Chapter 739: Passing Through

"Bz...."

The moment the permafrost mastiff appeared in the space and distributed its powerful aura into the air, the surrounding area started to tremble and shake violently!

Outside the boundary, the distinct shadows that previously could be seen slightly before was starting to mix. Black and white mixed with one another like paint being stirred with great vigor to form a chaotic mess of light and shadow.

A second later, the entire area began to shrink! As if being pushed inwards by the chaotic energy outside, the fifty meters was starting to grow smaller. In just three seconds, the boundary shrunk down to just under ten meters!

"Damn, what's going on now?!"

Bai Yunfei swore out loud to himself. The Cataclysmic Seal trembled slightly before a five meter large barrier erected itself over Bai Yunfei and the permafrost mastiff.

By the time the barrier was fully manifested, the boundary was already nearly touching it....

"Pop...."

A faint popping sound echoed into the air when Bai Yunfei raised his left hand up to shield his eyes, then everything in front of him went bright.

Rays of moonlight began to sprinkle onto his face along with a gust of wind. It breezed through his clothes and brought a chilling frost onto his body. Putting his hand back down, Bai Yunfei was alarmed once again by the sight in front of him....

Underneath him was still the same stony ground from before. But no longer was he in a limited boundary of nothingness. Above him was the night sky with a half-moon resting there. Countless stars filled the skies and gave little light to the otherwise dark area around him. There was also a rather short mountain with trees on it nearby.

Bai Yunfei was perhaps in a grassland at night now.

Wary, Bai Yunfei looked around himself. His soulsense scanned the area and found that nothing was blocking him from sensing anything within a kilometer away from him.

"What's going on??"

Bai Yunfei muttered to himself like a broken record. He scratched his head, completely at a loss for words at what was going on.

He didn't know how long he had been stuck in that spatial pocket, but surely at least ten minutes had to have passed before he was brought to the second location. As 'experienced' as he might be with everything, Bai Yunfei was still completely mystified with everything that was going on.

"So where is this place?" Bai Yunfei glanced around. This was very clearly not Black Cloud Valley since he could see the sky without an issue. If he ignored the fact of apportation, Bai Yunfei still wanted to figure out where he was now.

"Eh? Isn't that...Black Cloud Mountain Range?!"

An extremely large mountain range met Bai Yunfei's gaze when he turned to the right. From how tall it was stretching into the heavens, Bai Yunfei could verify that this was the Black Cloud Mountain Range.

His eyes followed the mountain ranges, but the length and height of them made it impossible for Bai Yunfei to accurately tell where he was. He was at the very least not too far away from the Underworld School.

The feeling of being able to sense Xiao Qi again made Bai Yunfei smile. He couldn't communicate with him, but the connection was back again at the very least. Xiao Qi was just on the other side of the mountain range.

"Does this mean....I'm on the opposite side of the mountain from where I killed the black-scaled serpent?"

Bai Yunfei scratched his head. If this was the case, then if he were to turn left, he'd be able to make it back to the opening of Black Cloud Valley and return to the Underworld School.

Though he was unable to communicate with Xiao Qi due to the barrier that was the mountain range, Bai Yunfei was still at the very least able to send a signal that he was safe. Putting away the permfrost mastiff, Fire-tipped Spear, and Cataclysmic Seal, Bai Yunfei flew off into the skies leftwards.

"Boom!!"

A loud explosion rocked the world just as he took off into the skies. Nearly a kilometer away, something had exploded there, sending a figure flying upwards.

"Agh! Damn you!!"

The figure cursed out aloud. Somersaulting, the figure landed back onto his feet on the air.

This person was wearing purple robes and was relatively robust-looking. It was a peak late-stage Soul Exalt.

Coincidentally, the direction in which this person was knocked towards was the direction Bai Yunfei was in. Though the person managed to stabilize themselves quickly, they weren't able to reduce the backwards motion in which they were flying at, so by the time the person came to a stop, they were already close enough to sense Bai Yunfei.

He whirled around to look.

