"……" Jing Xingzhi did not answer immediately.
Mo Tiange said, "This long-distance teleportation array requires over a hundred high-grade spirit stones for a single use. I know you don't care about that amount of spirit stones now, but there's no need to waste them, is there?"
Any trace of melancholy in his heart was utterly shattered by Mo Tiange's words. Jing Xingzhi shot a rather annoyed glare at Qin Xi.
Qin Xi merely smiled, also looking at him, waiting for an answer.
They both knew that returning to the Tianji Region was not a simple decision for Jing Xingzhi. However, given the current situation in Yuan Prefecture, if he stayed, he wouldn't be able to cultivate in peace either.
A long moment passed, and Jing Xingzhi still remained silent. Mo Tiange sighed and said, "Forget it. We don't even know if this teleportation array works yet. Anyway, you can afford the spirit stones for the teleportation. Let's test it first."
Jing Xingzhi breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. "You two go ahead."
Without further hesitation, Mo Tiange directed a stream of spiritual qi towards a specific point on the array diagram.
The teleportation array lit up with a white light, engulfing her and Qin Xi.
Within the white light, a slight discomfort washed over them, accompanied by dizziness. Yet, Mo Tiange felt a surge of joy.
Long-distance teleportation arrays required immense amounts of spiritual qi, naturally causing greater disturbances. The spiritual energy waves generated by a distance as vast as that between Yuan Prefecture and the Tianji Region were absolutely unbearable for low-level cultivators. Even Nascent Soul cultivators like them were affected. But precisely because of this, she was now certain: this teleportation array was functional.
Amidst the blinding white light, Qin Xi grasped her hand. Silently, they endured the pressure of the teleportation.
Before long, the feeling of discomfort gradually faded, and the spiritual qi calmed down.
Mo Tiange opened her eyes. The white light of the teleportation dissipated, revealing beneath their feet an ancient teleportation array identical to the previous one.
She exchanged a glance with Qin Xi, both wearing expressions of immense relief.
After so many twists of fate and mishaps, this time, heaven finally wasn't toying with them.
This teleportation array was also located within a cave. However, the cave wasn't deep, merely comparable to a cultivator's cave abode. The interior was empty, devoid of any other objects. The cave entrance was completely covered by vines, allowing only faint, dim light to filter through, making it very dark.
Qin Xi summoned his Three Yang True Fire Sword, reached out to part the vines, and looked around. "It's fine. Let's go out." With that, he ducked out of the cave first. Mo Tiange followed closely behind.
As soon as they exited the cave, both instinctively squinted their eyes. Before teleporting, they had stayed in the secret seaside cave for over a month without venturing out. The light inside that cave had also been very dim. Outside, however, the sun was bright and clear. Their eyes needed a moment to adjust.
Mo Tiange looked around, feeling a strong sense of familiarity. This type of terrain, this kind of vegetation... it seemed she had seen it somewhere before.
The two carefully concealed the cave entrance again. After walking a distance, they flew up into the air to avoid the teleportation array being discovered by others.
"So it's here!" From the aerial view, the surrounding topography was clear at a glance. Mo Tiange immediately recognized this place.
This teleportation array was actually located at the foot of Tianmo Mountain!
Tianmo Mountain was vast, and its terrain was extremely complex. Furthermore, being close to the restrictive formations here, no one usually came. Who would have thought a perfectly preserved ancient teleportation array was hidden here?
Earlier, Jing Xingzhi said he discovered this array during his past adventures. Now that the two of them found the array within Tianmo Mountain, it wasn't hard to guess how he discovered it.
Back then, during the great collapse of Tianmo Mountain's restrictions, Jing Xingzhi escaped early, avoiding disaster. But he didn't return to the Ancient Sword Sect. Perhaps he hid nearby to recuperate and cultivate, thus discovering this teleportation array.
As for Sword Venerable Fuling, who perished within Tianmo Mountain, his disciple took Tang Shen to recuperate at Yuheng Mountain. Later, the two met, a fierce battle ensued, Jing Xingzhi killed the other party, and thus seized Tang Shen. Afterwards, Tang Shen sent out a distress signal. Mo Tiange rushed over, Jing Xingzhi released Tang Shen, and left alone.
He already had many adversaries within the Ancient Sword Sect, and with the crime of killing a fellow sect member confirmed, he simply used the teleportation array to leave the Tianji Region—Mo Tiange encountered "Jianxin" only two or three years later. By then, Jing Xingzhi had already traveled from Yuan Prefecture to Yunzhong. He must have left the Tianji Region right after their separation back then.
Fortunately, Jing Xingzhi discovered this teleportation array back then. Otherwise, the two of them would have truly been trapped to death in Yuan Prefecture.
Qin Xi gazed at Tianmo Mountain and sighed with emotion. "We've finally returned…"
Mo Tiange was also extremely excited. To think, when she left the Tianji Region back then, she wasn't even a hundred years old. In the blink of an eye, eighty or ninety years had passed—eighty or ninety years meant little to most Nascent Soul cultivators, but for her, it was half her life.
Amidst her excitement, a great weight lifted from her heart. The reason she absolutely had to return to the Tianji Region was that she still had a task to complete. The restriction left in her mind by Patriarch Ziwei was a lingering shadow she couldn't shake off. Even with a bright future ahead, she had to worry about the restriction activating and causing her sudden demise. But now, having returned to the Tianji Region, she still had fifty years. Moreover, she had advanced to Nascent Soul. Completing this commission wouldn't be so difficult anymore. Only after erasing the restriction and freeing herself from being controlled by others could she cultivate without restraint and pursue her own Great Dao.
"I truly never imagined I'd be away for so long…" Mo Tiange looked down at Tianmo Mountain beneath her feet and smiled.
