His expression softens, and the folds on his forehead smoothen the more he absorbs my energy. After he is calm enough to fight whatever troubles he is facing in his nightmares, I turn around to explore the cave even though there isn't much to see.

  The space is also small. Only enough to fit maybe a group of twenty people. But what is more interesting is the formations governing this timeless cave. They are not made by any being because they lack a soul in them.

  This small world came from the Dao, making it even more strange as it leaves one with too many unanswered questions.

  I'll need to start reaching out to these laws to check if there is anything I can learn. If I succeed, I will have the power of time, making me quite formidable on the battlefield.

  I am yet to learn of any being that has managed to grasp these laws, but I am still very hopeful. After all, I am here to challenge myself to break the limits I set on myself in my last life. I thought being an immortal was enough to protect the demons, but it turns out a single hand of a god or a god king can destroy a whole world.

  I sigh, taking my hand away from the wall. "Why have those two not come back yet? Did Xing'er run around?"

  My sigh deepens further before I close my eyes to reach out to her. 'Xing'er? Xing'er?'

  Silence.

  I attempt to use my domain sensing outside this small world, but it is interrupted by the laws here where the two worlds meet.

  Suddenly, something pokes my chest.

  Did something happen to them? Xing'er can handle anyone below the god transformation stage, but, I asked her not to be reckless.

  Given her history with her previous master, she would rather be killed than disobey him.

  A pang of guilt comes crashing down on me.

  I whirl around, wasting no more time, and rush out of the cave in ghostly steps. Three steps, and I'm outside the small world and in the library. After another three steps, I find myself standing on the street where I last saw the boy.

  The beggars glance up at me. They quickly lower their heads when our eyes meet, almost as if they're afraid of me. But why would they be? I have not harmed any of them. 'Xing'er?' I call out again, my chest growing tighter with each wave of silence that comes from her side.

  "Hey?" I look at the closest beggar to my left. "Have you seen the little girl I was with yesterday?"

  He does not look up. All he does is shake his head while his limbs tremble like a leaf.

  "Dammit! I let you out of my sight for a few hours and you-"

  Hours? No. It might have felt as though only hours passed in the cave, but out here, it might have been days.

  I open my domain sensing to the third level, encompassing over half of this city. Using the traces of Xing'er's energy residing within me, I start looking for her all over my domain. The search begins to feel hopeless when I find not a single match. It seems she has not used her power. Though I'm not sure if this is a good or a bad thing.

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  Just as I'm giving up so I can switch to searching for them through asking the people on the streets, I pick up a faint energy that matches Xing'er's.

  "Found you."

  She is somewhere underground, under a strong barrier that is trying to hide her.

  'Did you get yourself locked up?' I frown and then activate ghost steps to the fullest level of my current comprehension.

  Right now, I can only use it because of the lack of space skills(which is my fault). But it is enough to get me across the city in two minutes without attracting any attention to myself, for I do not stay in one place for longer than a heartbeat.

  I arrive at the place where Xing'er is being kept.

  It looks like a...sect.

  The tall pillars supporting the red gates seem to be part of the array that is protecting the sect. To a cultivator under late-stage immortal transformation, this barrier might be troublesome when attempting to break into the sect, but not to me. Even if there are a hundred of these arrays, with my godhood, I'd easily shatter them with one petal.

  "Who are you?" The two disciples in dark red robes ask in unison.

  "Step back if you don't want to die!" the one to my left barks, unsheathing his sword.

  I dart him a glare, sending a petal to graze his weapon. Before he can take his next breath, his sword shatters into irreparable pieces.

  "I am here for something you have taken from me," I say to their horrified faces before stepping past them.

  As I walk through the gates, the array breaks, leaving the sect vulnerable. 'Tsk! How can you have such a weak defensive array and still have such a good masking array? I am so pissed.'

  The wisp of her energy leads me to a hall in the inner courtyard. Uninvited, I walk inside as if I am walking into my home.

  My divine eye is opened instantly, ready to see through any illusions or ambush that might be waiting for me while I summon the two petals to float around above my head.

  My domain sensing activates so I can feel everything around me, though I regret making such heavy preparations almost immediately when my eyes fall on the two figures playing Go.

  One is very familiar. I would notice her in a crowd of thousands. Her white hair, which is similar to my new hair, makes us different where almost everyone has black hair.

  The young man she is playing against has defeat written all over him...on the papers stuck to his face.

  How did things even get here?

  I was worried for nothing, crossing the city in mere heartbeats while fearing for her and Wang Fei's safety.

  "Xing'er!"

  She hasn't even noticed my presence. How heartbreaking.

  Her head snaps in my direction from the dais. "Zhuren...? Zhuren!" she cries excitedly, vanishing from her seat to appear in the air, hopping at me.

  I catch her before setting her down to give a proper scolding.

  "Why are you here? Do you know how dangerous it is to run around on your own? Didn't I ask you to-"

  "It's him!" She points at the man she was playing against. "He said that you would not look for me. So we made a bet, and we have been playing here for two days."

  My frown slips back, darkening my aura.

  I face the man for answers for if he does not give a satisfying reason for keeping Xing'er, I'll break a hand as his punishment.

  "Hahaha! I've lost." He gets up, the paper strips disappearing from his face. "You've won once again, little girl. Your master does indeed care for children."

  "Xing'er, where is Wang Fei?" I ask, my eyes never leaving the stranger.

  "Her? Um...she is somewhere in this sect taking care of the boy you asked us to find."

  "What happened to the little boy?"

  "When we found him, he was being beaten up by bad people. But this man saved him and killed all those nasty people and then brought is here to treat his wounds."

  Our gazes intensify. On the outside, it may seem as if we are merely looking at each other, but in our souls, we are already battling.

  *Soul space*

  He raises his spear, his qi circulating it from one end to the other before he releases the strike directly at me.

  The attack comes with a wave of pressure that is attempting to suppress my soul and make me kneel.

  Activating my death flower to level two, the two petals materialize in front of me before they start to whirl around in a perfect circle, using my qi and wind skills to create a counterattack that has sword qi.

  "Go," I order, allowing the swirling chaotic anergy from the petal formation to blast at the incoming spear qi.

  He has good control over his technique, but the gap between our Dantians and mastery of our techniques is glaring.

  My energy blasts through his attack and proceeds to where his soul is.

  He tries to use the spear to block it, but the energy is too much for the weapon. His soul, along with his weapon, is knocked back in his body. "Gh!" He presses a hand on his chest before collapsing on one knee.

  When he lifts his face, a thin trail of blood leaks from the right corner of his lips. "You didn't have to hold back." He smiles, staggering to stand back up. "I could have handled-"

  "Hmph! You should be thanking him for going easy on you. If he wanted to, your body and soul would be ashes right now, " Xing'er cuts her way into our conversation with such a sassy attitude.