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Chapter 103 - Rihai’s Suspicion
🕑 Added 2025-05-13 04:56:53 +0000 UTCAfter building a long wooden raft, everyone boarded—this time with the red tiger as well—and prepared to depart.
"Hey, Tiger, are you really not taking anyone from your forest?" Aotian asked one last time.
"Nah, let's just go. We tigers aren't attached to anything." He said simply, lying down comfortably on the massive wooden plank.
"If you say so..." Aotian shrugged and didn't care anymore.
"Hey… when we leave, will the natural formation destabilize?" The tiger asked with apparent disinterest, but Aotian noticed a glimpse of concern in his eyes, making him smile.
"For someone who's not attached to anything, you seem a little worried. But don't worry, nothing will happen to your forest, right, old man?" Smiling carefreely, Aotian sat cross-legged as he addressed Bao Wuji, who merely waved his hand disinterestedly.
That made the tiger internally sigh in relief.
Then, with the powerful spiritual energy of Ancestor Bao enveloping the forest, the natural formations were protected against the impact of their departure, and with a boom, they shot through the forest like an arrow, leaving it behind with another loud crash.
As they left, the energy from Bao Wuji that protected the forest slowly dissipated, and everything returned to how it was before.
Quickly passing through the clouds, a transparent energy barrier surrounded them, preventing injury from the high speed.
The speed was immense, but so was Bao Wuji's consumption. The faster he went, the more effort it took to carry such weight—like the wood platforms and the red tiger—while simultaneously shielding everyone and concealing their auras.
Fortunately, Aotian could condense perfect spiritual stones to quickly replenish Bao Wuji's reserves, or else this journey wouldn't be so fast and non-stop.
During the journey, Bao Wuji recharged his battery—or rather, his dantian—every hour to avoid his energy dropping too low and risking danger in case something unexpected happened.
While traveling, due to the speed he maintained, Rihai became even more certain that Bao Wuji was not a nascent soul, as she had previously suspected.
But while she was thinking, someone called out to her.
"Rihai, we didn't decide that time. Now that we're about to go to the sect, what identity should we take on? Like I said, we can choose any, the resources won't change—only how everyone will see us and where we'll live. But even the position in the vein we choose won't change how much spiritual energy we receive." Aotian said, smiling, referring to the part about the energy—since they still had elemental stones, it wouldn't change how much energy they'd have.
During the time they were in the cave, he had already made Bao Wuji give her low-grade elemental stones to cultivate, which didn't seem to surprise her much. Apparently, low-level elemental stones weren't uncommon for her in the past.
Rihai became thoughtful upon hearing Aotian bring this up again. The red tiger, however, was confused.
"What do you mean by choosing your identity? Don't you already have one?" The tiger asked, tilting his head, puzzled.
"Not yet, we're choosing. Depending on what we pick, you won't be staying with me until you can shrink that huge body of yours." Aotian said, smiling at the tiger.
He had no idea if beasts could shrink at some specific realm, like in the xianxias he used to read, but he figured it shouldn't be impossible.
"What?! You don't even know where I'm going?!" The tiger asked, incredulous.
"Calm down. If I don't have you live with me, I'll have the beast pavilion elders take care of you. I was already going to send you there to train anyway." Aotian smiled and shrugged.
But his words made both the tiger and Rihai look at him strangely.
The way he spoke made it seem like his orders were absolute within the sect. They looked to Bao Wuji for clues or disagreement, but saw that he said nothing and remained calm, which gave them more certainty in their hearts that Aotian's identity was even stronger than they thought.
"You don't need to look at him, what I said is true. Rihai, I wasn't joking when I said you could choose to be the holy daughter or an elder of the sect directly if you wanted. The sect leader is a bit complicated, but if you want to lead the sect or change something, just tell me, and we'll decide if it works." Aotian said with a confident smile, making Rihai's expression change.
She looked at Bao Wuji again and saw that his expression didn't change at all. He even turned and nodded to her in confirmation.
She looked once more at her beloved, Aotian, in shock, and her doubt grew stronger in her heart.
'Who are you, really, Aotian? A sect that apparently obeys you completely, and you trust without hesitation. A sect that also has access to perfect spirit stones, unlike anything ever seen in this world. And somehow, you've established a foundation so flawless that I've never seen anything like it before. Even the spells they give to outer disciples—and that I received—are better than those of my clan, which is supposed to be the pinnacle of this world... It's as if... he's not from this world!!'
Rihai's eyes widened as she remembered phrases Aotian had told her at times—phrases that were the root of her inner turmoil when his sect was revealed.
'... I also don't have anyone in this world…'
'... In this world, I don't know or truly connect with anyone. You're the first, consider yourself lucky…'
'... It's strange to say this, but this world is very strange to me…'
'... You said the name of this world is…'
'... Rihai, you're all I have in this world…'
One phrase after another flashed through her mind, and with the last one, everything clicked into place in Rihai's mind, leaving her in shock.
'He wasn't lying!!'
Only now did she realize how he always spoke of this world—as if it wasn't his birthplace.
