Chapter 137: Crossing the Border
"I will not let this rest!" The Immortal Shen muttered through his gritted teeth. His eyes were bloodshot, and he glared at Xu Min with such hostility that if looks could kill, then Xu Min would have died multiple times over.
But looks could not kill, and between this Shen figure and Xu Min stood quite a few Immortals. After staring at Xu Min for a short while, the Immortal Shen turned into a beam of light and vanished into the distance.
"Now that has been sorted out, we can deal with this wayward student of ours," Mu Jianyao stated. Her words caused a strained, guilty smile to appear on Xu Min's face.
"Not yet," another of the cloaked men interjected. He looked at the two Immortals from the opposite side of the border. They were standing still, looking at each other, knowing full well that if they made the wrong decision now, their fates would be sealed.
"We were just here because of the uncertainty of what the united families were doing," one of them said nonchalantly shrugging his shoulders.
"We never believed that it could have something to do with such a young man as him. Whatever he chooses to do, we will not interfere. Now that the united families have withdrawn so will we."
The two Immortals bowed quickly and turned to leave. Their voices spread over the entire border as they yelled out, "Retreat! There is nothing left here."
The hooded Immortals then all turned to the sheepish looking Xu Min who scratched his head awkwardly, "long time no see guys," he greeted them casually. Mu Jianyao suddenly flew down and hit Xu Min hardon his head, sending him flying hundreds of meters before he finally came to a stop.
"Did you have to hit me this hard!?" Xu Min mumbled to himself. However, when he saw Mu Jianyao slowly walk towards him, he was secretly happy. Although the hit seemed to have been hard, he had not sustained serious injuries. Most importantly, though, thanks to these Immortals he was still alive.
"Student greets master," Xu Min said with a bow. He struggled to his feet and saw Mu Jianyao was moving towards him. Though he could not see her face, he could guess that she was wearing a murderous expression.
"Running away like that, did you have fun?" his master asked with a dangerous sweetness in her voice. The sound was as calm as the clearest lake, but it left a feeling of fear and disaster within Xu Min as he gently backed away.
"Dear master, you would not kill your student because of such a minor mistake would you?" He asked tentatively, wondering if he had come out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Just as Mu Jianyao lifted her hand again, another cloaked person stepped in between them.
"We are here because it is partly our fault that you left the academy," he said; though, he did not sound very apologetic at all. "We understand that we pushed you too far and because of this you felt alienated."
"We also remember our statement. Everything that happens in the Immortal Valley cannot be blamed on anyone. Yet they still dared to question our authority. Consequently, it was their fault."
"Considering all these things, we decided to let you leave. It was clear to us that you had something unresolved you needed to finish. Nevertheless, since they framed you and even put up such a big display as this, it was time for us to prove, that we, as the strongest faction within the Immortal Ruins, does not only exist in name."
"We are going to let you go to deal with what you have to do," Mu Jianyao finally said, trying to control the rage in her from being abandoned by her student.
"Although we are letting you deal with your unfinished business, you are not allowed to forget that you belong to our academy. You are one of us. No matter what happens and what you do, you can always come back and live with us."
"As a matter of fact, you still haven't graduated! We hope that you will return to us when you finish whatever it is that cannot wait for you to take care of."
Listening to Mu Jianyao, Xu Min's heart went warm. He had never before felt that he had a place to call home since he had left the Zhong Family all those years ago. Yet now he felt that there was a place where he could return to. A place where someone would wait for him.
Xu Min felt so giddy and happy; he could not control a big smile from forming on his face as he nodded his head, "I will definitely return!" He swore out loud with excitement. Mu Jianyao just nodded her head and muttered, "you better," emotionally.
"We will not trouble you any further," another of the hooded guards exclaimed. "We will not follow you and protect you nor will we save your life again. If you run into other Immortals, do your best not to be noticed and pray for survival. We will be busy dealing with the united families."
Xu Min nodded his head gratefully, but Mu Jianyao was silent for some time, "I will follow him for a bit longer," she said inadvertently, "I don't trust those people from the other side of the border. They might try something, so I will protect him. Although I am alone, they will not dare attack me knowing I have friends close by who can come and take vengeance for me."
