Chapter 13

Pan Shaoming’s Golden Core self-detonation created an enormous vortex, as though it meant to swallow heaven and earth into it.

After Wuchen forcefully drew up a breath of spiritual power and pushed Wei Hanzhen away, she herself bore the brunt of that terrifying force.

The power of a Golden Core cultivator’s self-detonation was enough to make even a Nascent Soul cultivator retreat, let alone someone like her, who was only at the second level of Golden Core. The skin on her back was stripped away by that force, as though her entire body had been thrown into raging flames.

Even at this moment, Wuchen remained calm.

Having cultivated to this point, she did not want to fall here in Dengying Secret Realm. Just as her entire body was about to be torn apart by that vortex, treasure light suddenly rose around her, protecting her within.

Wei Hanzhen had been shoved away by Wuchen, but she was still swept by that violent wind. Her heart leapt in terror as she stared at the place swallowed by blazing flames, her eyes wide and bloodshot.

She had countless Dao-protecting artifacts on her. Why had Fellow Daoist Wuchen gone this far?

Her heart was shaken, as though it was about to be swallowed by some intense and inexplicable emotion.

In the world she had originally belonged to, she had no relatives or friends. For more than twenty years, the only word that had accompanied her was “loneliness.” She did not know what it felt like to be protected by someone.

But now—

She would rather have never understood this feeling at all.

The enormous explosion startled the others as well. The Demon Sect bailiantales.com cultivators had already been at a disadvantage, and after seeing Pan Shaoming forced to self-detonate, they were even more shaken. They lost all will to fight.

As for Yun Chiyue, Mu Lingxin, and the others, they would not show mercy. After dealing with the Demon Sect cultivators, they immediately swept to Wei Hanzhen’s side, frowning as they looked toward the place filled with fierce energy.

“Fellow Daoist Wuchen—” Yun Chiyue’s eyes reddened, and the smile vanished from her brows and eyes.

Wei Hanzhen’s heart was twisted into a knot, but by this point, she had instead pressed down the emotions on her face. Her expression was as icy as deep winter. Her hands hung at her sides, and she bit her lower lip hard, already hating the Demon Sect cultivators to the extreme.

“Fellow Daoist Wei.” Mu Lingxin looked at Wei Hanzhen with concern. Her eyes narrowed, and she turned toward that direction, turning the prayer beads in her hand. Then she said, “For Fellow Daoist Wuchen to act like this, she must have something to rely on. She acts cautiously. She should be fine.”

Wei Hanzhen did not answer. She stared fixedly ahead.

A wave suddenly rose beneath her feet, rushing toward that place with a loud crash.

A stone stele several zhang tall appeared. However, cracks covered its surface like the shell of a tortoise. Once the wave swept over it, it immediately shattered.

Only after the stone stele broke apart did Wuchen’s figure appear.

It was a protective spiritual artifact called the Great Mountain Stele. At a critical moment, it had appeared to protect its master.

Wei Hanzhen’s breathing suddenly stopped.

In the next instant, she had already swept over and caught the falling Wuchen.

Golden fire and violent wind had corroded flesh and blood. Wuchen’s [read the original at bailiantales.com]white robes had already been dyed red with blood.

In the end, the Great Mountain Stele was only a spiritual artifact. It had not yet awakened spiritual intelligence. By the time it passively protected its master, Wuchen had already suffered the impact of that powerful force.

Wei Hanzhen placed her fingers against Wuchen’s pulse gate, then took out several medicinal pills and fed them into Wuchen’s mouth.

“Senior Sister Wei, how is Fellow Daoist Wuchen?” Yun Chiyue asked anxiously.

Wei Hanzhen turned to look at Yun Chiyue and said in a low voice, “She’s badly injured. She won’t be able to fight from now on.”

After a pause, she continued, “The Demon Sect cultivators attacking our Orthodox disciples were all led by Pan Shaoming. Now that Pan Shaoming has fallen, the Orthodox disciples should be all right for the time being. I plan to rest and recover here for a while. What are your plans?”

Mu Lingxin thought for a moment and said, “According to the usual progress of Dengying Secret Realm’s opening, the Penglai Qi should already have appeared. Right now, the disciples will be focused on fighting for it. Xumi Holy Realm will not be participating in that matter.”

Hearing this, Wei Hanzhen nodded. She knew that Mu Lingxin had already begun thinking of leaving, and she had no intention of stopping her.

But Mu Lingxin’s tone suddenly shifted. She smiled and said, “But now that Fellow Daoist Wuchen is injured and needs someone to stand guard, it would not be good for me to leave.”

As she spoke, she even glanced at the silent Luo Jinghong.

“The spiritual energy inside the secret realm is dense. Recovering here is naturally better than recovering outside,” Yun Chiyue said with a nod.

Her gaze flickered, and she lowered her voice. “The Penglai Qi is extremely effective. If we can draw out even one strand of it, Fellow Daoist Wuchen’s injuries will recover very quickly.”

“But the danger involved is heavy. [read the original at bailiantales.com]I cannot let you all take such risks.” Wei Hanzhen shook her head.

If they were going to fight for it, then that was her matter alone.

Although Pan Shaoming was dead, the Demon Sect’s elite disciples were still here. Pan Shaoqing was already at the third level of Golden Core. With him present, the Demon Sect had someone to rely on in the struggle for the Penglai Qi.

Aside from the Demon Sect, there were also disciples from Yuxiao Sect and Changguan Sect.

Although she was a disciple of Changguan Sect, she had not revealed her identity, nor had she entered under Changguan Sect’s name. If she fought for the Penglai Qi, it would only be for personal use.

