Chapter 23 - 23: Elven
"Where did you obtain this information?" Wu Xinghong had finally spoken, his brows furrowed into a slight frown. This information was far too specific and accurate.
Wei Wuyin did not hesitate, "To be honest, it was from a person outside during my latest mission. I do not know if that person was male or female, where they originated from, or how they found me, but they did. They lured me over, and told me that a calamity was going to befall our sect."
Wei Wuyin did not lie. Not a single word of his was false. If he did, he knew their spiritual sense and instincts of experts would immediately deduce that he was lying. So, he simply told the truth.
"The calamity was due to the greed of Jiu Lang, and the presence of that emerald haired girl. I was shown images of her location and her fate, and then, the person showed me an army of armored warriors with the ability to push our sect into a calamity. It is only my assumption that they would come for the woman as none of them had her particular features, but the armor they wore looked as if it was fashioned from emeralds."
"..." The grand elders, Su Linya, and Wu Xinghong were all silent as they sent their spiritual sense to wildly inspect Wei Wuyin. Any hint of lying and they would know immediately. However, to their surprise, Wei Wuyin had not resisted their spiritual sense and seemed to be telling the truth.
Su Linya pondered in this silence, her fingers caressed her cherry lips in thought.
"Hair like emeralds, emerald eyes, and emerald blood, you say?" Su Linya asked for verification.
Wei Wuyin nodded.
One of the grand elders could help but say, "Could it be the Elf Race? The rulers of the Mystic Elven Forest?"
Wei Wuyin frowned. He knew that the Myriad Yore Continent had multiple humanoid-like races. They were believed to be hybrids born from the copulation between demons and humans. Because of that, their cultivation path was similar to theirs and many other things.
The Elf Race was collectively called the Elven. They were a race of humanoid figures with long, pointy ears, pale skin, and slim bodies. They had a longer lifespan than normal humans by about three times, but their birthrate was abysmal. They controlled the Mystic Elven Forest, a piece of land belonging solely to them, and oftentimes stayed away from human affairs.
Their hair colors were either white, blonde, or black. While their eyes were a myriad of resplendent colors, such as resembling emeralds if green or sapphires if blue. It was uncommon for their hair to be emerald, which is why Wei Wuyin hadn’t thought of them.
Wei Wuyin had seen the image, but the woman’s long hair also disguised her ears perfectly. It was impossible to determine if they were pointy or not.
Wu Xinghong also frowned. This frown was very heavy and wrought with worries. He knew that there was a girl kept captive by Jiu Lang, but he only knew her features, and even he hadn’t linked it to the Elven. He never personally inspected her, so her ears could be pointy!
The Elven were divided into a myriad of races and factions. The Dark Elf Race, the Meadow Elf Race, and the High Elf Race. Those races were further divided into various factions and forces. The Mystic Elven Forest was just as large as the Wu Country as a whole, which goes to show how extraordinary the Elven were.
They were only a measly Scarlet Solaris Sect. They would be crushed if the Elven saw them as an enemy to be destroyed. Even if it was just a singular race making them their enemy, or just one of their major factions...
No wonder Godlord Lin said that Jiu Lang could bring the annihilation of the sect! Not to mention, he had sat on this information for six whole fucking months! The panic set in faster than the movement of light as he started to sweat. A revered Godlord such as himself was feeling fear! Immense fear!!
If they would send an army, then that girl must have an incredible status! How did Jiu Lang capture her?
Su Linya noticed Wu Xinghong’s aura erratically fluctuate. It caused her to realize the situation was a lot more dire than she had guessed. Wu Xinghong seemed to know that what Wei Wuyin had informed them of was true. It wasn’t a guess, but a fact!
She sent Wu Xinghong a transmitted message, and Wu Xinghong read it. His eyes looked towards Su Linya and nodded.
"Alright, we’ll investigate as this matter is of the utmost importance. If what you say is true, our sect will owe you greatly and you will be appropriately rewarded." Su Linya said as she dismissed the grand elders and Wei Wuyin.
Wei Wuyin bowed and left. He did what he could. What would happen will depend on the leaders of this sect.
Before long, only Su Linya and Wu Xinghong were left alone. Su Linya frowned, grasping Wu Xinghong’s hand intimately with her own. She tried to calm him down with her touch. It seemed to have worked as his aura stabilized.
"Let’s see the situation before we decide anything, okay?" Her commanding voice turned gentle like a wife comforting her husband.
Wu Xinghong nodded, "Let’s go." With a shadowy flash, they left.
-----
One week had passed since that day.
