Chapter 1654: Heaven and Earth (Part One)

Li Yan and Mu Guyue witnessed it all. They could hardly believe the distance was so vast, as year after year passed. If they had traveled alone, they wouldn’t have had access to those teleportation arrays. Perhaps seventy percent of the journey would have been spent flying. The dangers they encountered were resolved by Lian and Ning; Li Yan felt the two hundred supreme-grade spirit stones weren’t wasted at all.

A single supreme-grade spirit stone was valuable enough to sustain a low-ranked sect’s cultivation for years. In addition to the fee for the spatial node, Li Yan had offered another sum for the other information Su Hong provided. She had personally come to him, after all.

When Su Hong saw the staggering amount of supreme-grade spirit stones Li Yan produced, she was surprised and looked at him deeply before accepting them without ceremony. She was shocked by the wealth the two of them had amassed in just one or two centuries in the upper realm. To her look, Li Yan only responded with a smile and a nod. By accepting the stones, Su Hong was honoring the trade house’s reputation and completing the transaction in addition to their unspoken personal bond.

This was already the seventh year since they had left the Broken Army Sect. Finally, in a branch of the Return-Home Trade House, Li Yan bought a large supply of Immortalization Liquid as a precaution for their eventual return. After resting for a few days, they set out again.

Seven months after leaving that market, in a remote area, they tore through space and entered. In the chaotic flow, they continued their journey of stopping, turning, and searching.

One day, in a void where the astral winds seemed weak and lifeless like a domain of the dead, the five of them hovered in the pitch-black space, sweeping their Divine Sense around. Fifty yards ahead, faint fluctuations appeared occasionally, vanishing in an instant. Even Li Yan only sensed a slight, unsettling palpitation after careful investigation.

After a few dozen seconds, Li Yan turned to Su Hong. “Miss Su, are you certain it’s here?” He had noticed that whenever the fluctuations appeared, space would slightly twist, and a pitch-black hole would momentarily flash by. It looked more like a spatial black hole, making his heart race.

“Based on the orientation tests and recorded characteristics, this is the place. However, no one has verified this node for several centuries. I cannot be certain if its nature has changed.” Su Hong held her bamboo artifact, performing incantations once more, her beautiful face showing hesitation. She, too, felt a sense of dread from the flickering black hole.

After a long time, she finished her spell and looked at Li Yan. “The location is definitely correct, but I cannot be sure if the node’s properties have shifted. I know of another location, but the records say it’s even more unstable and would take another decade to find.”

Su Hong was solemn. She felt as though the node here had undergone a mutation. Li Yan fell silent, and Mu Guyue kept her eyes on the spot, waiting for his decision. If he went, she wouldn’t hesitate. It wasn’t that she was reckless; it was that no one here, including the two late-stage Void Refining cultivators, could determine if the path was safe.

Li Yan investigated repeatedly with his Divine Sense for hundreds of seconds. Finally, he withdrew it and looked at Mu Guyue. She shook her head slightly; she couldn’t reach a conclusion either. Li Yan then clasped his hands toward Su Hong.

“Miss Su, I am truly grateful for everything. Since I first met you, I’ve received your help time and again on my immortal path. Thank you. I shall take my leave. If you ever need my help in the future, you only need to say the word. I will do my utmost without fail!”

As soon as he finished, a ghostly light erupted around him, and he charged forward without hesitation.

“Thank you, Fellow Daoist Su!” Mu Guyue’s cold voice rang out as she followed Li Yan into the flickering black hole without the slightest pause.

The voices of the two still echoed in Su Hong’s ears, but the people who had accompanied her for seven years were gone. Her lips parted slightly, but in the end… no sound came out. She had wanted to help him, but standing here today, she truly didn’t want him to enter that black hole.

“Miss, let us go back. Little friend Li’s luck is far beyond that of ordinary men; otherwise, he wouldn’t have appeared in the Immortal Spirit Realm in the first place.” Elder Lian and Elder Ning looked at each other. Seeing their young miss standing silently like a noble but lonely red peony in the dark night, Elder Lian couldn’t help but speak.

