Old Master George Zheng wanted Faye Zheng to swagger around with the Southriver Sword Sect sword masters, showing off the Zheng family's new clout.
Back in the day, Faye Zheng would've used this as an excuse to call up all her rich-kid friends and flex for the whole city, but tonight she just wasn't feeling it. Her mind kept replaying that insane scene from this morning—Evan Lin stepping out of the flames as Master Lin from Seacrest.
So tonight, she just led the group on a quick spin—nothing flashy, no big show. Faye Zheng had zero intention of stealing the spotlight.
It was nearly midnight by the time Faye Zheng got home. She thought about sneaking a peek at Evan Lin's place, but in the end, she just didn't have the guts to go over.
The next day, Dominic Ding got ready to head back to Jinnan with the Southriver Sword Sect crew. Before he left, Evan Lin handed him Warren Wu’s contact info and told him to look Warren up in a few days—Warren would have some special herbs for his arm.
Warren Wu, Celine Lin, and Alex Fu stuck around the Zheng Estate for a few more days. The whole time, they were grinding hard to master the Youth-Preserving Beauty Pill recipe, so they could go back and teach the other alchemists in their sects.
Autumn Zheng and the others mostly spent their days hanging out with Joy Zheng. With the Qi family threat finally gone, the whole Zheng family was feeling way more optimistic about the future—especially now that they had Master Lin from Seacrest on their side.
Even though Old Master George Zheng ordered everyone to keep quiet about Master Lin from Seacrest being from the Zheng family, it was already obvious to outsiders. Just seeing the Qi family show up with Raymond Cold, all full of themselves, only to slink away with their tails between their legs—that alone made everyone start taking the Zheng family way more seriously.
A lot of people started guessing that Ben Moran must've gotten his strength back, maybe even broken through to the Pointing-to-Mystery Realm. Otherwise, how could the Zheng family stand up to the Cold Taoist’s challenge?
The Zheng family just kept their mouths shut, the Qi family holed up and refused to talk, and the Zhu family—who saw the whole thing—weren’t saying a word either. All that silence just made the Zheng family’s reputation explode even more.
A few days later, once Celine Lin and Alex Fu had fully mastered the Youth-Preserving Beauty Pill technique and could actually make the pills themselves, they finally said their goodbyes and left.
Warren Wu, meanwhile, started scouting around Seacrest for disciples with real talent for alchemy.
After all the ups and downs, the Zheng family slowly got back to normal.
Evan Lin kept to himself in his own courtyard, barely talking to anyone. Most of the time, he was just holed up in his room, cultivating like always.
That cane Evan took from Raymond Cold—the one with the Ghost-Soul Well inside—would sometimes echo with bursts of wild laughter from deep within.
"The Three Maiden Spirits from the Soul-Sacrifice Beauty Scroll have been in the Ghost-Soul Well for days now, and the yin-fiend power in this thing is even stronger than I imagined."
Sometimes, Evan couldn't help but wonder—at the Three Maiden Spirits’ devouring speed, the Ghost-Soul Well should've been sucked dry by now. But looking at it, the well was still perfectly intact, not even close to breaking down.
A few more days passed, and then it was New Year's Eve.
With the crackle of firecrackers, the Zheng family's big New Year's Eve dinner officially kicked off.
The table was loaded with dishes—clearly, everything had been carefully prepared for the occasion.