Near the sect, Huang Di was making his way back from setting up the formations. He didn’t have Elder Wei’s speed and he didn’t really cultivate in the body. His focus was more obscure, diversified. He thought the formation was an ingenious method, it was difficult to discern illusions from reality. It benefitted his cultivation as he delved into illusions. While this took up much of his time, he benefited greatly. The sect master had been neglecting his cultivation. But to gain insights like this was rare, fortuitous. He smirked, his immortal’s disciple was truly a blessing.

As he got closer to his Plum Tree Sect, he noticed a storm coming from the mountain peaks. He knew who it was. So he changed course from heading to the sect halls to the mountain peak of the former immortal. There, he saw storm clouds brewing as if a man was facing a tribulation. However, that couldn’t be, as the man who would face a tribulation would not choose to face a tribulation yet, because this man wasn’t done with what he needed to do which was in itself a tribulation. One of his own doing and not heaven’s. He called out to the man in the cave.

Sword master Zhao Fei was cultivating, he could feel himself reaching the pinnacle of the Transcendent Realm and very close to reclaiming his immortal status. The qi in his dantian was violent, unruly, and the storm outside was nothing comparatively. He stood up, took his sword, and went through what seemed like a single strike but was actually 10,000 strikes in the time it took to burn incense. He changed forms, his muscles bulging, radiating power. Then he went still, all that power disappeared and it seemed like he wasn’t even there. But he was there! His cultivation might have been damaged but his skills were coming back, albeit slower than he would have liked but he didn’t doubt that he could beat any Transcendent Realm cultivator in this mortal world. Maybe even two at the same time even without using his treasures inside his spatial ring, he was that much more powerful than anyone here. And he should be with what he was before his grievous mistake. He could feel the ring on his finger. Falling from heaven was his greatest failure but it was not without opportunity. As he was contemplating this, he heard the sect master.

Huang Di went inside to Elder Fei’s cave, well it was technically the sect’s cave that he let the sword master use. He sat on a rock as the once-immortal was undignified, uncultured and did not have any human necessities in the sect’s cave. The man did not even serve tea.

Zhao Fei looked at the man in front of him. He was prim and always proper. His beard was kempt, black, and his hair was long, black. His heart, also black. A strategist, a leader, he had great bearing and his history was a mystery. But that was none of the immortal’s concern as he too had things he wanted to keep secret. The sect master’s robe bore the mark of the Plum Tree Sect, a big tree with an abundance of plums. A plum tree. It was a common sight to see this tree in the sect but he knew there was something mysterious about the location of this sect and the plums that were grown in this mountain. They were filled with qi. How the man in front of him found this place, created a sect, and kept it secret from the mortal world was astounding. No, this sect master knew secrets.

Huang Di opened his mouth to speak, as that was currently the only possible way for him to speak. There were some who could speak telepathically and others through gestures, but for one such as himself, opening his mouth and moving his tongue was the only way.

“The formation was a success, the mission completed, and I come back and I see a storm brewing.”

Zhao Fei said nothing for a moment. He knew he wasn’t good with words much less compared to the man in front of him.

“As a sect master, I have a duty to check out a situation that could endanger my sect. Are you facing a tribulation, Elder Fei?”

The once-immortal did feel a bit guilty as he didn’t realize the effect he was having on the outside as he was trying to repair his inside. By the time he noticed, he had already been too involved in the process of repairing his dantian that he couldn’t stop. In the past, he didn’t have to worry about anyone else but now, he was still using the sect to recover. And his disciples were part of this. He sighed, took out a treasure from his ring. The sect master’s eye was always covetous of his ring, his other eye was pretending not to.

“For the storms ahead.” He said as he handed the treasure to the sect master. His sect master.