It was past midnight when Wu Guang and Elder Chen reached their destination. Or at least that was what Wu Guang thought, as he did not see any other reason for the elder who was bringing him to stop moving.
They had arrived at a small clearing inside the forest that extended for most of the east part of the island. It was also pretty close to where Wu Guang had been before, as the incident with the undead had taken place a few miles from where they were currently.
A hunting cabin occupied most of the free space in this clearing, and seemingly Elder Chen meant it when he had told Wu Guang that the latter would need to stay low for a few days in a safe place.
Elder Chen had not explained everything while they traveled, but what he did was enough for Wu Guang to have an overall idea. It turned out that the Sect's founder instructions for refining the key that would open the Pocket Realm had another condition, one that they did not know until gathering all the ingredients. Such a thing should be nonsense considering that everyone involved is from the top experts on the island, but it happened. Albeit they could not be blamed too, as the information surfaced only when they attempted to start the refining process.
The condition was simple, but very difficult to achieve, albeit Elder Chen said that the Council had found out a way to do so. In short, the refining could be only be made by using the same rune furnace that was used for the first key. And the difficulty laid in the fact that this furnace was not in the Sect's hands. It wasn't even present on the island. Thankfully the location was known, but as they could not retrieve it, they could only go and refine the key there. Elder Chen did not share anything about the location or the people who owned the furnace at this moment but assured Wu Guang that there would be no problems. The people in possession were already contacted and would not only allow it but also provide a Refining Grandmaster familiar with the furnace.
Here we come to the main question Wu Guang had, why he was forced to go? And the answer was simple, the key would need to be bound before taking it out from the furnace. If it was in the sect, then there were no issues with waiting for him to reach the Soul realm, but now... He would both need to go personally, and also reach the Soul realm during this time.
To help him achieve this, the Council had prepared several dozens of different cultivation resources for Wu Guang to use freely, as well as take out a precious pill that could help one awaken one's soul with full certainty.
"Do you have any questions?"
"Well, if am allowed to, I would like to know where and how I will be going"
"I can not tell you about it as we agreed to keep everyone in the dark. Even if I wanted to, I simply don't know everything myself"
"I see, that seems like something likely for Elder Mo to do. But in this case, who will take me to the place?"
"That person will arrive here in six days. As for me, I will be returning to the place where we met and starting to search for you"
"I see, but can Elder Chen at least tell me who is this person?"
"No, but you know him and so there will be no issues"
"...understood" Wu Guang had no option but to agree, plus he was interested in advancing his cultivation, and this opportunity was a great one. Another factor that influenced his cooperation was the chance to visit another island. Albeit he did not know which, it was still a new place.
"Any questions about your stay here?"
"Not really, but I wonder what Elder Chen meant about giving me the chance to fight a beginner Soul realm cultivator?"
"That depends if you remember what I asked you in Blue Tree City a few days after we met"
"Elder Chen means the oath I made about helping with some matter? I do, and I meant to ask about it after finishing my training" This was the truth, as Wu Guang indeed wanted to do what he was asked of. Albeit his reasons were materialistic as he remembered that if he succeeded he would have access to a lot of wood essence. Albeit the cultivation resources like Fiery Stones were useful, they were not enough for him to both achieve the Secret level and the Soul Realm.
"Well, sleep for today and then decide. The matter is not very risky, but it will hound you if you fail, so better take a good time to think it" As Elder Chen said this, he followed up with the cancelation of the oath he had received from Wu Guang, freeing him as to make him capable of refusing.
"I... will follow Elder Chen's suggestion. Still, how will I convey my decision?" Seeing the seriousness, Wu Guang decided to indeed give it a thought. He would agree in the end, but he would respect the elder's will.
"Some..ehem...thing will come to visit you in the next three days. It will also explain the matter. You can convey your decision to it"
"Something? Not human?"
"No, but I fear that I can not tell you anymore"
"..."
"I think there is no need to tell you, but remain here and don't leave on your own. I will be leaving, inside you will find everything I spoke off as well supplies for a week"
"Yes" Wu Guang answered curtly before saluting the Elder and moving towards the cabin.
A few instants later, Elder Chen disappeared from the spot.
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The cabin had only a single room, and everything was extremely simple. Wu Guang liked such a setting, and so he did not pay attention to the small issues like the soot from the fireplace dancing in the air or the badly built cot that served him as a bed for the night.
The cultivation resources, the 'Soul Awkening' pill, and a lot of different foods were stored inside a rune safe box he had opened before laying to sleep and transferred everything into his storage ring. So after eating a packed meal that he instantly recognized as the ones sold in the Sect's restaurants, Wu Guang decided to use the day for cultivation.
