"..."
"..."
It was hard to mentally register what happened for both Liu Suyin and Cao Cuifen; their eyes remained as wide as saucers, their hearts raced down a spiraling hill with seemingly no end, and their vision shook. The first to react was Liu Suyin; with her cultivation still present, she dashed forward to where Wei Wuyin had vanished. She reached out with both hands into the empty air, grasping nothing in the end. Her eyes erupted with piercing spiritual light, and her fingers danced as spells were ceaselessly unleashed.
She couldn't find him.
Not a single trace.
Her mouth felt abnormally dry, causing her to cough violently. When she collected herself, she held her mouth to stop the glaringly silver blood leaking from her lips. The shade of her countenance became paler by the second.
"Envoy?!" Cao Cuifen finally regained her bearing as she saw Liu Suyin's unexpectedly violent reaction. She didn't dare to move forward, as unstable cultivators were simply too unpredictable, and her cultivation base was promptly sealed; her life would be in danger should something happen.
Liu Suyin's current situation was a backlash as her mind furiously weaved possible happenings; the layers of indifference that guarded her mind and heart crumbled, thus affecting her physical state.
"He's not dead," Cao Cuifen calmly said. At this point, she had already inched towards a specific spot in the room. When she spoke out, Liu Suyin's head snapped towards her, her eyes reflecting wisps of madness that swirled chaotically within her. She wasn't the emotional type. In fact, she was widely known for being devoid of emotions, but her heart had subtly changed after spending this brief time with Wei Wuyin, and last night had devastated all her psychological walls.
It wouldn't be an understatement to say that Liu Suyin had fallen for Wei Wuyin. No one else was like him. She had been observing him since the Saint Cyclic Renewal Summit. The charisma he exuded then was unmatched; his ability to dictate events, ease hearts, create upsets, smile in the face of the unknown, and constantly break conventions was enough to prove himself as beyond the word 'outstanding'.
She was already thinking just earlier of their future. She thought about him becoming the True Destined Voyager, him ascending to the Mystic Ascension Realm, then protecting the Sealed Regions together, and even suppressed her thoughts of how their children might look or if their wedding would be limited to a small venue of only elites or encapsulate the entire world.
All those thoughts occurred in the few hours between then and now, and she was so embarrassed that they even crossed her mind when she had never considered any of this before. Having someone's child? Loving someone? Just a few years ago, she was content with being alone for the entirety of her long lifespan. She wouldn't even care if he had other wives, as a man with many wives was seen as being extremely capable, a point of exceptional pride in her heart.
No one, not even Liu Yinlan, could predict this drastic change in the indifferent Liu Suyin.
So when Wei Wuyin vanished, her mind descended into the worst possible scenario of hell: he was killed.
Cao Cuifen could tell from how she reacted that she believed that possibility; her thoughts were too messed up to think things through properly, so she reminded her. However, she immediately felt a tinge of regret when Liu Suyin's Mystic Aura flared, rushing towards her violently. She hurriedly slammed her foot down, and a cylindrical barrier emitted from the walls of the room surrounding Cao Cuifen.
An anti-assassination formation!
This hadn't been used in the Myriad Transformations Academy for thousands of years, but Cao Cuifen was fully aware of it. Her heart roared as the screeching impact of Liu Suyin's Mystic Power crashed into the barrier. While being hit by this Mystic Aura wouldn't have killed her, she would've been crippled in her present state.
DRRRRING!
The owners of this shared-living space had been alerted!
Two overbearing spiritual senses swept into the room, bypassing all the protections as if they didn't exist. Liu Suyin's eyes reddened as the possibility of being kidnapped had replaced being killed in her mind. "Where did you take him?! What do you want?!" She questioned with an icy, murderous voice.
Cao Cuifen sighed. This was bound to take a while to deal with. But even she couldn't help but be extremely perplexed by what just happened. Where did Wei Wuyin go? And how did he vanish?
-----
Wei Wuyin emerged suddenly from thin air, exiting the fixed space of the World Between the Fold at the entrance of Tian Xiaolu's residence. His silver eyes rippled with void force, tinged by a radiance of grey.
Wei Wuyin looked off into the distance where the seventy-seven-floor building was. He softly heaved a sigh of conflicted emotion. But after that was out of his system, his eyes regained their sense of calm and determination. He'd learned never to regret a decision already made, regardless of the consequences. If he hadn't, he would've long since been entirely consumed by the death of his unborn child and first love.
"Master!" A flash of seven-colored light flickered out of Tian Xiaolu's residence. A beauty resembling a mortal kingdom's princess emerged, her eyes bright and energy infectious. It was Bai Xiu! She brought over the translucent Pure Excellence Cauldron, sitting on its edges like it was a chair.
"It's done; I've bestowed the Inherited Spiritual Wisdom Rune to those two little beauties. They'll likely need a few months or a year before they've grasped the entry parts of it." She had worked hard to help form the Yin-Pairing Bond, even speeding up the process beyond its original estimated date of completion. While the Yin-Pairing Bond wasn't entirely completed, the rest relied on those two.
Wei Wuyin looked at the entrance to Tian Xiaolu's residence. She was a Blessed. This encounter could've ended differently if he had been prejudiced against Blessed cultivators. With his connection to Bai Xiu, he could've sealed off Tian Xiaolu's fortune without a thought.
Despite not being originally planned, it was clear that by some strange force, the conflict being Sinners and Blessed was an ever-present constant. For some reason, he felt that his status as a Blessed prior to obtaining the Bloodline of Sin might lead him to great trouble…
The thought was brief, and he dismissed it soon after. That was a problem for later.
