Three years ago, at the Yongning Marquis Sima Liang's treasure appraisal gathering, someone brought out White Jade Smoke Gauze Grass and asked Sima Liang for a valuation. In the end, Sima Liang offered eighty high-grade spirit stones to acquire it, not expecting it would bring a fatal disaster.

The White Jade Smoke Gauze Grass ended up in Yun Zong's hands and healed his injuries, showing how precious it was.

However, at this moment, inside this Lianyin Immortal Residence, they saw fields of White Jade Smoke Gauze Grass. That entire stretch of plants shrouded in milky white fruits swayed gently in the breeze, looking like heavenly grass from the Jade Pool, pure as ice.

Behind the White Jade Smoke Gauze Grass grew the distinctly different Dragon Whisker Orchid and Love Severance Flower. The former twisted and turned like dragon whiskers, extending upwards, while the latter formed semi-transparent lantern-like enclosures around the branches. Both were deep purple-blue, mixing with the White Jade Smoke Gauze Grass in front, along with the emerald green leaves, creating an intoxicating sight of vibrant colors.

Beside the flower beds of purple, red and various colors stood a pavilion with the words "Treasure Garden" inscribed. The eaves and beams used bright, vivid colors. The left and right sides had upturned eaves in the shapes of dragon and phoenix heads, exquisitely and vividly carved.

The horizontal beam under the plaque used openwork gold lacquer to depict the scene of fairies offering peaches to the Queen Mother for her birthday, clearly showing every detail down to the auspicious clouds under their feet and the double flower gold hairpins in their hair.

The pavilion was screened on all sides with bamboo curtains, making it hard to see clearly, but vague silhouettes moved about inside amidst sounds of merriment and laughter.

All of this seemed to be exactly the place many people dreamed of finding inside the Lianyin Immortal Residence.

And they had reached here effortlessly after passing only two checkpoints?

Zhou Chen laughed, "Tsk tsk, look at the grandeur!"

Zhou Yin walked towards the pavilion without a word.

Whether human or ghost, he had to find out.

Zhou Chen couldn't forget about Zhou Yin getting injured earlier and was afraid something bad might happen to him again. He hurriedly followed behind, practically shadowing his every step.

Lifting the bamboo curtain, the scene inside the pavilion came into view.

Zhou Yin had always been immune to beautiful women, but even he had to admit the few ladies inside the pavilion had the utmost beauty. If the two women seen earlier in the nameless cave under Dragon Shadow Pool represented mortal beauty, then the people before his eyes were clearly fairies from the upper realm.

Seeing Zhou Yin and Zhou Chen, the few ladies weren't surprised at all, but calmly bowed in greeting.

"Greetings to you two gentlemen." The purple-clad girl in the lead bent over to let the cat in her arms go, taking the opportunity to bow with hands clasped.

Zhou Yin asked, "Who are you?"

The purple-clad girl smiled, "This servant is called Ziying, one of the stewards of this residence. From now on, I am also a servant to you two gentlemen."

Her words sounded strange. Zhou Yin naturally had to ask, "What residence?"

Ziying said, "Would the two masters please follow this servant."

Then she said to the few girls in the pavilion, "You can all go. The masters will summon you if needed."

The group acknowledged in unison and left in single file.

Zhou Yin and Zhou Chen exchanged a glance and followed behind Ziying.

Zhou Chen said, "This isn't an illusion, everything is real."

His volume wasn't loud, only the two of them could hear.

Zhou Yin didn't speak, only nodding slightly to indicate he knew.

This place was completely different from what they experienced at Dragon Shadow Pool before. Back then, even using the Boundless Heavens Illusion technique could only create an illusion comparable to reality.

Once Zhou Yin discovered the key, it could be broken immediately. But now, everything was real. As long as one could stay here, the things cultivators painstakingly sought after and dreamed of were no longer out of reach, such as immortality and having the power of celestial beings from the upper realm.

Leaving this area, they discovered it was just a rear garden. Passing through the garden full of rare spiritual herbs, the back courtyard, the central courtyard, and the front courtyard, they arrived at the entrance after exiting the huge residence.

Two stone lions stood on either side of the main gate, majestic and fierce, as if ready to attack.

