To a New Beginning

Itachi and Xia Qingyue's attention was immediately drawn towards the familiar voices coming from the hallway beyond the outer gate of the courtyard.

Soon, the voice became clearer as the front door was pushed open, and Xiao Lingxi, dressed in all light yellow, charmingly walked in. She was followed by an elderly man, Xiao lie.

Xiao Lingxi arrived first greeting Itachi and Xia Qingyue, "Good morning, Xiao Che and Miss Qingyue…" behind her Xiao lie arrived slowly chuckling while looking at all three of them affectionately.

"Che'er pays his respect to grandfather"

"Qingyue pays her respect to grandfather"

Itachi and Qingyue bowed in greeting to the just arrived Xiao lie.

Xiao lie looked at them while laughing lightly to their greeting, "I am glad that the two of you look well together. Now, I can be rest assured since the two of you will be leaving together."

Itachi calmly replied to his somewhat teasing tone, " Yes, grandfather, we do get along well enough. You don't need to worry…. now, give us your permission to leave since Fairy Chu will meet us outside the gate of the city, near the lake. It would be too flashy for her to come here and bring Xiao Lingxi away…. you should stay here to make sure no one follows."

Xiao lie had wanted to meet this Fairy Chu to measure her strength for himself though given Xiao Che's reasoning he disappointingly gave up. He had already explained all that he could to Xiao Lingxi so he nodded his head at her while replying to Itachi in a firm tone, "Very well then,go on…I will stay behind to make sure nobody follows any of you"

All three of them bowed in one last greeting to Xiao lie before Itachi asked Xiao Lingxi and Qingyue to leave inconspicuously.

"Ah? We….we're leaving, father I-I....?" As fast as lightning, Xiao Lingxi raised her head up, and grabbed Xiao lie hands tightly with both her hands.

As he felt the reluctance in Xiao Lingxi's gaze, Xiao lie's heart felt bitter.… He really wished he could keep Xiao Che and Xiao Lingxi with him… However, with his current condition, what right did he have to obstruct them? Even if they did stay, what was he supposed to use to protect them from the outside world?

He stood up and took a hold of Xiao Lingxi's hands. He looked into her eyes and stated word for word: "Lingxi, you have to go now… However you need not worry, we will meet again soon. Within three years, you will be back! By that time, you would have grown into a beautiful young woman. Until then, be sure to follow your elders in the Frozen Cloud Asgard "

Xiao Lingxi nodded her head and her misty eyes tearfully looked at him as she reluctantly parted away from him. She followed behind Xia Qingyue silently without looking back.

Itachi glanced at Xiao lie one last time before they disappeared beyond the door with determined strides.

The three of them normally walked through the different hallways before arriving outside the main gate of the Xiao clan. Although, quite a few curious stares had been directed upon them, nobody followed them.

Outside the clan gate, a carriage had been waiting, prepared earlier by Itachi beforehand. He assisted Qingyue and Lingxi in getting inside before taking a seat beside them himself. Slowly, the carriage gained pace, speeding towards the lake just outside the city gate.

….........................….

A few miles away from the city gate, near a clear lake, a simple carriage was steadily being pulled along by a pair of horses. The carriage driver pulled in the reigns, coming to a gradual stop, a few yards away from the lake. The lake was situated sideways on the path to cyan forest town. Just beyond the lake side, the beginnings of the edge of a dense forest could be seen. Profound beasts of varying profound strength roamed the forest. Cyan Forest Town was located nearly two hundred kilometers west of Floating Cloud City. The lake was located on a remote piece of land, there were not many travellers that would pass by. This place could be considered as a relatively deserted space that was close to the route when traveling from Floating Cloud City to New Moon City.

The sky was covered with clouds hiding the scorching light of the sun although the heat still lingered in the air.

Once the carriage came to a stop near the lakeside, the driver of the carriage who was just an ordinary servant of the Xiao clan hurriedly reached backward to open the door of the carriage while informing to the occupants in a very respectful attitude, "Young master, we have reached the lakeside just as you ordered.."

