Chapter 146 - 144: The Uncertain Future
A sharp, electrifying, and uncontrollably intense shiver ran down the backs of most of the crowd. Those words of Xiang Ling caused their eyes to constrict and their hearts to nearly cease beating.
These were all elites renowned for their intelligence and talent back in the Myriad Yore Continent, so how could they not fully and immediately understand these words and their implications? If they failed and survived somehow, they would likely never return home; they would never see their families; they would die here.
They all had varying expressions as their eyes subconsciously lifted to the Myriad Nascent Dao Palace. This was their first step on their road to a greater life, but if they tripped here, then their lives might be incomparably wretched! They would have no status, no power, and no backing here.
They would be all alone.
This feeling took awhile to truly sink in, so several minutes of silence inevitably followed. Shockingly, Xiang Ling allowed them to gasp for breath and formulate their own thoughts towards this new reality. She added nothing else.
Long Chen's hands tightly clenched into a fist. Unlike these others, his battle intent and blazing will roared to life at this challenge. He was unafraid. In the future, he will not be ordinary and if he desired, returning to the Myriad Yore Continent will be a mere thought away.
This was the start of his true journey, and with the spirit in the ring guiding him on this path, and his unyielding will, this journey will usher him into a grander world!
Surrounding him were Qing Qiumu, Na Xinyi, Wu Baozhai, Lian Yu, Lin Ziyan, and Ming Shufeng. Except Ming Shufeng, they all had worried looks on their faces and the possibility of failure weighed heavily on their hearts. But they merely had to look at Long Chen's trace of a confident smile and excitement overflowing from his eyes to calm down. Anticipation replaced that worry, and a wisp of like-minded excitement was born in their hearts.
If he believed in himself, so must they!
Ming Shufeng was the only one who stared at Wei Wuyin's back and had a deep frown on her beautiful face. She was a Seer, a person that could perceive the trend of the Heavenly Daos. But unlike Long Chen, who she couldn't entirely perceive the fate of, Wei Wuyin's fate was entirely unpredictable. She saw his death, yet he hadn't died. It was him who killed Hu Jiwei and saved Prince Zhen altering her plans, and she didn't even see her own capture.
His actions at the previous gathering shocked her with every passing second and she was still unable to perceive anything relating to him with an ounce of accuracy. Furthermore, in this world where Astral Core Realm experts were gathered en masse, her abilities were deeply lacking. Her ability to perceive the trend was based on her own strength, her own cultivation, and those stronger were more resilient to resisting or affecting the trend of the heavens.
If she didn't similarly get to that realm, she would be essentially blind in this new world. This was why she hadn't left Long Chen's group and needed to follow a Blessed individual upwards. Most Seers weren't ambitious and acted as calm and gentle guides for others, but she was different; she had goals.
In the future, she felt Wei Wuyin would be her greatest obstacle to any and all of her future plans. This caused her eyes to flash a glint of a mysterious light.
Xiang Ling had waited enough. "Qing Qiumu, let's go." Her words brought everyone's attention away and they focused on Xiang Ling, then shifted to Qing Qiumi in an almost concerted motion. How could they not know who she was at this point? The gathering had her as the main focus for a short period before and she arrived with Xiang Ling earlier.
Qing Qiumu, from beneath her veil, trembled slightly. That's right…
Long Chen frowned. "Go? Go where?" He turned to seek an answer from Qing Qiumu, only to see her shoulders faintly tremble as she averted her eyes from Long Chen's gaze. He could sense her reluctance.
Xiang Ling was impatient. 'I interfered to save this dastardly and useless Long Chen for you, so you better not try to follow his footsteps. I'll receive great merit for bringing you to the Extreme Creation Mountain for her.' Her thoughts were filled with irritation and expectation.
Qing Qiumu bit her lips beneath her veil. Earlier, when Long Chen was being besieged by Wei Wuyin and seemed to be on the verge of being killed, she seeked Xiang Ling's help to defuse the situation. She agreed on one condition: She had to follow her to the Myriad Monarch Sect directly.
This was obviously a benefit to her, but this meant leaving Long Chen behind. With her talent, it's very likely her elven ancestor who stayed in the sect will want to train her personally, and she might be taken away from Long Chen for who knows how long.
In the end, she could only tell Long Chen the truth. His expression changed slightly, but in the end, his eyes effused happiness. "Go. I'll catch up soon." Was all he said. To him, her leaving and meeting up with her ancestor to cultivate at the sect was beneficial. In fact, everyone here had to thank Qing Qiumu. If it wasn't for her and Long Chen, would Xiang Ling bring them along to have this opportunity?
After a heartfelt goodbye, Qing Qiumu left the group and arrived by Xiang Ling's side.
Xiang Ling nodded. "As I said before, you can challenge the pagoda as long as you're below two hundred in age and anytime you wish. Good luck."
