Depart

During the dead of the night, a young man in blue with pitch-black hair was sitting cross-legged on the bed. His eyes were closed, as his mind was free of thought, entering a world of cultivation. Around his body, was an invisible tsunami that was seemingly endless and as boundless as the sea.

Above him, a large figure that seemed like a ghost appeared and disappeared like an illusion. The figure had no legs, only a large muscular torso with large arms and as well as a head. The figure had a long white beard, as well as white hair on its head.

Its eyes were completely white with no pupils, as its arms were crossed and faced forward. It floated in the air above Long He Yu's body, and disappeared and reappeared as though it were blinking.

Inside the room next door, a young man was kneeling on the ground and rolling around in pain. A pitch-black devil-like aura surrounded him as a devilish energy surged with incredible destructive might. Far away, a certain important man opened his eyes as he sensed the incredibly tyrannical energy within his mansion.

"Incredible, such terrifying energy could actually be obtained by such a young man. In a few more years, the Great Solar Empire will have a new peerless expert." the man thought, returning to his duties as the City Lord.

Inside his own room, Yan Lenglei was sitting crossed-legged on the bed in a lotus position with his eyes closed. Around him, an invisible peerless pressure was emitted constantly, causing his hair and clothes to float in the air as though he was being blown by the wind. His long pitch-black hair danced along with his clothing, while formidable sparks of lightning and thunder were appearing randomly.

Deep within his cultivating state, Yan Lenglei was practicing his Concept of Thunder, as well as the Concept of Ice that he had comprehended. Behind the tyrannical thunder and lightning, was an incredibly chilly air, as well as small drops of snow that were so small it looked like the sparkles of jewelry.

As he cultivated, he could tell that he was making some progress in his Way of Ice and Way and Thunder. Reaching the next level in his Concepts wasn't too far away at his current pace. Soon, he opened his eyes and sensed the blue figure that blinked above Long He Yu's head. He didn't think much of it since everyone had secrets, hence he closed his eyes again shortly and re-entered a cultivating state.

Soon, in the blink of an eye, a month had passed. During that month, the group of three made good progress in their cultivation, reaching the very peak of their state, just enough so that they wouldn't make a breakthrough to the next stage.

Very soon, they would be in the Ninth Stage of the Awakening Realm, which meant that they would be at the peak of the Realm. Once they were, they would be able to make a breakthrough to the Noble Realm at any time.

The Celestial Lotus Sect, as well as many other top-grade sects would begin the expedition soon. It was time for Yan Lenglei's group to leave the City Lord Mansion and follow Ning Lianqi to the Celestial Lotus Sect.

That being said, rather than making the trip by themselves, Ning Lianqi informed them that the sect would send over some people to bring them back quickly. Of course, the sect would also know about their group and had no problems since the City Lord himself had agreed.

On the day, Yan Lenglei, Mo Jidong, and Long He Yu waited behind Ning Lianqi for the members of her sect to arrive. It didn't take very long despite being very early in the morning for them to arrive. In the sky above them, a large golden lotus that was powered by Spiritual Qi was seen rotating at a speed that was neither slow nor fast. Above the golden lotus, the silhouette of a single person could be seen.

Based on the dark silhouette alone, it was easy to tell that the person who came to pick them up was a woman. "Master." Ning Lianqi spoke softly, as her master in the Celestial Lotus Sect came to pick up her own disciple in person. Ning Lianqi's master is an Elder of the sect, giving her a powerful position in the sect, while she herself was of a high cultivation base.

Within a single breath of time, a beautiful face was revealed to them. Ning Lianqi's master appearance was that of a young girl of sixteen, but it was unknown how old she really was. After all, cultivation was going against Heaven, by cultivating, both men and women were able to retain their youthful appearance once they had reached a certain realm.

Sweeping her Spiritual Sense over Yan Lenglei's group, Ning Lianqi's master frowned slightly before her expression returned to normal. "My precious disciple, if I didn't come to pick you up in person, who knows how long it would take to return to the sect." she said, facing her only disciple.

Without wasting any more words, Ning Lianqi's master lifted her arm, as a strong Spiritual Qi rose and swept the group of four, allowing them to take flight and land softly on her lotus. Immediately, the lotus turned and turned into a golden light that flew off far into the distance in an instant.

