"You're right." Ling Chuan calmed himself, his breathing slowing as he quickly formed a complex hand seal. His fingers blurred in the dim light, retracting the floating ice crystal that hummed with residual power. As the crystal dimmed and settled into his palm, the icy blue light curtain covering the surroundings rapidly dissipated, breaking apart into countless scattered motes of spiritual light that vanished into the toxic air.
Xie Zhaolin, meanwhile, moved with swift, efficient motions as she cleaned up the devastated battlefield. She didn't waste a second. She collected Xue Shouren's storage pouch from his shriveled remains, several jagged fragments of magic artifacts that weren't completely destroyed by the backlash, and the shattered jade hairpin stained with dark essence blood that Elder Hua had left behind in the dirt.
"Let's go." After finishing all that, Xie Zhaolin didn't delay. She sensed the vague direction transmitted by the soul body You You through the bracelet and took the lead, darting off toward the distant horizon.
"Can you pinpoint their exact location?" Ling Chuan asked, his voice low as he kept pace beside her.
"I can only confirm a general direction and distance. They're still within a hundred li," Xie Zhaolin replied. "Yu Xiaotang used a random spatial escape talisman, so her position isn't fixed. But she's carrying the heavily injured Elder Hua, so she won't dare use it repeatedly. She will definitely find a place to hide and heal. We will follow the traces of spatial fluctuations and pay attention to concealed spots and abnormal spiritual energy along the way."
"Good." Ling Chuan nodded, killing intent flashing in his eyes like a cold blade. "This time, we absolutely can't let her escape again." He had a growing feeling that letting Yu Xiaotang develop would become a massive threat in the future.
"You seem to know that Yu Xiaotang quite well?" He glanced at Xie Zhaolin and probed cautiously. She hadn't seemed surprised by Yu Xiaotang's appearance at all, and there was an inexplicable sense of concern there.
"A troublesome enemy," Xie Zhaolin said flatly, offering no further explanation for her familiarity. "Speed up. They should be in the mountain range ahead."
Moments later, several divine senses of varying strength cautiously swept across the area where the fight had occurred. The mental probes felt cold and intrusive, flickering across the scorched earth like ghostly fingers.
They belonged to nearby cultivators who had been drawn by the spatial disturbances from Yu Xiaotang breaking the formation and escaping. All they found was a devastated battlefield of cracked earth and poisonous mist that was slowly dispersing in the wind. As for what really happened and who was involved, there was no way to trace it anymore.
"Someone died again. Looks like it was a big fight," one cultivator muttered, the voice echoing faintly in the silence. "Let's go. Don't get ourselves into trouble."
The group quickly dispersed, and the poisonous marsh returned to its deathly, stagnant silence.
At the same time, several hundred li away, deep within a concealed mountain crevice where the air smelled of damp stone and moss.
"Cough, cough... pfft!" Elder Hua spat out another mouthful of dark red congealed blood the moment she landed on the hard ground. Her face turned even grayer, her aura flickering like a candle in a violent wind.
Yu Xiaotang immediately stepped forward to support her. She took out several emerald-green pills for healing and stabilizing a Yuányīng and carefully fed them to the older woman. The medicinal scent, bitter and sharp, filled the small space.
The vitality of a Nascent Soul cultivator truly was terrifying. Under the effects of several precious pills, Elder Hua's aura finally stopped declining. It was still frighteningly weak, but at least it had stabilized for the moment.
Her face regained the faintest hint of life instead of a deathly gray. Her eyes remained shut and her brow was tightly furrowed, clearly showing she was still enduring immense pain deep within her meridians.
"Y-young Sect Master..." Elder Hua struggled to open her eyes. Besides guilt and gratitude, there was an extremely subtle and unusual glimmer within them. "This old woman... feels like... perhaps..."
"What is it?" Yu Xiaotang's heart tightened as she watched the elder.
"The injuries... are temporarily stabilized." Elder Hua took a deep breath, sensing the chaotic yet vast medicinal power inside her body, along with that mixed but overwhelmingly powerful foreign force that didn't belong to her. It came from Xue Shouren's Yuányīng origin and essence blood, a violent surge of energy that felt like molten lead in her veins.