She inhaled slightly and Wei Wuyin, Bai Lin, Su Mei, and Qing Qiumu felt the mana from earlier engulf them tightly. In the matter of seconds, they were swiftly lifted upwards and soared away at speeds that left the little elites shocked with gaped mouths. In another few seconds, Xiang Ling's and Bai Lin's humongous figure was no longer capable of being seen.
Long Chen clenched his fists even harder. 'We'll definitely meet again, so wait for me.'
Na Xinyi's eyes were quietly flashing with an indeterminate light as her gaze imperceptibly shifted from the horizon to Long Chen. Her hesitation earlier and her lack of making a choice still weighed on her mind. Perhaps in the future, she'll be forced to make a choice.
She can only hope that she doesn't regret it.
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Flying without wings was a novel feeling, and flying without any form of exertion on your part felt absolutely mystical. Xiang Ling could control the world's mana, allowing her to rule the sky, flying swiftly within without need for any type of personal energy. This meant she could theoretically fly without limit as long as she had the mental capacity to control the world's mana.
They were remarkably fast, blazing through the sky. Her speed easily exceeded Bai Lin's as they traveled several kilometers in the span of a few seconds.
Wei Wuyin took this opportunity to inspect the rapidly passing scenery. He noticed that as one looked higher, the density of the essence of heaven and earth seemed to become thicker and purer, faintly even turning into mist. This discovery fascinated him. 'Does the essence of heaven and earth not originate from the continent...or planet? Does it originate from the starry skies or even sunlight?'
He was unsure, but he felt that this phenomenon was evidence of its possibility. Did that mean traveling beyond the sky could allow one to absorb the purest of essence? He was truly curious to give it a try, see what laid beyond those clouds above.
There were grassy knolls, plains, plateaus, mountains, and forests littering the vast area just like the Myriad Yore Continent. There were signs of people living nearby in thatched, brick, and stone houses. They look rather primitive in materials, but their designs were exquisite and seemed to exude spiritual auras.
There was even a tall wall surrounding a city that seemed like a cascading reverse waterfall of liquid essence. It overturned his thoughts on what was imaginable. There were far, far too many things to observe and describe that he simply took all of it in and would ponder them later.
He was excited to explore this new world!
His eyes also noticed Qing Qiumu who seemed oddly silent, her aura felt distracted and chaotic. Thinking for a second, he tried to wiggle around and realized it was possible to move even while flying. He shifted his body and arrived beside Qing Qiumu, startling her.
"You know, this reminds me of my hometown. The people in primitive huts, the mortals working hard. It makes me realize that this place isn't so much different." He started to speak, causing Qing Qiumu to be speechless.
In truth, towards this young man before her, she was truly unable to discern her feelings, but she knew that she didn't want to take him to be an enemy in her heart. She didn't know why, despite being friend's with Long Chen, and should be biased towards his enemies, but that's how it was. In the end, she merely listened.
But that didn't last for long.
At first, Qing Qiumu felt unsettled and uneasy after leaving Long Chen and entering a new world, but as Wei Wuyin was casually speaking his thoughts, she slowly started to relax her heart and mind. Before she knew it, whether it was because his words were engaging or something else entirely, she started to mindlessly reply.
Her words were a little stiff in the beginning, but gradually reached an unprecedented comfort zone as even smiles and her own thoughts seeped through.
Covering her mouth, she giggled softly as she smiled with her eyes. "No way, no way. You really think it'll be like that?"
"Yep, yep. Absolutely!" Wei Wuyin nodded fervently like a chicken pecking grains, his eyes filled with certainty. "Those villagers will definitely be like my own! Chicken lovers, I swear!"
Qing Qiumu couldn't hold in her laughter and let loose a long and loud one with trembling shoulders. Realizing her loss of composure, she blushed slightly but didn't feel the least bit uncomfortable or odd. Her earlier thoughts and worries seemed to have been swept away.
Xiang Ling was watching all this and couldn't help but think, 'These two have such good chemistry. It's so unfortunate that a rotten weed is obstructing the way.' She truly felt Long Chen was impeding Qing Qiumu's potential and future, but as she quietly observed their lighthearted engagements, she couldn't help but form a warm smile. 'But this is fine too.'
Long Tingyu pouted from within Xiang Ling's embrace, and asked, unwilling to see her big brother's woman just laughing it up with another man. That's improper! Her juvenile thoughts immediately tried to throw a wrench into this and change the subject, "Can you tell us more about the Myriad Monarch Sect and this world?"
Xiang Ling's eyes brightened, and the conversation between Qing Qiumu and Wei Wuyin actually ceased. They turned towards her, similarly curious. Despite hearing about it from her father, and learning that the elven race existed there, including her ancestor, Qing Qiumu was largely ignorant.
Wei Wuyin's curiosity was also incredibly explosive! He truly wanted to learn more.
Xiang Ling nodded, "Okay."