Chapter 681 : Escape from Heaven's End Cliff (6)
Qiao Chu and all the others had not been that lucky. They had gathered to come together one after another and they could only use elixirs to stabilise their injuries temporarily, dragging their completely wearied bodies to carry on with the search and their bodies should have collapsed but they had bravely soldiered on, sustained purely only by the deep worry they held for their missing teammate.
Jun Wu Xie inspected her teammates' condition without a word and was relieved to find that they had not sustained injuries that were too severe and would recover fully with proper rest.
"We cannot continue to stay here at the Heaven's End Cliff. We will need to go back." Fan Zhuo said, staring at his arm that Jun Wu Xie had just bandaged up for him.
They were now fully aware of the treacherous dangers that filled the Heaven's End Cliff through this expedition and they knew that without a full map, finding the exact location of the Dark Emperor's tomb under the blinding misty fog was next to impossible.
Back when their parents had found the Dark Emperor's tomb, they had no come to the Heaven's End Cliff alone, but with other companions. There had been eight of them and they had been from seven different palaces, making a total of seven teams altogether. But the number of people who had managed to locate the tomb in the end had only been eight.
To have been chosen by the Twelve Palaces for the search, they were all without exception the topmost ranked fighters they had. Even when the Twelve Palaces had sent their best of the best, the majority of the people they sent had not survived. Besides the eight from seven different palaces who managed to make their way to the tomb, five whole teams from the test of the palaces had all been completely wiped out.
Qiao Chu and the others were now considered to be very powerful in the Lower Realm, but when faced with the traps put together by the Dark Regime, they were suddenly so insignificant.
Jun Wu Xie nodded.
They had achieved what they came here for, to find out more about the Heaven's End Cliff. They knew for sure it was impossible for them to locate the end destination at this point and they had not intentions of dragging it out.
Fan Zhuo and the others calmed their hearts and allowed their bodies to rest, as they prepared to leave the Heaven's End Cliff.
The teammates rested for three full days in the stone house and they finished up the last of their rations and supply of water, having decided to depart from this living hell.
Jun Wu Xie was carrying Lord Meh Meh in her arms, the last one to step out from the stone house when she turned back and looked at the crude stone structure. She quietly handed Lord Meh Meh over to Ye Sha before she once again faced the stone house from which she had gained a lot from.
Qiao Chu and the others stared at Jun Wu Xie in puzzlement when they saw that a silver ring had suddenly appeared in her hand. Jun Wu Xie's head was lowered as she looked at the old and unused ring she held.
That ring had been found in a corner asking the wall and was assumed to have belonged to the previous owner of the stone house. When he had died, the ring spirit had also departed and the ring was now just an ordinary ring without any spirit power.
Jun Wu Xie rubbed at the shiny surface of the ring and kept silent for awhile before she suddenly put the ring onto her finger.
The next moment, she was suddenly kneeling upon the ground!
And facing the stone house, she solemnly bowed and hit her head three times loudly upon the ground.
"I know not of your name, but you had still imparted knowledge to me and is now acknowledged as a revered Master of Jun Wu Xie. Although you are no longer living in this world, I would still like to bring you out of the Heaven's End Cliff as was your wish." Jun Wu Xie's voice was solemn and steady, her clear eyes steely and determined.
Although it had been just a short line, it had allowed her to acquire an important skill. No matter from how long ago the man had died, he would forever be her Master!
Cloaked in the enveloping silence within the misty fog, Qiao Chu and the others waited patiently as they looked at Jun Wu Xie. After hearing her words, their faces all broke into a smile.
As Jun Wu Xie's voice faded into the mist, the stone house which had stood erect for god knows how long, suddenly gave a shudder and the stone house that had sheltered Jun Wu Xie in the past days suddenly collapsed in a moment!
The blocks of stone fell and shattered upon the scorched and blackened ground, kicking up a big billowing cloud of dust.
Within the cloud, Jun Wu Xie thought she could faintly discern the stalwart figure of a man, illusionary and surreal, seemingly with a smile on his face. However, the dust quickly fell and settled, the figure disappearing quickly into nothing.
