The news of Xiaoyang's appearance shocked everyone present. Even the rare Nascent Soul trade meet that followed failed to capture much attention, ending hastily.
Mo Tiange and the other two returned to their temporary lodgings, set up a restriction, and sat around the table.
For a moment, all three were heavy-hearted and silent. Originally, the crisis in Yuan Prefecture had nothing to do with them. But if they couldn't leave, it would become a major concern.
"Tian Ge, what kind of place is Xiaoyang exactly?" Qin Xi broke the silence after a moment. After arriving in Yunzhong, he had first been busy recovering from his injuries, then entered the secret realm of the Guixu Sea, so he didn't know much about these matters.
Mo Tiange replied, "I only know that Xiaoyang is a place of barren mountains and treacherous waters, with a fierce and unruly atmosphere, many Demonic Cultivators, and a complex situation. Yunzhong Cultivators are unwilling to go to Xiaoyang. Beyond that, I'm not very clear either."
"Asking her is worse than asking me," Jing Xingzhi said, casting a lazy glance at Mo Tiange. "Shame on you for spending so many years in Yunzhong yet knowing so little about Yuan Prefecture's affairs, and even being unclear about Xiaoyang's situation."
Mo Tiange couldn't be bothered to respond to him. While it had been many years, she had only truly lived in Yunzhong for the ten years she spent traveling the various nations. During those ten years, she traversed all of Yunzhong and gained a deep understanding of it. But the Yuan Prefecture Merchant Alliance operated discreetly, and Xiaoyang was something even Yunzhong Cultivators were reluctant to discuss. Since she hadn't deliberately paid attention to it, how could she know?
Jing Xingzhi said, "Xiaoyang is different from Yunzhong and Yao Prefecture. It consists of three large islands of roughly equal size, generally referred to as the Three Islands of Xiaoyang. These three islands lack good spiritual veins, and their resources are extremely scarce. Like the Western Barbarians in Yunzhong, it's a place of barren mountains, treacherous waters, and perilous terrain. In such a place, no orthodox immortal cultivation sect would establish a base. Only some minor cultivation families and rogue cultivators would settle there. So, from the beginning, Xiaoyang was a gathering place for rogue cultivators."
"Later, no one knows exactly when, because Xiaoyang was far from the sphere of influence of Yunzhong's major sects, many cultivators who couldn't gain a foothold in Yunzhong fled to Xiaoyang, with Demonic Cultivators making up the majority. Although the distinction between righteous and evil is largely dismissed by people of this era, it is a fact that most practitioners of the demonic path have extreme personalities and employ ruthless methods. These Demonic Cultivators and desperadoes became the new residents of the Three Islands of Xiaoyang. Over time, Xiaoyang transformed into a perilous land that all Yunzhong Cultivators despised and feared."
At this point, Jing Xingzhi summarized, "In short, the word to describe Xiaoyang is 'perilous.' Perilous heavens, perilous earth, perilous hearts. Perilous heavens: barren mountains and treacherous waters, scarce resources. Perilous earth: peculiar terrain, complex relationships, making it difficult for other forces to intervene. Perilous hearts: the people of Xiaoyang are all vicious and ruthless, employing cruel methods. Therefore, the major powers in Yunzhong are utterly unwilling to provoke the people of Xiaoyang—there's insufficient benefit, and they're troublesome to deal with. More importantly, the cultivators of Xiaoyang have a very bad habit—they love to rob."
"...So that's why the people of the Yuan Prefecture Merchant Alliance are so troubled?"
"Yes," Jing Xingzhi said listlessly. "A merchant continent... with no one left to trade with, now neighbors with bandits, plus the treacherous Guixu Sea. If they can't find a way out, Yuan Prefecture is finished. And if we don't leave Yuan Prefecture soon, we won't have good days ahead either."
"Then the matter circles back," Qin Xi said. "Tian Ge and I originally planned to return to the Tianji Region after leaving the Immortal Palace. This time, by a twist of fate, we came to Yuan Prefecture. We intended to use the teleportation array you mentioned. Our goal remains unchanged: we still need to investigate whether this teleportation array can truly take us back to the Tianji Region."
After speaking, he looked at Jing Xingzhi. "What about you? If the teleportation array is usable, do you want to return to the Tianji Region?"
Jing Xingzhi lowered his gaze and remained silent for a long time.
The Tianji Region... for him, it was a place intertwined with love and hate. He would definitely return, but in his plans, it wasn't now. If not for this incident, he would have chosen to stay in Yuan Prefecture. But now, Yuan Prefecture wasn't a suitable place to linger either.
"We'll see," Jing Xingzhi took a deep breath. "In a few days, we'll set out to find the teleportation array. Given Yuan Prefecture's current situation, the sooner we leave, the better."
Qin Xi nodded lightly and said nothing more.
Afterwards, the three stayed for a few more days before bidding farewell to Yan Feng and leaving Changling City.
Yan Feng tried very enthusiastically to persuade them to stay, but unfortunately, their resolve to leave was firm, and he couldn't sway them. He could only regretfully see the three off.
"Elder, we have Nascent Soul Cultivators in Changling City too. Why were you so keen to keep them?" the cultivator beside Yan Feng asked, puzzled.
Yan Feng watched the fading light of their departing flight technique and sighed. "In normal times, there would be no need for this. But the current situation is unclear. One more Nascent Soul Cultivator means one more source of strength. You... your perspective is still too narrow. You must consider things in light of the overall situation."
The cultivator thought for a moment, somewhat understanding, yet even more confused. "Speaking of the situation, even Yunzhong can't be found now. Since they can't leave Yuan Prefecture, shouldn't they be even more inclined to stay in an immortal city?"