This Tianmo Mountain was also the place where they pledged their love, holding extraordinary significance.
"Indeed. Not to mention you, I've been away for nearly forty years," Qin Xi said with a smile. "Let's go. We're returning to the Xuanqing Sect. After being away for so long, Master is sure to nag us for ages."
Thinking of Dao Lord Jinghe, Mo Tiange couldn't help but smile as well. It had been so long since she'd seen her master. She missed him dearly. Having advanced to late-Nascent Soul, was her master still as unreliable as before? He must be very pleased with himself, right? Someone like her master, clearly possessing outstanding aptitude, yet his opportunities always seemed to fall just short, constantly being overshadowed by others—he had never been truly convinced. Now that he had advanced to the late stage, he would surely boast and revel in his achievement.
Their hearts filled with excitement, they couldn't even be bothered with the nearby Tiandao Sect. Transforming into two streaks of escape light, one red and one white, they sped westward towards Kunwu.
Sensing the powerful aura, a Nascent Soul cultivator from the Tiandao Sect was alerted and emerged from his cave abode, only to see the red and white streaks of escape light disappearing at the horizon.
"Strange," muttered a bald male cultivator on an independent peak within the Tiandao Sect, gazing at where the escape lights vanished. "How could two Nascent Soul cultivators suddenly appear near our sect's gates? Moreover, one of them is at the mid-Nascent Soul stage, with an exceptionally powerful aura."
"Senior Brother Lu!" A female cultivator in red, standing atop a red lotus, flew over from another peak and asked urgently, "What's going on? Nascent Soul cultivators appeared near the sect?"
The bald male cultivator shook his head. "Same as you. I just sensed fellow cultivators of our level appearing."
"One of them is at the mid-Nascent Soul stage, right? What are the origins of these two? I haven't heard of any sect's cultivators coming to the Tiandao Sect! And if they came to our Tiandao Sect, why didn't they pay a visit?"
The bald male cultivator couldn't answer these questions either. After a moment's thought, he said, "Let's just keep an eye out for now. Currently, only the two of us are left guarding the sect. We must be extra cautious in all matters. However, there's no need to worry too much. Even if these two have ill intentions, with our Tiandao Sect's mountain-protecting grand array and the two of us guarding, nothing major should happen."
"Alright." The female cultivator in red couldn't think of a better plan. She sighed, looking in the direction from which the spiritual energy fluctuations came. "I wonder how Senior Brother Liu and the others are doing. I hope nothing happens to them."
Mo Tiange and Qin Xi were so eager to return home that they flew at almost full speed. The flight speed of Nascent Soul cultivators was extremely fast. In just two days, they reached Kunzhong City.
They had no intention of resting, nor did they feel tired. They still planned to fly over Kunzhong City and return to the Xuanqing Sect.
Who would have thought, just as they approached Kunzhong City, three streaks of escape light shot up from within the city, heading straight towards them.
The auras of these three escape lights were extremely powerful—all were Nascent Soul cultivators, with one even at the mid-Nascent Soul stage. Their target was clearly them.
Mo Tiange and Qin Xi exchanged a glance, their brows slightly furrowed.
Since when did Kunzhong City have Nascent Soul cultivators? And three at once? Could something major have happened in Kunwu during the decades they were away?
"Halt, those approaching!" The voice arrived before the escape lights did.
Qin Xi paused, pulling Mo Tiange to a stop. "Let's see what they want first."
In the Tianji Region, they weren't cultivators without any foundation. There existed varying degrees of camaraderie between the major sects. They couldn't act entirely on impulse; for the sake of their sect, they still had to maintain appearances.
The newcomers were fast, arriving before them in an instant.
The leader was a middle-aged scholar in white, elegant and refined, holding a jade flute. It was Feng Xiao, one half of the Luanfeng Immortal Couple from the Biyun Sect. The two Nascent Soul cultivators accompanying him were also familiar to Qin Xi: one was Sword Venerable Xiaohe from the Ancient Sword Sect, the other was Loose Cultivator Qingming.
This was truly strange. Qin Xi grew even more puzzled.
The Biyun Sect, the Ancient Sword Sect, a loose cultivator... although most Nascent Soul cultivators had some acquaintances, these three weren't exactly friends, having little to do with each other. Why would they appear together in Kunzhong City?
Seeing the two of them, a flicker of surprise passed through Feng Xiao's eyes. He paused for a moment before greeting, "You are... the Qin family lad?"
Feng Xiao was a cultivator from the same generation as Dao Lord Jinghe, nearly a thousand years old by now. Qin Xi had just passed three hundred. Before Qin Xi even entered the path of immortality, Feng Xiao was already a Nascent Soul cultivator. Calling him 'Qin family lad' wasn't out of line.
However, among cultivators, seniority was often based on cultivation level. Now that Qin Xi was at the same mid-Nascent Soul stage as him, Feng Xiao paused briefly, then smiled and corrected himself, "Ah, no, that's not right. I should call you Fellow Daoist Shoujing now. I heard from Fellow Daoist Jinghe that you left the mountain to travel. Have you just returned?"
"So it's Senior Feng." Feng Xiao had some friendship with Dao Lord Jinghe. In the past, Qin Xi always showed the respect of a junior in his presence. Now, he naturally addressed him as 'Senior.' He replied, "That's correct. This junior has just returned from his travels and was about to head back to the Xuanqing Sect—what exactly has happened? Senior, why are you in Kunzhong City?"
"We are fellow cultivators of the same stage now, lad. No need to call me 'Senior' anymore!" Feng Xiao said with a beaming smile. His gaze swept over Mo Tiange before he continued, "Since it's you two, there's no need to stop you. Shoujing, come with us to Kunzhong City first. Something major has indeed occurred."