"Do what you must," a hooded immortal said. Moments after Xu Min felt how he was being picked up from the ground. The world flew past him so swiftly that he could barely make up what he was seeing.
"I will deliver you to a safe location. Where you go from there is your problem," she said, but her voice was no longer gruff but filled with care and consideration.
"Did you really have to leave like that? You really made me worried," she continued. Xu Min could not help but feel guilty as he shook his head, "I felt that I was no longer welcomed in the sect." he said truthfully. "I felt that the sect leader and the elders were being biased against me. Their treatment made me think that I would never get the same rank as the other members of the sect. Only now do I understand just how mistaken I was."
"So you understood that you were mistaken?" Mu Jianyao sounded joyed, "You see, you are special, and they only wanted to see what would happen if you were pushed to the limits. No one expected what would happen, but I think it has made us understand you more."
"And although I haven't seen you for some time, you are already an eight-star Warrior! Your speed of advancing is simply frightening. Not even I would be able to do such a thing!"
"Well, I did eat a pill of transcendence," Xu Min said, scratching his head. He felt that Mu Jianyao almost fell down in shock.
"Where did you get such a legendary pill?! They are basically impossible to get your hands on. Even if you have the money, they are simply extinct."
Xu Min hid nothing as he told Mu Jianyao what had happened in the Blood Pagoda. Upon hearing everything, his master hit him once more on the top of his head, "you reckless fool!" she exclaimed. However, she was not as angry as before. "Don't you understand how risky it was to meet your heart demon with such a terrible hate you carried around with you? To think that you actually succeeded, I am simply astonished!"
Xu Min said nothing, but he could not but smile. Soon Mu Jianyao flew lower and lower, so low that she eventually just let go of Xu Min and the young man fell from the skies down to the ground.
"Don't forget to come back to us," were her last words before she turned around and flew back the way she had come from.
Xu Min, who had landed in the middle of a forest, did not waste any time. Although he had just fallen from the sky, he knew that the two Immortals might be following behind. If he stayed in the same position, then it was likely he would become their target. Consequently, he started rushing away from the place where he had fallen.
Xu Min had run for three days straight, and now both Cao Cao and Ye Ling were by his side. No longer were they hiding in the jade satchel but freed. The three friends felt euphoric that they had left the Ruins of the Immortals.
Cao Cao was excited to be going home soon while Ye Ling was just super excited about leaving the Immortal Ruins and helping Xu Min gain his revenge.
"Help!" someone's voice suddenly sounded out through the forest, and the closer Xu Min got, the clearer he could hear the sound of fighting. Just before reaching the fighting ground he jumped into a tree to have a good overview.
As he looked, he saw that in front of him was a group of seven younger people who were fighting against two polar silver collared bears.
These bears were incredibly strong. Even though there were seven of the humans, they were clearly at a disadvantage.
The humans were around the six-star warrior rank with the leader being a seven-star warrior.
The leader was tangling with one of the bears alone, but he was incapable of controlling both of them at the same time. The second was running wild, its paw swinging down, bringing injury after injury to the cultivators.
There was still no fatalities, but there were plenty of broken bones and serious injuries as they were being attacked.
"I better help them out. Then they can help me with visiting a close by city. After I will be able to figure out where I am and which way to go to reach the Zhong family again." Xu Min mumbled to himself, and he lifted his hand.
Wind blades and sword light flashed on his hand. Upon moving his hand, a wind blade faster than the eye could see flashed through the clearing. Moments after the head of the bear separated from its neck and fell to the ground.
"Who's there?!" the humans called out in fear.Xu Min slowly revealed himself. "Sorry I am here," he said politely. "I saw a few people busy fighting and could not help but assist. Don’t worry I am not after the beast or its best core. You can keep it all as you wish." He said with a smile. The mercenaries quickly started to like him.
"Please help our leader!" someone called out. Xu Min shrugged his shoulders and sent another wind blade towards the remaining bear. These bears were equal to seven-star warriors; they were simply powerless against his strength.