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He could break to the 9th level of the Spirit realm with only a slight help, so he did not refine more than a third of the resources to do so. The process and effects were identical to the previous breakthrough, so he had neither trouble nor the need to use more than a few hours.
There was no real increase in his strength except for a slightly bigger amount of qi and an even smaller increase in qi density, but still, he was now near the peak of the Spirit realm. To fully cement his cultivation as well to prepare his body for the worst case he expected while trying to reach the Soul realm, Wu Guang spent the rest of the day and the entire night absorbing the rest of the cultivation resources.
So by the midday of the second day, he was a real peak Spirit realm cultivator. He needed only to take the pill or start the Soul awakening process by himself to start his breakthrough at any moment. He did not do so as he intended to also achieve Heaven's secret 10th level, but that would be fully dependent on the 'thing' mentioned previously.
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The 'thing' as referred by Elder Chen arrived a day later, at midday of the 3rd day Wu Guang spent in the cabin. At that moment Wu Guang was outside, washing in a small stream he discovered near the edge of the clearing. He had extended his senses to the maximum, but even so, somehow failed to notice its approach. So when he heard an unknown female voice, he instantly took out his chakrams and turned around intending to fight whoever had sneaked unto him. Logically he could not expect to win against someone who could avoid senses equivalent to an Earth realm cultivator, he still would not lie down and die.
"Human, don't get so tense. Calm down, did not your kind Chen Deming tell you about me?" The voice sounded again, but Wu Guang could not discern who had spoken. He did not see anyone around. And what worse, he could neither sense anyone. The voice mentioned someone called Deming, which most probably was Elder Chen's first name, so he did hide his weapons. Albeit he did not drop his guard fully.
"Elder Chen did tell me that I will be visited and informed about something I have to do for him. But... who or what are you? I can not see or sense you" Wu Guang spoke while attempting to locate the origin of the voice.
"You can not because I am not here yet"
"Not here?" Wu Guang heard the voice, and it was a spoken one, so he was a bit surprised to hear that the speaker had not even arrived. In such a case, what level of cultivation or skills did this person or thing possess? Speaking over great distance was something that all cultivators were capable of, but... to speak over more than two miles that Wu Guang could scan easily, it had to be either a strange skill or someone at least at the very limits of this plane.
A few moments later, Wu Guang sensed something on the very fringe of the zone he could scan. Before he could ask or react, this something closed the distance. Its speed was so quick that even Wu Guang's failed to react, and his reaction speed was equivalent to a Warrior Cultivator!
"Now I am here" This time the voice sounded a bit more natural, and Wu Guang could now see the speaker. Still, seeing it did not answer any questions, as what appeared in front of Wu Guang was a coarsely made wooden puppet. It looked almost like one of the wooden training mannequins used to practice some techniques, albeit this was not polished and one could see that some places even had traces of bark and moss.
"..:"
"Don't be surprised human, this is not my true form. It's just that I don't have a solid form to use yet"
"Yet?"
"Indeed, that is the task that you will need to perform"
"You mean help you to get a solid form?"
"Almost. You will have to unseal me so I can get a solid form"
"I see. Before that, who and what are you?"
"Don't know"
"The fuck? How is that even possible" Even Wu Guang's calm was a bit affected by such an answer.
"That's the same reaction as your kind Chen Deming had when we met. Now, what he told you or not, it's the same. You will either agree to help me or refuse"
Inwardly Wu Guang was thinking about the matter from the first moment he heard the voice. Albeit it sounded female, the wording and manner of speech were all wrong and could not come from a human. The constant mention of 'human' and 'your kind' also confirmed this. It could be a beastman, but Wu Guang doubted that more than a single exception could be possible, plus who would seal one?
So, what was left? Demons, Spirits, Undead, and entities from outside the plane. All these races and their respective subraces, types, kinds were normally sealed if there was no option to destroy them, and so this one in front of Wu Guang fell into one of these categories.
There was no information to make a decision, but Wu Guang decided to help. Elder Chen had failed before, if not he would not try to send someone in his stead. In such a case, the seal was strong enough to resist this thing, and so if Wu Guang found out that it was something too dangerous, then he could fail voluntarily and let it remain sealed as before.
"I agree"
"Good. Your kind uses oaths to confirm their words, so before moving to my location, you will need to do so"
"Mm... what do I need to make an oath off?" Wu Guang was ready for something like this. After all, if there was no oath why could not Elder Chen simply explain what and where to do?
"You help me and do not try to harm me. If you fail, you can not tell any sentient or not being about me"