Han Lingyun didn't budge. Perhaps it was because of absolute fear due to the crushing gap in cultivation he felt. Perhaps because he knew there was nothing meaningful to attempt at that moment.
The two thus stayed in place for a couple of breaths of time, which felt like an eternity for Han Lingyun. Suddenly his vision turned completely dark.
…
Jolt. Han Lingyun was shaken by the strong wind brushing his face. He immediately felt a heavy headache.
When Han Lingyun gradually regained his wits, he realized that the unknown man was carrying him and flying at high speeds in the night on what looked like a black giant eagle. But it could as well be a vulture.
The sect was most certainly hundreds of miles away already!
'For how long have I been unconscious? It's impossible for me to evaluate the distance to the White Tiger sect!"
Han Lingyun glanced at the back of the robbed man.
'Faced with such an adversary. My last hope is to contact senior Yi with his token. I just need to bide my time and wait for an opportunity.'
"Tsk tsk, you were thinking about this token? Don't worry, you won't be needing it for now. Heh, perhaps you should also take those off."
Before he knew what was happening, Han Lingyun's defensive artifact given by Elder Wen was being toyed in the hands of the figure. All his tools, tokens and weapons had been taken away.
Another wave of horror swept past Han Lingyun's heart before the terror gradually changed to despair.
'At the mercy! I am absolutely at the mercy of that person! And can he read my mind too?'
"Haha don't worry I can't read your mind!"
'Hu …?'
"Actually, I really can't but I don't have to. You don't fathom the deduction powers of Nascent soul cultivators. From the combination of your minute reactions, the small traces of qi fluctuations you inadvertently release, I can predict, with some additional calculations, all your thoughts and even your future actions."
Han Lingyun kept his silence. After a time, his previous helplessness shifted to anger, anger against the sect. How come anyone can just enter and leave as they wish? Is the school really so useless? This was an implicit pact with the sect, he would be safe as long as he stayed behind their walls!
The man only chuckled lightly at Han Lingyun's thoughts.
With nothing better to do, Han Lingyun began observing the back of the man taking him away. Unexpectedly, he actually made progress on the man's identity by elimination. This robe didn't belong to the Black faction of the Black Rainbow Sect! At least, it was notably different to the one that came at the SCA competition.
"Ah you have finally realized. These meddlesome old fogeys really start to irritate me, and just for their petty faction games."
Han Lingyun frowned. The more the man talked, the more Han Lingyun felt something was terribly wrong. If the man was not from the Black faction, then who was he? Which power from the Continent could come and go in the White Tiger Sect as they pleased?
Was this the dreaded Black Skull sect? Could it be someone from the Sword Union or the puppet Sect? Or from the SCA?
Han Lingyun knew there was something he had missed. His extraordinary mind raced as he was searching for it.
Cultivators gradually gain unnaturally good memories as they progress but even for a core cultivation expert, it was impossible to boast a photographic memory.
Maybe the man felt familiar. Was it the smile he had already seen before somewhere? This was the only part of the man's face he had seen.
Suddenly, Han Lingyun's mind became blank as he came to a realization. The voice! He had just connected the dots when he discovered that the black robe wasn't completely even. On the right shoulder was a portion in a different texture; the motif was, one black stripe!
"Oh? So you have figured it out already?"
The voice was, the Nascent soul Elder guarding the library! He had met him once when first arriving at the White Tiger School and choosing the black bird art.
"Protector Shun?"
The Elder paused and turned to look at Han Lingyun. The boy couldn't see the man's eyes, but he felt the weight of the glance examining him.
"Hmm. I'll drop you off here."
The man landed and released the qi that was binding Han Lingyun.
"Here is a map. You should be somewhere in that red circle, hehe. Over there is the point you need to reach. There is no way that you can miss it, it's the tallest peak."
The elder gave a small black box. "Your mission is simple, deliver this box to the target before 3 days end, or its content could be wasted. There is no need to try to open the box, it's impossible with your strength.
