"You want to tell me those dumbasses decided to move the whole race to another Realm and there is a chance that all of them died after the Realm collapsed?" Jiao asked while rubbing her forehead, looking utterly annoyed.
"Pretty much yeah. They didn't want to surrender to the Fate Kingdom so they fled to another Realm. They knew that it was unstable but they still risked it," Xuefeng added. "Of course, from what Bard told me, they should be alive. He passed me instructions and wants me to free them."
"I doubt that… It has been so many years that even if any of them are still alive, they will be old geezers by now," Jiao commented as she wondered dreamily. "Unless Bard used the same method he used on me…"
"It's possible. We will find out when we get there. I'm the only person who knows the way to enter the Ancient Realm so if you want to get there, you have to cooperate with me," Xuefeng informed.
"I will go with you," Jiao decided right away. "Even if they are dead, I need to know. It would be best if they are alive so I can kill them myself."
"See? That's exactly what I proposed at the start," Xuefeng replied with a shrug. "Let's go then."
Knowing that back in the day the Heaven Realm wasn't capped at Celestial Stage, Xuefeng didn't mind accepting Jiao to join them. Not only could he make sure that the real Jiao was okay but he could also make use of the expert inside her.
After the Fate Kingdom created the restriction on the Heaven and God Realm, most experts were forced to Ascend. The Cultivator possessing Jiao was bound to be at least above the Celestial Stage in the past for her to be stronger than him.
"Wait," Jiao stopped him before he flew away. "I don't think I will follow you for now. There is something I need to do on the surface. It has been a while since I saw the sun and I also want to check if my family is still alive."
She pulled out a communication Crystal and passed it to Xuefeng. "Contact me when you finish your matters and wish to enter the Ancient Realm. I should be ready by then."
"Are you sure you will be fine? How about you come with us first? We will be done at most in a few days," Xuefeng suggested confidently but Jiao shook her head.
"It's fine. I prefer to be alone for now. I am still yet to improve this body since it's currently too weak for me," Jiao explained as she flew away towards the main entrance. "As for my safety, don't worry. Even with this weak body, I am strong enough to take care of myself."
Bang!
Jiao only placed her palm on top of the Ice blockade before a Qi Impulse blasted it apart. She entered through the hole she created and Jiao was gone once again.
'Ah, that's so impressive. You should tell her to teach you this art. Imagine you could use such impulse together with your Dragon Claws. The damage would be insane,' Ming commented but Xuefeng already had the same idea in mind.
Ancient Race was after all one of the strongest Races. Many would die to get their hands on Ancient Race Arts.
"Are you all ready?" Xuefeng questioned and everyone nodded aside from Nuwa. She didn't seem satisfied with the current situation.
Xuefeng ignored it for now and led them towards the right tunnel he recalled from his vision. He already knew the exact path they needed to take to reach Thunder Goddess' location.
Once they set into the right formation, Xuefeng finally sneaked to Nuwa's side and whispered, "I know you two don't like each other but she is Lisa's sister and our friend. It is only natural to help her."
"That's not what I worry about. I just know that you tend to lay your hands on any woman that joins our group and all of them become your wives. I don't question your love for us but your new wives might ask themselves, is that really love you feel for them or maybe just a desire to protect them?" Nuwa pointed out as she reached out to caress his face. "Just know your limits and that you have many wives that love you."
She leaned over to kiss him softly and added, "We only have one to love while you have many. Make sure all your wives feel special."
Xuefeng couldn't argue with her words since she was telling it how it was. In the last year alone, Xuefeng accepted Bella, Katherine, Xinyu to his heart. Mona was also closely tied with him and Sena was too cute not to protect her.
What if Nuwa was right and he just felt responsible for his wives, wanting to protect them? But then again, wouldn't that be considered love? For him, love meant the willingness to do anything for the other person, even if it meant giving up his own life for them. If he was willing to do that for someone, wouldn't that mean he loved them?
Nuwa confused him with her words but thankfully, he got quickly distracted by an approaching enemy.
Rats!
Not just one, or two, but hundreds of them continued to pass horizontally through their tunnel. With how many adjusting tunnels the Hellhole had, If one didn't know their way, they would definitely end up lost.
"Let's just wait for them to pass. It seems like they don't want to bother with us," Wuying suggested as she stopped the formation.
Their group was flying while the rats were only running on the ground. Even if they were spotted, they had no way of attacking them. At least that's what they thought.
Just as Wuying spoke, the rats stopped their advance and turned their way, glaring with their bright red eyes at their group.
Squeak!
Suddenly one of them let out a noise and all others responded with loud squeaking. Instead of following their original path, they rushed towards them with a hungry gaze.
"Oh damn, " Xuefeng commented out loud, seeing his thinking was flawed. The rats had no problems climbing the walls and even filled the ceiling, ready to jump right down at them.
"Are we fighting them?" Ryan questioned seriously as he pulled out his long sword. "We can still back away towards the entrance."
Even the fighting enthusiast like him was hesitating and it was understandable. Each rat was a meter long while their white teeth looked as sharp as their swords. It wouldn't be an issue if it was just a few of them but there were hundreds and thousands of them spilling out from the tunnels. There didn't seem to be an ending to their swarm.
"This…" To Ryan's surprise, no one from the group seemed to do anything, causing him to look at them strangely. "Hello? Why are you not reacting?"
"Oh, I forgot you are new," Xuefeng realized as he smiled amused. "Don't worry about anything. You see, when it comes to beasts, we have our expert to handle it for us."
"Huh?" Ryan tilted his head confused when Yiren finally came forward with a bright smile on her face.
"Ah! You are so cute!"
Ryan's eyes widened only to watch as Yiren raised her palm and cried out loudly.
"Stop!"
It was an unbelievable sight to suddenly see all the Rats halt their advance as if Yiren was their Queen.
"Everyone get down and line up!" Yiren ordered again, her eyes shining with golden light. She flew down towards the Rats and stood in front of the orderly lines of the Rat army.
"..." Ryan was speechless, not expecting such a result. "But how…?"
Xuefeng only shrugged as he patted his shoulder. "Did you think that I protect my wives because I'm the most powerful member of our group? It's the opposite. They are the ones taking care of me."
He pointed at Yiren who was petting the Rats on the heads. "My cutie Yiren can tame any Beast and if she wanted, she could even tame you. There has not been a single beast that could resist her charm."
"So powerful…" Ryan reacted while staring at Yiren in disbelief. "Even when she doesn't use her power on me, I can still feel it."
"Xuefeng, can I keep them?!" Yiren called out excitedly as she sat down on one of the biggest Rat from the group. "This Rat King says they want to follow me."
"Sure baby, as long as you are happy," Xuefeng called back before whispering to Ryan, "If you work hard, maybe you won't be weaker than my wives but for now, you have to enjoy the last place."
After bragging, Xuefeng led everyone to join Yiren's side. How could he resist? He was the proudest husband out there with all his wives being having top talent. Ryan wouldn't be able to handle any of them at full power.