The light completely swallowed both of them.
...
..
Qing felt as if he were being pulled toward a place directly through his soul, yet the physical pull never reached his body. There was no force dragging his limbs, no pressure against his skin, and no voice calling his name, but he could still feel that something was drawing him toward a specific destination. He couldn’t look at anything while this was happening, his entire perception had become completely black until...
Suddenly, he snapped open his eyes.
For several seconds, Qing simply stood there without moving. He had expected to arrive somewhere within the Azure Heaven Realm, perhaps another forest, city, or even a hidden location, but what appeared before him was something he had never seen before.
A vast field of white flowers stretched endlessly in every direction, their petals shining faintly beneath a sky filled with countless floating stars. There was no sun, no moon, and no visible source of light, yet the entire place was illuminated by a soft silver glow.
Tall trees with pale trunks stood scattered throughout the field, their branches covered in translucent leaves that moved despite there being no wind. The entire area looked peaceful, but Qing couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something unusual about this place.
At the center of this strange land stood an enormous black structure. It resembled a pedestal, but nothing about it looked ordinary. Hundreds of towering pillars surrounded the structure, each one carved with ancient formations that glowed faintly beneath their surfaces, and the moment Qing looked at those formations more carefully, his eyebrows rose slightly.
’A Twelve-Star Formation?!’ Qing immediately began examining the structure in greater detail.
Between the towering pillars were transparent walls that seemed to be made from crystal, yet he could feel an immense amount of power sealed within them. The pedestal itself looked strangely beautiful, with countless white vines growing across its dark, round stairs and blooming into flowers that released tiny particles of light into the surrounding air.
Despite its beauty, the immense power and High-Quality pure spiritual contained within the structure made Qing instinctively remain cautious as he observed it from a distance.
What surprised him even more was the Nine-Star Formation covering the center of the pedestal. The formation concealed the details of everything within that area, making it impossible for him to see what was actually being hidden. Qing frowned slightly at this, but before he could investigate it further, he suddenly felt something shift beneath him. Looking down, he found Yue lying unconscious on his lap.
’She must have passed out from all the exhaustion and the effects of that sudden Teleportation.’ Qing reached that conclusion before carefully moving Yue’s body and placing her on the soft, flower-filled ground.
He then stood up and looked toward the vast field once again, his eyes moving across the countless white flowers that stretched for miles in every direction without any visible end.
’Hmm... So this is the place where my fate is tied the most?’ Qing thought as he looked toward the strange pedestal. ’What in the world is this place? Judging from that Twelve-Star Formation, this is definitely an Upper Realm.’
He remembered from his past life that the Lower Realms only had formations up to the Nine-Star level. Anything beyond that belonged to a much higher level of existence, which meant that this place was definitely not within the Azure Heaven Realm. With that realization, Qing’s curiosity toward the pedestal increased, and his attention once again settled on the Nine-Star Formation concealing its center.
His Ultimate Comprehension immediately took effect.
Within an instant, Qing completely deciphered the structure of the Nine-Star Formation, understanding how it concealed the area behind it and how its energy was being circulated. He could also clearly see every flaw within its construction and the methods required to remove them, although there was an important difference between finding flaws and understanding how to bypass a formation that had been specifically created to conceal something.
Qing nodded slightly as he looked toward the hidden center.
’Let’s see what this formation is trying to hide as a veil.’
Within moments, Qing stood directly in front of the pedestal, careful not to step onto the round stairs surrounding it. He raised his hand and touched something that felt like an invisible barrier in the air. His palm immediately resonated with the formation, and after examining it for a few seconds, a faint smile appeared on his face.
"This is quite a good Nine-Star Formation, maybe a Formation Master from an Upper Realm made it. It has no flaws within it."
Qing exhaled softly before slightly pressing his hand against the invisible barrier. ’But... not having flaws and unveiling it are entirely different matters, and I am good at deciphering things easily thanks to my new Talent.’ The moment he pushed his hand slightly further, the invisible barrier surrounding the entire pedestal began to tremble. Spiderweb-like cracks spread through the empty air in every direction, making it look as if the space itself was breaking apart.
THHHHHLLLL
The entire formation shattered.
Qing slowly retracted his hand before lowering his head toward the center of the pedestal. His eyes narrowed as he finally saw what had been hidden behind the formation.
No, not a ’Thing’.
A person was lying in a sprawled manner at the center of the pedestal.
Qing frowned as he looked at her body, which was sprawled across the floor with her face pressed against the surface. Several transparent white chains were wrapped around her wrists, ankles, and waist, firmly restraining her body against the pedestal. Qing’s expression became slightly more serious as he observed the chains, but then his attention suddenly shifted toward her hair.
It was blue...Deep blue.
His eyebrows immediately rose as a familiar image appeared in his mind. His Master also had the same deep blue hair, and the similarity was enough for a possibility to instantly appear in Qing’s mind, ’Could it be-!’
Without thinking any further, Qing immediately stepped forward toward the pedestal and placed his foot onto the first round stair.
The moment he stepped on it, a powerful jolt of electricity surged through his body.
At the same time, an unknown force erupted from the stair and struck Qing directly, sending his body flying backward. He quickly controlled himself in midair before landing heavily on the ground and skidding backward, the force beneath his feet tearing through the ground and crushing the flowers beneath him as he was pushed several meters away.
Qing immediately raised his head, his eyes wide, ’Shit! Why did I step onto something that is from an Upper Realm without thinking ahead?! I must have lost my mind. I am at the weakest Cultivation Stage even in the Lower Realm!’
His gaze quickly returned to the person lying at the center of the pedestal. The sudden disturbance seemed to have affected her, because her fingers slowly moved against the pedestal’s floor before she pushed herself upward. Her movements were weak and sluggish, clearly showing how injured and exhausted she was, and after sitting up, she slowly brushed one hand against her eyes before looking ahead.
Toward Qing.
Qing remained completely still as he stared at her. His hands trembled slightly while he maintained his stance, because although he had expected something unexpected and dangerous to be hidden behind the Nine-Star Formation, he had never expected to find this person here.
Then he saw her face clearly.
Qing’s eyes widened.
His entire body trembled as countless memories of his past life surfaced within his mind, and for several seconds, he couldn’t say anything. He simply stared at the woman sitting at the center of the pedestal, unable to believe what he was seeing.
Finally, only one word escaped his mouth in a trembling, low voice.
"Master...?"