Chronicles of Heaven's Chosen - Chapter 71

“If you want the necklace, come in and take it yourself.”

An enchanting smile curved Wu Liuyun’s peach-blossom eyes. He drew the crescent-moon necklace from his robe and deliberately dangled it in front of Yuan Yao.

“What is it? Are you afraid to come and get it?”

Wu Liuyun continued, “If you don’t want it, I’ll crush it.”

His five fingers slowly began to close. Never taking his eyes from Yuan Yao, he provocatively tightened his grip around the crescent carved from supreme-grade spirit stone.

“Wu Liuyun!” Yuan Yao suddenly called.

At the sound of his true name, Wu Liuyun’s expression changed dramatically. His gaze shot toward her like a blade.

“Who are you? How do you know my true name?”

“Your grandaunt, that’s who!” Yuan Yao sneered.

She directed the Phantom Spirit Sword into a furious assault.

“Sword Style—”

“Shadow Unfurl!”

Yuan Yao formed a seal with both hands. Under her control, the Phantom Spirit Sword traced a dazzling arc through the air, then split into hundreds of sword lights that swept toward Wu Liuyun.

His gaze darkened. He raised his flexible sword to meet their attack.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Wu Liuyun could feel the formation draining away his spiritual power bit by bit.

Yuan Yao concentrated entirely on controlling the Phantom Spirit Sword. Her goal was to prolong the fight, giving the formation more time to consume his power.

Wu Liuyun slashed out and forced the Phantom Spirit Sword back.

“If you refuse to answer, then this has no reason to continue existing!”

He opened his left hand, revealing the crescent-moon necklace in his palm.

Just as he was about to crush the spirit-stone crescent, something unexpected happened.

The riotously colorful sword transformed into a huge toad. Its tongue shot out, coiled around the crescent-moon necklace, and snatched it away.

The toad immediately leaped out of the formation barrier and returned to Yuan Yao, spitting the necklace into her hand.

Yuan Yao breathed a huge sigh of relief. She quickly swept the necklace and every other valuable ornament into her storage space.

Inside the formation, Wu Liuyun looked utterly incredulous. Before his eyes, the ugly toad transformed back into a sword.

What…

What kind of object was that?

He had never seen a treasure capable of changing into other objects.

His eyes lit up.

When Yuan Yao saw him staring covetously at her Phantom Spirit Sword, she hurriedly hid it behind her back.

“Wu Liuyun, you thief!” she snapped. “Don’t even think about stealing my sword!”

“It seems you truly possess a great many rare treasures.” Wu Liuyun’s breathing grew heavy, his greedy eyes fixed on Yuan Yao.

He raised his sword and brought it down on the Spirit-Devouring Formation.

Boom—

The formation failed to devour his spiritual power.

That meant the spiritual power he had unleashed was twice as strong as the Spirit-Devouring Formation.

The formation began to tremble on the verge of collapse.

Yuan Yao realized that if she stayed, he would rob her of everything she owned. Gritting her teeth, she glanced at the seven people still trapped in the Gravity Formation, then decided that escaping came first.

She bolted for the mouth of the alley.

A mocking smile spread across Wu Liuyun’s lips.

He swung his sword.

The Spirit-Devouring Formation shattered.

He prepared to pursue Yuan Yao, only to discover that she had already vanished from the alley.

Wu Liuyun frowned in confusion.

How could anyone run that fast?

He swiftly gave chase and soon reached the alley’s entrance. After scanning the surroundings, he caught a flash of white clothing within the crowd along the street to his left.

His eyes narrowed, and he sped after it.

He moved with astonishing speed.

The moment Yuan Yao looked back and saw Wu Liuyun closing in, her heart began to pound.

This was bad.

She was debating whether to message Third Senior Brother for help when a familiar figure appeared ahead.

Her heart leaped with joy.

The ghost-masked youth was examining items at an antique stall. Sensing something, he turned his head.

Before he could react, the girl seized his wrist.

“Xie Yan, I finally found you!” she said urgently, the words tumbling out at tremendous speed. “I have something to tell you!”

Xie Yan lowered his gaze to the fingers clamped around his wrist. Then he looked up, his eyes dark and icy.

“Do you want to lose that hand?”

“No.” Yuan Yao started to release him, but when she sensed a gaze boring into her back, she did not dare let go.

The youth seemed to notice it too. His eyes moved past the side of her face and settled on the young man in pale-purple brocade.

Their gazes met.

Still looking straight ahead, Xie Yan asked Yuan Yao, “You want me to clean up your mess?”

“No!” she denied at once.

His gaze shifted to her face, which had gone pale from running—or perhaps from nerves.

“Let go,” he said without emotion.

Yuan Yao saw the undisguised killing intent in his eyes and hurriedly released his wrist.

Xie Yan turned and left without hesitation.

Yuan Yao hurried after him.

Wherever he went, she followed, while Wu Liuyun trailed behind them both.

A vein throbbed between Xie Yan’s brows. He stopped and turned, ready to warn Yuan Yao, only for her to walk straight into him.

Her forehead struck his chin—or rather, the ghost mask covering it.

“Ow…”

Yuan Yao winced in pain.

Xie Yan stepped toward her. “Little trash, have you forgotten our wager in the Wuduan Secret Realm? What are you supposed to do whenever you see me?”

“I forgot.” Yuan Yao retreated two steps and blinked innocently.

Xie Yan fell silent.

“Get. Lost.” Impatience radiated from every word.

Yuan Yao had meant to act pitiful, but one look at Xie Yan’s corpse-cold stare killed the impulse. It only made her want to hit him.

She glared at him, visibly furious but unable to say a word.

He gave a cold laugh, then turned and walked away.

This time, Yuan Yao truly did not follow.

She looked back at Wu Liuyun, who was watching her like a predator.

As he approached, she calmly took out a message crystal.

Wu Liuyun narrowed his eyes.

“Didn’t you want to know who I am?” Yuan Yao pointed to herself and smiled. “I’ll tell you now. I’m Ying Wuji’s Little Junior Sister—Yuan Yao. My Master is the renowned Immortal Lord Qianshan.”

Wu Liuyun stared at her in disbelief, looking her up and down.

Yuan Yao raised her chin. “I am going to message my Master right now. If anything happens to me, I’ll simply tell him to seek revenge on a man named Wu Liuyun.”

Wu Liuyun’s expression turned grave, and he stared at her with complicated eyes.

Yuan Yao was just about to channel spiritual power into the message crystal when someone called from behind her.

“Little Junior Sister!”