Chapter Sixty-One: Lu Yao in Peril

Chapter Sixty-One: Lu Yao in Peril

The tens of millions of young people who entered the inner realm were all scattered by the illusion into different spaces at random. This inner realm was like a small world. Though it could not compare to the starfields of the cosmos, it contained so many millions as easily as a cup of water poured into the sea—without the slightest weight.

Of the nine avatars Li Hao had sent out, their reports described many encounters with other young contestants, but none had yet found the one he sought. Everywhere they passed, within a hundred miles, had been thoroughly scoured with divine sense, yet still nothing had been discovered.

Having just broken through to the Wandering Stage, Li Hao was not yet accustomed to his new abilities. Now, releasing his newly awakened divine sense, he found he could perceive every movement within a hundred-mile radius. His sensitivity far outstripped ordinary people, by a dozenfold at least. If others knew of his superhuman perception, they would surely pin him down and grind him into the dust.

But Li Hao himself did not realize his divine sense surpassed others by such a margin; he simply thought this was a feat any cultivator at the Wandering Stage could perform.

One thing puzzled Li Hao: each of his nine avatars possessed only eighty percent of his own cultivation, yet their divine sense matched his exactly. This was a mystery he could not yet explain. Unbeknownst to him, his soul’s power had reached the Soul-Refining Stage in sensitivity, though his true strength remained below that threshold. The main limitation on his soul was simply the lack of sufficient cultivation.

The origins of Li Hao’s extraordinary talents were not so mysterious when traced. Normally, no matter how high one’s innate gifts, cultivation never began before the age of three. Li Hao, however, had met with calamity at birth and, by a twist of fate, the primal power of chaos had entered his body, perfectly suited to his supreme Formless Physique.

From the moment of birth, Li Hao had been tempered by the mother of all laws—the primal power of chaos. Since all things derive from chaos, one could only imagine how defiant such power was.

With the strongest physique, the finest laws, and an exceptionally clever mind, if such a Li Hao were still considered ordinary, then the word “useless” would have no meaning. To the world, his entire being was a priceless treasure.

Li Hao, Lin Xueyou, and Xiao Jiu had not walked far before they encountered their first group of people. Three or four young men’s gazes were immediately drawn to Lin Xueyou at Li Hao’s side. Besides envy and jealousy toward Li Hao and Xiao Jiu, they could do nothing else. Having already missed the path by some distance, the youths still stole glances at Lin Xueyou from time to time.

“Xueyou, how can you be such a source of trouble for others?” Li Hao teased.

On hearing this, Lin Xueyou promptly gave Li Hao a smack on the head and shot him a glare. “What do you mean by calling me trouble for others? Do you even know how to speak properly?”

Li Hao, unbothered, continued, “Haven’t you noticed, Sister Xueyou? Those boys are utterly bewitched by your beauty.”

Hearing this, Lin Xueyou’s heart finally eased. She realized that perhaps this rascal had been complimenting her in a roundabout way, and she had misunderstood him, thinking he was insulting her. A tinge of guilt rose in her, though she masked it well.

“They’re bewitched—what does that have to do with me!” Lin Xueyou huffed.

Li Hao was taken aback by her bluntness. He had not expected so stunning a girl to speak so roughly.

He quickly recovered and put on a pleasing smile. “Sister Xueyou is absolutely right—it has nothing to do with you.”

“Are you deliberately trying to annoy me, you rascal?”

“Sister, don’t be angry—anger leads to aging, and aging leads to ugliness,” Li Hao replied, making a face of exaggerated distaste.

Lin Xueyou could not decide whether to laugh or cry; she was helpless before this fellow. At home, her brother often found her a handful, but facing Li Hao, it was she who was at his mercy. Truly, there is always someone to counter another.

Strangely, though Li Hao and Lin Xueyou often traded barbed words, neither disliked the other. Instead, as time went by, their relationship quietly grew warmer.

“Li Hao, brother, sister—where must I go to find you both?”

On a grassy plain, Lu Yao muttered to herself, her steps never pausing. She left the grassland and soon spotted three young girls, whom she approached. “Excuse me, sisters, may I ask you something?”

Seeing Lu Yao was younger than they, the three girls replied politely, one of them saying sweetly, “Little sister, what do you wish to ask?”

“Have you seen a beautiful lady with white hair, white dress, and white skirt?”

The girls shook their heads. “No.”

“Have you seen a good-looking boy with dark red hair, about my age?” she pressed.

Again they shook their heads. “No.”

