Chapter 248: The Aftermath.

Moments after the death of Elder Wu and the revealing of Heaven's Angel by the strange girl named Jing, those remaining at the entrance of the Endless Plains of Yin began discussing what they've just witnessed. Elders were not excluded from the chatter inside the Immortal Forest. It wasn't an everyday experience to see an elder die from a disciple. If anything, it was probably an occasion that wouldn't be repeated in a thousand years! Those elders and disciples that weren't aware of Jing before felt lucky to witness the birth of a new genius for their sect.

  If they told anyone that a 9th stage Qi Consolidator killed a recently ascended Mortality Ascension Realm elder, not a single soul would believe them! Hundreds and thousands of cultivators could go around spreading what they just saw with their eyes and everyone else would look down on them for telling such a ridiculous lie. They'd be seen as trying to improve the reputation of their sect by making outrageous rumors of one of their geniuses. This wasn't anything new or out of the ordinary for sects by creating rumors of themselves to look better. Most of the time it would just bring attention to this rising genius and make other geniuses want to defeat them to raise their own reputations.

  Meili was one such person hopeful that something horrible would happen to Jing and this Heaven's Angels. Her group benefitted greatly from inside the Endless Plains of Yin thanks to Bo Fai, but even with all they've gained, she knew that they weren't enough to deal with Jing yet. Unless they managed to get their hand on another peerless sealing spirit tool, they had to stay low and out of Heaven's Angels' sight until they had enough power to defeat them.

  Especially since Rising Dragon Manchu managed to successfully seal Hu Tao. If she came at them with the power her group had now, they would be helpless to stop her from breaking the sword Hu Tao was sealed in. Their primary goal was to avoid Heaven's Angels and gain power. As of now, they were the biggest threat to Meili's group.

"She didn't state the purpose of Heaven's Angels, did she?" Meili asked her group.

"Nope! Just that they were free to accept any challenges!" Yanyu cheerily replied.

"Well, no matter. A group willing to have someone as terrible as Hu Tao within their ranks has to be just as awful as he is." Meili figured.

"Everyone single one of them is just as guilty as Hu Tao to me. No cultivator, righteous or wicked would be willing to work alongside someone like Hu Tao. A man worse than the vilest demon known to man!" Hatred spat from Hong Long's words.

  While he would love to do nothing more than killing Hu Tao with his own hands, he knew with the strength he had now, it would be impossible. Getting revenge for his sister's death would have to wait for now, but his blackening heart found it difficult to simply wait and gain strength while Heaven's Angels walked around freely. This was something that even his allies could see.

"The time will come faster than you think." Bo Fai placed his hand on Hong Long's shoulder. "The more you obsess over this, the more detrimental it'll be to your cultivation. Hu Tao may have taken your sister, but do not allow him to take everything you live for now. Hong Chi wouldn't want to see her big brother suffering like this, don't you think?" Bo Fai smiled.

"You... What do you..." Bo Fai's word affected Long more deeply than he thought. "You're right..." Hong Long hung his head down. "She'd try to support me in avenging her death. She wouldn't want me going mad over it..."

"You are no longer living for just one person but two. Never forget that." Bo Fai looked into the young boy's eyes.

"I... won't. Thank you." Long couldn't keep eye contact with Bo Fai.

"You know, you can actually say some pretty cool things sometimes boyfriend!" Yanyu was surprised.

"Shut up, idiot." He lightly thumped her on the head with his fist.

"Hey! I'm really going to turn into an idiot if you hit my head like that!" She angrily but playfully beat on his chest with her small fists.

"I guess nothing would change much then, huh?" Bo Fai grinned.

"You bully boyfriend!!! Don't tease me like this in front of everyone!" Yanyu hit even faster.

"Alright, alright. That's enough playing around everyone." Meili smiled. "Let's get going as we wait for the start of the final test."

______________________________________________

"Hehe, what's this? What happened to our Junior Brother?" Chao teasingly laughed.

  Gong Jun has just escaped the Endless Plains of Yin with three bodies in tow. Tang Wuying over his shoulder and Fu Kang and Princess Lan enveloped in some sort of green goop. Separate, of course. The young Rising Dragon with the strange green sword didn't seem to hold any injuries but upon coming out both Chao and Jian could tell that something significant happened to their junior brothers. Especially with the bright wide smile on Jun's face.

"He was ambushed by a group of people and knocked out. They didn't seem to want his life and only the treasures nearby." Jun explained.

"What were you up to then?" Jian asked.

"Dealing with my own matters. Now, if you'll excuse me. I have something rather important to deal with." Jun tossed Tang on the ground and their amulets to one of the elders.

  Gong Jun then walked off into the distance with the two captured disciples as he covered his face. As cultivators with enhanced senses and bodies, it was quite difficult for them to ignore the small chuckling from Rising Dragon Gong Jun as he slowly vanished into the Immortal Forest. This chuckle didn't take long to turn into full-blown maniacal laughter with qi fiercely blowing from his body.