The morning sun rose and shined its radiance on Wei Wuyin’s residence. Within, Wei Wuyin was sitting upright at the edge of his bed, his eyes contemplative.
While during this week, Wei Wuyin had kept tabs on Jiu Lang. He wondered if there would be any consequences to her actions, and if they did take action, it’s unlikely Jiu Lang would come out unscathed unless they killed the girl and hid it from the world.
That wasn’t a scenario he wanted to see, because it could still lead to the army marching their way to the mountains. What he wanted was Jiu Lang killed to appease whatever woman she captured. Unfortunately, there had been no news as of late or movement.
A soft, feminine hand touched his back and reached his shoulder. It rubbed it gently, as a waking moan echoed behind him. "Can’t sleep?" A voice asked in concern.
Wei Wuyin turned his head and warmly smiled, "Just thinking."
The woman rose up and placed her chin on his shoulder from behind, wrapping her arms around his torso, and leaned her cheek against his skin. He could feel her naked body and breasts press against his back.
"Xing Fu..." he whispered softly.
After that day, Xing Fu returned the very next day. She confessed her heartfelt feelings and Wei Wuyin had accepted it without hesitation. Shockingly, she had no qualms giving him her body and primal yin. It was as if she didn’t care about the Fourth Stage of Qi Condensation.
In truth, she wasn’t very talented and had very little chance of ever reaching that realm. She may never even fully complete her elemental birthing of the four elements in her entire lifetime. The only reason she had her status and cultivation base was due to a forceful increase by Elder Bing, and Elder Bing’s relationship as her godmother.
He realized she was just a simple girl who just wanted to be loved.
"I’m fine," he comforted. With a smile, he shifted his naked body and faced hers, gripping her hips in his hands as he brought her closer to him. As they stared at each other, saw the light within each other’s eyes, a simultaneous smile surfaced on their faces.
He pressed his lips against hers and felt her warmth, her taste, and her vital pulse. It was long and intimate, inciting all sorts of emotions and arousal. Before she could escape his grasp, they were already on the bed and commencing another battle of pleasure.
It was moments like these that make cultivating worth it. The struggles. The schemes. The periods of isolation. All of it. Moments where you can comfortably stay with those you wish to be with without fearing for your life in a world where the strong ruled.
Several hours passed before they concluded their session.
Wei Wuyin was now out in his courtyard, looking at the night sky dressed in a grey robe. His silver eyes saw the myriad of stars and astonished at how beautiful it all seemed. In legends, it was said that the stars were true gods worshipped through the ages, those cultivators who’ve become immortal and left that which will last for as long as they lived.
Wei Wuyin knew they were far away celestial bodies, but as a child, he would love to hear the stories of these gods. How they overcame their struggles and became who they were. Even if they were fake, to him, it was as real as himself.
He looked at his Bloodline of Sin tattoo and saw the 171.2. This represented his karmic luck beneath the heavens. While he can not be judged, the Heavenly Daos would still do everything to help him as within its limits.
Ohn!
He twitched. A sting of pain entered his arm. He recognized this feeling as he hurriedly checked the number, the 171.2 had changed. It was now 171.1. His expression changed as he looked around, suddenly feeling as if someone or something was watching him.
An opportunity had been brought here? As he thought of this, he heard a voice behind him.
"You’ve noticed me? Your talent truly is exceptional."
He turned around and readied his qi, the seven elemental qi flows surged within his body. At a moment’s notice, he was capable of casting any qi art or spiritual spell required.
He saw a white haired man dressed in odd garments. This man was exceptionally young and gorgeous with thin eyebrows, flawless skin, tall and lithe body, and green eyes that were like emeralds. If this man was a woman, he would cause the inner flames of many men to go ablaze. In fact, he could still do so.
The most notable feature was his pointy ears. They were sharp like knives at the top, and slightly longer than normal humans.
"Elf?" As Wei Wuyin deduced this, his mind rumbled with all sorts of thoughts.
"I didn’t originally intend to show myself, but I wanted to see the young man who helped my daughter," The elf man said.
Daughter? Helped his daughter?
A thought occurred to him. Was that emerald haired and eyed woman his daughter?
"You don’t need to speak. I know you had a long-standing feud with that Jiu Lang woman, and perhaps you intended to use us to deal with her after discovering who she kidnapped. Perhaps you truly were thinking about your sect’s future. Regardless, your actions were absolutely correct."
"I’ve just sent my daughter back home, and that Jiu Lang woman? She’ll be a slave for our people until she dies.
"Because of you, we found her alive. Your Sect Leader and Ancestral Elder informed us directly, and told us of the situation. They were even kind enough to even offer a high amount of reparations, so we have no grudge against your sect because of the actions of one person."
