When Mo Tiange woke up, she didn't know where she was.
Her resting place was a shallow cave covered with a blanket. It was dry and clean, and there were defensive restrictions set up at the entrance of the cave, which should be Qin Xi's work.
She remembered that after the Heavenly Tribulation, she was almost exhausted. Later, she felt dizzy and didn't know what happened.
Now, it seemed that they had escaped safely?
She sat up and operated the spiritual aura in her body.
Fortunately, although she hadn't fully recovered, her condition wasn't too bad. Her meridians and dantian were relatively stable, so she must've taken healing medicinal pills.
The condition of her body was somewhat unexpected. Not only were the injuries she suffered during the Heavenly Tribulation healed, but it was also even tougher. It seemed that her body was reshaped by the Heavenly Lightning?
As she was thinking, she sensed someone approaching from outside. Soon, the defensive restrictions around them were opened, and Qin Xi walked in.
"Tiange, you're awake?
How do you feel? "Qin Xi smiled when he saw that she was awake.
"Pretty good." Mo Tiange stretched her body and looked at him. "How about you?
How are your injuries? "
"I'm fine. My injuries aren't too serious," he said, stroking her head. "After a few months of rest, I should be able to fully recover."
After being tempered by the Vermilion Bird's breath, his body, meridians, and dantian were much tougher than before. Although he was heavily injured, he recovered quickly.
"Fortunately …" Mo Tiange was relieved and hugged his waist. "Fortunately, we survived."
"En," Qin Xi answered softly. "Although I'm not afraid of death, being alive is more precious."
After surviving a disaster, the two of them increasingly felt that everything they had was worth cherishing.
After enjoying the silent warmth for a while, Mo Tiange suddenly asked, "Senior Martial Brother, if I didn't pass the tribulation successfully and died, what would you have done?"
Qin Xi, who was holding her hand, paused for a moment before he asked, "Why do you ask?"
Mo Tiange sighed softly and said, "Although I've always known that life and death are unpredictable, I've never considered that we might encounter mishaps until that moment …" The moment she thought she failed to transcend the tribulation, she had a split second of regret for dragging him down with her.
But on second thought, she realized that the most thorough separation was death, and this kind of separation could happen at any time.
"Heh …" Qin Xi chuckled. "If you're dead and I'm alive, I'll continue to live well.
But if I die with you, I will not regret it.
I think you feel the same way, don't you? "
"… Yes." Mo Tiange took a deep breath and strengthened her conviction.
Walking on the Immortal Path meant facing death at any time. This was the price they had to pay for obtaining power and lifespan that mortals did not have.
However, if one's hands and feet were tied because of this, not daring to love and protect one another, one would lose their Dao Heart.
To be afraid of losing something and not dare to possess it was the stupidest thing in the world.
※ ※ ※
"By the way, where are we now?
What happened next? "
Qin Xi sat down next to her and said, "After the Heavenly Tribulation, some people came to check on the situation. I saw that things weren't right, so I slipped away.
Then, for some reason, the sea seemed to have caved in. We didn't dare to stop and flew for a long time. When it stabilized a little, we finally found this small island. "
"Us?"
"And Jing Xingzhi."
Qin Xi smiled and said, "I really didn't expect him to be willing to use the Three Secular Swords when you were going through the tribulation. That's a unique skill he has never used in front of others."
"Three Secular Swords?"
Mo Tiange remembered that when the ninth layer of the Heavenly Tribulation came, Jing Xingzhi's three swords were indeed powerful and scattered a lot of the golden lightning. Without those three swords, it was really hard to say whether she could have safely passed the Heavenly Tribulation.
"It's the ancient cultivation sword manual he obtained back then."
Qin Xi said, "I told you that the method to refine the Three Yang Real Fire Sword and the matching technique were obtained when I went on an adventure with him.
At that time, he obtained the Still Water Sword and the ancient cultivation sword manual. The Three Secular Swords are the most powerful and the most spiritual aura-consuming moves in the sword manual. "
Speaking up to this point, he sighed and said, "Time really flies. In the blink of an eye, more than two hundred years have passed. Who would have thought that we, two small Foundation Building cultivators back then, would form our Nascent Souls today?
Even I didn't expect it. "
Mo Tiange was very curious. "Tell me the truth, what's the relationship between the two of you?
You never mentioned him before, but you didn't seem to be on guard against him. He seems to be a very heartless person, but he's good to you. "
"Our circumstances are different, and our personalities are different. However, we've known each other since we were little and experienced many adventures together, so we trust each other's characters."
Qin Xi said, "We can't be considered good friends, but we're one of the few people who can be trusted."
Based on the way they got along, Mo Tiange wouldn't believe it if someone said they were good friends.
The relationship between people was so strange. Some friends couldn't be trusted wholeheartedly, and some people could be trusted, but they couldn't be considered friends.
Qin Xi smiled again and turned to look at her. "In fact, he's also very easy to understand.
He was originally a proud son of heaven, but because of his master's accident, he was given the cold shoulder. Although he seemed to enjoy the world on the outside, he actually hated the world on the inside.
Therefore, he remembered people who treated him a little better.
In my opinion, he was willing to use those three swords not because of me, but because of you. "
"Me?" Mo Tiange was surprised. "I didn't treat him well."
In Immortal Palace, he deserved what was given to him, and he wasn't polite at all when they got along.
"It's because you didn't deliberately treat him well or badly.
