Chapter 20: Return Safely
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After Miao Yun had ambushed She Ya and destroyed the snake demon, she detonated the magic items in the Blessed Land.
The vast explosion caused tremors throughout the ley line, which originated from the node and forced the power of the leyline to go wild.
Starting from the node, the Blessed Land began to crumble.
Two people were flying on top of the desert just seconds before that happened.
They were the two sages invited to help by Ge Hongru and called through the Celestial Inviting Incense—Sage Xu from the Soaring Clouds Clan and Sage Lu from the Luo Sheng Sword School.
The two Golden Core Sages had arrived at the Aspirant Cultivators Academy the night after the Yellow Sands King’s attack.
They had been soaring through the sky of the desert not long after their arrival searching for the Demon King.
However, they had underestimated the cunningness of the Yellow Sands King, not expecting that he would hide in the Blessed Land under the vast desert.
That was why even the two Golden Core Sages couldn’t locate the Demon King.
Yet they did not give up and relentlessly searched every inch of the desert for two nights.
When Miao Yun detonated the magic items, the changes to the ley lines were almost visible to naked eyes.
The sudden surge of the Power of the Ley line caught the sages’ attention.
Sage Lu from the Luo Sheng Sword School immediately threw his sword toward the ground, summoning a ray of sword light to pierce through the sands.
Wherever the sword light passed through, a hole was formed. It didn’t stop until it hid the Yellow Sands King’s arm.
It only took them a few seconds from descending into the room to killing the Demon King.
Sage Xu from the Soaring Clouds Clan and Sage Lu launched their attacks simultaneously.
The former used the Cloud Weaving Hands, an original spell of the Soaring Clouds Clan. With a single wave of her hand, Sage Xu grabbed the demon core of the Yellow Sands King without even touching it and crushed it with all the Demon King’s organs.
The Yellow Sands King fell without even having the chance to fight back.
It all happened so fast that even Miao Yun could not react to it.
“Are you okay?” Sage Xu asked Miao Yun when she approached her.
“I’m fine. Thank you for coming, Sage Xu.” The lady quickly nodded. “We have to leave right away. The node of the ley line has been destroyed. This place will crumble along with it soon.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Sage Xu said, and she waved her arm.
Fabric unknown to Miao Yun or Chen Jingzhai covered the formation and absorbed the young cultivators and Chen Jingzhai into it.
Sage Xu then grabbed Miao Yun’s arm and flew up into the sky with Sage Lu.
Not long after all three people were high up in the sky, the sands fell into the giant whirlpool deep in the ground.
As the sands moved, dust filled the sky.
For an instant, it looked as if the world was filled with yellow sands.
The desert had sunk for more than 100 feet and formed an enormous lake made of sands.
Instead of flowing water, sands moved in it.
Miao Yun watched as everything unfolded. Before she could even speak, a sword light split the desert.
A large sword that resembled the Soaring Clouds Ship appeared out of nowhere, and on the blade were the rest of the cultivators that Miao Yun and Chen Jingzhai could not save.
Although not all were rescued, several cultivators were.
Sage Xu then summoned a bigger Soaring Clouds Ship.
After settling down on the deck, Sage Xu released the cultivators and Chen Jingzhai from her fabric, while Sage Lu controlled his sword to approach the ship.
Miao Yun took a deep breath as she tried to calm herself down from the excitement of making out of the ordeal alive. She then knelt in front of Sage Xu. “Sage Xu, I apologize for not noticing the Yellow Sands King sooner that caused the death of so many young cultivators.”
“I’ve heard about what happened from Master Ge,” Sage Xu said. “This is not your fault. No one would’ve expected that there is such a Blessed Land hidden in the desert that helped a small demon purify his core.”
“But…” Sage Lu interrupted in his deep voice. “Your mission is to escort the young cultivators of the northern region of the Pulao Kingdom. Even though she had made mistakes, we still managed to rescue most of them.”
“I see. So that’s why you are here as well,” Sage Xu said as she watched the remaining young cultivators approach the ship on the sword. “Doesn’t this mean Miao Yun has accomplished something instead of making a mistake?”
Miao Yun looked at Sage Xu, not knowing what she was talking about.
“She has indeed protected the captives from the Yellow Sands King,” Sage Lu added. “However, there are still too many casualties, and it will affect the academy. Let’s say she has offset her mistake by protecting these young kids.”
“That’ll do.” Sage Xu nodded and turned to Miao Yun. “You should focus on your training after you return to the clan. You have benefited a lot from this ordeal, and you are now one step closer to reaching the Core Plane.”