Not Before too long, Itachi came out of the carriage breathing in the fresh air of the lakeside as soon as he came out. Being cramped up in the Xiao clan for the last three days had left him feeling slightly suffocated. He turned back towards the carriage while helping Xiao Lingxi to come out followed by Xia Qingyue.

Itachi turned towards the driver from the Xiao clan while his eyes morphed to the Sharingan.

Xiao Lingxi and Xia Qingyue were looking at Itachi's back unable to notice anything unusual.

Itachi focused his Sharingan upon the man while ordering in a stern voice, " Go back to the Xiao clan. And, be sure, not to tell anyone about any of this."

The driver, Xiao Yona, didn't feel anything unusual, merely bowing respectfully, " As you wish, young master. I won't say anything".

Following his greeting, he went back to the carriage, while simply turning it around to return to the Xiao clan compound.

Itachi's eyes morphed back to his usual blackness, he retracted his gaze towards his companions who had remained silent all throughout the short journey, usual for Xia Qingyue but not so usual for the always cheery Xiao Lingxi. But Itachi figured that was to be expected since it was the very first time she was getting away from Xiao lie and Itachi both to a foreign place that she had never been to before. He had already consoled her in every way that he possibly could and now there wasn't much he could say. But still he had to give her hope that she will be fine in the care of the Frozen Cloud Asgard .

Sensing her distress, he stepped forward and took a hold of Xiao Lingxi's hands. He looked into her eyes and stated word for word: "Xiao Lingxi, you have to go for now… However, you need not worry, I will take you back. Within three years, I will take you back! Until that time be sure to listen to Qingyue. She is the disciple of the Fairy Chu, and you will be under Fairy Chu's care for the duration of your stay at the Frozen Cloud Asgard . As I told you before, once I am strong enough, I will get you and…"

Xiao Lingxi shook her head and her misty eyes tearfully looked at him: "Little Che, you don't have to do that. I only want you to live normally and peacefully. It's alright as long as you only protect yourself…. ."

"Don't worry, I will" Itachi said lightly.

With a suddenly flustered look Xiao Lingxi turned back to Itachi in a slightly angry look while pointing at Xia Qingyue, " Aren't you going to say goodbye to your wife Miss Xia? She will also be leaving with me"

Xia Qingyue who had been inconspicuously looking at the two of them turned surprised at Xiao Lingxi's sudden prompt to Itachi. The image of her hugging him in the courtyard earlier came to her mind making her slightly flustered as she tried to maintain her neutral face.

Itachi just chuckled to her diverging question while replying calmly with an amused look in his eyes, " We have already done that earlier just before you arrived. You don'--" However, he cut himself off mid-sentence when in the blue sky covered with the white clouds, two floating woman, fully dressed in bluish-white robes appeared.

The one in the front had a familiar coldness to her. She was exceptionally elegant while her flawless skin shined with a radiant glow appearing even fairer than snow. Her vermilion lips moved slightly, saying to the fairy behind her in an emotionless voice, " Wait here, I will pick them up"

The fairy behind her was similarly clothed icy-white robes, her countenance appeared as cold as her. Similar to her companion, she was incomparably elegant with a noble temperament about. Her lustrous lips parted, replying without much emotion in a monotone voice " As you wish, Fairy Chu"

The white clothed fairy, Chu Yueli didn't wait for her reply as she simply flew in the direction towards Itachi and her disciple. Her movements were completely elegant, her white robes swayed in the gentle wind while her long black hair shook behind her along with her cold demeanour provided her with the perfect image of a noble lady. With a few swift steps, using her vast sky profound energy she arrived just in front of her disciple Xia Qingyue.

Qingyue immediately curtsied in greeting her master, "Qingyue pays her respects to master. I thank master for arriving to pick us up."

"Greetings, Fairy Chu", Itachi too greeted her for the sake of basic courtesy. Although he wasn't fond of treating himself inferior but the fact remained that at the moment his strength wasn't sufficient enough to ignore such basic respect.

