NOVEL NEXT Chapter 43: Lost
"Grand Elder Zhang." Xia Yushan solemnly bowed to this legendary figure of the Huang Realm. Even though he was the sect master's personal disciple and a candidate for the next sect master, Xia Yushan knew that a single word from this woman could decide his fate. Not just him. Even his master, the sect master of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, had to treat Grand Elder Zhang with reverence.
"You haven't seen Grand Elder Xi's son either?" Grand Elder Zhang asked with a trace of irritation in her voice.
"No, I didn't meet Junior Brother Xi or Elder Meng in the trial land. None of the other disciples who entered the third trial have seen them either," Xia Yushan said.
"I understand you can return."
Xia Yushan left the room where Grand Elder Zhang and several other Immortal Realm elders, including Monarch Bloodfiend, conversed. He released the breath that he had been holding ever since entering the room.
"Yushan, what did the Elders want?" Ji Shuye, who was waiting outside the room, immediately asked after Xia Yushan closed the door behind him.
"Let's move to somewhere else first." Xia Yushan shook his head as he saw Heng Huesheng and Ji Shuye.
The trio soon moved to the same room where they had the miniature banquet with Tianyi weeks ago, but the festive mood was noticeably absent. There wasn't even any food on the table, only the tea that Ji Shuye had brewed.
"Grand Elder Zhang asked me some questions concerning Junior Brother Xi. He and Elder Meng did not return to us after we were forced out of the Immortal Court ruins," Xia Yushan said.
"Junior Brother Xi didn't return?" Ji Shuye said with a frown. "Because of the sudden collapse of the secret realm, we were in a state of chaos. I hadn't noticed that not all the disciples returned."
"From what I gathered, there are many of them who fell in the trials whether by the hands of the other sects or the dangers in the first or second trials," Heng Huosheng said. "But no one I've talked to has seen Junior Brother Xi in the trial land at all."
"Could it be that you didn't talk to anyone who met Junior Brother Xi?" Ji Shuye asked.
"I talked to almost all the disciples. The chances of none of them meeting Junior Brother Xi is extremely low. Unless he was immediately killed when he stepped into the first trial." Heng Huesheng said.
None of the three felt that this was viable. Although they had not witnessed Tianyi's full powers, it should not be lower than Wei Daiying.
Even if Tianyi's combat prowess was lacking, as the son of Grand Elder Xi, he should be carrying numerous treasures that would make him even more dangerous than most nascent soul grandmasters.
"There was one more thing, Grand Elder Zhang also asked if I saw Elder Meng in trial land." Xia Yushan added to dispel the silence.
"Elder Meng?" Ji Shuye asked with a frown. She couldn't recall who that person was.
"The Elder that was always behind Junior Brother Xi and was easily forgotten?" Heng Huesheng asked.
Xia Yushan nodded. "I don't know the exact circumstances, but Elder Meng seems to be someone Grand Elder Xi specially prepared to guard Junior Brother Xi. It isn't exactly a secret, but a few years ago, Junior Brother Xi's cultivation ran into some problems, and since then, Elder Meng has almost always been by his side."
Ji Shuye and Heng Huesheng frowned as they tried to recall the elusive elder. From their memories, they couldn't recall such a person being next to Tianyi, or if they did, their impression of them was blurry.
"I don't know if anyone else would be able to sense Elder Meng if none of us could detect her. But judging from the elders' question, it seemed that she also disappeared with Junior Brother Xi." Heng Huesheng said after some deliberation.
"Perhaps it concerns the secrets of the Immortal Court." Ji Shuye said.
"We can only wait. This matter is out of our hands. However, if Junior Brother Xi truly fell in the trial land, then Grand Elder Xi…" Xia Yushan's words were left unsaid.
The chances of Grand Elder Xi being affected should anything happen to Tianyi was extremely large. In the past, there were numerous cases of powerful experts going insane and causing massive bloodshed because their families died.
Naturally, that was one of the worse case scenarios. There were others who committed suicide in despair or had developed inner devil that turned them into berserkers.
Back in the meeting room of the leaders of the Three Heavens Connection Meeting, Monarch Bloodfiend frowned.
"I just received word that Disciple Xi's soul lamp is still lit, so he is alive."
A few of the immortals released the breath they had been holding in. At the very least, the worst-case scenario had yet to happen.
"I'm afraid Grand Elder Xi will be displeased with our action." The immortal elder who spoke suddenly stopped as he peaked at Grand Elder Zhang.
If they were to be blamed, would the biggest fault not lie with Grand Elder Zhang, the most powerful among them? Everyone thought this, but they weren't stupid enough to say it aloud.
"Perhaps Grand Elder Xi should locate Disciple Xi. For those of us in the Immortal Realm, we all have our methods of locating those with blood relations," Monarch Bloodfiend spoke, easing the sudden tension in the air.
But at this moment, Grand Elder Zhang's expression became a little sullen. "I'm afraid she won't be able to return for at least a few more months at the quickest and maybe even ten years at the latest."
Hearing those words, all the immortals in the room, including Monarch Bloodfiend, had their expressions darken. The longer it took to find Tianyi, the greater the danger he was in. And they were the ones responsible for the safety of the disciples on this trip.
Although it would highly be unlikely for Grand Elder Xi to kill them for a mere Core Formation Realm disciple, it would be very easy for her to make their lives miserable.
Xi Mengfei was someone who did not take part in the power struggles. But if she wanted something, ignoring whether what the factions would do to pull her to their side, just her status as a grand elder would be enough to make the ordinary immortals like them suffer tremendously.
