Chapter 1439 - Until We Meet Again
Before going to the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect, Tianming had to go back to the Azuresoul Sword Mountain, as Lingfeng and Xiaoxiao were still there. Not to mention, they still couldn't be certain whether or not the Northdipper Swordsage would come back now that the crisis had been dealt with. He put the saplings away, bid farewell to the divine tree, and returned to the sect as quickly as possible on Long Wanying's dragon alongside the unconscious Li Wushuang.
Capturing Li Wushuang was a huge deal, so Long Wanying and Yang Ce didn't enter the mountains when they arrived, nor did they tell anyone about it. As they were returning, nearly a million of Yin Chen's bodies began gathering at the Azuresoul Sword Mountain to return to Tianming's lifebound space. Now he had around four million of them in total. The remaining million turned into ten million invisible cockroaches before spreading out again to monitor the continent.
Tianming had already informed Lingfeng and Xiaoxiao about their return through Yin Chen on the way back, so they ended their cultivation sessions and waited for Tianming to fetch them.
"Xiaoxiao, the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect will be far more dangerous. Are you sure you want to come with us?" Tianming asked. It would definitely be much safer to stay in the bounds of the sect's defensive formation.
"Of course. There's no point in me staying here alone," she said.
"Alright." Tianming and Lingfeng had come to Orderia for Qingyu, which was why Lingfeng had to tag along if they were going to the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect. Throughout this time, he had cultivated nonstop. Coupled with testing out the pills refined by Yu Ziqian, he had been improving at a staggering rate.
The only one left was Yu Ziqian. "Boss, I want to go with you, but there’s too many divine herbs here. I wish to pursue the path of pill refining, and it's a great chance for me to use and get more proficient with the Divine Worldeater Cauldron," he said, scratching his head.
"Come on, you just can't part with your dear senior and junior sister disciples, right?" Tianming said, rolling his eyes.
"Don't put it that way, man. Bros before hoes, right? That's what you taught me."
"Buzz off."
Tianming didn't want Yu Ziqian to take this kind of risk either. There were too many uncertainties at the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect, especially since Li Wushuang was involved. He was better suited to staying behind and refining pills.
"Gan Gangan, this secret is just for your ears. I got the divine tree's saplings. In the future, we can plant them and they'll grow into brand new divine trees. By then, we'll have no end of supply of divine herbs. Once you're as proficient in your craft as that portable grandpa of yours, there's definitely a place for you with us," Tianming said.
"Really?" Yu Ziqian was so excited that he was shaking. He had found the path he wanted to tread in the future.
"Just keep it to yourself for now," Tianming said.
"Alright! I'll definitely do my best and not let you down!" he said, motivatedly clenching his fists. Then he gave Tianming a crystal box. "Please accept this! It's super thin and top quality...."
"What’s that?" Xiaoxiao asked.
"Ahem...." Tianming kept the goods and gave her a look, signaling her to not ask too many questions.
"Goodbye, brother!"
"Goodbye."
They gave each other a hug. For now, they would have to bid Yu Ziqian farewell. However, Tianming had left quite a few Yin Chen bodies behind at the sect, so he could reach out to them at any time.
"Feng, when you stabilize, I'll get someone to send you more pills. Make sure to take them!" Yu Ziqian said.
"Got it." Lingfeng seemed a little tense after hearing that Qingyu would be at the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect.
Before they left, Tianming patted him on the shoulder and said, "It’ll be fine, don't worry."
"I wonder how she’s changed...." There was a look of worry in his red eyes.
"Are you looking down on my little sister? Qingyu is a strong girl. She's been living a nightmare for fourteen years without ever being defeated, so this will be no different," Tianming assured.
They had gone through the Voidsky Skirmish as well as a continental war. By now, Tianming finally had some qualifications to meet with the celestial orderians. At the very least, he had defeated Li Haochen, making him a stain that the youths of the celestial orderians and Veildragon Palace could never get rid of. As long as he lived, they would never be able to hold their heads up high!
"I heard there’s many descendants of the celestial orderians and Veildragon Palace at the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect who are there to oppress and crush the confidence of the younger generation of the sect. They're also trying to brainwash them into being ruled by the celestial orderians and hate the Myriad Solar Sects for not coming to their aid in an attempt to cause the new generation to break off from the Myriad Solar Sects. There seems to be Ten Dragon Imperials instead of the old seven. I wonder how high the sect will be ranked in the updated sect rankings...."
The new generation normally included anyone under the age of hundred, basically, youthgrand disciples. Currently, the main force of the celestial orderians and Veildragon Palace consisted of youthgrand disciples from thirty to a hundred years old. One of Li Haochen's elder brothers was among them as well.
Tianming had to admit that the sun emperor's ways were incredible. He had managed to instill internal conflict in the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect just like that. Putting aside the fact that the Myriad Solar Sects weren't a monolith, even if they were united, they wouldn't be able to do anything about the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect's current peril.
Once they prepared themselves, Tianming, Lingfeng, and Xiaoxiao bade farewell to Gujian Qingshuang and the rest. Yan Nuxia and the others from the Group of Celestial Maiden Halls also prepared to leave after Gujian Qingshuang gave them some divine herbs as a gift.
"There’s no such thing as an everlasting banquet. Till we meet again, everyone!"
After the farewell gathering at the Celestial Welcome Hall, they were prepared to leave. Right then, a group of people came flying from the south, around two hundred thousand of them. Tianming knew who they were. It was the Empyrean Sword Sect and the Northdipper Swordsage! It seemed that they’d chosen to return to the continent after the matter of the divine tree had been settled. However, they came without the others from the alliance.
The Northdipper Swordsage was leading the pack from the very front. It didn't take them long before they reached the exterior of the Azuresky Myriadsword Formation. Even though they just arrived, Tianming had actually informed them about the Empyrean Sword Sect's return beforehand. Normally, it would be something to be feared, but now the situation was different. The alliance's troops hadn’t dared to touch the Supracloud Sanctuary, so there was no way they would dare to do the same now. It was a different matter altogether when they had no rightful justifications, not to mention the divine herbs were all beyond the formation. Gujian Qingshuang and the rest didn't fear a long-term siege either.
Gujian Qingshuang stepped forward to meet the Northdipper Swordsage.
"Is the divine tree back to normal?"
"Yes, Swordsage."
"Were the losses huge?"
"Quite so. Many people fell to the plague."
"Did anyone see the saplings?"
"No. When the divine tree turned blood red, the saplings vanished and haven’t shown themselves since."
"I see...." The two hundred plus thousand others of the Empyrean Sword Sect coldly stared at Gujian Qingshuang.
The Wind Swordlord said, "What’re you waiting for? Aren’t you going to open the formation and let us in?"