Yan Feng was taken aback, then said with some uncertainty, "Perhaps... they want to find a place to cultivate in seclusion..." Even as he said it, he didn't quite believe it himself. Even if they cultivated in seclusion, so what? In thirty or fifty years when they emerged, the situation might not be any better than now. Knowing there was a potential threat to themselves yet doing nothing—that wasn't something Nascent Soul Cultivators would do... Could it be these three had another purpose?
The teleportation array discovered by Jing Xingzhi was located on a small island south of Changling City. This small island had no spiritual veins to speak of, inhabited only by some mortals.
Back then, after teleporting here, to prevent anyone from following, he had damaged several parts of the teleportation array here and carefully concealed it with magic.
Logically, this small island saw no cultivator traffic, had few residents, and shouldn't have been discovered. But over eighty years had passed; no one could say for sure if an accident might have occurred. Moreover, during the storm a few months ago, many small islands had vanished. It was unknown if this island still existed.
Harboring such worries, the three flew swiftly and finally located the small island without incident.
Fortunately, Heaven hadn't played tricks on them. The island still existed, though it had become a deserted island, devoid of human traces.
Led by Jing Xingzhi, the three found the location of the teleportation array—inside a seaside cave.
This cave would be submerged by seawater at high tide and only exposed at low tide. Taking advantage of low tide, the three entered the cave, proceeding several li deep before reaching their destination.
"Is this the place?" Mo Tiange looked around. The cave was damp, but because the terrain sloped upward, it wasn't soaked by seawater. Jing Xingzhi said that even at high tide, the seawater wouldn't flood this area.
Qin Xi looked at the cave wall and said, "There's a bit of trouble."
Jing Xingzhi was searching for the traces he left years ago and asked casually, "What trouble?"
Qin Xi pointed to the damp marks on the cave wall. "Look, these appear to be recently soaked. Probably during the storm a few months ago, this cave wasn't spared. It's unknown if the teleportation array was damaged."
"We'll know once we look." Finding the mark he left years ago, Jing Xingzhi waved his hand. His longsword left its sheath, bringing forth a sword gleam that slashed towards a section of the cave wall.
With a thunderous roar, the cave wall collapsed as expected.
"Found it!" Jing Xingzhi exclaimed joyfully.
Beneath the rubble, a star chart was faintly visible.
Mo Tiange waved her hand, sweeping away all the rubble to reveal the teleportation array in its entirety.
"How is it?" Jing Xingzhi asked with a hint of pride. "Preserved quite intact, right?"
Mo Tiange carefully examined the teleportation array on the ground, remaining silent for a long time.
This teleportation array was about five zhang in size, using a special gelatinous substance as its base, densely forming complex patterns. The spots where spirit stones should have been embedded were empty, leaving the entire array dull and lifeless.
"Intact, my foot!" she said without looking up, pointing to several spots on the array. "These places were damaged by you, right? You really went for the crucial parts! And here, this was probably washed away by the storm a few months ago. Even the foundational diagram of the array formation was eroded. It's not an exaggeration to say it's ruined."
"Then what do we do?" Jing Xingzhi was stunned. "The teleportation array can't be used?"
"Not necessarily." Mo Tiange softened her tone. She wasn't really blaming Jing Xingzhi; it was just that his tone was truly irritating.
Lowering her head to scrutinize the array diagram on the ground, she said, "If we can find the raw materials for the foundational diagram, it can still be repaired. However, I'm not highly proficient with teleportation arrays. This array has quite a few damaged areas, so it might require a considerable amount of time."
"How long?" Qin Xi asked.
"...As short as ten-some days, as long as several months," Mo Tiange said. "Not counting the time to find the materials."
Qin Xi nodded. "In the Immortal Palace, we waited for decades. What's this bit of time? Tian Ge, no need to rush. At least now we see hope."
Mo Tiange looked at him and sighed softly. "I know." Even so, her heart remained heavy. Leaving aside whether this teleportation array could be repaired, even if she flawlessly restored it, she couldn't be certain it would still function. She had waited too long to return to the Tianji Region, so long that she herself began to doubt if she could ever go back.
"Then shall we go find the array formation materials first?" Jing Xingzhi asked, then immediately shook his head. "Forget it. You two stay here. I'll go find them. Saves time."
"...Alright." Mo Tiange didn't stand on ceremony with him. This teleportation array was extremely complex, at the very least a relic from ancient times. The materials would certainly be precious. The rarer the material, the fewer the sources. One person searching versus three wouldn't make much difference. Better to stay here and study how to repair the damaged parts.
"Then I'm off." Scraping off a bit of the array formation material, Jing Xingzhi turned and left without further ado.
Watching his retreating figure disappear, Mo Tiange didn't withdraw her gaze for a long time, until Qin Xi asked her, "What are you thinking?"
"...I'm wondering if he'll really return to the Tianji Region with us," she said, somewhat perplexed, looking at Qin Xi. "Why do I feel he's being too proactive?"
Qin Xi smiled. "I can't answer that. Who can say for sure with this guy?" After a pause, he sighed silently. "However, this teleportation array... regardless of whether it can send us back to the Tianji Region, we owe him a huge favor."
In the Immortal Palace, he had once saved Jing Xingzhi. Later, during critical moments, Jing Xingzhi never abandoned them. Moreover, during the heavenly tribulation, he risked his life to use his ultimate trump card. If that could be considered even, then now, informing them of the teleportation array's location and running errands for them—this favor couldn't be erased.
Hearing this, Mo Tiange instead smiled. "What's there to fear? Owing him a favor is better than owing him emotional debt. Besides—I'm afraid he never even considered this a favor, right?"