Chronicles of Heaven's Chosen - Chapter 92

As Yuan Yao raced toward the open ground, the ghost-masked youth suddenly appeared ahead of her.

He was tall and slender, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. His long white robe, embroidered with drifting-cloud patterns, stirred in the wind and made his figure appear all the more graceful. A jade-green gourd hung at his waist.

Beneath the hideous ghost mask, a pair of beautiful eyes regarded her with a faint smile, full of mockery and amusement.

The moment their gazes met, Yuan Yao knew he had come to watch the show.

The young man’s voice was cool and indifferent. “Little trash, shall we make a bet? Will you die at the Nightmare Beast’s hands? I bet you will.”

“Dog Xie, I won’t die!” Yuan Yao gritted her teeth, finding the wretched man utterly detestable.

The young man looked past her at the Nightmare Beast. “You had better not fail,” he said coldly.

The threat in his tone was unmistakable.

The Nightmare Beast immediately understood. Xie Yan was ordering it to kill the little human freak—or he would kill the Beast himself!

Alarm flashed through it.

It had no intention of sparing the human freak. If not for her, how could it have fallen so far, its cultivation damaged and its foundation destroyed?

Yuan Yao glared at the ghost-masked youth.

Then she stopped, turned around, and raised her sword to meet the Nightmare Beast’s attack.

It took only one exchange for the Beast to grievously wound her.

Yuan Yao forced down the metallic sweetness rising in her throat. Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed the ghost-masked youth watching from nearby, and a gleam entered her gaze.

She defended against the Nightmare Beast while pretending to be overwhelmed and retreating toward him.

The Beast’s gigantic claw swept forward, shattered Yuan Yao’s mental defenses, and sent her flying.

Bang!

She landed directly at the ghost-masked youth’s feet.

He frowned and took a disgusted step back.

His gaze shifted in the next instant. Phantom Spirit had transformed into a rope and wrapped around his ankle.

Before he could cut it, Yuan Yao seized the other end and yanked with all her strength, trying to drag him to the ground.

He did not move so much as a thread or strand.

“Tsk.” The young man laughed contemptuously.

Her shame turning into anger, Yuan Yao scrambled upright.

The Nightmare Beast arrived and attacked her again.

Yuan Yao looked back, her pupils contracting. Panic filled her face as she ran toward Xie Yan and softened her voice.

“Xie Yan, please…”

He froze.

By the time he recovered, Yuan Yao had already hidden behind him. He frowned and was about to mock her—

When she kicked him viciously in the backside.

“As if I’d beg you!”

Xie Yan stumbled several steps forward. Had he not dodged in time, the Nightmare Beast would have flattened his skull.

A peculiar ache spread from the place she had kicked.

The young man’s brow twitched violently, anger smoldering within him.

He shot Yuan Yao a razor-sharp look.

She pulled a face at him.

“Do you enjoy kicking people that much?”

His gaze dropped to her feet. Her shoes were covered in dirt and blood, yet she had dared place them on him.

He seemed to laugh from sheer rage. “It appears you no longer want those feet.”

With a lift of his hand, a red thread appeared from thin air and shot toward her ankles.

Yuan Yao dodged swiftly, narrowly avoiding it.

She sneered. “I don’t enjoy kicking people. I enjoy kicking you.”

Xie Yan’s expression darkened. He suddenly remembered that only a few days earlier, he had warned Wu Liuyun for her sake.

The thought now seemed laughable.

With a flash, he appeared in front of Yuan Yao and reached for her throat.

She seemed to have anticipated the move. Yuan Yao hunched forward and ducked her head, deftly avoiding his hand. Then she surged upward like a wild beast and drove her skull into his solid chest!

She put all her strength into the blow.

Bang!

Xie Yan was driven back half a step, a dull pain spreading through his chest.

He seized the back of her collar and yanked her away.

Yuan Yao stumbled several steps. Her head hurt so badly that tears sprang to her eyes.

Dog Xie’s chest was as hard as a wall. Headbutting him was no different from ramming a rock.

The Nightmare Beast had been confused when the two began fighting. Now that they had separated, it gathered its power and attacked Yuan Yao once more!

Sensing the danger, she summoned the Phantom Spirit Sword and raised it to block.

Boom!

The blow sent her crashing into a wall. Her whole body felt as though it had fallen apart, and her face went white with pain.

The Nightmare Beast raised one colossal arm and hammered it down toward her!

Yuan Yao twisted and rolled aside.

She avoided the direct blow, but the impact still shook her soul. Blood spread from the corner of her mouth.

The Beast did not relent.

Yuan Yao paid no attention to her miserable state. She scrambled upright and fought back.

Again and again, she fell. Again and again, she evaded a fatal strike.

Within moments, her hair was disheveled, blood stained her lips, and dirt covered her body. She looked utterly wretched.

Watching her, Xie Yan frowned in disgust.

Filthy.

By now, Yuan Yao understood perfectly that she could not defeat the Nightmare Beast. Her only way out was to provoke it into dealing a fatal blow.

That would activate one of the life-saving talismans Master had given her!

She wiped the blood from her mouth and gave a mocking laugh.

“Nightmare Beast, you’re pathetic. Even a cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Realm like me has kept you occupied for this long. A sixth-rank demon beast like you is all show and no substance.”

The Beast’s fury mounted.

Yuan Yao continued provoking it. “Is that all you’re capable of? If word spread, every living creature would laugh its big teeth out!”

“You seek death!”

The Nightmare Beast struck at her with all its strength.

This time, Yuan Yao did not dodge. Nor did she raise her sword to attack or defend.

She seemed determined to die.

Watching her, Xie Yan rubbed a finger over his jade-green gourd.

Endless pressure crushed toward Yuan Yao, and indescribable agony spread through her body.

Blood welled from the corner of her mouth.

As the gigantic claw was about to strike, she instinctively closed her eyes.

Clang—

A sword rang out, followed by the Nightmare Beast’s scream.

Yuan Yao’s eyes flew open.

The Beast’s skull had been split in two!

It tumbled to the ground, and the ghost-masked youth crushed it beneath one foot.

He turned his head and looked at Yuan Yao.

“Pathetic.”

“Why did you…” save me?

Before she could finish, he interrupted with a mocking tone. “Don’t tell me you think I did that to save you.”

Yuan Yao froze.

Was that not what he had done?

The remaining half of the skull tried to escape, but the ghost-masked youth mercilessly crushed it again.

He severed its soul along with it!

Nightmare Space began to fragment and shatter in an instant.

Just before Yuan Yao lost consciousness, she heard his indifferent voice.

“Only I get to kill my prey.”