She could share what she obtained with the sect, but she could not violate sect rules and take a strand from the Penglai Qi for herself.

“Senior Sister Wei, saying that makes us sound distant. We’ve gone through hardship together, so we can count as friends who have shared life and death. Besides, Fellow Daoist Wuchen was not injured because of you alone,” Yun Chiyue said with a frown.

Without Wuchen, their losses in fighting the Demon Sect disciples would certainly have been enormous. Since they had walked together, they were one group.

Mu Lingxin followed, “Fellow Daoist Yun is right.”

They had spent quite some time together, while Luo Jinghong had only joined halfway through. Now, she was the only one who had yet to express her stance.

Luo Jinghong had come to Dengying Secret Realm for training and had never planned to fight for the Penglai Qi. She could choose to leave at this moment, and Wei Hanzhen and the others would not blame her.

But after thinking for a moment, she nodded. “Yes.”

All of her companions had made their positions clear, but Wei Hanzhen did not answer.

She lowered her eyes and looked at Wuchen in her arms. Only after a long while did she say, “Let us rest first.”

Controlling the flying ship also consumed spiritual power. Most of the useless restrictions had not been opened by Wei Hanzhen.

This time, because Wuchen was injured, Wei Hanzhen pressed a hand onto the talisman plaque. Spiritual light flickered, and a towering palace immediately rose upon the flying ship.

After placing Wuchen on a bed made of water-attribute refined sand, Wei Hanzhen sat at the side. Her brows remained tightly knitted, with no sign of easing.

“Senior Sister Wei…” Yun Chiyue could see that Wei Hanzhen’s emotions were not quite right, and a trace of worry appeared between her brows.

Wei Hanzhen curved her lips into an extremely forced smile. “I’m fine.”

After a pause, she added, “I will treat Fellow Daoist Wuchen’s injuries first.”

After taking the spirit pills, the medicinal effects should have already begun to activate.

Looking at those pale, bloodless lips, Wei Hanzhen gently pressed her fingers against the red-and-white silver fox mask.

This mask was a Profound Artifact. Because of its existence, Wuchen’s features appeared hazy and indistinct, always giving a sense of looking at flowers through fog, unreal and unclear.

She and Wuchen could only be considered chance acquaintances. How could Wuchen be worth risking her life to save?

Was she a stranger?

Or someone familiar?

At this moment, Wuchen lay unconscious, pale and fragile. With just a light hook of Wei Hanzhen’s finger, she could remove the mask hiding Wuchen’s true face.

After hesitating for a moment, Wei Hanzhen withdrew her hand dispiritedly.

Her fingertip brushed past the corner of Wuchen’s lips. Wei Hanzhen’s heart suddenly jumped. With a start, she pulled back her drifting thoughts.

The spirit pills were taking effect within the meridians, slowly repairing the injuries.

As for the external wounds on Wuchen’s back, which had suffered the worst impact, they needed to be treated separately.

Wei Hanzhen gently turned Wuchen over. Even after a cleansing spell, her white robes were once again stained red with blood.

Wei Hanzhen’s brows were tightly furrowed as she guided spiritual power to cut away the clothing that clung tightly to torn flesh.

The flesh on Wuchen’s back was a bloody mess. There was almost no intact place left. At her shoulder blade, the wound was so deep the bone could be seen. It was a shocking sight.

Wei Hanzhen’s heart felt as though it had been pierced by needles, dense pain spreading through it.

The blood burned her eyes, as though reflecting a crimson glow.

If Wuchen had still been conscious, she could have circulated spiritual [Read on BaiLianTales]power and restored some of her flesh and blood. But unfortunately, her awareness had already sunk into sleep.

Wei Hanzhen lightly shook her hand, and a stream of clear water flowed from a medicine bottle onto Wuchen’s back.

Although Wuchen usually used a bow and arrows, it was not difficult to sense from her spiritual power that her cultivation method should also be of the water attribute.

This water was the Heaven-Earth True Water Wei Hanzhen had obtained while cultivating the Northern Abyss Profound Water. A portion had been given to her eldest disciple, Suwei, while the remaining amount was now used on Wuchen.

This true water matched Wuchen’s cultivation method, so it could naturally achieve twice the result with half the effort.

But relying on true water alone was still not enough.

Wei Hanzhen took out a box of ointment, smeared some onto her fingers, and gently applied it to Wuchen’s back.

The bloodstains had been washed away considerably by the true water, while the exposed skin looked as though it had been burned by fierce flames, twisted and terrifying.

Wei Hanzhen did not even blink. She continued applying the ointment.

It felt like only a moment had passed, yet also as though a long time had gone by.

Wei Hanzhen stood and let out a breath. Suddenly, she sensed Wuchen’s body trembling.

She lowered her eyes and happened to meet Wuchen’s cold gaze.

Only now, those eyes seemed veiled in water, flowing with a softness and allure that could not usually be seen.

Wuchen frowned, her voice dry and hoarse.

“Ma… Master?”

She closed her eyes again, as though it had only been a murmur from a dream.

As expected, she had not woken up. She must have mistaken Wei Hanzhen for someone else, right?

Wei Hanzhen sighed softly, thinking absently: Fellow Daoist Wuchen is so outstanding. What kind of person must her master be? For the person she thinks of in her moment of pain to be her master, the two of them must be very close.

Wei Hanzhen could not help thinking of her own three disciples again.

She pressed her fingers against her brow, feeling a headache coming on.

If she wanted to obtain the Penglai Qi, she would have to run into Yuyan.