"We're leaving." Wei Wuyin stated. Bai Xiu's smile grew as she flashed into Wei Wuyin's Saint Ring. "Yes, Master! I'll take my new body. Yes!" Her excitement was palpable, clearly invigorated by the prospect of obtaining the All-Elemental Eclipse Cauldron as her new body.
Wei Wuyin harnessed his Void Force. Using it as the primary source of power, he executed Spatial Shift. Once again, the bindings of the World Between the Folds restrictions were shattered entirely. He vanished again.
A shadowy figure emerged where he had left. When it gained visual clarity, Zhangjie Wushu's exceptional figure was revealed. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly as she touched the area where Wei Wuyin vanished. She couldn't find out where he went…
She was an illustrious Worldly Saint, yet her spiritual sense failed her in locating Wei Wuyin. While she noticed him first arriving, she couldn't find him after he left.
"Void Energy-powered Spatial Shifting?" This caused her to grow increasingly baffled. When she thought about Wei Wuyin's identity as a True Destined Voyager and Liu Yinlan's rising disturbance in the City of Endless, her expression was painted with suspicion.
Was he tapping into the Endless Void Mirror's power? But how? He didn't have the Bloodline-Bond! More importantly, he was a mere mortal at the Realm World Phase. He hadn't formed his Temporal Eye, so sensing or controlling Temporal energies should be beyond him.
That should be impossible, right?
Zhangjie Wushu felt her vast knowledge failing her for the first time in a long, long while. She looked off into the distance, piercing the vastness of space, reaching the City of Endless.
-----
Chen Shanghe was a normal member of the Chen Clan of the Sealed Regions. He was born with a talent called the Spiraling Spatial Meridians. This allowed him to grasp Spatial Arts and Spatial Energies before he reached the Astral Core Realm. While his status wasn't very high, the clan still gave him some degree of importance.
One day, his life changed when he was given the opportunity to cultivate in a 'higher' world, to cultivate at a World Sect. In his thoughts, he was excited at the prospect of doing so and obtained a Celestial Jade Key from the Chen Clan. Supposedly, it was always meant for him, but they had secured it until he was ready to retrieve it.
When he obtained the legacy within the triple-layered ring, his strength grew, and he was instantly hooked. The profound spells, arts, and cultivation methods in it were far beyond anything he'd ever obtained before. He kept cultivating until he reached the Fourth Stage of the Astral Core Realm, the Spatial Resonance Phase, and with his meridians, he reached the ninth-ripple with ease.
He then left the Chen Clan with grand ambitions to cultivate at the Void Voyage Sect, feeling blessed beyond belief. And it was a blessing, but not one that wasn't without its sacrifices. Eventually, he became a Destined of the Void Voyage Sect and, over three tries, became an Unyielding Destined.
With this newfound duty placed on his chest, he swore oaths, and his cultivation base truly experienced great leaps. He had the possibility of one day becoming an Earthly Saint! It was a dream, and while he was restrained to protecting the Sealed Regions from invaders, he was willing to fight for it after learning of the tremendous responsibility and destiny he had.
He was Destined to protect his homeland!
Now, Chen Shanghe was a Starlord, having served and fought for the Void Voyage Sect for over three hundred years, even having defended against various threats. Recently, he fought off an assault on one of the nodes and was granted a certain amount of points that could be used at the Sacred Library at the City of Guardians. He wanted to find an offensive spiritual spell that could raise his power by a level or two.
He wanted to earn more merits.
He wanted to strive to become an Earthly Saint.
As he was leaving the Sacred Library, a satisfied smile on his face, Chen Shanghe couldn't help but think how, despite his talents, he might have never reached this level of cultivation in this short time or been given any level of legitimate importance. How many like him had fallen, forgotten, in the clan?
Minor characters of the Noble Clans that have just a little bit of talent, especially if that talent doesn't match their main cultivation method, are left unable to progress to the Starlord level, let alone ascend.
As he was walking back to his residence to practice his spell, a joyful smile on his face, a figure emerged before him.
His first thought was, "Who's this handsome guy?" And then his consciousness went black.
Wei Wuyin found a dedicated Destined with some status and time served on the field, yet still within the Mortal Dao's limits. This was extremely difficult, but he accomplished it after snatching a few of the minor Destined here trying to prepare for their Three Voyages. This Chen Shanghe had some reputation amongst Destined. Overall, he was massively liked and treated others extremely well.
He could be considered kindhearted and duty-bound, fiercely believing in his mission. Wei Wuyin's actions were swift as he vanished again, making others think that Wei Wuyin and Chen Shanghe were a figment of their imagination.
After an hour, Wei Wuyin placed Chen Shanghe at the entrance of his residence. When he woke up, he would find his spatial ring had various ninth-grade pills, elixirs, paste, and a few life-saving pellets.
After standing there for a few minutes, Wei Wuyin looked upwards with tightly closed eyes, exhaling a heavy breath of air. Suddenly, he vanished.
After a few seconds passed, a half-dozen figures landed around Chen Shanghe's unconscious body. They exuded unfathomable auras!
Wei Wuyin was already gone, with no trace left behind. When he reappeared, he was at the entrance of the Time Vortex. Its endless chaos was daunting to the heart, but Wei Wuyin could not feel any danger. In fact, his thoughts were elsewhere.
"Trueborn…" Wei Wuyin spoke, and his heart shook. Only now did he realize the true depths of who he had declared war against!