“I will. Sage Xu, I’m able to survive through all of this because of Jingzhai. If he had not rescued me from the snake demon, I would’ve been tortured.”
Sage Xu turned to study Chen Jingzhai and said, “He sure has a lot of talent. Since you have saved Miao Yun here, I’ll allow you to join the Soaring Clouds Clan before graduating from the academy…”
“Hold up.” Sage Lu quickly stopped his peer. “Isn’t the Soaring Clouds Clan mainly for women? Although this boy doesn’t have any cultivation, his compatibility with all the five elements is insane. Not only that, but also he has already opened his Mystery Gate. He should join the Luo Sheng Sword School instead.”
“Why so?” Sage Xu frowned.
“The Soaring Clouds Clan’s foundation lies on the Soaring Clouds and walks the Path of the Queen Mother of the West and the King Father of the East,” Sage Lu explained. “Even though the path consists of all five elements, it would be hard for him to utilize all of them. Compared to that, not only do we practice sword cultivation here at Luo Sheng Sword School, but also we possess the Luotian Celestial Scripture.”
“The Luotian Celestial Scripture,” Sage Xu mumbled and kept her mouth shut after that.
Sage Lu had expected that his reasoning would convince his peer. He turned to Chen Jingzhai and asked, “Boy, what’s your name?”
“My name is Chen Jingzhai, sir! I’m from the 8th Branch of the Aspirant Cultivators Academy,” Chen Jingzhai immediately replied.
“Well then, Chen Jingzhai, do you want to join the Luo Sheng Sword School?”
“It’ll be my pleasure!” the young man replied immediately.
With his deep understanding of the Pulao Kingdom, the Luo Sheng Sword School was not his first choice.
However, being given a chance to join a celestial clan early on and get preferential treatment from Sage Lu was his best option.
“Hey! Calm down, kid. Let me warn you first. We have a lot of strict rules,” Sage Lu said. “Although you have a lot of potential and have helped a lot here, you still have to go through the test like the rest of the cultivators to join our school. If you fail, you’ll have no choice but to leave or do labor works.”
“I’m willing to give it a try!” Chen Jingzhai bowed.
“Very well!”
Being robbed of a young cultivator with such good potential, Sage Xu was in a bad mood. She took Miao Yun with her and headed into the ship’s cabin.
The sage also sped up the Soaring Clouds Ship, and it didn’t take long for them to return to the Aspirant Cultivators Academy.
When Ge Hongru saw his students return, tears filled his eyes.
As the ship hovered in midair, the clouds gathered to form stairs that led to the ground.
The young cultivators were woken up and started to disembark from the ship.
“Jingzhai! Jingzhai!” Lin Wuque stood among the crowd as he shouted.
However, the students who had returned were all either crying or cheering. Chen Jingzhai could not hear his friend calling him.
“Master Ge, although you have failed to protect the students this time, we are willing to ignore your mistake because of your past merit.” Sage Lu’s voice suddenly filled the academy. “No masters will be coming to the White Clouds City this year. The students will have to wait until July next year to take the test.”
“However, we’ll give a special treatment to students with dual spirit roots and Celestial Bones,” Sage Xu added. “They can join the Soaring Clouds Clan or Luo Sheng Sword School by taking the test. Or they can wait until next year to join other clans.”
Ge Hongru quickly gathered all the young cultivators with the dual spirit roots or Celestial Bones.
These were all Proud Sons of Heavens, and they had already gotten bored of their life at the academy. They had been yearning to join a clan for a very long time.
All of them quickly concluded joining the clans before their graduation.
Two of the male students who possessed the Celestial Bone decided to join the Luo Sheng Sword School with the female student with the same talent and had agreed to join the Soaring Clouds Clan.
As for the students with dual spirit roots, only two joined the Luo Sheng Sword School, while the rest chose to join Sage Xu’s clan.
The moment the students made their choices, the two sages gathered their respective potential disciples together.
The sword that Sage Lu stood on instantly turned into a giant sword. As he stood on top of it with Chen Jingzhai, he pulled the remaining four students onto it without touching them.
Without saying anything, they were enveloped in sword light before disappearing.
Before Sage Xu left, she informed Ge Hongru that the Yellow Sands King had been slain and that the academy could try and hunt down the demon soldiers who had survived.
She then told Master Ge about the arrival of other masters to recruit the graduated students before leaving on the Soaring Clouds Ship with Miao Yun and the new disciples.
The Aspirant Cultivators Academy finally found its peace again, but no one was celebrating.
Ling Wuque had his eyes on the colossal sword until it disappeared. Determination was then written all over his face.