'He's not from this world, that's why he said he had no one in it. He's probably a foreigner from another world. It's always been said that traveling between stars and reaching other worlds should be possible—our world just couldn't produce a cultivator strong enough to do it. But, if it's another world, a more powerful one, then it's possible.'
'He said his sect was currently in an itinerant state and also mentioned it was far too dangerous to reveal his secret. His sect must have been defeated and hunted down, and then he likely fled from the sect's core with loyal subordinates from his family. But during some kind of teleportation process, they were probably separated—so he ended up alone.'
'Only a few months ago they finally managed to contact and locate him, and that's when he told me about the sect. He keeps it a secret because he must be hiding from divination or something similar, from a powerful enemy who might still be pursuing them. That's why he can’t say anything—because it could draw their attention.'
The more she thought about it, the more certain she felt of her conclusions, and she began to feel a little guilty for having doubted Aotian.
If Aotian knew what she was thinking, he'd be shocked by her absurd guesses. And, in the end, he would agree she was being extremely logical.
And the worst part—she was right.
Aotian spoke as if he wasn't from this world because he really wasn't. He reincarnated here. His homeworld was Earth.
And she was also right about him not revealing the secret for fear of attracting the attention of a powerful and dangerous being. Aotian truly feared talking about the system or the things it gave him, like the truth about his avatars, and risk awakening or angering its mysterious origin—something that could be dangerous for both him and her.
Even her guess that he had been separated from his subordinates during teleportation was, in a way, correct.
So, although Rihai got everything wrong... ironically, she had gotten absolutely everything right.
"Uh... Rihai, what's your problem?"
Aotian, seeing Rihai's expression change every two seconds, couldn't help but be confused. She looked at him strangely, then with doubt, then wide-eyed in shock, and finally with guilt.
Then, he was suddenly hugged, which startled him given the unpredictable sequence.
"H-Hai'er?" Aotian asked, confused, glancing uncertainly at the beautiful girl hugging him.
"Tian'er, I'm sorry for doubting you. I understand everything now. I'm so sorry…" She said softly, guilt in her voice.
"Huh? You understand?" Aotian looked at her, stunned.
"Yes!" She nodded against his chest.
"Understand what?" Still confused, he scratched his head.
"The reason why you can't talk about your secret." She replied with her voice muffled against his chest.
"What?! What do you mean?! Impossible!" Aotian was startled, but quickly shook his head. 'She must've misunderstood. There's no way she knows about the system.'
"Rihai, you must have misunderstood. Tell me what you understood, and I'll correct you."
"No, I understood. It's dangerous to talk." But she shook her head.
"It really is dangerous, but you definitely misunderstood. Go ahead, say it." Aotian insisted, shaking his head.
"No, I definitely figured it out. It's dangerous to speak!" Her firm voice came from his chest.
"No, you definitely didn't figure it out. Say it!" Aotian's eye began to twitch.
"I did! I won't say!"
"Rihai, stop being stubborn. You're wrong. Say it!"
"You underestimate me! I won't say it!"
"Don't be hard-headed, you got it wrong this time, I'm sure!"
"No, you're the hard-headed one! You want to bring danger upon us with your lack of trust in me!"
"Woman, you're smart, but this isn't that easy to guess!"
"But I guessed it!"
"No, you didn't!"
"I did!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
"Yes! I'm not falling for that childish trap!"
"Damn it!"
...
Perplexed, the tiger watched from afar as the couple, in one moment hugging, were now bickering like children to see who was right.
And so, after a long and heated argument, Aotian completely lost—even though he was right—just like a normal relationship between a man and a woman should be.
Thus, the journey continued, with Rihai and Aotian's relationship returning to what it was before the sect revelation—and growing even stronger, now that her heart had been calmed after the trial.
Aotian now knew a bit more about her origins, just as she "knew" a bit more about his. This balance and trust brought them even closer.
Aotian couldn't convince Rihai that she had probably misunderstood, since she refused to say what she had figured out. So he was helpless in the face of her belief.
But he also felt more at peace, since he wasn't actively lying to her, and even so, she had found reasons for everything he couldn't explain—and had managed to settle her heart. He had thought about ways to reassure her, but with this unexpected outcome, he thought maybe this wasn't so bad.
Even so, he continued thinking about better ways to convince her in the future, since he didn't really know what she believed, nor how long that belief would last.
Thus, the journey back continued, while at the same time, over at the Infinite Dao Sect's side, they began constructing other flying ships using the acquired materials. With several Golden Core elders, the mission to bring back the disciples and elders had begun and would be much faster than the journey there.
Estimated time until Aotian and the entire sect reunite:
Half a month.
Comments
Thiago Diorio
Your comment made me laugh! 😂
Jon Transfiguracion
Lol in the future the secret identity Aotian can have is either that of the son/heir of the founder or the reincarnation of the founder himself.
Kirisuk3
During that argument all I had in my head was jump cuts between Aotian and Rihai and that ended with a tiger the size of a house crossed eyed with confusion.
Kevin L
😅😂
