Ning appeared inside the city of Starsight. He looked around and was truly shocked at how desolate it was. He had left the city after the tragedy that happened 2 years ago but didn't realize how bad the problem was.
"Senior Kazier did say something about everyone leaving this place. So, I guess it's all empty now, huh?" he thought as he walked around the city. As he expected nothing was around. Most of the houses were destroyed in the battle, the ones that remained were all empty.
People had left with all of the items with them and gone to the other cities nearby. He walked over t0 the Pure Cleansing sect and saw the torn-down buildings. The Physician's guild was also all but destroyed. All that remained was a husk of its former self.
Ning was walking through the empty city when suddenly he heard a noise. He sent his divine sense and saw that there was a beast there.
"What's a beast doing here?" he wondered and walked forward. The beast was simply sleeping, but when it sensed Ning coming towards it, it got up and got on guard.
"It's just sleeping huh?" Ning thought and ignored it and walked forward. He went to the Eagle sect and saw that nothing there remained. It had either been pillaged or destroyed in rage.
Ning shook his head and walked outside the southern gate and saw that the forest had grown out of control.
'Soon, the forest will grow and take over the city. I guess at that point the beasts will get strong as well since the humans are no longer there to keep them under control.' Ning chuckled a little.
"It's all going back to how it started," he thought and decided to leave. He disappeared once more and appeared in a dark room.
"Aah, who goes there?" somebody screamed.
Ning didn't speak and waited for the person to see him.
"… Master?" the girl seemed surprised when she saw him.
"Hello, Anya," Ning said.
"Master, you're back," she ran up and hugged Ning.
"Woah, you're strong now. Very strong," Ning said. After nearly 2 years of cultivating and learning, she had grown a lot and was becoming a fine lady.
"Look at you, so big. And I didn't even go away for long," Ning said.
Anya had started crying by now. She had missed him dearly and believed that he would never return despite him telling her he would come back.
"Don't cry," he said as he stroked her back which was covered with her long hair. Ning checked her cultivation and was quite surprised that she had grown to the 9th realm of Qi Condensation. She was just a step away from Foundation Establishment.
Better than that, however, she was at the 10th level of Body Cultivation. Meaning, her physical strength was equal to that of a 1st realm Foundation Establishment cultivator.
"You really did not waste much time and diligently cultivated, didn't you?" Ning asked.
"Of course. You told me to," Anya said.
Ning and Anya sat down and talked for a bit. Ning decided to stay here for a week or two, see how things had become if they had changed or not.
Anya's life had become very different after joining the Red Tiger sect. Before, she had to cut her hair and dress up as a boy so that she could gather what little money she had to heal her father.
However, once Ning solved that problem and taught her how to cultivate and heal, she had grown at a very excellent rate. After joining the Red Tiger sect, all the elders were shocked at her cultivation talent, and now she was basically the princess of the sect.
The sect had also had changes in the time that Ning was away. Red Tiger sect had now joined with the Blue Dragon sect and was called the Purple Beasts sect.
The two sect masters apparently couldn't decide on whether to call it Tiger-Dragon, or Dragon-Tiger, so they decided to just go with Beasts.
Still, the Qi Cultivators and the Body cultivators were kept separately. That was until the Elite sect was finished building that would be located on the third eye of the skull.
They had apparently decided to cut a bit of the forest and make another sect there where only the elites from the other two could join.
The cultivation technique that Ning had given them had become a staple here, and people were quickly getting stronger. That however still couldn't keep up with Anya's speed of cultivation, which was after spending half of her time in learning the medicines and healing knowledge Ning had left her.
"So, how good of a doctor are you now?" Ning asked.
"I think I'm good. You'll have to see for yourself," Anya said. "Actually, there is one today. You can come to see me treat patients in the market."
"Today? Uhh… I don't really want to be seen by other people. I was only wishing to meet you and stay hidden," Ning said.
"Oh… then you can't come to see me work?" Anya said dejectedly. She was really excited to show Ning her progress, but now it seemed she wouldn't be able to.
"Hey, I never said I can't. I just said that I won't be seen," Ning said. Suddenly, he took out a piece of jewelry from his storage space and handed it to Anya.
"Wear this," he said. Anya looked down at the jewelry in her hand and smiled. It was a thin black rope with a metal trinket that had a gem attached to it. It didn't stand out as anything expensive, but Anya liked it.
"Thank you mas—" she looked up at Ning, but he was no longer there. She was a little surprised and sad. "Did master leave?"
"No, I'm right here," Ning's voice came out from the necklace.
"Aah, master. Wh-What? Why is your voice coming from the necklace? Are you okay? Are you stuck in some sort of storage space?" she asked with worry.
"No, I'm fine.. Uhhh, I guess I will have to explain to you too."