  Neither Jian nor Chao really understood what was going on with their junior brother but didn't think much of it since he seemed so happy. While Jun usually showed his emotions on the surface, both of them knew he hid his true self deep inside. Perhaps that was their first time seeing the true Gong Jun. Hopefully, he wouldn't forget that he still had another part of the tournament to participate in.

"Hey, sleepyhead!" Chao slapped the back of Tang's head with some qi infused into his hand.

"Who dares!?" Tang woke up swinging his boomerang towards the person who woke him from his sleep.

"Whoa there, Little Tang... It's just me." Chao casually leaned back and avoided the curved weapon intended to decapitate him.

"You...?!" Tang rubbed the back of his aching head with a furious scowl on his face.

"What happened to you two inside the plains?" Jian asked.

"Tch! Annoying bastard always hiding things as usual. Don't ask me anything!" Tang didn't feel right airing out Jun's business. He disliked Jun immensely but wouldn't go out of his way to pry into his personal business. Even if his personal business had got him knocked out by some spellmaster.

"I suppose 1st Junior will tell us eventually." Jian could accept this answer.

"I can't wait to find out what made him so happy. You think he'll get bothered if I ask him constantly?" Chao grinned.

"Anyone would get bothered by that, idiot." Jian calmly responded.

"But 1st Junior has a lot of patience. It's hard to rile him up." In Chao's eyes, Jun was a worthy opponent in terms of making him angry or annoyed. Out of all the disciples, it was only him that he has yet to truly make angry.

"I wish I had the same patience." Jian shared, looking at Chao with annoyance in his eyes.

______________________________________________

"I still don't understand how you can teleport to my void world..." Ying questioned as Hao Gang transformed into a smaller boyish version of her.

"She made a movement formation!" Hao Gang answered confidently.

"That's correct." Jing rubbed the little sword's head as he shivered in pleasure and fear. "It's a complex formation because of how mysterious this world works. It works on similar rules to our world but it's like a pocket dimension that's a part of our main world instead of a world on its own."

"I understood none of that." Ying replied.

"Studying arrays and spells are a lot more complicated than one would think. They're tied to the very essence of the world itself. It probably isn't too much of an exaggeration to say that a spellmaster that has reached the peak would be capable of reforming the way the world works entirely." Jing shared her findings.

"Did I waste my time going down the path of a martial artist then?" Bing suddenly questioned.

"Ah, don't let me confuse you. Any cultivator that reaches the end of their path is able to change the world in their own way." Jing quelled their worries.

"Why does it sound like you've already done it?" Wan Qing asked.

  Jing shrugged with a small smile on her face, "Who knows?" With this casual reply, Heaven's Angels narrowed their eyes at their leader. It wasn't too out of the realm of possibility for them to believe that Jing has done such a thing. But it would question some of the individual theories of Jing's background. Especially since in the past, she seemed to lack common knowledge that everyone that was anyone would know.

"Thanks for helping me out back there Jing and you too Bing." Ying told the two.

"It was nothing." Jing didn't think much of it. It gave her the perfect excuse to complete one of the system's missions in a fitting manner.

"My body is a little bit tough, I can handle a little bit of pain for a close friend." Bing smiled with his one missing front tooth.

"Ah, that reminds me of something..." A frightening smile slowly formed on Jing's face as she turned toward Bing.

  Every instinct in Bing's body was telling him to flee as fast and as far as he could at this moment. Even Jiajia couldn't help but shiver as she stared at the short brown girl. Jiajia didn't understand why she was afraid of a measly Qi Consolidator and this illogical instinct paralyzing her body made her want to lash out and fight. A reaction that Bing put all his power into repressing as it wouldn't lead to anything good for him.

  From Jing's pocket, a glowing blue eye was staring at Bing from her hand. She slowly walked over to the boy frozen in fear. Her small hand gently rubbed his face as she turned his head from side to side. Jing's black eyes stared deeply into Bing's dark blue eyes that couldn't tear itself away from her's.

"Can I refuse? Can I please refuse?" The words came spilling out of Bing's mouth without control.

"Refuse? But why would you want to do that? Don't you remember how Wan wanted to refuse my gift before thanking me for it? I would never do anything that would be bad for my angels. Don't you agree?" Jing's voice was slow, tempting, and very alluring.

"This isn't going to be like Hu Tao's gift from the Treasured Plains, is it...?" Ying quietly asked, uncomfortable with how touchy Jing was being with Bing.

  To this question, Jing could only laugh at Ying. "You have nothing to worry about Ying. It isn't going to be like that at all." Jing pulled out a talisman from her storage ring and attached it to Bing's head. She could hear Ying's sigh of relief from behind her as Bing dropped unconscious to the ground.

  When Bing's head smacked on the ground, Jiajia flew out from his shadow to attack Jing to protect him. It only took a single glance from Jing to stop Jiajia in her tracks. Her glance pierced through the Walking Devil's soul and rendered her immobile from fear. Jing's been aware of Bing's little ghost friend from the beginning.

