The atmosphere at the bar was dry and dull, the death of a companion and a great friend like Shen Bao had affected everyone heavily, even the bartender Lu felt it and all he could do was hand more wine to help the two drown their sorrows and loss.
Not a while longer, a man wearing a full set of white robes and a fan arrived to the bar along with another slightly raggedy, long haired yet handsome to boots young man.
"Finally decided to join us, Zhang Tian," spoke Master Rain.
"I've finished my preparations," he said.
"I suppose you're also interested in coming along," Master Rain addressed the young man next to the Immortal Scholar.
"Indeed, I've only had the pleasure of being in the company of Shen Bao for a few days, and I'm sure that you have had a far longer period of time acquainting yourselves with him, thus, if it is alright with you I wish to accompany you on this journey,"
"I'd never say no to one of the younger generation trying to follow and learn new things, you're more than welcome Devourer," spoke Master Rain to Dao Shen.
"I've seen you before sitting next to Shen Bao," Meng Hao said.
"Yes, he spoke greatly of you, and your 'treasure'," Dao Shen said.
The word treasure brought the attention of everyone to Meng Hao, who clearly looked confused.
"I don't understand, I don't have anything that would peak Shen Bao's interest enough for him to call it a treasure," Meng Hao replied.
"I know, the treasure he spoke of is something intangible, the protection of fate itself, as it appeared clear as day to me when I saw you fight out of your weight class and still achieve victory in the most grim of odds, so, I wish to see more of this thus why I decided to follow and join in on this venture," Dao Shen said.
"The more the merrier," Lu said smiling, "Sit down I'll have more drinks ready up in a second."
The table was almost packed with different kinds of wine and foods the group ate as they were discussing how to handle the upcoming venture.
"First things first," the Zhang Tian said. "We need to locate the exact location where the Pots are held, we can't go about the whole of the Southern Domain searching for them," Zhang Tian said.
"I know where they are," Meng Hao replied immediately, "I've been there too," he said.
"How come?" Zhang Tian asked.
"I was captured by the Fire Lord's forces too," he said.
"And you lived to tell the tale? Hell, how did you even escape?" Bartender Lu said.
"You seem to know some things about where he was held," asked Master Rain.
"Yes, it's like concentration camps, I hear rumors here and there, after all, a bar is a great place to loosen people's lips. The Fire Lord captures young cultivators and places the ones he deems worthy of nurturing inside his cave system, constantly injecting them with the baleful Qi from his caves. They work them to the bones mining Blood Stones, and once they are either close to decay or close to fruition depending on their bodies rate of consumption of the baleful fire Qi, he consumes them or destroys the ones who are inadequate. The chances of survival from there has always been zero… until now I suppose," he said.
"How did you escape? We can use the same way back inside without being caught I believe," Zhang Tian said.
"I don't think it will work," said Meng Hao.
The group frowned waiting for him to explain more.
"I've found the cave of an immortal hidden deep within the cave system of the fire lord. As of today I still don't understand how something I bought by sheer luck back in my home planet was actually the key to this place, and once I was inside I found some materials that help me reach the Ascendant Stage. Then I was teleported through a rift in space that led me all the way here. The rift closed by the way and I don't think we can use it," he said.
"Rift travel is almost impossible using one's own body, not to mention below the Saint Stage, even King Class cultivators have a rough time traveling through it without suffering greatly and hurting their vitality. You must have been blessed to survive such journey with a low cultivation level. Sadly, we can't rely on luck to backtrack from the exit, not to mention traveling the rift there is no guarantee that even if we enter from the same exit it will lead us back to the cave you spoke about," Zhang Tian said.
"Indeed, I've tried many times traveling through spatial rifts, but the laws of space and time are so complexly convoluted there, your body could be torn the moment you enter if its an unstable rift. We'll have to find another way in," he said.
"Well, I think I know of a way," Dao Shen said.
The group attentively listened, "I heard one of the fire lord generals is currently waging an enslavement war on a planet. We can infiltrate the planet and get captured, that way we'll have easier access to his main planet where we can proceed with saving the woman," he said.
Absurd, and unthinkable, yet at the same time a very interesting idea, that was what everyone was thinking.
Going directly to the main planet of the Fire Lord is bound to cause a lot of unwanted attention. But, if camouflaged into slaves, they could easily fit in.
"We'll need to work on our appearances," Master Rain said.
"I could change the appearances of everyone here, but our Qi signature is far too strong…" Zhang Tian said.
"Then I can devour it," said Zhang Tian.
"How come?" asked Master Rain.
"I can consume and devour bits of your Qi, reforming it and changing it from what it is currently at, this way you'll only need to stop your Qi from regenerating back to the normal form, you'll all look like mortals to the most discerning of eyes, not to mention I've been using the Book of Souls so I have my way around changing the Soul Imprints," Dao Shen said.
"Well, that's handy and all, but how can I trust that you won't just consume me whole, to allow you access to my Divine Sense and adjusting it is basically throwing myself at your mercy," said Master Rain.
Dao Shen shook his head, "I have no way or method to prove that I am not lying, this is all I can do to assist," he said.
"I'll take the offer," said Meng Hao.
"You trust a stranger with your life?" said Master Rain.
"It will work out, even if he decides to betray us, and I can't afford to be skeptical right now, she doesn't have much time."
The rest of the group looked at Meng Hao and realized his sincerity and urgency, so Zhang Tian spoke, "I'll be the first, and please, if you believe you're able to devour me, then you're my guest, I would find it interesting to have not one, but two people able to surpass my mental prows," Zhang Tian stated confidently.
"You must be talking about Shen Bao," Dao Shen said.
"Yes, he was the only one who easily suppressed my Divine Sense and Domain as if it was nothing, I still haven't figured out how he did so, and if you could consume my Divine Sense I wouldn't even be mad," he smiled.
"I'm not risking the wrath of the entire Wind Domain, so don't worry," Dao Shen said and approached Zhang Tian, "Here I begin,"
The sourc𝗲 of this content is free(w)ebnov(𝒆)l