If you happen to fail, you will incur the wrath of a strange and unreasonable Nascent Soul Elder hehe. Even I wouldn't dare. No one on the continent would interfere with his actions anyway!"
"What's the meaning of this, protector?"
"Don't you think that your life has been too sheltered lately, little Lingyun?"
The man turned to leave when he paused.
"Oh, and that Rainbow faction old man? You shouldn't rely on him too much. He would never find you before that man would have hunted you down hehe. And after you get eradicated, do you think that he would seek vengeance against another powerhouse for a qi condensation ant? He is not that brainless, there would be no benefits whatsoever.
Oh, and by the way, trusting that old rainbow man will be your ticket straight to hell. Those scheming members from the Rainbow Faction are nothing but two-faced hypocrites. Like everyone else in the cultivation world, they are serving their own interest. Otherwise, how could that man have cultivated to his level?" The man snickered after uttering those words.
When Han Lingyun raised his head from the map, the man was already long gone. He had a deep frown but after a breath, he had already fully accepted the situation he was in. His whole situation had taken a 180 in an instant! But there was no point on ruminating too much other the circumstances, he didn't have the qualifications to.
The man hadn't confirmed anything, but Han Lingyun was certain that he had correctly guessed his identity. This White Tiger Sect protector was obviously not wanting him any harm. From his words, this even only seemed to be… another form of training exercise.
'Humph! If it was a random child, the whole abduction play could have shaken them badly but I am not so easily impressed. As for this box I have to carry, it might just as well be a monitoring device. But I absolutely need to play by those rules, as at the very least, this is part of some training program. Or it might be a test of some sort from the Elders of the sect.
Not to mention, I am now completely alone, without any of my equipment and weapons, in the middle of nowhere. This part isn't just a simulation and I could definitely lose my life if I'm not cautious. This is not a game.
As for losing my direct communication method with the Old Yi, perhaps this is a blessing in disguise. Elder's Shun warning was definitely not some empty words. I was already cautious with that man previously but there was no choice with the disparity of power than to accept his help. Not to mention, I have only benefited from Old Yi for now. However, I don't see what that old fellow has to gain from using me and making me grow? I don't believe he just wants to accompany me on the martial path. Well, this would be an additional consideration for later.
It also means that if the White Tiger Sect dared to go against Old Yi, they are far from being helpless to his power as I once thought. There are obviously some undercurrents at the top level of the continent I am not yet qualified to know about.'
Now that Han Lingyun had sorted his thoughts. He focused back on the task on hand.
Elder Shun had only pointed a rough location on that map. The first thing he realized was that:
'This isn't a map of the Sun Empire!
Because we couldn't have left the continent, it means I am somewhere in the territory of the sphere of influence of the Puppet Sect and the Sword Union!
I'll have to be even more cautious now. First, tear off the stripes and mess that robe so that one would never associate me with a disciple of the White Tiger Sect.
Ugh, now that I don't wear Elder Wen's protective disk, I see that I had become somewhat reliant on its insurance. My stress levels are so high while there is probably no immediate danger around me. Damn, now I truly regret not having taken the time to learn a defensive art previously. But how could I anticipate this?
And couldn't Elder Shun indicate more precisely the location? The zone he roughly pointed to in order to show my starting place covers tens kilometers!
By my estimations, the journey should be 300 kilometer long. At least I know in what direction I need to head to.
I don't have a compass, but the sky is clear tonight!'
By some coincidence, there was a bright star that happened to be nearly on the axis of the planet's rotation. This star would always be in direction of the North!
It wasn't absolutely precise as this star wasn't exactly on the axis but this was a great approximation for Han Lingyun and all lost travelers from that hemisphere. Anyway, Han Lingyun didn't need a greater precision. It was fine as long as he headed roughly in the correct direction.
What made this journey challenging was that Han Lingyun couldn't fly over there, as all of his magic treasures had been taken away. Only Foundation Establishment Cultivators and above have the ability to walk on the air by relying on their qi usage.
'Well, 300km of never-ending forest. This should take me 3 days if I can avoid all setbacks. All right, no more losing time. I need to head in that direction.'
