"Whoa! You were right little Tian. This place is unrecognisable!"

The Crimson Snow sect had undergone a tremendous change while he had been exploring the archipelago.

The mountains looked bigger, wider, their narrow peaks flattened by a significant margin.

The original sporadic formation of the mountains had been altered, possibly by using the third-level elements.

On average, four mountains had been attached together from each direction to form shielded regions at their centre.

The positions of the joined mountains had been designed in such a way that three or four united mountains formed a larger junction, mirroring the smaller units at a larger scale.

It wasn't a perfect formation, of course. The sizes of the mountains varied. Some central regions were more shielded than the rest. Some regions were too vulnerable to trials like floods and earthquakes. And heavens have mercy on those living on top of the peaks....those guys were in for a 'shocking experience'.

Some new mountains had also been erected for convenience, he realised after a headcount. Now the Crimson Snow sect sported approximately thirty-two proper mountains as well as half a dozen slender domes.

Cancelling Tun Shi Tian's summon, he swaggered into the redesigned Crimson Snow Sect, the sweet sentiment of returning home bubbling uncontrollably within his heart.

He had truly accepted this sect as his own at some point in his life during the last few months. He didn't exactly love the sect, not with all the complaints and bad experiences he had had here. It was a strange amalgamation of feelings.

Reaching closer, he realized that the housing system hadn't been designed arbitrarily. The residences on top of the mountains belonged to the elders while the residences in the central regions surrounded by mountains belonged to the disciples.

A fair share of residences had also been moved to the shielded parts of the hills, mostly safe from the destructive force of the floods.

On his way, he encountered numerous disciples working their butts off clearing weeds, making smoother roads, building temporary homes and cooking meals in giant vats.

Not wanting to raise a fuss, for now, Han Xuhan lowered his face and slipped into a moving crowd nonchalantly, helping them carry a giant bundle of recently cut logs.

From their discussions, he found out that the new design of the sect was being regulated by the nine stars of their generation since the senior disciples were not here to lead them and the elders were practically there on a picnic, bound by the rules not to interfere.

Luo Yi had handled the aftermath of throwing him down from the sect with great expertise.

"It's easier for disciples to understand the rules after gaining hands-on experience. Other counsellors would never do this, but they'll not help disciples learn the ropes here either. As daoist Tang said, right now we're short on time and I must leave to solve the traffic problem. So consider my actions a favour. If nothing else, your martial brother Han Xuhan will gather quite an amount of precious information on the inner workings of your neighbouring sects. I haven't thrown him that far away from this sect. Maybe he'll even manage to find his way back..."

According to a disciple vehemently expressing his dissatisfaction with her ethics, that had been the gist of her explanation to them. He also learned that Luo Yi had left her pet beast at the centre of the sect and hadn't returned yet with further instructions. The disciples were not harbouring a favourable attitude toward her.

Halfway on his tour around the sect, he finally found the Heavenly Hailstorm mountain peak. Its position being unnecessarily prominent was the key to his speedy discovery.

The Heavenly Hailstorm peak had been moved to one of the riskiest areas, surrounded by low domes on two sides and a small mountain doing most of the shielding.

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Expression darkening, Han Xuhan slinked through the gap between the domes and found his own hut right at the entrance. A quick search inside calmed his nerves.

Everything was intact, in place.

Changing his attire, Han Xuhan exited his house with a mouthful of dry snacks, feeling immensely refreshed.

My Ran's house was just a dozen yards away. The door turned out to be locked. Pressing his ear against the wall, Han Xuhan heard the sound of deep, steady breathing coming from inside. Was this guy asleep? In such a critical time? Why not go and explore this strange, interesting archipelago?

The moment that thought formed, alarm bells started ringing inside Han Xuhan's mind.

Since when had he discarded his principles for surviving in a xianxia world?

Why was he suddenly so insistent on exploring the unknown and having adventures? Isn't hiding in a cave inside a powerful sect the best option here?

