Chapter 43

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Chapter 43: We Are Late

Both tension and anxiety are felt by the three disciples, the ancestors do not need to endure anything.

The three who have been freeloaders in the Wan family are nervously heading to the open sea, fearing that their younger martial sister might be killed by a demon cultivator, and also afraid that they might be killed by their master if they meet him.

In comparison, the two people they are worried about are much more relaxed, currently flying on a sword in the sky above the open sea.

"As expected, the deeper we fly into the open sea, the thinner the spiritual power becomes. Earlier, my Golden Core was as active as a monkey in the Dark Heaven Secret Realm, but now it is as lifeless as a turtle."

Hearing Wen Yun say this, Ye Shubai looked helpless, "Is it necessary to describe your Golden Core like that?"

Wen Yun felt that her description was appropriate and not inappropriate at all. Besides, her Flawless Golden Core is carrying Ye Shubai’s jade nascent soul, which is now sluggish and not really functioning. If Zhu Erchong or Bao Pilong were to switch with her, they would probably end up swimming in the water.

"Your sword speed seems a bit slow." Wen Yun, observing the speed of the clouds passing by, took out a fist-sized Magic Stone from her space bag, "Let me speed you up…"

That’s the advantage of being a magician. They use their mental power to manipulate magic elements for spells. So even in a place without magic elements, as long as your mental power is strong enough and you can find a pile of Magic Stones, it’s like a perpetual motion machine.

The magic elements here by the sea are rarer than spiritual power, almost zero. But Wen Yun has a whole Magic Stone mine!

She held a Magic Stone in one hand, made elegant and strange gestures with the other hand, and murmured the incantation for the Floating Skill.

The magic elements were extracted from the clear Magic Stone and applied to the wooden sword under her feet. The Sword Control Art, which was originally slowing down, seemed to be pushed and sped up forward.

Ye Shubai’s clear eyes showed a slight curiosity and finally asked, "What is this?"

Excellent, the grand magician’s class begins! Foolish magic apprentices, pay attention!

"This is the Floating Skill. Unlike the Sword Control Art, it can be applied not only to external objects but also to oneself. However, compared to the Sword Control Art, it is weaker in speed and has no practicality in battle, so I haven’t taught you this before."

In her own area of expertise, Wen Yun’s lazy demeanor instantly disappeared. A faint light seemed to shine in her eyes and she became incredibly dazzling.

"The incantation for the Floating Skill is like this. Repeat after me…"

When she softly spoke the strange incantations, a sense of elegance and nobility emerged inexplicably, without any hint of complexity.

"Come, feel the Magic Stone in my hand, then try to extract magical elements from it."

She reached out her hand to Ye Shubai, who hesitated for a moment before gently placing his hand on the Magic Stone, his fingertips inadvertently touching hers, making him slightly uncomfortable.

Ye Shubai tried to chant twice, then focused on the feather in Wen Yun’s other hand, the tail feather of a straight-headed chicken that had been killed in the Dark Heaven Secret Realm earlier. It was kept because of its beauty, little did he know it would come in handy now.

The feather in her palm spun slowly, then shakily floated up a few inches.

Just as a sword genius felt "this is it" when facing Wen Yun’s excellent swordsmanship comprehension, Archmage Wen Yun, facing the successful spell casting of this clumsy apprentice, now thought it was only natural.

Isn’t it unusual to succeed after just two or three attempts rather than failing a hundred times?

However, as a kind master, Wen Yun still praised her sword spirit, "Well done, truly my sword spirit. Now try casting the magic onto the wooden sword and see if you can increase the speed again."

Ye Shubai replied calmly, "I am far from being a master, it is too risky."

The narrow-minded man always pretended to be a master whenever she mentioned the sword spirit, acting so proudly despite the embarrassment of fighting her for the ancestor’s position.

Even though he said he wasn’t interested, Ye Shubai couldn’t resist and used a Floating Skill on the wooden sword beneath his feet, showing his fascination with magic.

The highly unstable magic contacted the wooden sword, causing its already fast speed to suddenly skyrocket, and then—

Two magic elements collided with spiritual power, pulling against each other, unable to find balance, ultimately causing the entire wooden sword to go out of control!

Wen Yun had witnessed Ye Shubai’s childhood appearance, knowing he was a sword genius from a young age, quickly mastering any sword technique he learned.

