At the Refining Peak cafeteria, Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou found Senior Sister Zhou Lulu, who was reading a book while making sugar figures.

“Sister Zhou, is Junior Brother Li on the mountain?” Lu Yang asked politely.

“Ah, it’s Junior Brother Lu and Junior Brother Meng. Have you reached the Golden Elixir stage? You’re progressing so fast.” Zhou Lulu looked up, noticing the cultivation level of Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes.

At their age, she was still in the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

“Are you looking for Junior Brother Li? He’s in his cave dwelling.”

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou both smiled. They were as close as brothers with Li Haoran, and naturally wanted to show off their progress after reaching the Golden Elixir stage.

Otherwise, what was the point of all their hard cultivation?

“Junior Brother Li should be sleeping.”

“Sleeping? I remember Junior Brother Li isn’t a fan of sleep.”

“He wasn’t before, but ever since he returned from his last family visit, he’s been sleeping a lot. Every time he wakes up, he looks gloomy, as if he’s had a nightmare. I asked him if he dreamt of something bad, but he wouldn’t say.”

“I asked my father, and he also said it’s none of my business.”

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou exchanged glances, guessing that Li Haoran must have been recalling memories from his past life in his dreams.

Li Haoran was the legitimate leader of a demonic sect in his past life, involved in many heinous deeds. Considering the many people coveting his position, all these would naturally make Li Haoran feel uncomfortable.

The two put aside their intention to show off and decided to visit Li Haoran.

However, it wouldn’t be good to go empty-handed. Lu Yang noticed the sugar figures Sister Zhou Lulu was making were quite interesting, and thought about buying one for Li Haoran.

Before Lu Yang could speak, Zhou Lulu blew gently, and the two sugar figures came to life, fighting each other in mid-air with weapons made of sugar syrup.

Lu Yang watched with twitching eyes. If he wasn’t mistaken, the combat power of these two sugar figures was equivalent to the Golden Elixir stage.

If he gave these to Li Haoran, they might end up beating him up.

Never mind, he’d find another gift.

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou circled the cafeteria, finding doughnuts that could enlarge and shrink to be used as beams, buns that could be used as hidden weapons, sesame cakes that could serve as heart protectors, and fried sesame seeds for practicing Iron Sand Palm… None of them were suitable as gifts.

“Your cafeteria’s cooking skills are really high!” The only immortal chef gave a high appraisal of the Refining Peak cafeteria.

“I’d rather they were a bit less skilled.”

“You’re not ambitious!”

Lu Yang ignored him.

…

In the pitch-black cave, a figure twisted and turned, his face distorted as if he was experiencing pain in his sleep, yet he couldn’t wake up and could only silently endure the pain.

He suddenly opened his eyes, his clothes and quilt soaked with sweat.

A candle was lit, illuminating the entire cave and Li Haoran’s face.

Li Haoran looked around the cave in a daze, only then realizing he had woken up.

He recalled the experiences in his dream, the dark side of the demonic sect, the unknown pressures of his past life, and couldn’t help but shiver, muttering, “Damn past life memories…”

His master, the fifth elder in charge of the Refining Peak, had no solution for the sporadic memories of his past life.

Li Haoran recited a mantra, first casting a spell to clean his clothes, then another to clean his body. Only then did he feel a bit better.

“Hm? Brother Lu and Brother Meng are at the door?” The formation inside the cave alerted Li Haoran, lifting his spirits.

He opened the door to see Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, both with bright smiles on their faces.

“Junior Brother Li, are you awake?” Lu Yang asked with a smile, secretly observing Li Haoran’s condition.

Li Haoran had dark circles under his eyes and looked listless. Excluding the possibility of over-cultivation, the only explanation was the memories of his past life.

“Please come in.” Li Haoran greeted warmly.

The two entered Li Haoran’s cave and saw many magical tools he had refined, including armor, shields, bronze tripods… If a Golden Elixir stage refining master saw them, they would surely praise their exceptional quality.

Li Haoran slightly moved his finger, and the teapot on the table started moving on its own. It grew arms and legs, running around on the table, filling itself with water, adding tea leaves, covering itself, and sitting on the stove to heat itself.

In no time, it was boiling hot, and the tea was bubbling. The teapot tilted itself, pouring tea into the cups and pushing them in front of Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou.

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou instinctively thanked it, only to realize that the teapot was just a magical tool without consciousness. There was no need to thank it.

“I heard Junior Brother Li hasn’t been sleeping well recently?”

Upon hearing this, Li Haoran slumped and gave a bitter smile, “Brother Lu is right. I can’t tell others about being the reincarnation of Qin Haoran, so I can only vent to you two.”

Lu Yang patted Li Haoran’s shoulder, showing an understanding expression, “You must have seen many secrets of the demonic sect in your dreams, and these secrets are causing you great pain.”

Li Haoran nodded, finally feeling understood, “Yes, every time I close my eyes, I see the debts of the demonic sect!”

“The wages of the disciples, the expenses for aftermath, the funds for trips, the costs of building bases… All are expenses, and the demonic sect doesn’t have a proper way to make money. They can only rob and kill, which barely brings in any money. It’s like trying to put out a cart fire with a cup of water, every day it’s losing money, losing money, losing money!””Such a large organization as the Jiuyou Sect, everything from food, clothing, housing, and transportation costs money. But spirit stones don’t just fall from the sky, where do they come from?”

“The people below are all clueless, whimsically talking about building a Jiuyou City on the surface. Not to mention whether it would be discovered by the court, does the Jiuyou Sect even have the spirit stones to build a city?”

“Can you imagine, Qin Haoran just sits in the sect leader’s position every day, dealing with all kinds of matters, and then thinking about ways to make money.”

“When I dream, I see from Qin Haoran’s perspective, sitting there blankly with Qin Haoran, thinking about how to make money.”

“Otherwise, I’m facing the deficit data with Qin Haoran, trying to find a way out. Now, I get a headache just looking at numbers!”

“Fortunately, Qin Haoran later met Yi Ren, who gave him a safe harbor. Otherwise, I can’t even imagine how difficult Qin Haoran’s situation would be.”

Li Haoran complained painfully, rubbing his temples.

Lu Yang: “……”

Meng Jingzhou: “……”

Why is this different from what we imagined?

Lu Yang recalled the situation when Qin Haoran met Su Yi Ren. Someone was trying to kill Qin Haoran, which led to Qin Haoran being seriously injured, breaking through the barrier, and fainting in front of Su Yi Ren. This led to their subsequent fate.

Previously, Lu Yang had deduced that the Jiuyou Sect was in chaos internally, with people trying to seize power and besiege Qin Haoran.

But hearing this now, it seemed that wasn’t the case.

“Then the person who was trying to kill Qin Haoran before was……”

Li Haoran said expressionlessly:

“A creditor.”

(End of the chapter)