Amongst the enormous amount of myths that surrounded the travel between planes, and the Astral Gates themselves, the one most related, even on superior planes like 'Four Forests' was the one about instant travel.
It wasn't anything too surprising, with only a few hundred people on each plane having access to the controlled gates, but still, Bai Qi had always wondered how such a myth could exist.
Weren't the scrolls that contained the full explanation of the Astral Gates and the Astral Road present in most of the medium and high tier planes? Weren't dozens of works, including some of his own, considered a must-to-know knowledge about the Astral Road?
Although probably the myths came from the fact that so few people could use a gate and travel to another plane, making almost any normal cultivator prefer to believe the hearsay that the people that did travel.
Not that it was something strange if one stopped to think about it, considering that all the main Astral Gates, and most of the additional ones in the case that they existed, were always under the control of some local power. And like anyone else, the powers made sure to use the gate only for their own benefit.
Even on the 'Seven Islands Plane', where before the cataclysm the gate was already controlled by the Empire - no one except a few chosen men were allowed to try and use it.
This also made that any visitors were immediately 'invited' by the Empire, in an attempt to obtain all of their knowledge and then send them back.
The Emperor had been straightforward about it, and he had spoken from experience if one considered that he had been in power for years even before the Islands war happened.
As Wu Guang, or to be more exact Bai Qi, as he had decided to stop considering himself as the former outside the 'Seven Islands', recalled his conversations with the Emperor.
These conversations allowed his desire to leave the plane to be fulfiled almost instantly, but not without making him accept a new, probably last task for the Plane.
The task wasn't anything grand, and actually went along his own objectives of cultivation, and so, Bai Qi had accepted it right away. Not that the gifts, which would require a full scroll to be described, and the promise to take very good care of his friends did not influence his quick agreement.
After all, how hard would it be to locate an elder from a major power, one called Lady Zhihui, and pass her a sealed letter from the Emperor?
The manner to deliver it included entering a major power as a disciple, and Wu Guang considered that a medium-tier plane power would be the best bet for his current level.
And with the contents being to ask for this Lady Zhihui to fulfill a promise made 88 local years ago, one that would make formations work again as soon as the Empire could guarantee the stability of the plane, it turned into the perfect farewell gift for the plane.
At least as he had said to both the Emperor and Chen Jiahao.
There was a reason for Bai Qi to recall all this, being the fact that there was nothing else to do but to replay memories as they were transported by a current of the Astral Road. One that would bring them to the 'Sky Tear Plane', the only plane that the Emperor had the coordinates of, and from Bai Qi's findings, the closest one.
Communication between cultivators that entered the Gate at the same time was possible, as they were just a few feet apart in the current, but it simply required too much effort if someone of them wasn't an Earth realm cultivator, so except for dwelling in thoughts like Bai Qi himself, the others could not do much else either.
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The group that had left 'Seven Islands Plane', following Wu Guang was comprised of eight people, and each of them had their own share of thoughts and doubts to dwell in.
***
Kass Shaa'r was torn between the expectation to meet beastmen like himself and the desire to follow Wu Guang. At least for a few months more, to learn more of that knowledge that the bottomless well Bai Qi represented shared so easily.
"I'll follow him until he forbids me from doing so"
***
Lan Yanzhi basked in her master's, friend, or whatever else did Wu Guang consider himself to her, invite for her to join his journey. She could not pinpoint what happened, but the Pocket Realm they visited had greatly changed him. It wasn't a bad thing, at least considering the help both in knowledge and even cultivation he provided, but somehow, it felt strange for Wu Guang to invite her and a few others to leave the plane with him.
"I own my life and current cultivation to him. However he changes or whatever he becomes, I swear to be at his side"
***
Li Xia, who had been a simple mortal for most of her life, but suddenly turned a cultivator with Wu Guang's effort, was simply doubtful about the reasons for her to even be present. Granted, she was grateful for Wu Guang to go so far out for her, but...
How could she, a just turned out Spirit realm cultivator help a man that had the knowledge and experiences of their plane combined and more?
***
Wei, who had found out that the person he respected most, and who had brought him into the sect was nothing more than a traitor, had even turned down Wu Guang's offer to cultivate in the pocket realm. He was later made to rethink it, and now he was grateful for everyone's insistence. After all, if not for that, as well as the impossible to explain methods used by Wu Guang or Bai Qi, he would have never reached the peak of the Soul realm. Which would have made it impossible for him to leave the island and plane where everything reminded him of Mo Tai, the Sect elder that had defeated his bandit group, and allowed the young Wei a new lease on life. One that almost finished because of the latter's involvement in the plan that got him and his friends almost killed.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
***
Yuan Taotu had revealed all of his secrets to Wu Guang and the rest of the group during their days in the Pocket Realm, and now his thoughts were just of the ease that he felt after doing it. Wu Guang's unexpected trove of knowledge, one that he suspected came from far a higher source that his sacred Peng bloodline had allowed him to reach the peak of the Soul realm in an extremely short time, and so, he had accepted the opportunity to see new lands before returning and assuming his birth-right position, the one as the single Admiral of the Floating Nation.