She never expected him to pick up magic so quickly, to the point of overturning the wooden sword!

Indeed, sometimes being too strong can also be a weakness.

The wind howled past her ears, surrounding her with a strong sense of weightlessness. A strong gust of wind rushed into her mouth, preventing her from even uttering a spell to save herself.

Just then, a familiar figure in white robes forcibly twisted their position in the air, reaching out with long arms to tightly protect Wen Yun in their embrace.

The speed of their fall got faster and faster, in just a blink of an eye, she and Ye Shubai had dropped into a forest.

With a few cracking sounds, the dense branches of old trees were forcefully broken, and finally, with a loud noise, the feeling of weightlessness disappeared. The two landed back on the ground.

Even though she knew she was now a skilled practitioner and wouldn’t easily be crushed, Wen Yun, who had been a weak magician for hundreds of years, was really not used to the lively rhythm of life as a sword cultivator.

She tried to calm her chaotic heartbeat and quietly opened her eyes.

"Huh? Did we make a big hole in the ground?"

Wen Yun stared around in a daze, when suddenly, a voice full of suppressed joy echoed from above, "Something fell into the trap, it made a loud noise, probably a big wild boar!"

After the voice, a young boy’s head peeked out from above.

Before Wen Yun could show a friendly smile, the expression on the person’s face changed from joy to fear, the head quickly pulled back, and he loudly called to his companion, "Someone fell in! It’s an outsider, A’xiu, run!"

However, before he could run far, Wen Yun and Ye Shubai, who were still in the pit, effortlessly leaped out of the trap.

The boy got very scared and stumbled into the bushes, telling his friend, "I’ll distract them, A’xiu, you go find grandma!"

Wen Yun sighed, "Kids, by shouting like that, you’re giving away your plan, you know?"

She didn’t want to scare the child, so she didn’t grab him. But the boy was too panicked to notice the vine under his feet, tripping and falling hard.

With a look of despair, he sobbed and crawled to Wen Yun, grabbing her leg tightly. He yelled towards the dense forest, "A’xiu, run! I’ll keep her busy!"

The boy hiding in the bushes didn’t leave his friend behind. A rustling sound was heard, then a thin boy, nimble as a panther, leapt from the vines straight towards Wen Yun.

Wen Yun was surprised to see that Ye Shubai had already grabbed the thin boy without her needing to intervene.

The boy on the ground cried, "Please don’t hurt A’xiu… I’ll be your prey, just let him go…"

The thin boy, named A’xiu, may be young but his eyes showed fierceness. He scolded, "Stop crying, Blackstone! If we die, we’ll die together!"

With a determined look, he bravely prepared to sacrifice himself.

Wen Yun frowned, these two young men seemed to be mere mortals with no cultivation. They didn’t have any totem patterns on them, so they were probably not demon cultivators. As they were standing in a primitive dense forest with no signs of human presence, she wondered how anyone could live here.

She signaled for Ye Shubai to set A’xiu down, and then gently said, "Children, we won’t harm you. Where are the adults in your home? I will take you back."

Unexpectedly, as soon as she said this, the fear and resentment in the eyes of the two young men deepened. They exchanged a glance, then abruptly got up and headed towards a sharp, giant rock nearby without hesitation.

Wen Yun and Ye Shubai reacted very quickly, each one reaching out to grab one of them.

"What are you trying to do?"

"Spit!" A’xiu spat out and gritted his teeth, glaring at Ye Shubai, "You shameless demon cultivators, we would never betray our people even if it means death!"

The young man beside them cried as he shouted, "The righteous path will never be enslaved!"

Wen Yun and Ye Shubai exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of surprise in each other’s eyes.

Just then, a very faint sound of breaking air came from the dense forest. A rusty axe flew at them, carrying a barely detectable spiritual power.

The two young boys looked happy and surprised, shouting, "Grandma!"

Ye Shubai lifted his wooden sword, but when he realized the opponent was using special powers, he quickly moved the sword tip, sending the strong sword energy in another direction.

The axe swung towards him effortlessly, but as soon as it touched his clothes, it fell weakly to the ground without harming him at all.

"Oh? What is this?"

