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Chapter 263: End of an Era
They were upon a body barely another few steps in.
Hui stumbled. He looked down and found a finger barring his path. The finger led to a hand, the hand led to an arm, until an entire Starbound Sect cultivator laid there, eyes blank, body still. Hui glanced at the face, but found himself staring at a stranger. He took a deep breath. Its better this way. If it was Sis Mei or Xixing
Without hesitating, before he could think about it, Hui knelt and put both hands on the cultivators finger. He sent a quiet pulse of qi inside, searching for the cultivators qi.
Nothing. An empty husk.
Hui took a deep breath, retracting his qi. No qi, but no death qi, either. He isnt dead. Hes
He looked overhead. Black clouds swirled around the sixth peak. It might have been his imagination, but more faces swirled in the cloud than before including some he recognized.
Youre back.
Hui startled, staring around him.
A crow sat on the cultivators body, rubbing its beak on his robes. It sat up and looked at Hui with bright red eyes. So? What do you think happened?
Chen Wuya?
The crow snorted, a very un-crow-like sound. It hopped around on the cultivators body, exuding frustration. Im still stuck in that damn realm. I thought the real seal was the one keeping me in the second layer, but the first layers just as brutal. I should be able to escape, but not for years.
Then this are they all trapped in the soul transferal formation? Hui asked.
The crow bobbed its head up and down. It cawed, giving Hui a significant look.
Er, Senior, I dont speak crow, Hui said.
The crow stopped hopping around and stared at Hui, completely stock still. Abruptly, it launched itself at Hui, beak and claws bared.
Senior, Im sorry! My apologies! Ill learn crow-speak at the next opportunity, I promise! Hui said, falling backward.
The crow landed on him and pinned him to the ground, then let out a self-satisfied sigh. As I was saying, they destroyed my formation, but they cant figure out how to destroy the spell. I expect you have at least a decade before they figure it out.
A decade. I have to fix this in a decade. Hui took a deep breath. He glanced at the crow. If I repair the spell formation
The crow cawed, hopping around. Its caws sounded almost like laughter. You? You couldnt. Not in a decade. Even the last genius to fix it took a full sixty-year cycle.
Then what? Hui asked. The crow randomly hopped off him, and he used the opportunity to quickly scramble back to his feet.
Then you figure it out. They arent fully dead, but caught in a state between life and death. You cultivate life and death, so you should be able to figure something out, right? Chen Wuya said.
Senior, you said before it would take you years to escape Hui hinted.
The crow stepped forward and put a claw on Huis chest, stomping him to the ground again in frustration. Dont rely on people who dont care about this Sect. Though in the end, my personal opinion doesnt matter. Fen Long is an asshole, but hes an unrivaled talent when it comes to seals and binding techniques. If I escape in a decade, Ill consider that extraordinary good fortune.
Pushing at the crows claws, Hui pressed his lips together. Still sealed? Cant I get him out? What if we used the same technique we used to bring you to the red side of the realm, to get you out of the realm altogether?
The red side? The crow tilted its head.
As opposed to the gray side, Hui explained.
Oh, the poppies. The side where my soul was sealed had gray poppies, and the side where he sealed my body had red. I see. Confusing, but I understand now. Hmm no.
Why not? Hui asked.
The crow hopped off him and shook its head, letting out a very un-crow-like sigh yet again. A thousand reasons. Let me see if I can explain it to someone at your pitiful level. Mmm well, first off, the soul and body realms were superimposed. They werent truly different spaces, Fen Long simply portioned off a layer of reality and sealed it separately from the overall realm. Understood? If you wanted to use the same trick to get me out of the body realm, youd have to have spatial abilities, or else youd escape the realm and find yourself stuck in the void, in the best case.
The void? Hui asked.
The space between realms, Chen Wuya explained, hopping about a bit in frustration. Lower level cultivators I swear.
Apologies, senior. Please forgive my pitiful lack of comprehension.
Chen Wuya harrumphed and drew himself upright. The second problem is the same as the first, and yet different. You snuck your way out of the soul realm into the body realm by creating a false passage. If youd exited the proper way, Fen Longs checks would have caught you.
Like walking through security at an airport, Hui muttered to himself. I understand. If you find a way to sneak in, you can bring water into the secured half of the airport, but if you walk through the proper entrance, security will make you throw out that water every time!
Though the soul realm had a proper exit? I wonder what it was? Somehow, the image of the ruined pavilion and the trial within welled up in Huis mind.
Like what? the crow asked.
Huis eyes widened. He clapped his hands over his mouth. Nothing, nothing!
The crow peered at him, then shook its head and ignored him, instead preening itself as it continued. Its the same for leaving the body realm for the real world. Unless you have spatial abilities and can create your own exit that connects back to the real world, youd simply enter the void and die immediately, at your low level.
Hui shook his head. Then thats no good.
Hmm, actually I could survive it, though. Junior, could you do me a favor and forget everything I said in the last minute or so? the crow asked, giving Hui a friendly look.
Junior has already forgotten, but Senior, this small cultivator abruptly remembered that theres a restriction on the time that passes before a single cultivator is allowed to enter the realm again, Hui said hurriedly.
The crow let out an angry cry, flapping its wings. That damn Fen Long! So even if I make contact with a cultivator, once they leave, they cant re-enter to help me? What a load of bullshit! Fen Long, when I get out of here, youd better prepare yourself!
Ignoring Chen Wuyas outburst, Hui walked back to Zhubi. Zhubi tipped his head down, and Hui climbed on top.
Chen Wuya narrowed his eyes. Where are you going?
Senior, I need to confirm a few things. This small cultivator will be going ahead for now, Hui said, bowing. I need to find Xixing and Sis Mei. I wont be comfortable until I see them. And while Im here, I want to stop by Unrivaled Under Heaven Peak and absorb some life qi from Mount Mu, so I can store the life qi and regrow my lotus body once I leave.
After that after that, I need to figure out how to bring everyone back.
