart with each passing day.
Just then, someone knocked at the door. “Come in,” Natasha said coldly without looking up. Her secretary entered, looking somewhat troubled.
“Ms. Harmon, Mr. Chandler is here again. He’s holding a huge bouquet of roses and insists on seeing you.”
Natasha frowned instantly, with unconcealed disgust flashing in her beautiful eyes.
“Tell him I’m in a meeting and I’m busy. And tell him to stop coming!” she snapped.
“But he…” The secretary was clearly intimidated by Gilbert Chandler’s background. “Do as I say!” Natasha barked, her tone leaving no room for argument.
“Yes, Ms. Harmon.” The secretary didn’t dare say more and quickly retreated. Soon, a commotion erupted outside her office.
“Meeting? What meeting? Natasha, I know you’re in there. My feelings for you are genuine. Why do you keep shutting me out?
The voice gradually faded as security escorted Gilbert away. Natasha rubbed her temples irritably, feeling utterly drained. She realized that these pests just wouldn’t go away, no matter how hard she tried to get rid of them.
She stood and walked to the window, gazing down at the endless stream of traffic below.
“Where are you, dear?” she sighed softly. ”
If you don’t come back soon, these pests are going to drive me crazy.”
Just then, the office door was gently pushed open again.
“I said I’m not seeing anyone! Are you deaf?” Natasha snapped, turning around.
Her pent-up anger was ready to erupt. But when she saw the figure standing in the doorway, all her anger, irritation, and exhaustion froze in an instant. It soon melted away like snow in the sun.
Sunlight streamed in behind him, outlining his tall frame and familiar silhouette. He was dressed in simple casual clothes, his face bearing the marks of his travels, and wearing the tender smile she had been yearning for day and night.
Who else could it be but Dustin?
