Rustle!
Di Ling’er and Qi Qingchen both knew who this ‘her’ was. Di Ling’er could not withstand it any longer, and tears streamed down her face. Qi Qingchen turned around, her eyes red. Yi Buhui said in a cool tone, “I won’t kowtow for you. Go and do it on your own!”
“Keke!”
Jiang Yi laughed, not saying anything more. He turned to take big strides out. At the door, he shouted, “Heavenly King Long, I’ll have to trouble you to send me on this journey. Everyone else, stay behind!”
Heavenly King Long followed behind Jiang Yi while the rest of them stayed at the door. They did not chase after him. Instead, they watched as Jiang Yi and Heavenly King Long entered the Sword Emanations Mystic Realm’s Teleportation Formation.
Jiang Yi and Heavenly King Long were gone. They had to come back because they still had to teleport to the Purgatory Mystic Realm. Many people including Yi Buhui, Qi Qingchen, and the others continued to stand on the city plaza, quietly waiting for Jiang Yi to return and then seeing him off once again.
Ten hours later!
The Teleportation Formation flashed white. Jiang Yi and Heavenly King Long were back. Jiang Yi’s soul spirit was not strong. After they returned, his head began to hurt; and he felt dizzy. Still, he did not open his eyes. Instead, he whispered to Heavenly King Long and said, “Send me to the Purgatory Mystic Realm!”
Swish!
Heavenly King Long led Jiang Yi into a single Teleportation Formation. The formation lit up as Jiang Yi kept his back towards the city. He did not see Qi Qingchen, Di Ling’er, or the Poison Spirit. It was almost as if he was heartless. He did not even want to give them a final farewell.
Qi Qingchen and the others knew, however, that Jiang Yi was only doing this to harden his own heart. He wanted to forget and give up everything else, so that he could enter the Purgatory Mystic Realm ruthlessly. That was the only chance he had of surviving.
Swish!
Just as Jiang Yi and Heavenly King Long wanted to leave, a green figure flew up into the sky from the city. The man’s hair danced around, his aura sharp as a blade. As he floated in midair, he turned to look at Jiang Yi with an eagle-like gaze. In a low voice, he shouted, “Jiang Yi, I don’t like you, but… you must survive and come back. Otherwise, my younger sister will be very upset.”
Jiang Yi, whose eyes had been closed the entire time, suddenly opened his eyes in shock. The corner of his mouth tilted upwards as he smiled gently at the man. Still, he said nothing. At that moment, a beam of light shot out of the Teleportation Formation, causing both Heavenly King Long and Jiang Yi to disappear into it.
“Heavenly King Wu gave orders for the Teleportation Formation to be sealed. We will only activate it again three days later!”
A commander guarding the Teleportation Formation suddenly shouted as more than then soldiers employed their special techniques to deactivate the Teleportation Formation. Multi-colored streams of light appeared, and the light from the Teleportation Formation dissipated. At last, the light was completely gone. The Teleportation Formation was sealed.
Qi Qingchen, Di Ling’er, the Poison Spirit, and the others’ expressions were completely dark as well. The sealing of the Teleportation Formation seemed like the closing of a coffin. The entire group expected to be separated from Jiang Yi by life and death. There would probably be no hope of them meeting again.
…
Buzz!
Jiang Yi had no idea how long he had traveled this time. At the very least, this distance seemed to be several times longer than that between Earth Emanations Domain and Saint Spirit Domain. Jiang Yi’s head was heavy and dizzy; he felt like he was about to pass out at any moment. When his feet finally touched the ground, his legs turned to jelly; and he fell on his behind, panting.
“Sigh…”
Heavenly King Long turned to look at Jiang Yi’s deathly pale face which was covered in beads of cold perspiration. His heart hurt slightly for him. At a cultivation stage like that and at such an age, was Jiang Yi sure that he could hang in there for three days? An extremely talented prodigy was about to be destroyed just like that. Although he did not really like Jiang Yi that much, he still felt like it would be an absolute waste.
He did not wake Jiang Yi up by force. Instead, he waited patiently for Jiang Yi to catch his breath. Jiang Yi sat on the ground for a full hour before the color started to flow back into his face. He still did not open his eyes. Instead, he sat up, cross-legged, and began to cultivate. He wanted his energy and power to reach their peak.
