Chapter 100 - 34.4 - An Wuya (1/2)

Li Xinwen stared at the last arrays that he needed to undo in order to remove the seal. He had been working on the seals for a few hours and had finally reached the last step. Unfortunately, he was already feeling exhausted. He glanced at the few empty bamboo tubes on his side. These bamboo tubes used to be filled with the spiritual lake water that Lanyu brought him.

”Should I call him again?” Li Xinwen wondered.

Before he could though, Lanyu already came in and brought another bamboo tube. ”Master, the time for an incense stick to burn is already up in the outside world,” Lanyu informed Li Xinwen. ”Here, drink and recover your strength,” Lanyu handed the tube to Li Xinwen.

Li Xinwen reached out to grab the tube, unscrew the cork that sealed the opening and drank it in one go. ”Then, I guess I'll continue this next time. I'll leave, for now, Lanyu. Take care of everything here,” Li Xinwen said as he handed the tube back to Lanyu before he left the dimension.

When he returned to his room, Li Xinwen heard his phone ringing. Walking over to his table, he picked his phone up to see that it was Xue Rui who called.

”Hello?”

”Xinwen? Were you taking a bath?” Xue Rui asked from the other side of the line.

”Oh... En. I just finished bathing,” Li Xinwen replied. A lie, but it didn't matter since there was no need for Xue Rui to know what he's been doing. ”Why did you call?”

”It's about our lunch tomorrow. Lakeside Pavilion. My brother already reserved a private room for the whole afternoon,” Xue Rui informed him.

”Your brother? Xue Jun or Xue Liang?”

”Jun-ge of course. Liang-ge is still out somewhere,” Xue Rui quickly replied.

”En. Alright then,” Li Xinwen went over to his bed and sat down by the edge. ”But why is it your brother who does the reserving? Is he also coming along?”

”Ah... yes. He will,” Xue Rui answered. ”I told him about the apocalypse and he wanted to ask Jinghua more information about it,” Xue Rui murmured softly.

”Hmm... that's actually good. I was going to get him into our group too. It might be good to have a military back-up,” Li Xinwen told Xue Rui. ”Is that all?”

”I... En. That's all,” Xue Rui seemed to hesitate but in the end, decided not to say anything. ”Good night, Xinwen. I'll see you tomorrow.”

”I'll see you tomorrow. Rui-ge, don't sleep too late. You should rest more for your recovery,” Li Xinwen said before ending the call. He placed the phone on the table and plugged the charging cable on. Seeing the phone is now charging, Li Xinwen went over to take a quick shower. Only after cleaning himself did he return to his bed.

That night, Li Xinwen didn't know why but he felt tired the moment his head hit the pillow. Thinking that his soul might be tired from trying to undo the seals, he decided to close his eyes and entered a deep meditative state. When he did, he noticed that something was wrong. There was a foreign force pulling his consciousness out and he tried to defend himself. Unfortunately, he was too slow and darkness covered his awareness.

Luckily, the darkness didn't last long but when Li Xinwen became aware of his surrounding once again, he realized that he was no longer on his bed. Instead, he finds himself standing on a desolate patch of land. The land stretches for as long as he could see, but there was nothing surrounding him. Looking up, he saw that the sky was covered in dark cloud as if to show the despair and hopelessness.

'Not only that...' Li Xinwen looked over at the clothes he's wearing. The familiar colour of blue and white, the soft materials that covered his skin, it was the exact same as the one he used to wear back in Long Xing. 'But this place is not Long Xing. I don't know where this is but this place is deprived of any spiritual energy...'

”What is this? When I was told that there was a strong cultivator, I thought I would be able to find a good seedling,” a voice suddenly came from behind Li Xinwen. The voice sounded languid but held a bewitching charm in it.

Li Xinwen himself felt that he had almost fallen into its influence. Thankfully, he was quick to snap out of it and bit down on his tongue, using the pain to distract himself from the charming effect. Turning around, he immediately took a defensive stance as he stared at the being before him. ”Who are you? No, rather... What are you?” Li Xinwen's eyes never left the figure that stood in front of him.

The figure had a humanoid form, similar to that of a man. The clothing the man wore was just like a typical cultivator, with the exception, it was in black. Just like the voice that Li Xinwen heard before, even the face has a bewitching charm. The only exception is that there is three protruding horn on its head. Even in Long Xing, Li Xinwen had never seen someone like this before. The more Li Xinwen stared at the other's face, the more he felt that his soul was being pulled. When he realized what happened, Li Xinwen quickly shook his head and cleared his mind.

”Oh? It has been a while since I met someone who can remain clear-headed when they saw me. Most of these foolish mortals simply yield and pledged their allegiance over to me, to forever serve me. I am truly happy,” the figure sounded impressed. ”Maybe you are not that bad at all,” he added with a chuckle as he approached Li Xinwen.

As if sensing danger, Li Xinwen jumped back and tried to summon Shuang Ren but the sword didn't appear. With a frown, he called out to Lanyu in his mind, but there was also no response from the spirit fairy. With a click of his tongue, Li Xinwen mobilised his spiritual energy stored within his dantian and guide them over to his hand, forming a sword made of ice.