1154: Entering the Inner Areas

Entering the Inner Areas

After being teleported out of the Sword Temple, Yuan found himself standing at the entrance of the building.2

"I hope I didn't inconvenience the Tian Family too much by being gone for so long without any explanation…" Yuan quickly rushed outside as he activated his Divine Sense, hoping to find Tian Yanyu and her mother.

Sure enough, he found them standing not too far away from the Sword Temple.

He immediately rushed over after seeing them.

"X-Xiao Yang!" Tian Yanyu was the first to notice him since she had been staring at the Sword Temple this entire time.

"You're alive! I knew it!" She was clearly overjoyed to see him again.

"I am really sorry! I had an enlightenment in the Sword Temple and lost track of time!" He immediately lowered his head and apologized to them.

"You had an enlightenment…?" Tian Suyin's eyes widened upon hearing that.

"No wonder why it took you so long to come back out! And congratulations on your enlightenment! Even the Elders at my Sect have never experienced one! You're too amazing, Xiao Yang!" Tian Yanyu's eyes shone with excitement.

Tian Suyin's eyebrows twitched at such words, as she was also a Sect Elder.

"Sorry for not being part of the one percent that experienced enlightenment, and sorry for not being amazing." The irritation in her voice was obvious.

"S-Sorry… I didn't mean to mock you…" Tian Yanyu quickly realized her mistake and apologized.

If they knew that this wasn't Yuan's first or even second enlightenment, who knows how they would react.

Sometime later, Yuan spoke with a guilty look on his face, "I really hope you guys haven't been waiting for me this entire time." 

"Hmph. I told her we should just regroup with the others after waiting for 2 weeks, but this stubborn girl kept refusing, so yes, we have been waiting here for an entire month." Tian Suyin said.

Tian Yanyu's face flushed with redness as she silently nodded.

Yuan felt incredibly guilty for making these two ladies wait an entire month for him, so he decided to postpone entering the inner area to help them a little more.

"I was going to enter the inner areas after this, but I will hold that off for a little longer. Do you guys have any specific places that you wish to visit? I will take you there as an apology," he said to them.

"You really don't have—"

"I do!" Tian Suyin interrupted. 

Yuan smiled at her, "Where would you like to go?"

"I have always been interested in this place, but due to it being at the edge of the inner area, I never really had the courage to go. However, now that we have a monster like you with us, I think it's possible!"

And she continued, "It's a place called Sword Graveyard, where thousands of powerful swords are rooted into the ground. Rumors are that each sword has a powerful sword technique hidden within, meaning that there could be potentially thousands of sword techniques to be learned there."

"Oh, I read about that place. I wanted to go there, as well." Yuan said.

"Then it's settled. Let's go there now. Though, I don't really know how to get there since it's not near this area." Tian Suyin said.

Yuan turned to look at Jin Xi and asked her, "Do you mind showing us the way? You're a guide, so you should be able to do that at the very least, right?"

"Yes, I don't mind showing you the way to the Sword Graveyard." She nodded with a nonchalant face.

"Wait… She's coming with us as well? Isn't she a Spirit from the trial? Is that even allowed?" Tian Yanyu asked.

Yuan nodded, "She's a special case."

"It'll be even more reassuring if she's coming with us." Tian Suyin smiled.

"Oh, she won't protect us even if we are in danger. She's just a guide." Yuan quickly said. He didn't want them to have the wrong idea later on when she refuses to protect them.

"Is that so… What a pity. Anyways, it shouldn't be too dangerous since it's going to be on the edge of the inner area."

They left the Sword Temple shortly after. 

"You know, there's a rumor going around claiming that you have died inside the Sword Temple." Tian Yanyu said to Yuan as they traveled.

"I'm not surprised." Yuan chuckled.

A week of traveling later, they arrived at the border of the Nameless Emperor's Tomb's inner area.

"This should be obvious, but the inner area is nothing like the outer area. It's much more dangerous with many more magic beasts and other entities roaming around. The trials will also be more brutal. Less than 1 percent of people who enter the inner area make it back out alive." Jin Xi warned them.

"Other entities, huh…" Yuan mumbled.

"By entities, she's probably talking about demons." Tian Suyin said.

"Oh, right, I read about this before, but I didn't care about it since I never imagined entering the inner areas." Tian Yanyu sighed.

"Unfortunately, they are not something even you can handle, Xiao Yang. We must run if we encounter one." Tian Suyin said to him, unaware of his demon slaying expertise.

"Hoh? They must be really strong then. I can't wait to fight one. I like a good challenge, after all." Yuan decided to play dumb and act like he's never encountered a demon before.

"Are you even listening to me? Unless you know demon sealing techniques, it's nigh impossible to kill them because of their immortality. I do not want to repeat myself again— we must run if we encounter one!" Tian Suyin spoke with a frown on her face.

"If it's Xiao Yang, maybe he can kill them…" Tian Yanyu said, showing her absolute trust in his abilities.

Tian Suyin facepalmed at her daughter's blind trust in Yuan.

"Whatever. If you really want to fight it, I won't stop you, but I will also not stay to fight it with you. I am not reckless, after all." 

"Of course." Yuan nodded with a smile.

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