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Chapter 682 : Escape from Heaven's End Cliff (7)
The one who had been trapped for years at the bottom of the cliff, living in an environment unfit for humans, and finally dying filled with regrets in that place, never to be able to leave the hell that claimed him. All that he wished for, yearned endlessly for, was only to escape from this nightmarish prison.
Jun Wu Xie had always believed, that when a man died, his spirit remains.
That momentary illusory figure might have been a figment of her imagination, or it could be that that man's greatest wish had finally been granted and his spirit liberated.
But regardless of what that was, manifestation or not, she would bring the silver ring out of that place, which would also mean bringing far away, the last trace that man had left behind in the world away from his accursed hell, granting the long awaited release from the binding chains that had the man's spirit trapped, to finally rest in peace.
Jun Wu Xie got up slowly and turned around, her face completely calm, as she walked towards Qiao Chu and the others.
The blocks of stones that lay in a scatter over the scorched and blackened ground was gradually being covered by the foggy mist. Maybe after a few centuries or even a millennium, they would also disappear completely from the world, where no one would ever find a single trace that the stone house had once existed.
The journey back, would be much easier than when they had made their way here traversing paths unfamiliar and foreign to them.
Even with the all encompassing misty fog surrounding them, Fei Yan was still able to accurately point out the direction they had come in, even knowing which areas were safe for them to step on, through the sinkhole filled boggy marsh.
The companions travelled through the heavy fog, slowly returning to the point they had first stepped on, when they came to the bottom of the Heaven's End Cliff.
At the sight of the ropes still hanging down the cliff's face, all of them could not help themselves but break into smiles.
"Finally! We are leaving this accursed place!" Qiao Chu turned to look back at the thick swirling mist and said. This particular adventure, would forever leave an indelible mark in all their memories.
They were leaving, but there would come a day that they will return to this place once more.
Tearing through the layers of mystifying fog, and finding the Dark Emperor's treasures!
Before climbing up onto the ropes, Jun Wu Xie and everyone else used the spirit powers to check the condition of their ropes. After making sure they were still secure enough and able to hold their weight, they quickly jumped up onto the ropes and planted their feet firmly on the cliff's surface and began to climb up!
The hell that has brought them endless unease and caused them countless setbacks in the past days was being gradually swallowed up by the heavy white mist, slowly disappearing completely from their sight.
But they all knew deep in their hearts, that everything below the mist were still all there, and no matter whether it was the present, or in the future, it would contribute to exist!
This living hell, would never ever disappear!
Having had the experience from the descent, everyone was a lot more reliable and they knew by now, the closer they were to the bottom, the more treacherous it was for them. The quickened their pace, trying their best to shorten the process.
They soon passed through the great gusts of winds, leapt through the freezing mist and above their heads, they could see faint traces of light beginning to show through the swirling fog.
That was no longer the light that depended on the combustion of spirit stones, but a natural warm glow that came from the sun itself!
When they finally set foot atop the Heaven's End Cliff, facing into the blinding and welcoming sunlight, everything that had happened before at the bottom of that cliff suddenly felt just like a dream.
"We have finally made it to the top....." Fan Zhuo said, his face towards the sun he had not seen for too long, baking in its comforting warmth, and his heart that had been filled with dread for too long finally settled into some semblance of peace!
"Young Master Jun! You all are finally back!" Mu Qian Fan, who had been waiting on top of the Heaven's End Cliff all this time came running over excitedly the moment he caught sight of Jun Wu Xie and the others. His injuries were all healed and he had even removed all the bandages from his face. His face, that was filled with countless scars, had however broken into a genuine and contagious wide smile!
Jun Wu Xie did not reply. Her head was raised up, facing into the midafternoon sun, thinking that the sun was really blindingly bright.
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Chapter 683 : Return Journey (1)
At that moment, Jun Wu Xie wasn't feeling the least bit discouraged even with all that had happened and she just wanted to see the clear skies above and feel the warm sunrays shining upon her.
It wasn't until the glare from the sun was hurting her eyes that Jun Wu Xie finally turned away and lowered her head to look at the silver ring she wore on her finger.
Under the strong sun, the silver ring reflected the light brightly.