Chu Yueli merely nodded in acknowledgement to their greetings while focusing her attention on Xiao Lingxi, " Is she the one you want the Frozen Cloud Asgard to look after, for three years?"

Itachi affirmed in confirmation to her inquiry, " Yes. She is my aunt, my grandfather's only daughter, Xiao Lingxi. Her cultivation isn't anything special at the moment since her cultivation has just begin sometime ago however, it is of no consequence, she is the one who needs to be protected."

Xiao Lingxi, the one in scrutiny too internally examined the beautiful and elegant lady who had come to take her away. For a second when Xiao Lingxi first laid her eyes on her she was entranced by her mesmerizing radiance though contrary to her beauty her voice was incomparably cold giving her a slightly uncomfortable feeling. She felt like it wasn't a much of a surprise that Chu Yueli was miss Xia's master with that attitude.

Itachi sensing her anxiousness, stepped towards her while smiling in a what he thought was a gentle smile. It was natural for her to feel distress since no matter how much she tried to act like she was an adult, she was still just a fifteen years old young girl.

"Little Che!" The moment Xiao Che turned his body, Xiao Lingxi once again grabbed onto him tightly with both of her hands, her gaze full of reluctance.

Itachi lightly held Xiao Lingxi's hand and looked at her gently "I don't want to leave you, even more so than you… So, I will try to come back within the shortest period of time… now, go on with Miss Xia and Fairy Chu"

Xiao Lingxi slowly softened her grip while Xiao Che's hands holding Xiao Lingxi softened as well…motioning towards Fairy Chu who had been silently waiting for Xiao Lingxi come to her. Then she turned her body and walked forward with slow footsteps until she reached just before her…

Chu Yueli had already examined the profound strength as well as talent of the girl before, it wasn't anything extraordinary, but her lack of talent wasn't of any consequence to them since they only needed to keep her safe. She extended her fair hand towards her, lightly brushing her shoulder conveying in slightly gentle tone, "Xiao Lingxi... do not worry. I am sure that you will like it at the Frozen Cloud Asgard , though, it is extremely cold yet incomparably beautiful. Qingyue, a familiar face will be with you as well. If you have any problems you can tell her without any worries and I will try to solve them to the best of my ability. Once you spend some time there in the sect, you will get used to it. Frozen Cloud Asgard is an entirely female sect as well as one of the most powerful sects within this empire, it will be beneficial for your cultivation to observe some of the senior disciples…so, instead of feeling distress you should use this time to become stronger…" considering the fact that Xiao Lingxi was still just fifteen years old, her speculation wasn't wrong, she could really gain strength if she tried hard enough.

Listening to Chu Yueli's words, Xiao Lingxi'se distressed heart calm down.

Xia Qingyue too gazed at her in an encouraging way while adding, " What master said is true, Xiao Lingxi, it is my first time travelling so far as well, you aren't alone in this. We will be staying together for the duration of your stay. So, no need to feel alone or sad at all." She liked Xiao Lingxi, whose cheery attitude reminded her of her brother: Xia Yuanba. Although, every time she saw Lingxi with Itachi, an uncomfortable feeling arose in her heart forcing her to ignore it instead of acknowledging it at all.

Xiao Lingxi smiled at Xia Qingyue happy to know that a familiar face would be there with her. She grateful curtsied in respect while replying, " Thank you Fairy Chu and Miss Xia. I will be in your care and hope to not cause too much trouble…" then, she quietly took a place beside Xia Qingyue with Chu Yueli in the front opposite whom Itachi stood in a neutral posture.

Chu Yueli nodded in satisfaction while her gaze finally paused upon Itachi, the man for the sake of whom she had made such a long detour in the first place. She hadn't been able to go back to the sect to relay everything back to the sect mistress. However, she was able to meet up with a fellow member of her sect whose strength was at the early sky profound realm, together, they could take both Qingyue and Lingxi rapidly flying across the sky.

