Chapter 153: I Am Here For You

Severely injured, Chu Tianfeng had no time to distinguish directions.

Originally, he should have fled into the deep mountains, but by some stroke of bizarre fate, he instead ran toward the sheer cliff.

Just as he was about to leap across, his spiritual sense abruptly swept over a familiar figure lying at the bottom of the precipice.

It was actually Xu Yan! A dying Xu Yan!

Chu Tianfeng vaguely sensed that Xu Yan might have come here for his sake.

With powerful enemies lurking all around, the situation left no room for hesitation.

He immediately changed direction and plunged downward.

In less than a minute, he flew down to the platform where Xu Yan lay.

Having no time for a thorough inspection, he severed the long rope with a sweep of his hand, scooped up the unconscious Xu Yan in his arms, and broke into a mad sprint.

Fortunately, he was quite familiar with the terrain around the cliff, and this time, he did not run in the wrong direction.

The consumption of true essence by the Five Elements Wind Escaping Technique was truly terrifying. After forcing himself to run for another twenty minutes or so, he felt his true essence failing and became unable to continue.

When he saw a small stream ahead of him, he could no longer hold on. Darkness fell before his eyes, and he collapsed heavily to the ground.

Hours later, he regained consciousness.

Taking out two Restoration Pills, he swallowed one himself, then pried open Xu Yan's mouth and fed the other pill to her.

Afterward, he sat cross-legged on the spot, drew out the tier-three demonic beast core, and frantically absorbed its energy.

He knew that his pursuers were definitely still looking for him. What he needed to do now was to race against them and race against time!

About half an hour later, his true essence was largely restored.

With a soft moan, Xu Yan also woke up.

"Am I dead, or... am I dreaming?" Xu Yan looked around in a daze.

She distinctly remembered falling onto a cliff earlier, with neither heaven above nor earth below to support her.

Seeing Xu Yan's tattered clothes and her bruised, battered hands, Chu Tianfeng couldn't help a pang of heartache. "Don't worry, you're fine. I saved you."

Safe and sound? Xu Yan found it hard to believe. She bit her lower lip, and a piercing pain rushed through her.

Indeed, she was not dead, nor was she dreaming!

Yet, where was this? And why was Chu Tianfeng here?

She wanted to ask further, but another wave of dizziness washed over her, and she fainted once again.

Chu Tianfeng sighed, walked over to her side, and channeled his true essence to carefully set her broken leg.

Noticing a small tree nearby, he took out his flying sword, chopped off a few branches to improvise a temporary splint for her, tore strips from his clothing to use as bandages, and meticulously bound it up.

About another half an hour passed, and as the sky was just beginning to grow bright, Xu Yan opened her eyes once more.

By this time, Chu Tianfeng's true essence was fully recovered, and his injuries had healed by a little over half.

"Chu Tianfeng, I, I..." Xu Yan's cheeks flushed crimson, stopping mid-sentence with hesitation.

Chu Tianfeng produced a bottle of mineral water, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to Xu Yan. "Drink some water first."

Xu Yan took it and sipped gently.

"Chu Tianfeng, I—" Xu Yan seemed to have made a heavy decision and said with effort, "I came looking for you."

Chu Tianfeng looked at Xu Yan's broken legs and her blood-stained, delicate hands, then nodded. "I know."

"I—" Xu Yan looked at Chu Tianfeng for a long while before suddenly speaking again, "Chu Tianfeng, I love you!"

Although he was mentally prepared, Chu Tianfeng still felt a trace of surprise.

"I've wanted to tell you for a long time, and I only have the chance now." Xu Yan's voice was very low, sounding as if she were talking to herself.

"Perhaps, I am not worth your love." Chu Tianfeng looked up at the sky. "I have someone I hold dear in my heart."

Xu Yan was struck as if by lightning; her body swayed involuntarily, and tears streamed down her face. "Is it Sister Hua, or Senior Sister Jingjing?"

