Horizon.

A streak of purple lightning slashed across the sky, disappearing in a flash.

Xiao Yi was returning to the Extreme East at this moment.

The Ancient Emperor’s Tomb was precisely located in the Extreme East.

However, it was not within the realm of Dongli Sword Palace.

The entire Extreme East is vast and barren, a desolate land at the far eastern edge of the Central Region.

It isn’t considered a dangerous place.

Because there aren’t even half a demon beast there, and not even half a human martial artist would venture there for training.

There, the winds blow all year round, and it’s so barren that not a single blade of grass grows, and no forests thrive.

The only things there are scattered Extreme East Iron Stones, and vast emptiness stretching out as far as the eye can see.

It seems as if it has remained unchanged for thousands of years.

Dongli Sword Palace is located in the central part of the Extreme East.

And at the depths of the Extreme East, at its farthest end, there’s an Ancient Restriction Group.

The Ancient Emperor’s Tomb is precisely situated there.

Xiao Yi recalled that months ago, he encountered a group from the Heavenly Hidden Academy training near the Fire Teeth Territory in the Hengyuan area.

At that time, if he wasn’t mistaken, Guu Feifan and his group were training their way east.

The final destination was precisely the Extreme East.

They chose to travel directly to the Ancient Emperor’s Tomb while training along the way.

Later, when they encountered Poison Robe, the group had no choice but to divert.

However, when Xiao Yi caused a commotion at Heavenly Hidden Academy, Guu Feifan and the others were not present.

It seemed that after that time, Guu Feifan and the others did not return to Heavenly Hidden Academy but continued eastward, training while traveling.

Another point is, in fact, after the competition held at Dongli Sword Palace among various forces last time.

The martial artists who obtained a quota didn’t necessarily need to leave.

Because by that time, there was only one month left until the opening of the Ancient Emperor’s Tomb, so they could directly close up in Dongli Sword Palace.

When the time was near, they could directly go with the martial artists from Dongli Sword Palace to the depths of the Extreme East.

However, many martial artists still chose to return to their own forces once.

Seizing the last bit of time to receive guidance from their elders, and then, with the last remaining days, they would be brought by their own elders.

...

Five days later.

Xiao Yi flew all the way back to the range of the Extreme East and also flew over Dongli Sword Palace.

A day later.

Xiao Yi flew to the depths of the Extreme East.

In front, mountains surrounded the area.

Xiao Yi glanced and frowned slightly.

He didn’t even need to sense it, he could see that these jagged mountains were like iron mountains.

Xiao Yi’s fingertip gently unleashed a Sword Qi.

Whoosh... The Sword Qi shot forth like a startling rainbow but when it hit the mountain, it bounced back, leaving only a faint sword mark on the rock.

The yellow winds continued to blow over the mountains.

Xiao Yi nodded, knowing that the Extreme East’s mountains, eroded by the desolate wind for thousands of years, were no ordinary peaks.

Whoosh... whoosh... whoosh...

The purple lightning streaked across the sky, instantly surpassing this mountain range.

Beyond the mountains was the Ancient Restriction Group.

Xiao Yi sensed it and his expression suddenly changed.

The range of the entire Ancient Restriction Group was vast and boundless.

One by one, ancient restrictions and formations either existed alone or were linked in groups of three or two.

Some of the prohibition formations, even Xiao Yi didn’t dare claim to be able to break them.

Whoosh... whoosh...

After a while, Xiao Yi flew to the center of the restriction group.

Below, martial artists were already gathered.

Of course, to Xiao Yi, most of them were familiar faces.

Whoosh...

Xiao Yi’s figure flashed, descending from the sky.

"Xiao Yi."

"Junior Brother Xiao Yi."

"Senior Brother Xiao Yi."

Almost as soon as Xiao Yi landed, a chorus of greetings rang out.

Xiao Yi looked at these familiar faces and heard familiar voices, nodding in acknowledgment.

Whoosh... whoosh...

Two figures moved swiftly towards him first.

One was Ye Liu; the other was Qing Lin.

On the other side, the one who called out ’Senior Brother Xiao Yi’ was Zhang Nanfeng.

Zhang Nanfeng was part of the Heavenly Hidden Academy group.

However, after joyfully calling out, Zhang Nanfeng was stopped by a cold glance.

The glance came from an elder of the Heavenly Hidden Academy.

Zhang Nanfeng’s face fell bitterly, and his steps towards Xiao Yi suddenly halted.

Xiao Yi glanced over, smiled, nodded, acknowledging and indicating he didn’t mind.

"Brother Xiao Yi." Ye Liu was the first to pat Xiao Yi’s shoulder.

"It’s been such a long half year, I’ve struggled to find you."

Xiao Yi smiled, looked at Ye Liu, and a hint of guilt flashed in his eyes.

"I was closed off in training for the last half year and never came out."

"It wasn’t until a few days ago when I exited seclusion that I received your message at the Main Hall."

"I heard Miss Lianxing is well, which relieved me. And now, you two are preparing to marry, which makes me even happier."

Xiao Yi had known about these things long ago.

He had heard about them during the competition at Dongli Sword Palace days ago.

But now, naturally, he pretended to be joyous.

"Hehe." Ye Liu chuckled, glanced at Xiao Yi’s eyes, and a hint of an unusual look passed over his face.

Xiao Yi also chuckled, knowing that this kid Ye Liu was watching his eyes closely just now.

Presumably, Ye Liu wanted to probe.

However, even those Old Foxes couldn’t discover anything, so no matter how clever Ye Liu was, he couldn’t either.

"Xiao Yi." At this moment, Qing Lin also patted Xiao Yi’s shoulder.

Compared to Ye Liu’s probing and joyful demeanor, Qing Lin had pure delight, with a hint of worry in his eyes.

And, of course, a touch of affection.

This purity was mixed with some complexity.

Ever since the Hundred Schools Competition, Xiao Yi hadn’t seen Qing Lin.

For Xiao Yi, Qing Lin was protected by the vice dean within the academy, so there wasn’t much to worry about.

But for Qing Lin, Xiao Yi, the junior brother he always talked about, was of great concern.

Long ago, he had mentioned that he wanted to explore the Central Region and grow alongside Xiao Yi, as such a life was more interesting.

In his eyes, Xiao Yi was always the ’madman’ who ventured into danger deliberately.

And after Xiao Yi was expelled by Black Cloud Academy, he had no backing.

Hence, a trace of worry still flashed in his eyes.

At this moment, Xiao Yi faintly smiled, "Good kid, well done."

"In just a year, you’ve reached the Peak of Saint Emperor Realm already."

With Xiao Yi’s nonchalant smile, the complexity on Qing Lin’s face vanished instantly. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"Eh, wait, you’re almost at Martial Arts Great Power level."

Qing Lin resumed his usual look, rolled his eyes at Xiao Yi, "Keep teasing me."

"If I’m not mistaken, you’re at Martial Arts Great Power cultivation now."

"Speaking of which, I used to be much higher in cultivation than you, but now you’ve overtaken me."

As he spoke, Qing Lin explained.

"So it was Senior Yun Yuan and Senior Hui’s Martial Arts Saint Pill." Xiao Yi nodded upon hearing this.

"Junior Brother Xiao Yi." At this time, yet another familiar voice was heard.

However, this voice carried more evident complexities and an inexplicable tone.

A figure slowly approached.

Xiao Yi glanced over, frowning slightly, "Mo Youu."

...

First update.