Once the dark shadow died, You XiaoMo was transported out. He thought that since he had only stayed inside for a year, the time passed outside shouldn’t have been that different. But the truth was far from it.
By the time he appeared again, he was no longer in the same grand hall that was used for the competition, but another, bigger, as if holy place, with two dark red pillars stretching out far into the distance. It embodied a solemn and imposing atmosphere, one couldn’t help but hold it in reverence.
You XiaoMo rubbed his arm, all he felt was his hair standing in uneasy. Where was the others, why was he here, shouldn’t he be in the competition hall?
He looked around and finally saw on the high seat about two hundred meters away stood a blurry image, seemingly a person.
In this unknown situation, where he didn’t know if they were friend or foe, You XiaoMo’s adventurous spirit wasn’t very high. Rather than solving his curiosity, he prefered to find Ling XIao, fast.
After that one look, he looked away and headed towards the gate. If Ling XIao knew he disappeared, he would definitely come find him.
Fifteen minutes later, You XiaoMo realized that something was wrong.
Even though the exit was right in front of him, no matter how he walked, he wasn’t getting near it, as if he hadn’t moved an inch. That’s when he stopped moving. Someone had definitely set up a restriction, by the looks of things, they didn’t want him to get out.
You XiaoMo turned around to look at the person in the high ground, that person was waiting for him to go, right? Even though he was a bit annoyed, for the sake of seeing Ling Xiao, he had to hold it in.
Once he got closer, he could finally make out their features.
Flawless, handsome, with features that released a sharp, distinctive force of a someone with power. He had definitely seen this man before, even if it was just once, he could tell instantly who they were.
The Tong Tian Emperor; the man in charge of the Tong TIan Palace.
This was the man who brought him here?
You XiaoMo thought vigilantly. He had never been in contact with the Tong Tian Emperor, even back in the Time Wall, he just saw a statue. But, thinking about the content of the second exam, he felt that the whole thing was fishy.
Just then, the man on the throne, Tong Tian Emperor, slowly opened his eyes, bright and terrifying. It felt as if he wasn’t looking at anything, just like that statue, as if no one else was human, just pests. He was really disgusted by that attitude.
You XiaoMo’s first impression of him went down the drain, but even if one was losing, they must not lose in vigor. So he pumped up his chest, held his head up high and looked coldly at the Emperor.
“For you, your man and your dad, every once in a while, they would come to Tong Tian Palace and make a scene. For a whole entire year, now at least tens of people have died or gotten hurt…” The Tong Tian Emperor’s mystic voice slowly appeared in the grand hall. His voice was very nice to listen to, it was deep and euphonious. Even though what his saying wasn’t pleasant, he said it in a pleasant tone, as if he didn’t care for the death or damage.
You XiaoMo wasn’t happy about it in the slightest. From his perspective, he stayed in that world for a year, and a year passed here as well. A year to just pass like that without a reason, he was a bit pissed.
“Oh really, then congratulations. I’m going to say this straight out, where are the others? Did you capture them too? Also, what do I have to go for you to let go of me? If you’re a man then give it to me straight, don’t beat around the bush.”
“Then, rest assured, just stay here.” After he said that, the Tong Tian Emperor disappeared. Really, very very ‘not beating around the bush’ to the extreme!
Rest assured, the fuck!
You XiaoMo couldn’t help but want to swear. What happened in that year? From what he heard of the Tong Tian Palace, he had believed it to be a very fair place, but now, what? Just completely ignoring his rights and making him stay here? Did he really think he was someone who he could just mess with without a consequence? Just you wait, he was going to make you regret it!
In actuality, the Tong Tian Palace had announced to the outside world that You XiaoMo had died in the second round.
Not just him, a few others didn’t come out either. They were also announced to be dead.
Of course Ling Xiao didn’t believe it, he knew what kind of person You XiaoMo was. If what the Tong Tian Palace said was true, then the other’s death was understandable, since they were grade one or two mages, but You XiaoMo was a solid grade four mage. Thus, he was sure that the Tong Tian Palace had held him in captivity.
At that time, things got pretty crazy, Ling Xiao went berserk and destroyed many of the Tong Tian Palace’s structures. Since he was an Emperor beast, his fighting power was much stronger than most Sacred Realms, so it was only when the Tong Tian Emperor appeared, did Ling Xiao back off wounded.
