Back at the academy.
Qin Shuyue had visited the Void-Crossing Array everyday for four days, just to see if Jin Huang and Hei Shisan would return. On the fifth day, Hei Shisan returned...
By himself.
Qin Shuyue was enraged, as was the staff member in charge of the array. Hei Shisan instantly got in trouble, and despite the deans and teachers demanding he tell them where Jin Huang had gone, he refused. He simply told them all that Jin Huang was on a journey to find himself, and that he would return a new man.
Qin Shuyue worried for his safety, and kept trying to send messages through the jade slip. She would keep the slip in her hands, waiting to see whether or not Jin Huang's reply would come through. It never did.
Two weeks passed after Hei Shisan's return. Hearing about what happened, Li Qingyu and Dao Yuan were also upset at Hei Shisan, and wondered how he could have ever thought it was a good idea to send Jin Huang off on a mission alone.
Even Shen Wuyou seemed angry, and took it upon himself to visit Hei Shisan in the detention center. Once he returned, he seemed to have mixed feelings, and refused to speak on the matter of Jin Huang. All he said was that he was sure that Jin Huang would return home.
That was it.
Qin Shuyue felt like she had lost the only friend she had, and her mood was horrid for all that time.
...
As Mr. Yuanshi stood near the Void-Crossing Array, he yawned and scoured the star chart, monitoring the signals he could see.
"Hm? That's odd," He said as he looked over the area on the start chart depicting the Abyssal Demonic Star System. "I don't remember sending a student there. Not for a while."
He focused on that signal, wondering if he had forgotten something, when it suddenly lit up and maintained a steady glow. "Well, I guess I'll find out who it was."
Leaving the start chart to hover in place, Mr. Yuanshi stood atop the node and started to prepare the array for the student's return. As he directed his energy, the Void-Crossing Array came to life and an incredible amount of universal energy filled it, causing the entire mosaic to attain a blinding glow.
More and more energy gathered, then Mr. Yuanshi made a sharp movement and the array was finally activated. In a matter of moments, a soft boom came from the center of the array; someone had arrived.
At the same time that they arrived, Mr. Yuanshi gasped and shielded his eyes. The blinding light of the Void-Crossing Array's activation did not die down. Instead, it intensified while also attaining a golden hue.
Blinding white light intermixed with brightly glowing golden energy, creating a spectacle that could be seen throughout the missions district- perhaps even the entire academy.
The students that were going about their business choosing missions and getting themselves prepared to depart all looked toward the light, most having to shield their eyes despite being far away.
They wondered what could be happening, but did not dare to get closer.
Qin Shuyue, who was on her way to the missions district, saw the phenomenon and gasped. A thought tickled the back of her mind, but she was uncertain.
"Surely it can't be," she thought, but curiosity got the better of her. She rushed to the missions district, not caring about the blinding light that forced her to look away before long.
Jin Huang stood at the center of the Void-Crossing Array, realizing too late that he had already arrived. He was only just experimenting with the bead and using his internal energy to activate it, and the next moment, he had arrived.
He had unknowingly activated the mechanism that told Mr. Yuanshi to bring him back.
Hurrying to relax his internal energy, he watched as the blinding light finally died down. However, another strange thing happened at that exact moment.
The starry, multicolored sky above, as well as the entirety of the void surrounding the academy, chimed as though a massive, divine bell was struck. That chime spread out, far and wide, encompassing everything.
Everyone, no matter where they were, heard that chiming sound and fell silent. Those that knew what it was looked around in awe and confusion, wondering who could have triggered such a thing.
Hei Shisan looked out of the detention center's window, an unsure expression on his face that ended in a smile. " Resonance of the Heavenly Daos? There's no way!"
He pushed his head as far through the bars of the window as it would go, trying to look around the side of the building to see the missions area. However, he could not.
Frustrated, he fired a solid kick at the walls and shattered them, diving out and flying off toward the Void-Crossing Array station.
Qin Shuyue pushed past the crowed, stepping out near Mr. Yuanshi. She saw his dazed expression, then looked toward the array and gasped.
Jin Huang was there, his clothes ripped and bloodied, his body still glistening with faint traces of golden energy, and his eyes filled with vitality. He was holding the positioning bead in hand, and staring around at the world in puzzlement.
"Shuyue!" He called as soon as he saw her. "What was that!? Was that me!?"
Teary-eyed but laughing, Qin Shuyue walked up to him and nodded her head, "It was, you dummy. What did you do this time?"
Jin Huang smirked and raised the hand that he was wearing his spatial ring on. "Just you wait and see."
Mr. Yuanshi looked at the star chart again, finally swallowing. Murmurs were already flitting through the crowd, but after he spoke there were even more.
"So that's where Hei Shisan sent you, Number Fourteen. To the Abyssal Demonic Star System."
Following the many gasps, the students' chatter increased.
"He went there? What kind of first-year willingly goes there?"
"Not willingly, that troublemaker Hei Shisan sent him there to die."
"Not to die, you nitwit. Remember how Number Thirteen was saying that Jin Huang would be a new man upon his return? He sent him there for training."
"You imbecile! What kind of training can a first-year student do in the Abyssal Demonic Star System? The demonic beasts there are all no weaker than Dao Integration stage experts!"
Jin Huang patted Qin Shuyue on the shoulder with a smile, and stepped to r. Yuanshi as he withdrew the mission scroll. "Black-level mission complete, Mr. Yuanshi. Would you verify it for me?"
Gulping, Mr. Yuanshi was about to say that that was not his responsibility, but he accepted instead. "Sure, kid. Come, gimme the scroll."
All eyes were on Jin Huang, the mission scroll, and Mr. Yuanshi. Even Qin Shuyue was looking on in disbelief, although she had to admit that the image of Jin Huang standing on the array that she had first seen was most imposing.
Still, just because he looked imposing did not mean he was suddenly capable of fighting Dao Integration level demonic beasts... right?
Mr. Yuanshi looked over the details of the scroll. As he was doing so, uproarious laughter and shockwaves reached the missions district, distracting those present.
Hei Shisan was just above, fighting off some of the disciplinary staff that were getting in his way.
"Hahaha! Back already, Huang! How like you to- Ow! Hey!" He fought back as best as he could, forcing his way to Jin Huang. Eventually, the staff members gave up and allowed him land.
"I got a bit lucky," Jin Huang said as he rubbed his nose.
Hei Shisan laughed, "I expected as much. Wuyou better pay up once he sees you."
The two shared a brief fist bump, but the sound of an object clattering to the floor and rolling away caused them to look at Mr. Yuanshi.
"Jin Huang," the man said, "you were sent to Obsidian City?"
There were gasps, then silence as they turned to look at Jin Huang. His nod was enough to stun them all; Hei Shisan's smile only grew.
"So, you have gathered twenty demonic beast cores at the Dao Integration level?"
Jin Huang grinned, and activated his spatial ring. In that moment, no one present doubted that Jin Huang had completed the mission. Their only question now was how. How could he have possibly done it.
Not because he had supposedly gathered twenty demonic beast cores, but because when he activated his spatial ring, thousand upon thousands of beast cores piled up atop the array, causing Jin Huang, Qin Shuyue, Hei Shisan and all others close enough to be buried by them.