At that moment, Duan Mingyu, Rong Lü, and Xu Yehua were searching the thatched cottage for the two missing men. Finding no clues, a sudden flash blinded them. The house, the sunlight, and everything else vanished instantly; everything they had touched felt like a fading dream.
"What happened?" Duan Mingyu cried out in alarm.
"Over there." Xu Yehua pointed toward two figures faintly visible through the mist. He took the lead, with Rong Lü shielding Duan Mingyu close behind.
As they drew nearer, the faces of Zhai Bairong and Nie Shiyun became clear.
Duan Mingyu looked as though he were about to cry from relief. "Thank goodness! You’re both alright."
Xu Yehua, however, remained wary. He held Duan Mingyu back, suspecting the two might be imposters or illusions. It took a considerable amount of explaining from Zhai Bairong and Nie Shiyun before the other three were convinced.
"So, you obtained the remnant soul of the Heteromorphic Fire," Xu Yehua noted.
Zhai Bairong nodded in affirmation.
It would be a lie to say Duan Mingyu wasn't disappointed, but Zhai Bairong was his senior brother and one of his lovers; it was better for Zhai Bairong to have it than anyone else. However, the hope he had harbored for a solution to his constitution's issues had been dashed once again, leaving him looking rather despondent.
"It is merely a remnant soul; your vision is too narrow. If one is to plot, one should plot for the original fire itself. Don't you agree?" Xu Yehua laughed arrogantly, though his hand gently stroked Duan Mingyu’s shoulder.
"That is easy to say, but where would I even find it?"
"We search slowly. Once we leave this secret realm, why not come to my Chiyan Cliff? It is hot there year-round; it might be of help to your cold constitution."
Seeing Xu Yehua have the audacity to say such things right in front of him, Zhai Bairong couldn't help but interject, "Chiyan Cliff cannot even produce a single outstanding disciple, yet it openly tries to poach people from other sects?"
"Oh, I merely wished to invite him as a guest for some sightseeing. I wonder if Fellow Daoist Zhai has misunderstood something?"
As the atmosphere grew increasingly tense with romantic friction, Nie Shiyun decided it was time to make a strategic retreat.
He had already obtained what he needed from the secret realm. Despite a few minor accidents along the way, his harvest was overall quite bountiful. Xu Yehua gave him a very bad feeling; as much as possible, he did not want to clash with the man yet.
Claiming that there was less than a year left before the realm closed and that he wished to search for the outer disciples of Yunqing Pavilion, Nie Shiyun offered a rather flimsy excuse. He wasn't particularly valued by the others—he was an expendable presence—and the only one who knew the truth, Zhai Bairong, had sworn an oath not to speak. Thus, Nie Shiyun successfully took his leave.
The first thing he did after departing was run in the opposite direction for several days, hoping not to encounter Duan Mingyu’s group again. Then, after a long absence, he entered the Chaos Space to cultivate.
The growth of the Chaos Space was gratifying. After Nie Shiyun and Zhai Bairong had swept the secret chamber clean, they had searched for an exit. Nie Shiyun vaguely remembered where the mechanism was but didn't dare head straight for it, fearing he would reveal his foreknowledge. He had been happy to waste time until Zhai Bairong discovered the teleportation array. Before leaving, on a whim, he had waved his hand and collected the strange black-and-purple flowers from the ceiling into his space.
The space didn't care if they were spiritual herbs for cultivation or aphrodisiacs; once consumed, it treated them all the same.
Nie Shiyun also tossed the twenty thousand spirit stones he had acquired into the space. Now, the interior was roughly the size of a bedroom, no longer feeling cramped. He contemplated trying to bring in furniture or a large smithing table later, though he worried the space might simply devour them.
After several months of quiet meditation and focused cultivation within the Chaos Space, a full year passed for him in the blink of an eye. In the outside world, only about three months had elapsed.
His cultivation rose from the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment to the late-stage, where the growth began to slow. Nie Shiyun knew he had reached the limit of what he could achieve for the time being. By now, his personal wealth was nearly exhausted. Most of the magical tools damaged during his fight with Zhai Bairong were shattered beyond repair, and his cultivation resources had been completely consumed. He decided it was time to emerge.
In the days that followed, he took no risks. He simply wandered about, gathering spiritual herbs to feed the space and storing any smithing materials he found that might be useful later. In this peaceful manner, he spent the remainder of his time in the secret realm.
Three years was neither long nor short. For Nie Shiyun, a newcomer to this world who was not yet accustomed to the long lives of cultivators, it felt extremely lengthy—especially considering that if the time spent in the Chaos Space were included, he had been in the realm for nearly five years.
A flash of white light crossed his vision, and all the surviving cultivators within the realm were teleported back to the original entrance. Of course, the entrance had now vanished. Barring any accidents, it would likely not open again for thousands of years, if ever.
Nie Shiyun looked around and noticed that although most of the Misty Secret Realm was not particularly perilous, the number of cultivators had still decreased by nearly half. Which sects would rejoice and which would mourn was none of his concern.
