They all turned when they heard a scream afar. “Could it be Cheng-shidi?!” Feng Mo exclaimed as they immediately ran. They finally reached the outskirt of Xinfaxian. Feng Mo kicked the walking corpse of Dongfang Xiaoyun that attacked Li Tian. “So that’s why we didn’t hear any news from the Dongxin. They were all turned to corpses.” He said.

Li Tian nodded as he ran along with them. At the least, he can keep up with them running. This is the first lesson Xie Lan taught them – running. So that if they would meet an enemy stronger than them, they can run. Li Tian never felt it more useful than now.

“What do you think happened to Cheng Sheng?” Ming Ye whispered to Luo Shi.

Luo Shi sighed as he looked up the sky that’s covered in demonic qi. “It would be a real pity if he’d die early.” He said. “We’d be getting our early retirement, then.” He told Ming Ye.

Ming Ye sighed and shook his head. They picked up their pace. Cheng Sheng, hang on!

Fei Yin can’t wait and he flew on his sword. Cheng Sheng’s life is more important than his. “Fei-shidi!”

“Da shixiong!” they called.

Fei Yin ignored them as he flew over the corpses he met. He felt his heart leapt, then sank, when he saw Cheng Sheng who was floating in the air just now fell. He immediately flew towards him. He reached out his hand. However, he only grasped air. His pupils shrank. He jumped from how sword and caught the unconscious Cheng Sheng. Then, they fell on the ground and rolled. “Hah. Shidi!” Fei Yin called as he immediately tapped Cheng Sheng’s cheek to wake him. “Shidi! Shidi!” he called.

“Let him rest first.” The man said. “If you had been late for a second, his skull would have cracked and my efforts had gone to waste.”

Fei Yin turned and saw a man wearing black robes, fighting against the corpses. An indigo glare come out of his sword. “… you saved him.” He said.

“If not me, then the ghosts?” the man said.

“Why do you want to take him away?” Fei Yin asked and gently held Cheng Sheng in his arms. He didn’t feel malicious intent from the man. He wiped clean Cheng Sheng’s face and treated Cheng Sheng’s wounds. However, he only saw blood and no wounds. his brows knit. He turned to the man. “What did you do to him?” he asked.

The man sighed as he kicked away the ghosts. “Why are you suspecting me?” he asked.

“If not you, then the ghosts?” Fei Yin asked.

The man felt speechless. He heard that the eldest disciple of the Xinfaxian Sect is a taciturn person. Then who is this now? He frowned as he chopped off the corpse’s head. “Why don’t you help me first, talk later?” he asked, tired.

“Killing all of them is effortless for you.” Fei Yin said.

Hearing this, the man grinned. Fei Yin felt the fluctuation in the air. Then, all of a sudden, the corpses before the man was crushed into powder. “How perceptive of you.” The man said. Then, he pointed Cheng Sheng’s panpipe that fallen.

The panpipe moved and flew towards Fei Yin. Fei Yin caught it and put it on Cheng Sheng’s hands. “Why did you help my shidi?” Fei Yin asked. He could feel power surging within Cheng Sheng. He felt Cheng Sheng’s pulse and he found out Cheng Sheng had a golden core now.

The man’s brows raised, then he smiled. “Da shixiong!” they heard Li Tian and Feng Mo called as their group ran towards them.

The man looked at Fei Yin. “This world loves him.” He said and raised his sword. His sword flew towards the sky and punctured the center of the demonic qi. The man snapped his fingers, and the sword emitted a bright indigo glow.

They all covered their eyes from the blinding light. They also felt the ground shook and rumbled. Then, they heard the wind exploded. When they opened their eyes, they squinted. After their eyes adjusted and they saw a clean and bright Xinfaxian, like how they always saw it. They rubbed their eyes, afraid that they must be dreaming again. However, it is real. The Xinfaxian is back. There’s no more demonic qi covering the Xinfaxian. The sky is blue once again, and they could see the sun. They can see the evergreen mountain because of the bamboos. They breathed in a fresh air. “What happened?” they asked and then turned to Fei Yin.