“Miss, we’ve seen over these years of travel that Little friend Li has hidden his true cultivation. His real strength is already at the late-stage Spirit Transformation. Such a passage won’t stop him. You don’t need to worry!” Elder Ning added.

Having traveled with them for so long, they had naturally seen Li Yan and Mu Guyue take action when danger arose. Since Su Hong was a Nascent Soul cultivator and the weakest, she didn’t need to fight. But Li Yan and Mu Guyue couldn’t just stand by. Lian and Ning had sensed their true strength. However, because the protectors aimed for one-hit kills to protect Su Hong, they had actually still underestimated Li Yan’s power. The current Li Yan didn’t even fear an initial-stage Void Refining cultivator.

“Late-stage Spirit Transformation? Is he truly that strong?” Su Hong was dazed for a moment before her face filled with an expression of dissatisfaction.

On the Barren Moon Continent, in the extreme north of the Northern Abyss, the land was bitterly cold and covered in ice and snow. One day, inside an icy cave beneath a glacier, two young men sat—one in white and one in purple.

Zi Kun, the one in purple, watched his own breath fog. He had been here for many years but still wasn’t used to it. He missed the fiery heat of the Far West in that other realm. “We haven’t seen any of those sneaky cultivators for a few years now.”

“The suspicious ones who came to this thin barrier have mostly been killed by us. Why were they always asking about ‘Miscellaneous Spirit Roots’? We’ve searched their souls but never found the source,” said Qianji, dressed in white. As he spoke, he took a deep breath of the bone-chilling air, which made him feel incredibly refreshed.

“If they were looking for Master, it doesn’t quite fit. They were just wandering aimlessly around the Barren Moon Continent. Master reached the Nascent Soul stage long ago, and his fame has long echoed through the continent’s cultivation world. If they were looking for him, they could have gone straight to the Ghost-Severing Sect,” Zi Kun said.

“I think we might be too suspicious,” Qianji said, glancing at Zi Kun. “It’s likely just a faction looking for ‘Miscellaneous Spirit Root’ cultivators for some reason. It might have nothing to do with Master; it could just be a coincidence. Think about it—if someone with Master’s spirit root can reach such a level, there must be other special existences in the world. Perhaps there’s some other reason people are looking for them.”

Qianji felt that ‘Little Egg,’ who was known for his brute strength, was still not as sharp as himself. He had considered many reasons and concluded this guess was the most likely.

“Then we’ll watch for another decade. If it’s still the same, we’ll go to the Wind God Continent and leave this place alone. Then we’ll enter the chaotic flow from the Tianli Clan’s territory to search for Master!” Zi Kun nodded, finding Qianji’s words reasonable.

Suddenly, a flash of white crystal light erupted from space, appearing before Qianji in an instant. Qianji’s expression shifted, and he reached out to catch the white object. He sank his Divine Sense into it. With a quick sweep, he stood up, his face full of joy as he looked at Zi Kun.

“Mistress Ying has returned!”

Shortly after, Gong Chenying appeared inside the icy cave, her spear on her back and her short, ear-length hair fluttering. After entering the Barren Moon Continent from the extreme north, she had directly sought out the vicinity where she guessed Qianji and Zi Kun might still be.

The two beasts immediately stood at attention before her. Without waiting for her to ask, they began to describe the events of the past years. As Gong Chenying looked at them, she saw that they had matured significantly. Every time they mentioned ‘Master,’ she felt as if she could see that black-robed young man with hair like steel needles, smiling at her.

Half an hour later, the two finished their report. Gong Chenying pondered for a long time before looking back at them. “You’ve worked hard. I can’t think of any other reason for those cultivators’ appearance either; it should be a coincidence as you guessed. I came here to find Min’er. I’ll likely stay at the Ghost-Severing Sect for a while before we go look for a flying ascension node together.”

She continued, “Since the news we have is still stuck at the Northern Pastoral Realm, we won’t wait any longer. This time, you should come back to the Ghost-Severing Sect with me. We’ll discuss whether you want to ascend with us to find him, or if you still doubt the news and want to stay here to search the chaotic flow. Regardless, you should return once. If you truly don’t want to ascend yet, consider it a temporary reunion. Perhaps… by the time we meet again, we won’t know what year or month it will be.”