What Xiaoyao found strange was why this person was staring at him blankly when they didn't even know each other. Could it be that this person had been driven silly by Rakshasa Tower?

Ah, how pitiful!

Xiaoyao shook his head, then walked toward the Carefree Sect headquarters. He felt as if he hadn't bathed in several years and was very uncomfortable—he definitely needed to go back and take a good bath.

However, before he could get far, he saw a group of people rushing toward him from ahead. The scene was somewhat grand, though not too grand. Among them, Xiaoyao discovered Lang Tiexin was there. Since she had appeared, it showed that the people here were of sufficient importance.

Some important figure must have come out of seclusion—was it that person from just now?

"Greetings, Family Head Lang..." Xiaoyao greeted the approaching Lang Tiexin, then prepared to go around the crowd.

"Xiaoyao? You've finally come out of seclusion," Lang Tiexin was stunned, having some difficulty recognizing Xiaoyao's appearance. After all, she had only seen Xiaoyao once. If Xiaoyao hadn't greeted her, she wouldn't have recognized him at all.

As she spoke, she immediately blocked Xiaoyao's path, and the people beside her also seemed to surround Xiaoyao. This made Xiaoyao feel strange—what are you all doing? Aren't you going to find that person?

...

Xiaoyao wouldn't think these people had come to see him. After all, he had no reputation in the Carefree Sect and hadn't had much contact with people. How could so many people come to see him? This was impossible.

"Mm, I've come out of seclusion. I feel it's about right. Who are you going to receive coming out of seclusion?" Xiaoyao asked casually.

"...We came to see you. Not exactly to receive you, just out of curiosity," Lang Tiexin said with a smile.

"To see me? You all?" Xiaoyao was stunned for a moment, not expecting his previous guess to be wrong. But the problem was, what was going on? Why come find him?

From the sound of it, they should just be curious, not seeking something from him, nor showing respect, and certainly not looking for trouble—otherwise they wouldn't have such a good attitude.

But why the curiosity?

What had he done? He had just cultivated in Rakshasa Tower. Oh right, he had also previously read some orthodox Carefree Sect martial arts classics in the library. Could it be because of this?

"Mm, we came to see you," Lang Tiexin nodded, looking at Xiaoyao.

"What's the situation?" Xiaoyao was too lazy to guess and asked directly.

"From your manner, it seems you don't know what you've done?" Lang Tiexin looked at Xiaoyao with a smile.

"I just came out of seclusion from Rakshasa Tower—how would I know? Wait, you're not curious because I cultivated in Rakshasa Tower, are you? Can't people from outside the Carefree Sect go in to cultivate?" Xiaoyao asked. Thinking about it, it should be because of the Rakshasa Tower cultivation matter.

"No, you can enter Rakshasa Tower if you want to, regardless of whether you're from the Carefree Sect or not. Anyone who can enter here can do so," Lang Tiexin said.

Outsiders could, but they had to be friends of the Carefree Sect, people who could enter the Carefree Sect headquarters. Generally, such people had connections with the Carefree Sect. Xiaoyao was somewhat of an exception—he had only come following Hei Xue. Of course, no one would fuss about this.

"Then what are you curious about?" Xiaoyao asked somewhat puzzledly.

"Do you know how long you were inside?" Lang Tiexin looked at Xiaoyao and said.

"How long? It shouldn't have been long. Brother Laughing Wolf hasn't come out yet," Xiaoyao frowned slightly, feeling that if Lang Tiexin asked this way, it must have been a long time. Had he overdone his cultivation?

Under normal circumstances, his current improvement would require a very long time. Adding his hair and beard, it should have taken some time. But the problem was that Laughing Wolf was still cultivating, so it shouldn't have been long.

Besides, he hadn't felt the kind of pressure they mentioned, so he thought the time wasn't too long.

"Lang Lang hasn't come out of seclusion, but this isn't from the same time you went in. After you entered, this is already his third time going in to cultivate," Lang Tiexin said, revealing something that stunned Xiaoyao.

"Third time? He can enter at most once a year. If it's the third time, that means it's been at least three years?" Xiaoyao said. Though he didn't want to admit it, if the other party wasn't lying, then he might have been in Rakshasa Tower for over three years.

"That's right, it's been three years, and several months more," Lang Tiexin calculated. Although Laughing Wolf, stimulated by Xiaoyao, would enter to cultivate almost as soon as time allowed, it had indeed been over three years.

"Really? It's really been over three years?" Xiaoyao said in surprise.

Yes, over three years! You were actually inside for over three years! Surprising, isn't it? Do you know how amazed we were when we observed this situation?

