No, it was not worth the risk.

Acquiring the Divine Tether was one thing since learning it was a requirement to unseal the Untethered Sage, but that was not the case for Caution. On top of that, one was a technique that could be learnt by many, while the other was an item that could only belong to one.

The last thing he wanted was for a trap to activate when he tried to take it away, locking him down and keeping him here in this hidden space until he undid the seal!

It was a pity, but he would be contented with only acquiring the Divine Tether.

Of course, that was not usually something that would be described with the word 'only'. It was not an exaggeration to say that the majority of cultivators would gladly kill for such an opportunity!

"Don't worry, Senior. This junior will definitely bring someone back to help you out soon!" Zhao Yunxiao clasped his fists towards Kindness, then turned around and started walking in as calm a manner as he possibly could.

Each step he took was light and soft, yet they felt so unbearably loud in his ears.

The distance covered was objectively short, yet it felt so unimaginably long in his eyes.

However, he dared not rush. For fear that there was still something watching him, he dared not do anything that could give rise to even the slightest hint of suspicion.

Step by step, he exited the furthest room, where Kindness was in, making his way towards the exit.

[Tread the world with caution. Treat others with the kindness and mercy that they deserve.]

[A blessed man to have an uncanny master, meant to reach the pinnacle of life. An unorthodox path of sheer power, destined to quell the voices of strife.]

[A simple boy born to merchants, meant to lead a life of trade. A thoughtless action born of innocence, destined to turn the gears of fate.]

These three calligraphy paintings appeared before him one after another, invoking memories of the visions he just had. They might not be enough to fully convey the life that the Untethered Sage had lived, but they did contain the essence of it all.

Finally, he went past the first wooden room, entering the long rock tunnel that led to the entrance.

Stay calm...

There had been no reaction from Kindness the last time he faked leaving, so there should not be an issue this time either. Even so, Zhao Yunxiao's heart pounded faster and faster as he neared the exit, until the familiar circle of fire finally came into view once more.

That's the exit!

Now, all he had left to do was exit this hidden space, and stay as far away from Blueflag Mountain as possible for the rest of his life!

Or so, he thought.

The moment he left the rock tunnel and took his first step out of the stone cave entrance, he suddenly felt a deep sense of danger coming from behind him.

Zhao Yunxiao did not even have time to turn around and look. Instead, it was only through his spiritual sense that he was able to pick up on the appearance of the small jade pagoda shooting towards his back.

Damn it!

The Untethered Sage was not going to let him leave after all!

He instinctively drove his dantian to the limit, channelling every last bit of essence energy to his feet as he tried to execute the fastest movement technique in his arsenal. He had no intention to fight back against the Untethered Sage, but the exit was so near!

He just had to get through it and he would be safe!

[Invisible Sn-]

Boom-!

That was the sound of his flexible armour Bamboo Barricade's defensive ability activating... and collapsing in an instant.

The explosive collision sent the shocked Zhao Yunxiao flying right over the circle of fire and slamming against the stone wall on the other end.

Pu-!

Zhao Yunxiao spat out a mouthful of blood, his energy roiling from the backlash arising from both his failed execution of the Invisible Snap and his disrupted energy connection with the bamboo barricade.

But at this time, he could not care less about either the pain of slamming into the wall or the agony of energy churning wildly within him.

That was because he could sense that the small jade pagoda from before had directly entered his dantian!

What on earth?!

He immediately investigated his dantian with his spiritual sense, and there it was indeed. Settling there in pure energy form was a small jade pagoda.

A small jade pagoda named Kindness.

Zhao Yunxiao felt his throat turn dry and his limbs turn cold. Even his knees felt like they were turning weak as he was overcome with genuine fear.

He had far underestimated the means of the Untethered Sage.

And it would appear that the ancient cultivator never had the intention to trap him here in the hidden space. No, it was the opposite – the Untethered Sage wanted to follow him out!

But why?!

Why him?!

He had already deliberately left everything behind, opting to take with him nothing but knowledge. This meant that the next person who came would still be able to unseal the Untethered Sage and lay claim to all the promised treasures!

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

There was no loss there!

On the contrary, if the Untethered Sage were to leave and Zhao Yunxiao never chose to unseal him, then no one else would be able to. So, why would he take such a risk?

Or... could it be that the Untethered Sage was already capable of unsealing himself? Was that why he just needed to leave this hidden space?

No, that did not make sense either. This hidden space was created by him, so leaving this space should not make it any easier for him.

Unless... the visions could only be shown to one person?

Rumble-!

Strong tremors, followed by the sound of rocks falling from the ceiling, broke his train of thoughts.

Wait, what was happening?

The stone walls were falling apart. No, not just that. The entire hidden space was collapsing!

Was that why Kindness attached to him? To escape this collapsing space?

Or was the space collapsing only because Kindness left?