Riding once again on the horse carriage, it felt as if it was a lifetime ago since they rode it last.
The first day on the horse carriage, everyone leaned heavily against the side of the carriage and fell into deep sleep. With the absence of the nagging feelings of dangers and insecurity, the companions could finally found peaceful sleep.
The incessant rocking and even the jolts of the horse carriage as it went over the bumps did not interrupt the companions' rest, all of them remained in their blissful dreams.
In the days that followed, Jun Wu Xie did not stop with her attempts at raising her spirit power to the purple spirit level and with Qiao Chu and the others guiding her from the side, she progressed swimmingly and quickly grasped all the most critical point of her new ability.
But there was one thing, although Jun Wu Xie was able to temporarily raise her spirit power to gain the might of a purple spirit, the period she was able to maintain in that state was extremely short.
To raise her level to reach the purple spirit, she would need to burn all the spirit power within her at her fastest rate, pushing the raging spirit power to immediately breakthrough the different level constraints. The resulting drain from the all out effort however, did not allow her to sustain it for too long.
The length of time where one could temporarily raise their spirit powers to achieve the purple spirit level was based entirely on the person's original amount of spirit power. If he was merely a red spirit, even if he managed to raise it up, he would last one minute at most. If an indigo spirit user were to raise his spirit power to the purple level, it would be much easier and he would be able to remain in that state for a much longer period of time.
Like in the instance of Qiao Chu and the others, they were currently in the region of a blue spirit level and they were able to remain in their purple spirit state for about forty over minutes. Jun Wu Xie was now only at the yellow spirit level and she was only able to maintain it for about ten minutes.
Ten minutes, would sound to be an incredibly short period of time. But properly employed at the most critical times, it could very well turn the tables completely!
It was as good as saying that as long as Jun Wu Xie did not meet anyone from the Middle Realm to be her opponent, she stood a good chance of winning even if the opponent was a indigo spirit user!
All along the return journey, everyone was conspicuously more subdued as compared to when they had come. Fei Yan was always plotting and drawing out a map of the bottom of the Heaven's End Cliff. Although he did not have a full picture of the entire place, he was however still able to draw and mark out the places they had passed based on memory.
Rong Ruo was always engaged with Jun Wu Xie, clearing up any doubts that Jun Wu Xie might have towards the ability of raising spirit powers, while Fan Zhuo had not once let go of Lord Meh Meh who was still drifting in and out of consciousness.
After sustaining such severe injuries, Lord Meh Meh was in a drastically bad shape. If Jun Wu Xie had not unselfishly piled all types of elixirs she had in her possession to save it, Lord Meh Meh might not have made it through till today.
But even when that was the case, its current condition was still not entirely encouraging to see. Extreme weakness had caused Lord Meh Meh to be unable to even utter a soundand it had till today, still been unable to even stand upright. Its burnt flesh had turned a little hard and any careless or slightly bigger movements would cause the skin to split. Jun Wu Xie had patiently applied the salve she had prepared specifically for Lord Meh Meh every time, but to properly cure the condition, she needed to wait till they got back to the little bamboo grove and use the stock of herbs there to produce other kinds of medicine.
As Lord Meh Meh was still unable to stand, Jun Wu Xie carried it out from the carriage everyday, to let Lord Meh Meh graze on the grass upon the ground.
The always greedy Lord Meh Meh couldn't even lift its spirits while it grazed on the fresh green grass. As its entire body was badly burnt, even opening its mouth to chew on the grass was a big torture for it. Just opening its mouth slightly wider would cause its mouth to tear and the pain made eating a simply agonising task.
Jun Wu Xie noticed all of it and her heart wrenched to see Lord Meh Meh in that state. Finally, Drunk Lotus produced some fresh lotus leaves and he tore them up into little bits, before feeding them slowly into Lord Meh Meh's mouth.
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Chapter 684 : Return Journey (2)
In that way, that would allow Lord Meh Meh to avoid having to open its mouth wide and cause Lord Meh Meh's skin to split on one hand, and on the other, the lotus leaves that Drunk Lotus gave were from the rare Snow Lotus that had very good healing properties, and they tasted much better than green grass.
