Chronicles of Heaven's Chosen - Chapter 12

Cang Li fell silent for a moment, then returned the beast cores to Yuan Yao.

“Keep them for yourself.”

Yuan Yao arched a brow. Then she deliberately turned sarcastic. “So Third Senior Brother looks down on the beast cores I nearly died to obtain. Very well. I’ll take them back.”

Cang Li snatched the cores from her and shoved them into his storage space.

He lightly rapped her forehead. “Stop talking nonsense.”

Yuan Yao could not hold back her smile.

The two continued side by side.

Cang Li quietly slowed his pace for her. “This place is like an underground maze. Finding the exit won’t be easy.”

“An underground maze?”

“Mm. I entered the Wuduan Secret Realm with Second Senior Sister and the others, but we were scattered during the teleportation. I was sent here. More than half a day has passed, and I still haven’t found a way out.”

“No exit?” Yuan Yao rubbed her chin.

After thinking for a moment, she smiled. “If we can’t find the real exit, why don’t we make another one?”

“You mean…”

Yuan Yao pointed at the ceiling. “If we blast through that, we should reach the surface.”

Surprise crossed Cang Li’s face. His eyes lit up.

“That’s a great idea!”

“It is, but I have two concerns,” Yuan Yao said. “First, can a high-grade artifact actually blast through it? Second, could the explosion collapse the entire underground maze? If it collapses, wouldn’t we kill a great many cultivators?”

“That’s true.” Cang Li nodded in agreement.

“Could we dig a tunnel out?”

“You’d dig?”

Yuan Yao smiled. “You would.”

Cang Li’s face went black. “Yuan Yao, there are limits to how badly you can exploit your senior brother.”

The two exchanged a glance and silently abandoned the ridiculous idea.

They went back to searching honestly for the maze’s exit.

As they walked, Cang Li said, “Supposedly, the Wuduan Secret Realm hides the tomb of a mighty Body Integration Realm cultivator. Countless secret treasures lie inside. The one that draws the most attention is a Saint-grade sword manual.”

“A Saint-grade sword manual?” Yuan Yao lifted a brow.

In the cultivation world, cultivation arts and combat techniques were divided into seven grades, from lowest to highest: Yellow grade, Profound grade, Earth grade, Heaven grade, Saint grade, Divine grade, and Legendary grade.

Even an Earth-grade sword manual was rare on the Ninth Continent, much less one at Saint grade.

Cang Li glanced at her. “Want it?”

“I do.” What sword cultivator would not?

Cang Li said with a particularly punchable expression, “Then keep wanting.”

Yuan Yao kicked him.

Cang Li took the kick without anger. He merely explained, “I’m thinking of you. Even if you obtained a Saint-grade sword manual, you might not be able to keep it. It could bring killers to your door. Even Master might not be able to protect you.”

An ordinary man might be innocent, but possession of a treasure made him guilty.

That was the natural order of the cultivation world.

“I understand.” Yuan Yao looked at him.

“Do you really?”

She nodded.

Only then did Cang Li relax.

He still did not understand why Little Junior Sister had suddenly decided to leave the sect and temper herself.

Given the choice, Cang Li would rather she remain as she had always been, living carefree within the sect.

The world beyond the Xiaoyao Sect was full of deception and predation. One careless step could condemn a person beyond redemption.

They walked for another hour, but still found no exit.

Then—

The sounds of fierce combat came from ahead.

Yuan Yao and Cang Li exchanged a glance. In perfect accord, they pressed themselves to the wall and crept closer.

The dark tunnel opened into a space resembling an altar.

At the top of a flight of steps stood an altar table forged from ten-thousand-year black iron. Set into its center was a supreme-grade spirit stone radiating brilliant light.

The cultivators fighting nearby were clearly battling over that stone.

One supreme-grade spirit stone was worth a thousand low-grade spirit stones.

“Don’t you people from the Chixiao Sect understand first come, first served?” a young female cultivator in green snarled.

Across from her, a square-faced young man sneered. “We understand only that treasure belongs to the capable!”

“Shameless!” another green-clad male cultivator cursed.

“All the Qingyun Sect knows how to do is wag its tongue.”

Yuan Yao recognized their affiliations.

The man and woman in green came from the Qingyun Sect. The other three young men, dressed in blue, belonged to the Chixiao Sect.

Sure enough, System 250’s voice sounded inside her sea of consciousness.

All five were targets she needed to win over.

Yuan Yao looked at Cang Li.

He signaled for her to stay hidden.

Then noisy footsteps rose behind them.

Yuan Yao looked back to see a dense crowd approaching.

Cang Li clearly had not expected this either. He quickly caught Yuan Yao by the arm and moved her behind him.

Then he pressed his palms together and greeted the newcomers with a smile. “Greetings, fellow Daoists.”

The cultivators spotted them.

Yuan Yao stood completely concealed behind Cang Li.

To the crowd, Cang Li appeared to be nothing more than a remarkably handsome youth.

His swordlike brows swept toward his temples. His eyes shone like stars, his lips were red, and his teeth white. Even his faint smile carried the effortless charm of a dashing gentleman.

Someone recognized him.

“That’s Cang Li, Third Disciple of Elder Qian from the Xiaoyao Sect!”

The crowd’s expressions changed. Wariness entered their eyes.

At the front stood a striking girl in a green dress. She spoke up.

“Cang Li, you had better not miss this year’s Grand Sect Tournament!”

“You know me?” Cang Li blinked.

The girl’s face darkened.

Three years ago, this man had knocked her out of the tournament arena.

And he did not even remember her!

She gave a cold snort. “Listen well. I am Weng Mingshu, daughter of the Tianyun Sect’s sect leader. I challenge you!”

As she spoke, she drew her sword. Cold light flashed along the blade.

With astonishing speed, she attacked Cang Li.

“Wait!” Cang Li held up a hand.

Weng Mingshu stopped herself by force and stared at him in confusion.

Cang Li said with perfect seriousness, “I’m not mentally prepared. Attacking now would be taking advantage of me.”

A vein jumped between Weng Mingshu’s brows.

“I’ll give you time to prepare!”

Now that she had encountered him, she would not surrender this chance to test his strength.

Cang Li pressed his palms together and sighed. “No need, thank you.”

Weng Mingshu stared. “Are you playing with me?”

Then she noticed the girl protected behind him. Her gaze sharpened.

“Who is that behind you? Why does she not dare show herself?”

Cang Li’s expression did not change.

“Who she is has nothing to do with you.”