"Lei Zhi, come help me with this." Jing called out as she laid next to the unconscious Bing.

"Understood. What are we trying to accomplish here?" Lei asked as he sat next to her.

"An eye transplant." Jing answered for everyone to hear.

"What's wrong with his eyes?" Lei soon asked after.

"Nothing. I'm just going to make them better." Jing didn't waste any time as she used a tendril of water to pull out Bing's eye.

  It was just as bloody as one would imagine someone pulling out someone's eye in its entirety. Lei Zhi silently watched on, carefully watching to make sure that there were no mistakes or anything that needed to be corrected in the process. Jing took the Eye of End and with the thin and numerous water tendrils, began to attach the new eye into Bing's right eye. After putting the new eye in the gaping hole on Bing's face, Jing placed one of her healing talismans on his cheek.

"How does it look?" Jing asked Lei.

"Nearly perfect... The third tentacle needs to push the optic nerve slightly to the right." He instructed.

"Understood." Jing did what was suggested and waited for Lei's evaluation of the transplant.

"He should be fine from what I'm looking at... We just need to wake him up and ask if there's anything wrong to make sure." Lei nodded.

  Jing removed the talisman she placed on Bing's head and he shot up in a fright. Upon looking at all the faces staring at him, he felt confused. Why was he lying on the ground right now next to Jing and Lei? There was a strange itchy feeling coming from his right eye.

"What happened to me?!" He panicked.

"You should be happy. The Eye of End isn't something that just anyone can come across within their lifetime so easily." Jing got up from the ground and cleaned her hands with SCP-109's water.

"Eye of End?" Bing questioned, getting up from the soft grass as well.

"It is said to be the eye of an ancient immortal who was conspired against and betrayed by his fellow immortals. His power was said to be too great in comparison to the other immortals and to keep balance within the heavens, they needed to cut him down into several pieces. One of those pieces is said to be this Eye of End. It gives the holder the ability to predict the future in some capacity." Jing explained.

"What the hell? That sounds stupidly powerful!" Ying rightfully complained.

"It has its limits. It cannot predict the future at all times without any cost to the holder. The Eye of End specializes in preventing its holder's death, not allowing them to see the future unhindered while avoiding all troubles and gaining peerless treasures." Jing didn't want Bing getting too big of a head from this.

"Huh? So, it just warns him when he's about to die or something?" Was what Ying got from this.

"I guess you could explain it like that. It would be fitting considering Bing's personality, which is why I chose to give it to him out of everyone else." Jing answered.

"Bing isn't the only one with a gift, is he?" Wan Qing suddenly questioned.

"Hmm. I suppose I did gain a lot from the Endless Plains of Yin. I guess I can show off a little bit of what I've got for you all." From Jing's storage ring piles and piles of items towered up into a small mountain.

______________________________________________

"I didn't expect you to find my angels and group up with them." Jing relaxed on a water throne she created.

"It just kind of happened." Shang rubbed the back of his head.

"So, what do you think of them?" Jing smiled.

"They're certainly an interesting bunch..." Shang smiled back.

"I know they didn't catch your attention just by being interesting. Why don't you tell me the truth?" Jing's eyes turned playful as she looked at her boyfriend being shy.

"Don't tease me like this." He turned his head to avoid her eyes. "I joined them to find you." Shang admitted.

"You wanted to find me and then what?" Jing couldn't help but grin.

"I don't know." His cheeks began to slowly turn red.

"I think you do know. Shang. You wanted to find me and do something with me. I wonder what that something is..."

"You already know the answer! Why do I have to say it out loud?" Shang could hear the whispers and murmurs from Jing's angels behind him. It made his face even redder.

"How can I know what you're thinking? It's not like I can see in your head. A normal relationship is where two partners can express their thoughts, desires, and dreams together through words and actions."

"How would you know...? Have you ever had a boyfriend before me?" He asked.

"Would it bother you if I did?" Jing rested her face on her hand.

"As long as you aren't talking to them now... I wouldn't have a problem with it." Shang shared.

  Oh, so he isn't the type of man to care that his woman had a past with other men. How nice... Some of the men she's dated cared deeply about the fact that she wasn't a virgin. As if being a virgin made a woman special or different in some kind of way.

"Well, you don't have to worry about something like that. You're my first boyfriend ever after all." Jing relieved him of his hidden worries. 'As long as you don't count the husbands, slaves, boy toys, and boyfriends from my past lives.'

  It looked like this statement from Jing is one that caused Shang to smile out of his control. He turned back to face her playful eyes.

"You're my first woman as well..." Shang felt proud to announce this. His love for Jing was greater than it should be considering how little he knew about her, but that was something that would change. All he had to do was get to know her better!

"Looks like we have a lot of firsts to have then, huh?" Jing laughed as the boy's face turned a deeper shade of red.