Without having to suffer pain while eating, Lord Meh Meh seemed to feel a little better. Though it was still unable to stand on its own feet and its four hooves remained curled up under its belly as it lay in Jun Wu Xie's arms. After every meal, it would always struggle to raise its bare and "wooless" head, still dark and blackened, and snuggle close against Jun Wu Xie's body, just like it had done all along.
But the soft and cuddly, immensely furry little adorable creature was now a frightful and ghastly sight to see, looking nothing like its originally coy, bumbling and adorably foolish self.
Everytime Jun Wu Xie saw the tiny figure cringe due to pain and fright, where Lord Meh Meh would then lean more tightly against her, Jun Wu Xie's heart would always cringe from the hurt she was feeling from the sight.
Initially, when the sheep was still in its peak condition when she had first met it, the pain from the little pinpricks the companions had inflicted on its gigantic beast form had sent Lord Meh Meh running away in retreat. But at the most critical moment in the bottom of the Heaven's End Cliff, Lord Meh Meh had selflessly knocked Jun Wu Xie away and put itself in the path of the terrifying green ball of flame. And the resulting pain and agony it was still under, could not be compared in anyway from what they had first given it.
Lord Meh Meh struggled to continue with its coquettish ways everyday, as was its habit all this while, seemingly thinking that would continue to win its "feedstress" favour.
While seeing Lord Meh Meh's eyes squinting in pain while looking at Jun Wu Xie longingly, Jun Wu Xie could feel her eyes beginning to burn up. She gathered her spirit power to gradually wrap around Lord Meh Meh, to prevent her touch from causing it any unnecessary and excruciating pain.
"There is no need, you do not need to do this. Just rest rest yourself well and you will recover very soon." Jun Wu Xie did not dare cuddle Lord Meh Meh closer to her, afraid that it would cause it harm and agonising pain. She could only look into those eyes, half closed in pain and whisper softly to it.
"Meh....." Lord Meh Meh did not seem to understand, why Jun Wu Xie no longer wanted its affections anymore.
[In the past, didn't its "feedstress" enjoy it very much?]
It might have been too tired, or it might have been too painful. After Lord Meh Meh gave out that single bleat weakly, it fell once again into a deep sleep. Its tiny body had wanted to curl up tightly to find some security, but its badly burnt skin had no elasticity at the moment and any stretching of the skin would tear and split, causing much pain. Hence, Lord Meh Meh could only lie in Jun Wu Xie's arms, its body stiff and rigid.
"I will never call you a dumb sheep anymore, you must get well quickly." The black cat went to lie on Jun Wu Xie's lap, slowly drawing closer to the sleeping Lord Meh Meh, but was careful not to touch, putting as small a distance as possible between them, to affectionately hover close to the sheep.
From the moment that Lord Meh Meh had sacrificed its own body to shield Jun Wu Xie, the little black cat had fully accepted the little fella as its ally and partner.
The days passed one after another, and after an arduous journey, Jun Wu Xie finally saw the silhouette of Chan Lin Town appearing over the horizon.
Upon reaching Chan Lin Town, Jun Wu Xie immediately rushed to the inn and booked a room. She then laid Lord Meh Meh upon the soft bed and left instructions for the little black cat to take good care of Lord Meh Meh. She left straight after towards the Chan Lin Auction House as it was known, throughout the whole Chan Lin Town, that place held the most stock of rare and precious herbs.
Before they returned to the Zephyr Academy, she needed to first stabilise Lord Meh Meh's condition.
Qiao Chu and the others were exhausted, but there were few days left before the selections for disciples from the branch division to be promoted into the main division began. They had initially intended to snatch the map from Ning Rui immediately upon coming back, but the time they spent at the Heaven's End Cliff had taken longer than they thought and the selections would start once they got back to the academy. Moreover, Jun Wu Xie needed to first treat Lord Meh Meh's injuries and they did not see the need to rush things at that moment.
After a rushed goodbye to Jun Wu Xie and Fan Zhuo, Qiao Chu and the others immediately started on their way back to the branch division, to prepare themselves for the upcoming selections.
