"We have returned to the Eastern Continent," Su Yang said to them a few minutes later.

"Oooh!" Zhu Mengyi and Wu Jingjing looked at the unfamiliar scenery with excitement.

However, the moment they tasted the Profound Qi in the air, frowns immediately appeared on their faces.

"I don't mean to be rude but the Profound Qi here…" Zhu Mengyi shook her head before looking at Xie Wang and continuing, "I'm surprised you even made it to the Sovereign Spirit Realm with the quality of Profound Qi in this place…"

"I am speechless… How do people even cultivate in this kind of environment?" Wu Jingjing also sighed, feeling like she'd accidentally traveled to a dirty place.

"Uhh…"

Even the Xie Family couldn't help but express disgust on their faces after experiencing the low-quality Profound Qi in the Eastern Continent once again, especially when they just got used to the high-quality Profound Qi in the Holy Central Continent.

"Now that I have experienced the Profound Qi in the Holy Central Continent, the Profound Qi in this place feels especially bad— it's like comparing a cup of fresh and clean water to muddy water…" Xie Wang sighed loudly.

"Heavens… Was the Profound Qi in this place always this bad? I would never have realized this if I did not experience the Profound Qi at the Holy Central Continent for myself!" Lord Xie held a face of disbelief on his face, feeling like he'd entered a new and unfamiliar land.

"Hahaha… Now you know how I feel, except it's not as bad as my situation!" Su Yang laughed out loud after seeing their reaction. "If you knew just how pure the Profound Qi in the Divine Heavens are before coming here— you would be physically crying right now!"

"Now that you mention it, you plan on returning to the Divine Heavens, right? How are we going to get there from here?" Zhu Mengyi suddenly asked him.

"There's this portal in the Southern Continent that could potentially teleport us to the Divine Heavens. Although it's not confirmed, it's very likely to be the case," Su Yang said.

"I cannot wait to go to the Divine Heavens with you, Su Yang. I wonder how much it differs from this world," Wu Jingjing said, her heart filled with curiosity.

"I also cannot wait to start exploring!" Zhu Mengyi said.

However, Su Yang shook his head and said, "Unfortunately, you do not have the capabilities to explore the Divine Heavens in your current state. The Heavenly Spirit Realm is no different than a mortal in that world, and if you want to explore the world safely, you will need to cultivate at least a few hundred years or be accompanied by someone powerful."

"A few hundred years…?" Zhu Mengyi looked at him with wide eyes, as it was a number that she could not even comprehend.

"Anyways, we can talk more about the Divine Heavens later. We have returned to Snowfall City now." Su Yang said as he stopped the flying ship above where the Celestial Pond was located.

"It also looks like the girls have managed to leave the Celestial Pond on time," Lord Xie said as he looked at Liu Lanzhi and the other disciples at the bottom.

Sometime later, after waking up Lian Li, everyone descended from the flying ship and landed before Liu Lanzhi and the others disciples.

"Welcome back, Su Yang…" Liu Lanzhi said to him in a somewhat dejected voice, not even questioning about the new faces.

"Hm? What happened? Why do you girls look so dispirited?" Su Yang looked at her and the other disciples with a puzzled look.

Besides Yan Yan, everyone there had a gloomy expression on their faces.

"Well…"

Liu Lanzhi turned to look at Yan Yan before sighing, "Take a look at our cultivation bases and you should understand…"

Hearing her words, Su Yang and everyone there looked at their cultivation base.

"What on earth?" Lord Xie's eyes widened with shock after seeing their cultivation bases.

"What in heaven's name happened inside the Celestial Pond?!" Xie Wang exclaimed in a shocked voice.

"This is truly unexpected…" Even Su Yang was surprised by the results.

Except for Yan Yan, Liu Lanzhi, and the other two disciples somehow only managed to increase their cultivation base by a single level. Meanwhile, Yan Yan, who was at the seventh level Earth Spirit Realm before entering the Celestial Pond had somehow soared all the way to the peak of the Heavenly Spirit Realm in these seven days, surpassing even Su Yang's cultivation base.

"How did this happen?" Xie Xingfang suddenly asked.

"I can imagine what had happened, but I'll let them explain it," Su Yang said with a smile.

Liu Lanzhi nodded and said, "Well, everything was normal when we first entered the Celestial Pond, but as we approached our second day cultivating in the Celestial Pond, all of the spiritual energy suddenly disappeared."

"I was completely baffled at first, but when I saw Yan Yan's cultivation base, I can guess what had happened…" Liu Lanzhi sighed.

Once Liu Lanzhi stopped talking, Su Yang spoke, "Because of Yan Yan's talents, she'd absorbed all seven days worth of spiritual energy in a single day."

"Then you girls stopped cultivating in the Celestial Pond after the first day and have been waiting here since then?" Xie Xingfang asked in a dazed voice.

"Yes…" Liu Lanzhi and the other disciples nodded in a dispirited manner.

"That's… I don't know what I should say in this kind of situation…" Lord Xie shook his head. Since the Celestial Pond needed 100 years to recover, there was nothing they could really do in this situation.

"Although it's quite depressing that I didn't get to cultivate in the Celestial Pond for as long as I'd hoped, at least the spiritual energy wasn't wasted. Yan Yan managed to reach the peak of the Heavenly Spirit Realm at such a young age— I should be celebrating as the Sect Master instead of being depressed," Liu Lanzhi said with a bittersweet smile on her face, trying to find the positive in this situation.