Chronicles of Heaven's Chosen - Chapter 2

A trace of amusement appeared on Song Yan’s stern, upright face.

He did not answer, but Yuan Yao understood perfectly.

He didn’t believe her.

She pouted.

System 250’s mechanical voice sounded in her sea of consciousness.

【Target Song Yan’s Awakening Value: 0.】

Yuan Yao paused midstep. “Eldest Senior Brother, where are Master and the others?”

Only then did Song Yan remember what had happened on the way here. “Master was originally bringing all of us to drag you out to cultivate, but the sect leader summoned him to the main peak halfway here. Once Master left, Lingwei and the others made excuses and slipped away. They all know how much you hate being disturbed while you’re sleeping.”

Yuan Yao’s mouth twitched. Those rascals certainly knew her well.

In this world, only Master and Eldest Senior Brother had never given up on making her cultivate properly.

Song Yan was about to say more when the communication token in his storage space lit up.

He and Yuan Yao took out their tokens at almost the same moment.

They exchanged a glance.

“It’s from Master.”

The two of them channeled spiritual power into their tokens. A line of text soon appeared above them:

—Come to Tianding Pavilion at once.

“Tianding Pavilion?” Yuan Yao frowned slightly. Master only summoned them there when something important had happened.

“Let’s go, Yaoyao.” Song Yan called her by her childhood nickname.

“Coming!” she answered brightly. She closed her door, hurried to his side, and fell into step beside him. “What could Master want us for?”

“It must be something serious.”

Yuan Yao glanced sideways at her Eldest Senior Brother. He truly had grown taller and taller, and every year lent him more of that grave maturity beyond his age.

Ten years ago, Master had accepted all of them as personal disciples.

Eldest Senior Brother had always been the most upright and principled among them. “A cleansing breeze, a luminous moon; a gentleman pure and bright”—the old phrase might have been coined for him.

She could not imagine a man like Song Yan falling into demonic corruption for the heroine, slaughtering innocent lives, and betraying every principle he had once held.

Song Yan slowed and turned his head. “What’s wrong?”

Yuan Yao blinked at him. “Eldest Senior Brother, you’re awfully good-looking.”

Song Yan choked. At last he said helplessly, “So are you.”

He meant it.

Yuan Yao had been irresistibly adorable as a child, and as she grew, her beauty had only become more striking. Her skin was smooth as ice and pale as snow, her face bright as peach blossoms. Her eyes were large, lovely, and luminous. With her hair tied into a brisk high ponytail, she somehow made even the sect’s plain white robes seem radiant.

Whenever she walked, that ponytail swayed behind her, stealing away more young hearts than anyone could count.

…

Outside Tianding Pavilion, Yuan Yao called, “Master, we’re here!”

She and Song Yan entered without ceremony, just as they always did.

Yuan Yao immediately noticed an unfamiliar young woman.

At that same moment, the stranger turned and looked her way.

Their gazes met.

“This is Lu Xiangxiang, the personal disciple I have just accepted,” their Master, Qian Jueshan, said. “From today onward, she is your junior sister.”

Song Yan went still. His gaze settled on the white-clad figure nearby. The girl was beautiful, but for some inexplicable reason, he thought her features resembled Yaoyao’s.

Only the eyes were truly different.

Yaoyao’s eyes shone with warmth and hope, like sunlight. This girl’s eyes were cool, with a touch of stubbornness and steely resolve.

“System 250, why did the heroine show up early?” Yuan Yao asked inside her sea of consciousness.

System 250 gave no answer.

She asked again.

Still nothing.

Yuan Yao’s inward voice went cold. “System 250, I want to stab the heroine to death.”

【You absolutely must not!】

“I’m going to stab her right now.” Yuan Yao reached for the garishly colored sword in her storage space.

In its panic, System 250 cranked its speech speed up to double.

【The heroine, Lu Xiangxiang, has appeared at the Xiaoyao Sect ahead of schedule because she has already been reborn! Host, killing her will cause this world to collapse! Your Master and all your senior brothers and sisters will die! Think carefully!】

Yuan Yao walked toward Lu Xiangxiang with a smile. “Junior Sister, my family name is Yuan and my given name is Yao. From now on, I’m your senior sister.”

Lu Xiangxiang looked up and studied Yuan Yao, the Xiaoyao Sect’s precious, unattainable Little Junior Sister.

She really did look like her.

The memory of being used as Yuan Yao’s substitute in her previous life darkened Lu Xiangxiang’s expression.

“Sixth Senior Sister,” she said, lowering her eyes.

The silver-haired man seated at the head of the hall spoke again.

“Xiangxiang, from now on, you will cultivate diligently alongside them.”

Lu Xiangxiang looked up at Qian Jueshan. His face was young and handsome, possessed of the remote beauty of a snowcapped summit. When his brows drew down and his gaze turned cold, his authority was absolute.

Seeing him again brought back every moment of his merciless severity toward her in her previous life. Resentment and hatred stirred in her heart.

Had Qian Jueshan not drunkenly let the truth slip, she might have remained a fool in the dark forever.

Lu Xiangxiang sneered inwardly.

In this life, she would never again be taken in by the Xiaoyao Sect’s false warmth. If not for the sect’s secret treasure, she would never have set foot here at all.

Her gaze shifted to Song Yan. She remembered how he had fallen to demonic corruption for her in her previous life, how he had gone mad for her and killed for her. Something strange flickered through her heart.

From above, Qian Jueshan gave the order. “A-Yan, Yaoyao, take Xiangxiang to Tianwu Peak and settle her in.”

Song Yan asked, puzzled, “Master, aren’t we going to introduce Junior Sister Lu to Lingwei and the others?”

“Lingwei and the others have already left the sect for Wuduan Forest,” Qian Jueshan replied. “The introductions can wait until they return.”

System 250’s voice rang out in Yuan Yao’s sea of consciousness.

【Ding! More than one hundred targets are projected to appear inside the secret realm in Wuduan Forest. Host, proceed to Wuduan Forest and complete your mission.】

【Target Qian Jueshan’s Awakening Value: 1.】

Yuan Yao fell into thought.

Then she raised her head. “Master, I want to go to Wuduan Forest and temper myself.”

Qian Jueshan, Song Yan, and Lu Xiangxiang all stared at her.

Qian Jueshan and Song Yan wondered if they had misheard. Yuan Yao had never once volunteered to leave the sect for training.

Lu Xiangxiang frowned, remembering what had happened to Yuan Yao in her previous life.

Yuan Yao had never left the Xiaoyao Sect during this period…

What had changed?

Could her own early arrival have already altered Yuan Yao’s fate?

Lu Xiangxiang pressed her lips together, her brow furrowing.

“Do you truly want to go?” Qian Jueshan was pleased by the change in Yuan Yao, but her cultivation was still so low that he could not help worrying.