With a cursory glance, he spotted Xu Yehua, dressed in his high-profile, flamboyant robes, leaning down to speak to Duan Mingyu. They looked very intimate. It was the time for disciples to find their sect elders and markers to count their numbers. Aside from Lingfeng Mountain, which seemed to have sent no one—leaving their disciples to return on their own—the other major sects were gradually congregating. One had to admit that the great sects lived up to their names; compared to the smaller establishments and rogue cultivators, their losses were indeed not heavy.
To Nie Shiyun's surprise, however, Duan Mingyu was not with Zhai Bairong of the Yingyue Sect. Could it be that because the issue of his cold constitution remained unresolved, he truly intended to stay at Chiyan Cliff for a while?
He quickly looked toward the Yingyue Sect's direction. Zhai Bairong showed no outward sign of distress, standing among a group of juniors with his usual gentle smile. But to the current Nie Shiyun, that smile looked like someone putting on a brave face.
Perhaps because his gaze was undisguised, Zhai Bairong sensed something and turned his head. Across the vast crowd, their eyes met.
Both were momentarily stunned, then awkwardly turned their gazes away simultaneously.
"Shiyun... over there! Shiyun!"
Nie Shiyun suddenly heard someone calling him. He looked up to see Nie Li, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.
"I knew it, I knew you would be safe." Behind Nie Li were his junior sister Qi Xuan'er and his cousin Nie Xing'an. Even his uncle, Sect Master Nie Mingde, had come.
Compared to the other sects with their various Hall Masters and Peak Masters, Nie Shiyun keenly felt that his side was entirely a family business.
"Senior Brother, you're already at the late-stage of Foundation Establishment!" Qi Xuan'er couldn't help but exclaim.
"Yes. I found some opportunities in the secret realm," Nie Shiyun said with a smile.
Nie Li was momentarily choked with emotion, unable to speak. Others might not know, but he knew very well: if Nie Shiyun’s cultivation had broken through past the early stages of Foundation Establishment, it meant the conflict between his spiritual roots had been resolved. Although he couldn't ask for the full story in front of everyone, knowing this was enough to fill the old father with a whirlwind of emotions.
Nie Xing'an was usually a man of few words, but he too couldn't help but feel happy for his cousin. In his memory, although Nie Shiyun hadn't caused any major disasters, he was always making small mistakes, never took smithing or cultivation seriously, and had a bit of a spoiled temper. Now it seemed Nie Shiyun had truly grown up; the two cousins would surely be able to support the future of Yunqing Pavilion together.
Nie Shiyun didn't think that far ahead; he simply felt that having family come to pick him up was quite nice. He hadn't felt much before, but now the atmosphere of this big family made his heart feel a bit tender.
Of the several outer disciples Yunqing Pavilion had sent into the realm, two had perished and two had returned. Those two hadn't gained any great opportunities, which was a pity, but it was within expectations. Afterward, the Yunqing Pavilion group returned to the mountain together.
His cousin Nie Xing'an suggested holding a welcome feast for Nie Shiyun. The pavilion was usually quiet and lacked things to celebrate; Nie Shiyun’s rapid rise in cultivation was certainly worth a party, so the matter was settled. After returning to his room for a brief rest, Nie Li predictably came to find him. It wasn't convenient for Nie Shiyun to reveal everything, so he only spoke of how he had luckily found a Spirit Cleansing Pill and was now a dual-root cultivator of Gold and Fire. He also picked a few minor incidents to share, such as gaining benefits from cultivators who came looking for trouble, which explained his rapid progress. He thought about the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover for a moment but ultimately decided not to mention it. With his current cultivation and experience, possessing such an item would be far too suspicious.
Even this was enough to make Nie Li weep with joy. He seemed to recall his helpless, departed wife and spent some time in melancholy before saying he shouldn't dampen the mood. He told Nie Shiyun to rest well and hurried away.
Nie Shiyun had now witnessed what the cultivators of this world called a "heart demon." He roughly understood why Nie Li’s cultivation had not progressed since he reached the Nascent Soul stage. But the person was gone, and there was no way to undo the past. Nie Shiyun couldn't think of any way for Nie Li to untie that knot other than letting go completely one day.
They say the path of Dao is emotionless, but that doesn't mean a cultivator cannot touch the red dust of the world. It is simply that love and emotion are too difficult to master; a single slip can burden a lifetime.
As a traveler from another world, perhaps the fact that he couldn't develop a heart demon was a massive advantage.
Nie Shiyun sighed with emotion and decided to set everything aside for now—to forget Duan Mingyu’s group, forget the Heavenly Dao, and even set aside cultivation for a few days to have a good rest.
Cultivators didn't strictly need sleep, but Nie Shiyun still lay down on his bed and closed his eyes for a nap. He hadn't felt it while in the secret realm, but now that three years had passed, looking back made him realize just how much had happened. His nerves had been taut for years; only now, back at home, could he finally breathe.
