Translator: Jon
Editor: Silavin
After leaving the Imperial Sect, Huang Liang headed straight to the north.
The further he moved forward, the more uneasy he felt, for he had a feeling that a calamity was just around the corner.
When he looked in the north, there seemed to be some blood light shooting into the sky, and the souls of the deceased howled in pain. He had done some divination in the past few days, and all the signs showed him that a disaster was about to happen.
[What’s going on in the north?]
Before Li Sa passed away, he had detected something. However, he was already at his last breath, so he didn’t get to tell Huang Liang about it, and he soon left for the other world.
That was the reason Huang Liang insisted on heading to the north.
His Master was only concerned about the presence of Heavenly Gully in that direction.
Unlike the average cultivator in Soaring Dragon Boundary, Huang Liang, who was from a top Sect, was aware of some secrets.
It had been eight hundred years since the Heavenly Gully appeared. Although its presence didn’t seem to be any influence on Soaring Dragon Boundary, the entire world had been transformed silently. Under the influence, the limit of the cultivators continuously lowered from the Divine Ocean Realm to the Real Lake Realm, and it was now the Cloud River Realm.
There might come a day when there would no longer be any cultivators.
In fact, not long after the Heavenly Gully appeared, a Divine Ocean Realm Master from the Imperial Sect performed divination and discovered that a calamity would take place in a thousand years.
Unfortunately, the Senior had only managed to tell them the divinatory sign. He passed away before he could say more.
However, the divinatory sign had been passed down over eight hundred years within the Imperial Sect. In each generation, only the Sect Master and the top Elders were aware of it.
After making some calculations, Huang Liang realised that even though it hadn’t been a thousand years since the Heavenly Gully appeared, it was about time to verify if the divinatory sign was true.
In that case, it would be a catastrophe for the Soaring Dragon Boundary.
Nevertheless, until now, no one in the martial world of Soaring Dragon Boundary had figured out what the Heavenly Gully was.
If a calamity was about to happen, how were they supposed to fend it off? What was the calamity suggested in the divinatory sign?
As such, Huang Liang had to see it for himself and find out more.
“Hmm?” He suddenly turned to look in a particular direction, only to see a man in a green robe seated in a gazebo. The man was holding a book, and he seemed engrossed in it.
The moment Huang Liang registered the man’s presence, he could see nothing else but him. The voice of the man reading out loud sounded near Huang Liang’s ears as well.
The figure expanded before his eyes as a sense of righteousness spread across the place, making the person look like a deity.
“He is…”
Huang Liang quickly turned around and flew towards the gazebo. When he arrived, he landed on the ground and saluted the man. “Greetings, Senior Liu. I’m Huang Liang from the Imperial Sect.”
If any cultivator in Soaring Dragon Boundary saw that, they would be shocked.
Huang Liang was the Sect Master of the Imperial Sect. He was one of the oldest and most powerful people in this world. There was no doubt he held a prestigious status.
Only a small number of people in this world could make him call them ‘Senior’.
Undoubtedly, the green-robed man with a book in his hand had the right.
He was Liu Tianyi from Grandeur Academy.
His position in the Academy was equivalent to Huang Liang’s Master, Li Sa.
When Huang Liang was still very young, he met Liu Tianyi while accompanying Li Sa. Although many years had passed, he had never forgotten about it. Therefore, he could immediately recognise him.
When saluting the older man, Huang Liang thought that it was said that the Senior before his eyes wouldn’t live long. Over the years, he had been spending his time peacefully in Grandeur Academy, but he appeared in this place suddenly at this point. [Could it be…]
“I’ve known your Master for years, and we had several fights when we were young. Then, we went on to lead the Imperial Sect and Grandeur Academy respectively for many years, but none of us admitted to being the weaker cultivator. Anyway, I turned out to be the winner, for he passed away before I did! Hahaha!” Liu Tianyi put down his book and guffawed, looking pleased.
Huang Liang’s face fell as he asked solemnly, “Have you made me come here just to tell me this, Senior?”
He had been going straight to the north. It definitely wasn’t a coincidence that he bumped into Liu Tianyi here and immediately registered his presence. Apparently, it was the other party’s doing.
Since his Master was dead, he didn’t want to hear anyone belittling him, even if the person was Liu Tianyi.
Liu Tianyi shot him an impassive look and said, “Well, I’m just joking. In fact, to people like your Master and me, death isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes, life could be even more miserable.”
For all their lives, cultivators had been pursuing a higher Realm, stronger cultivation, surmounting higher peaks, and seeing even more beautiful sights. Li Sa and Liu Tianyi were some rare geniuses in Soaring Dragon Boundary. People like them shouldn’t be restricted to the Cloud River Realm. However, due to the limit of this world, they couldn’t get to the path ahead of them.
It wouldn’t have mattered if they weren’t aware there was a path ahead.
Now, there was indeed a path in front of them, and it was a long and wide one.
The average Cloud River Realm Master might not be bothered by the notion. However, to people like Li Sa and Liu Tianyi, they had been living miserably.