The night made it hard to see, but that meant nothing for people as strong as this person and Bai Yunfei. With a direct gaze for one another, both persons were able to see just who the other one was.

"Bai Yunfei?!"

The purple-robed man cried out Bai Yunfei's name in shock.

Likewise, Bai Yunfei was surprised to recognize the person. He bowed with his hands clasped together. "How coincidental to meet you here, brother Lin. Pleased to see you."

This young man was the junior headmaster of the Beast Taming School, Lin Dongxiao!

Lin Dongxiao had only been an early-stage Soul Exalt three years ago, but now he was a peak late-stage Soul Exalt just like Bai Yunfei was!

As surprised as Lin Dongxiao was to see Bai Yunfei, he didn't seem all that surprised that he was here, for some reason. "So the Crafting School was quick to come here as well. Your esteemed school must be determined to win that thing then...."

"What thing?" Bai Yunfei asked, confused. The auras of several other people—presumably from the Beast Taming School—made Bai Yunfei decide he didn't care enough for the answer to keep talking with Lin Dongxiao. "I was only passing through. I've a few matters to take care of, so I'll be taking my leave first."

Then under the amazed eyes of Lin Dongxiao, Bai Yunfei took out the Tempest Sword and took off.

"Pa—passing through?!" It wasn't until Bai Yunfei left that Lin Dongxiao regained his wits. "What is he, an actor? Pah!" He snorted derisively.

Five figures soon came up by Lin Dongxiao's side: two elders, two young men, and one young female. One of the two elders spoke up, "What happened, Dongxiao? Did you try forcing the pocket open again? And....who was that person?"

Lin Dongxiao nodded. "I felt a strange flow in the pocket here, so I tried to make the most of it. But as you can see, it ended in failure....."

He looked off at the direction Bai Yunfei disappeared from, "That person was....Bai Yunfei from the Crafting School."

"Bai Yunfei!" The same elder cried out. "So even the Crafting School has come here?!"

"Must have. "Ling Dongxiao shrugged, "They came quite fast though."

"How repulsive....the strong are starting to gather here in droves. The pocket hasn't opened yet, that only makes our lives more cumbersome. Will we really have to fight the entire continent for the prize in the end?"

"I've been prepared to just force the pocket to open, even if it means it might collapse it. If we can't have it, then no one else will.....that's fine then. Let them gather here and stalk us. Even if we try again to force the pocket open, the others won't sit idly and watch, they'll try to force open the pocket themselves. We'll just have to wait for the pocket to open by itself."

"I had no idea the leak would spread so fast. It's too late to regret such matters now, I suppose. Opening the pocket first is our only advantage now to get that thing...."

......

On the other side, Bai Yunfei was already several kilometers away. He passed by two mountain peaks before noticing that just down underneath in this area was....a great deal of soul cultivators!

They were gathered in groups of threes and twos, but the entire area was filled with people. But the most terrifying thing about this was....that everyone was at least a Soul Exalt in strength!

And hardly anyone were mid-stage Soul Exalts, the vast majority of them were all late-stage Soul Exalts or peak late-stage Soul Exalts!

Furthermore, there was also a few Soul Kings gathered here!

Practically every few groups had a Soul King in their numbers!

Bai Yunfei had only caught a small glimpse when he flew by, but he counted at the very least twenty Soul Exalts and five Soul Kings in this small area alone!

"Damn, what's going on here?! A party?!" Bai Yunfei thought to himself as he flew along. "What in the world is going on here for so many strong people to gather...."

Coming across such a large group of people like this in an unknown land meant usually one thing: danger.

Bai Yunfei had two options in front of him. The first was to remain behind and see what was going on. The second was to leave this place at once.

He chose the latter. Safety was paramount, and Bai Yunfei was by himself here. He could at the very least find Xiao Qi and the others and then come back here to see what was happening.

"Eh??"

The feeling of something watching him cut Bai Yunfei away from his train of thought. Eyes darting towards the right side of the forest, Bai Yunfei stared frostily at whatever was there.

He was being followed.