“Thank you, sisters. I won’t bother you further,” Lu Yao replied, then continued ahead. Unbeknownst to her, not far away, a plain-looking youth, his face two-thirds obscured by unkempt hair, and about seven or eight years her senior, had been following her for some distance.

Ten minutes earlier, several hundred miles away, three young girls were heading toward Lu Yao.

“Strange, isn’t it? How can this place be so desolate?” one of the girls mused.

Not far behind them, a youth with a sly, weasel-like face, sunken eyes, and a pointed chin was tailing them. His shifty gaze darted about—clearly, he was no good person. He had been following the three girls for some time, waiting for a chance to make his move.

But at that moment, Lu Yao’s appearance inadvertently saved the three girls. The lecherous youth, seeing Lu Yao, found her beauty and elegance so far beyond the other girls that he immediately abandoned his previous target, shifting his focus to Lu Yao instead.

While Lu Yao chatted with the three girls, the lecherous youth eavesdropped, catching every word. Seeing her approach, he changed direction to walk ahead of her, intentionally slowing his pace so she would eventually catch up.

When Lu Yao was close behind him, he feigned surprise, glancing back as if just noticing her. His expression struck Lu Yao as odd, filling her with inexplicable unease.

“Little sister, someone was just asking about you,” the youth said.

Lu Yao instinctively asked, “Who was it, brother?”

“I don’t know either,” he replied, “just a handsome boy with dark red hair, about your age.”

At these words, the image of Li Hao immediately sprang to Lu Yao’s mind. Eagerly, she asked, “Where is he, brother? Can you tell me?”

The youth pointed casually to the left. “He seemed to be in that direction. I’ll take you there.”

Grateful for the chance to find Li Hao, Lu Yao thanked him warmly. “Thank you so much, brother!”

He responded with feigned courtesy, “No need to thank me. Just come along, little sister.”

Lu Yao agreed readily, following the youth into the woods on the left. After several minutes, as they ventured deeper, an increasing sense of unease crept over her.

Suddenly, the youth turned, his gaze lewd and malicious as he looked her up and down. Lu Yao shuddered.

“You lied to me?” she asked nervously.

“So what if I did?” he sneered.

Fear gripped Lu Yao’s heart. “What are you going to do?”

“Don’t worry, little sister,” the youth said, his tone sickeningly sweet, “I just want to play a little. I promise you won’t be disappointed.”

Lu Yao suddenly felt herself growing drowsy, her mind clouding over. Having studied various medicines with her grandfather since childhood, she realized she had been poisoned.

She thought to herself, “This is bad—it’s Dream Spirit Powder.”

Dream Spirit Powder was a narcotic that affected a cultivator’s soul. Colorless and tasteless, it was almost impossible to detect. Neither poison nor elixir, it was used as an anesthetic for treating severe injuries. Anyone afflicted with it would be unconscious for at least twelve hours.

But by the time Lu Yao realized, it was far too late.

Within only a few breaths, her body went limp and she collapsed to the ground.

The lecherous youth was overjoyed. He dragged Lu Yao into a dense grove, unable to wait to untie the jade belt at her waist and unfasten her garments, revealing her violet undershirt to the world and to his own depraved eyes.

Panting heavily, saliva dribbling from the corner of his mouth, he was the very picture of lustful madness.

Not far away, the three girls whom Lu Yao had questioned had just missed her by a few hundred meters when a very ordinary-looking boy blocked their path.

His expression was calm, neither proud nor humble, neither pleased nor sad—markedly indifferent.

He stopped the three girls and said, “Excuse me, ladies, but I have a question and hope you can help me.”

“Go away!” one girl snapped. “We’ve seen your type before—pretending to be aloof just as an excuse to chat us up. Try your lines on some other naïve little sister. Don’t block our way.”

The boy’s demeanor did not change. “I truly have an urgent question,” he said quietly.

One of the girls, growing impatient, replied bluntly, “Then ask and be quick about it. When you’re done, go wherever you like—just don’t block our way.”

The boy’s face remained inscrutable. He asked, “Do you know the boy who was just behind you?”

“What? Someone was following us?” the youngest girl asked, surprised.

“No,” replied another, her tone brash. “Boys who want to see our beautiful faces are a dime a dozen. Why should we know him?”

In fact, among the trio, only the youngest could be considered passably attractive. The other two were a study in contrasts—one as thin as a bamboo pole, with features as sharp and flat as her figure.

The boy, unfazed by their rudeness, simply said, “Thank you,” then quickly departed.