On the day Aotian sent Bao Wuji to retrieve them, he immediately found himself in a complicated situation.
He opened his eyes with excitement—but froze when he saw Rihai, her brows furrowed. She looked confused, lost, and even slightly downcast.
Aotian couldn't help scratching his head, nervous.
'How am I supposed to explain this?' He wondered anxiously.
He had been with Rihai long enough to understand why she looked hurt after hearing he had a sect.
Until that moment, he had said he was alone, and that she was all he had in this world. But suddenly, he says he has a sect and that it's coming for him. It was easy to understand why she felt both nervous at the thought of losing him and hurt that he had lied.
They had promised to keep secrets if needed, but had also vowed never to lie. And in their relationship, not revealing something and lying were two very different things.
"Hai'er, don't worry. I didn't lie about anything. I need you to trust me. And my sect coming for me won't separate us." Aotian said gently, which drew her attention.
She looked at him, puzzled.
"But… you said you were alone in this world, and now you say you have a sect that's coming for you… I don't understand…" She murmured, confused.
She wanted to believe in Aotian—but she just couldn't make sense of what was happening.
Aotian stepped closer and gently held her hands.
"Hai'er, I said I had secrets—and this one is particularly complicated. I really do have a sect, and I trust the elders, the ancestors, and the sect leader. But as difficult as it is to understand, I really am alone and I really do only have you… I never lied, because I promised I never would, remember? If I didn't want to reveal the sect earlier, I could've just said it was a secret. I know it's complicated, but I'm actually telling you something really important with this simple sentence, and I hope you can keep that a secret for me." Aotian said seriously.
He had decided not to tell Rihai about the avatars. There would be no benefit in her knowing—only danger, for both of them, if that information ever leaked.
He didn't have enemies now, but no one could predict the future.
If, somehow, future enemies found out, instead of facing his powerful avatars, they could target the two of them directly, who were much easier targets.
And that wasn't his main concern. There was something that worried him much more about telling the truth... the origin of the system, which he knew nothing about, and he thought it wise not to talk about something he didn't understand and didn't know the real purpose of.
At that moment, when he was weak, he wasn't going to throw away something that was helping him, but even so, the concern about the system never left his mind.
Even so, he left some small clues in his words. Rihai had slowly been revealing her secrets to him, and he felt a bit unbalanced for not sharing anything with her. Even if it was just a nearly useless hint, saying it made him feel lighter.
Rihai, hearing what he said, seemed to have a giant question mark on her forehead.
Seeing her confused expression, he couldn't help but feel powerless. So, he tried to speak in a simpler way for her to understand.
"Me, Aotian, love Rihai. Aotian no lie to Rihai. Rihai stay calm." He said, dead serious.
Rihai's eyes narrowed upon hearing that ridiculous statement, and she couldn't help but roll her eyes. But even if she didn't want to, a small and gentle smile involuntarily formed at the corner of her lips, though it quickly disappeared.
"Haah... You're impossible, Aotian. Even at a time like this, you're joking." Sighing helplessly, she didn't know what to do.
Seeing Aotian's pleading and sincere gaze, she couldn't help but be moved.
She truly loved him, she was sure of that. So, she decided to follow her heart and take a leap of faith for the man she had given her heart to.
"Alright... I'll believe you, Aotian. " She fixed her eyes on him and looked at him sincerely.
Rihai trusted Aotian, and truly loved him, so she threw a bit of her caution to the wind.
Even without understanding, she was willing to believe him.
A soft smile appeared on Aotian's lips, and he hugged her gently, a gesture she returned.
"Rihai, I love you very, very much." He kissed her cheek and said softly.
"I know." She replied with a smile, resting her head gently on his shoulder.
Aotian was amused by her response.
But what he didn't see was that there was still a bit of uncertainty in her gaze — something she was trying not to feel.
After a few minutes of holding each other, they separated.
"So... where is your sect? How are we going to find them?" Pulling herself together, she asked, now curious, but also a little cautious of this new power she would have to deal with.
"We don't need to find them. They'll come to us." He said, and, looking at Bao Wuji's position, made a few calculations before continuing: "I think our ride should arrive in about two months."
