6: Outer Sect City

If someone had told me ten days ago that I would embark on a journey to a Major Cultivation Sect on the continent, encounter Demonic Cultivators on the way that kidnaped me and my childhood friend, get hit by a poison that was sure to kill me, then wake up to face an actual immortal saving my life while Boss kidnapper twisted in pain meeting her end, all this happening in a mere week (most of this happening in the span of an hour).

If someone dared to say this to me a week ago I would've taken them to the physician to get their brain checked. But, it happened, all of it. Although I was unconscious since the poison hit me, in front of my eyes the Immortal saved my life and flew off on his cool flying sword.

I even rode on it. It felt incomparable to the feeling of swinging between trees using vines. I wondered if this was what birds felt like when they flew above. They twisted and turned their orange wings to maneuver through the trees to reach their nests high above within the branches.

What would it feel like to fly with it in an open field?

"Wang Yang." A stern voice broke my focus.

"What happened, Kexin?" I almost regretted that decision as the hand from her hip moved to clasp down on my ear.

"Don't give me that What happened, Kexin? again?" She pulled me down to her head level with ease as my body slumped on its own.

"Ow! Ow! You're killing me! You're killing me!" Desperate cries left my lips as a sharp pain shot up from my ear, but the demon heard none of them.

"If you continue to act clueless like this you will die sooner!" Today the strength in her grip became more powerful, worse she even twisted my ear.

"Sorry! I don't know what I did, but sorry!" This worked most of the time, but today it had only lessened her grip by a fraction. Guess I did make a big mistake.

"Seriously, what were you thinking asking the Lord Immortal questions?" Kexin's words made my brain churn because if it didn't she might hand me my ear in about a minute.

What question did I ask? The answer came to my head quick, as it had stayed at the top of my head since the incident. Still, I didn't see a problem with it. After all, the man himself told me to ask the question.

"I can already tell what is going on in that thick head of yours. Even if the Lord allowed it someone like us shouldn't say anything. This isn't Baihe city anymore, Xiao Yang, even our families back home are nothing more than a bunch of ants to Cultivators like that… if something happened to you, what would I say to Uncle Wang?" Kexin's green eyes dug into me. 

But, rather than anger, there was only worry. Her fingers on my ear trembled, she had regained consciousness before me and must've felt scared for her life. And then I went and doubled her worries.

"I am sorry. I'll be more careful." Even the Immortal said it, the world of cultivation is filled with danger. And we had experienced that before even stepping onto the path.

"You say this every time." Kexin's exaggerated sigh made me smile as her fingers gave my ear much-needed respite.

"And I am sure you'll be there to correct me like always." I smiled as she folded her arms.

"I'd prefer if you stop making mistakes altogether." Her right foot drummed against the paved path.

"Thank you so much for putting up with me, Big Sis Kexin." I bowed in reverence to my awesome friend.

"Hmph! Not like I have any other choice." Though I did want to catch a glimpse of her face when she said that. My eyes locked with the little boy stuck to her leg.

With a scrunched little face of his, the kid gave me a nasty eye. I wonder if he ate a Ground worm again when we weren't around, his eyes looked red too.

"Don't make trouble for Big Sis, you dumb face!" For some reason, his anger seemed more than the person involved herself.

"Dumb Face, huh? You didn't call me that when you asked for my baked sweet potato now did you, Xiao He? Guess you won't need another." Chuckling at the way he tried to make it like it didn't bother him, I felt a gaze at me that made my body straighten.

In front of me, Kexin tilted her head in confusion as I turned to meet someone's eyes. Yet, I found nothing there.

"Y-You noticed that too? Impressive." A shaky and faint voice came from behind me.

"AAAAhhh!!!" Kexin's scream made me look back. By that time she had already sent a kick at the person who crept on us. But, it didn't land on her face.

"C-Calm down, you scared me there." said the figure putting a hand on her heart. She stepped out of the range of the shoe with ease, unlike her words.

"That should be my line." Kexin grumbled patting her chest to calm down. She simmered down much faster than when I surprised her occasionally. After all, the one we faced was the vice leader of the team that would take us to Azure Sky Sect.

She wore a pure white uniform with an emblem of lotus on her right shoulder. Unlike the short woman's position her presence was faint, much fainter than the Elder Ning from before. I could never sense her approaching or hear her footsteps. Even her words could get lost in the wind most of the time when she spoke. But, she was much easier to talk to than others.

"What did you mean by that before, Miss Ting?" I asked, receiving a side-eye from Kexin. Holding the curiosity in was much harder though.

