Aksai took a deep breath.
The risks were immense, but the potential rewards…
This could be the key to advancing his cultivation by leaps and bounds, to understanding the Heretic Dao on a deeper level.
And with Yelia’s cryptic words the previous night, he couldn’t help but feel this was the path he needed to take.
“The once-in-a-lifetime opportunity you promised… it was more for you than for me, wasn’t it?” Aksai sighed. He had to admit he’d underestimated Haitin, despite his efforts not to.
Haitin’s thought process was as layered as Nolan’s Inception. There weren’t just surface-level intentions behind his actions—there were deeper, more intricate implications.
It was mentally exhausting to deal with such a man.
Aksai wondered if his enemies felt the same kind of fatigue when they interacted with him.
Haitin didn’t refute Aksai’s words. Instead, he simply asked, “Will you go?”
Aksai replied, “I’ll go.”
Haitin smiled, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I knew you would.”
Haitin snapped his fingers, and within moments, the distant cries of eagles echoed in the sky. Aksai looked up to see a group of giant, majestic eagles approaching, their wings cutting through the air as they descended.
Riding on them were a handful of Spirit cultivators, each carrying a dignified air and the sharp focus typical of Foundation Building Experts.
Compared to the sect elders who usually accompanied Haitin out in the open and even from the shadows, these elders were a bit weaker. It seemed that these were either the newly promoted sect elders or those from the older generation who had exhausted their potential after achieving breakthrough into the Foundation Building realm.
‘All of them are Initial-stage Foundation Building Experts. They seem to be as many as fireflies in the night sky. How many Foundation Building Experts do major organizations usually have?’ Aksai wondered in his heart but quickly let go of those thoughts.
The eagles landed gracefully not too far from where Aksai and Haitin stood, kicking up a cloud of dust as their massive wings flapped. The Spirit cultivators dismounted with practiced ease, their movements fluid and precise.
They all wore dark robes adorned with the Black Blood Demon Sect’s insignia. Aksai quickly sized them up— despite the fact that they were all in the initial-stage of the 2dn realm, each of them had a strong presence, their auras brimming with power. They weren’t just any cultivators; they were well trained experts from the sect sent for a mission.
Among them, a familiar face caught Aksai’s attention.
Lini Lowanfield—formerly Lian Hua, his ex-teammate. She stood out not just because of her history with him but because of her current state. Her cultivation base was still sealed, leaving her vulnerable and defenseless.
She was shackled in runic bindings, the intricate patterns glowing faintly as they restricted her movement. Her posture was stiff, though her eyes betrayed no emotion. Unlike before, her mouth wasn’t sealed this time.
She could speak if she wished to, but Aksai noticed that she had chosen silence. Maybe it was her way of coping with the situation, or maybe she understood that any words spoken now would be futile.
‘This is good. I don’t have the mood to listen to someone crying in my ears,’ Aksai thought. He indeed knew why she was brought here. It should be related to the commitment he had made to Haitin previously.
It seemed that Haitin was eager to get rid of the potential time bomb now that he was about to host a wedding with Siya Solaris. He needed to send a dowry gift to Siya’s father– the Sun Ocean Lord and invite him into the Wild Devil Lands on his own accords.
Haitin didn’t want to let the Green Glory Lord make use of this opportunity to barge in as well. He had to get rid of the reason that might give him a legitimized way to do so.
Haitin looked at Aksai before speaking further.
“These are some of the sect elders from my sect who will accompany you, brother Aksai,” Haitin said casually, gesturing toward the group of cultivators.
“The special place is quite far from here, and you’ll need to ride a giant flying eagle to reach it before the sun sets. Time is of the essence.”
Haitin’s gaze then shifted to Lini, who stood at the back, her eyes averted but alert.
“And of course, Lini Lowanfield will also accompany you. You promised to make her disappear from the Dadangar Subcontinent, and so, I’ll leave that matter in your hands. You can do as you see fit with her.”
Haitin’s words carried a sharp edge as he continued.