However, he didn’t give up. He sweared that as long as the Palace didn’t hand over You XiaoMo, he would not let them have a day of rest. Ever since then, Ling Xiao changed tactics. Instead of fighting them head on, he decided to harass them every once in a while, with the son-loving-You QiJun.
Although the Tong Tian Palace had a lot of Sacred Realms, there were more Divine Realms, so with Ling Xiao and You QiJun being Sacred Realms, sneaking up to them was easy enough. Also, they had two restriction-eating-Golden-Winged-Insects. When You XiaoMo attended the competition, he didn’t bring them along so they stayed in the Ghost Tomb Mountain Range.
When the Tong Tian Emperor said there were tens of people dead and hurt, that was just a part of it. Ling Xiao and You QiJun not only targeted believers of the Tong Tian Palace, but also their architecture, magic herb fields, pill refining rooms, etc. Any place that was worth something.
Even though the Emperor talked about it calmly, in reality, the lost this year was massive for the Palace. But it was already at this point, could he hand over You XiaoMo? Of course not.
Originally, if You XiaoMo was nicely replaced by that dark shadow then nothing would happen, but unexpectedly, not only was he someone with a strong-will, he also didn’t have any weak-points. The dark shadow waited for a year before finding an opportunity, and even then, he was killed instead. With that, there was no way the Emperor was going to let You XiaoMo leave.
In the Tong Tian Palace, You XiaoMo, who was trapped in the restriction, wasn’t going to sit around and wait for his death. Being trapped here without a reason felt very uncomfortable. Although he wanted to know why the Palace targeted him, maybe they had some secret plan, but currently, getting out was the priority.
You XiaoMo leaned on the iron bars. The restrictions here seemed to all have been set-up by a Sacred Realm practitioner, mostly likely the Emperor themselves. With his strength, there was no way he could break through them. Suddenly, he was reminded of Ping Pong, if he had known that this was going to happen, he would have brought them along.
That day, when the the Tong Tian Emperor left, he was transported to a different location.
It was a prison that held quite a few prisoners. There were only a few yellow lamps in the hallway. Although the light was dim, the cells were quite clean.
The prisoners here were even stronger than the ones held in the Vermillion Blood Clan Forbidden Area. However, a few of them seemed to have a phenomena where their levels decreased.
You XiaoMo thought that it probably had to do with this place not having any spiritual energy, without it, one couldn’t cultivate. That along with the despair and seeing no end in sight, probably caused their cultivation levels to fall.
Luckily, You XiaoMo thought to himself, he had a dimension, but clearly he was happy a bit too early. When he tried to grab a bottle of magic pill from the dimension, it didn’t react and nothing appeared on his hand.
What’s going on?
You XiaoMo freaked out, then no matter how he tried to connect with the dimension, it didn’t respond, like dead water. Without any response, he was suddenly flustered!
“Young man, don’t try anymore, other than restricting spiritual energies, dimensions are also restricted. No matter how much you try, it’s pointless.” The one in the cell next door knew from his gestures what he was doing, but he didn’t know that You XiaoMo’s dimension was special so he wasn’t surprised.
You XiaoMo turned around to find a man with an unkempt appearance. He didn’t know how long he had been imprisoned but his whole face was covered by a beard. Even if he couldn’t tell what the others looked like, if he was kind enough to alert him, he could probably tell him a lot of things.
You XiaoMo quickly leaned over, “Da-ge, do know where this place is?”
The man took a look at him from head to toe and said with his arm crossed behind his head, “By the looks of it, another one who doesn’t know anything and was captured. Once you’re here then don’t think of getting out. Be prepared at all times, maybe the next would be you.”
“What next?” You XiaoMo asked in a hurry.
The man glanced at him and suddenly smiled, “What’s next other than death? Even if you don’t know anything, they wouldn’t let you live.”
“Then we can only wait for death?” You XiaoMo asked once more, unwilling to give up. If possible, he didn’t want to rely on Ling Xiao to save him. He had to work hard too, after all, the reputation of the Tong Tian Palace was quite high in the Tong Tian Continent.
He had initially thought the man would reply yes, after all, he looked to been here for a while. If there was a way to escape, he would have done it a long time ago. But, he didn’t reject it out right and said in a calm tone, “Who knows, maybe there is a way, but we just haven’t figured it out yet.”
In truth, that was the same as not saying anything, but You XiaoMo didn’t bother refuting. If there was a way, he was going to find it no matter what.
It was then when a series of footsteps could be heard along the corridor. After a while, three people appeared in the hallway completely covered by white robes.