Although he didn't succeed, he was proud. If you sympathized with him or something, he wouldn't like you. It's rare and valuable that you treat him normally. "
"… Qin Shoujing!" As they were talking, a voice came from outside. "Didn't you just come to see the situation?
Why did you watch for so long?
You didn't take the opportunity to do something dirty, did you? "
"…" Qin Xi patted his forehead, wanting to hit his head against the wall.
I just said a few good things about him, but he's already running his mouth.
He stood up, opened the restriction, and said expressionlessly, "If it were you, it would be called dirty."
Jing Xingzhi was about to retort when he saw Mo Tiange walking over. He said in surprise, "Ah, you're awake?"
"Yes, sorry to disappoint you." Mo Tiange put on a fake smile.
Dirty? Hmph, how could he say that!
Jing Xingzhi didn't feel anything at all. He said, "Just in time. You guys came out."
He turned around and walked a few steps, but when he found that they didn't follow him, he turned back and urged, "Hurry up!"
Mo Tiange and Qin Xi looked at each other helplessly and followed him.
Sure enough, this was just a small island.
Mo Tiange looked around and found that this island was no more than five miles in circumference. She could easily sense the situation on the whole island with her divine sense.
The sky had cleared up, and it was sunrise. The bright red sun hung on the horizon, and the sea was sparkling. It was gentle and beautiful, completely devoid of the ferocity and malevolence of that day.
Jing Xingzhi jumped onto a rock and pointed in a direction. "Qin Shoujing, look over there."
Mo Tiange looked in the direction he pointed, but she only saw a small island without any abnormalities.
She turned to look at Qin Xi, but she found that he looked a little surprised. "Where did this island come from?"
"Yes, where did this island come from?"
Jing Xingzhi said, "I flew around just now and found that there are several islands around us. The surrounding scenery is completely different from when we came."
"… It's not strange for an island to appear or disappear in the sea," Mo Tiange said.
She had gone to Mo Yaoqing's Immortal's Cave in the Eastern Sea before, so she knew a little about the sea.
"But it's a bit strange for so many islands to appear at the same time."
Jing Xingzhi paused for a moment then said, "Most importantly, these islands look very familiar to me."
Mo Tiange and Qin Xi looked at him, waiting for him to continue.
"I said before that I left the Celestial Pole and went to Yuanzhou, right?"
The two of them nodded.
Jing Xingzhi went on to say, "From Yuanzhou to Yunzhong, I didn't use a Transporting Formation, but I traveled all the way.
Yuanzhou is called the Outer Sea by Yunzhong because it's separated by an ocean.
The Yuanzhou Ocean isn't as desolate and remote as the East Sea or the South Sea. There are many big and small islands in the middle, and many cultivators and mortals live there. "
Hearing this, the two of them realized what Jing Xingzhi wanted to say and were a bit surprised.
"You mean …"
"Unfortunately, I once stopped on the way to one of the islands." Jing Xingzhi sighed. "Qin Shoujing, we flew south that day, didn't we?
Logically speaking, we should be in the depths of Returning Ruins Sea, not Yuanzhou Ocean.
One is south, and the other is east — we're very far apart! "
"How could this be?" Mo Tiange muttered.
They flew south, but they suddenly saw the scenery that should be in the east. What did this mean?
Did they fly in the wrong direction?
That was impossible. Cultivators had a much stronger sense of direction than mortals. It didn't make sense that the two of them didn't feel anything when they flew in the wrong direction.
Could it be that something interfered with their judgment?
"I also don't know how this happened."
Jing Xingzhi frowned, his expression grave. "But I know there must be something wrong when something is out of the ordinary. Something must've gone wrong."
The three of them were silent for a long time before Qin Xi said, "It's useless to talk about this now. The three of us are injured, so we'd better wait for our injuries to heal first before we plan our retreat."
"… Alright."
After thinking for a while, Jing Xingzhi accepted Mo Tiange's suggestion. Then he said regretfully, "I don't know where those three beast cultivators went. That day, they went through their Transformation Tribulation, so it was a good time to take advantage of the situation!"
"… Why don't you say that day was also a good time for others to take advantage of the situation?"
Qin Xi said angrily, "We're already very lucky to be able to escape safely. If we were a moment late, I'm afraid those Nascent Soul cultivators would've found us. At that time, not to mention our treasures, even our lives would've been in danger!"
Nascent Soul cultivators cherished their lives. They always left a way out and rarely turned hostile directly.
But the situation that day was quite special. After the Heavenly Tribulation, everyone was seriously injured. If they fought, even Nascent Soul cultivators would find it difficult to escape. The three of them didn't have any foundation in Yunzhong, and they had treasures with them.
Many people were willing to take advantage of the situation without any future trouble.
"You're right."
Jing Xingzhi thought for a while then nodded in agreement. He said, "I don't know where that devil cultivator boy went. Later, the sea collapsed. If he didn't have any life-saving means, he'd be in danger!"
"Are you talking about Fellow Daoist Yang?" Mo Tiange said, "I think he's probably fine.
He's Guifang Devil Monarch's direct disciple. Not only did he cultivate the Primordial Devil Technique, but he also obtained all of Guifang Devil Monarch's possessions.
With Guifang Devil Monarch's reputation in Yunzhong, he must've had many life-saving secret techniques. "
"En, we're just collaborators with him. Once we leave Immortal Palace, we can't control him anymore," Qin Xi said. "Let's think about the future.
What should we do next? "