3rd POV

  Chen'er starts gathering the energy from the cave, passing it through his meridians, before directing it into his broken core. This stimulates the half a pill he has just consumed, triggering its potent energy into action.

  Tianling senses the two energies colliding but isn't worried because Chen'er seems to know what he is doing despite it being a new experience. He keeps paying keen attention to all of Chen'er's meridians, his Dantian, his soul, and his body, not to miss any side effects.

  A white energy explodes from his damaged Dantian, quickly wrapping his body in a cocoon that mortal enemies wouldn't break through. This is the first effect of the pill: protecting the consumer as it begins to concentrate on the Dantian.

  "Not bad," Tianling comments as he leans closer to study the white cocoon shielding Chen'er from danger. It looks almost transparent, yet he can only see the boy's shadow.

  "It seems that giving you half of the pill was a good idea. If you had consumed the whole pill, I'm afraid you would be in pieces. Well, everything depends on your luck, boy. This is the most I can do for you."

  He straightens while moving away from the center of the cave.

  "'Xing'er, how are things out there?'" Tianling enquires through the mind link he shares with Xing'er.

  "'Everyone has gone into seclusion, Zhuren. Only I am left to look after them until you come back.'"

  "'Mmm... What about that Murong boy? Is he behaving?'"

  "'He is still locked up. But Zhuren, how long are we going to keep him here? Will sister Yu not feel bad living in the same place with the man who wants to take her away?'"

  "'It won't be long. I will send him back myself when I'm done with Chen'er.'"

  "'As you wish, zhuren.'"

  Tianling ends the conversation to concentrate on Chen'er. So far, everything is moving fine. He can sense Chen'er's Dantian react strongly to the energy from the half pill. But he can also feel the pain coming from the process, which Chen'er is bottling in as he grits his teeth.

  'This is my only chance. If I fail, I will be a useless person until I die. That will be worse than being a dog!' Chen'er grunts in his mind, biting his teeth even harder to suppress the groans of pain threatening to flow from his lips.

  He reminds himself that Tianling is watching. If he appears weak in front of the one who will be his new teacher, it will be too shameful to stand proud and question Tianling if he ever strays.

  'You can take this. Just don't fall...'

  His consciousness starts slipping between reality and the void.

  As much as he believed he could handle the pain, it only made his body shut down in the middle of the reshaping process.

  It has just started, yet he is already fatigued from a few breaths as the pill's energy circulates through him.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  'Stay awa...awa-'

  Just before he faints, he feels something reach into his soul to nourish it so it doesn't either away under the potent energy still trapped in his lower abdomen and meridians.

  His eyes open to catch the strings of qi flowing from outside the cocoon. 'It's...him.'

  Tianling doesn't say anything, just keeps the flow of his qi from his fingers and into the cocoon to support Chen'er.

  When Chen'er's breaths grew unstable, Tianling felt the imminent danger. If he had left him alone, he would have come back to a dead Chen'er with his abdomen blasted open from the energy gathering there.

  Staying here to protect him was definitely a good idea.

  After a while, Chen'er's soul begins to grow strong, accommodating the high energies within his body.

  Only then does Tianling stop giving him his qi, for too much of it will also be fatal to Chen'er.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  What feels like an hour passes by, or is it a week? Tianling cannot tell.

  He opens his eyes and lowers his feet to the rough ground after being suspended in the air for meditation as he waited for Chen'er.

  Now that his little disciple's body has stabilized more than at the beginning, with no signs of danger, he can leave him and go for a walk in the bigger world.

  He uses his ghost steps to leave the cave and this small world altogether.

  The brightest sun rays burn into his eyes as he looks up. Everything there is so quiet. There is no one in sight to greet him, not even Xing'er. But it doesn't matter as long as she is safe out there. He trusts her enough to take care of herself.

  Other than his disciples and followers, Tianling remembers about the temporary prisoner still locked up. He goes down into the dungeons to see him.

  Murong Bin gasps when Tianling appears right in front of him, before crawling backwards and away from the person who caused him so much agony not too long ago.

  "You...you...are you here to k...kill me?"

  Tianling chuckles, walking closer to the young man. He snaps his fingers and the shackles around Murong Bin's neck and limbs open, allowing him to circulate his qi once more.

  He doesn't try to attack Tianling or escape, for he has already learned that this person is more powerful than his own shifu.

  "Killing you is a waste. Come on, take me to your master so we can break off your engagement to Bai Yu."

  Murong Bin's eyes widen in both relief and shock. "You're not going to kill me?"

  "Do you want to die?" Tianling asks, bending over with a devilish smirk on his lips. "I haven't killed anyone since I woke up, but-" he pauses to straighten. "-I don't just go around killing humans. Now come on, take me to your sect."

  "O-okay."

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Before leaving the mansion, Tianling sets up an array with some materials from the bracelet that can both protect and defend the whole mansion.

  No being under the middle stage of immortal ascension can penetrate the array. This is the only way he can be at peace as he goes to tie up some loose ends before they leave this realm in the coming future.

  Murong Bin summons his sword and instantly injects his qi into it, expanding its size, so he can fly back home. But before he climbs on, Tianling helps himself at the front, staring at Murong Bin with a small smirk.

  There is no arguing with Tianling, so Murong Bin climbs at the back with a frown and immediately flies off the ground.

  Both of them create protective barriers around their bodies to shield them from the harshness of the air they will fly against, with Tianling adding an extra barrier in case the human attempts to harm him.

  Murong flies them fast across the city, giving Tianling an aerial view of the bustling streets below.

  They even fly past Yan Xin's sect, marking the boundary of this city and the nearby mountains where the Golden Dragon sect is nestled.

  The green mountain and hills appear pleasing to Tianling's gaze. So much that he feels his mood elevate and his soul lighten.

  Indeed, taking care of this world to maintain such beauty is far better than the meaningless wars that will destroy it.

  He promises himself not to let another devastating war break out while he is alive. And if it must happen, he will go find the higher-ups to fight them instead of the soldiers who will be forgotten like the ones he buried.

  Unbeknownst to him, when the Dao gave him a second chance to right whatever wrongs he thought had been committed over the thousands of years, it also gave him the Karmic Decree.

  "The gates," Tianling reminds when Murong Bin starts descending the sword towards the only occupied land in sight.

  Its buildings as spread across five peaks with long steps leading to them. The gates are at the halfway point of the mountain, which is where Murong is now headed.

  Their presence is noticed by the guards at the wide gates, who are suddenly thrust into alertness.

  They draw their swords halfway, preparing for an attack if the person flying to them is here to cause trouble.

  Murong jumps before the sword touches the ground so he can diffuse the tension and have them not offend Tianling.

  "It's me. It's me." He laughs awkwardly while facing the guards, just as Tianling steps from the sword.

  "Greetings, Holy Son."

  They both salute and bow to Murong Bin, making him even more nervous. He always thought that he mattered the most in the sect and the nearby sects because of his position and talent. But after his short stay in the Wang mansion, his view has been altered slightly.

  "Hurry!" Tianling commands as he heads for the closed gates.

  "Okay!"

  "Holy Son, he is...?"

  "Hahaha! A guest for my Shifu. He means no harm."

  'Bold of you to assume that I won't hurt your companions here,' he says to himself before passing through the invisible barrier enclosing the whole sect. 'A good protective barrier.'