Chronicles of Heaven's Chosen - Chapter 4

Outside the gates of the Xiaoyao Sect, Song Yan summoned a longsword and stepped lightly onto it. Then he turned and held out a hand to Yuan Yao as naturally as could be.

At only the eighth level of Qi Refining, Yuan Yao could not fly on a sword. She would have to rely on Eldest Senior Brother.

She grasped his wrist and used his strength to pull herself aboard.

Lu Xiangxiang’s expression remained cold. She summoned her own sword at once, tapped the ground with the tip of one foot, and landed steadily on the blade.

Yuan Yao lifted a brow. “That’s impressive, Junior Sister. What realm are you in?”

“You flatter me, Senior Sister.” Lu Xiangxiang’s face was cool. “I’m merely in the early Foundation Establishment Realm. Naturally, I can’t compare to our senior brothers and sisters.”

Song Yan’s brows drew together.

Every word had thorns in it.

Yuan Yao sighed. “Naturally, neither of us can compare to Eldest Senior Brother and the others. But there’s no need for us to feel inferior. An inferiority complex can breed inner demons.”

“You!” Lu Xiangxiang’s expression shifted.

Song Yan cut in at exactly the right moment. “Enough. It’s time to leave.”

He turned to Lu Xiangxiang. “Junior Sister Lu, keep up.”

Lu Xiangxiang heard the distance in his tone. It was as though a stone had settled over her heart, stifling her breath.

The sword beneath Song Yan’s feet shot skyward like a meteor. In the blink of an eye, they were already soaring high above the ground.

Yuan Yao stood behind him, clutching his sleeve with one hand while she peered down at the landscape flashing past below.

Without a word, Song Yan shaped a barrier of spiritual power around her to keep out the cutting wind. “You haven’t left the Xiaoyao Sect in two years.”

“I haven’t.” Yuan Yao felt a little wistful herself.

“Why don’t you want to go out and see the world?”

She paused. “Why would you ask that?”

Song Yan’s voice softened. “Yaoyao, I’ve always had a suspicion. You don’t avoid cultivation because you’re lazy. There’s something you’re hiding, isn’t there?”

“Of course not.” Yuan Yao denied it with the same smile as ever, but a shadow entered her eyes.

Then she pointed below and exclaimed in delight, “Senior Brother, look! There’s a flock of ducks out for a run!”

Song Yan’s attention veered away at once.

Eldest Senior Brother corrected her mercilessly. “They aren’t running. They’re walking.”

“Oh.” Yuan Yao did not bother arguing.

She lifted her gaze to the horizon. Memories from before her fifth birthday surged back like a tide.

A man and woman crouched before her, their faces grave.

“Yaoyao, something is hidden inside you—something countless powerful cultivators, and beings far more mysterious still, would do anything to possess. Your mother and I are going to seal it away now.”

“Yaoyao, when you cultivate in the future, you must never break through to the Body Integration Realm. The instant you do, the seal will shatter on its own. When that happens, a terrible calamity will follow…”

“All your mother and father want is for you to live a safe, happy life.”

“Yaoyao… live…”

Yuan Yao’s lashes trembled. Her memories from before the age of five had grown increasingly indistinct, but she had never forgotten her parents’ warning.

She had refused to cultivate because she wanted to live.

Yet fate had refused to cooperate.

If System 250 had told her the truth, then in her previous life she had died at fifteen.

And every person she loved had followed her to a miserable end.

*Father… Mother… I truly want to change everyone’s fate. I want to protect the Xiaoyao Sect.*

*They’ve been so very, very good to me.*

Yuan Yao extended her free hand through the spiritual barrier, letting the wild wind stream over her fingers.

She felt the invisible power within it.

The truth was, she had always envied her senior brothers and sisters for being able to pursue strength for their own sake. Countless times she had imagined what her life might be like if she could do the same—if she could seek power and explore the endlessly wondrous world beyond the Xiaoyao Sect.

Would her life feel more complete?

Song Yan noticed what she was doing. “Yaoyao, that’s dangerous. Pull your hand back.”

Rather than obey, Yuan Yao flung both arms wide and shouted, “Senior Brother, I’m going to cultivate!”

Alarmed, Song Yan wrapped spiritual power around her to keep her from falling.

“Fine, fine! Just hold on to my sleeve first,” he coaxed.

Yuan Yao raised her face, laughing as she cried, “Eldest Senior Brother, I’m going to cultivate! I’m going to become strong!”

The open, exuberant joy on her face left Song Yan dazed.

It had been far too long since he had seen her look so alive.

Warmth welled up inside him.

“All right. Eldest Senior Brother understands.”

Yuan Yao flashed him a toothy grin.

Flying on her own sword not far away, Lu Xiangxiang watched the exchange, her expression growing even colder.

She had not expected the Xiaoyao Sect’s cherished white moonlight to be so childish. Yuan Yao had no strength to speak of and was as fragile as a parasitic vine.

No wonder everyone in the Xiaoyao Sect guarded her so closely.

Yuan Yao lowered her arms. Looking ahead, she asked, “Eldest Senior Brother, how much longer until we reach Wuduan Forest?”

“About another two hours. Wuduan Forest isn’t far from the Xiaoyao Sect,” Song Yan answered patiently.

The cultivation world contained three islands and nine continents. The Xiaoyao Sect belonged to the Ninth Continent.

The Ninth Continent lay at the southernmost edge of the cultivation world, and Wuduan Forest stood close to its southern border.

Yuan Yao nodded. “Eldest Senior Brother, I’m going to cultivate now.”

“What?” Song Yan thought he had misheard.

“I said I’m going to cultivate.”

“Here?”

“Yes.”

Something peculiar came over Song Yan’s face. He turned and pressed a hand to Yuan Yao’s forehead.

No fever.

Then why was his junior sister talking nonsense?

Ignoring him, Yuan Yao began drawing in the spiritual energy around her. She refined it, then circulated it through her body for eighty-one complete cycles.

“Don’t—” Song Yan tried to stop such reckless cultivation, only to discover that she truly had begun refining spiritual energy while standing on his sword.

And worse—

Her body was devouring the spiritual energy in the air.

Even the well-traveled Song Yan stared in disbelief.

Afraid something might go wrong, he urged, “Little Junior Sister, cultivating like this could easily cause a qi deviation.”

Yuan Yao closed her eyes. “Eldest Senior Brother, don’t disturb my cultivation.”

Song Yan fell silent.

“Junior Sister, surely cultivation can wait a little while…”

“Eldest Senior Brother, I can’t afford to waste a moment.” She had almost no time left.

Only three days remained. If she could not raise one target’s Awakening Value above fifty, she would be erased.

She had once asked System 250 what would happen if she simply refused to eat those ten rotten bird eggs three days from now.

Its answer?

She would be struck dead by five heavenly thunderbolts.

Seeing that she truly had changed, Song Yan’s emotions tangled.

So be it. He would keep a close eye on her.

Flying behind them, Lu Xiangxiang frowned. Yuan Yao really was absurdly reckless.

Half an hour later, Yuan Yao broke through.

From the eighth level of Qi Refining to the ninth!

Song Yan and Lu Xiangxiang were both stunned.