***
Xue Ru was glad for having both the opportunity to cultivate in the Pocket Realm and to travel to another plane. Even now she could not say why Chen Jiahao made it possible, and to say the truth, how the latter had done it. Especially as it seemed that Wu Guang simply considered her something akin a permanent addition for keeping an eye on him, and not the friend or even more she wished to become.
***
Xia Fan both hated and was grateful to the man that introduced himself as Wu Guang previously.
During their first and last meeting, he had simply disabled her golem body and stored her into a storage ring, for who knows how many days. She felt like going crazy, with nothing to be seen, heard, or even sensed around, but when she had failed at another of her attempts to make her consciousness disperse, she suddenly was recalled in a strange and small land surrounded by the impassable walls of the void. It turned out that she was considered dead, even by the Crow Nest fortress commander that was present in the same place, and that as Wu Guang simply had no time to deal with her, she was now just one of his random, RANDOM!, possesions.
But however evil it could sound, it turned out that the man's speech about honor in the cave was true, as he offered her two options. One was to become a guard for some kind of power called the 'Three Hills Sect', and the other to follow him.
Initially, the first one appeared better, considering she would be free from control and so could try to find something more close to her ideas of living. But then he had added that the second option would allow him to work on her body, and if she managed to survive until the moment he infused enough qi and soul power for her to become a Saint, then rebuild an actual body. With the slight addition that he would have to become one first to be able to do so, and so, Xia Fan had no choice but to pledge herself to him, and to promise herself to not let him neither die nor escape from her.
***
As for Chun Hua, the last member of Wu Guang's, or no, Bai Qi as he had revealed to be called in his 'awakened' memories, at least by his words, she simply did not care about planes, powers, or anything of the sort. She had no goals or aspirations, only curiosity to see new things. And what if not following him granted her this single wish?
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Bai Qi had revealed some of his true self and knowledge to the people that accompanied him into the pocket realm, and not because he wanted to come clean, no. The reason was related to his life as Bai Qi, and not as the Wu Guang that they knew, and probably would have forgotten a few years after his departure.
Having the stabilizing orbs and the practically unmeasurable amount of qi in the pocket realm, he managed to discern his location on the vast expanse of the Astral Road.
It was discouraging, being so far from the area that he had explored that any astral coordinates, the ones that he intend to use to leave 'Seven Islands' were simply unreachable in his remaining lifetime. There were ways to quicken the journey, but none of them were possible without a working natural formation, special resources, and cultivation above the Saint realm. Neither of which he had or could get access to currently.
Thankfully he had Xue Ru, who Chen Jiahao had 'hinted' at him to bring alongside, and from her, he found that the Empire had something to entrust Wu Guang with. Something that would both bring him to a nearby mid-tier plane, from where he could try to move to the planes he knew of, and that would give him some connections on it as well.
Bai Qi did not think of it as a bad thing, especially as he was all out for use while being used, and so prepared a plan of action based on what Xue Ru said. It was funny that she did not withhold anything, probably hoping to appear closer than he would even allow her to be, but in any case, she had revealed everything.
The 'Sky Tear Plane' was the home to several dozens of major and minor powers, one of which was called the 'Eternal Sect'.
Normally it would not mean anything, but that was until one found out that this sect was the home for both the cultivator that had started the Islands war and provoked the cataclysm, as well for that golden robed cultivator that arrived in his pursuit and then fought along with the Empire armies.
The cataclysm itself was an attempt to connect to the chaotic qi outside the Astral Road, one that was more destructive and powerful than the Astral one, and by far exceeded the scaled-down Earth and Heaven qi that the Astral Qi turned into inside any plane. It was made possible via a treasure stolen from the Eternal Sect, and the latter was the actual reason for them to even send someone to pursue the man.
Simplifying the explanation, as well as adding what the Emperor had revealed, the Eternal Sect had a way to counteract the aftereffects of the cataclysm, and that female cultivator, Lady Zhihui had promised the Emperor that as soon as the Black Empire could guarantee the safety and stability of the realm for the cleansing ritual, the Eternal Sect would enact it.
And so, Bai Qi had decided that he would play along and accept this mission. Not because he truly cared about the ritual, but simply because that would allow him to enter a powerful power of the plane. And to remain there to cultivate, as one of the small requirements, and the one why Xue Ru had been assigned to look after Wu Guang was to keep the matter secret and first enter the Sect as disciples.
Disciples to be considered for any power on a mid-tier plane would have to be far stronger than the ones on a lower-tier one, not to mention that there was an always present age restriction.
He had revealed his knowledge, used formations, resources, concocted potions, and even willingly crippled the cultivation of a few of his companions to allow them to cultivate to a decent level for their safety. But after Xue Ru's explanation, it looked almost as if he did all of that to bring them along. Not that he considered it a bad thing, as this would allow him to both have a few trusted aides, and to ensure that he would not be blackmailed later.
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Bai Qi sensed the change in the current, one that indicated that they were about to arrive. And while he thought, with a tinge of curiosity about what would this new plane entail, he wryly smiled at the notion that albeit he had said to himself, and tried to not establish any true links on the 'Seven Islands Plane', he had grandly failed...