Chapter 622 - 617: Distance-Defying Selfishness
"Xue Yifei."
Tuo Bihan's call out prompted Xue Yifei to deeply inhale, slowly exhale, and regulate her racing heartbeat. Anu's dreadful feeling aside, this was a message that was left behind by Wei Wuyin. To joyously add, the spatial ring was designed in a similar manner as the Valkyrie's assigned resources.
She moved forward and held out her hand before Tuo Bihan, not needing to be asked. When she arrived, Tuo Bihan didn't speak any unnecessary words, merely brought out the spatial ring marked 'Xue Yifei'.
Xue Yifei's eyes glinted as she observed the spatial ring. Even though she tried to remain calm, this situation caused her body to betray her mind. The faint throbbing of her heart was audible, even to Anu. This was attributed to her outrageously powerful heart, holding her Spirit of Cultivation.
The ring started to rotate autonomously, spewing out beautiful spiritual light in the surroundings. Tuo Bihan's eyes widened as the spiritual light expanded into a sphere that encapsulated both Xue Yifei and himself. His old eyes widened as he observed the light, seeing the glittering stars that existed within.
It was gorgeous, each mote of light like a vast, celestial star shining radiantly in the distance. As he inspected the sphere in wonder, he realized that each mote had varying colors, even a distinct brightness and orbit that belonged solely to it. All those lights were animated.
"Was this…" Tuo Bihan was awed. This seemed like a star map of multiple starfields. As he tried to make calculations, locate celestial bodies and lights that orbited in the unique manner of his old home, Xue Yifei exclaimed.
When he turned over, his heart nearly erupted out of his chest in shock! In fact, his eyes widened so much that any further might cause his eyeballs to pop out. A figure emerged, standing and facing Xue Yifei. He could only see its back, but that back was so familiar that Tuo Bihan could never forget it.
"Wei Wuyin!" This was the first time in a long while that Tuo Bihan had ever called Wei Wuyin directly by name, his sheer shock completely removing his own uniqueness!
A tall, stable figure with black hair stood there. The contours of his muscles were outlined perfectly by his martial attire, and every piece of clothing carried an aesthetic beauty and sense of genuineness that beguiled the mind.
While Tuo Bihan observed his back, Xue Yifei saw his front. Those silver eyes that were as radiant as the stars in the sky, stunning to the visual senses, and that warm, confident smile that seemed capable of giving one the greatest sense of comfort. That tall frame with powerful shoulders that seemed capable of holding the sky even if it collapsed!
It was unmistakable!
"You…" Xue Yifei's eyes widened, and she rushed to embrace Wei Wuyin. Her heart lurched as she thought that this might be a dream, that she'll pass through his image like before, but when she felt the tender warmth of his flesh tightening around her arms and fingers. She was unbelievably excited!
With her head pressed against his chest, hearing that explosively powerful heartbeat that rivaled, no, exceeded her own, she felt a sense of surrealism. "You're actually here…"
While this was happening, Ma Sujiang and Ma Ru's expressions were contorted. They both simultaneously vanished,with Ma Sujiang being faster as she arrived at the area that once housed Tuo Bihan and Xue Yifei. What remained was a rippling grey sphere that exuded an unfathomable degree of spatial power, spatial power that even Ma Sujiang couldn't properly sense.
"What is this?!" Ma Ru reached out to touch the rippling sphere that seemed to be both solid, liquid, and unreal. However, a hand reached out and grabbed hers. Her cousin had clenched her hand so tightly that her fingers crunched up in pain.
"Don't touch it!" Ma Sujiang exclaimed in a low, deep voice. Her spiritual sense tried to enter the rippling grey sphere yet it was as if she had entered a chasm, and the other side was a bustling Solar Star that burned her Spiritual Sense into nothing. She feared touching it would involuntarily unleash a spatial power that might take whoever entered into the vicinity of a Solar Star.
If that happened, who knew if Ma Ru could survive. While Starlords were the reason for many of the Solar Stars' existences, and those at the Mystic Star Phase exceeded Mortal Limits, that didn't mean the sheer power unleashed by a Solar Star couldn't threaten them, eviscerate them! After all, it contained the maximum strength of a Starlord, power that even they couldn't unleash due to the constraints of their physical body.
Scared, Ma Ru pulled back her hand. She observed the rippling grey sphere, and winced a moment later. Her spiritual sense was burned as well, but her strength was weaker than Ma Sujiang so she experienced a harsh backlash. With a series of coughs, she held her stuffy chest.
Back in the rippling grey sphere, a world of multicolored motes of radiant light and cyan color walls encapsulated the three figures.
Wei Wuyin softly rubbed Xue Yifei's head, causing her to nestle deeper into his chest. With a warm smile, he laughingly remarked towards Tuo Bihan: "You did it far quicker than I expected. Either this new cultivation world is highly advanced in transportation, or you got massively lucky."
Tuo Bihan couldn't see Wei Wuyin's expression, but those words told him the truth of the situation. "You're here?! You're really here! How are you?" He was curious, so curious that he stepped forward. It was only after he took that step that he realized the distance between the two hugging figures and himself hadn't changed.
