Chapter Seven: Escape
[Reincarnation Ended.]
[This Reincarnation Rating: D+ (Spirit commendable, but nothing more than that)]
[Accumulated Cultivation: Late Qi Circulation Realm]
[Reincarnation Reward: Accumulated Cultivation Coefficient ×1.1]
[Reincarnation settlement complete, the host will return to the previous reincarnation checkpoint, inherit the accumulated cultivation from this reincarnation, and restart life]
……
"Senior Brother Chen."
Staring at the girl calling his name, Chen Yan's expression froze, a dull, stupefied look settling over his face.
Only fourteen years old, Cheng Ziying drew back two steps, her pretty face still full of childlike innocence.
"Nothing, I just had a dream."
Chen Yan shook his head. "But you—aren't you supposed to go listen to Instructor Lu's lecture in the Scripture Hall?"
"Ah!"
As if she had suddenly remembered, Cheng Ziying's eyes widened.
"Oh no, I have to hurry over. Senior Brother, you better move, or we'll be late!"
Then Cheng Ziying started running toward the Scripture Hall.
Another reincarnation.
Back to the year when he was fifteen.
Chen Yan still couldn't save Cheng Ziying from that calamity.
In truth, Chen Yan didn't know much about the disaster.
The catastrophe lasted only seven breaths, and then the shadow of a black serpent in the sky was extinguished by a powerful Inner Court cultivator who had been startled into action.
The cause of the calamity and its details were sealed as secrets by the Inner Court.
As for the elegant woman in white he saw in his final moments before death…
Chen Yan didn't know who she was, but he knew she must have been from the Inner Court.
According to Kongshan Sect rules, Outer Court disciples were only allowed to wear the sect's pale white robes.
Chen Yan stood frozen.
Only when he truly faced the Outer Court catastrophe did he realize how insignificant he was.
For his talent, training was useless.
In this world, everyone's innate talent is fixed from birth.
With Chen Yan's talent, the highest he could reach was Martial Spring Realm.
And even mentioning Martial Spring Realm was pointless—against a calamity on the level of the Outer Court Cataclysm, even someone at the Qi Sea Realm could do nothing.
And at present, Chen Yan hadn't even touched Martial Spring Realm.
…Reincarnation rewards.
Right, reincarnation rewards!
With the reincarnation reward, perhaps he could break through the limits of his talent.
A D+ rating yields an adjustment of the Accumulated Cultivation Coefficient ×1.1.
He felt the true qi in his meridians grow noticeably denser.
How could he earn a higher reincarnation rating?
One more try — even if he couldn't save Cheng Ziying, he had to get a better rating.
Chen Yan made up his mind.
……
"Do you want to come with me to Taiyun City?"
Five years later, Chen Yan asked Cheng Ziying that invitation again.
Cheng Ziying leaned on Chen Yan's shoulder, tilting her head up to gaze at the bright moon hanging in the sky.
Chen Yan's original intent sprang from regret for the past.
He wanted to try to change the fate of the junior sister who had grown up with him.
But after witnessing the girl's death with his own eyes, his feelings shifted subtly.
He couldn't bear to refuse her affection.
She was just too pitiful.
Whether out of pity or fondness, Chen Yan did not deny that during their time together, he had developed feelings for Cheng Ziying that differed from before.
"What are we going to Taiyun City for?"
Cheng Ziying asked.
"A sect mission—to deliver a letter to the Stationed Envoy in Taiyun City."
Chen Yan replied.
"For something like that, they send someone all the way?" Cheng Ziying sighed. "I don't understand the elders; they could just use a communication talisman."
"Because they're worried a transmitted talisman's message could be intercepted by someone with ill intent," Chen Yan said.
"But sending a person means the same risk—any random Martial Spring Realm cultivator could easily snatch the letter."
"Maybe someone dares to eavesdrop on a talisman's message, but around here, who would dare rob a Kongshan Sect courier?"
Unless they were courting death.
Kongshan Sect was one of the Five Great Sects of Chenping Continent; its influence weighed heavily in every corner of the continent.
Taiyun City, and even the whole Qingque Kingdom, lay entirely within Kongshan Sect's sphere of influence.
Being in Kongshan's domain didn't mean every other cultivation sect bowed to them.
Precisely because of that, the sect's transmitted messages were sometimes intercepted.
Therefore, internal communications with the Stationed Envoy were handled by letters, escorted by Outer Court disciples of Qi Circulation Realm or above.
"When are we leaving?" Cheng Ziying continued.
"Tomorrow," Chen Yan said.
The Outer Court Cataclysm would strike the day after tomorrow.
So he decided to leave the sect one day early.
Rules forbade disciples under twenty from staying outside the sect for more than two days without permission, or they would be punished.
Leaving a day early gave them plenty of time.
"If you want to accompany me, I have one condition," Cheng Ziying said.
"What condition?" he asked.
"Bring me a bouquet of white daisies."
"Deal?"
"Deal!"
Chen Yan watched Cheng Ziying's back and returned to her quarters.
What would this life bring?
The next morning, Chen Yan came to Cheng Ziying's room and knocked.
