Chronicles of Heaven's Chosen - Chapter 88

Meanwhile, in the murky gray streets of Yunming City, dozens of elite disciples abruptly awakened.

Cang Li was among them.

He jerked upright. When he saw bodies lying seven ways horizontal and eight ways vertical across the ground, he drew a sharp breath.

His attention quickly fell on the girl in white lying nearby. He rose, hurried to her side, and checked her breathing.

“Yaoyao?”

He called her softly, but Yuan Yao did not respond.

Cang Li realized that the Nightmare Beast had expelled his consciousness.

He scanned the surroundings and soon spotted Eldest Senior Brother and Second Senior Sister.

His heart sank. He hurried over, dropped to his knees beside Eldest Senior Brother, and checked his pulse.

It was extremely weak.

“Eldest Senior Brother…” Cang Li stared at Song Yan’s ashen face, his heart plummeting.

Song Yan was still alive, but his life was hanging by a thread.

Cang Li took Soul-Stabilizing Pills from his storage space and fed them to Song Yan one after another.

Then he checked Second Senior Sister’s condition.

“Senior Brother Cang!” Several elite disciples of the Xiaoyao Sect hurried over after awakening.

Cang Li looked up. All trace of his usual teasing manner was gone.

“Bring every member of the Xiaoyao Sect here,” he ordered gravely.

He had to confirm whether they were still alive.

“Yes, Senior Brother Cang!” the disciples replied solemnly.

They split up to search Yunming City for the others.

Cang Li rose and carried Yuan Yao over, placing her between Eldest Senior Brother and Second Senior Sister.

Then he remained there to guard all three.

As he looked at their sleeping faces, memories of fighting the Nightmare Beast together inside Nightmare Space ran through his mind. His fist clenched.

He lowered his eyes.

Over the past ten years, he had grown lazier and weaker.

He could no longer compare to them.

During the battle inside Nightmare Space, he had clearly felt the distance between himself and the others widening. Perhaps in another ten years, he would no longer be capable of fighting at their side.

He had once thought that even if he could not keep up with Wuji and the others, what did it matter? At least Little Junior Sister would still be there with him.

But now…

Little Junior Sister had changed.

He had watched her grow stronger bit by bit, paying dearly for every step.

Cang Li’s gaze shifted to Song Yan’s gray-white face.

Now, he was not even capable of saving Eldest Senior Brother.

…

Inside Nightmare Space—

Yuan Yao swept out her sword and split the black fog with mental power.

“We can’t leave yet!” she said gravely. “If we go, those who are too weak won’t be able to escape!”

The Nightmare Beast sneered when it heard her. With a flash, it appeared before Yuan Yao.

Compared with its gigantic body, she was smaller than one of its claws.

It slammed a palm toward her, intending to injure her so badly that she could no longer run her little mouth—or devour its mental power.

Yuan Yao tried to dodge, but the Beast’s spiritual-sense pressure locked her firmly in place.

She had no choice but to raise her sword and meet the attack.

Just then—

Two swords rang out.

The Nightmare Beast’s skull shook violently, interrupting its attack.

Yuan Yao’s heart jolted. She seized the opportunity to retreat, then looked up and saw one figure in black and another in white.

Xue Jin and Ying Wuji!

One wore white and had pink hair; the other wore black, with hair to match.

Both had inherited their swordsmanship from Immortal Lord Qianshan. Moving in perfect accord, they continued striking at the Nightmare Beast’s skull!

Xiao Lingwei, Zhai Qingye, Li Ji, and Nan Feiyan broke through the interfering black fog and swiftly joined the battle, working together to tie down the Beast.

“Flame Blade!” Xiao Lingwei stepped forward and swept her segmented bone whip at the Nightmare Beast. Fire elemental power wrapped around the long whip, and the strike split open its fog body!

“Gentle Breeze, Falling Leaves!” Zhai Qingye swung his great saber. The blade drifted forward like a gentle breeze, but the instant it struck the Nightmare Beast, it erupted with a ferocious blade of mental power!

Li Ji leaped into the air and thrust out both palms. “Palm-Breaking Form!”

A palm imprint wreathed in sacred light hurtled toward the Beast!

“Great Brahma Sacred Arrow!” Nan Feiyan sprang upward with her massive thunderflame bow. Bracing the bowstring with one foot, she fired a gigantic lightning arrow at the Nightmare Beast’s skull!

Whoosh—

The arrow tore through the air, tracing a startling arc like a bolt of lightning.

The Nightmare Beast blocked the attacks, then swatted at them with a huge claw.

Corrosive slime now coated its talons.

“Careful!” Li Ji’s expression changed sharply, and she retreated.

The sect elders exchanged glances, gathered their spiritual power, and moved to the four sides of the Nightmare Beast. They rapidly formed seals.

They intended to erect a barrier and trap it!

The Nightmare Beast seemed to guess their plan. It roared, releasing a terrifying mental shock wave that blasted them back and sent waves of pain through their seas of consciousness.

Yuan Yao leaped upward and swung her sword.

The gigantic blade of mental power swept forward like a falling star.

The Beast waved one arm and easily blocked her attack. Then it swung its thick arm like an iron hammer and smashed it toward her.

Alarmed by the Beast’s fiercely surging approach, Yuan Yao hurriedly twisted aside.

She had barely evaded its fist when the Beast attacked where she did not expect, abruptly reversing the strike and sweeping its arm back.

The sudden change left her no time even to move her hands. Just as the blow was about to land, a long whip flew in from the side, wrapped precisely around her waist, and yanked her out of danger.

“Second Senior Sister!”

Xiao Lingwei nodded to her, then resumed her attack on the Nightmare Beast.

Yuan Yao regained her composure.

She swiftly withdrew from the center of the fighting, focused her mental power, and used it to attack the Beast and disrupt its rhythm.

Her spiritual power and combat experience were both lacking. At this moment, only her mental power could contend with the Nightmare Beast.

Her interference threw its rhythm into disarray, allowing the others to land repeated blows.

The injuries were not severe, but they made the Beast increasingly irritable.

It turned to leave.

“Don’t let it escape!” Yuan Yao cried.

Everyone instinctively moved to block its path.

But the Beast dissolved into a mass of black fog and passed easily through their barricade.

Yuan Yao immediately flew after it on her sword.

She could not let it vanish before her eyes!

If it disappeared without a trace, no one could predict what would happen next. Eldest Senior Brother and the others might even become food in its belly.

As long as she kept it in sight and denied it any opportunity to act unseen, she could protect them as much as possible.

But as she chased it, her focus slipped for a single instant.

She sensed something and looked back—

Second Senior Sister and all the others had disappeared.

The scene around her changed again. She now stood amid a bustling Yunming City at night, surrounded by people coming and going.

She frantically scanned the crowd but saw no familiar faces.

Yuan Yao grabbed someone and tried to ask what had happened, only for the person to wrench free and glare at her in disgust.

A violent, ticking hum sounded inside her sea of consciousness. The surroundings blurred, and the clamor of the street gradually faded into echoes.

“Sleep,” a familiar, gentle voice said.

Master…

No. No!

That was not Master’s voice!

Master was not here!

Yuan Yao drew a deep breath and swiftly steadied her mind. She focused her will and swept her gaze across everything around her.

The crowd and bustling market dissolved little by little before her eyes.

But a figure in the distance gradually came into focus.

The young man seemed to sense something. He turned and looked in her direction.

When Yuan Yao saw his face, she froze. Then she narrowed her eyes and said coldly, “You’re a fake too!”

Xie Yan stared at her in confusion.