Aotian said that after observing the distance Bao Wuji had already traveled from the ship to where they were.
"In that case, what do we do now?" Rihai asked, a little unsure, her beautiful blue eyes filled with questions.
"We can continue heading to Crystal Mine City. We don't really have anything better to do anyway. And the farther we are from Blue Cloud City, the better—in case that red tiger actually tries to track us down." He said with a shrug.
Rihai nodded, agreeing it was a sensible suggestion.
"Now, we can think about the future. Rihai, the sect is very trustworthy and will protect both of us with their lives if necessary. On top of that, it has very rich resources. We might be able to find a way to heal you there. So, I want to officially invite you to become a disciple of the Infinite Dao Sect." Aotian said confidently, giving her an encouraging look.
Of course, the sect was trustworthy because the high-ranking members were all him. And the resources might not be abundant just yet, but once the expedition was complete, they shouldn't have any problems—at least up to the Golden Core stage. Lastly, he was just giving her hope, since the sect didn't currently have a way to heal her shattered roots—but Aotian was confident they would find one in the near future.
"Huh?! You have that kind of authority?" She asked, confused and stunned by Aotian's confidence in his sect and his position within it.
"Hehe, way more than that. If you want, I could even make you the saintess of the sect directly." He said proudly, leaving Rihai dumbfounded.
"You… you're joking, right?" Rihai looked at him, skeptical.
"Of course not! You'll see when the time comes. Either way, welcome to the Infinite Dao Sect!" Aotian said, smiling and extending his hand to her, as if he already knew she would accept.
In truth, Aotian was being so proactive both to prepare her mindset and to ensure that she would enter the range of Bao Wuji's sect member radar ability — something that could prevent an accident where they might get separated and fail to reunite.
Rihai felt slightly hesitant about getting involved in something she didn't fully understand. But upon seeing Aotian's sincere expression, she decided, once again, to trust her beloved — and took his hand.
"Alright. But if something goes wrong, I'll grab you like a princess and run away again, just like we did before." She said with absolute seriousness, not a hint of a joke in her tone.
This time it was Aotian's eye that twitched, but under her firm gaze, he could only nod helplessly.
"Okay." He reassured her.
With that response, Rihai seemed to relax a bit.
"So, Infinite Dao Sect, huh? Never heard of it. What level is this sect?" She asked, curious.
Aotian raised an eyebrow, but smiled as he thought of how to answer.
"Saying its level is a bit complicated. Just know that it's far stronger than a Golden Core-level sect." Aotian revealed, smiling proudly.
He wasn't lying. With Bao Wuji's presence alone, the sect already far surpassed a typical Golden Core-level sect.
But Rihai was shocked by the answer.
"Above a Golden Core-level sect? Aotian, are you sure? If that's true, then they can't be from any of the four desert continents." She became more serious upon hearing that.
"Eh? Why do you say that?" He asked, confused.
Rihai could only sigh at Aotian's constant ignorance about the cultivation world, despite being part of a sect.
"Don't you know that in the four desert continents, the ambient spiritual energy is too thin and weak, which prevents gestating veins from undergoing a transformation so great and qualitative that they become fourth-rank spiritual veins? Because of that, powers above the third tier can only arise outside the four deserts." Rihai, though slightly exasperated, explained seriously to Aotian.
'Huh? That's a thing? So my campaign is going to be even easier?'
Aotian had been a bit concerned for his other avatars back at the sect when he sent Ancestor Bao Wuji away, fearing that some sect or power stronger than he anticipated might get involved. Initially, he intended to slow down the expedition after sending Bao Wuji off.
But now, with this new piece of information given by his beloved, he felt much more at ease.
"Well, I didn't know that. But the sect… well… it's complicated. Just know they're trustworthy…" Aotian couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed.
He gave Rihai an apologetic look, making it clear this was part of his secrets.
Rihai could only roll her eyes at that. But she couldn't deny that the more Aotian acted like this, the more her feminine curiosity grew.
And a curious thought kept circling in her mind without end.
'Aotian… Infinite Dao Sect… what secrets are you hiding?'