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Chapter 685 : Startling Change at Zephyr (1)
Jun Wu Xie, Fan Zhuo and Ye Sha remained behind in Chan Lin Town. The toil from the long journey back might not have affected the companions much but to the frail and weakened Lord Meh Meh, it had been pure torture. If she had continued to push ahead on their journey to return back to the Zephyr Academy, even Jun Wu Xie was not too sure that she would be able to successfully treat Lord Meh Meh to make a complete recovery.
"I have gone to the pharmacy and got the herbs you requested. I'll just leave them here." Fan Zhuo lifted a huge bag of herbs to put on the table in Jun Wu Xie's room. Besides the Chan Lin Auction House's rare and expensive herbs, Jun Wu Xie needed some common herbs as well.
Jun Wu Xie nodded as she prepared a medical bath for Lord Meh Meh. As Lord Meh Meh had suffered burns over its entire body, the healing effects from common salves and creams would not be adequate and Jun Wu Xie had simply just purchased a little wooden tub and concocted a mix of a variety of herbs to create a thick soothing medicinal bath, for Lord Meh Meh to soak its entire body in.
"Will Lord Meh Meh recover fully?" Fan Zhuo asked worriedly as he looked at Jun Wu Xie putting the weakly Lord Meh Meh into the medicinal bath.
"It will." Jun Wu Xie replied, with strong determination.
Fan Zhuo did not want to get in Jun Wu Xie's way and was about to leave when Ye Sha came in through the door. When his eyes saw Fan Zhuo, his eyes flashed briefly with a strange expression.
"I'll go ask the innkeeper to prepare us some food and send it over later." Fan Zhuo said, smiling at Ye Sha, leaving the room quickly after saying that.
Ye Sha frowned slightly, seemingly thinking hard about something. He hesitated a moment at the door before he entered and turned to shut the door tight.
"Young Miss." Ye Sha greeted, kneeling with one knee on the ground.
"Mmm." Jun Wu Xie was intently observing Lord Meh Meh's condition and she just acknowledged softly.
"Under Young Miss' orders, I have already managed to gain some understanding on the recent and current situation back at the Zephyr Academy." Ye Sha reported with his head lowered.
Their time of return had coincidently coincided with the Zephyr Academy's month end holidays and Chan Lin Town was currently filled with many youths dressed in the Zephyr Academy's uniform. Although Jun Wu Xie was still unable to go back, she had ordered Ye Sha to go around the town and snoop out the latest news about the Zephyr Academy.
"What happened?" Jun Wu Xie asked, noticing the abnormal tone in Ye Sha's voice.
Ye Sha remained silent a moment before he solemnly said: "The Headmaster of the Zephyr Academy died two weeks ago."
Jun Wu Xie's hand froze in mid air and she turned her head to look at Ye Sha, her cold gaze tinged with inquiry.
"Fan Qi is dead?"
Ye Sha nodded.
"Who did it?" Jun Wu Xie's eyes narrowed as she asked. She had not met Fan Qi that many times and did not consider herself to be close to him. But Fan Qi was Fan Jin father and Fan Zhuo's foster parent. Fan Zhuo was indebted to Fan Qi for saving his life and for bringing him up.
If not for Fan Qi, Fan Zhuo would not be alive today.
Jun Wu Xie did not know Fan Qi too well and only knew that he was just as forthright and as righteous as Fan Jin. He was amicable and impartial, and although not really considered a hero, but he was nevertheless a great man and a good Headmaster.
But.....
How did such a man die so suddenly?
"Furthermore, in regards to the matter, all the disciples of the Zephyr Academy knew nothing else about it, but just that the Headmaster had died." Ye Sha reported everything he had heard faithfully.
"It's Ning Rui." Jun Wu Xie's eyes narrowed to a slit.
Ye Sha said: "Ning Rui's power is still a notch below Fan Qi's. If based on skills alone, he does not have what it takes to kill Fan Qi."
Jun Wu Xie replied with her brow furrowed up: "A prerequisite condition must first be fulfilled for your assumption to be valid."
"I implore my Young Miss to enlighten me."
Jun Wu Xie's eyes lowered and she said chillingly: "Only if Fan Qi has his guard up against Ning Rui, would your assumption be possible."