"Neither." Chu Tianfeng shook his head.

"Then who is it?" Xu Yan refused to give up.

"You may not believe it when I say this, but she was my greatest love in a past life." Chu Tianfeng withdrew his gaze and looked at Xu Yan. "Her name is Qian Ling!"

Qian as in a thousand, Ling as in exquisite!

You cannot call me elder sister, you must call me master!

The words still lingered in his ears, yet her whereabouts remained vague and ethereal. In this lifetime, he wondered if they would ever have the affinity to meet again.

"Qian Ling?" Xu Yan asked in astonishment. "You, you—"

"Xu Yan, you are a kind girl, and I do not wish to deceive you." Chu Tianfeng forced a faint smile. "Qian Ling truly exists, and she is my master."

In truth, she envied Xu Yan; at least she had the courage and the opportunity to express her love to him. And what about him? He had spent over a millennium with Qian Ling, yet due to a lack of certain physical endowments, he had never dared utter those three words to her.

"Where, where is she now?" Xu Yan asked timidly.

"She is not here." Chu Tianfeng looked up at the sky once more. "She isn't even in this world!" Pausing for a moment, he added, "No matter where she is, I will go find her."

Xu Yan pondered for a long time, then raised her tear-filled eyes to look at Chu Tianfeng. "Can I, can I go with you to find her?"

"What?" Chu Tianfeng was slightly startled.

"Because I, I cannot live without you!" Xu Yan gently wiped away the tears on her cheeks. "Do you know? Ever since that Immortal-Sending Bridge incident, I fell in love with you—hopelessly and irrevocably in love with you!"

"But—" A trace of helplessness flashed through Chu Tianfeng's heart.

He was deeply touched by Xu Yan's affection, but his heart still belonged to Qian Ling, and he did not wish for a third person to intervene and affect their bond.

"I want to go with you to find her." Xu Yan seemed to understand his feelings, her bright eyes filled with determination. "If one day we find her and she cannot accept me, rest assured, I will leave of my own accord."

"You—" A warm current swept through Chu Tianfeng's heart.

"I may not be good enough for you, but I will love you with all my heart!" Xu Yan reached out her blood-stained, delicate hands.

Chu Tianfeng could no longer control his emotions and pulled Xu Yan tightly into his embrace.

Mortals are not made of wood and stone; who could be entirely devoid of feeling? Although he was a cultivator, he was just like any ordinary person, possessing all seven human emotions and six desires.

Seeing Xu Yan's broken legs and her blood-stained hands, he knew what kind of trials she must have endured to find him.

That sheer cliff would make even ordinary Xuan-realm martial artists recoil in despair, yet Xu Yan, a frail young woman, had dared to challenge it relying on nothing more than a common nylon rope.

If it were not for love pushed to its absolute extreme, she surely would not have risked her life!

He held Xu Yan tightly, his heart surging with emotion.

Xu Yan also hugged him fiercely, her tears bursting forth once more.

These were tears of joy, tears of happiness.

The two embraced tightly, forgetting the time, forgetting the place, forgetting everything in the world.

Even heaven and earth seemed moved, sighing in admiration.

However, someone just had to come and ruin such a warm and romantic scene.

"Splendid! To actually hide out here playing lover's games!" A voice like a cracked gong sounded alongside a grey figure.

Chu Tianfeng turned his head to look at the newcomer.

This was an old man with white hair, white eyebrows, and a white beard. Even his complexion was pale white, resembling a Caucasian.

His face was elongated, looking just like a donkey driven out into the fields early in the morning; his eyes were slightly sunken, like a sleepy donkey; his nose was broad and his mouth was large, resembling a donkey that had been driven into a corner by an old farmer and missed its morning meal.

In short, he looked like a donkey! Including his cracked gong of a voice, which sounded just like an exhausted donkey that had spent the whole night turning a millstone on insufficient sleep!

Yet, his speed was extraordinary—incredibly fast, ten times faster than a donkey!