"About sensing that gaze. I can't tell you much… but you have now caught his attention… so my condolences. For a second I thought he was onto me…" Miss Ting looked about ready to melt away, though most of her words went over my head.

Whose gaze did I catch? Considering the people who have dropped by the guesses came with ease. It didn't look like she would answer any of them even if I did ask. But, if someone with a gaze like that had taken interest in me, I didn't want to know about them either. Although it was for a second that feeling almost crushed me like a snake squeezing the life out of its victim. No, it was somehow worse.

"Ting Ting, have you slacked off enough?" Senior Liu Fu lifted her smaller form by the scruff like a stray cat.

"I-I wasn't! I was checking up on these guys and answering their questions. I swear I wasn't trying to get away from patrol duty!" It seemed that she had admitted to her own mistakes in tears.

"When will you stop acting like this? You even hid in the back when Second Peak Master came back."

"I was recovering, ok? Also, my clothes were bloody, I can't show up in front of a big shot like that. What if the Second Peak Master got offended?!" Senior Liu Fu groaned, having a tough time with Miss Ting's rampant imagination and intense shaking.

As much as I have heard Cultivators having short tempers, I doubt someone was petty enough to get offended by someone who got injured while doing their duty. But, one could never know what ticks a person off.

"It must've been hard for you two to go through that, we'll set camp around here for today so get some proper rest. If something troubles you come to us without hesitation." Senior Liu Fu spoke to us and took Miss Ting away from there as we gave him grateful nods.

The next morning we left as soon as the sunlight touched the soil. Even our breakfast was done on the speeding carriage. The wind blasted through the open windows and kept the now-filled carriage cool. We had lost some of the Greenfoot horses in the attack yesterday so some carriages couldn't be used. Even then the speed of these creatures surprised me. They ran five times faster than the average horse and didn't need as many breaks. Qi beasts were something else.

Unlike yesterday we didn't stop in the afternoon and continued forward on the straight road that had its ups and downs like a dragon's back. I still preferred the flying sword, but this wasn't bad either. Thanks to the rush of the disciples and the hard work of the horses we reached our destination.

The Waterfall Outpost of Azure Sky Sect.

As the name suggested it was built at the foot of a waterfall that arced over a high cliff even higher than a mountain. But, what surprised me and many others was the smoothness of the cliff.

Can something like this exist in nature? My finger brushed against the surface that felt like the marble table back home. It felt tough yet as smooth as silk.

"Wang Yang, it is our turn to get on the Floating Platform." Kexin pulled me off the wall to get back in line.

Senior Liu Fu and other disciples had returned from the ten floor black pagoda at the edge of the lake formed by the waterfall. They had put the horses in the stables nearby and submitted some papers or something. So, we had some free time. Well not anymore, stepping on the thing they called Floating Platform we were the way to the top of this cliff.

It was more like a wooden platform with railings in the middle of a hollow tower. From the small openings covered with glass, we could see the entire forest we traveled through in the past day and a half.

"Those trees look so small from here!" Xiao He exclaimed, jumping for joy.

Many adults were smitten by this contraption and the view, he was but a child. There wasn't a rope above and when it descended I didn't see anything supporting it either. As I wondered how this thing climbed up. Soon the roof I had trouble seeing was just a few meters from me. It was quick. Glancing through glass windows, I could tell for a fact that if someone fell from here only a mushy paste would be found below.

Leaving that thought aside we followed the fifty people (Half of our group) off the platform and onto the stone path. What waited for us here was another black pagoda with ten floors, but this one had a strange yellow light on the top floor. It flashed continuously, at times once a breath then sometimes twice in one breath.

We still had to wait for the other half of the group to arrive. Opposite the Pagoda, several people stood on gigantic flying swords. The sword as thick as a healthy man and twenty of them could lay on it with enough room to move around. Walking by it I saw the hundreds of intricate lines glowing and pulsating to converge towards the woman sitting in the center.

"Oi, Ting Ting! We are ten short over here. Send some of them over so I can get this over with quickly!" Suddenly she looked over, her clear eyes locking on the person leading us to the pagoda.

"I can't do that, Senior Sister Hao, there are still… some things to do…" Miss Ting's voice droned off as her nervous eyes averted the energetic person who stared at her with unblinking orange eyes.

"A small report like that can be done without them. I have to run an errand for Elder Ning, so I need to hurry. Please help me this one time Ting Ting, I'll treat you to Old Fu's wonton soup!" She clasped her hands in front and bowed. That became the straw that broke the camel's back.

"W-Well, it can't be helped. Senior Hao can take these ten." Miss Ting folded like a house of cards.