Above the vermilion gate hung a plaque carved from top-grade sandalwood, but the central part where the gilded characters should be was blank.

Ziying smiled, "Would the two masters please name this residence."

Zhou Chen asked, "What name?"

Ziying respectfully said, "Whatever name the masters want to give, that will be the name. Everything here belongs to the masters."

Seeing that neither of them spoke, Ziying smiled and said, "Could it be that the two masters don't know? This is the place countless cultivators painstakingly go through trials in the Lianyin Immortal Residence hoping to ultimately reach. You two have arrived here after passing only two checkpoints. Firstly, it's because of your extraordinary talent, and secondly, your luck is exceptional, truly a cause for celebration."

She continued to explain, "Everything the two masters saw and heard just now was real. This place is vast with abundant spiritual energy. The magic treasures and spiritual medicines that are impossible to see in a lifetime outside can be easily obtained here. In a cultivator's entire life, isn't this all they want? Many cultivators who enter from outside and never leave again do so willingly, staying to enjoy everything here. Since you two have appeared in this residence, then along with the rare spiritual herbs in the back garden, they all belong to you."

Zhou Chen asked, "What if we want to take things outside?"

Ziying answered, "That's also possible, but according to the rules, you still need to pass the subsequent checkpoints. As for whether you can safely leave, that's up to fate. So many people don't want to take that risk and simply choose to stay, anyway this place is no smaller than the outside and they can do as they please."

Zhou Yin asked, "Do this street and the other houses also belong to us?"

Ziying chuckled, "Of course not. According to the rules, whichever residence you appear in, you take possession of that one. As for other places, naturally they belong to other people." She winked and said, "But this place also follows the rule of the strong. If the masters can defeat the other cultivators, then naturally those places will also be yours."

Zhou Yin asked, "Who made these rules?"

Ziying was startled and didn't respond.

Zhou Chen said nonchalantly, "Now there's only one plaque but there's two of us. If we have different opinions, what then?"

Ziying instantly recovered from her earlier blank expression, becoming lively again like before. She gave a charming smile but her tone was very serious, "Then I'm afraid the two masters will have to fight. Whoever wins, we'll listen to him."

Zhou Chen laughed, "Ah Yin is my wife, how could I bear to fight him? Aren't you just trying to drive a wedge between us?"

Ziying was stunned again, at a loss for words.

Zhou Chen saw it all and understood. He changed the topic and asked, "How big is this place? Don't the cultivators have a leader?"

Ziying said, "My lord, you may not know, but this place is called Huanxi City. There have been three city lords so far, and the current one is Ma Dong, a cultivator who entered 300 years ago. Besides my lord, there are many cultivators from the outside like you in the city, but they all need to follow the city lord's rules, unless they become the city lord themselves."

Zhou Yin asked, "How does one become the city lord?"

Ziying replied, "Naturally, the strongest person in Huanxi City becomes the city lord."

Zhou Yin asked, "What about you then? Aren't you a cultivator?"

Ziying lowered her head charmingly, "Ziying is just a servant, how would I dare to compete for the position of city lord? I only wish to obey the orders of my two lords."

Zhou Yin asked, "Since you're not a cultivator, do you feel pain?"

As he spoke, Zhou Chen suddenly raised his hand. In a blur of motion, a thin blade had already pierced Ziying's heart.

Ziying looked up at them in a daze, and collapsed to the ground silently.

The beautiful young girl fell to the ground in an instant, her breath gone.

But no blood flowed out.

Zhou Chen mocked, "I'm afraid eight or nine out of ten in this Huanxi City are just puppets. Even if those spiritual medicines are real, what's the point of being trapped here for a lifetime? I don't know how humans can be so brainless!"

After saying that, he saw Zhou Yin glance at him indifferently. His cold smile instantly turned into a fawning one, "Of course, our Ah Yin is an exception!"

He thought Zhou Yin looked at him because he had casually included everyone, but unexpectedly, Zhou Yin remembered Fei Lan's request. He took out the Heaven Washing Brush from the Sumeru Ring and handed it to Zhou Chen.

"Returning it to you."

Zhou Chen pushed it back, smiling, "Consider the Heaven Washing Brush as my betrothal gift to you. How can an engagement item be returned casually?"