*****

Standing on the golden lotus, Yan Lenglei closed his eyes and tried to feel the pressure of the wind around him. This golden lotus that allowed them to take flight was obviously a Spiritual Tool for flight, which would eliminate almost all wind pressure during flight. Not only him, but Mo Jidong was doing the same. As he Long He Yu, he had no need for it since he didn't want to focus on anything else for now.

The two brothers Yan Lenglei and Mo Jidong both faced in the same direction and stood as still as statues. It was hard to tell what they were doing exactly, but one could still easily guess. In fact, it was just like what one would be thinking of when seeing them. The two of them were using the slight wind pressure to try and comprehend the Way of Wind.

Even tho the wind pressure was extremely soft and was almost impossible to feel, the two of them focused their entire beings on the slight wind while trying to comprehend. As they did, Ning Lianqi and her master who were talking between each other noticed a strange sensation behind them and turned around.

While the two brothers appeared to be doing nothing special, for the two of them, it was easy to tell that they were both comprehending the Way of Wind as they traveled! Shock filled them, but it didn't show on their faces, at the same time, they could feel a strong gust of wind around both Yan Lenglei and Mo Jidong who were still comprehending during their short journey that wouldn't even last one shi of time.

Within his state, Yan Lenglei could feel a strong Spiritual Qi of Wind in his surroundings, he felt that he could completely sense and comprehend the Concept of Wind if he was able to travel for a longer duration of time. Unfortunately, their journey was coming to an end, making that small push that he needed to be stilled.

By the time he opened his eyes, had already arrived at the Celestial Lotus Sect. A moment later, Mo Jidong also opened his eyes as they scanned the surrounding environment. Worthy of being a top-ranked sect within the Great Solar Empire. A majestic golden hue filled the very clouds that almost made up the entire sect. Large islands and buildings were atop rotating golden lotuses, while many small figures could be seen traveling between the sect in the distance.

Coming down to the center of the Celestial Lotus Sect, Ning Lianqi's master landed and drew a large amount of attention. After all, everyone within the Celestial Lotus Sect knew that this beautiful Elder had gone off to pick up her disciple, who was also a Legacy Disciple of the sect. What was a Legacy Disciple? They were disciples that were ranked even higher than Core Disciples, in each generation of a sect, there would only be one Legacy Disciple who had the highest talent and would inherit the entire sect once they were strong enough.

The very Sect Leader of the Celestial Lotus Sect was the previous generation Legacy Disciple, and was now the leader of the entire sect with an extremely unfathomable cultivation base!

Now that Ning Lianqi had returned, all the disciples who would be entering the ancient ruins were excited, as their next leader had arrived. While they landed, Ning Lianqi's master joined the rest of the elders, while Ning Lianqi herself walked up to the very front of where the disciple was gathered with Yan Lenglei's group following.

Naturally, the three of them gathered the attention of the disciples of the sect, causing some gossip amongst the disciples. In particular, one male disciple who was dressed entirely in gold saw them and had a slightly sinister expression on his face for a brief moment.

Once all the disciples and elders had gathered, a young man who didn't seem older than twenty stood up from the very center. Immediately, every single disciple including Ning Lianqi bowed in respect as they greeted him, "Greetings to the Sect Leader!" the disciples said in unison.

Since they weren't disciples of the sect, there was no need to greet him like the disciples. Even so, they paid their respects to him in their own way, as the Sect Leader raised his hand and spoke using his Divine Will.

"Disciples of the Celestial Lotus Sect, the Ancient Ruins of Gu Feixu has opened up for the first time in a thousand years. As you all know, only those below the Baron Realm are able to enter the ruins, otherwise, they will turn to ashes if they try to force their way in."

"All of you are the most elite disciples of my Celestial Lotus Sect and are amongst the chosen to enter the ancient ruins this time. My only hope is that each of you can return safely and refine yourselves within so that you each can become the future pillars of the sect!"

"The ancient ruins are extremely dangerous, while other sects will also be there. Obviously, killing is allowed within the ruins, hence you should all cooperate with each other and defend yourselves. Remember, only those that live are the ones that have the last laugh." the Celestial Lotus Sect Leader spoke, inspiring the disciples who heard him. While many of his words were obvious, his words and powerful coercion caused the disciples to feel as though each of his words was the words of a sage.

Finishing his words, the Sect Leader waved his hand, bringing everyone including himself onto a huge golden lotus that could fit over two hundred people easily. In the blink of an eye, the golden lotus sped off into the distance and disappeared from hind sight.