Several hours later...
Qing could be seen inside an Infirmary room of the Stoneheart Sect, sitting on a chair with his attention focused on the sleeping Yue from the Nine Lotus Sect. She lay on the bed in front of him, still unconscious and completely unaware of the "trouble" she had caused him moments ago.
Qing’s expression was slightly edgy and irritated, as if he was still contemplating what kind of emotion he should show on the outside. ’Tch, Master got me there.’ He thought as he remembered the sequence of events that had happened inside the prison realm.
The first thing he had explained to Yun Xiya was a mixture of half-truths and lies. He had told her that he was from a different timeline and that after dying, he had somehow reincarnated into this body. In that timeline, he had been the disciple she chose from the Azure Heaven Realm itself because she had seen extremely high potential in him and had personally come to take him under her.
Although that made her somewhat suspicious, since the current him didn’t possess even an ounce of the supposed potential he had displayed in his previous life, she still believed his explanation. Otherwise, he had no reasonable way of knowing her name, especially since he had never met this version of her before.
Not only that, but he also knew about the Myriad Paths Formation, something known to only a very small number of people across the Upper Realms.
After that, Qing repeated everything that had happened after he woke up from the corpse pit. That information wasn’t particularly important, so he revealed every detail about how he entered the spatial domain, how Yue fought the Demons while he constructed the Myriad Paths Formation, and how they ultimately arrived inside the prison realm.
What he didn’t reveal was that he was originally from Earth. However, after seeing Yun Xiya’s reactions and listening to the explanation she gave him afterward, Qing became completely certain about what had happened, ’I not only reincarnated in a different body, but also regressed back in time...’
He reached that conclusion as he silently thought back to what his Master had explained to him.
"If what you are saying is the truth while the logic fits your story perfectly, then... I suppose I should believe you. But tell me, what is your goal? What is it that you would do if you had power? Take the Oath of the Heavens and speak the truth. If you lie, your Dantian will be destroyed and you will be unable to cultivate."
Qing vividly remembered those words. He didn’t need her to directly say that she was testing him because it was obvious that she wanted to determine whether he was some kind of schemer. After all, there was still a possibility that the owner of this body, or someone else entirely, had somehow obtained all of this information and that Qing was simply repeating it.
Even if that possibility was extremely small, it couldn’t simply be ignored. Yun Xiya had lived for a long time and had enough experience to understand that even seemingly impossible possibilities could sometimes become reality.
But Qing was firm about his goal. One could even say that she was testing the path he had chosen, and without any hesitation, he took the Oath of the Heavens and spoke the goal he had carried with him since his previous life: "I would eradicate every single Demon in existence. Not a single one will be spared."
The moment he spoke those words, his eyes were filled with determination and Bloodlust. Even Yun Xiya was completely shocked by the amount of Bloodlust he possessed, especially considering his current Cultivation. It was something that even someone like her hadn’t expected to see from a cultivator at his level.
That also proved something Qing had already mentioned. He really was from a different timeline, or at least from a future that was similar to this one. The Heavens had neither judged him nor destroyed his Dantian, proving that he had been telling the truth.
"Heh, what do I even expect from the disciple I trained? You are a good disciple. Although I just came to know you, you must already know almost everything about me."
Qing had answered positively, after which Yun Xiya revealed how and why she had ended up inside that prison realm. Apparently, she had been sealed there by the current Sect Master of the Nine Lotus Sect, who was pretending to be Yun Xiya, the real Sect Master.
She was using Yun Xiya’s appearance as nothing more than a tool to deceive the Grand Elders and Elders while slowly turning every single one of them into Demons. The current Sect Master was colluding with the Demons for some unknown benefit, and she had plotted together with a Demon King to seal the real Yun Xiya inside that prison realm.
Qing clenched his fist as he remembered that, ’Damn bastards!’
He shook his head and forced himself to calm down. Getting angry wouldn’t accomplish anything because, at his current strength, there was nothing he could do even if he wanted to rescue his Master. As of now, his utmost priority was getting stronger, and tonight, he planned to do exactly that.
Qing stood up from the seat he had been sitting on before turning toward the doorway, "Senior Han, I will take my leave and go rest for now, you should look after Senior Yue."
Han, who had been standing outside the room, entered and nodded as he replied, "Alright, I suppose you need some rest after going through all that."
Qing nodded before quietly exiting the Infirmary. As he walked away, he remembered the new Formation his Master had just taught him, the same Formation that had helped them return here. It was called the Heaven’s Return Formation.
Although the name sounded grand, its function was relatively simple. It was a returning Formation that allowed them to return to a location connected to their Fate, and it was an Eight-Star Formation. With the excessive Spiritual Energy he had absorbed from the Energy Circulation Formation inside the spatial domain, executing it and returning here had been relatively easy.
’Now, I need to set everything aside and get stronger for real.’
Qing also remembered the promise he had made to his Master in the name of the Heavens. Once he became strong enough, he would return to that prison realm and rescue her. Until then, getting stronger was the only thing that mattered.
For now, however, he had to find a place where he could cultivate without any distractions. He soon reached a somewhat stable building within the almost-destroyed Stoneheart Sect, and because it was situated at the far end of the sect, there was no one inside.
This was exactly what Qing needed. He could finally focus entirely on his Cultivation without worrying about disturbing anyone or being interrupted during his breakthrough.
With that, Qing finally entered the building and quietly closed the door behind him.
His path toward cultivation was beginning again.