Not long after, Ning Beichen returned to Haizhou New City with Haitang and Liu Yilin. Looking at this familiar place, Ning Beichen had the urge to shout, "I, Hu Hansan, am back!"
The familiar place, familiar faces, and familiar civilized society inadvertently gave Ning Beichen a sense of time travel.
Upon their return, Liu Yilin immediately went to handle her affairs. Her research had reached a crucial stage before she left, but Ning Beichen's disappearance forced her to interrupt it.
Haitang also returned to her clan. Since their departure was hasty, many matters had been left unattended, so she also left.
Ning Beichen went to see Ye Ya'er. Ye Ya'er was overjoyed to see Ning Beichen return safely and clung to him, asking about his experiences during his disappearance.
Ning Beichen told her about the other world, making her envious and eager to experience it herself.
Ning Beichen promised to take her to see it once he had constructed the teleportation shamanic array, and Ye Ya'er happily hugged him tightly.
Time flew by. Besides visiting Ye Ya'er, Ning Beichen also met with his subordinates, but the transcended individuals he had subdued were nowhere to be seen.
Zhou Yu, Xu Da, Ling Jue, Zhao Yingdie, Wang Hu, Wang Chu – not a single one was present, which made Ning Beichen frown deeply.
He had been missing for nearly half a year. Without Ning Beichen's suppression, these individuals were surely unwilling to be threatened by him forever and might have already betrayed him.
In fact, Ning Beichen didn't particularly care if they betrayed him; he was more concerned that they might seek revenge later if he were to disappear again.
Therefore, for safety's sake, Ning Beichen immediately dispatched people to search for their whereabouts.
However, before Ning Beichen could find them, they found him instead, and not just the six of them. Some unfamiliar individuals were with them.
Ning Beichen looked at the six of them. They lowered their heads but soon raised them again, meeting Ning Beichen's gaze with determined eyes.
It was clear they had found some new backing and were no longer afraid of Ning Beichen.
Ning Beichen looked at them coldly. In the past, he might have been wary of them, but with his current strength, he no longer took them seriously.
"You are Ning Beichen, the one who controls them?" a man asked Ning Beichen arrogantly and impolitely.
"Yes, are you here to stand up for them?" Ning Beichen shifted his gaze to the man's face and asked calmly.
"How dare you threaten people from my Transcended Realm! Now, I order you to remove the restraints on them." The man commanded Ning Beichen.
In his eyes, Ning Beichen was merely an ant who dared to threaten beings like them, practically courting death.
"Who do you think you are!" Ning Beichen said coldly after a glance.
"You're courting death!" How could this man tolerate being provoked by an ant? With a fierce roar, he unleashed an attack, his palm splitting into a thousand, rushing towards Ning Beichen.
"You're the one courting death, you damned piece of trash!" Ning Beichen was furious. Facing the attack, he didn't even move. A sword's hum was heard.
Then, the man was sent flying backward, a bloody wound appearing on his body.
"Bold!" Seeing this, the other individuals immediately surrounded Ning Beichen.
Ning Beichen intended to make an example of them. With a thought, his sword moved, and several sword hums followed. The attackers were all decapitated.
Only the six individuals Ning Beichen had subdued, and the man who had attacked him first, remained. The others had died before they even had a chance to strike.
The six subdued individuals were almost scared out of their wits. These newcomers were far stronger than them. They had thought their arrival would free them from Ning Beichen's control and threats.
But...
The six of them dropped to their knees before Ning Beichen with a thud. Large drops of sweat streamed down their foreheads. It wasn't that they wanted to kneel; they were simply terrified. Ning Beichen's displayed strength meant he didn't need to control or threaten them; he could destroy them with a flick of his hand.
"You actually dare to betray me," Ning Beichen said slowly, looking at the six men.
"Mas... Master, spare us! It's not our fault. It was him, Yan Xiong, who forced us to betray you," the six hurriedly shifted all the blame onto the man Ning Beichen had half-killed with his sword.
Ning Beichen ignored them and walked over, grabbing Yan Xiong. He poked him a few times, incapacitating him. As for healing him, sorry, Ning Beichen had no intention of showing mercy to his enemies.
Yan Xiong was captured by Ning Beichen, his cultivation also suppressed. He looked at Ning Beichen in panic, but even more so at Ning Beichen's strength.
At this moment, Yan Xiong looked at the six men with a resentful gaze. Hadn't they said Ning Beichen's strength was only average? That as soon as he made a move, Ning Beichen would grovel and beg for mercy.
"Average strength? This is average strength?" Yan Xiong wished he could devour the six men. He had lost without even knowing how Ning Beichen had attacked, while the six of them were now begging for mercy on their knees – what a mockery.
But none of that mattered now. If Yan Xiong wanted to live, he could only beg Ning Beichen for mercy and not to kill him.
"Are you from the Transcended Realm?" Ning Beichen questioned Yan Xiong.
"Yes, I am from the Transcended Realm," Yan Xiong answered truthfully. He knew Ning Beichen didn't care about his life, and if he performed well, he might have a chance to survive.
"How do I get to the Transcended Realm?" Ning Beichen, with an expression of "just as I suspected," asked him.
"Use this. It allows you to travel to the Transcended Realm via teleportation," Yan Xiong took out a strange object and handed it to Ning Beichen.
Ning Beichen took the object and examined it. It was shaped like an inverted triangle, golden in color, and appeared to be some kind of treasure.
"How do I use this?" After studying it for a while, Ning Beichen couldn't figure it out and asked again.
"There is an energy stone on the raised part. Just input energy into this energy stone, and you can teleport to the Transcended Realm," Yan Xiong, fearing for his life, dared not lie and honestly explained the object's function.
Ning Beichen's eyes lit up upon hearing that this object could transport him to the Transcended Realm, and his heart pounded. He had always been trying to find a way to get to the Transcended Realm, and it seemed so easy now. He couldn't help but feel delighted.