Chronicles of Heaven's Chosen - Chapter 76

A strange, viscous, ice-cold mental force slithered like a venomous snake into the deepest reaches of Yuan Yao’s sea of consciousness and began to wreak havoc.

Agony tore at her heart and split her lungs, as though ten thousand steel needles had pierced her mind at once.

She bit down hard on her lip and squeezed her eyes shut. Enduring the pain, she mobilized every trace of her own mental power to resist.

But the opposing force was like a colossal beast. It bore down on her mental power bit by bit, trying to crush it entirely.

Yuan Yao dared not relax for even an instant. Her teeth clenched, she emptied her mind of distractions and continued resisting.

As time passed, it felt as though her head would explode. The viscous, icy mental power intensified beyond its original force. It rampaged through her sea of consciousness and even tried to leave behind a mental brand.

Yuan Yao had no idea that if it succeeded, she would lose control of herself and become the other party’s servant and slave.

“What’s wrong with you?!”

Qiu Xingwen saw that Yuan Yao’s face had turned deathly pale. Fine beads of sweat covered her forehead and ran down her cheeks. Realizing she was in danger, he moved toward her.

“Don’t go near her.”

A young man’s voice came from behind him.

Qiu Xingwen’s expression changed. He looked back and found that the orange-robed youth, who had been meditating with his eyes closed, had opened them at some point.

“Y-you…” Fear brought Qiu Xingwen’s stammer back. “Do you know what’s happening to her?”

The orange-robed youth swept a cold glance over him and offered no answer.

“Big Brother, is Sister Yuan in danger?” Gu Zhaozhao asked worriedly.

The youth looked at the tiny child.

“…Yes.”

Gu Zhaozhao stepped forward, clasped her hands together, and pleaded through tear-filled eyes, “Big Brother, can you please help Sister Yuan?”

The youth frowned slightly.

He should never have spoken.

Children were troublesome. Old people were troublesome. People in general were troublesome.

He closed his eyes again.

“Big Brother?” Gu Zhaozhao called cautiously.

Meanwhile, as Yuan Yao fought the cold, clinging mental power, she suddenly sensed another unfamiliar force attempting to enter her sea of consciousness.

That made Yuan Yao’s fur stand on end!

*All of you, get out!*

A thunderous boom shook her sea of consciousness. The viscous mental power was blasted out, while the second unfamiliar force was repelled as well.

All the strength left Yuan Yao’s body, and she nearly collapsed to the floor. When she opened her eyes, they were threaded with so many red veins that they looked terrifying.

“Sister Yuan!”

Gu Zhaozhao ran over and tried to support Yuan Yao with her small hands. The sight of Yuan Yao’s pale face and bloodshot eyes made the child’s heart tighten with worry.

“Are you all right?” Qiu Xingwen crouched beside her and asked anxiously.

Everything before Yuan Yao gradually blurred. Her head grew heavier, her thoughts cloudier. She wanted desperately to fall asleep.

But she could not.

If she fell asleep, her mental power would scatter and her consciousness would become as muddled as Gu Zhaozhao’s had been.

She bit the tip of her tongue hard, and the taste of blood spread through her mouth.

With a trembling hand, she took a third-grade Mind-Clearing Pill from her storage space and swallowed it at once.

Then she sat cross-legged on the floor. First, she calmed the chaotic mental power in her sea of consciousness. Only then did she begin repairing the damage.

Gu Zhaozhao wanted to speak, but Qiu Xingwen shook his head at her.

She closed her mouth and watched Yuan Yao with worried eyes.

The orange-robed youth opened his eyes again. He stared toward Yuan Yao and narrowed them slightly.

He had not expected her to repel that mental power…

Despite taking the Mind-Clearing Pill, Yuan Yao still suffered an excruciating headache.

Her sea of consciousness had been ravaged into something resembling a ruin. She did her utmost to settle the disordered mental power within it.

After a while, Gu Zhaozhao saw blood trickling from Yuan Yao’s nose. Her little face tensed, and she cast Qiu Xingwen an imploring look.

“Sister Yuan will make it through!” he assured her.

Even as he spoke, however, Qiu Xingwen suspected Yuan Yao might be courting death like the others before her.

They too had searched for a way out.

In the end, every one of them had either died, lost their senses, or been dragged away by the mysterious force.

“She definitely will!” Gu Zhaozhao nodded hard.

She pulled a handkerchief from inside her clothes and carefully wiped the blood beneath Yuan Yao’s nose.

Once Yuan Yao had calmed her chaotic mental power, she discovered something unexpected.

Her mental power seemed to have grown stronger.

No. More precisely, her sea of consciousness had expanded.

The enemy’s viscous mental power had been strong enough to tear her sea of consciousness apart. Yet under that pressure, the torn space had knitted itself back together—and become larger in the process.

The discovery sent countless thoughts racing through her mind.

The strength of one’s mental power affected the size of one’s sea of consciousness.

Conversely, the larger the sea of consciousness, the stronger one’s mental power.

Once Yuan Yao grasped that principle, a mad idea occurred to her.

She could use the enemy’s mental power to expand her sea of consciousness, thereby strengthening her own.

Would that not allow her to cultivate mental power?

Delight surged through her.

Her eyes flew open, excitement sparkling in their beautiful depths.

“Sister Yuan…”

Yuan Yao reached out and stroked Gu Zhaozhao’s cheek. “Zhaozhao, no matter what happens in a moment, don’t be afraid.”

Then she looked up at Qiu Xingwen. “Take Zhaozhao to the side for now.”

“Can you really do this?” Seeing that she still refused to give up on courting death, Qiu Xingwen could not help asking.

Yuan Yao smiled. “I can!”

If it made her stronger, there was nothing she could not do!

After Qiu Xingwen led Gu Zhaozhao aside, Yuan Yao fixed her gaze on the door.

Soon, she closed her eyes.

Her face gradually turned white, and cold sweat poured from her brow. She seemed to be enduring unimaginable pain.

Qiu Xingwen frowned. He truly could not understand what she was trying to accomplish.

Inside Yuan Yao’s sea of consciousness, the viscous, frigid mental power surged back in and began ravaging the space once more.

Yuan Yao concentrated her own mental power and fought it.

*I’ll fight you to the bitter end!*

She recalled the mental-power incantation that the young Senior Nie Lie had taught her.

*Heaven and earth unite; all qi returns to its root!*

*A single thought summons divine might; all creation shines clear!*

*Break!*

Rumble—

An explosion rocked her sea of consciousness. The opposing mental power took the full impact and instinctively recoiled.

At that same instant, blood poured from Yuan Yao’s seven orifices, and she spat out a mouthful of blood.

“Sister Yuan!” Gu Zhaozhao’s expression changed in horror.

Yuan Yao waved a hand without looking back, as though to say: I’m fine.

Her head spun. The meridians throughout her body seemed to be boiling.

Heat consumed her from head to toe.

She felt ready to explode.