The sun was setting and the wind was chilly.
As the surroundings became dim, the crows cawed upon a tree as they glared at a person beneath the tree, as though they were waiting for him to rot so that they could feast on him.
The person flipped over. Although there were blood stains on his face, he appeared young. Suddenly, he opened his eyes and released a streak of white energy from his mouth.
"Whoosh!"
"Caw! Caw!"
The crows shook and a few feathers fell off. They quickly flew away in shock and would not dare to return.
"Mmm... Although I am injured, I am rather lucky not to have died!"
This person was Fang Yuan. As he examined himself, he realised that he was severely injured.
"The 3 magical swords are long destroyed and I will need a lot of dream elemental force to rebuild them. My physical martial artist body has been injured as I travelled through space. I can't even move a muscle now!"
He gathered the last of his energy and started to absorb the elemental energy from his surroundings, initiating his recovery.
"Forget about the 8 Gates Sword Array. This is not the time to use my reserved heavenly energy to achieve a breakthrough. I can slowly recover in the near future. This place seems not too far from civilization. I should prioritize the recovery of my physical body and regain some energy to move before thinking of anything else..."
Although the hollow was dependent on Da Qian Empire, the disruption and chaos within the hollow would mean that he could possibly end up somewhere else other than Da Qian Empire.
However, from the spiritual energy around and the geographical features which he could see, the chances that he was in Da Qian Empire was very high.
"The problem is that I don't know where I am, and I don't know about the fight at Changli Mountain Hollow..."
With this thought, he recalled the ultimatum between the Golden Horned Wing Tribe and the finger of the jade white hand and how he had benefited from it.
"That mysterious glow might just be the essence of the entire hollow. It was really lucky for me to have absorbed it... Both parties had fought to their deaths and in all that chaos, even the Prominent Divine dream masters would not be able to know. And if anyone attempt to predict what had happened, it would be laughable. The technique of a dream future master would require extreme details before they would be able to make an accurate prediction. Now that everything is in a mess, they would be extremely lucky if they could even start the prediction in the right direction..."
"Of course, to ensure my safety, the only way is to quickly increase my cultivation level!"
With a high level of cultivation, one would be able to resist the predictions of dream future masters even without the use of secret techniques or magical weapons. Furthermore, logically speaking, if one had a high level of cultivation and if the dream future master were to attempt to predict one, he would instead experience a backlash!
"Gallop!"
On a path, galloping of horses was heard. A caravan slowly made its way towards Fang Yuan.
"Head, a person is lying beside the road!"
A front scout quickly came over and shouted his findings. "He still has a breath. With all these abrasions on him, could he have fallen off a cliff?"
"He is just a mere vagrant. No need to pay any attention to him!"
The head of the caravan came over and glared at Fang Yuan as though he was a dead man.
Fang Yuan felt indifferent towards him.
After all, in this world, there were very few good and bad people. The majority were neutral. Since they were strangers, the head of the caravan had no obligation to help him and would, therefore, prefer to avoid trouble. This was only logical.
'I cannot remain here, lying by the roadside...'
Fang Yuan thought to himself as there was a mysterious look in his eyes. He was prepared to drop hints to make the person before him change his mind.
"Wait up!"
As a carriage approached, a young man around 15 years old came out of it. He was wearing a silk robe and his face was full of life. It was evident that he came from a rich family and was brought up with a silver spoon.
Seeing Fang Yuan, he quickly exclaimed. "We should save him. After all, we are saving a human life. Just take it that our family is accumulating good karma!"
"What a kind heart, my master!"
As soon as their Young Master spoke, no one would go against him. Two men started to approach Fang Yuan. "Oh... he's still able to move?"
"I'm afraid that my internal organs are damaged and I cannot move at the moment!"
Fang Yuan replied with a bitter smile.
"Let's free up a carriage for him to lie down! We'll let Old Zhang take a look at him!"
The consultant instructed a few men to carry out his instructions as he had a worried look on his face.
As the caravan took a short rest, they quickly resumed their journey. Fang Yuan laid in the carriage and felt a little dizzy from the suffocating confined space. As he focused, he could vaguely hear the conversation that was taking place outside the carriage.
"Young Master, you're rather reckless this time.... If he was a passer-by who fell and injured himself, then all is fine. However, Old Zhang had concluded that his limbs were fine and that he had sustained internal injuries! This means that he is likely to be a martial artist! Although we have a Wu Zong in our family, it is ultimately unwise to get ourselves into unnecessary trouble..."
The consultant spoke in an extremely soft voice. He could never imagine that Fang Yuan would be able to hear what he had just said.
"Uncle He, I've thought of this as well... However, it must be fate that we encounter him! Who can explain fate? Who knows, we might need his help in the future!"
The young man's voice was heard. He did not rescue Fang Yuan out of kindness, but although he might be thinking of making use of Fang Yuan's help in the future, his act was good enough. Fang Yuan remained indifferent and continued to focus on his breathing.
"Since I am being rescued, I don't have to recover in a rush. I should slowly restore my foundations first to get rid of any hidden injuries which I might not have detected..."
From all the fighting that he had gotten himself involved, to the chaotic scene before the hollow collapsed, all of these were insignificant to Fang Yuan. He had only sustained all these injuries because of the ultimatum between the two parties and the pressure that he had undergone from forcefully re-entering Da Qian Empire.
"Lord, it's time to eat!"
After half a day, the carriage doors opened. A servant with a bun on her head served a box of food. "I'm Little Ju! Young Master has instructed for me to bring you food!"
