Chapter 94

Outside the gate of Yunming City.

Moored were imposing spirit vessels.

These spirit vessels came from various different sects. At this moment, members of each sect were bustling between the city and the spirit vessels, carefully lifting their injured companions aboard and settling them in.

Yuan Yao headed toward the Carefree Sect's spirit vessel.

As soon as she stepped onto the spirit vessel's deck, she caught the attention of a handsome youth not far away; he immediately rose and walked over to Yuan Yao, asking, "How are you? Did they give you trouble?"

Yuan Yao shook her head, "With the Second Elder here, they can't bully me."

"Good." Cang Li let out a sigh of relief.

"Third Senior Brother, did you find the Gu Zhaozhao I asked you to look for?"

Cang Li slowly nodded, holding a damp handkerchief in his hand, gently wiping his hands as he replied, "I've found her, but the situation is somewhat complicated. She and another young woman were taken away by a mysterious squad."

"What squad?" Yuan Yao felt uneasy.

"The Gu family squad." Cang Li's motion paused slightly as he added, "It's the Gu family, one of the three major clans of the Ninth Province, and Gu Zhaozhao is the granddaughter of the Gu family patriarch."

In the Ninth Province, there are three great clans.

They are the Weng family, the Gu family, and the Linghu family.

Yuan Yao had obviously heard of the Gu family as well; she nodded in realization, "Since she's been taken back, that's good."

"Has the Eldest Senior Brother awakened?"

"No." Cang Li shook his head with a solemn expression.

Yuan Yao's heart sank; she entered the cabin and saw the Eldest Senior Brother's face still deathly pale. She placed her hand on his wrist to feel his pulse, which remained weak and erratic.

"Yao Yao." At that moment, Xiao Lingwei, Xue Jin, Cang Li, and Ying Wuji all walked into the cabin.

Yuan Yao turned her head to look at them.

She anxiously asked, "Will this damage the Eldest Senior Brother's cultivation foundation?"

The few of them fell into silence.

Yuan Yao felt overwhelming guilt; if it weren't for her presence, the Eldest Senior Brother wouldn't have suffered this calamity.

She immediately took out a communication crystal from her storage space and sent a message to Qian Jueshan: "Master, could you come to Yunming City? The Eldest Senior Brother has suffered grave injuries..."

As she spoke, her eyes involuntarily welled up.

"The master might not..." Cang Li had just begun to speak to comfort Yuan Yao when his words were cut off by Qian Jueshan's reply to her message.

"Very well." Qian Jueshan's voice was like mountain streams—melodious and steady.

Cang Li's face twitched slightly: "..." Master, you're being too partial!

When they were young, they went out for training; upon encountering danger and sending a distress signal to their master, he coldly replied, "Handle your own affairs yourselves."

When they were eight, the five of them were surrounded by a swarm of killer bees; they cried and shouted for help via transmission to their master, but he said, "Instead of wasting time crying, you'd better figure out how to deal with the killer bees."

At age twelve, a stone beast crushed his right leg; he sent a distress signal to his master, but the master replied, "You can do it."

Gradually, when they encountered danger outside, their first thought was not to seek help from their master, but to figure out how to resolve it themselves.

Only after they grew up did Cang Li and the others realize that, in fact, at the very moment they sent out a distress signal upon encountering danger, their master had already arrived on the scene.

But the master never revealed himself; instead, he silently intervened to help them resolve the mortal danger.

Otherwise, with the strength of those little beans, how could they repeatedly escape death?

This time, upon receiving Yuan Yao's message, Qian Jueshan also rushed over immediately.

His strength was such that he could cleave the void with a single sword; within half an incense stick's time, he had already reached the skies above Yunming City.

He arrived soundlessly.

With a slight probe, he knew the direction where Yuan Yao and the others were.

Inside the cabin, a silver-haired man's figure suddenly appeared.

"Master!" Yuan Yao and the others exclaimed in delight.

Qian Jueshan swept his gaze over each of their faces, finally resting on the unconscious youth Song Yan lying on the bed—his complexion was ashen and exhausted, devoid of vitality.

Qian Jueshan approached the bedside, extended a finger to lightly rest on Song Yan's wrist, and began carefully examining his pulse and the flow of internal qi.

As time ticked by, his originally stern visage gradually revealed a faint hint of worry, but it vanished in an instant.

Yuan Yao and the others standing nearby watched anxiously; seeing Qian Jueshan remain silent for a long time, their hearts grew heavier and heavier.

Xiao Lingwei couldn't hold back and broke the silence, asking, "Master, how is the Eldest Senior Brother now?"

Qian Jueshan's brows furrowed slightly; after a while he slowly exhaled and said, "Excessive depletion of essence blood has caused severe damage to the foundation..."

Before anyone could speak, Qian Jueshan continued, "I have decided to take Ah-Yan to a place to recuperate his health; once he recovers, we will return. If all goes well, we should be able to make it back before the Ninth Province sect grand competition."

"Master, where do you intend to take the Eldest Senior Brother?" Yuan Yao asked anxiously, her face full of worry.

Qian Jueshan lifted his head slightly, glanced at her, and replied, "Flying Cloud Island."

The world of immortality is vast and boundless, divided into three islands and nine provinces, collectively known as the Three Islands Nine Provinces.

Flying Cloud Island is one of those three islands; it is rumored to conceal countless precious spiritual medicines and extraordinary cultivation methods, attracting many cultivators to seek opportunities there.

"Master, be careful." Ying Wuji spoke up.

Cang Li took a deep breath, "Master, we will wait for you and the Eldest Senior Brother to return."

"While I am away from the Carefree Sect, you must diligently cultivate." Qian Jueshan rose, paused, and his gaze fell upon Yuan Yao: "Look after Yao Yao."

Yuan Yao wanted to speak but held back: "..."

Perhaps because she felt guilty, she did not retort.

Seeing her lower her head, Qian Jueshan's heart softened involuntarily; he reached out and stroked her head, saying, "If you have any needs, just let them know."

"Good!" Upon hearing that, Yuan Yao lifted her head and said solemnly.

Cang Li pressed his palms together, feeling deeply moved, and said, "May the Buddha bless us; I hope we can live to await the master's return."

Yuan Yao gave him a glare.

In that instant, Qian Jueshan sensed the fluctuation of her mental power; his heart startled, he extended his slender, jade-like finger and lightly touched Yuan Yao's brow.

In that instant, a thread of his divine sense probed into her sea of consciousness.

Meanwhile, Yuan Yao immediately sensed her master's divine sense, and she did not repel it.

After a moment, Qian Jueshan lowered his hand.

Yuan Yao blinked and looked at him.

"How did your mental power increase so quickly?" Even Qian Jueshan had never witnessed such a surge of mental power within a few days.

Moreover, Yao Yao not only experienced a surge in mental power, her sea of consciousness expanded dozens of times.

The stronger her mental power, the greater the pressure she can withstand.

Now she can, relying solely on her mental power, withstand the mental pressure of Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, and even that of Spirit Transformation Realm cultivators.

Yuan Yao did not conceal anything; she directly spoke of how she had devoured the mental power of the Nightmare Beast.