Chronicles of Heaven's Chosen - Chapter 59

When Yuan Yao saw how haggard Cang Li looked, she could not help asking, “Third Senior Brother, why do you look like someone drained your life essence?”

Even his voice was weak and listless. “I’ve been refining pills for days without a break. How could I not be exhausted?”

Yuan Yao was puzzled. “Why torture yourself for no reason?”

“It’s all your fault…” Cang Li tipped back his head with a long sigh. “When every last one of you has become so diligent, how can I possibly have the nerve to laze around?”

Yuan Yao was speechless.

Just then, Cang Li noticed that Lu Xiangxiang’s aura had changed. He spoke in surprise.

“Huh? Seventh Junior Sister, you’ve broken through to the mid Foundation Establishment Realm?”

Lu Xiangxiang merely smiled and nodded.

Ying Wuji glanced at her.

At the same moment, Qian Jueshan appeared ahead of them.

The four walked over to him.

“Master,” they greeted in unison.

Qian Jueshan acknowledged them with a nod, then said, “Today, the three of you will climb the Heavenly Stairway. Wuji is the only exception.”

At those words, Cang Li felt as though the sky were collapsing.

Yuan Yao looked toward the steep Heavenly Stairway nearby, her eyes holding a resolve never seen in them before.

Lu Xiangxiang also stared at the stairway. Memories from her previous life surfaced unbidden, and her fingers curled into fists.

“Master, I’ll start climbing right now! I promise I won’t slack off again!” Yuan Yao assured Qian Jueshan with a bright smile.

“Are you afraid of falling?” he asked softly. At her words, his features, usually as distant and cool as mist over faraway mountains, seemed to soften all at once.

“No.” Yuan Yao shook her head. After a pause, she added, “I’m afraid it will hurt.”

Qian Jueshan took a garment as thin as a cicada’s wing from his storage space. Light refracted across it in dazzling colors.

“This is a new Myriad Wards Robe.”

Yuan Yao froze briefly, then accepted it with smiling, crescent-shaped eyes.

“Thank you, Master.”

The sight made the resentment in Lu Xiangxiang’s heart swell. She looked up at Qian Jueshan and bit her lip.

“Master, I… I would also like a Myriad Wards Robe…”

Qian Jueshan turned to her.

“I truly have no spare Myriad Wards Robes. However, I do have another defensive robe you may use.”

With a lift of his hand, he produced a robe.

It was plainly far inferior to the Myriad Wards Robe!

Everyone knew that the Myriad Wards Robe was an exceedingly rare and powerful high-grade defensive artifact. This robe, however, was merely a mid-grade artifact.

Lu Xiangxiang’s expression stiffened as she stared at the lesser robe in her hands. Memories of the past suddenly flooded back. In her previous life, Qian Jueshan had also bestowed a Myriad Wards Robe upon her. Whenever he obtained a precious and rare treasure, he had always thought of her first.

But now everything had changed.

Lu Xiangxiang was deeply unwilling, yet she could only swallow her grievance, accept the mid-grade robe, and say, “Thank you, Master.”

Yuan Yao did not put on the Myriad Wards Robe. Instead, she stored it away.

She explained, “Master, I may be afraid of pain, but climbing the Heavenly Stairway can temper my body. That’s why I won’t wear a defensive artifact.”

Qian Jueshan was silent for a moment before nodding.

“Very well.”

“Let’s go climb the Heavenly Stairway!” Yuan Yao said to Cang Li and Lu Xiangxiang.

With that, she sprinted toward it at an astonishing speed.

Cang Li stared after her in shock. “I haven’t seen her for only a few days. How did she get even faster?!”

“Wait for me, Yuan Yao!”

He shouted as he ran after her.

Lu Xiangxiang also walked toward the Heavenly Stairway.

Only after the three had left did Qian Jueshan turn to Ying Wuji, his expression grave.

“Ah Yan and the others have all gone missing in Yunming City. I fear they have encountered a danger they cannot resolve, so I want you to make a trip there.”

Ying Wuji glanced at Yuan Yao as she climbed, then let his gaze linger briefly on Lu Xiangxiang.

He looked back and cupped his hands. “Yes, Master.”

Qian Jueshan produced a scroll and handed it to Ying Wuji.

“This is a teleportation scroll. If you encounter danger, activate it immediately and you will be able to leave Yunming City.”

Although Qian Jueshan worried about his disciples’ safety, he could not remain beside them at all times. They needed experience. They needed to endure hardship before they could become strong.

Then, even if they returned to their clans one day, they would be able to establish themselves through their own abilities.

Ying Wuji accepted the teleportation scroll and could not resist saying, “Master, everyone says sword cultivators are poor, but you seem to own mountains of gold and silver.”

Qian Jueshan chuckled. “I accumulated these things when I was young.”

In his youth, he had traveled to countless places and obtained more secret treasures and legacies than anyone could count.

After putting away the teleportation scroll, Ying Wuji took a volume of cultivation techniques and combat arts from his storage space and handed it to Qian Jueshan.

“Master, this is the sword art Yaoyao wants to learn. Please pass it on to her for me.”

Qian Jueshan accepted the *Taihuang Sword Art* and nodded. “Very well.”

Ying Wuji stepped back, saluted Qian Jueshan, and departed from the Heavenly Stairway Training Ground.

Meanwhile, Yuan Yao was so focused on climbing that she never noticed his departure.

Huffing and puffing, she made it to the fifty-sixth step.

The pressure of the increasing gravity grew stronger and stronger.

Even lifting herself onto the next step had become exceedingly difficult.

Lu Xiangxiang soon caught up.

She stared at Yuan Yao’s profile, a shadow passing through her eyes, then stepped past her in one stride. The next instant, a tiny point of light began gathering on her fingertip.

Just as it was about to shoot free, Cang Li’s voice rang out.

“Why are you climbing so slowly?”

He had already reached Yuan Yao’s side.

Lu Xiangxiang’s expression shifted, and the point of light sank back into her flesh.

She abandoned the thought and continued upward.

Cang Li, meanwhile, was in no hurry. He stayed beside Yuan Yao, climbing at a leisurely pace.

By the time they reached the hundredth step, Yuan Yao was already panting for breath. The hair at her temples was soaked with sweat.

“I’m exhausted.”

Cang Li pressed his palms together. “Benefactor Yuan, you must not halt your steps. Have no fear. I, Cang Aotian, will remain beside you, so climb onward with courage.”

Yuan Yao rolled her eyes at him.

“What an affront to decorum!” Cang Li frowned. “Beautiful women should never roll their eyes.”

“I’m an ugly woman.” Yuan Yao rolled her eyes at him again.

Cang Li was speechless.

Yuan Yao looked up and saw that Lu Xiangxiang had already reached the hundred-and-thirtieth step.

Gritting her teeth, she continued climbing against the crushing gravity. It felt as though every inch of flesh, every tendon, and every bone in her body were being compressed.

Her chest felt tight, and the discomfort was unbearable.

Cang Li sighed with emotion. “When we were young, we carried you up the Heavenly Stairway. Now it’s your turn to carry us.”

Through gritted teeth, Yuan Yao said, “I’ll carry you when you’re old.”