He slightly frowned and looked at the cyan-colored floor, uncertain of what was happening.
"I'm here, but also not. It's just a Void Image, a little Spatial Shifting, and some spiritual manipulation. It's nothing much. But it's incredibly taxing to maintain this type of Void Connection. Fortunately, my cultivation is a little monstrous. Haha," Wei Wuyin commented, but as he kept holding Xue Yifei, his expression grew paler.
"I miss you too, but can we separate for a bit? Its a hundred times more difficult to maintain a physical state here." Wei Wuyin helplessly commented.
Xue Yifei finally broke out of her joy, realizing that Wei Wuyin's face had grown a tad bit paler. She panicked and backed away, but she found that the distance she stepped back to had a limit. After a few steps, any more and she wasn't actually moving.
Startled, she swept her eyes on the floor like Tuo Bihan did. What type of art or spell was this?
With a soft breath, Wei Wuyin swiftly regained his normal complexion. He stepped to the side to observe both Xue Yifei and Tuo Bihan. From their perspective, it seemed like Wei Wuyin teleported, relocating instantly to the side. "Six months, huh?"
Tuo Bihan nodded and informed, "I still have Ma Zheng's and one last ring left to deliver."
Wei Wuyin pondered for a moment, then nodded with an approving smile. "I thought Xue Yifei would be the last of them. Guess my calculations were a little off. Still, you've done a fine job with this task, better than I could've hoped. I imagined it'll take at least three years, not six months. For the last ring, you can leave that to Ma Zheng, have him deliver it. You should focus on cultivating, I'll need you for greater things in the future."
Wei Wuyin's words made Tuo Bihan's heart fiercely pound. A strange sensation emerged in his mind. A sensation that told him that the level of his importance in Wei Wuyin's heart had elevated considerably. He no longer felt that he was restrained by his old age, and his desire to walk further in his cultivation had been reignited.
"Yes, boss." There was no longer a 'little' added, and his subconscious revealed his heartfelt emotions.
Wei Wuyin gave Tuo Bihan one last approving look before turning to the bright-eyed Xue Yifei who was beholden by wonder and awe. She was utterly astonished that Wei Wuyin was here, because she knew he wasn't actually here. What type of cultivation, type of strength, was required to transmit yourself so far? The underlying profundities within it must be extraordinary!
Just as she wanted to ask, the motes of multicolored light that resembled starfields circulating around them started to violently tremble. This caused Wei Wuyin's figure to grow fainter. With a frown, he lifted his hands a little and fiercely clenched. The sphere and its insides swiftly stabilized.
"I don't have long. I underestimated the strain this has on me. I should've left you a long, emotional message, but I wanted to see you myself, to ensure that nothing happened to you. I'm a little selfish, huh?" Wei Wuyin pouted his lips a little.
Xue Yifei was his first official relationship that would offer an eternal connection. He's had many lovers, but none of them had a title that declared themselves as his. Sometimes, his lovers would have other lovers, and while that was during his Scarlet Solaris Sect years, it moulded his view on the word 'sexual companion'. There was a lack of connection in his mind towards it, but it was different for her.
Xue Yifei was his concubine, and while notoriously known for being used as beautiful props to elevate their partner's status, he didn't follow the same belief. She had been taken away because of him, so he felt personally responsible for her.
Xue Yifei's eyes became wet with unshed tears. She now realized that Wei Wuyin had done this extraordinary, world-defying action because he was worried for her, and he couldn't rest at ease unless he personally saw that she was okay! She had a distinct feeling that if she wasn't, perhaps Wei Wuyin would've arrived himself through this very method.
Shaking her head, she wanted to hug him, but when she leapt forward, the distance between them didn't change. This caused her to feel incredibly strange. But she still said after gathering herself, "No. I'm happy you're here."
Wei Wuyin's gaze softened. He stepped forward and embraced Xue Yifei, catching her off-guard. While his complexion grew paler, the sphere also became unstable and trembled incessantly, but Wei Wuyin didn't act again to stop it. He just kept holding Xue Yifei by her waist with one hand and head in with the other, pressing tightly as if to melt her into his chest.
And Xue Yifei obliged, plunging herself deeper.
He moved his head to the side of her right ear, and whispered a few words that even Tuo Bihan couldn't hear. A yelp of surprise sounded, and Xue Yifei looked up at Wei Wuyin in astonishment.
Wei Wuyin's figure grew so faint that he was ghostly, yet he kept holding onto Xue Yifei. "Time's up. Stay safe," Wei Wuyin said softly before he vanished entirely. The cyan walls and the motes of multicolored lights collapsed into specks of glittering starlight that was like fireworks.
Ma Sujiang saw the sphere tremble and collapse into grey liquid, which was condensed spatial energies liquidized by a special alchemic method. She instantly recognized it, and what was left was the oddly positioned Xue Yifei who had tears rolling down her cheek and Tuo Bihan, whose expression was dignified and reinvigorated.
What the hell just happened?!