The Mysterious Cultivator looked at Elder Mei's body.
He had two choices, he find the survivors of the Taiyi Sect or spend a few minutes preparing a burial ground for Elder Mei.
Knowing that even a few seconds could be the difference between life and death, he looked towards Elder Mei's body and put forth a Talisman of Invisibility, it would have to do.
He then flew up, and looked towards everywhere he could, first he checked the destroyed Taiyi Sect if anyone returned, as no one did, he looked towards any places that the escaped disciples could have gone.
He travelled for several days without food or water and without rest, using his Golden Core cultivation and his perception, entire miles were looked over in some few minutes.
He perhaps could have been quicker if he looked at places only briefly, but, he wanted to look broadly and for quite some time in case something had happened.
Eventually, he found a secluded ravine and some disciples.
---
Days had passed as Elder Mei had dropped them off at a secluded ravine. The four of them decided to continue travelling, hiding at day and moving at night, eventually finding a spot they liked.
Eventually making a bonfire, they decided to speak on what they had managed to get from the Sect before escaping.
"We have some rabbit meat, bread, water, a wooden axe, some spirit stones, herbs, talismans, a Forming Pill and a book on the True Sun Refining Law." Zhangsun Shan remarked as he looked at what was there.
The rabbit meat and bread were likely the most important, only he and Qiu Si knew how to hunt properly and while he, Qiu Si and Sui Wenyan knew how to grow wheat, only Wenren Yu was skilled at doing it due to his past at growing all sorts of food from wheat to herbs.
Water while the most important resource, was not in scarcity as there was a large lake to the left in which they could get water. They also knew how to dig wells efficiently and could always get water from the rain.
The wooden axe would be helpful in chopping down wood, Qiu Su had already chopped a few trees and knew how to make timber and Zhangsun Shan knew how to make tools due to his military past.
The spirit stones were important, as were the herbs and talismans, however, for now they were not of much use and they decided to simply keep it in storage.
As for the Forming Pill, it could instantly elevate someone to the peak of Foundation Training. Anyone that did use it could immediately become a Cultivator, and while there were thoughts of using it, they eventually decided not to.
The reason being that in order to progress as a Cultivator, one had to have an affinity for Laws.
It was said that in the Cultivation World, there were hundreds of Laws, some allowed for people to reach the Heavens, others were much more restrictive.
The Taiyi Sect itself had five Laws. These being the "Grand Chariot Wisdom Law", "Six Paths Reincarnation Law", "Sixteen Supreme Steps Law", True Sun Refining Law" and the "Sunflower Refining Law".
As they only had the True Sun Refining Law, they had to make sure that whoever did cultivate was the most fit to do so. They were still considering on who should.
For now however they focused on more important things, "We should start building a house, I should be able to make blueprints for one..." Sui Wenyan said.
While Zhangsun Shan did not personally know Sui Wenyan, he knew of her intelligence, he had to admit, she was evidently the smartest present.
"Alright, let's start then." Zhangsun Shan as he began to take the wood that Qiu Si had chopped down. As he was walking, he heard a noise.
Coming with it was a light of teleportation, revealing an old man with a straw hat.
"Finally found you... Haha, the Sect Leader and I go way back! A shame I was to late to help, but the gods are kind and have not allowed the end of the Taiyi Sect!" The old man rejoiced, the Taiyi Sect was not dead yet.
Zhangsun Shan was surprised as both Qiu Si and Wenren Yu looked hopeful with Sui Wenyan's face showing nothing for a second before also turning to surprise.
"Surprised? I suppose you likely haven't heard of me, I knew of the Sect Leader long before you were likely even born..." The old man said as he looked at the four who still remained surprised.
A few seconds passed, and the old man eventually decided to break the awkward silence, "Alright, if you have any questions, ask away."
Wenren Yu took this chance as he immediately asked, "Elder, is the Sect alright? Is Sect Leader alright? Can we go back!? What happened to Elder Mei?"
The old man took a deep breath before replying, "No. I went to see your Sect already, everything there was destroyed... As for Brother Rui, I doubt he survived either, if he had, he would have returned already. And as for your Elder, she unfortunately died as well, but, her attacker is now dead as well."
Wenren Yu was about to ask another question, but decided not to. Words seemed to not come out of his mouth.
'The Sect's destroyed... Elder Mei's dead...' Wenren Yu thought, he was alone again. This was not a sentiment he had himself, Sui Wenyan and Zhangsun Shan were also orphans and had lost everything.
Though at least for Zhangsun Shan, he was used to it. As for Qiu Si, this was out of nowhere, she had never experienced the same adversity as the other three, she did not know what to say, how to comfort others, or herself.
"Well, I see you need time to adjust... I'll be right here for a few weeks if you need any help." The old man said as he sat down a few meters away from them.
Zhangsun Shan did not know what to say, but, he picked up some wood and began to put it all in one place, Sui Wenyan had no words either, but she began to draw pictures of a house.
Qiu Si took a breath and then started to return to chopping trees and Wenren Yu looked for places to grow wheat and herbs. They all knew what each other would say, but, did not have the ability to ask or say themselves.
---
As the old man sat down, he began to sense his surroundings.
He had to make sure there was nothing dangerous surrounding them. Using his perception, he was able to feel almost everything in a mile radius. He could have easily extended the range to much further, but knew doing so would make it less accurate and easier for things to escape his notice.
'No Cultivators or Demon Beasts... This is a good area, their Elder chose a good spot." The old man remarked as he sensed no danger within the mile radius. Even if the invader had continued, it was unlikely he would have found this place as well due to how well it was hidden.
---
Meanwhile, near the bodies of Elder Mei and the invader, there were five people present.
"Brother Tang died!"
"Was it Elder Mei? Both of them are here dead."
"Maybe, but, look at their bodies. Elder Mei's body has many wounds, but, Brother Tang's body is completely unwounded except for his head! There's no poison or anything like that as well."
"Could Elder Mei have sacrificed everything to kill him in one hit?"
They were unsure, but the alternative was that an expert in the Golden Core stage had killed Brother Tang, after all, who else could kill someone in the Middle Stage of Core Shaping in a single hit?
If they did admit that, then no doubt they would be tasked to find out about the Golden Core stage cultivator, a single mistake could mean death!
"Yes, that must have been what happened!"
With that, they took both the bodies of Elder Mei and their Brother Tang and flew off.