Chronicles of Heaven's Chosen - Chapter 47

The moment Xue Jin gave the order, a colossal beast with nine heads tore through the void and emerged, racing after the fleeing cultivators.

It caught them in the blink of an eye.

Screams soon rang out.

Dongfang Xiu and his companions watched with contracted pupils. They had long heard that Xue Jin was mercurial and impossible to read, and that his methods were exceptionally sinister and ruthless.

“Jiuying…” Man Yue stared in shock. “He actually contracted the ancient ferocious beast Jiuying!”

Xue Jin’s gaze fell upon the three of them.

Countless razor-sharp swords abruptly materialized around him. In an instant, they assembled into an enormous, densely packed Sword Formation of terrifying power.

The next moment, every sword in the formation shot toward the trio.

Their expressions changed sharply. They gathered their spiritual power and defended themselves at once.

“Xue Jin, are you trying to kill us?!” Man Yue cried in disbelief after striking out with her palm.

Xue Jin did not answer, but his cold expression said everything.

He intended to kill them.

“Xue Jin, who is she to you?” Fu Qianli shouted. “All we did was break her formation. We never hurt her!”

Dongfang Xiu broke through the surrounding swords with his heavy blade and charged straight at Xue Jin.

Carrying Yuan Yao on his back, Xue Jin turned sideways and evaded the mighty strike.

Dongfang Xiu attacked again and again.

Xue Jin dodged every blow, yet each movement remained unusually gentle, as though he feared jostling the person on his back.

Dongfang Xiu fixed him with a sharp stare. “Xue Jin, put her down and fight me properly!”

Xue Jin’s expression darkened at once.

“Jiuying!”

The monstrous nine-headed beast flashed over and launched a vicious attack on Dongfang Xiu.

Dongfang Xiu’s expression shifted. He hurriedly raised his heavy sword to meet Jiuying’s assault.

At the same time, Xue Jin felt a warm wetness spreading across the clothes on his back. Realizing what it was, he immediately carried Yuan Yao away at full speed.

“Xue Jin!” Dongfang Xiu made to intercept him, only for Jiuying to force him back.

After breaking free of the Sword Formation, Fu Qianli and Man Yue saw Xue Jin disappearing into the distance with the blood-covered girl on his back.

“Who in the world is she, to make Xue Jin care this much?” Fu Qianli narrowed his eyes slightly. He could not help recalling the high-grade talisman Yuan Yao had produced.

That girl’s identity could not be ordinary.

Fu Qianli suddenly thought of Immortal Lord Qianshan’s nearly forgotten personal disciple—Yuan Yao.

Rumor had it that Yuan Yao was lazy by nature and refused to cultivate, while Immortal Lord Qianshan indulged her. Others claimed the truth was that her talent was abysmal and she was nothing but hopeless mud that could never hold up a wall.

In the past ten years, few people outside the Xiaoyao Sect had ever seen Yuan Yao.

Naturally, some had grown curious about the appearance of Immortal Lord Qianshan’s sixth disciple. Five years ago, someone bribed a Xiaoyao Sect disciple to draw her portrait.

When Song Yan learned of the matter, he first destroyed the portrait, then tracked down the disciple responsible.

Immortal Lord Qianshan flew into a rage and expelled the disciple from the sect.

After that, no one in the Xiaoyao Sect ever dared draw Yuan Yao’s portrait again.

Even outside the sect, its members remained tight-lipped about her.

Gradually, the world remembered only the Five Disciples of Qianshan and forgot his sixth disciple—Yuan Yao.

Dongfang Xiu and Jiuying had been fighting for some time when Jiuying abruptly vanished. It appeared Xue Jin had recalled it.

Fu Qianli dusted off his clothes and asked with a chuckle, “Do you think that girl might be Immortal Lord Qianshan’s sixth personal disciple, Yuan Yao?”

Man Yue and Dongfang Xiu both froze.

Fu Qianli took obvious delight in Dongfang Xiu’s misfortune. “If she is, Fellow Daoist Dongfang, you’re in serious trouble.”

Dongfang Xiu frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Your sword was what gravely wounded her. That made everyone else think they could handle her, so they swarmed her and attacked together,” Fu Qianli explained.

“How was I supposed to know she’d be so weak?” Dongfang Xiu replied dismissively.

Seeing that he still failed to grasp the point, Fu Qianli sighed helplessly and spelled it out.

“If she really is Yuan Yao, even the Taisui Sect may not be able to protect you. Haven’t you heard? She is Immortal Lord Qianshan’s most cherished disciple.”

Dongfang Xiu’s expression changed.

He steadied himself. “Immortal Lord Qianshan isn’t that kind of person.”

“You mean he isn’t protective of his own?” Fu Qianli shook his head teasingly.

Dongfang Xiu had no answer.

Who on the Ninth Continent did not know that Immortal Lord Qianshan was fiercely protective of his disciples?

Dongfang Xiu lowered his eyes as his thoughts drifted back ten years.

At the time, word had spread across the Ninth Continent that Immortal Lord Qianshan intended to accept a personal disciple. Nearly everyone with talent or a powerful background had rushed to the Xiaoyao Sect. Dongfang Xiu’s father had brought him there as well…

In the end, Immortal Lord Qianshan accepted six personal disciples at once.

Dongfang Xiu had not been one of them.

Fu Qianli walked away, tossing a final remark over his shoulder.

“You’d better hope she isn’t Yuan Yao.”

Dongfang Xiu’s face darkened.

Man Yue said nothing. She only felt that Yuan Yao had suffered a terrible beating.

…

Elsewhere, Xue Jin carried Yuan Yao into a cave.

He lowered her gently to the ground. As he supported her, warm liquid spread across his palm.

Blood.

Xue Jin’s expression turned ugly. Just how many wounds did she have?

Yuan Yao’s face was deathly pale, without the slightest trace of color. Her lips were cracked from thirst.

Xue Jin reached out and checked her pulse.

It was faint.

The energy within her body was in utter chaos.

Her pulse was that of someone on the verge of death.

Even the sixth-grade healing pill he had fed her earlier had done almost nothing.

Panic stirred in him. He lightly patted Yuan Yao’s cheek.

“Stop sleeping. Wake up.”

“Yaoyao?!”

“Wake up, Yaoyao!” Xue Jin called urgently. He quickly applied medicine to her exposed wounds to stop the bleeding.

Yuan Yao had lost too much blood, and her breathing grew weaker by the moment.

Xue Jin fed her every good healing pill he possessed. Then he gripped her wrist and sent his spiritual power into her body, trying to calm the tangled, chaotic energy inside her.

When Yuan Yao finally regained consciousness, her head felt heavy, dizzy, and painfully swollen. There was not a single place on her body that did not hurt.

“Yaoyao?”

She seemed to hear Fourth Senior Brother calling her.

Yuan Yao struggled to open her eyes. The cave was dark, but she could just make out Fourth Senior Brother’s beautiful, androgynous face.

Joy flashed through Xue Jin when she opened her eyes. He immediately raised a hand to check the temperature of her forehead.

“Fourth Senior Brother…” The moment Yuan Yao spoke, she felt how dry her throat was.

“I want some water.”

“You can’t drink yet.”