Though a trace of regret lingered on Huangfu Song's face, the purpose of this trip had clearly been achieved.
"Let's go. With Guan Xingxiu's Falling Star Divine Sword for protection, we’ll be safe on this journey."
He summoned the Dust-Crossing Boat once more, unable to contain his delight.
Recalling the conversation between the two in the courtyard moments ago, Li Fan asked, "Has the local resistance movement grown so serious already? To the point that you need to secure a backer?"
Huangfu Song replied, "Better safe than sorry. In this remote place, anything could happen.
"If things get out of hand and they really tie us up, toss us into the Emberflow of Final Silence, and claim it was an accident... what could we do about it?
"But with Guan Xingxiu's Falling Star Divine Sword present, it's a different story."
A look of considerable pride spread across Huangfu Song's face. "Don't be fooled by his current Spirit Transformation cultivation. A Spirit Transformation cultivator who has fallen from the Dao Unity realm is far more formidable than your average Spirit Transformation practitioner.
"At the very least, here in Lanlin Province where no Dao Unity Immortal Venerable resides, Guan Xingxiu's flying sword alone can suppress all dissent."
The fat man took out that small golden sword again and caressed it lovingly, unable to put it
down.
From Li Fan’s perception, the Falling Star Divine Sword emitted a sharp, indomitable aura that seemed to pierce the heavens.
Recalling the lazy, listless figure he had just seen, he couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion.
A Dao Unity cultivator, brought so low simply for failing to read the situation.
Then, remembering Guan Xingxiu's words, he couldn't resist asking, "When Senior Guan mentioned the former leader passing, was he referring to the fall of Immortal Venerable Jicheng?”
"Indeed. It happened not long ago.
“He ultimately passed away quietly in his Heavenly Pinnacle Estate, alongside that willow tree."
The image of Immortal Venerable Jicheng's aged face surfaced in Li Fan's mind.
If not for Return to Truth, I would have ended up just like him before long, waiting for death in fear and trepidation.
What use is Dao Unity cultivation? Without attaining eternal life, it is all ultimately an illusion.
Perhaps the melancholy brought on by the passing of an old-school Dao Unity powerhouse had loosened his tongue. Huangfu Song put away the Falling Star Divine Sword and let out a long sigh.
"Perhaps Guan Xingxiu's disillusionment is also connected to this.
"Despite the foundation Immortal Venerable Jicheng built over five centuries of leading the Myriad Immortals Alliance's Garrison Command, he still found no hope for eternal life. It shows just how difficult it is to defy the principles of heaven and earth.
"For Guan Xingxiu, stripped of his cultivation and forced to start again from Spirit Transformation, the path is even more arduous.
"You must understand, to re-enter Dao Unity, one must rely on a Soul Arbiter of heaven and earth similar in nature to the one used before.
"Soul Arbiters of heaven and earth are already exceedingly rare. To require a specific nature on top of that makes it nearly impossible...”
As they chatted, the Dust-Crossing Boat arrived at the central zone of the Spirit-Locking Array, the predetermined location for installing the Tianxuan hub device.
The array was not yet fully constructed, and they would have to wait a few more days.
Aside from the array masters who were also fellow trainees at the Cosmos Branch Academy, the other cultivators present were not particularly friendly towards Huangfu Song and Li Fan's arrival.
At least, that was the appearance they gave.
However, after Huangfu Song revealed the Falling Star Divine Sword, these cultivators had no choice but to rein in their hostility.
***
Meanwhile, in Shilin Province, near what was once the Congyun Sea and was now the Congyun Abyss, Zhang Haobo gazed at the endless void not far away, a look of sorrow etched on his face.
Even though this was not the first time he had witnessed this scene, he still found it difficult to accept.
To see his former homeland, that azure sea brimming with vitality, transformed into this... this state.
"My condolences, Haobo." Xiao Heng walked over, patted his shoulder, and offered words of comfort.
"What exactly happened back then? How could the vast Congyun Sea suddenly turn into this?" Zhang Haobo couldn't help but ask once more.
Xiao Heng shook his head. "I don't know either. Back then, Senior Skull suddenly warned that a great calamity might befall the Congyun Sea. So, not long after you all left for Jiushan Province, I also fled far away from the Congyun Sea.
"Ye Feipeng, however, seemed to know something. He stubbornly refused to leave with me.
"I thought he might have known about some secret opportunity and was hiding it from me. Who could have guessed that he would never appear again after that?
"Most likely, he is long gone from this world.
"If I had known, I should have tried harder to persuade him back then." A flicker of sorrow passed through Xiao Heng's eyes.
After a long silence, he continued.
"Over the years, I tried to investigate what happened to the Congyun Sea. But what I never expected was that in less than a year, most cultivators seem to have almost no memory of the Congyun Sea at all.
"It’s as if this region had never existed.
"Even now, I only recall the Congyun Sea's existence when I look upon this abyss with my own eyes."
Zhang Haobo sighed, "It's the same for me. In my nearly ten years in Jiushan Province, I never once recalled the Congyun Sea.
"It was only after returning to find you all and witnessing the Congyun Abyss that the memories of the past came flooding back.”
He paused, lowering his voice. "This must be the influence of that Eternal Heavenly Venerable."
Xiao Heng also gave a slight nod. "Perhaps soon, even this memory in our minds will vanish completely, just like the Congyun Sea."
The two men continued gazing at what once used to be the sea, neither speaking a word.[1]
Silence reigned at the edge of the abyss.