Han Xuhan reflected on his recent actions for a long time, standing still in front of Mu Ran's house.

It seemed that his personality had undergone a subtle change in the last few days, which was especially prominent during his adventures in the archipelago.

What could be the reason behind this change?

He needed answers to a lot of questions, and he knew just the person who could provide him with what he needed.

Kong Ye's home was on top of the only mountain in their area. Han Xuhan knocked heavily on the door of his residence and had to wait for half a second only before the door was opened wide.

"Good morning, master."

Kong Ye's gaze was fixed on his face for three full seconds, surprise brimming in his eyes, his jaws going through the same motion as his door.

"Well done, disciple Xuhan. Whatever method you may have used to return, it is commendable by the virtue of your timing. My worries were not necessary, it seems." Kong Ye recovered fast and welcomed him in with a wide smile growing on his face.

"Come. Let's have a proper chat."

Sitting down on a comfortable mat, a teacup full of a foreign, sizzling-hot, dark drink thrust into his hand, Han Xuhan began his story.

As usual, he had prepared his script beforehand by editing out a significant amount of incriminating details. But what he really appreciated was the fact that despite some of his occasional slip-ups throughout the briefing, Kong Ye wore the look of sincere trust seamlessly, ignoring any discrepancies in a direct, pronounced manner.

'I see through your lies, but I will not expose them. Trust your master.'

An unsung message, a subconscious hint, a very clever way to condition your familiars.... Han Xuhan was impressed.

This type of manipulation could be quite useful in managing his minions, he realized.

"And so, my minion finally managed to locate the rift that led back to this place. It was actually not far away from the area where I had first travelled to, right on top of the Sunrider Sect. Their elder used his jetpa-er...jade-smooth metal gadgets and helped me fly up and jump into the spatial crack in time."

Kong Ye nodded in acknowledgement, yet silently spent the next entire minute gazing outside through a window, seemingly digesting the story.

"This unnamed sect you speak of...take me to visit them sometime in the future. They sound like a very interesting group of fellows. I really want to have a dao debate with their master." He broke his silence with a surprising topic, adding, "Not to mention, I must thank them for their kind treatment to you in particular. What a curious thing to do..."

"I will remember that," Han Xuhan answered with a nod, his eyes narrowing a degree for the fraction of a second.

"Your exploration aside, we do need to address a more important issue here."

Han Xuhan straightened up at that. He knew what was coming, and he turned out to be correct.

"Your enlightenments...they have affected you in a subtle way, my senses tell me."

Han Xuhan was about to nod, only to stop short as a detail in Kong Ye's observation registered in his mind.

Enlightenments? Plural?

Seeing his eyes widening, Kong Ye chuckled.

"Glad to see the change hasn't affected your intellect. Yes, you've gone through multiple enlightenments. The first one was right in front of us, the one where sect master Zi himself stood as your dao protector."

One finger raised up to show the count, Kong Ye continued.

"That was a major enlightenment, as well as the most orthodox type of enlightenment. There are several other types, and I'm going to neither discuss nor guide you to any of them, except the other one you've experienced."

"Why not?!" Han Xuhan blurted out.

There were multiple types of enlightenments? If he had had two of them without even trying to, could he try and experience the rest as well? How much of a boost would that give his cultivation?

But his indignance vanished as soon as he heard Kong Ye's next words.

"Because all the other types of enlightenments are considered to be demonic. And had your luck been more....extreme, you'd have ventured down a dark hole whence few ever make it out. Based on my understanding of what happened during your tour, the extreme orthodox factions like the Northwestern Templers and Buddhist sects would either kill or imprison you for your second enlightenment session."

". . ."

"That's right. I know you've guessed it by now. That long stretch of clarity when you were under Shangguang Ce's tribulation trial, trying to save his life?" Kong Ye smiled devilishly.

"That was your second enlightenment, one of the most abhorrent methods ever discovered by those who pursued artificial cultivation in the great river of time."