Chapter 782 Return to the Heavenfall Continent
Kael stared at the Astral Compass for a long time, lost in thought.
“Brielle, summon Caleb and the others.”
“At once.”
Brielle immediately took out an Advanced Sending Talisman.
Before long, Caleb, Aria, Harper, Rook, and Dexter arrived.
“We’ll rest tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll use the stellar teleportation array to return to the Heavenfall Continent,” Kael announced.
“That’s wonderful. We can finally go home.” Rook paused as a concern occurred to him. “But you, Aria, and Rigel have all surpassed the Great Ascension Realm. Can the Heavenfall Continent still withstand your cultivation?”
“Don’t worry.”
Kael took out two Origin-Sealing Pills and handed one each to Aria and Rigel.
“After taking these pills, you should be able to remain in the Lower Realm for approximately three years. During that time, however, you cannot fight anyone there. If you release too much power, the laws of the Lower Realm will annihilate you before your opponent ever gets the chance.”
“I understand.”
“Yes.”
Aria and Rigel accepted the pills and swallowed them immediately.
Kael took an Origin-Sealing Pill as well.
By now, he had almost no significant gaps in his knowledge or abilities. The only disciplines he had never mastered were talisman crafting and formation arrays.
Although he couldn’t create either one himself, he had enough experience to recognize a powerful array or high-grade talisman when he saw it.
“That will be all.”
Kael waved a hand, dismissing everyone.
Early the following morning, he visited Amir’s residence. The cultivators returning to the Heavenfall Continent with him had already entered his Inner Cosmos.
“You’re leaving already?”
Amir was in good spirits. Even his complexion seemed healthier than before.
“Yes. Three years from now, I have other matters to deal with.”
Kael sighed.
“Very well.”
The two men clasped hands and said their farewells.
Kael rose into the air and flew toward humanity’s original oasis.
He soon descended underground, where a True Origin cultivator guarded the stellar teleportation array.
“Patriarch, the array has been unlocked and is ready for use.”
“Good.”
Kael stepped into the center of the formation.
The stellar teleportation array began rotating faster and faster. Before long, brilliant white light engulfed Kael, and he vanished.
Spirit Gull Island stood in the middle of the ocean.
Two Spiritual Metamorphosis cultivators from the Star River Sect remained there to guard the teleportation array.
“Do you think the Patriarch will ever return?”
“Perhaps not. Do you remember what happened last time? That enormous Golden Dragon nearly forced its way into the Heavenfall Continent. Fortunately, a restriction in the sky stopped it. Otherwise, we would have died long ago.”
“Wait. Look at the teleportation array. Is it reacting?”
“It is!”
The vast formation, which covered nearly an acre, began spinning wildly.
The two cultivators immediately assembled every disciple assigned to guard the array. Together, they watched its center with complete vigilance.
Several moments later, white light flashed.
A lone figure stood in the middle of the formation.
“P-Patriarch Lin?”
“Patriarch, is it really you?”
The two men were overjoyed.
Their Spiritual Metamorphosis cultivation was the only reason they had lived long enough to witness Kael’s return.
The disciples under their command, however, did not recognize him at first.
Kael had been away from his homeworld for several thousand years. None of these younger cultivators had even been born when he left. They knew him only through stories passed down within the sect.
“Are you Elliot Li?”
Kael looked toward the cultivator at Spiritual Metamorphosis Tier 9.
Elliot had grown extremely old.
“You still remember me!” Elliot seized Kael’s hand in excitement. “When you left the Star River Sect, I was only a Nascent Soul cultivator.”
“And you?”
Kael turned toward the other Spiritual Metamorphosis cultivator.
“My name is Warren Wang. You probably don’t remember me, Patriarch. When you left, I was still working in the servant quarters.”
Warren had also reached late middle age in appearance. He had clearly never taken a Youth-Retaining Pill, so his face reflected the passage of his natural lifespan.
“You two must be the strongest cultivators in the Star River Sect now,” Kael said.
“That’s right. I currently serve as the Sect Master—no, the Acting Sect Master,” Elliot corrected himself.
“When I left, wasn’t Thalric the strongest Deity Transformation cultivator in the southern Heavenfall Continent? What happened to him?”
“Thalric? He passed away more than eight hundred years ago. It’s a good thing you asked me. Most people from the younger generations have probably never even heard his name.”
Elliot gave him a guileless grin.
A quiet sadness settled over Kael.
Thalric had once been one of the most renowned figures in the Heavenfall Continent.
Yet only eight hundred years after his death, the younger generations no longer even knew his name.
If Kael died and eight hundred years passed, how many people would still remember him?
At that moment, his resolve became absolute.
He would reach the Eternal Realm and then challenge the Real Deity Realm. Only by attaining eternal life could he truly hold on to everything he had gained.
Kael took out a jade bottle and swallowed three drops of Immortal Spirit Liquid.
“Elliot, come with me to the Heavenfall Continent. Everyone else will remain here and continue guarding the array.”
“What?”
The younger cultivators who didn’t recognize Kael turned toward Elliot and Warren.
In their minds, those two men—not this figure from ancient stories—were the true rulers of the Star River Sect.
“This is the Star River Ancestor, the man who restored our sect to greatness,” Elliot explained. “Without Patriarch Kael, the Star River Sect would have vanished into history thousands of years ago.”
“Patriarch Lin.”
Only then did the younger cultivators bow to Kael.
“Let’s go.”
Kael took no offense. He brought Elliot with him and flew out over the ocean.
At his current speed, he could cross millions of miles in moments. It wasn’t long before they reached the Guborne Continent.
With the Gu plague gone, life had returned to the continent. Cities that had once stood empty were gradually becoming prosperous again, and the population continued to rise.
There were no longer any Gu cultivators among them.
After several spatial shifts, Kael reached a super teleportation array capable of transporting people between continents.
“Who goes there?”
More than a dozen guards blocked his path, regarding him with obvious hostility.
Every one of them had reached the Nascent Soul Realm, making them senior figures within an ordinary sect.
The moment they recognized Elliot behind Kael, however, they immediately lowered their guard.
“Sect Master Li.”
Their attitude toward Elliot was extremely respectful.
“We’re returning to the Heavenfall Continent,” Elliot said, clasping his hands behind his back and assuming the full bearing of a sect master. “The Crimson Leaf Sect has performed its duties well. When I have time, I’ll send you a reward.”
“Thank you, Sect Master Li!”
The guards were delighted.
White light filled the teleportation array, and Kael vanished from its center.
A short while later, he breathed in the familiar air of his homeland.
Phoenix Reach.
He had finally returned.
Memories surfaced in Kael’s mind one after another.
This was where he and Aria had first given themselves to one another.
He remembered Orion.
He remembered Rook bringing him meal after meal.
And so many others...
Kael shook his head and opened his Inner Cosmos.
In a single instant, the space around him filled with people.
“What?”
Elliot retreated more than a mile in alarm, yet someone’s foot still landed squarely on his face.