“Whoosh~”
Around the Zen Valley, a shooting star went by. The haze over the mountain had dispersed. Lu Li spotted the valley with psychic power at once.
Yin Qingsi was playing Chinese zither in the pavilion inside the sea of flowers. She seemed to have known that Crippled Zen Master had gone to send a message and that Lu Li would come soon.
“Whoosh!”
The bead landed and Lu Li came out. Yin Qingsi raised her head and said with a smile. “You have come back.”
Lu Li nodded. He took a look at a cabin and asked, “Can I meet the forefather to say thank you?”
Yin Qingsi shook her head as she replied, “Forefather will not receive you, and you do not need to thank him. He has gone for the sake of the Central Imperial Universe. He didn’t want to see those blessed lands being destroyed. What is more… your bead, well, the others really cannot control that easily. He was just reminding them.”
“But I do owe much to the forefather!”
Lu Li cupped his fists toward the cabin as a salutation. Turning to Yin Qingsi, he continued, “Qingsi, I am going back now. I don’t know when we will meet each other again after this.”
She was saddened by the fact. Pressing her lips together, she asked, “Will you come back? Come and visit us at the Central Imperial Universe. I will always welcome you to hang out and cultivate here.”
“I will try my best.”
Lu Li forced a smile. It might not be difficult to go down to Inferno from the Prison of Gold, but to come back up level after level could pose some hardship. Lu Li was not sure if he could come up by himself.
But Leng Wuxin was still in the bead. He could let her take him up. On this thought, he added, “I will come and visit you if I have time.”
Yin Qingsi gave Lu Li a goblet. They toasted to each other and finished their wine. “I have told someone from the Tsing Yi Cabinet to go to the City of Chaos. They will teleport to the Purgatory of Primordial Chaos ahead of you. They will only let you go over when they make sure that it is safe there. At the moment, the City of Chaos is free of Semi-God Realm warriors. I don’t suppose the Qi and Feng Family will do anything.”
Lu Li didn’t say “thank you”. He poured himself a goblet and finished it. Cupping his fists, he said, “This is goodbye, then. Long distance separates no bosom friends. Qingsi, take care!”
Yin Qingsi bowed slightly and nodded. “Take care!”
“I must leave now~”
Lu Li bowed toward Crippled Zen Master’s cabin again and flew up. He gave Yin Qingsi one last meaningful stare and entered the Wicked Bead. Like a shooting star, he was gone.
A desolate feeling swept across Yin Qingsi’s heart. She stood in the flowering shrubs with her eyes closed.
“Creak~”
A cabin door was pushed open. The Crippled Zen Master walked out on his crutch, and he walked to her quickly. Stroking her hair with much fondness, he said, “Dear, don’t worry. You will meet again if it is destined to be. If not, there is no point in forcing it.”
A drop of tear appeared in the corner of her eyes. Somehow, she felt sentimental. She lowered her head and choked. “Forefather, all of a sudden, I have this feeling. Maybe… I will not be able to see Lu Li in a very long time. Maybe, this is the last time we can ever meet.”
The Crippled Zen Master sighed. “You might be onto something because… we are going to leave soon. I have been staying here for three thousand years. Maybe it is time for us to leave now.”
“Leave?”
Yin Qingsi trembled as she asked, “Forefather, where are we going?”
“Back to your family!”
The Crippled Zen Master explained, “When I brought you away, your family was suffering chaos because of war. I also needed to learn something. I think the war should have come to an end in your family. It is high time you go back now.”
“Family?”
Yin Qingsi was flurried because she was not familiar with her family. Since she was born, she had been growing up in the Zen Valley. She had never met with a family member nor heard anything about her family. All of a sudden, she was going back to a foreign family. It made her feel scared.
“Dear, don’t be afraid!”
Patting her shoulder, the Crippled Zen Master comforted her, “I will always be by your side. I will always help you no matter what happens.”
“Thank you!”
Yin Qingsi replied with a sweet smile. She wiped the tears off her cheeks. Somehow, she felt reassured. She asked again after a pause, “Then… are we ever going to come back here? Forefather!”
