After the formation activated, and their bodies started warping through space, the group found themselves standing atop an illusory platform that looked identical to the one from the formation.
All around them were the chaotic spatial storms, an undercurrent of space that was born directly of the Laws of Space.
These savage storms were, fortunately, kept at bay by the array formation itself, and therefore could come no closer than the far edges of the illusory platform.
Their travel was swift, but how swift exactly; no one could say.
Qin Shuyue and Cho Yanshi stood closest to Jin Huang, looking over his sleeping, shrunken form.
Shen Wuyou and Hei Shisan were standing behind Lu Chen, who was at the forefront of the platform watching as it hurtled through the spatial storms, taking them closer and closer to their destination.
Arms folded, standing straight and tall, unwavering, Lu Chen glanced back at them without turning. "I feel your eyes digging into my back. Come, stand here at either side of me. I've not earned the respect you give me by staying behind."
Hei Shisan scoffed; Shen Wuyou gulped. They moved, Hei Shisan stopping at his right, and Shen Wuyou his left.
"You know where we're going?" Hei Shisan asked as he peered out into the chaos.
"I do."
"Are you going to tell us?" He continued when he realized Lu Chen wasn't going to say anything more.
"Eventually. Once we get word to your families, although we won't be telling them the truth." Lu Chen shifted, adjusting his arms.
"There's also a chance that one of you is connected to some kind of life-saving artifact or treasure that can be used by your families to reach out to you, or even instantaneously teleport you back to them."
Shen Wuyou nodded, "I have something like that- a lifejade. It lets my parents know I'm alive and allows them to contact me."
Hei Shisan grunted, "Not me."
"Shuyue is from a God Clan. There's a chance she has something even more crazy safeguarding her."
Lu Chen nodded, taking note of that. "Until we've ensured that those items cannot be used to trace you or teleport you away- anything of that sort- we'll tell you everything about where we'll be staying for the time being."
"How serious is it? Will our families be in danger?" Hei Shisan swallowed, a hint of worry showing itself.
Shen Wuyou added with a distinct trace of anxiety, "Will they try to use them to get to us? To get us to come out of hiding?"
Lu Chen snorted coldly, "Heaven's forces wouldn't dare; they're too full of themselves. And, since they're in command, no one from the Earthly Realm would do that either. At least for now."
Hei Shisan sighed, "For now. So the longer their search continues, the more desperate they'll become."
Lu Chen rolled his head around subtly, "Something like that. Unless they have reason to suspect your families know where you are, they'd never do that, though. So don't worry. The most someone from the Heavenly Realm might do is interrogate them."
"Those from above pride themselves on being 'good' and 'moral,' but all they're really doing is looking down their noses at everyone else. Self-righteous pricks." Lu Chen spat the last few words with a healthy measure of venom.
Hei Shisan fell into thought. Meanwhile, Shen Wuyou rolled his dice.
He had been rolling nothing but sixes. After he was certain that the outcome truly would not change, he stopped and managed to find his smile again.
Across from them, Cho Yanshi sighed and placed a hand atop the green sphere. "He has no idea how much trouble he's already caused."
Qin Shuyue looked up at her, "What do you mean?"
"When he first arrived, his Stamp was the only thing notable about him. Then, he started eating more of my food than I've seen anyone else eat." Cho Yanshi smiled as she reminisced, her hand gently sliding across the smooth surface of sphere.
"I knew something was special about him, but I knew that as long as his uniqueness was kept under the surface, he wouldn't be monitored too closely."
"Then, he broke into the Academy's Sacred Realm after it had been sealed by an Immortal."
Qin Shuyue gasped, "What? How could he have-"
"My question exactly. I still haven't gotten an answer to it."
Qin Shuyue recalled his journey into the sacred realm, but the details hadn't been given to her.
"He got some kind of divine herb from the secret treasure vault within the sacred realm, and kickstarted his cultivation. He only stood out more after that; his friendship with Shisan did nothing to help that."
"Xu Lan noticed him at some point, and from that moment, Heaven's eyes were watching closely. When he was fighting in the arena, it became clear to all of us present- Lu Chen especially."
"What did?" Qin Shuyue frowned at the mention of Lu Chen, still trying to come to terms with his methods.
"Jin Huang's body. His energy. Students might not have noticed, but those of us well-past the Dao Integration stage could see it clearly from where we were."
"The energy that fills him is not of the Three Realms. It... doesn't fit in."
"How is that possible?" Qin Shuyue pondered.
