Chronicles of Heaven's Chosen - Chapter 79

In the next instant, Zhai Qingye flashed forward without so much as a backward glance at Yuan Yao and the other two behind him.

Yuan Yao frowned but did not immediately go to help.

She knew that at her current level of strength, she would only become a weight dragging at their hind legs.

Instead, she turned her gaze to the prison rooms around her.

After staring at them for several seconds, she made her decision.

She would break open these prisons and let the people inside out! The more people they had, the greater their chances of defeating the Nightmare Beast!

Yuan Yao drew a deep breath and fixed her eyes on the prison room before her.

The instant her mental power touched it, an even stronger force struck back like a great python, seemingly intent on devouring her soul!

Yuan Yao immediately steadied her mind and concentrated her mental power to fight back.

At the same time—

Zhai Qingye joined the battle. One swing of his saber cleaved the black fog in two!

His appearance took Ying Wuji and the others by surprise.

“Qingye!” Elder Yan, Grand Elder of the Sacred Order, exclaimed when he saw the newcomer.

Zhai Qingye looked at him. “Grand Elder.”

His gaze soon shifted to Ying Wuji and Xiao Lingwei. When their eyes met, invisible sparks seemed to crackle between them.

Zhai Qingye was seventeen years old and came from the Sacred Order. He was the youngest disciple of the Sect Master of the Sacred Order and ranked seventh among his disciples, earning him the name Seventh Young Master Zhai across the Ninth Continent.

He had placed second in the previous Grand Sect Tournament.

Ying Wuji had placed seventh, while Xiao Lingwei had ranked ninth.

Among the Ninth Continent’s younger generation, Zhai Qingye was unquestionably a peerless genius.

Elder Yan was deeply shocked that he had suddenly appeared here, but the crisis left no time to dwell on the question.

He shouted, “Qingye, lend this old man the strength of one arm!”

Zhai Qingye did not reply.

Elder Yan took his silence for agreement.

Ying Wuji and Xiao Lingwei exchanged a glance, then focused once more on fighting the black fog.

The fog had been split apart, but it swiftly restored itself.

“The black fog isn’t its true body,” Zhai Qingye said gravely. “Its true body is somewhere else.”

He had previously tracked the Nightmare Beast with his spiritual sense and discovered how exceedingly cunning it was. It could produce numerous black-fog clones to confuse its enemies.

The Nightmare Beast was poor at fighting with real blades and real spears. Its strength lay in hiding in the shadows, laying traps with mental power, and attacking every human cultivator who tried to escape.

“Then do you know where its true body is?” an elder asked anxiously.

Expressionless, Zhai Qingye said, “The simplest way to find it is with bait. But whoever acts as bait is certain to die.”

The expressions of those present changed slightly.

Elder Yan immediately understood. “Qingye, is there anyone willing to offer themselves as bait?”

Zhai Qingye narrowed his eyes and was about to turn when the black fog surged at him, forcing him to raise his saber in defense.

Boom!

The attack abruptly ended their conversation.

Just then, Ying Wuji seemed to sense something and looked in a particular direction.

Several floating prison rooms happened to drift across his line of sight, concealing Yuan Yao and the others.

At that moment, Yuan Yao felt as though her skull were splitting open. Her sea of consciousness was being savaged, its surroundings torn apart as if countless sharp spikes had been driven into her head.

Blood soon streamed from all seven of her orifices.

She gritted her teeth and fought back with all her might.

With her spiritual sense, she recited a mental incantation—

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

One thought bears divine might; all creation stands revealed!

Break!

In an instant, her mental power launched a frenzied counterattack against the other side’s viscous mental power. It even began to show signs of devouring it.

Only one thought remained in Yuan Yao’s mind.

Devour it!

She had no idea how shocking her impulse was. Anyone else who learned of it would have called her insane.

As she ferociously struck back, the prison room before her began to twist, then slowly ripped apart.

An explosion thundered.

Boom—

The prison room vanished without a trace.

The six people trapped inside were wary when they first saw Yuan Yao, but their caution instantly turned to delight.

“Oh no!” one of them cried as his expression changed.

There was nothing beneath their feet, and they immediately began to fall—

Then an invisible force wrapped around their bodies and slowly lowered them to the ground.

“This is…” The six stared in surprise.

They could not help looking up at the girl standing on the broad blade of the Phantom Spirit Sword. Blood seeped from her eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, making her look terrifying.

Her eyes were tightly shut, and pain showed faintly on her face.

The six quickly realized that she was the one who had saved them.

【Target Shi Yuan’s and Ji Gulan’s Awakening Values have reached 35.】

【Target Li Ji’s Awakening Value has reached 13.】

【Targets Ding Shanyue’s, Liu San’s, and Gu Si’s Awakening Values have reached 50. Congratulations, Host. You have successfully won over targets Ding Shanyue, Liu San, and Gu Si, earning three days of lifespan. Your current lifespan is seven days and fourteen hours.】

Yuan Yao was surprised to suddenly hear System 250’s voice.

She had been puzzled for the past two days, and now she asked the question directly. “System 250, why are some people so easy to win over?”

The same life-saving favor produced different Awakening Values in different targets. Why?

And was Awakening Value not supposed to measure how far a predetermined character had broken free of their original characterization? How could simply saving their life cause them to “awaken”?

She did not consider that awakening.

At most, their favorable impression of her had increased.

System 250 replied, 【Host, you have altered the destined trajectory of characters who were originally cannon fodder or minor figures in the book. Therefore, this also qualifies as initial awakening.】

Yuan Yao understood.

She opened her eyes and glanced at the unconscious Gu Zhaozhao beside her, her emotions complicated.

Gu Zhaozhao was one of the cannon-fodder characters.

So were Ding Shanyue, Liu San, and Gu Si.

Yuan Yao took a deep breath, lifted her head, and looked ahead.

Sometimes saving someone also counted as “winning them over,” but she would never blindly save people merely for that purpose.

She would follow her heart.

Looking down at the six people below, she thought, This isn’t enough!

She swallowed another third-grade Mind-Clearing Pill and began attacking a second prison room.

By then, the six people below had taken in everything around them. Shock filled their hearts, soon followed by fear.

The woman in red, Li Ji, looked up toward the battle between Ying Wuji’s group and the black fog. She raised a hand, summoned a longsword, and shot toward them.

When an elder of the Dual Poles Sect saw her approaching, his expression shifted.

“Li Ji!”

“Elder Fang.” Sword in hand, Li Ji nodded to him, then swiftly joined the battle.