The news of Xiao Yang's appearance shocked everyone present. Even the rare Nascent Soul realm trade fair that followed didn't have many people pay attention to it and it ended hastily.
The three of them returned to their temporary residence, laid down restrictions then sat around the table.
For a moment, the three of them had heavy hearts and did not speak.
Originally, the crisis in Yuan Province had nothing to do with them, but if they were unable to leave, then it would be greatly related.
"Tiange, what kind of place is Xiaoyang in the end?" A moment later, Qin Xi broke the silence.
After he arrived at Yunzhong, he was busy healing his injuries at first, and then he entered the Returning Ruin Sea's mystic land, so he didn't know much about these things.
Mo Tiange answered, "I only know that Owl Sun has barren mountains and unruly rivers. The atmosphere there is fierce, and there are many devil cultivators there. The situation is complicated, and the cultivators in Yunzhong are all unwilling to go to Owl Sun. As for the rest, I'm not very clear."
"Why don't you ask me instead of her?"
"You've been in Yunzhong for so many years, yet not only do you know very little about Yuan Province, but you also don't know anything about Xiaoyang." "That's right," Jing Xingzhi said as he cast a lazy glance at Mo Tiange.
Mo Tiange didn't feel like paying attention to him.
Although it had been so many years, she had only really lived in Yunzhong for ten years when she traveled around the world.
In those ten years, she had traveled all over Yunzhong and had a deep understanding of Yunzhong. However, the Yuan State Merchant Union kept a low profile, and Xiao Yang didn't even want to talk to the cultivators of Yunzhong. She hadn't paid much attention to them, so how could she know?
Jing Xingzhi said, "Xiao Yang is different from Yunzhong and Yuanzhou. It's composed of three large islands of similar size, which are generally known as the Three Islands of Xiao Yang.
There weren't any good spirit veins on the three islands of Xiao Yang, and the resources were also very poor. Just like the Western Barbarians in the clouds, they had barren hills and unruly rivers, and the terrain was dangerous.
In a place like this, no Immortal Cultivation Sect would set up a base here. Only some small Immortal Cultivation Clans and Itinerant Cultivators would settle here. Therefore, from the very beginning, Xiao Yang has been a gathering place for Itinerant Cultivators. "
"Later, I don't know when it started, because Xiao Yang was far away from the sphere of influence of the major sects in Yunzhong, many cultivators who couldn't gain a foothold in Yunzhong ran to Xiao Yang, and most of them were devil cultivators.
Although the concept of righteousness and evil had been abandoned by the people of the current world, it was a fact that the majority of the people of the Demonic Path had extreme personalities and were ruthless in their actions.
These devil cultivators and outlaws became the new residents of Xiao Yang's three islands. Over time, Xiao Yang became a sinister place that all the cultivators in the cloud hated and feared. "
At this point, Jing Xingzhi concluded, "In short, there's only one word to describe Xiao Yang — dangerous.
Natural hazards, geographical hazards, and human heart hazards.
The Perilous Ones had barren mountains and unruly rivers, lacking in resources; the Perilous Ones had strange terrains and complicated relationships, making it difficult for other forces to intervene; the Perilous Ones had sinister hearts, and every single one of them was vicious and ruthless.
Therefore, the major forces in Yunzhong were not willing to provoke the people of Xiao Yang. There were not enough benefits, and they were not easy to deal with.
More importantly, the cultivators of Xiao Yang have a very bad habit — they love to rob. "
"… That's why the Yuan Zhou Merchant Alliance is having such a headache?"
"That's right," Jing Xingzhi said weakly, "On the merchant continent … Without a merchant partner, they've become neighbors with bandits, and there's also the dangerous Sea of Returning Ruins. If they can't find a way out, Yuan Zhou will be finished.
As for us, if we don't leave Yuan Zhou as soon as possible, we won't have good days in the future. "
"That brings us back to the matter," Qin Xi said, "Tiange and I originally planned to return to the Celestial Pole after we left the Immortal Palace.
This time, we came to Yuan Zhou by chance and happened to borrow the Transporting Formation you mentioned. Now, our goal hasn't changed. We still have to explore whether this Transporting Formation can take us back to the Celestial Pole or not. "
He then looked at Jing Xingzhi. "What about you?
If the Transporting Formation is usable, do you want to go back to the Celestial Pole? "
Jing Xingzhi lowered his gaze and didn't say anything for a long time.
The Celestial Pole … For him, that was a place he loved and hated. He would definitely go back, but now wasn't the time in his plan.
If this matter hadn't happened, he would've definitely chosen to stay in Yuan Zhou. But now, it wasn't appropriate to stay in Yuan Zhou for a long time.
"We'll talk about it later." Jing Xingzhi took a deep breath. "In a few days, we'll set off to find the Transporting Formation. Based on the current situation in Yuan Zhou, the sooner we leave, the better."
Qin Xi nodded lightly and didn't say anything else.
After staying for a few days, the three of them bid farewell to Yan Feng and left Changling City.
Yan Feng very enthusiastically urged them to stay, but unfortunately, they were determined to leave, so he couldn't persuade them. He could only send them off regretfully.
"Elder, it's not like we don't have three Nascent Soul cultivators in Changling City. Why do you want them to stay?" the cultivator next to Yan Feng asked in confusion.
Yan Feng stared at the flight lights the three of them took off and sighed. "If it was in the past, we naturally wouldn't have to do this. But now, the situation is unclear. One more Nascent Soul cultivator means one more power — you, ah, your vision is still too narrow. When you look at things, you have to consider the situation."
The cultivator thought for a while and somewhat understood, but he was even more confused. "If we're talking about the situation, they can't even find Yunzhong now, so they can't leave Yuan Zhou. Shouldn't they stay in the immortal city?"