"I don't fully understand it, but the Supreme Immortal Body is only part of the mystery. It's the soul inside it that's truly out-of-this-world."
Nodding, Qin Shuyue stared at the shrunken form of Jin Huang. "Why did you all decide to help him?"
Cho Yanshi smiled as certain thoughts filled her mind, "That will be answered in due time. For now, just focus on coming up with an elaborate lie to tell your parents. Oh, and we'll need to know if you have any life-saving artifacts attached to your person."
Hearing this, Qin Shuyue gasped and felt around her person. "Oh... I... forgot it..."
Blinking incredulously, Cho Yanshi said, "You.. forgot? Wouldn't it be... attached to you somehow?"
"Ugh, yeah, but I hate having it on me all the time. My mother is constantly talking to me and monitoring my movements. I took it off the day I settled into my dorm and never put it back on since."
Folding her arms, Qin Shuyue expressed her dislike without holding anything back.
"I get it. My folks were like that when I first left home. Now, though, it's like they don't know I exist," Cho Yanshi chuckled.
"I wish my mother was like that. I'm sure she's already planning her trip to the Academy at the start of the break. Too bad I won't be there, Mom. Hah!" Qin Shuyue balled her fist triumphantly.
They shared a lighthearted laugh before settling into silence again.
"Madame Cho, why do you make food with so much vital energy?" Qin Shuyue finally asked something that she had been wanting to ask for a long time.
"It's part of a bigger secret that I can't tell you yet. No matter what I do, though, I can't make food any other way. It always comes out that way."
"Hmm," Qin Shuyue said as she thought about it, eventually giving up. "I can't cook to save my life. I've been living off of vendors and your cooking."
Cho Yanshi shook her head with an amused smile, "I can teach you, if you like."
Smiling wryly, Qin Shuyue was about to turn her down when the woman said, "Don't worry, the vital-energy overload won't happen even if you follow my recipes exactly."
Relieved, she nodded, "Well in that case, I'd love to learn from you, Madame Cho."
"Please," Cho Yanshi nudged her, "call me Yanshi."
"Aunty Yanshi, then," Qin Shuyue grinned, only for Cho Yanshi to nudge her harder.
Their laughter reached over to the guys, who all glanced over briefly.
"They don't seem worried at all," Shen Wuyou chuckled.
"It's good that they aren't," Lu Chen yawned. "I can't deal with anxious girls."
"I can't either," Hei Shisan groaned.
There was a moment of silence as they stared at the chaotic void, arms all folded.
"I can't deal with girls at all." Shen Wuyou admitted in the silence.
Hei Shisan wiped his nose. Lu Chen rubbed his eyes. Shen Wuyou grit his teeth hard.
Eventually, they couldn't hold their laughter in any longer- even Lu Chen.
In total, they had been traveling through the spatial storms for around an hour. As their conversations came and went, they managed to lighten the weight of the situation they were in.
After almost two hours had passed, Lu Chen cleared his throat and spoke up.
"Yanshi, we're about to reach the Veil."
Cho Yanshi looked up from Jin Huang and tore herself away from conversation with Qin Shuyue.
"Everyone, gather around. I'm going to have to use a spell technique as we pass through."
Hei Shisan had been about to ask a question when he realized that they would likely not answer it yet, so he maintained silence.
Instead, Shen Wuyou asked it. "Pass through what?"
Lu Chen came up behind the guys as they gathered around Cho Yanshi, her hands already coming together to form various seals.
Powerful energy filled her, but was contained so efficiently that they barely sensed any of it. All around them, the space glowed.
"Hundredfold Essence Seal!"
A membranous film sprouted from nowhere, growing over their bodies like a second layer of glowing skin.
"Dao-Sealing Shield!"
After that, a bright red dome was erected around them as Cho Yanshi settled her energy with a few breaths.
"Now, no one move. We can't afford any mistakes when passing through the Veil."
Doing as they were told, they all stood and waited.
"Here it comes," Lu Chen said, a trace of trepidation on his tongue.
A black-gold ray of light first illuminated the chaotic void around them, then more and more of that light filled the space.
It was apparent that they were flying into the light, their bodies bathed in it by the time they noticed its presence.
There was no reaction as it passed over their bodies, but as it reached the green sphere around Jin Huang, the light somehow intensified at that singular point.
Just then, however, they moved past the light, and it was gone.
Cho Yanshi made a gesture that undid the spell techniques she had cast, letting out a breath that they were all similarly holding.
"We made it through. For now, we are safe."