Not long after, it was broken by a rumbling sound from nearby.
They turned to look and saw it was Su Xiaomei and Su Changyu sparring again.
"Brother, watch out!"
Su Xiaomei flashed Su Changyu an odd smile.
An instant later, dozens of figures appeared in a circle around Su Changyu, each clad in different attire.
They wielded a variety of weapons, yet none of them had faces. In place of features, blood-red symbols churned and writhed across their blank visages.
“Let’s see you block this!”
The faceless figures burst into laughter in unison, each voice twisted in a different, unsettling tone.
The weapons in their hands began to glow faintly, and threads of bloody light seeped out.
In the next moment, countless crimson beams erupted, shrieking through the air as they converged on Su Changyu.
Su Changyu showed no sign of panic. Instead, he calmly closed his eyes.
As the beams of blood-red light drew close, his outstretched right hand flared with a soft, milky-white radiance, then moved with blinding speed.
In an instant, it seemed as though a thousand hands had manifested at once.
With great precision, each phantom hand caught a single incoming beam.
Then, all of them clenched simultaneously.
In an instant, the bloody radiance reversed direction, surging back toward the dozens of faceless figures marked with crimson symbols.
Boom!
The tide of battle reversed in an instant.
Caught off guard, the figures were struck by their own attacks.
Many of them vanished on the spot. However, one of them, after being hit by a crimson beam, remained completely unscathed.
Using the cover of the explosion's glare, it stealthily closed in on Su Changyu.
Its form erupted violently, and a giant net of flames sought to envelop Su Changyu.
Su Changyu's expression remained unchanged, but his eyes snapped wide open.
Within each eyeball were two pupils.
The four black pupils now contracted to the fineness of needle points.
The flames that once burned fiercely were instantly frozen in place. Su Changyu then thrust a palm out. His target, however, was not the flames before him, but Su Xiaomei, who was hiding in the shadows.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
One illusory phantom palm after another materialized, and the sounds of explosions rang out all around.
"You can't hit me!" Su Xiaomei's voice came from all directions, elusive and ghostly.
"Oh?" A faint smile appeared at the corners of Su Changyu's mouth.
High in the sky, a transparent, colossal hand had formed at some unknown point in time, completely encompassing the battlefield where the two stood.
It pressed down from above.
Boom!
The earth sank deeply, throwing up clouds of dust.
A massive handprint was left upon the ground. And Su Xiaomei, who had been hiding within, could no longer conceal herself. She was plucked out by the phantom fingers and restrained in mid-air.
"Break!" Su Xiaomei roared angrily as her eyes turned crimson.
The tightly clenched fingers loosened slightly, and for a moment, it seemed she might break free.
Su Changyu extended his right hand and made a grasping motion from afar.
Another giant phantom hand appeared, superimposed upon the previous one.
Su Xiaomei was thus suppressed once more.
"Ahhhh! So annoying!" Su Xiaomei activated her innate divine ability again and again. Her hair gradually turned fiery red, and the surrounding air warped from the intense heat.
But no matter how she struggled, she could not break free from the giant hand.
"I yield!"
Alongside Su Xiaomei's furious shout, a crimson sun inexplicably appeared in the sky.
The giant phantom hand was burned into nothingness under the scorching heat of the crimson sun.
Su Xiaomei, now free, showed no joy. She withdrew her Crimson Sun Grotto-Heaven domain, scratched her head, and flew to Su Changyu's side.
"Brother, how did you become so powerful? After suppressing my cultivation to the Golden Core realm, I'm no longer a match for you now," she asked curiously.
"When we left the Congyun Sea, the Yin sisters discovered ancient artifacts containing traces of Dao resonance from an ancient era. After years of restoration, it's now possible to contemplate a wisp of the complete Dao resonance. The Heaven-Suppressing Palm I just used is what I comprehended from that resonance. Xiaomei, your comprehension far surpasses mine. I believe you can glean an even more powerful divine ability from it..."
"When we left the Congyun Sea, the Yin sisters discovered ancient artifacts containing traces of Dao resonance from an ancient era..." As Su Changyu spoke, an identical voice echoed simultaneously, creating a strange duet.
But as he slowly closed his eyes, the other echo grew fainter and fainter, eventually becoming almost inaudible.
Su Changyu had said this was a side effect of his special cultivation technique. So Su Xiaomei and the others had grown accustomed to it over time and thought nothing of it.
"Great! I want to comprehend this divine ability too!"
Hearing Su Changyu's words, she clapped her hands in delight.
Even without opening his eyes, Su Changyu could clearly see the face of his sister, whom he hadn't met in so long.
Though she had already reached the Nascent Soul realm, she still acted like a child who refused to grow up.
Su Changyu patted Su Xiaomei's head affectionately. "After more than a decade apart, we are all finally reunited."
Watching from the side, Xiao Heng couldn't help but feel a swell of warmth at the scene.
Suddenly, he sensed a faint, familiar tremor from the left-hand bone within his storage ring, an item he hadn't used in ages.
His expression immediately brightened. Ever since Senior Skull had issued that warning, saving all their lives, he had fallen back into a deep slumber. Was he finally waking up now?
Without a moment's hesitation, Xiao Heng’s consciousness plunged into the Bone Vanguard Realm.
1. So in the raws, they apparently look at each other in silence. But that sounds waaaay too awkward so I made them look at the abyss instead. ☜