"Are you from the Sunfire tribes in Shiling?" Liuyue asked curiously noting Xian's skin color. "I've only heard in stories that the people from the Sunfire tribes rarely leave their nation, how did you end up here?"

"I walked," Xian answered sarcastically as he picked up a slice of meat with its fingers since it did not know how to use anything before it.

Its curiosity about the human way of life had convinced it to stay in Dragon Sword Sect to explore more. With the assurance that nobody could kill it unless they got their hands on the jade, Xian was determined to learn as much as it could to broaden its mind.

Just like it had learned that its male form had lacked something down there. Seeing Ren's naked body in the pool, it could now replicate the organs it had seen. But now it had the male organs while in its feminine form.

It still did not know the difference between males and females other than their chests. And thus it didn't bother changing its genitals to match whatever form it was wearing.

"You...you walked?!" Liu Ming couldn't hide his disbelief.

"Yes. I walked with my master."

All eyes were turned to Ren who had been busy enjoying everything that went into his mouth. Being caught with his mouth full, he could only glare at them intimidatingly.

And it worked. They all looked away and changed the conversation to interrogating Xian about its origins and its purpose.

As Ren listened to Xian answer with bits of sarcasm here and there, he realized that the memories of the person who had had the jade in the past was probably from these Sunfire tribes.

This piqued his curiosity. So, this world was as diverse as Earth was?

He now added another note to his to-do list, which was to find other races, both humans and spiritual beings.

###############

Once breakfast was over, the twins left for the pagoda and Xu'er volunteered to wash the dishes. Ren sent Xian to help her. When Xian tried resisting, he threatened to start chipping the jade pendant, which was equal to a slow, painful death.

"Follow me," Ren instructed opening a portal which he walked into it without wasting time. His senior disciples followed up, eager about what their master had prepared for them.

"Master, where are we?" Liu Ming asked once they walked into the thick bamboo forest Ren's black hole had opened up in.

"The mountain where I grew up in."

Liuyue gasped covering her mouth.

"Master, this is the first time you're bringing me here. You never did even in your past, I mean future-"

He flicked her forehead walking past her. "I probably had my reasons."

She nodded smiling at his back. "Mhm."

"Master, your hair has grown longer again. Do you want me to trim it when we're back in the sect?"

Liu Ming rolled his eyes, jealousy poking his heart hearing Liuyue's concerned words directed to their master. Wu Tao, on the other hand, was busy staring at a herb growing in a little bush. Other than participating in duels, he had grown interested in plants as a hobby as he planned on petitioning for a herb garden which he'd look after personally.

"I can do it myself, thank you."

"So, why are we here?"

Ren sent three orbs of his power orbs at each of them.

"What is this?" asked Liu Ming observing it keenly.

"That's why we're here."

"I cannot tell what it is," Wu Tao murmured, walking behind Liu Ming, who was behind Ren. "What about you, Liu Ming?"

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"I don't know either."

"Is it an elixir?" Liuyue asked raising it to the sunrays penetrating the leaves above them. "What an odd elixir. It has no breath at all. What does it do?"

To escape the questions, Ren took a step using the void to appear a few feet ahead of them.

"Ah? Master? He... he's escaping."

Wu Tao sighed. "He has just said we're here because of them yet we still bombarding him with questions. Of course, he'll want to get away from us."

Liuyue pouted, but Liu Ming ignored it all to pay special attention to the orb.

He tried biting it but nothing happened. With no taste whatsoever, it became even more difficult to verify if it was an elixir.

Wu Tao did the unexpected and injected his qi into the orb, awakening its destructive power without realizing it.

Ren gasped as a star in his mental galaxy suddenly dimmed, indicating a life-threatening situation among one of his disciples. He immediately yanked them with his roots through the black holes that popped up behind each of them before creating a barrier around all of them, himself included.

Silence, and then, 'BOOM!'

The area that had been full of life, from bugs to trees was now a large gaping hole about fifteen feet wide. Even the ground they had stood on was gone and the only thing keeping them standing was the barrier Ren had put up to protect them from the fierce explosion.

Wu Tao diverted his shaking gaze to Ren, his heart pounding harder than war drums, and his legs on the verge of giving out.

He then looked down at the hand that had held the orb. His fingers were intact. Everything was. Except, his will to do or move anything.

"Tha-that..." Liuyue turned her head to the person embracing her. No. They were embracing each other from the unexpected explosion and she could easily hear the thumping of his heart. This made her heart pound even harder amidst the chaos left behind by the thunderous blast that could have easily killed the three of them, Wu Tao mostly.

Ren squeezed his eyes punching the bridge of his nose. How had he not calculated such an outcome?

