"You ready?!" Yan Zaizen asked excitedly, his eyes brimming with vibrant energy. Tao and Bai Lufeng were beside him. Bai Lufeng had an expression of calm, which was unexpected, while Tao had a pale complexion.
Underneath their feet was a flat, wide silver platform filled with remarkable inscriptions of formations. It dazzled with faint silver light here and there, exuding a faint aura of spatial laws and power.
"Yes, Young Lord Zai!" Bai Lufeng acknowledged his readied state with a nod. He was about to leave his country behind, enter a new one, and start a whole new journey.
"Of course, Young Lord Zai." Tao also followed, holding his mouth slightly as if he would vomit at any moment. Earlier in the Heavenly Heart, he drank to the limit and was now suffering a horrendous hangover. As for Bai Lufeng, his age and experience with hangovers made him quite adept at handling them.
Yan Zaizen chuckled, his eyes filled with life and anticipation. Two years ago, he was in a situation similar to this but was thwarted by those with evil intentions. However, he didn’t need to deal with that here. Those who could tamper with the spatial platform knew that he survived chaotic space before, and with his prowess, who would dare offend him?
He turned towards Xinya who operated the formation personally, her eyes filled with a soft tenderness and her appearance as beautiful as ever. "Activating. Safe travels, Sir Zai," She said with a warm smile. When she did, Yan Zaizen felt a strange sensation flow through his body.
For a split second, he remembered his mother’s smile.
His father would often take him out to practice cultivation and teach him the myriad things required to survive in a world like this. Whenever he would look back, his mother would be there, waving them off with a light smile filled with soft tenderness. He could remember her words...
"Be safe, my boys!"
As the silver formations filled with spatial energy erupted, surrounding the three, Yan Zaizen finally recovered. He revealed a smile so wide and happy that all those who saw couldn’t help but be shocked. This smile coupled with his extraordinarily youthful and handsome appearance caused even Xinya to be deeply stunned.
"Thanks!" He said softly, his eyes glistening.
Finally, he was returning.
A flash of silver light later and the three abruptly vanished into thin air. The transference was complete.
Qiao Qinya arrived next to her mother side after the entire event. She couldn’t help but say softly, "Mother, do you think he’s the one? The one ’she’ talked about?" Her face had a slight frown, obviously feeling a little conflicted.
Xinya gently shook her head, "If he is, we’ll know in the future. If not, then it doesn’t matter." She turned and disappeared like a shadow.
Qiao Qinya stayed there for several more minutes in deep contemplation. "I hope he’s not." She vanished as well, following after her mother.
-----------------------------
--Xiantu Realm, Year 12,333 of the Rebirth Era.
-Zhu Que City, Presba.
Located within the Soaring Cloud Sect’s territory, a city with tall scarlet walls stood proudly. Within the center of this city was a phoenix statue that seemed so remarkably lifelike that many people believed it was a fossilized phoenix. Beneath this astonishingly breathtaking landmark was a silver platform. Normally, this platform was only used once a year or when people needed to travel vast distances, countries, or to islands, but today, it erupted with silver-light that blinded all those that dared to look at it.
The overseer of the spatial platform was a stout, middle-aged man with a hairy patch beneath his lip and round belly. When he noticed the platform’s reaction, he was surprised. He instinctively checked the arrival manifest, but alas, there was none due to arrive today.
Then...illegal usage?
Typically, to arrive at a spatial platform required pre-planned notification, otherwise, it may be misconstrued as an act of war. For example, the Xuanwu City had a specific day of usage throughout the year with specific locations which individuals can be sent to. Because it’s connected to a hunting grounds called the Basilisk Forest, many people could enter as they wished, even the Soaring Cloud and Water Veil Sect members. However, they refuse to do so because they may be hunted with no way of returning.
It was simply an ill-wise decision.
When an arrival occurs outside of a specific schedule, they would immediately be considered as having trespassed and it could worsen relations. As for the Sky Heart City? What did they care if a first-tier force was offended? They had the backing of a True Essence powerhouse and were a grand-tier force and not a weak one.
You’d first have to ask if the Sky Heart City even took the Soaring Cloud Sect seriously and if the latter is even willing to offend the former.
The round-belly middle-aged man, named Gu Luoyang, immediately crushed a talisman and shouted amidst the brilliant silver light. "Unauthorized ARRIVAL!" His words caused the surrounding cultivators and guards to feel surprised, but then, remembering their training, they readied themselves.
Before long, they surrounded the platform by the hundreds. Even the City Lord had made his way over, his cultivation base of the initial-Origin Core surging, causing the surrounding soldiers to look up and feel more confident in their actions.
"HAI!" They all readied for battle or any unexpected occurrences.
Suddenly, the silver light abated. As it dwindled, three figures appeared. They were all male. The one on the left had a head full of white hair and a middle-aged appearance. He couldn’t be considered handsome, but he had an aura that revealed the wisdom of age.
The one on the right had a skinny figure, a head full of black hair, a unique set of gray-blue eyes that seemed to contain a wealth of knowledge and a slightly pale skin as if he was sick.
The last one in the middle was a tall, astonishingly handsome youth with muscles that seemed to be sculptured by the gods, a height that reached six feet, black hair, light bronze skin, and vibrant amber eyes filled with life. Between his brows were a tyrannical ferocity and unyielding self-confidence, and it caused all those looking to imagine a young prince looking at his nation.
