Chronicles of Heaven's Chosen - Chapter 94

Outside the gates of Yunming City, majestic spirit vessels stood moored one after another.

They belonged to different sects. At that moment, members of every sect bustled between the city and their vessels, carefully carrying their injured companions aboard and settling them in.

Yuan Yao headed toward Xiaoyao Sect’s spirit vessel.

The moment she stepped onto its deck, a handsome youth nearby noticed her. He immediately rose and came over. “How did it go? Did they give you a hard time?”

Yuan Yao shook her head. “With Second Elder there, they couldn’t bully me.”

“That’s good.” Cang Li breathed a sigh of relief.

“Third Senior Brother, did you find that Gu Zhaozhao I asked you to look for?”

Cang Li nodded slowly. He was holding a dripping-wet handkerchief and gently wiping his hands as he replied, “I found her, but the situation is a little complicated. A mysterious party took her and another young woman away.”

“What party?” Yuan Yao could not help feeling uneasy.

“A party from the Gu Clan.” Cang Li’s hands paused before he added, “The Gu Clan is one of the three great clans of the Ninth Continent, and Gu Zhaozhao is the clan head’s granddaughter.”

There were three preeminent clans on the Ninth Continent:

the Weng Clan, the Gu Clan, and the Linghu Clan.

Yuan Yao had clearly heard of the Gu Clan. Realization dawned on her, and she nodded. “If her clan came to take her home, then that’s good.”

“Has Eldest Senior Brother woken up?”

“No.” Cang Li shook his head gravely.

Yuan Yao’s heart sank. She entered the cabin and saw that Eldest Senior Brother’s face was still deathly pale. She placed her fingers on his wrist to check his pulse, but it remained weak and erratic.

“Yaoyao.” At that moment, Xiao Lingwei, Xue Jin, Cang Li, and Ying Wuji all entered the cabin.

Yuan Yao turned to them.

“Will this damage Eldest Senior Brother’s cultivation foundation?” she asked worriedly.

The others fell silent.

Guilt overwhelmed Yuan Yao. If it were not for her, Eldest Senior Brother would never have suffered this calamity.

She immediately took a message crystal from her storage space and contacted Qian Jueshan. “Master, can you come to Yunming City? Eldest Senior Brother has been badly injured…”

As she spoke, her eyes began to sting.

“Master may not—” Cang Li had just begun to console her when Qian Jueshan’s reply cut him off.

“All right.” Qian Jueshan’s voice was as melodious as a stream flowing down a lofty mountain, steady and composed.

Cang Li’s expression stiffened. “…” Master, could you be any more biased?!

When they were children and went out to train, they would send Master messages asking for help whenever they encountered danger, only for him to respond coldly, “Solve your own problems.”

When they were eight, the five of them had been surrounded by a dense swarm of killer bees. Cang Li had cried and shouted into the message crystal, begging Master to save them, only to hear him say, “If you have time to cry, you have time to think of a way to deal with the killer bees.”

When he was twelve, a stone beast crushed and broke his right leg. He sent Master a plea for help, but Master merely said, “You can do it.”

Over time, whenever they encountered danger outside, their first thought was no longer to ask Master for help, but to find a solution themselves.

Only after they grew up did Cang Li and the others belatedly realize that their master had actually reached the scene the moment their messages arrived.

He simply had not shown himself. Instead, he had quietly intervened whenever a threat would have killed them.

Otherwise, how could a handful of little runts like them have escaped death time and again with the scant strength they possessed back then?

This time, Qian Jueshan also rushed over the instant he received Yuan Yao’s message.

He was powerful enough to cleave open the void with one stroke of his sword. In less than half a quarter-hour, he had reached the skies above Yunming City.

He arrived without making a sound.

One brief sweep of his senses told him where Yuan Yao and the others were.

The figure of a silver-haired man suddenly appeared inside the cabin.

“Master!” Yuan Yao and the others cried in delight.

Qian Jueshan’s gaze passed over each of their faces before finally settling on the unconscious youth lying on the bed. Song Yan’s face was pale and haggard, utterly devoid of vitality.

Qian Jueshan walked to the bed and gently placed his fingers on Song Yan’s wrist, carefully examining his pulse and the flow of energy within his body.

As the moments passed, an almost imperceptible trace of worry gradually emerged on his normally austere face, only to vanish a moment later.

Yuan Yao and the others watched tensely from the side. The longer Qian Jueshan remained silent, the heavier their hearts became.

Unable to bear the silence, Xiao Lingwei asked, “Master, how is Eldest Senior Brother?”

Qian Jueshan’s brows drew together. Only after a long moment did he slowly exhale and say, “An excessive depletion of blood essence has severely damaged his foundation…”

Before any of them could speak, Qian Jueshan continued, “I have decided to take Ah Yan somewhere he can recuperate. He will return once he recovers. If all goes well, he should be back before the Ninth Continent’s Grand Sect Tournament.”

“Master, where are you taking Eldest Senior Brother?” Yuan Yao pressed, her face full of concern.

Qian Jueshan raised his head slightly and glanced at her. “Feiyun Island.”

The vast and boundless cultivation world was divided into three islands and nine continents, collectively known as the Three Islands and Nine Continents.

Feiyun Island was one of those three islands. Legend had it that countless precious spirit herbs and wondrous cultivation methods were hidden there, drawing scores of cultivators in search of fortuitous opportunities.

“Master, please be careful,” Ying Wuji said.

Cang Li drew a deep breath. “Master, we’ll wait for you and Eldest Senior Brother to come back.”

“While I am away from Xiaoyao Sect, you must cultivate diligently.” Qian Jueshan stood, paused, then fixed his gaze on Yuan Yao. “Keep an eye on Yaoyao.”

Yuan Yao opened her mouth but stopped herself. “…”

Perhaps out of guilty conscience, she did not argue.

Seeing her head bowed, Qian Jueshan’s heart softened. He reached out and stroked the top of her head. “If you need anything, tell them.”

“All right!” Yuan Yao raised her head and answered earnestly.

Cang Li pressed his palms together, overcome with emotion. “Amitabha. May we still be alive when Master returns.”

Yuan Yao glared at him.

At that instant, Qian Jueshan sensed a fluctuation in her mental power. Startled, he extended fingers as slender and flawless as jade and tapped the space between her brows.

In a flash, a wisp of his spiritual sense entered her sea of consciousness.

Yuan Yao sensed her master’s spiritual sense immediately and did not drive it out.

A moment later, Qian Jueshan withdrew his hand.

Yuan Yao blinked up at him.

“How did your mental power grow so quickly?” Even Qian Jueshan had never witnessed someone’s mental power surge in the space of a few days.

And it was not merely her mental power that had surged. Her sea of consciousness had expanded dozens of times over.

The stronger her mental power became, the more oppressive force she could withstand.

With her mental power alone, she could now endure the mental pressure of someone in the Nascent Soul Realm, or even the Soul Transformation Realm.

Yuan Yao did not conceal the truth. She told him directly that she had devoured the Nightmare Beast’s mental power.