The Calm After the Storm (3)

After Gu Jingzhao returned from Yu Xiao True Person's place, the talisman on his chest suddenly grew scorching hot. Xu Yuan's hurried voice came through, carrying lingering terror: "Leave! Get out of the Profound Heaven Sect right now!"

Gu Jingzhao had been lowering his head to sort through the disciple robes he had just received. Silver-threaded drifting-cloud patterns were embroidered on the fabric, and as his fingertips brushed across it, he could faintly detect the protective runes within.

Hearing that, his folding hands abruptly stopped. He looked up at the talisman hanging before his collar—the ancient wooden charm was trembling faintly, and even the voice emerging from within carried a fine tremor.

"Why?" Gu Jingzhao's voice remained calm, though his gaze upon the talisman held a trace of confusion.

"Why, my ass!" Xu Yuan's voice suddenly rose, filled with the lingering dread of surviving a calamity. Even the talisman shook more violently. "Didn't you see what kind of monsters are all over this place?! Why? That Sword Venerable is a vicious ghost! Anyway, we need to leave, now."

Gu Jingzhao slowly shook his head and placed the neatly folded robes on the low cabinet beside the bed. He raised a hand and touched the talisman, his fingertips clearly sensing Xu Yuan's panicked spiritual energy within it:

"Master, hadn't you always hoped I could find somewhere stable to learn more cultivation arts and improve my cultivation as quickly as possible? The Profound Heaven Sect is the greatest sect in the Lingshu Heaven Domain. I'm only at the Qi Refining Stage now, and I can't even activate the most basic inter-domain teleportation artifact. In this Heavenly Domain, is there anywhere better suited for cultivation than this?"

"I heard Senior Brother say that the Scripture Pavilion on Misty Spirit Peak holds the most