Chapter 1173: It Has Been a While

When Xiang Shaoyun returned to the sky high above the Ziling Sect, he found that Xiang Fengchen had been captured by the turtle and the others.

"Young sect master, what should we do with him?" asked the turtle.

"Xiang Shaoyun, you better free me, or your Ziling Sect will cease to exist," threatened Xiang Fengchen unyieldingly despite his status as a prisoner.

"Take him back to the sect. We'll wait for the Xiang Clan to come and pay a ransom for him," said Xiang Shaoyun after giving it some thought.

Since he had already offended the Xiang Clan, there was no longer any need to be courteous. And thus, Xiang Fengchen was taken back to the sect. Xiang Zixuan, Ji Honglei, and Xiang Lingyu were completely stunned. Xiang Fengchen was their uncle. Someone like him had been captured by the Ziling Sect just like that?

Where is Xiang Qianren? He couldn't be dead, right? If he's really dead, then this would develop into a much bigger issue.

"Stop daydreaming. You'll be staying at the sect as well. Let's wait for the Xiang Clan to pay the ransom fee for all of you," said Xiang Shaoyun indifferently.

He initially planned to let the three go, but he had changed his mind. The three couldn't resist at all, so they could only obey and follow him back to the sect.

Xiang Lingyu was crying pitifully, as though Xiang Shaoyun was about to torture her or something. Inwardly, she cursed, This stinky man! He will suffer a terrible fate in the future!

Xiang Shaoyun did not torture them. However, he didn't treat them too nicely either. All of them had their cultivation sealed before they were dumped to some deserted mountain. The turtle was assigned to watch over them so that Xiang Fengchen couldn't recover his strength and escape.

As for Xiang Shaoyun, he returned to his cultivation room. There, he started going through Xiang Zong's storage ring, trying to see if there were any treasures inside. Xiang Zong was a Saint with an astral cosmos sea. However, an astral cosmos sea was limited in space. Thus, he would still store a lot of things in his storage ring.

When the gravekeeper elder killed Xiang Zong, everything in his astral cosmos sea had been taken out by the gravekeeper elder. All those things were stored in a storage ring that was handed over to Xiang Shaoyun.

Someone like the gravekeeper elder couldn't care less about the belongings of a Saint. However, that was not the case for Xiang Shaoyun. When Xiang Shaoyun saw the contents inside the ring, he was pleased beyond his expectations. There were actually a decent amount of saint-grade items in it.

Of the saint-grade items, there were some saint herbs, some materials, and even some saint crystals. There were also some other items of considerable value. What caused Xiang Shaoyun's heart to beat faster was that there were some void stones in the ring as well.

Void stones were one of the essential materials needed to construct a teleportation formation, and they were also the material he lacked most at the moment.

The materials he had gotten from the Holy Hall master were almost used up. As for the materials gathered by Qian Furen, many important materials were still missing. The void stone was one of the missing materials.

"Next, I need to look for some spiritsense stones. This is an essential material to connect both formations together, and they're also the hardest material to find. All the other materials can be bought so long as I have enough spirit crystals or saint crystals," muttered Xiang Shaoyun.

He stored all the materials into his astral cosmos sea in an orderly fashion. While storing them, he found to his astonishment that there was a sealed jade case in the ring. His curiosity was piqued. He took the case out and erased the seal with the power of his saint soul.

He then carefully opened the case. He was anxiously waiting to see just what kind of treasure the case contained. But when it was opened, he was stunned. There was no shocking treasure in the case. Rather, there was only a damaged map. The map looked incredibly familiar. He picked it up and sank into thought before muttering, "Is this a treasure map?"

A different damaged map appeared in his hand. He discovered that both maps were actually made of the same material. Also, the two maps could be joined perfectly. Unfortunately, about a third of the map was still missing.

"Is this a map leading to some big secret?" muttered Xiang Shaoyun.

Unfortunately, the map was incomplete, so he could only place it back into the jade case. Everything would be clear if he was lucky enough to find the third map in the future. Since Xiang Zong was storing the map so carefully, it could only prove that the map was of considerable value.

After leaving his cultivation room, Xiang Shaoyun wanted to head to the Holy Hall. But he was afraid that the Xiang Clan people would come during his absence. His mind was conflicted.

The Holy Hall master had not given him a jade slip. Otherwise, he could just crush the jade slip to call the hall master over and have the spatial node connected. Also, no outsiders could enter the Holy Hall. He had to make a trip personally.

"I need to think of a solution," muttered Xiang Shaoyun.

He went to visit the Yao Peak. He had heard that Yao Qian had left her seclusion. He wanted to see how far her cultivation had reached. At Yao Peak, Yao Qian was brandishing a sparkling green axe. Strands of translucent greenish radiance swirled around the axe, looking sharp and dazzling.

Generally, men would be the ones preferring to use axes. But when a sweet and cute young lady like Yao Qian brandished such a weapon, she radiated a unique kind of beauty.

Just as Xiang Shaoyun arrived, Yao Qian sensed him. She stopped, gently pushed her hair to the side to reveal her beautiful face, and said with a smile, "Young sect master, what are you doing here?"

"It has been a while since I last saw you, so I'm here to visit," said Xiang Shaoyun with a smile.

The current Yao Qian looked entirely different from the previous weak and delicate Yao Qian. Her body and soul were in a healthy state, and her entire body was brimming with vitality, exuding a strong feeling of youthfulness.

"That's so thoughtful of you," said Yao Qian cheerily.

She had always had a crush on Xiang Shaoyun. She now had the feeling stored away, something she would not let out before reaching the same level as him. She was determined to uphold this oath.

"Your cultivation speed is really quite amazing. How long has it been? You're already a fourth-stage Skysoar Realm cultivator. If this continues, it won't be long before you surpass me," said Xiang Shaoyun with a praising look in his eyes.

"If you can be surpassed so easily, you won't be the young sect master," said Yao Qian as she pursed her lips. "Look at how your brows are furrowed. Have you encountered some trouble? You can talk to me about it."

Xiang Shaoyun sank into a short silence before saying, "Our internal issues have been resolved, so we only have external aggression to worry about. We have many powerful enemies, yet we are without any assistance. How can I not be worried?"

"I heard from Grandpa. Someone from your clan came knocking?" Yao Qian asked.

"Yes. We are still not strong enough to stand against them. We do have some helpers, but I'm afraid the clan will arrive before help can come. I really don't know what to do," said Xiang Shaoyun as he sat down with a sigh.

Yao Qian stood behind him and started kneading his temple with her tender fingers. She said, "This is easy to solve. You have merely been overthinking it."