Another hour passed, and Jiang Yi finally opened his eyes. He began to take in the so-called scariest mystic realm in the Earth Domain!
“Uh…”
The surroundings alone caused the hairs on Jiang Yi’s neck to stand. At that moment, they were atop a mountain. There was a warm, protective layer of light around the peak of the mountain, protecting the Teleportation Formation which they emerged from. Compared to the surroundings, however, their spot looked more like a lighthouse which could help little children find their way home.
This was because… they were surrounded by darkness which looked like thick, black ink. There was not one shred of light in the darkness. It was so dark that Jiang Yi began to feel fear in his heart. Everything was so quiet that he was beginning to panic. He felt like he was in the mouth of a huge beast; if he went any further in, he might be ground to pieces.
Apart from Heavenly King Long, there was only one other person on the peak of the mountain. This person was a King-Ranked martial artist, comparable to the guard of the Dao Heaven Mystic Realm. He, too, sat cross-legged in a corner, showing no sign of life. One could easily mistake him for a stone carving.
Heavenly King Long sat next to that elder. When he realized that Jiang Yi was awake, he shot him a look, which Jiang Yi understood at once. Jiang Yi immediately bowed three times towards the elder who was protecting the Teleportation Formation. Elders who guarded mystic realms normally did not have much longer to live. They were probably reaching the end of their lives, and yet they inevitably felt resentful of this. That explained why they wanted to find quiet places where they could train and cultivate or die alone.
“Jiang Yi, you can enter the mystic realm whenever you wish. Three days later, if you can make it back here, you would be considered to have passed the test. If three days is not up, you cannot come back here. Even if you die nearby, I will not bother about you!”
Heavenly King Long’s cold voice sounded, and Jiang Yi nodded. He did not move immediately. Instead, he took out his black pearl and retrieved a handwritten letter from inside it. It contained information about the Purgatory Mystic Realm, which Qi Qingchen had given him.
He continued to sit cross-legged as he began to read it. Heavenly King Long did not rush him either. In any case, whether Jiang Yi left sooner or later made no difference. He had to spend a full three days in the mystic realm, or he would not be able to make it back.
Jiang Yi stared at the letter for a long time, trying to remember every single word it contained. The more he read, the heavier his heart became. He guessed that the Wintry Sovereign himself had written this letter for him; the words looked like they were written with forceful and violent strokes, scribbled out like dragons and snakes. The letter described in detail the situation, the dangers, and the methods to avoid these dangers in the Purgatory Mystic Realm.
The Wintry Sovereign never appeared in the end. When Jiang Yi left, he did not come and send him off either. Yet, this gift still gave Jiang Yi a feeling of warmth. This was a life-saving treasure.
He memorized every single word in the letter before he looked up and scanned his pitch-black surroundings. Sucking in a deep breath, he stood up and said gently, “Heavenly King Long, I’m going!”
“Go then!”
Heavenly King Long waved his hand and then paused for a second before he said, “Survive!”
“Hehe!”
Jiang Yi grinned. “Don’t worry, Heavenly King Long. Havoc-wreakers like me usually have long lives. If I do survive this and make it back, I’ll give you many headaches for sure.”
“Hahaha!”
Heavenly King Long was beginning to like Jiang Yi more and more. After laughing out loud, he said, “Go ahead, go ahead. I will wait for you to come back and wreak havoc for us.”
Swish!
Jiang Yi jumped from the ground and flew out of the protective layer of light, into the wilderness of darkness. He did not wait for even a second and charged forward at terrifying speed. Almost immediately, he disappeared from Heavenly King Long’s sights.
Buzz!
Once Jiang Yi left, the elderly guardian who resembled a stone statue suddenly opened his eyes and turned to look in the direction that Jiang Yi had flown. He uttered, “Long Kuang, you people dared to let such a good seedling like him in? You’re too ruthless, aren’t you?”
Heavenly King Long smiled bitterly but did not bother offering any explanation. Instead, he began to meditate silently, waiting to see if Jiang Yi would return after three days or… be stuck in endless darkness.