“Maybe yes, maybe no!”
The Crippled Zen Master continued after a moment, “Dear, cultivate well. When you reach a certain level, you will be able to master and control your own life. By then, you can go anywhere you want to go.”
Yin Qingsi walked around to check the Zen Valley for one last time. She gave the servants some orders for an arrangement. Then, she came back and said with a sigh, “Let us go now, forefather. Let us… go home.”
“Swish, swish~”
The Crippled Zen Master reached out his hand and made a grabbing gesture in the air. Following that, he vanished into the thin air with Yin Qingsi, disappearing from the mountain.
….
Lu Li came back to the City of Chaos. He had been flying around the city many times and made sure that there was only one Earth Immortal Realm warrior in the city. A male warrior of the Tsing Yi Cabinet gave him a signal of safety. Lu Li sent out nine Earth Immortal Realm warriors to ward off the area near the Teleportation Formation.
He was still worried, so he sent an Earth Immortal Realm warrior to teleport to the Purgatory of Primordial Chaos in advance. A moment later, a jade talisman in his hand broke. It was that Earth Immortal Realm warrior telling him that everything was fine.
“Let’s go!”
Lu Li no longer had any reservations. He dashed out of the Wicked Bead. Together with the other Earth Immortal Realm warriors, he went into the Teleportation Formation. One Earth Immortal Realm warrior stayed behind to activate the Teleportation Formation. Soon, all of them disappeared from the City of Chaos.
“Buzzing~”
Amidst a white glare, Lu Li emerged in the Prison of Gold of the Purgatory of Primordial Chaos. He was in the cave where he came in from, the entrance to the Central Imperial Universe.
A soul slave of his was standing next to the Teleportation Formation. In the very beginning, there were three Earth Immortal Realm warriors of the Central Imperial Universe guarding here. But at the moment, there were merely several Human Sovereign Realm warriors.
Lu Li took out the Wicked Bead at once and put all his soul slaves in. He dashed out from the cave in a blur.
“Alright then!”
Lu Li put his mind at ease after he flew for dozens of miles. He tried to remember the exit from the Prison of Gold to the Prison of Water and flew the Wicked Bead quickly toward that direction.
The Wicked Bead was traveling as fast as it could. Lu Li knew that many old warriors were cultivating in isolation here, and some had reached the Semi-God Realm. But he no longer cared.
If he had slowed down, scouts of Mage Imperial Universe, Divine Imperial Universe, and Earth Imperial Universe would take notice. In that case, if lunatics of the Mage Imperial Universe came after him again, he would be in bigger trouble.
Therefore, he must find the way to the Prison of Water as fast as he could. After entering the Prison of Water and he would be in complete safety.
The entrance to the Central Imperial Universe and that to the Prison of Water were actually not far away from each other.
Leng Wuxin could cover the distance in merely 10 days. When she rode the lotus, she was traveling at a speed of the Earth Immortal Realm. But the Wicked Bead now could be as fast as a Semi-God Realm warrior.
Unless something unexpected happened, in three to four days at most, Lu Li would arrive at the entrance to the Prison of Water. Scouts of the Mage Imperial Universe might find him, but they would not be able to catch up with him in such a short time.
As Lu Li had suspected, his fast flying had startled some old warriors. In merely one day, he had run into four Earth Immortal Realm warriors and one Semi-God Realm warrior.
Lu Li thought about capturing the four Earth Immortal Realm warriors as well. On second thought, though, he gave up. If Earth Immortal Realm warriors could not be brought below the Prison of Water, then taking more Earth Immortal Realm warriors would still be pointless. If they could be brought to the Prison of Water, then 13 soul slaves should suffice.
As for that Semi-God Realm warrior, he was not fast enough to keep up with the Wicked Bead. Lu Li was getting more and more excited as he moved closer to the entrance of the Prison of Water.
He had drifted from place to place, homeless and miserable, for several years. He had survived several narrow escapes and crisis. Finally, he was going home.
…