He genuinely had no idea what was what anymore!

One thing remained clear – he had to get out of here before the space collapsed on itself. Otherwise, who knew what would result of him?

With that thought in mind, Zhao Yunxiao was just about to leap through the circle of fire when he suddenly recalled something.

Kindness might have entered his dantian, but Caution was still here!

He had left Caution purely out of fear that his greed might result in him being trapped here until he undid the seal on the Untethered Sage. But now that Kindness, which sealed the Untethered Sage himself, had already attached itself to him, that had essentially become a non-reason.

With how things were, he might as well take Caution along as well!

The only question was whether he actually had time to do so.

Zhao Yunxiao did a quick scan of his surroundings. The space was definitely collapsing, but the rate of collapse was not too fast for now.

He still had time!

Zhao Yunxiao no longer hesitated.

Forcibly enduring the pain that he was feeling, he shot into the stone cave. Now that he no longer had to pretend to be all calm and composed, his speed brought him before the unimposing pair of boots in the blink of an eye.

Don't let there be a trap! Don't let there be a trap!

With a flick of his wrist, the treasure boots were swept into his spatial pouch.

Good!

Zhao Yunxiao turned and shot towards the exit. Even the wooden rooms were starting to crack, so time was not on his side. He made another mad dash, all while carefully dodging the falling rocks and wooden splinters.

He did not slow down one bit even as he neared the exit, all the way until he leapt straight through the circle of fire. Upon doing so, he once again experienced the sensation of passing through a spatial gate.

Thud-!

Zhao Yunxiao fell onto a layer of soft snow, which cushioned the impact that would have otherwise been a lot more painful at the speed that he was going.

A quick scan around him revealed that he was now back on the snow-capped peak of Blueflag Mountain, the same place where he had entered the hidden space from. Not too far away from him, the circle of fire hovering in the air was slowly shrinking.

At the same time, vast amounts of corruption aura were pouring out from the centre of the circle, almost as though the floodgates to a world of corruption had just been opened.

As he watched on, the circle of fire rapidly burnt out, leaving behind nothing but an extremely dense aura of corruption in the surroundings.

Zhao Yunxiao understood the moment he saw this – the hidden space had truly collapsed. And with that, the vast amount of corruption aura that had been trapped within before had now been completely released into the outside world.

It would appear that the aura of corruption shrouding over Blueflag Mountain would be thickening even further because of this...

But on the bright side, since the hidden space had been the source of a constant flow of corruption aura all this while, this was probably also the worst that it would ever get. Now that the hidden space was gone, as long as someone managed to purify the remaining aura of corruption here, Blueflag Mountain would eventually return to a state of pristine nature.

And even without external intervention, that could also happen with time to come, though that would probably take at least thousands of years.

No, that's not what he should be thinking about right now. He was in no state to worry about Blueflag Mountain!

Another quick scan of his dantian caused his face to darken.

It was not just a bad dream – Kindness was indeed there.

What next? Just how was he supposed to get rid of this thing?

Should he inform the sect administrators and hope that they help remove it from him?

Given the capabilities of the elders, they might just be able to do so. However, doing this would also bring him a whole other series of problems.

At this point, he was no longer even worried that they would find out that he had strayed during his sect mission. Considering the situation, he was more than willing to bear the punishment for straying from his mission if it meant removing this terror-inducing bomb from within his dantian.

What he was worried about was that instead of directly removing Kindness from his dantian, he might end up being treated as an item of research and completely lose his freedom in the process. Even worse would be if the elders were unable to release the Untethered Sage even after all that, or if doing so meant destroying his dantian in the process!

Wait, could he try unsealing the Untethered Sage in the sect grounds?

With the elders watching over Purple Plum Mountain, the Untethered Sage would probably not be able to harm him even if he wanted to!

No, that might not be the case either.

The Untethered Sage was someone so incredibly powerful that even the infamous Soul Devil had been rendered completely helpless. It was not that he wanted to doubt the elders, but would they really be able to stop the Untethered Sage?

If they failed to do so, unsealing Jiang Taiming in the sect grounds would be akin to inviting the enemy directly into the heart of the sect. Even if things went well, it would still be considered an unfilial act of betrayal. But if things went badly, he might just go down in history as the one responsible for ending the long legacy of the Black Tortoise Sect!

This was not something that Zhao Yunxiao would have thought in the past since he had always had full confidence in the elders, but he was no longer as certain after witnessing just what the Untethered Sage was capable of.

The elders were undoubtedly strong, but the Untethered Sage might just be even stronger!

Zhao Yunxiao let out a helpless sigh.

Before finding out more about the situation, perhaps it was best not to do anything rash.

For now, he would just return to the Hei Residence. Hopefully, Kindness would react to the jade statue of the Untethered Sage and end up attaching itself to the latter instead!

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