The man’s words got Wei Wuyin thinking, especially the last part. Perhaps, in his previous future, Jiu Lang killed that woman and led them directly to the sect. He knew that some powerful experts could leave marks on people to determine if they were alive or dead. If they died, it would reveal where and how they died.
If the Elven were as strong as he believed, they should have the means.
At that point, to ease the hatred in their hearts, they decided to bury the entire Scarlet Solaris Sect with her.
"That being said, if you hadn’t told them what you did, when you did, perhaps I could only see my daughter’s corpse." These words said by the elf man confirmed his thoughts. There was definitely more to the situation that he didn’t understand.
For example, why did the Sect Leader and Ancestral Elder give the elf man information about him? Or how come Jiu Lang was even capable of capturing that woman? Or! Why was she in Wu Country in the first place?
The elf man walked forward and held out a hand with his palm facing the sky. Wei Wuyin didn’t execute any qi arts or spiritual spells in response to this. He became much more accepting that those experts who far exceeded his cultivation base held his life in the palm of their hands.
He also felt that this might be an opportunity, so he wanted to at least see it before doing something futile.
"I heard that you’re talented. You’ve reached the Fifth Stage of Qi Condensation in your mid-twenties. I’m intrigued by your talent, so I have an opportunity for you." Just as he finished those words, jet black and bright white strands of energy started to rapidly gather above his palm.
"Yin and yang energy?" Wei Wuyin was startled.
The yin and yang energy swirled around briefly before touching each other. As they did, they seemed to become stuck by some powerful adhesive-like force. Before long, the jet black and bright white strands of energy started to merge, not just touch. What was birthed as a result of this fusion was a clear, translucent energy without color.
This continued until only a single strand of translucent energy was left. The elf man closed his palm and a brilliant flash of colorful lights from all over the spectrum erupted. Between the gaps of his fingers spewed resplendent rays of light.
It soon died down, and when he opened his palm, only a solid construct remained. It was a translucent crystal ball the size of a walnut.
"This is a Yin-Yang God Sphere. While they are easy to create for true experts, they were one of the few methods of providing help at reaching the False Reality Phase. That being said, it has a mortality rate of 99%. It contains the purest form of yin and yang energy in the Myriad Yore Continent, and reaching the False Reality Phase with this would make your entire future path far easier." The elf man pushed the sphere to appear and levitate just a few feet from Wei Wuyin.
"However, you can meditate on this sphere and increase your chances of reaching the Sixth Phase normally too. This is my gift to you for helping my daughter return to me." After saying those words, the elf man vanished as if he was never there.
Wei Wuyin stood there somewhat shocked. He hadn’t said a single word to the elf man, but he just upped and left. Wei Wuyin couldn’t even find any lingering aura from where he stood.
He frowned, "No wonder only 0.1 value was lost. This thing is a death trap and purely dependent on one’s talent."
It seemed that the ’help’ the Heavenly Daos had given him was to have noticed that man’s existence, and then receive this orb. Because it had such a small use, it only took 0.1. He expected that meditating on this orb would be exceptionally useless to all except the most talented of cultivators.
In fact, he had heard of the Yin-Yang God Sphere in books. It could only be created by those who exceeded the Realm of Qi Condensation, at least that’s what the books noted. He had also heard that the Wu Imperial Clan had hundreds of these, and it was used to establish a cultivation field much like the Yang Yore Fields.
Members of the clan would meditate on those dozens of spheres, using it to increase their chances of fusing yin and yang.
"Well, since it’s an opportunity, how can I waste it?" He had never been one to waste a lucky chance. Getting into the lotus position, he swept his spiritual sense over the Yin-Yang God Sphere. However, he didn’t sense much.
He stayed in that meditative stance, constantly roaming over the Yin-Yang God Sphere trying to decipher something with his various senses, but as the sun started to rise, he hadn’t discovered a single iota of a hint or insight.
He took a deep breath and exhaled a wad of turbid qi, "No wonder it is only a cultivation tool." He shook his head. If just a single one was capable of helping someone earn the title of God in the cultivation world, there would be far more wandering the world. That was a whimsical notion.
He got up and walked towards the levitating Yin-Yang God Sphere. With the intention of relocating it to his spatial ring’s storage space, he touched the sphere.
Oom!!
An abrupt change caused his expression to flash. He hurriedly tried to pull away his hand, but the sphere seemed to be drawn by something. Before he knew it, the sphere the size of a walnut had vanished inside his body.
His eyes widened with horrified shock and utter disbelief.
"Shit!"