When Hua Lin Yu and his older brother had reassured their family for about the hundredth time that they would be careful and not take any unnecessary risks while they were in the dragon realm, the three people finally set off.
The journey to the dragon realm actually wasn't long. The immortal realms could be entered from anywhere as long as a gate was opened. To do so, you just needed to be of the immortal races or have a high enough amount of spiritual energy if you weren't. That was precisely what separated a cultivator of a lower-level from those that had reached a high enough level to be able to become an ascended deity. It was nothing more than that.
Even though Hua Lin Yu and Hua Lin Rong weren't at that level yet, there naturally wasn't any problem with Xin Lan in the lead. He simply opened the gate and then let the two of them through.
The place they arrived at wasn't part of the dragon realm or any of the three big realms for that matter. Hua Lin Yu and Hua Lin Rong still looked around with wide eyes as if they had couldn't believe that what they were seeing.
Hua Lin Rong spoke up in wonder after a moment. "The spiritual energy over here is really dense."
Xin Lan looked over his shoulder at that and gave a faint smile. "It is everywhere in the immortal realms. Even the places with the least spiritual energy here are probably still better suited for cultivation than even the best places in the mortal realm. Just wait until we are in the actual dragon realm. If you do want to take some time there to dedicate to your cultivation, we can do so."
The two of them looked at him in astonishment. "That's allowed?" Hua Lin Yu felt that Xin Lan wasn't necessarily the type of person that would keep to the rules so he couldn't help but ask.
Xin Lan waved for them to follow him first and led them in the direction of the dragon realm. He made sure to fly right next to Hua Lin Yu though, even reaching out to gently brush through his hair. "Would I lie to you? Anyway, it's really not a problem. The dragon realm doesn't have any laws in place against bringing humans over. It might be a different thing in the Nine Heavens where there are some more restrictions in place, there really is nothing to worry about. You can just do whatever you want."
Hua Lin Yu was still a little skeptical but his older brother was already completely sold on the idea. "That's great! I'm pretty sure that with just a few weeks of cultivation here, I would be able to promote to the next level!"
In fact, he originally hadn't been too far from promoting, and if not for Hua Lin Yu's message that he would return home, he probably would've gone into closed-door cultivation and focused on that. But the temptation of seeing his little brother again and then even going to the dragon realm had just been too big. It was much more important to him than cultivating. To find out now that he would be able to still achieve the same result with less work was naturally a good thing.
Xin Lan smiled at his happy expression and felt that things were going really well. "Well, this is still quite far outside. We should decide where to go and then you can give it a try there. There will be places with even denser spiritual energy around. He should make use of one of these."
The two brothers nodded and then exchanged a glance, wondering where they should go first.
"Well, I'm just accompanying you. While there are a few things that I would really like to see, I think you should decide, Xiao Yu."
Hua Lin Yu naturally wanted that his brother would also be happy with this journey but he was quite curious to learn more about Xin Lan. Thus, he just couldn't help himself but want to visit one of the places that had more to do with him first. "Can we go to your place first? I would really like to see how you are living here."
Xin Lan shrugged his shoulders. "If that is what you want, then that is naturally what we'll do. I already promised you that we can do anything that you want. Just say the words and I will make it possible for you."
Hua Lin Yu smiled and then craned his neck, giving him a kiss. "Thank you. Then let's go there. I'm really curious."
Xin Lan nodded and the three of them went their way over to the place he called his home in the dragon realm.
Returning there … it made him feel a little strange. This was the place he had settled down in when he had enough of being around people that were of his own race but still completely different from him. It was also the place that he had always returned to between his travels before he met Jinde.
It was supposed to be his home but it actually wasn't. To him, his actual home had always been the place beside Jinde. The palace where he had seen him grow from that young king without any support that needed to convince people of his ability to the one who was beloved by his people and bemoaned with a sea of tears after his apparent passing.
That was the place he would always fondly remember. This though … it was just a sign of that loneliness he could never get rid of.