As he opened the box, the fragrance of food filled the air. It was porridge with minced meat, and just the smell of it was enough to make anyone salivate.
"Are you... really unable to move your hands?"
Little Ju looked at Fang Yuan and was on her guard.
"It's not that. I just feel an excruciating pain whenever I move my hands, and I would feel pain in my entire body as well..."
Fang Yuan appeared helpless.
"Alright then!"
Hering him, Little Ju had no choice but to assist him. She picked up the spoon, scooped up the porridge, blew at it to cool it down before feeding it to Fang Yuan.
"Thank you!"
Although it was forced, Fang Yuan smiled. He could not tell her that all he needed was elemental energy from the surroundings and did not require food. However, he still needed physical food for his physical body to recuperate and therefore, he had no choice but to eat.
'Although this is normal rice and not spiritual rice, the meat is extremely nourishing and it is not too bad...'
After two bowls of porridge, he could feel warmth in his stomach. He started to feel more comfortable. "Anything else?"
"Hehe... this meat is the flesh of a spiritual beast and was specially prepared for Young Master. You've already benefited, so what more do you want?"
Little Ju started to keep the cutlery and took a towel to wipe Fang Yuan's face. After cleansing him, her face was red with embarrassment. "Who would've thought that... you would look so charming?"
'Is this servant thinking too much?'
Fang Yuan secretly rolled his eyes. His appearance was average but he was young. Furthermore, he had experienced a lot and therefore seemed mature for his age. It was not something that Young Master could have.
"What a pity..."
Little Ju seemed to have recalled something. With a sigh, she took the food box and left.
'Is it a pity that I am not your Young Master? That's true too... Servants would want to have the opportunity to get in bed with their young masters and help them give birth to a few children so that they could rely on their children once they become old...'
Fang Yuan felt that it was rather interesting to think about how the servant's emotion had changed.
Since the time when he had learnt martial arts and started on the path to becoming a dream master, he had distanced himself from the lifestyle of normal humans.
"Hey... Let me tell you guys. The person which Young Master rescued is quite decent-looking..."
"Could you have fallen for him, Little Ju!"
"Pui! That's not true... I think you're thinking too much!"
Outside the carriage, chatterings were heard. The few servants sounded bold, which made Fang Yuan speechless.
It was nighttime and the caravan was silent.
Fang Yuan laid lifelessly on the carriage. Suddenly, he could feel the elemental energy in his dantian gathering, making him feel elated. "I just need another day for me to restore enough energy for everything to become as they were before!"
Suddenly, a hoarse voice was heard. Fang Yuan froze before he started to snicker.
As the doors to the carriage opened, a black figure entered. It had the appearance resembling a monkey and seemed to be in his thirties.
The figure was moving about at first. However, as soon as his eyes came into contact with Fang Yuan's eyes, he froze.
'I wanted to steal from him while he is still paralyzed. Brother Zhang has told me that although his clothing seemed tattered, he has a lot of valuables with him... Who would've thought that he is awake?'
After a while, the black figure smiled. "What now? Why not you try moving? Or shouting? Our caravan deserves a reward for rescuing you. It is only reasonable for me to take my share..."
As he threatened Fang Yuan, the black figure stretched out his hands towards Fang Yuan.
"You're courting death!"
Fang Yuan let out a gentle laugh. Was he really incapable of doing anything considering that his physical body was paralyzed?
The cultivation of a dream master focused on the mind. If the caravan had ill intentions towards him, in the end, he would not be at the losing end.
At this point in time, two streaks of glow shot out from his eyes and entered the eyes of the skinny person in front of him.
The person was stunned and had an unpleasant look on his face.
Against the bewildering technique of a dream master, even if it was at the most elementary stage, normal people would still become stunned and vulnerable.
"Your name?"
"Sun Ergou!"
"How old are you?"
"33!"
"Who is the owner of this caravan? Where is your destination? And... which region are we in?"
Since a lab rat came to him voluntarily, Fang Yuan generously accepted Sun Ergou's assistance as he continued to grill him for answers.
With a straight face, Sun Ergou spit out everything.
After a while, Fang Yuan waved his hands and allowed Sun Ergou to leave, as he smiled to himself. "Indeed, we are back in Da Qian!"
Through the information he had obtained, Fang Yuan now knew that he was in the Cloud Region of Da Qian. It was already thousands of miles away from the Jade Capital. He was fortunate enough to have not ended up in the oceans or vast deserts.
Furthermore, this was the He Family's caravan. The true purpose of the caravan was to send their young master to learn martial arts. They had performed a few trades along the way and were headed for the Golden Sun City.
"Did the young master of He Family... display traits and potential of becoming a dream master?"
This would surely be a big thing in their family. The entire family had shown their support. This caravan and a few shops in Golden Sun City would chip in to pay for their young master's training.
Fang Yuan remained silent. He did not pay particular attention to the young master's potential previously.
"In conclusion... there's nothing much!"
As he sighed, he recalled the crumbling hollow.
"The pieces of the crumbled hollow are beneficial to the dream masters at the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage. Of course... that intense destruction does not seem to be them dividing their share equally, but seemed to be more of a self-destruction by the hollow! Even Sages might not be able to completely contain the hollow... With the pieces of the crumbled hollow exploding in all directions, there might be a few pieces entering Da Qian, and they might form spiritual lands or perilous lands or of their own. I wonder which fortunate or unfortunate person would stumble across these lands..."