After being forcefully devoured by the Essence Devouring Reverse Curse and enduring a life and death battle, that power hadn't fully dissipated. Instead, it had accumulated in her dantian and meridians in an extremely violent and unstable state.
"It's just that... for a short time, I probably... can't fight anyone anymore." She gave a bitter smile. "Forcing my spiritual energy could trigger that mixed power inside me and make my injuries worsen instantly."
Hearing this, Yu Xiaotang's expression eased slightly. As long as Elder Hua was alive and her Yuányīng hadn't collapsed, there was still hope.
"That's fine. Surviving is already a blessing. How long until you can recover your combat strength?" That was what Yu Xiaotang cared about most.
"Well..." Elder Hua hesitated, carefully sensing the internal storm in her body. "If it's just stabilizing the injuries and regaining basic mobility, with the young Sect Master's pills, maybe... a bit over a month. But if I want to use Nascent Soul level power..." She paused, that strange glimmer appearing again in her eyes. "I will need much longer to sort through and refine that power inside me."
"Refine it?" Yu Xiaotang caught the word instantly.
"Yes." Elder Hua nodded weakly. "That beast Xue Shouren tried to devour me with blood demon essence devouring before he died, but he was hit by the Essence Devouring Reverse Curse the Sect Master bestowed. Although the curse was forcibly interrupted at the last moment, most of his Nascent Soul origin and essence blood were already absorbed by me."
Her voice carried lingering fear and a strange complexity. "That power is violent and incompatible with my cultivation method. It's stagnating inside me now and has become a burden and hidden danger. But..."
"But if you can completely refine it and make it your own," Yu Xiaotang continued, understanding flashing in her eyes along with calculation, "not only will your injuries fully heal, your cultivation might even rise another level?"
"I wouldn't dare say for sure, but... it's possible," Elder Hua admitted. "Xue Shouren's cultivation was on par with mine, and his origin power was extremely abundant. Fully refining and absorbing it would be immensely beneficial. This might be... a blessing hidden within disaster. It's just that the refinement process won't be short, and it will require an extremely safe environment. During that time, I will probably... become a burden to the young Sect Master."
She looked at Yu Xiaotang, her eyes filled with apology and worry.
"A burden?" Yu Xiaotang's lips curved into a cold smile. "No. Elder Hua, you're the future late stage Nascent Soul cultivator of the Hehuan Sect, maybe even a Divine Transformation powerhouse. Protecting you is worth it."
Yu Xiaotang spoke with a firm, decisive voice. A core subordinate who might break through to late stage Nascent Soul was worth far more than a fragment of star core essence.
"As for a safe place..." Her gaze swept over the translucent system map hovering in her vision. "I will find a way. For now, you only need to do one thing, stabilize your injuries as much as possible. Leave everything else to me."
"Young Sect Master..." A surge of warmth rose in Elder Hua's heart. Her loyalty and gratitude toward the girl reached an unprecedented peak. "This old woman... will never fail the young Sect Master!"
[Ding! Detected a massive increase in favorability from Nascent Soul Elder Hua. Current favorability: 93. As the first Nascent Soul cultivator to break through 90 favorability, you receive 300 points. Current remaining points: 320.]
The system notification rang out in Yu Xiaotang's mind. A flicker of joy rose in her heart as she read the text.
Favorability above 90.
That was practically the level of absolute loyalty, as long as she didn't cross the other party's fundamental bottom line, such as betraying the sect.
But within the Hehuan Sect, loyalty to the young Sect Master could, to a certain extent, surpass loyalty to the sect itself. Elder Hua would obey her every word and would very likely even die for her if needed. And the 300 point reward was a lifesaver, greatly easing her current shortage of points.
"Very good..." Yu Xiaotang thought. "Elder Hua, rest assured and focus on your meditation. Start sorting through the power inside you. I will handle everything outside."
She quickly set up several formations within the mountain crevice to conceal their auras and provide early warnings, pushing the system's concealment halo to its maximum.
At the same time, Ling Chuan and Xie Zhaolin, who were in pursuit, suddenly stopped in their tracks.
Because that faint presence they had been following vanished completely.