The mess before him was yet proof of how a little carelessness could cost the lives of those closest to him. This immediately reminded him of the orbs he gave the twins.

"Stay here," he said before vanishing through his portal, leaving the three inside the bubble barrier.

Wu Tao fell to his knees, his hands trembling just like his insides.

Death had never felt so close as at the moment he activated the orb. He had briefly felt the intensity of the power locked in it but was too slow to get away from it. In a moment of fear, he panicked, almost losing his life.

The realization that he could have killed his peers added guilt to the self-resentment he felt at that moment.

"Wu Tao!" Liuyue cried dashing from Liu Ming's arms.

She squatted by Wu Tao's side, cupping his shoulders. "Are you okay? Are you injured?"

He turned his head to her and she saw the tears in his eyes.

Tears of remorse and helplessness. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," he apologized to her before then at Liu Ming. "I almost harmed you two because of my recklessness."

"Wu Tao, what are you talking about? Why do you blame yourself? It was an accident. Luckily, Master was with us, and he protected us from the disaster."

"But-"

"Enough, Wu Tao. We are not blaming you at all. Any of us could have made the same mistake," Liu Ming chipped in squatting in front of him. "We've all made silly mistakes that have almost killed us. Have you forgotten what happened back at the mountain? We almost died yet we survived."

"Yes, Wu Tao. I was careless back then. But you two didn't hold me accountable for that. So please stop being hard on yourself right now, okay?"

He looked away, embarrassed by his own actions but caring little compared to the disaster that could have happened.

"I'm...sorr-"

"Master," Liu Ming called respectfully after Ren reappeared outside the barrier. Using his connection to it, Ren moved it whole closer to the ground he stood which was littered with all kinds of debris from the explosion.

Once they were safe, he lowered the barrier and came to stand in front of them.

Without thinking, he lifted his hand and channeled his qi, which was mixed with the essence of his primary body. After it evolved again from the last seclusion, Ren could feel a certain calming power flowing within him which he was now putting to the test.

He let the wisp of qi float through the air to penetrate their chests until they were relaxed and their fear gone.

Liu Ming and Liuyue saluted thanking him while Wu Tao remained on the ground.

He was about to kowtow when Ren forbade him. "It was my fault, Wu Tao. I gave you the orbs without testing them. It was why I brought you out here so we could all witness their power. But..." He faced the hole. "It seems like we won't be needing further confirmation. They're a little too powerful for you all."

"Master, please don't say that. I was careless and it's my fault. I should have waited for your instructions."

Ren turned around again. He took a moment to study them and then sighed. "Fine. But, don't ever use them unless it's an emergency. You have seen and felt how destructive they are."

With the cautionary warning, Ren gave each three orbs. "Also, don't let the twins come in contact with them."

He was not going to tell them that he had given the twins these chaotic orbs the day before without any protection. That would make them lose their faith in him.

"Thank you, Master."

"Let us take a walk. I have something to talk to you all about."

They nodded and let him lead the way.

After minutes of walking through the forest, they arrived at the cave where it all began.

"I lived here for two weeks."

"Really?" Liuyue squeaked, amazed, as she took in the cave as well as the burnt surrounding, which hadn't recovered even after months.

"Yes. I met my first...friend, here. Han was his name."

"Han? Isn't that the-"

"It seems I have a destiny with caves. Just like I brought Xian home from the cave you almost died in."

Wu Tao's and Liu Ming's eyes were now staring his way more confused.

It was time for the truth. Hiding it from them would only cause future problems. Yes, he was going to tell them that the being that had almost killed them would now live with them, and even...protect them.

A hard truth, which was why he chose to bring them to a place that meant something to him to break such news.

"But...there was nobody alive in that..." Liu Ming ceased speaking as his sharp mind slowly solved the puzzle. Xian, just like the entity, had no trace of a soul. He had at first thought that it had a special cultivating technique to hide both its soul and breath, but listening to Ren's explanation, it only meant one thing; Xian was the weird entity that had killed all those people in the cave and even frozen them.

His eyes bulged at Ren, who now sat on a stone, watching them drown in their conclusions.

"Yes Liu Ming. Xian is the being that almost killed you."

This revelation had Wu Tao stumbling backward unconsciously, bumping into Liu Ming. "But...but...it..."

"What if it tries to-"

"Liuyue accepts your arrangement, Master," Liuyue spoke up saluting and bowing at Ren. "You wouldn't bring in anything that can harm your disciples. I fully trust your decisions, Master."

She was the only of the three who had absolute faith in him because she was the only one who could remember their time together in a future that had now ceased to exist.