He was actually at the late Yuanyuan cultivation stage! Chu Tianfeng could not help feeling inwardly alarmed.

"Hurry, run! You must run!" Seeing the lightning-fast speed of the newcomer, Xu Yan turned pale with fright and hurriedly pushed Chu Tianfeng away with all her might.

Chu Tianfeng shook his head, gently pulled Xu Yan back into his arms, and stood up.

"Who are you?" Chu Tianfeng looked at the old man, maintaining his guard in secret.

Without a doubt, this old man was the one who had ambushed him last night.

In an instant, the old man drifted close, his sharp gaze sweeping over the two of them. "Hmph! Why aren't you running anymore?"

"Which sect does Your Excellency belong to?" Chu Tianfeng gently patted Xu Yan to signal her to be at ease.

The old man took another two steps forward, stopping at a distance of four or five meters from Chu Tianfeng. "I am Kuang Fei of the Heavenly Master Sect. Boy, if you know what's good for you, obediently come with me, and I will spare that little girl."

"The Heavenly Master Sect?" Chu Tianfeng's hands quietly formed incantations beneath Xu Yan. "Did Yu士贵 send you?"

His enmity with the Heavenly Master Sect ran far too deep; the blow he had suffered last night was hardly undeserved.

"Hmph!" The old man Kuang Fei looked at Chu Tianfeng with utter disdain. "Speak quickly, why hasn't Mo Wannian of my sect come out?"

"Old Master Mo?" Chu Tianfeng shrugged, wearing an indifferent expression. "He took a liking to the old master of the Wang family. The two of them fought back and forth inside the secret realm, and probably ended up perishing together."

"Hmph! Impudent and ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth!" Kuang Fei slowly raised both hands. "Let me teach you a lesson first!"

Swish!

Just as he raised his hands to his chest, he felt a blinding red light before his eyes!

Fire-arrows! Fire-arrows filling the sky!

"Hmph!" Kuang Fei seemed to have anticipated this long ago. He swept his palms upward, and a terrifying wave of true essence surged outward!

Unexpectedly, the moment his true essence was unleashed, his spiritual sense captured another sliver of silver light hidden within the fire-arrows!

Not good! Kuang Fei was greatly startled and immediately retreated in haste!

Boom!

The true essence collided with the fire-arrows, completely destroying them.

However, that streak of silver light seemed unimpeded in speed, still shooting fiercely toward him!

Swish!

The silver light moved with the speed of a bullet, flashing past his brow!

With a soft rip, a tuft of white hair floated up into the air!

Cold sweat beaded down Kuang Fei's forehead, and he hastily swept his spiritual sense toward that streak of silver light.

Swish!

The silver light actually looped back, shooting toward his head once more!

Kuang Fei let out a furious roar as true essence rolled out from him, his figure violently retreating at the same time.

Yet, that streak of silver radiance veered once more, evading his true essence entirely!

Boom!

That blast of true essence struck empty air, producing a muffled explosion.

Chu Tianfeng smiled faintly, flicking his right hand in a beckoning motion, and the silver streak flew back to land at his feet.

Without a doubt, that streak of silver light was his flying sword!

The flying sword possessed peerless speed and was ideally suited for ambushes.

Therefore, he had concealed the flying sword amongst the fire-arrows, shaving off a tuft of Kuang Fei's white hair.

However, such a trick could only be played once, not twice. The opponent's true essence was, after all, far stronger than his; once his spiritual sense locked onto the flying sword, it was very likely to seize it away.

Swish!

The flying sword carried him and Xu Yan, skimming low across the ground as they sped away.

"Boy, stay down!" Kuang Fei roared angrily, and a bolt of true essence shot fiercely toward Chu Tianfeng.

Chu Tianfeng ignored it completely, holding Xu Yan as he flashed dozens of yards away in a fraction of a second.

Boom!

The true essence smashed into the waterside, sending up towering splashes of water and tearing up patches of wild grass across the landscape.