“If you wish to use her as a disposable pawn while exploring the mystical place, that’s entirely up to you. But I wouldn’t recommend it.” He paused, a knowing look in his eyes.
“Her master, as you know, has his own methods. If Lini were to vanish within that place, it could draw unwanted attention. Even though the mysterious place is special, we ourselves are not.
There are a lot of ways a Core Formation Lord can trigger the runes on Lini’s body. We would have made her disappear on our own if it wasn’t for that. Of course, we have sealed her cultivation base and even regulated her heartbeats manually to make Green Glory Lord not take notice of her. But sooner or later, he’ll come to know.
You might want to take action before the Green Glory Lord activates those 3rd-order runes on her. We must be cautious, even in such matters.”
Aksai’s eyes flicked toward Lini. She didn’t look at him, nor did she say anything.
It was strange seeing her like this for her—once a comrade, now bound and silenced, caught in the web of sect politics and personal agendas.
Aksai also hadn’t forgotten their past, but the circumstances now were beyond simple camaraderie. She was a complication, an obligation handed to him by Haitin, and how he handled her would reflect on him in the future.
Haitin’s smile was sharp, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “I trust you’ll know what to do, brother Aksai.”
Aksai let out a slow breath, contemplating his next steps. The eagles waited, their sharp eyes gleaming in the light of the early morning.
Aksai had a lot of questions to ask Haitin. For example, where Siya Solaris was and when the two would get married. What would he do with the Sun Ocean Lord? How was he going to establish a form of cooperation with him and his sect?
In the end, however, Aksai decided not to ask them. If he were to ask these questions to Haitin, he might make some other moves using him as the bait.
Aksai didn’t want to face a Core Formation Lord as well. He would rather prefer disappearing from the scene before the Sun Ocean Lord arrives at Haitin’s doorstep.
It would be a lie to say that Aksai wasn’t curious. However, the Spirit farmer knew how to leash such a curiosity.
Aksai then turned to Haitin, giving a slight nod.
“Let’s go,” Aksai said, his voice steady. The time for hesitation had passed. Whatever lay ahead, he would face it head-on.
***
A few minutes later.
Aksai and Lini sat together on the back of a giant flying eagle, its powerful wings beating rhythmically as it soared through the sky.
The wind whipped past them, carrying with it the faint scent of morning dew and distant forests. Aksai couldn’t help but glance at Lini, who remained silent, her expression unreadable.
Aksai didn’t care what Lini felt about him.
He did have a way to deal with Lini silently. However, the time wasn’t right for him to make a move. As such, he pushed Lini’a matter to the back of his mind.
Below them, the landscape shifted rapidly as they sped through the sky. Verdant forests gave way to rugged hills and jagged cliffs, then to open plains that stretched out as far as eyes could see them beneath the morning sun.
Aksai leaned slightly over the edge of the eagle, watching it all rush by with a mix of awe and curiosity.
‘I wonder if I’ll ever get a flying mount of my own,’ he mused, feeling the exhilaration of soaring through the skies on the back of such a majestic creature.
The sensation of flight was different from anything he’d experienced before. He had flown on a sword before, sure—but this was something else entirely.
Riding a flying sword had its own merits, but it was draining. The amount of Spirit essence needed to maintain flight was immense, especially for someone in the early stages of the Foundation Building realm like Aksai.
A few hours of sustained flight on a sword would leave him exhausted. Plus, a sword was nothing more than an object—it had no awareness, no instincts. A flying beast like this eagle, however, was different.
The eagle seemed to understand where it was going without much instruction. Its powerful muscles tensed and relaxed with each movement, adjusting its flight path naturally, leaving Aksai free to enjoy the ride without worrying about steering.
“Flying mounts are something else,” Aksai muttered to himself, half-smiling as he took in the view. He could feel the eagle’s heartbeat beneath him, steady and powerful, like the thrum of an engine.
It was as if he was driving a very expensive sports car. An automated sports car that didn’t need him behind its wheels, which irked him and fascinated him at the same time.