Chronicles of Heaven's Chosen - Chapter 45

Then the youth witnessed something even more astonishing.

The formations somehow linked together, funneling the dozens of cultivators deeper into the forest.

“What in the world is happening?” the green-robed youth exclaimed in alarm.

Suddenly, he sensed two unfamiliar auras behind him. He spun around at once and assumed a defensive stance.

When he saw who had arrived, surprise flashed across his face.

“Dongfang Xiu? Man Yue?”

The blue-robed youth had handsome, well-defined features and a masculine air. He was tall and broad, and a heavy sword wrapped in strips of cloth was strapped to his back.

Beside him stood a young woman in red. Her eyes were beautiful and fox-like, her lips thin, and red jade tassel earrings adorned her ears.

Dongfang Xiu and Man Yue had already recognized him.

“Fu Qianli. It’s been a long time.”

The green-robed youth, Fu Qianli, nodded. “It has.”

After the Grand Sect Tournament three years ago, he had heard that an elder of the Taisui Sect had taken Dongfang Xiu, Man Yue, and several other elite disciples to the Eighth Continent for training.

He had never expected their next meeting to take place inside the Wuduan Secret Realm.

He had thought he would not see them again until the Grand Sect Tournament several months from now.

Man Yue stepped forward and surveyed the scene ahead. “What’s going on?”

Fu Qianli shook his head. “I don’t know. I just arrived myself.”

Dongfang Xiu also stepped closer. “These should be… intermediate-grade formations.”

Fu Qianli folded his arms, curiosity written across his baby face.

“Fellow Daoist Dongfang, have you ever seen formations this strange? They can link together and even overlap. It’s almost unbelievable.”

“Never,” Dongfang Xiu replied.

The dozens of cultivators were about to disappear from sight. Fu Qianli looked at Dongfang Xiu and Man Yue.

“Shall we investigate?”

Man Yue’s lips curved. “Aren’t you afraid?”

Fu Qianli chuckled. “We’ve come this far. Afraid or not, we might as well brave it. There could be some rare treasure inside.”

“Someone clearly set this up,” Dongfang Xiu said.

Fu Qianli arched a brow and smiled with easy familiarity. “Even so, I’m sure the three of us can handle it.”

Man Yue glanced sidelong at him.

“Then let’s go in.”

Just as Man Yue and Fu Qianli were about to enter the forest, faint cries suddenly drifted from its depths.

They halted. All amusement vanished from their faces as they exchanged a glance.

Something had happened!

Without hesitation, the three plunged into the forest.

The moment they entered, the formations locked onto them.

The scene before their eyes abruptly vanished beneath a blanket of fog.

“A mere intermediate-grade formation thinks it can stop me?” Man Yue sneered. Her hands flew through a series of seals as she chanted an incantation.

“Celestial Balance Palm!”

She struck with one palm, and the entire Mist Formation shuddered violently.

Man Yue unleashed three palm strikes in succession and shattered the first Mist Formation outright!

As the fog dispersed, she saw the other two. Dongfang Xiu said grimly, “We may be able to break them, but there are at least dozens more ahead. Stay alert.”

Fu Qianli looked at Man Yue. “Fellow Daoist Man, your cultivation has improved considerably.”

She had to be at least at the middle stage of the Golden Core Realm.

At his words, one corner of Man Yue’s mouth twitched upward. Her beautiful fox-like eyes swept over Fu Qianli, but she said nothing.

Suddenly, more and more sobbing cries rose from the depths of the forest.

“Waaah…”

Faintly, they could even hear voices pleading, “I was wrong! I’ll never do it again…”

“Let’s go!” Dongfang Xiu ordered.

The three hurried deeper into the forest. Along the way, they broke one Mist Formation after another. The farther they went, the clearer the weeping became. Soon, they could even make out the cultivators’ words.

“I never should’ve plotted against Junior Brother Li. I was wrong…”

“I’ll never steal again! Waaah!”

“They all called me ugly, so I secretly wrote a whole pile of obscene stories to slander them. Waaah! They still don’t know I wrote them! I understand the error of my ways now. Please let me go!”

Confessions of every imaginable kind echoed through the forest.

Man Yue frowned and exchanged a look with the two beside her.

All three were baffled.

Why did this sound so strange?

Had all those people fallen into an illusion?

They continued forward, breaking one formation after another. Before long, a shocking scene appeared before them.

Dozens of cultivators filled the clearing. Some knelt on the ground and wept bitterly. Others sat clutching their heads in anguish. Still others swung their weapons wildly in an attempt to break the formations.

“Look up.” Fu Qianli was the first to notice the white-robed girl standing in a tree. A multicolored mask covered her face, reflecting several eerie hues beneath the night sky.

Man Yue and Dongfang Xiu raised their heads.

The white-robed girl noticed them as well.

Their gazes met across the distance.

A voice sounded in the girl’s sea of consciousness.

【Targets Man Yue, Fu Qianli, and Dongfang Xiu have an Awakening Value of 0.】

The white-robed girl was naturally Yuan Yao. The three names struck her as familiar.

She had seen them on the rankings from the Grand Sect Tournament three years ago. All three had placed within the top fifty.

Man Yue of the Taisui Sect—fifteen years old at the time, ranked tenth.

Dongfang Xiu of the Taisui Sect—seventeen years old at the time, ranked sixth.

Fu Qianli of the Tianzhao Sect—thirteen years old at the time, ranked twenty-sixth.

“Fellow Daoists, save us!” The cultivators still swinging their weapons inside the formations shouted excitedly when they saw the trio.

Fu Qianli swept them a glance, then looked at Yuan Yao with a smile.

“Why does the young lady hide her face?”

Yuan Yao fell silent. “…”

Naturally, it was because she feared being recognized.

Man Yue looked up and asked coldly, “What are you forcing them to do?”

The cultivators had no obvious injuries, yet every one of them was sobbing his heart out, confessing his past misdeeds, repenting, and reflecting.

This did not look like the conduct of a righteous sect.

Yuan Yao lowered her voice and spread her arms wide.

“To fill the cultivation world with goodness and peace, I am helping them reflect on their mistakes and continually improve themselves. Then, together, we can build a better cultivation world!”

Man Yue, Fu Qianli, and Dongfang Xiu stared at her.

Yuan Yao looked back. “Would you like to join us?”

The three were speechless. “…”

“Hahahahaha!” Fu Qianli doubled over with laughter. “It’s been far too long since I’ve met such a genuine fool.”

Yuan Yao had nothing to say to that. Even she thought her words sounded idiotic.

This was all Two-Fifty’s fault. If it hadn’t ordered her to win over a hundred million people, would she ever have come up with such a grand strategy?

But now that she had started, there was only one thing left to do—

See it through to the end!

When Yuan Yao realized the Mist Formations could not hold the three of them, she swiftly formed a series of formation seals and activated another array.

“Illusion Formation—activate!”