Bai Lufeng looked at the individuals who were surrounding them and couldn’t help but chuckle in contempt. He knew what was happening, but he still found it entertaining. It seems like this fellow enjoyed chaos and watching those with little power overestimate themselves. Yan Zaizen couldn’t help but inwardly shake his head at his personality. Morality, loyalty, and cultivation base aside, this fellow doesn’t seem like he has any good features.
"BLARGH!!!" Tao tried to keep his composure and normal calm, but he immediately bellied over and blew chunks on the platform. The event was so surprising and disgusting that all of the onlookers and even Yan Zaizen couldn’t help but unconsciously take a step back.
"Wh-when did I eat fish?" He couldn’t help but surprisingly exclaim as he looked at his puddle of puke while wiping his lips.
"..." Yan Zaizen remained silent, looking at the puddle in curiosity. "We didn’t have...fish..." He couldn’t help but think aloud. With that, he took another step away from Tao.
Bai Lufeng couldn’t help but shake his head, softly muttering, "Youngsters these days are so weak. Tch, tch."
Tao glared at Bai Lufeng, his ears keen enough to hear the insult, if it wasn’t for his cultivation base being lesser than Bai Lufeng, he would’ve given him a slap for that.
The short interlude made the entire situation awkward. The three were surrounded by hundreds of guards and even under the watchful eye of an initial-Origin Core expert, yet they had enough time to puke and joke around. The overseer of the spatial platform had a profound cultivation base at the mid-Qi Unification Realm, yet this was the first time he ever encountered anything like this.
Instinctively, he stepped forward and tried to look as imposing and fearsome as he could. "Identify yourselves! Otherwise, we will kill without mercy!" His voice was backed by his cultivation base, causing nearly the entire city to hear him. As if on cue, the Origin Core City Lord erupted with his cultivation base as if warning the new arrivals to listen or else.
Originally anticipating this result, Tao was going to go forward, but he felt that doing so after his little mishap would be overly embarrassing and wouldn’t garner the same amount of respect. He looked towards Bai Lufeng and motioned him to take the stage.
Bai Lufeng laughed with a tone filled with arrogance and stepped up imperiously. His qi cultivation base at the mid-Origin Core Realm violently exploded outwards causing all those underneath the Origin Core to feel as if they were being stabbed with thousands of blades. His aura was filled with a penetrating sharpness causing many to fall to their knees or those with weak cultivation bases to immediately lose consciousness.
"I am Bai Lufeng, bring me your City Lord!" He demanded, his words and actions left them no quarter for retreat. Yan Zaizen just shook his head, the aura not affecting him in the slightest. He didn’t mind this, but it was still a bit much, no?
The City Lord, Zou Jingyi, was shocked. This person’s cultivation base exceeded his own and his foundation was obviously far more thorough by the depth and intensity of his aura. He calculated what would occur if they fought, with his soldiers, and he determined that there would be a draw with heavy losses on their side and his escape.
He couldn’t help but look towards the other two and felt that they were exceptional as well. As a cultivator who had lived for thousands of years, he knew how to pick his battles, and this was not a battle to casually pick if avoidance was possible.
He flew down from the sky, his stance and facial expression filled with neutral respect. The moment he stepped down, Bai Lufeng looked him up and down, and couldn’t help but scoff a little. "It’s you?! I thought you were just the overseer." His words obviously meant to antagonize the other party. Truly, if it wasn’t for this man’s eccentric personality and arrogance, he would be perfect.
The city lord couldn’t help but be taken aback. Was this fellow trying to fight? He was almost unwilling to hold in his anger, but after contemplating the consequences, he calmed down and nodded. "I am the City Lord of Zhu Que City. May I ask who you three are?"
"No." Bai Lufeng said decisively. This took everyone by surprise, even Tao, such disrespect was incredible. Even the city lord didn’t know how to react to that, being stunned speechless. Bai Lufeng, however, continued speaking with towering arrogance, "We’ve arrived and we’re leaving, that’s all that you need to know." After saying that, he looked towards Yan Zaizen with a ’did I do well’ expression.
Yan Zaizen softly sighed in resignation. He was so overly direct that their original plan of action felt awkward to enact now. Initially, they were going to gain some information about the situation, but now, he just didn’t have the mood to continue. They had other ways to gain information.
"Whatever, let’s go." A multi-colored qi-essence filled with traces of varying laws erupted from his body. His cultivation at the late-Qi Unification Realm truly displayed its capabilities at this moment, but his aura was so strong that even the city lord felt he was inferior.
After his qi-essence had been baptized by his world laws three times, his aura was far stronger and even contained faint traces of true law within. Yan Zaizen figured out that during each of his Qi Unification stage breakthroughs, his laws would exit his soul form and radiate him with their energies, but only if his conceptual laws were at the force-level, containing traces of their true laws.
After being baptized by his laws during the Qi Unification process, his ability to make use of his conceptual laws was far greater than before, even his Unyielding Flame of Life, which could consume all forms of his energy to produce lifeforce, would produce more vibrant lifeforce emissions if he used his qi-essence as the medium. It was even greater than his soul energy in quality but not quantity.
He exploded outwards, soaring through the skies at breakneck speeds that left all those watching breathlessly in shock. Bai Lufeng nodded and followed after.
Just as Tao was about to follow, he stopped, blew another chunk on the spatial platform. After a while, while looking slightly embarrassed, he erupted with his initial-Origin Core cultivation base and took off as well.
Everyone just looked onwards, shocked by the set of events.
Who were they?
As for the city lord, his expression turned solemn, and he soared towards his office. "I have to report this." He muttered before leaving.
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