That was how Kexin, Xiao He, and I ended up on the flying sword along with seven other people who traveled with us. We already made ourselves comfortable on it as the sword floated higher than the pagoda and blasted over the green plains.

"Why does it feel like we got sold off?" Kexin muttered.

"Don't worry you all. I did spring this on you guys, but if a problem comes up for this, I'll take the fall for it." Senior Hao looked at us with a sunny smile. Her pink robes flowed like petals of a flower similar to her dark pink hair.

The men here wouldn't blame her even if she did put them under the wheel later. Though her words seemed genuine.

"I-It's fine." The robust-looking man closest to her blushed.

"Yeah, it isn't a problem. We will arrive at the sect one way or another." Said the boy with a thick book in his hand, but his eyes weren't looking at the words.

"In a way thanks to Senior we get to go there early." Flattery came even from women.

"Yeah, we understand." The others started to smoothen the situation over, Senior Hao seemed to have a higher status than Miss Ting. So, there wasn't any way some new recruits would try to overstep their places.

"It is so nice to have such cute and understanding juniors. If you face any problems or have any questions you can look for Big Sis any time. I know a lot of people in the sect." Senior Hao puffed her chest out with a high nose.

Her actions aside, she seemed like a responsible person and someone who'd look out for people. To ease the mood she was cracking jokes and offering some snacks to the tense recruits.

"I wonder what happened to rush like this." A mutter escaped my lips, not even Kexin or anyone around me heard it but the person in question did hear it. A subtle wind brushed my bangs forcing me to close my eyes.

"Are you curious about this Big Sister?" When I opened them again her innocent big eyes looked at me, like she wanted me to agree so she could speak.

"Kind of yes, but before that is it ok to leave that place?" I pointed at the place she was sitting before.

"That's fine. I can control it from here 'cause the inscription runs through the body of this item. If I didn't have enough Qi to operate it, I'd have to sit there with spirit stones. Aren't I amazing?" Senior Hao smiled waiting for her praises.

But, she only got some sighs of relief from some others on board.

"Yes, Senior Hao is really amazing. Isn't she Yang Yang?" Kexin's words sent a chill down my spine. There wasn't a need to see what type of smile she had on her face now. She must've heard what brought senior Hao here.

"Y-Yeah." Sweat dripped from my forehead. I hoped Big Sis Hao would save me before the thin fingers on my shoulder reached my ear.

"Hehe, I am not that great." But, seeing her lost in praise made me give up hope. However, luck hadn't left me yet.

"Oh yeah! About the task from Elder Ning! I have to complete it before the moon reaches the zenith. Hah, I don't like sudden tasks, they mess up my schedule." Senior Hao pouted, hugging her knees.

"It really is irritating that someone drops in and messes up your flow. Then you have to throw everything out, and reschedule everything which takes even more time." For some reason, Kexin said that while looking at me. I have no idea why.

"That! I was reading the 7th volume of The Valley where two paths meet today when he dropped this task on me. It was just getting to the interesting part too." Senior Hao punched the air in fury, that name rang a bell.

"The part where Sword God Ling Fan enters the Heavenly Abode to save the last soul wisp of his lifelong enemy the Demon Venerable?!" Kexin moved in like a flash of lightning.

"Yes. Only I can claim your life. Get this through that skull of yours! That was really cool!" Senior Hao even acted out the scene pointing her narrow sword to the sky.

"Totally! I was screaming the whole way. And her reaction afterward was so cute. The tension between them has always been there, but now it was taken to a new level." Pushed to the side by their enthusiastic discussion about the book, I can only watch them with a look of betrayal.

I knew that reading wasn't something enjoyable to me like Kexin. But, I didn't expect to be thrown to the side like a banana peel. It hurt, not really.

The focus shifted onto the surroundings. Most people sat on the opposite side of us four. Wouldn't this thing tip over? So far no issue came up. Maybe it was Qi at work? It really did make a lot of things easier.

Even with the use of Qi beasts and some rest spots, it took us about three days to reach the outpost from our city. But, with the use of Qi and this giant flying sword, we covered twice that distance in a matter of four hours. We were so fast that the sights of the green plain just blitzed past my eyes before I could capture anything.

Just like that, we reached our destination. The city at the foot of Azure Sky Sect.

"Welcome to Sky City everyone!" With Senior Hao's bright smile, we landed at the front gate.

But, there seemed to be a problem. The people guarding the gate approached us with a stern gaze. That's the gaze Kexin has when I make a mistake, so the anxiety built up

Is it going to be OK?