Huang Liang lowered his head and recalled that his Master had been living reclusively over the years. Although he was Li Sa’s closest disciple, it was also hard for him to see his Master. Even if they did meet, he couldn’t feel any happiness from his Master, who was filled with lethargy and desolateness.
He understood that Liu Tianyi wasn’t trying to console him.
His hostility subsided as he hung his head low. “Thanks for the lecture, Senior.” Then, he asked, “Since you’re here, are you heading to the north as well?”
Liu Tianyi nodded. “I’ve detected something, so I have to take a look. Otherwise, I’ll never be at ease.”
“What have you detected, Senior?”
That was what puzzled Huang Liang. He was aware that people like his Master and Liu Tianyi bore some luck of the Soaring Dragon Boundary. Even though they were restricted to the Cloud River Realm just like other cultivators, they were more powerful than most Cloud River Realm Masters, and they were able to detect things that the average cultivator couldn’t.
Before Li Sa passed away, he had detected something, and now Liu Tianyi said the same thing.
“I can’t tell you about it, nor can I explain it.” Liu Tianyi shook his head.
There were some things he couldn’t tell others, and in truth, he hadn’t detected anything useful. He just had a feeling that an anomaly was going on in the north.
Huang Liang scratched his head, feeling that it was hard to understand a scholar like him.
He stopped asking any further.
“Are you waiting for me here, Senior?”
“Well, I’m mainly waiting for an old fart. It’s just that I knew you’d be coming as well,” Liu Tianyi replied.
“An old fart?” Huang Liang felt his eyelids twitching. Apart from his Master, there was only another person in the world that Liu Tianyi had the right to call an old fart.
[Has that person also left his Sect?]
While he was in his thoughts, he heard a loud voice reverberating across the place. “Although we haven’t met for ages, you still look the same, Householder.”
Although the voice was loud, it was pleasant to the ears. Huang Liang became energetic in an instant as he looked up, only to see a skinny figure ambling towards them from a distance. The person was still far away initially, but the distance between them halved in the blink of an eye, and the next moment, the person was already in front of Huang Liang.
It was the Land Shrinking Secret Technique!
Huang Liang was flabbergasted. It was said that only when a cultivator reached the Real Lake Realm could he learn the Secret Technique. He didn’t expect to witness it with his eyes one day.
The person apparently wasn’t a Real Lake Realm Master, but he had mastered the Secret Technique anyway.
These old Seniors who bore the luck of this world were all incredible.
“Greetings, Master Fa Hua.” Huang Liang quickly saluted him.
The bald monk, who looked like a skeleton wrapped in Human skin, was much older than his Master Li Sa. He was the oldest person in Soaring Dragon Boundary. Certainly, Huang Liang wouldn’t dare to be disrespectful of such a person.
He secretly lamented that most of the time, other people would call him Senior and salute him. Nevertheless, of the three people in this place, he was the youngest, and he was also Junior to them.
“I’m not a Buddhist, so stop calling me a Householder as you please, old monk.” Contempt was written all over Liu Tianyi’s face.
Fa Hua put on an amiable smile. “The Buddha is in our hearts. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Buddhist or not.” Then, he turned to look at Huang Liang. “Aren’t you the young kid who had always been by Mister Li’s side?”
Huang Liang hurriedly replied, “Yes.”
Fa Hua nodded. “It has been over a hundred years since we last met, and Mister Li has gone to the Sukhavati. That’s something worth celebrating.”
[What’s worth celebrating about it?] Huang Liang was torn between tears and laughter. He felt that his worldview was different from that of these Seniors.
Liu Tianyi snorted. “Old monk, before I departed, I had performed divination for you. As I look at you now, I can tell that you appear terrible, and you’re engulfed in Death Qi. I’m afraid your days are numbered. Did you say your last words to your disciples?”
A bright smile formed on Fa Hua’s face as his long eyebrows twitched. “In that case, I could be considered lucky. As for what happens after I pass away… I was born with nothing, and I’ll also die with nothing. Since I have no regrets in my life, why should I even be concerned about what happens after my death? As for you, why did you even come over despite knowing that it’s a dangerous trip?”
Liu Tianyi chuckled. “Since an old fart like you can come, why can’t I be here?”
Fa Hua sighed. “Someone has to look after this world.”
“That person doesn’t have to be me.” Liu Tianyi waved his hand. “Our descendants have to face the challenges themselves. Why should we worry too much?”
Hearing that, Fa Hua fell silent.
During their conversation, Huang Liang remained unmoving, looking like a quail without a home in the winter.
He couldn’t join their conversation, nor did he have the guts to do so.
[Why did I even decide to head to the north? What have I done to deserve this?]
“Let’s go. What are you waiting for?” Liu Tianyi said.
“Let’s go.” Fa Hua nodded.
Then, they turned to look at Huang Liang, who hung his head low.
Huang Liang shuddered and instantly realised their intentions. He quickly fished out his Flight-Type Artifact and tossed it forward before saying, “Please, Seniors.”
He was Junior to them, after all. It wasn’t like he could tell them to drive an artifact to take them to their destination.
As the Sect Master of the Imperial Sect, he had never expected he would be bossed around like this one day, and he didn’t even dare to complain.
Then, he activated his power as the ray of light charged forward to the north.