A sudden explosion of blue sparks and particles cleaved through the evening sky and tinted everything blue for a split second, the distinct colour extended 360 degrees and washed over the horizon like a halo of multiple shooting stars.
That phenomenon was followed by debris, birds and wildlife scattering across the wilderness like a cave full of bats disturbed in slumber.
A mature looking Hartley outlined with a blue glow stood regal in the sky, his shoulder-length hair dancing with the wind as if a Greek god hovered above the ground.
There was no longer any need for the translucent sphere around his body to help him defy the laws of gravity.
Gravity was now his domain.
With a flex of his muscle, the space around his clenched fist wobbled in a display of potent power.
Laying on the ground beneath his feet was the mangled corpse of a giant beast bleeding from its eyes and ears, the hard ground beneath it shattered into gravelly bits no bigger than a pea.
"Are you in control now?"
After the calm was restored to the scarred landscape, Zhi Ruo walked up from the distant treeline in the wilderness and questioned Hartley who had his eyes closed as if in deep contemplation.
She had kept her distance and nervously witnessed his spectacular breakthrough.
Hartley was floating in the turbulent explosion of coluor that almost painted the world blue, his eyes were closed and he didn't seem to have control of the swirling blue element .
A beast the size of a dinosaur had tried a sneak attack in the midst of his breakthrough. Using the chaos as cover, the beast had pounced towards what it thought was an easy meal.
With a simple wave of a hand the green giant was swatted from the sky, crashing into the earth with a loud explosive bang.
The writhing beast landed with a roar of pain, then its head slumped to the side, blood pooled under its body and it never moved again.
Hartley opened his shining sapphire eyes with a smile dancing on his lips. He was slowly floating back to the ground with the wind gently rippling his grey robe.
After ten long years in the pocket dimension Hartley was finally a saint.
"Yes, I am in control," he answered Zhi Ruo with a smile before looking up at the darkening sky.
"Let's head back for today."
Zhi Ruo was ecstatic, her face glowed with happiness, she could sense the difference in Hartley's elemental fluctuations and knew he had succeeded.
A tear slowly ran down her cheek as she looked up at her husband floating from the sky
Hartley landed and approached her with a proud smile, he stretched forward and wiped her tear away with his extended index finger.
"Today is not a day for tears Ruo, our hard work has paid off."
He hugged her for a while and then they disappeared, leaving a flash of black energy in the space they formerly occupied.
***
The couple's achievements on their long adventure through the pocket dimension wasn't minor.
They had painstakingly learned the language of the land from Li Na, she was the freckled face granddaughter of Patriarch Wushang.
Though not flawless, they could at least communicate with the locals fluently.
Roaming the dangerous dystopian lands of the spell-weavers, through a combination of dedicated cultivation and life and death battles the couple rose in cultivation levels quickly.
The pocket dimension was a condusive place for elemental cultivation, especially for those from the other side. They took full advantage and fully committed to increasing their strength.
Once they'd learnt the local language, they ventured out on their own to explore the broken lands of a once magnificent world.
They had faced the attacks of the massive and vicious beasts prowling the land, plus endured the underhanded tactics and ambushes of sneaky enemies roaming the wasteland.
The couple had faced these challenges countless times and had survived and grown in strength and experience.
Zhi Ruo had raced up to the eighth layer of the xiantian realm without the help of a single elixir and Hartley was now an elemental saint. Their time spent in the pocket dimension was truly productive.
***
Spots of blue sky were visible through gaps in the canopy of the trees overhead, the sun was high and shadows were short.
There was a gentle breeze that caused the leaves to quiver on their stems, and the chirping of birds could be heard from the distance on a peaceful sunny day.
In a split second a sound akin to thunder clapped and rumbled out around the well hidden forested region.
Black energy blared as a vertical slit opened in the fabric of space.
The pulsing black energy gushed out unstably and erased a couple trees as the inky portal sizzled in mid air, then two people stepped out from the dark void.
The dark energy puffed out of existence around them, returning silence to the surroundings and leaving the couple standing on the burnt weeds as if they were immune to the tyrannical dark energy.
A few startled guards on patrol saw the disturbance and raced to the scene wide-eyed, they yelled for back up and warned others in the vicinity of the invasion.
Holding their weapons tight, the few who answered the urgent call moved forward menacingly.
They prepared themselves to defend the camp against a mighty opponent, maybe they could hold on until the patriarch arrived.
Normal people milling around the forest abandoned their assigned duties and ran for cover, many seeking the safety of the camp.
Their anxiousness fed their panic and their panic fed the chaos because they were expecting a monumental battle to erupt.
Soon the old patriarch appeared from thin air, bringing swirling winds that kicked up leaves and dust around him, to the point that one could hear his robe being whipped about.
Hartley and Ruo had returned to the Cambridge camp for the first time in years.
Moving through the chaos and pandemonium surrounding him, the old patriarch quickly found the cause of the disturbance. He quickly recognised the intruders causing the frenzy.
The folds on his face jiggled as he smiled and sternly ordered his frantic followers to calm down and put away their weapons . He then stepped forward and took a good look at Hartley.
"You've broken through," he said eying the blue eyed young man and red hair lady stood across from him.
"I had some luck elder." Hartley replied humbly.
The old patriarch laughed, bowed slightly with respect and said, "congratulations, no need to be too humble, let's celebrate."
***
That night Hartley and Zhi Ruo drank wine with patriarch and his attendants until dawn.
The old patriarch had guided Hartley as much as he could over the years and in return Hartley had assisted with the hunting and protection of the camp.
He had seen Hartley's curiosity towards the art of spell-weaving so he had given Hartley a book called the basics of spell-weaving a while ago.
It illustrated the hand signs and instructed on how to link with the resonant frequency of elements in the world through a cultivation technique.
At the time Hartley couldn't make heads or tails of it, no matter how hard he'd cultivated the technique, there were no results.
Unfortunately for him, his elemental affinity was not to one of those elements you would find easily in the atmosphere, so he had pushed it to the back of his mind and all but given up.
Until today.
After his breakthrough he'd opened up a spatial crack with little but a thought.
The amazing thing was that he could feel the dark energy on a different level.
Was this the resonance described in spell-weaving.
After traveling through the spatial cracks as a saint, he had tried the technique again on a whim, the feeling of resonating with black energy was definitely there, he had established a link.
Zhi Ruo also had some success with the water elements in spell-weaving.
***
"Falcon mountain," the old patriarch said as he pointed at the western region of a map laying on the table between him and the couple across from him.
"The highest point of this mountain is where you'll find a chance to return to your homeland."
The old patriarch looked up and could see the eager flames burning in the eyes of Zhi Ruo, he smiled.
How could he not understand, ten years of trekking through the wilderness and sleeping under the stars must have been hard on her he thought to himself.
It was a week after they had returned to the camp and the couple was preparing for their return trip to Aidonia. They were all sat in the house of the patriarch. Bright sunshine coloured the spacious room from the open window, spreading its light to every corner of the building.
"That's it? Just reach the highest point?" Hartley asked elatedly. Once he heard of a way to return home he too was eager after achieving his goal.
"I wish it was," the patriarch answered with a wry smile and a shake of his head.
"For any saint reaching the highest point is a simple task, what you face once you're up there is the real challenge."