(MC POV)
Well fuck. No portal.
Right, that shouldn't be too much of a problem, I still have my soul anchor that I can just…
Why can't I feel my soul anchor?
No… Wait a minute.
My Quarks… I can't sense them? I can't…
No, they're still there, but it seems to have been suppressed…
I reached out my hand and tried to summon a ball of light, only to have nothing appear.
I fought to suppress my rising panic attack, sucking in lungfuls of air and breathing out to calm myself.
Check it, check it first… It's fine… My Cultivation Point is still intact… I'm not crippled. I'm not crippled.
Relax… Breathe…
Breathe damn it! Stop shaking! It's fine… It's fine… I'm fine…
"Master?"
I jumped at the sudden voice.
"Master? Are you alright? Your heart rate is increasing…"
Ah, I almost forgot…
I patted my robes, "It's… I'm fine Xun Guan. Just… Just a little surprised by the situation."
"Umm… I see… The portal's gone… Where are we, Master?"
I looked up into the sky, "This should be the Spiritual Plane, no doubt about it."
"Spiritual Plane, Master? Is that the one…"
"Yes, it's another Plane of existence altogether, one level above ours, in fact. Also the one I got stuck in in my previous life."
"Ah… I see… I… I never expected the other Planes to look like… Well… This."
I chuckled, the tension of the situation leaving me, "Oh, the universe is a big one, Xun Guan. You'll be surprised by what other things are out there."
"As expected of Master."
Thanks to Xun Guan, I was able to calm myself down somewhat and focus on the situation instead of panicking.
Stretching out my hand again, I focused my senses back into my Cultivation Point, going back to the basics of materializing Techniques.
Alright, first gather the needed Pure Elemental Quarks inside the Cultivation Point, then change them into… Oh… I see now.
The Pure Elemental Quarks are responding to my commands really, really slowly, almost like they were moving through some sort of jelly. That's why I failed to summon a light ball just now.
I enforced my will on the Quarks, willing them to move as I wanted until they were all gathered in my Cultivation Point.
I changed them into the needed Light Quarks before moving them towards my outstretched arm, pushing them along my Quark veins with all my might. It felt like I was squeezing a rubber tube that had a really big ball stuck in it along.
It was slow, but it was still working.
It felt like an eternity before the Quarks finally reached my finger tips, materialising itself into the light ball that I wanted.
By then, I was gasping for air like I had just gone through some sort of vigorous exercise. All that and I only had a small light ball to show for it.
"Xun Guan… Can you still use your Techniques?" I asked after catching my breath.
My clothes ruffled and a few balls of water appeared around me.
"It seems so, Master…"
Hmm… So it's just me? What about my Star Power?
I focused my senses again, searching for the familiar power within me. I connected with it easily and the stars blinked within my vision, confirming my connection with the power.
Looking down at myself, I could see that my body was giving off a bluish white light as usual, so there wasn't anything out of the ordinary.
I reached out my hand once more and a hundred balls of light immediately appeared at where I wanted them to.
Star Power is no problem it seems, but there's no way I'm going to let myself be a bluish white light bulb the entire time.
Dematerialising the light balls, I released my hold on the Star Power and reverted back to my normal self. At least this time around, I'm not completely powerless here.
Oh right, I can just use this to return back to the Earthen Plane can't I?
I connected with the Star Power once again, using it to search for the Earthen Plane to return to. All I have to do is…
Then I stopped myself, realising I had one big problem.
How am I even supposed to do that in the first place?
I mean, I kind of know how to use this power to amplify the power of my Techniques and do all that crazy stuff, but I don't actually even know what this Star Power even is. That old lady didn't really help with explaining either and there's only so much I can find out by using it without any guidance.
For all I know, I might only be touching the tip of the iceberg for this power.
Umm… Let's see… I know that it's a Plane of existence, so if I just stretch out my senses into a planar scale then…
Woah.
All the stars were shining very brightly now, almost blindingly bright in fact.
Wait…
Are they actually not stars but individual Planes? That's way more Planes than I actually knew exist, how am I supposed to find which one is the Earthen Plane?
No, I don't think each one is an individual Plane, but I believe they are a beacon of some kind.
Well, this still doesn't change the fact that without my soul anchor to guide me, I have absolutely no idea where to go.
Not to mention the fact that there doesn't seem to be any traces of me teleporting here either, it's as though I just dropped here from the sky or something.
Am I really stuck here?
No, no, no. I just need to think about it a little bit more, there's definitely a way back, I just need to find it…
Oh! Of course! I just need to find the portal again! I already know what that crazy girl's Quark signature is like, so I just need to find her and trace back her steps, that should lead me back to the portal and a way back home!
Right, let's change the search target to her instead… Yep, got her. She's not even that far, just a few hundred kilometers north of here. I'll just fly there and…
Oh right, I can't use my Techniques anymore.
Maintaining this Star Power form is going to send a giant beacon to every Practitioner around to come investigating too. If I go there now, I'm going to get swarmed like this and the last thing I want is for people of this Plane discovering that portal's existence.
Now that I think about it, there's definitely going to be a few of them rushing to my position right now.
"Xun Guan, we're gonna bounce! Put body strengthening and invisibility on me!" I instructed, cutting off my connection to the Star Power immediately.
"Eh? Y… Yes, Master!"
She did as she was told and I immediately bolted out of there, just in time too as I saw a few people flying overhead, thankfully not seeing me.
Ugh… This has got to be the worst day so far…
I hope everyone else back home is doing well…
