Chronicles of Heaven's Chosen - Chapter 22

He was still worried about someone else?!

“She’s a new disciple our Master recently accepted…” Song Yan said weakly.

Only then did Cang Li remember that his Little Junior Sister had mentioned this person before.

“Eldest Senior Brother!”

Song Yan faintly heard his Little Junior Sister’s voice. He looked up and saw her hurrying toward them, her face taut with anxiety and her eyes red.

The sight of her unharmed made him relax at once.

After carrying Song Yan out of the battle zone, Cang Li met up with Yuan Yao.

He lowered Song Yan from his back and entrusted him to her. “Yuan Yao, take good care of Eldest Senior Brother! I’ll go find that Junior Sister Lu!”

Since she was their Master’s new disciple, they could not simply abandon her.

Yuan Yao’s eyes grew damp with distress when she saw Song Yan covered in blood. She had just steadied him when Cang Li spoke again.

“By the way, where is Junior Sister Lu?”

Yuan Yao looked toward Lu Xiangxiang and happened to meet her gaze. Lu Xiangxiang seemed slightly taken aback.

“Over there.” Without changing expression, Yuan Yao raised a hand and pointed.

Cang Li followed her finger and saw a white-robed girl hiding in a corner. She looked somewhat like his Little Junior Sister.

He could also see that Lu Xiangxiang was entirely unscathed.

His gaze deepened. Turning his head, he said to Yuan Yao, “Take Eldest Senior Brother away from this area. I’ll be back soon.”

As he started forward, Yuan Yao tugged at him.

Before he could react, several high-grade defensive artifacts had been stuffed into his arms.

“No need to thank me.” With that, Yuan Yao bent down, swept the badly wounded Song Yan into a bridal carry, and took off at a sprint in the direction from which they had come.

“Yaoyao…” Song Yan’s pale face stiffened. Before he could ask her to put him down, she had already carried him away at full speed.

Even Cang Li stared after them in a daze.

He quickly recovered, put away the high-grade defensive artifacts his Little Junior Sister had given him, and headed toward Lu Xiangxiang.

Lu Xiangxiang’s expression shifted repeatedly. She had never expected to run into Cang Li again at a time like this.

The thought of Cang Li in her previous life stirred a wave of revulsion in her. Back then, she had deliberately crippled his cultivation in revenge and thrown him into Yuqing Cave, where countless people had violated him.

She still remembered the last time she had seen him in that life. He had already become a decrepit old man—raving mad, barely clothed, scavenging food from the street while muttering her name.

The memory alone was truly disgusting.

The Cang Li before her now, however, was still a spirited young man in the prime of his youth.

Lu Xiangxiang lowered her eyes, hiding her emotions.

She could not let them leave so easily. More importantly, she had yet to contract with the guardian black dragon of this tomb!

At the thought, her heart began to pound. A trace of malice entered the gaze she fixed on Cang Li.

In her previous life, Cang Li had been the one to contract with the black dragon!

Lu Xiangxiang pressed her lips together. Beneath her sleeve, her hand shifted slightly, and a nearly invisible speck of light leaped downward.

The speck raced toward the enormous black dragon.

Just as Cang Li was about to cross the battle zone, it transformed into an ice spike and plunged viciously into the dragon’s belly!

“ROAR—”

The black dragon bellowed in pain.

In an instant, its overwhelming pressure blasted away the cultivators besieging it. The shock wave also hurtled toward Cang Li.

His expression changed. He swung his spear at once to block the oncoming force, but the impact still drove him back several steps.

Thoroughly enraged, the black dragon spewed stream after stream of flame at the cultivators. The fire, hot enough to consume nearly anything, warped the very air.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

“This is bad!”

The dozen or so cultivators were all alarmed and hurriedly unleashed techniques to resist it.

Yet among them, only the white-haired elder had reached the early Nascent Soul Realm. The rest were either in the Golden Core Realm or the Foundation Establishment Realm.

The elder stumbled back and spat out a mouthful of blood. His hand trembled around the hilt of his saber.

Gritting his teeth, he shouted, “Everyone, we must subdue this wicked dragon!”

No sooner had he spoken than the black dragon attacked in his direction.

Gripping his saber, the white-haired elder rushed to meet it.

He was defeated in only two exchanges. Just as the dragon was about to swallow him, the other cultivators surged forward together and saved his life.

Badly wounded, the elder coughed up another mouthful of blood. From the corner of his eye, he happened to spot Cang Li “sneaking around” and immediately called out.

“Young friend, why not lend us your aid?”

Cang Li pretended not to hear him.

The elder shouted weakly, “I remember you! You are Cang Li, Immortal Lord Qianshan’s third disciple!”

Cang Li was speechless.

Forcing himself to his feet, the elder declared with righteous conviction, “Young friend Cang, only by joining forces can we defeat this black dragon!”

Cang Li glanced at Lu Xiangxiang, who remained hidden in the corner. Then he stopped, drew a deep breath, and turned toward the elder.

“I am Cang Li. I cannot refuse such a duty!”

He tightened his grip on the black spear in his hand, its point gleaming coldly. Looking up at the majestic black dragon before him, he showed no fear.

He strode forward and swung his spear.

“Thunderclap Spear!”

Lightning flared. The spear blade crashed toward the black dragon!

The dragon opened its jaws and spat out a blast of fire.

Boom!

The two forces collided violently. The tremendous impact drove Cang Li back several steps, leaving a dull ache in his chest.

At the sight, the corners of Lu Xiangxiang’s lips lifted slightly before she smoothed them down again.

Meanwhile, Yuan Yao carried Song Yan to a spot near the entrance of the bone passage and lowered him to the ground.

“Eldest Senior Brother, how do you feel now?” she asked earnestly.

“I’m all right.” Song Yan smiled gently. After taking the healing pill Cang Li had given him, his injuries had gradually begun to improve.

Yuan Yao’s eyes reddened when she saw the wounds on his face.

She carefully wiped away the blood, then took from her storage space the gift Master had given her for her eleventh birthday—a jar of Saint-grade Skin-Restoring Salve.

“There’s no need to waste it…” Song Yan frowned slightly when he saw that she meant to apply it to his face.

“How could using it on Eldest Senior Brother ever be a waste?” Yuan Yao lowered her eyes.

She began tending his wounds with gentle hands.

“They’re only minor injuries.” Song Yan coughed a few times and pressed his pale lips together. His gaze drifted toward the battle zone. “I’m a little worried about Ah Li and Junior Sister Lu.”

Yuan Yao was naturally worried about her Third Senior Brother as well, but another question occupied her mind.

“Eldest Senior Brother, has Junior Sister Lu ever done anything bad to you?”

Song Yan paused and looked up at her.

“Why do you ask?”

Yuan Yao wanted to tell him what the system had said about their previous lives. Yet when the words reached her lips, she could not force them out, as though something were blocking them.

In the end, all she could say was, “I don’t like her.”

Song Yan looked surprised. His Little Junior Sister rarely expressed either fondness or dislike for anyone.

His voice remained gentle. “Then you don’t like her. You needn’t force yourself to feel otherwise. But as her senior brother and sister, we must still fulfill our responsibilities.”