“Da shixiong! Cheng-shidi!” Li Tian and Feng Mo called as they knelt beside Fei Yin and Cheng Sheng. “Da shixiong. What happened? What happened to Cheng-shidi?” they asked.

The Youxiwang Sect that’s with them were very puzzled. They were expecting a big fight yet the man was already gone. “Ah! We should report to sect leader first! Report!” Sun Yi exclaimed as he immediately took out a brush and paper from his qiankun sleeves. Then, he wrote. “Everything ended well. No need for backup.” He said and kept the brush. He blew on the ink and the words on the paper were blown away, going to the direction of the west at a fast speed.

“AH!” Luo Shi screamed and hit Sun Yi’s head. “You!” he said to his disciple. “We still didn’t even know what happened. Why are you rushing?!” he asked.

Sun Yi rubbed his head, feeling wronged. “Chen-shidi was alright. The Xinfaxian was alright now.” He explained.

Wu Yuan spoke. “We can talk with the details after Chen-shidi wake up.” He said.

Luo Shi shut up. He just humphed and then walked to Ming Ye. “Ah Sheng!” Chen Han called as he felt Cheng Sheng’s breathing. “He is fine. He doesn’t have any injuries.” He said and sighed in relief.

“Da shixiong. What happened? Who was that man just now?” Feng Mo asked.

Fei Yin removed his gaze from Cheng Sheng and turned to them. “That man…” he said. “… saved Cheng-shidi.” He said.

“Saved?” they said. Ming Ye and Luo Shi’s brows knit.

Fei Yin turned to the elders. “That man isn’t a demonic cultivator. This, I can swear using my cultivation.” He said and raised his hand. “He also saved my shidi. And saved the Xinfaxian. He has no malicious intent and instead our benefactor.” He finished. From the clouds came a thunder even though the sky is bright.

Ming Ye and Luo Shi doesn’t know what to react. Feng Mo and Li Tian and Chen Han gaped at Fei Yin. Sun Yi just sighed, smiling, while Wu Yuan nodded, approving of Fei Yin’s actions. Swearing can’t be taken lightly. Even Ming Ye and Luo Shi doesn’t dare to swear. Swearing at the expense of your cultivation is a suicide for cultivators. If you were lying but you made a swear, your cultivation will be stripped away and you can never cultivate again, even in your next life. Swearing and cultivation was both tied to the soul. The body is just the medium used in cultivation. That is why even the inanimate objects can have spiritual consciousness since they can have a spirit, that can later be turned into a soul. They can also later have mental awareness, but not mental consciousness. They can think with their awareness. However, they will never be conscious since they don’t have a material body and can only develop a spiritual body.

“But, that man’s level is higher than us.” Luo Shi said.

They gasped and looked at the elders in shock. Fei Yin’s face became serious and he looked at Cheng Sheng. “I only know that he saved, not only my shidi, but our land.” He said and turned to Ming Ye and Luo Shi.

Luo Shi pursed his lips. “Argh. Fine, fine.” He said as he waved his hand. “You explain this to your shifu and founder when we meet them. Also, to our sect leader.” He told Fei Yin.

Fei Yin nodded and bowed. “This disciple is grateful for elder Luo’s benevolence.” He said. Then, he carried Cheng Sheng who was still unconscious.

“Da shixiong. Have you seen what happened to Cheng-shidi?” Li Tian asked, worried. He returned the sachet filled with the powdered jade talisman.

Fei Yin took it and put it inside Cheng Sheng’s hand. In an angle where he can only see, he saw the powdered jade talisman was absorbed by Cheng Sheng’s body. Fei Yin lowered his gaze, his thoughts unknown. “Let’s go to the sect.” he told them.

“Yes!” Li Tian and Feng Mo said, excited. They followed Fei Yin, while the others silently followed them. Now that the surrounding is cleaned and no demonic qi, they can use their sword to fly to the Xinfaxian Sect. They can meditate later again and absorb qi from the surroundings.