She hadn't forgotten about Itachi's godly and mysterious ability but even after wrecking her mind for an entire day for a reasonable explanation she couldn't come up with anything remotely believable. Hence, she decided to forge a collaborative partnership with him, it would be stupid to do otherwise. The significance of granting three frozen cloud fairies with the Heavenly God's Spiritual Veins is equivalent to producing three new thrones in the near future, it is too irresistible for her. She was sure that the mistress would feel the same, when she was informed of it. If they could really attain Heavenly God's Spiritual Veins, they would no longer have any bottlenecks in the road of profound cultivation hereafter. Perhaps in just a few short years, it would be possible for them to break through to the Emperor Profound… In the future, there would even be the possibility to become a Overlord! Even the Frozen End Divine Arts that they couldn't cultivate all along would become highly possible to cultivate!It was equal to the entire person being reborn.

Thus, Chu Yueli really wished to return back as soon as possible if Itachi could really do it, then it would be far from "enough" compensation…

Calming her overflowing excitement she refocused her attention on Itachi while asking in a relatively emotionless voice, "I will be taking them with me now, as promised, I will make sure that she is protected fulfilling the first condition. Once I return, you can tell me when you need that two year protection. I all ask the sect mistress to deploy fairies for your protection. Fulfilling your other demand as well. I can probably come back here in a week. So, be prepared"

Itachi shook his head while replying, "Fairy Chu, I don't have any problem with the way you proposed things but I will be leaving the Floating Cloud City now. So, it would be best if you could make contact with me one month from now in the New Moon City."

Chu Yueli frowned unable to guess Itachi's intentions. Considering his current strength it would be foolish for him to go that city. He would be in extreme danger but rethinking from the moment she had met him, he had said he could redevelop his profound veins, perhaps that's where his confidence came from. New moon city was low level city in the Blue Wind Nation, so, it shouldn't be in too much of a danger.

She nodded while taking out a blue square shaped shard, handing towards Itachi she confirmed in emotionless voice, " Very well then, one month from now, after obtaining permission from the sect mistress. I will arrive at the New Moon City to look for your presence. Keep that shard with you and use it to contact me by breaking it, I will know your location if I am in the vicinity."

The icy shard that radiated a blue lustre flew with a slight push of profound energy right into Itachi's hands.

Itachi picked it up while affirming in a cool voice, " I will keep that in mind….Thank you, Fairy Chu. I hope to see you in one month."

Chu Yueli merely turned towards Xia Qingyue and Xiao Lingxi, asking them, "Qingyue, Lingxi, let us go now. The Lady and the other members of our Sect will be quiet shocked when they hear the news.."

Chu Yueli held onto Xia Qingyue and Xiao Lingxi and took them into the sky. In an instant, they reached hundreds of meters, right at the place another fairy had been waiting for sometime. She paused for a few moments as the fairy named Xue Mengha took hold of Xiao Lingxi while Chu Yueli held onto Xia Qingyue. In an instant, they turned into phantasmal trails, heading northwest…

Itachi quietly watched as the two trails disappeared beyond his line of sight. Finally after a few moments, he turned around and began walking in the direction of the Cyan Forest Town with slow and steady strides. The time had finally come for him to face his trials. Since the day he arrived in this world, instead of trying to use the knowledge of the timeline to keep it identical, he was prepared to completely disrupt the course of events, if needed. Now that he had ignored the Xiao clan's contingent, it would most definitely divert the timeline on a completely different path but it wouldn't matter since he couldn't wait that long to reach the Realm of the Gods, like Yun Che did. The calamity from the abyss that he was supposed to defeat or destroy will most likely appear in about twenty years from now, the sooner he left the Blue Pole Star, the better. It wouldn't be easy to unite the people in the realm of the gods in a short period of time. Time won't stop just for his sake, thus, Itachi deciced to deliberately give up on preserving the timeline of the Blue Pole Star. He could just utilize the facts instead of relying on the actual course of the events itself.

With this, his journey into this strange world had finally began. With slow and steady steps, Itachi advanced to take his first steps towards his goal in this new world, free from the sins of the past. His visage slowly blurred as he gradually went deep into the forest towards his first destination---Scarlet Dragon Mountain Range!