Portal

Outside the subspace, the tribulation clouds vanished, to the relief of everyone present.

Qin Yu looked more worried about the collapsing subspace, "We have to get him out of there before it collapses,"

Zou Feng said, "Are we sure he's gone?"

"I mean...the tribulation has ended."

Qin Yu initiated communication with Kong Xiang inside the secret realm, "Boy, are you alright?"

"I'm... I'm fine" Kong Xiang spoke out loud, since he hadn't learned qi transmission yet and wouldn't be able to send it out of the subspace in the first place to the outside world even if he did. "My emergency transmission orb was destroyed by the tribulation, though.'

"Do you think you can locate the subspace gateway portal?"

"Is the gateway still open outside?"

"Yes"

"There is no portal in sight. It's probably hidden in some obscure part of this subspace."

"Can you find it?" Kong Xiang looked at the tearing space and the gaping holes that were randomly appearing everywhere. For now he was still being protected by the formation, but not for long. He answered, "No"

Qin Yu stopped transmitting messages and told the Blue Whale Sect Leader, "Does your Blue Whale Sect have any emergency methods for such situations?"

Li Tian smiled bitterly, "We do have a special rope that can drag out our disciples out of any subspace. Unfortunately, it works by identifying the signature aura of the Blue Whale Cultivation Art."

Zou Feng turned to him, "And? He doesn't practice your sects martial arts?"

The smile on his face was helpless, "He is actually not a member of our sect" There was a general lull at the bombshell. All the disciples pricked up their ears to hear more of the gist. Li Tian noticed this and resorted to voice transmission to the other Sect Leaders, explaining what happened exactly and how he got to use his Sect's quota. There was a general silence after that.

Zou Feng noted, "We have similar artifacts too, but just like yours they work by identifying signature aura. He doesn't practice any of our Sect's Cultivation Arts."

Qin Yu stated, somewhat sadly, "Is he doomed to die then?"He thought of something."What of the man the disciples say came into the secret realm and vanished with a girl?"

"The quotas were for Kong Xiang and her. Maybe she has a big background, and he doesn't"

Qin Yu sent a transmission to Kong Xiang in the subspace, explaining the situation. Kong Xiang calmly said,"The gateway portal had revealed itself, but it's surrounded by chaotic space. If I leave this formation and try to get to the portal, I'd instantly be sucked into one of the space tears and get destroyed."

A crazy thought came to Qin Yu's mind. He asked Li Tian, "Say, if I get Kong Xiang out of that subspace with my methods, do you agree not to fight over him for me?"

"What do you mean?" A perplexed Li Tian asked. Qin Yu answered hurriedly,"If I can get him out of there, he leaves your sect and joins mine. And nobody fights over him for me. Agreed?"

The Sect Leaders were silent. All of them had their personal plans to draw Kong Xiang to their sects after hearing he was not a real disciple of the Blue Whale Sect. From the accounts of their disciples, the talent and rationale displayed by Kong Xiang was worth fighting for to draw him into their sects, so they were reluctant to sign a peace treaty before even starting the snatching war.

Qin Yu did not bother to hide his crafty smile, knowing he had the upper hand right now. Sighing, Li Tian conceded.

Inside the subspace, Kong Xiang received instructions on what to do. He started channeling his qi according to the thunder ball accumulation method he learnt earlier, converting all his Nature Qi to thunder force. Outside the gateway portal, Qin Yu channeled his qi and threw an ancient looking rope inside. It instantly appeared on the other side of the portal, inside the subspace. It flew right to Kong Xiang's direction after sensing the thunder ball. Kong Xiang allowed it to wrap itself round it and waited till it yanked him backwards, heading straight for the portal. He started channeling his qi according to the thunder ball accumulation method he learnt earlier, converting all his Nature Qi to thunder force.