I walked out of the room and met with the sect master, who looked at me and asked, "So, what did you decide?"
"Don't worry, I won't go back on my word like I promised your sect will leave this graveyard soon," I said.
"No, not that, though it's comforting to hear, are you sure that you're willing to give up the opportunity to save your own skin for others? I mean, you were a part of the Purple Cloud Sect, but not for long, no sane person would decide against their own survivability for a sect that they didn't spend a lot of time in," she said. And she was right.
But at the same time, I'm not a crazy man… well, if you don't consider schizophrenia, I'm a perfectly sane person. I think.
I already have a way to get myself out if shit hits the fan, so getting them out isn't gonna be determinable to my goals.
"Don't worry," I said as I patted her shoulder walking away from her, "I'll make sure to come and meet you up again, just focus on the Purple Cloud Sect, grow strong so I can find a place to rest once all of this is done."
The sect master opened her mouth to say something, then suddenly decided against it. She gave me a rueful smile and said, "Thank you for everything, Shen Bao."
I nodded and left.
Elder Yun was nowhere near, so the promise of playing a game of GO will have to wait for our next meeting.
So I left the tower and walked outside where many cultivators watched with avid attention the man who defeated a Soul Transformation Cultivator.
"You seem to be in a hurry," asked Yei Man.
"Yes, I have something to tend to," I said.
"Oh, would you like our company?" he asked.
"No, it's far away and will take me some time to get there. As for my promise." I said and pulled a jade and placed it against my forehead.
I recorded everything from the Heaven Gate I saw, besides the battle, I didn't want to expose any more of my secrets.
Then threw it to Yei Man, "Don't be greedy, and share with everyone here. It's not something that valuable anyway," I said and spoke up.
"Y, come out," I said and immediately Y showed up in front of the whole group, making many of them take several steps back from the sheer size, might, and terrifying oppressive aura he passively released.
As a friend and ally, Y is the most reliable supporting pillar, but as a foe, he is no less than the sharpened scythe of the grim reaper.
Everyone knew this, and everyone respected it.
"I'll see you all later, for now, Godspeed in the upcoming battle," I said then jumped up and sat on Y's shoulder.
Y slowly rose up, and hovered until he was far away from the ground, then he turned towards the general direction of Mount Wu.
"Master, we're far enough, I'll increase my speed," Y said.
Then and there, I grabbed tight on Y's head and said, "Go ahead."
Just as I finished my words, I felt Y's speed decreasing for a moment, as if he started to fall, then he turbo shot forward with enough force that the sound barrier, not only broke but exploded in an instant.
Something even against all laws of physics happened, as Y's speed continued to increase and I heard even more explosions of sound as he continued blasting forward like a missile on steroids.
Y's speed was so fast that I felt that my eyeballs were gonna stick to the back of my skull, and this was with the assistance of Y's Qi barrier to block out most of the pressure.
Once I managed and adjusted to his speed, he further increased his own speed.
Blasting even faster forward, that I could see the geography under us changing so fast like I was watching a slide show of different geographical locations.
Deserts, seas, forests, Plaines, and quagmires and swamps. They changed and kept changing for a long while until an hour had gone by and Y began slowing down.
I felt like I was going to throw up, and thankfully I was strong enough not to. Y slowed down enough that once he made a full and complete stop we were in front of a small house on the top of a beautiful flying mountain.
Yes, it was flying.
The mountain looked like it was carved by the hands of an artist. As it had so many different trees, carefully planted to create a pathway that lead upwards.
The path was in fact a staircase that had several tori gates, and many small furry creatures lived and scampered around the area.
The tree's leaves of almost every tree didn't look the same. Some were red, some were purple, some green, and some blue. Every tree was a different type. And each and every one of them had their own fruits. And they all were spiritual fruits.
The whole mountain was like a garden that was being tended by a masterful gardener.
I jumped up from Y's shoulder and had him come back to the poison god's book.
And since I wanted to see more of this exquisite garden, I decided to go down and start from the bottom of the stairs.
Once I landed, I realized that it was a good thing I did so.
There were many, many inscriptions covering the entirety of the mountain, protecting the whole garden, and the areal space of the flying mountain.
Though Y could easily break the formations, it will damage the wildlife of this place. Which would have been a terrible thing to happen since this place looked like the most peaceful place I've ever seen in my life, and I would hate if I was the reason for its destruction.
So, I slowly climbed the stairs and began feeling a slight pressure on my head with every step I took.
'Damn, another Soul Strength test. But I've suffered worse,' I thought and continued walking up.
I even patted the head of a few friendly foxes and some felines. That came to check up on the strange person who came to visit.
Then, I continued walking up admiring the scene.
It took me about a quarter of an hour to reach the house I saw earlier, where I saw a man, frowning, and rubbing his beard.
I nodded at the man, acknowledging his presence, but his words slightly threw me off.
"What in the world are you?" The hooded old man said.
"Me? I'm me, nothing more, nothing less." I said shrugging.
The man smiled and said, "Such a juvenile answer, but at the same time, it has all the depth I need to know you're no simple man. You're you, nothing less nothing more, it may sound like you were just speaking for the sake of answering, but you clearly know yourself. Good, follow me." He said.
'The hell is that guy talking about?' I frowned, but I wasn't gonna correct him if he is already thinking highly of me.
"Are you the one taking care of this place?" I asked as I followed the old man.
"Yes, do you like it here?" he said.
"Yeah, it's peaceful. A good place to retire."
"Hah! Peaceful. Do you know, that the creature you just petted, is a ninth-tier demonic beast that could have torn you to shreds at the drop of a hat?"
"Huh? That little fox? Didn't seem that hostile to me," I said.
"Well, I also don't understand why, I was ready to intervene, since you're sent by the Black Tower, but apparently, you're more than capable of handling yourself, even if you don't know danger when it stares you in the eye. This little mountain is holding some of the strongest and most dangerous creatures on planet Si Xue, and you were petting them like they were docile cats. I don't know if you had balls of steel or outright foolish. But it doesn't matter, because all turned out to be well."
The old man said and stood in front of his house, he then pressed on the doorway with an open palm, causing many inscriptions to shine and brighten up, then the doorway unlocked revealing a simple room with a single table and a couple of chairs around it.
There was no one else in the room beside the two of us.
"Come take a seat." The old man said and I obliged.
Once I sat, he pulled two jugs of wine and handed me one of them.
"I've lived for a long time on this planet. And now, something happened that is threatening the livelihood of the entire planet." The man said.
"Yeah, the invasion and all that crap, kind of annoying, but honestly, can you tell me, do you think we can win?" I asked.
"Hah, win? We don't have a sodding chance." The old man said and took a gulp of wine.
I joined him in his mute toast and waited for him to finish speaking.
"Do you happen to know the reason why this happened?" the old man asked.
I shook my head.
"Well, I heard a rumor. A very, unplausible, and completely unbelievable rumor." The old man drank.
"It appeared that the reason for this whole invasion was because of the jealousy of a brother, the kindness of a cultivator, and the spite of a king." The old man said smiling but he didn't seem to be enjoying it.
"A young cultivator, too weak, and too insignificant to be of any value, came in and saved someone far too important, and due to that, the important man's brother was jealous for his return, thus he betrayed his own brother and spoke to the king of another nation telling him how his brother escaped. The king, finding the opportunity to embarrass his rival, sent forces to the planet where the young cultivator came from, enslaving this planet entirely, and by proxy, causing the saved cultivator to lose face since he could not afford to save the very weak, insignificant man who saved him." the old man finished, and I immediately connected the dots.
'Holy, fucking, banana nutcrackers…'