An old, frail cry echoed from the dense forest, branches and leaves rustling as a bent figure emerged from the trees.

It was a very old woman, with a hint of death surrounding her, appearing close to the end of her life.

What was even more surprising was that she had cultivation skills, reaching an advanced level of Qi Refining!

They were nearing the Demon Realm beyond the sea, so encountering a demon cultivator wouldn’t be unusual here. However, Wen Yun sensed that the person they saw was a traditional righteous cultivator!

The old woman seemed surprised to see two righteous cultivators in this remote place. Wen Yun and Ye Shubai’s powerful skills shone brightly and purely in this faint spiritual Qi area, contrasting completely with the demonic energy of the demon cultivators, who were on the opposite extreme!

Her cloudy eyes seemed to brighten, and then tears fell down clumsily as she awkwardly bowed, trembling lips moving before finally managing to utter a sentence.

"Immortal Master… Are you both on the righteous path by setting foot here?"

Just as she finished speaking, she felt that she was being disrespectful, so she quickly knelt down.

Wen Yun was greatly shocked, as just this one sentence vaguely hinted at something, and he quickly stepped forward to support the elderly person who was about to kneel down.

"Are you originally from the people across the sea?"

The old woman cried out, "Yes, we were survivors taken captive by demon cultivators, during the battle between the righteous and the demonic forces five hundred years ago…"

The battle between the righteous and demonic forces five hundred years ago not only involved powerful cultivators, but the greater tragedy befell those ordinary people who had no means to protect themselves.

The righteous mainland was divided into four continents – East, South, West, and North. South of South Continent lies the territory of Blizzard Island. Apart from disciples of Blizzard Island, there are also numerous fishermen living on various islands below.

They sail between the different islands, worshipping the immortals of Blizzard Island and being protected by Blizzard Island.

However, when the war between the good and evil forces began, Blizzard Island, the closest to the outer sea, was the first to be conquered. The cultivators there were not good at fighting. They couldn’t even protect their own main island, let alone the islands where the ordinary people lived.

The demon cultivators practiced fierce techniques and liked to use living people as sacrifices. The fishermen on these islands became their first round of spoils of war.

They were tied up like livestock and taken back to be kept in the outer sea, either becoming "materials for cultivation" in the hands of demon cultivators or forced to work in mines, causing great suffering for tens of thousands of fishermen.

In the village where the old woman lived, there happened to be a cultivator at the Golden Core Stage. He risked his life to lead the villagers to escape the pursuit of the demon cultivators. However, due to the thin spiritual energy in this area, they were unable to cross the outer sea and return home. The group had no choice but to hide in the dense forest and struggle to survive.

He taught the children with Spiritual Roots to cultivate, passing down their origins from generation to generation and telling them that once the war between good and evil was over, immortal beings would come to take them home.

And so, for hundreds of years, the villagers lived through hardships, constantly hiding from the demon cultivators while eagerly awaiting news of victory for the righteous side.

The newborns had no idea what their homeland, as described in legends, was like. All they knew came from the stories passed down by their ancestors. Even the youngest children knew that their true home lay at the other end of the sea. They were all waiting for the immortal beings to take them back home.

The elderly cultivator at the Qi Refining Stage wept with tears of expectation and asked, "Immortal Master, have you come to take us home?"

Wen Yun fell silent. She didn’t know how to inform the elderly cultivator before her that the war between good and evil had ended five hundred years ago and the righteous side had indeed emerged victorious.

But they all forgot about these abducted mortals.

In the eyes of the cultivators, there was the majestic Path to the Heavenly Realm, the ascension to the Upper Realm, and the eternal longevity. How could they lower their heads to look at the crawling ants below?

Even though most of them were once one of these ants.

Wen Yun felt a sourness in her heart, she tightly pressed her lips and held the old woman’s hand, unable to say a word for a long time in the face of the surprise and cautious expectation in the other’s eyes.

Just then, the usually silent Ye Shubai spoke up.

"Yes, righteousness has prevailed, the homeland has been restored, we have come to take you home."

Ye Shubai did not lie, so his tone was slightly rigid. Wen Yun stared at him in a daze, he pursed his lips and avoided her gaze.

The half-step ascendant expert appeared solemn, bowing respectfully to the old man at the Qi Refining Stage.

"Fellow Daoist, we have come late."