At this moment, everyone thought Xiaoyao should be surprised, but what they didn't expect was that Xiaoyao's surprise only lasted a moment.

Soon, Xiaoyao returned to normal and said: "That makes sense. If it weren't over three years, I wouldn't have achieved such cultivation results. Even three more years wouldn't be strange."

"...Speaking of which, what realm is your strength at now? Why can't I see through it either?" Lang Tiexin looked at Xiaoyao somewhat puzzledly.

What level of person was she? Yet she couldn't see through Xiaoyao's realm. Generally, this situation could only mean that Xiaoyao was higher than her, or about the same as her while possessing some means to hide himself.

But was this possible?

Three years ago, Xiaoyao was still someone who hadn't reached Saint Level, merely at Peak Emperor Level. How could three years' time allow him to jump to her level? Even if he was slightly below her, he would have reached God Level.

Even if Rakshasa Tower's cultivation effects were strong, it only increased internal power—realm couldn't be improved at all. Well, even setting aside realm issues and barrier problems, it still might not be possible to break through to God Level.

However, these standards were all under normal circumstances. Xiaoyao had now been in Rakshasa Tower for three years—this could no longer be explained by normal standards.

No one had ever been able to stay inside for three months, let alone three years. This was already beyond anyone's comprehension.

Therefore, even if Xiaoyao had reached God Level, everyone wouldn't find it too strange—unexpected, yet reasonable.

"If you can't see through it, then don't. It's not important," Xiaoyao smiled. The meaning of these words was: stop asking—this is my own business.

"Alright then. We want to ask you—are you cultivating orthodox Carefree Sect's Carefree Formula?" Lang Tiexin asked, not continuing with the previous question. This was the person's freedom—if he didn't want to say, then he wouldn't.

"Mine isn't really the Carefree Formula—it's the Divine Farmer's Art. The two are just quite similar," Xiaoyao replied. Perhaps when he was cultivating, some aura had leaked out, making them suspicious. Adding that he had read the Carefree Formula, they would have such questions.

Although Xiaoyao's Divine Farmer's Art was derived from the Carefree Formula, it wasn't the Carefree Formula after all—it belonged to Xiaoyao himself. There was no need to explain anything.

"Divine Farmer's Art? You actually cultivate this. This is somewhat similar to the Carefree Formula. We've studied it—there seems to be some connection between the two," Lang Tiexin said. "Let's not talk about this. You can withstand that pressure—what's the reason? Cultivation?"

"I don't know what pressure you're talking about. Perhaps this pressure doesn't affect me much—I didn't feel much. The reason I came out was also because I felt my strength had progressed enough," Xiaoyao waved his hand. He couldn't explain this clearly either—he could continue further.

As for the specific reason, he wasn't clear himself. It might be because he cultivated the Divine Farmer's Art, or it might be because his mental realm was truly too high, leaving him without pressure.

Perhaps Rakshasa Tower's existence was prepared for people like Xiaoyao who had mental realm but lacked strength realm. If one's mental realm was too high, there wouldn't be much pressure.

Xiaoyao's current strength was still far behind his mental state. Therefore, even now he hadn't felt particularly great pressure. Though small pressures existed, they could be completely ignored.

"You mean you didn't feel pressure, so you could have continued this time instead of coming out due to pressure?" Lang Tiexin asked.

"Mm, I felt it was about right—my strength had increased enough," Xiaoyao smiled. He didn't know how many people his words would drive crazy.

Many people desperately cultivated just to increase strength, not letting go of even the slightest opportunity. Though people here were relatively casual, if they had such an opportunity, they similarly wouldn't easily let it go.

However, they also understood Xiaoyao's approach. It had already been three years—anyone would come out of seclusion after so long.

"That's true, it's about time. In these three years, many people came looking for you. They were all very worried about you. You should go back too," Lang Tiexin said.

With Xiaoyao in seclusion for three years like this, Guxing and the others would definitely worry and come back to confirm what had happened. However, since Xiaoyao was just in cultivation seclusion and was within the Carefree Sect headquarters where safety wasn't a problem, they felt reassured and waited.

Their waiting was quiet. Even if major events occurred, they didn't have anyone disturb Xiaoyao.

"Many people looking for me—that should be Boss and the others. Oh right, they seemed like they should encounter major events. It's been three years—why didn't they call me? I need to hurry back and see!" Xiaoyao suddenly remembered that original feeling. He could sense that Guxing and the others at the Luo family should encounter events. If he hadn't been here for three years, he should have faced them together.

(End of Chapter)