"Senior Brother?"
Cheng Ziying was taken aback opening the door.
Her hair slightly messy, recently woken Cheng Ziying looked a little haggard but still could not hide her natural beauty.
"It's time to head to Taiyun City."
"So early?"
"Yes, it's better to leave early. After delivering the letter, I want to stroll around Taiyun City for a bit."
This was Chen Yan's excuse.
He just wanted to be absolutely sure everything would go smoothly.
"Wait a moment."
Cheng Ziying did a quick combing of her hair, then followed Chen Yan toward the outer mountain path.
She seemed happy, genuinely treating the sect mission like a date with her senior brother.
But Chen Yan's nerves were taut.
If he could take Ziying out of the Outer Court, they could avoid one calamity…
He repeated that thought over and over in his mind.
Only when Chen Yan saw the huge rock carved with the characters "Kongshan Sect" at the mountain gate did he feel a small release of tension.
Chen Yan led Cheng Ziying down the mountain. From the outer mountain peak looking southwest, they could see Taiyun City looming five hundred li away.
The mountains were lush and everything around them teemed with life; the path down the mountain was clear, and many Kongshan Sect disciples traveled it daily.
After all, only after reaching Qi Sea Realm could one fly by qi manipulation.
At the foot of the outer mountain was a carriage-and-horse shop established by the Sect's External Affairs Hall, where disciples could rent spirit horses for travel.
Spirit horses were not divine beasts but ordinary horses raised by Outer Court disciples who fed them spirit rice and medicinal herbs from childhood.
Years of rinsing in spiritual qi and medicinal nurturing gave spirit horses strength, speed, and stamina far beyond common horses.
The straight-line distance from Kongshan Sect to Taiyun City was five hundred li; the actual journey exceeded eight hundred li, and riding a spirit horse took only about two and a half hours.
Chen Yan and Cheng Ziying rented two spirit horses at the shop and set off toward Taiyun City.
Between Kongshan Sect and Taiyun City were a few scattered villages and small towns, but they received no protection or favors simply for being near the sect's mountain base.
"Senior Brother!"
A cry came from behind Chen Yan.
Before he could fully react, he heard the whinny of his spirit horse, and then he was thrown off.
Protected by true qi, Chen Yan—at the peak of the Qi Circulation Realm—suffered no real injuries, only rolling across the ground a few times, looking rather disheveled.
Chen Yan turned toward the horse behind him and saw his mount collapsed, its four hooves torn from its body, blood gushing from the wounds.
He tried to stand, but a domineering force struck his side.
The blow pierced through his protective true qi as easily as breaking paper.
Chen Yan lifted his head and found the culprit standing before him.
A man in coarse brown cloth stood there, a faint stubble above his lip, carrying a dark-black greatsword on his shoulder—so massive it looked like a tombstone.
He looked down at Chen Yan on the ground with contempt, as if staring at an ant, and spat out the blade of grass he'd been chewing.
"A Kongshan Sect person?"
he asked.
"Senior Brother!"
Cheng Ziying had dismounted and was running toward Chen Yan.
The man only raised his eyes, then with almost invisible speed swung the huge sword he carried across the air.
Chen Yan's breath faltered.
He looked toward Cheng Ziying.
She was still running, but a dark red line slowly appeared at her throat.
Then her head rolled from her body along that dark red line to the ground.
The greatsword had no visible edge, yet it was extraordinarily sharp.
"…"
Chen Yan's lips moved faintly, but no sound came out.
"A Kongshan Sect person?"
the man asked again.
Chen Yan nodded.
"Down the mountain to do what—deliver a letter or something else?"
the man continued.
"Delivering a letter," Chen Yan answered calmly.
"Hand it over."
The man in coarse brown cloth held out his hand. Though he dressed like a common poor villager, his strength told Chen Yan he was a cultivator impossible to resist.
Martial Spring Realm… quite possibly peak Martial Spring, no—he should be Qi Sea Realm.
Still, Chen Yan felt no fear.
Reincarnation rating.
Could he earn a higher rating this time?
He lifted his head and met the man's eyes. "Kill me."
The man raised an eyebrow, surprised. "What?"
"The letter is on me. Kill me, then take it yourself."
Chen Yan's tone was steady.
"This kid's strange," the man said with a sneer as he shouldered the greatsword.
Chen Yan remained expressionless, the man's reflection visible in his pupils.
"Sooner or later, I'll kill you," Chen Yan said.
"Really?"
The man shrugged, then raised his greatsword high.
The sword's whistle ripped through the air. In the next instant, Chen Yan felt a coldness at his neck and then an endless sense of weightlessness and dizziness.
In his final moments, Chen Yan heard a sound like a watermelon smashing onto the ground.
[Reincarnation Ended.]
[This Reincarnation Rating: D (From head to toe, only his mouth was tough)]
[Accumulated Cultivation: Peak Qi Circulation Realm]
[Reincarnation Reward: None]
[Reincarnation settlement complete, the host will return to the previous reincarnation checkpoint, inherit the accumulated cultivation from this reincarnation, and restart life]