Yan Feng was stunned and said with some uncertainty, "Maybe they want to find a place to cultivate …" Although he said that, he didn't quite believe it himself.
So what if they cultivated?
If they came out thirty or fifty years later, the situation might not be better than it was now. They clearly knew they could endanger themselves, but they didn't do anything. This wasn't something a Nascent Soul cultivator would do … Could it be that the three of them had another purpose?
* * *
The Transporting Formation Jing Xingzhi discovered was located on a small island south of Changling City. This small island didn't have any spirit veins and was only inhabited by some mortals.
When he was transported to this place back then, to prevent people from following him, he destroyed several parts of the Transporting Formation and cautiously used magic to cover it up.
Logically speaking, this small island didn't have any cultivators coming and going, and there were very few residents, so it shouldn't have been discovered.
However, more than eighty years had passed, and no one could say for sure whether an accident would happen or not.
Moreover, in the storm several months ago, many small islands disappeared. They didn't know whether this small island still existed or not.
With such worries in mind, the three of them flew all the way and finally found the small island without a hitch.
Fortunately, the heavens didn't play with them again. The small island still existed, but it had become an uninhabited island.
Under Jing Xingzhi's lead, the three of them found the location of the Transporting Formation — inside a cave by the sea.
When the tide rose, this cave would be submerged by seawater and would only be exposed when the tide fell.
Taking advantage of the falling tide, the three of them entered the cave and went several miles deep before they reached their destination.
"This is it?" Mo Tiange looked around.
This cave was very damp, but because the terrain was upward, it wasn't soaked by seawater. Jing Xingzhi said that when the tide rose, the seawater wouldn't submerge this place.
Qin Xi looked at the mountain wall and said, "It's a bit troublesome."
Jing Xingzhi, who was looking for traces left behind in the past, asked casually, "What's troublesome?"
Qin Xi pointed at the wet marks on the mountain wall and said, "Look, this should've been soaked recently. I reckon this cave wasn't spared from the storm several months ago. I wonder if the Transporting Formation was damaged or not."
"We'll know once we take a look."
After finding the traces left behind in the past, Jing Xingzhi waved his hand and unsheathed his sword. With a sword light, he swung it at a mountain wall.
"Rumble!" The mountain wall collapsed with a loud bang.
"Found it!" Jing Xingzhi said happily.
Under the rubble, a star chart was vaguely visible.
Mo Tiange waved her hand, sweeping away all the rubble, revealing the full appearance of the Transporting Formation.
"How is it?" Jing Xingzhi looked a little proud. "It's well preserved, right?"
Mo Tiange carefully looked at the Transporting Formation on the ground and didn't say anything for a long time.
This Transporting Formation was about fifteen feet in size. It used a special kind of colloid as a carrier, densely packed and forming a complicated pattern.
The places where spirit stones should've been embedded were empty, and the whole Transporting Formation was dim.
"Good my ass!" She pointed at several points on the Transporting Formation without looking up. "These places were destroyed by you, weren't they?
You really picked the important places to destroy!
And here, it should've been destroyed by the storm several months ago. Even the formation's base chart was washed away. It's not an exaggeration to say it's ruined. "
"Then what should we do?" Jing Xingzhi was dumbfounded. "This Transporting Formation can't be used anymore?"
"Not yet." Mo Tiange softened her tone. She wasn't really angry with Jing Xingzhi, but this guy's tone was really asking for a beating.
She looked down at the formation chart on the ground and said, "If we can find the raw materials for the formation chart, it can still be repaired.
However, I'm not very proficient in Transporting Formations, and there are a lot of places damaged, so it might take a long time to repair. "
"How long?" Qin Xi asked.
"… Ten days at least, several months at most," Mo Tiange said, "Not counting the time to find the materials."
Qin Xi nodded. "In the immortal palace, we waited for dozens of years, let alone this little bit of time.
Tiange, you don't need to worry. At least now we see hope. "
Mo Tiange looked at him and sighed softly. "I understand." Although she said that, her heart was still heavy.
Not to mention whether this Transporting Formation could be repaired, even if she finished repairing it without any mistakes, she wasn't sure whether it could still be used.
In order to return to the Celestial Pole, she had waited for so long that she even doubted whether she could go back.
"Then should we go find the materials for the formation first?"
Jing Xingzhi asked, then shook his head. "Forget it. You two stay here. I'll go find them. It'll save time."
"… En."
Mo Tiange didn't refuse. This Transporting Formation was very complicated. At the very least, it was left behind from the Distant Past era, so its materials must be very precious.
The more precious the materials, the fewer the source. There wasn't much difference between one person looking for it and three people looking for it. It was better to stay here and study how to repair the damaged parts.
"Then I'll go." Jing Xingzhi scraped some of the materials for the formation then turned around and left.
Mo Tiange watched his back disappear, but she didn't withdraw her gaze until Qin Xi asked her, "What are you thinking about?"
"… I'm thinking, will he go back to the Celestial Pole with us?" She looked at Qin Xi with confusion. "Why do I feel he's too proactive?"
Qin Xi smiled. "I can't answer that.
This guy, who can say for sure? "
He paused for a moment then sighed silently. "But this Transporting Formation … Whether it can send us back to the Celestial Pole or not, we owe him a big favor."
In the Immortal Palace, he had saved Jing Xingzhi once. Later on, when they were in danger, Jing Xingzhi did not abandon them. He even risked his life in the Heavenly Tribulation and used his ultimate move.
If that could be considered even, then now, he told them the location of the Transporting Formation and ran around for them — this favor couldn't be erased.
Upon hearing this, Mo Tiange smiled. "What are you afraid of?
Owing him a favor is always better than owing him feelings. Besides … I'm afraid he doesn't even think about this favor, right? "