Not even Monarch Bloodfiend would not be safe if Xi Mengfei wanted to seek revenge.
The only person who could withstand Grand Elder Xi's wrath in the room was the similar level expert, Grand Elder Zhang.
"This... dare I ask where Grand Elder Xi went to?" The speaker was a longtime immortal elder with speckled hair and a decayed aura.
Grand Elder Zhang glanced at the immortal elder, and he instantly shrank his neck back.
"Send word back to the sect, use any means possible to search for Xi Tianyi. The sooner, the better. Do not let outsiders know." Grand Elder Zhang commanded.
It might be easier if they openly searched Tianyi, but his status was delicate. Who knows how many people would have designs on him and not just because of his status as Sword Empress Xi's only child.
Tianyi, who had been traveling on his immortal boat for months, played with the fake pill on the table. The skin on the tip of his pointer finger was broken, and blood started to leak out from it. He led the dumb pill to roll around the table, following the blood on his finger.
After waking up after his first night upon reentering the Huang Realm, Tianyi had attained an epiphany.
Space was ever-expanding, according to his knowledge back on Earth, and the Vast Void in this universe also seemed endless. An ever-expanding space and within it contained all matter in the universe. Why not liken his body to the universe and his nine spiritual cores and the true qi of chaos as the matter and antimatter inside the universe?
Of course, this was easier said than done.
Most martial cultivation followed the concept of strengthening the body based on existing creatures. Take the Dragon Emperor Fist as an example. Although Tianyi had been cultivating to attain the same martial body as the Dragon Emperor, the result would still be him copying the constitution of a true dragon.
Spirit Rhino Fist
Arctic Bear Body
Qilin Pure Body
Nirvana Phoenix Flame
Demonic Snake Fist
All those were cultivation methods that allowed for the creation of a martial body that imitated a demon or monsters' innate abilities and body. Martial cultivation techniques based on a concept such as the Vast Void were comparatively rarer, and they were harder to cultivate. After all, demons and monsters were still composed of flesh and blood, while the Vast Void was part of the universe.
The most famous two were the Nine Yang Divine Art that allowed one to form a Pure Yang Martial Body and the Nine Yin Manual that formed the Pure Yin Spiritual Core. Luckily for Tianyi, his mother had cultivated the Nine Yin Manual, and thus he was privy to the manual, and he even memorized a portion of it.
There was a reason those two manuals were famous, and as such, he could not carry out a physical copy of it. Aside from the Eight Pillars Sect, which had both copies, most sects didn't have the complete manual for both.
Even the Buzhou Immortal Sect only had a near-complete version of the Nine Yin Manual and even a less complete version of the Nine Yang Manual. Well, that was the surface information. Who knew if any of these sects had the complete version and only said they had incomplete versions in order to not attract the ire of the Eight Pillars Sect.
Unfortunately, Tianyi was grasping in the dark, although he had some idea for what direction to take with the guidance of the Nine Yin Manual and his understanding of space.
Space Suppressing Palm
Realm Invading Sword
Those were the two arts that gave Tianyi the most help in understanding the concepts of space. Not to mention with his precarious experience with nearly having been lost in the Vast Void, he deeply engraved the experience into his bones.
But even having deduced a framework for his new martial cultivation technique, although it was all logical and stable, Tianyi couldn't help but feel that something crucial was missing. It wasn't just once or twice that he had to stop in order to figure out what was wrong.
With him spending months out on the sea, time was the most abundant resource he had. His qi issues weren't as big as a problem as before thanks to the existence of the pill.
Tianyi stopped moving his finger. The fake pill successfully rolled up to Tianyi's hand, absorbed the blood, and even sucked some blood out of the finger. After a while, Tianyi moved his finger away and healed the wound on his finger.
He held the fake pill in the palm of his hand and walked towards the front of the ship, and looked down. Tianyi saw the first landmass he had seen in the months he traveled. It was an oval-shaped island that should be over a million miles.
Well, calling it an island was a bit of a misnomer. It was large enough to be considered a continent on Earth, but in the Huang Realm, it could only be regulated as an island.
Tianyi controlled the ship towards the island. Hopefully, there will be a branch of the Cultivator Alliance. If there was then, he could make use of their teleportation formations and even send word to the Buzhou Immortal Sect. For a prince, of course.
He looked down at his clothes. Tianyi had long forgone the gold coronet on his head and instead allowed his hair to flow freely down. He no longer wore his purple robes and instead wore a black brocade robe with silver vines on it.
Right now, he was alone, and he could not communicate with any members of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. It was better to keep a low profile, and wearing a coronet that imperial royalty usually wore would be extremely eye-catching.
Not that wearing a brocade robe was any better, but it was still less eye-catching than a coronet.
Tianyi landed the immortal boat to land on the shore. After storing the immortal boat in his spatial ring, Tianyi flew in towards the island's center atop his flying sword.
After three hours, he was soon blocked by two middle-aged men in the Core Formation realm, both wore similar clothing with black circular symbols on them.
'Oh look, I just arrived, yet I'm already being greeted by the locals. How lucky I am... not!'
"Fellow daoists, can I help you?" Tianyi asked.
But the two of them said nothing and continued to observe Tianyi. Finally, the taller and more robust one chuckled.
"Heretic Zhan, just because you hid your aura, don't think you will be able to fool these old eyes!" Saying so, a gauntlet appeared on his fist, and he charged towards Tianyi.