Zhou Yin: "..."

Under the gaze of his former master, Zhou Chen had to retreat and said, "Ah Yin, this item is a handy magical treasure for you, but it's not of much use to me, because it's only one-sixth of the Painting of Mountains and Rivers."

After keeping him in suspense for a long time without Zhou Yin asking, Zhou Chen said pitifully, "Don't you think you speak too little? You can say a bit more when you're with me."

Zhou Yin: "Say what?"

He felt his gaze was enough to express his inquiry. One should be concise and straightforward in life. If one can avoid speaking, one should absolutely not say a single word. If one sentence is enough, one should absolutely not use two sentences.

The rules in Huanxi City were strange. After learning about the general situation from Ziying, the two were not in a hurry to leave.

Zhou Chen wrote the two characters "Zhou Residence" on the nameless plaque with a flourish - after all, they were family.

The two entered the rear courtyard and sat in the pavilion originally called Zhenyuan, summoning the puppet maids to pour tea and water, enjoying a moment of leisure as if they had stolen half a day of idle time.

In his previous life, Zhou Yin would have been eager to cultivate 24 hours a day and would certainly not have done these "time-wasting" things. But now, he had gradually come to appreciate the pleasure of listening to the wind and admiring the moon.

Male birds always like to attract their mates' attention through their appearance and conversation. Even though the Vermilion Bird was already a divine beast, its nature was no exception. Knowing that Zhou Yin was knowledgeable, Zhou Chen intentionally mentioned some secrets of the demon beast race to pique his interest and brought up the origin of the Heaven Washing Brush.

"In ancient times, there were many gods. Pangu created heaven and earth, Nüwa created humans, Fuxi created the Eight Trigrams of Yin and Yang, Gonggong governed water, Zhurong guided fire, and there were other deities, each with their own duties. In order to make the heaven, earth, mountains, and rivers have their own origins and end, they took the spiritual energy of the sun, moon, rivers, and lakes as a guide and created the Painting of Mountains and Rivers. With this item in hand, one could reach the highest heavens and the deepest underworld, and learn the greatest secrets between heaven and earth."

"Unfortunately, in the ancient battle, Gonggong angrily crashed into Mount Buzhou, the sky collapsed, and Nüwa refined stones to mend the heavens. She divided the Painting of Mountains and Rivers into six parts, transforming them into six treasures, and from then on, each part of the sky went its own way, and their whereabouts were unknown. Now, the demon beast race is fragmented, but the demon beast clansmen have inherited a mission from generation to generation, which is to gather the six treasures, combine them into one, recreate the Painting of Mountains and Rivers, and decipher the secret left by Nüwa back then."

Zhou Yin asked, "So the Heaven Washing Brush is one of the six items?"

Zhou Chen nodded, "There are five more: the Jade Spirit Rhinoceros Horn, Heaven Opening Mirror, Lingji Pearl, Yellow Springs Lamp, and Rosy Cloud Hairpin." He paused and smiled, "Now we have obtained two of them."

Zhou Yin said, "Oh, then you can have both the Heaven Washing Brush and Jade Spirit Rhinoceros Horn back."

Zhou Chen said affectionately, "Ah Yin, what's mine is yours. Is there any difference between what belongs to whom when it comes to the two of us?"

Zhou Yin looked at him and said slowly, "There is."

Zhou Chen: "?"

Zhou Yin: "This way, every time I see them, I will think of your face."

Zhou Chen said innocently, "What about my face? Is it very handsome and dashing?"

Zhou Yin: "Not really, just a bit annoying."

Zhou Chen: "..."

Author's Note: Setting reminders:

1. This is not an illusion. Repeated plots will not appear a second time.

2. Jade Spirit Rhinoceros Horn, Heaven Opening Mirror, Lingji Pearl, Yellow Springs Lamp, Rosy Cloud Hairpin, and Heaven Washing Brush are components of the Painting of Mountains and Rivers. The Painting of Mountains and Rivers originates from "The Investiture of the Gods," but the name is borrowed here and serves a different purpose than in the original novel. It doesn't matter if you remember this or not, as I will remind you again later.

3. The Jade Spirit Rhinoceros Horn and Heaven Washing Brush are currently in the hands of Zhou Yin and Furball.