Chapter 382: Grand Elders’ Arrival
Chapter 382: Grand Elders’ Arrival
"I... It’s because I’m already married!" Yi Chen exclaimed the very next moment as he saw his parents’ faces changing drastically in both shock and horror.
Seeing their expression, he couldn’t help but feel a strong sense of guilt in his heart and was about to explain further, but just then a sharp cracking sound resounded in his head, and the scene in front of him started collapsing into shards.
"No! Wait!"
Yi Chen immediately reached his hand for his parents, but before it could reach their figures, they also shattered into shards along with everything else as darkness enveloped him from all sides the very next instant.
"Mom! Dad!"
He shouted while looking all around in the hope that they’d appear out of the darkness all of a sudden.
"No! Don’t leave me!"
"...I don’t want to lose you again! Mom! Dad!"
However, no matter how many times he shouted or looked around, the quiet ocean of darkness around him continued to remain stagnant as despair about the fact that he wouldn’t be seeing his parents ever again began creeping into Yi Chen’s heart.
"...Mother...Father..."
He muttered as the emptiness inside his chest became more and more overwhelming with each passing second.
’Chen’er!’
"Hm? Who’s that?" Hearing his name being called, Yi Chen looked all around to determine the direction from which it had come.
’...Chen’er!’
The voice turned louder the very next second, causing creases to form on Yi Chen’s forehead.
"...just where is this voice coming from?" Yi Chen looked around with confusion evident on his face.
Slap!
Feeling the burning slap on his face, Yi Chen’s eyes snapped open the very next moment.
"Chen’er!"
Relief immediately descended on Feng Yu’s face the moment she saw Yi Chen open his eyes. "You’re finally awake!"
However, that relief only lasted for a moment as she immediately asked the next second, "Are you okay? You were having a nightmare earlier and were mumbling all kinds of things. For a moment, you really scared me to death there, you know?"
Feeling the concern in her gaze, Yi Chen couldn’t help but feel a warm sensation rising up in his heart as he called out in as affectionate a tone as possible, "Yu’er..."
"Yes, tell me if there’s anything that’s troubling you." Feng Yu immediately nodded in acknowledgement as she heard him call out her name.
"I... It’s nothing. Now that I’ve seen you, I’m all better now." Yi Chen said a second later.
Hearing those words, a gentle smile washed over Feng Yu’s face as she lightly grabbed his hand and said, while gently caressing his hand against the unburnt side of her face, "Even though we are meeting after more than a thousand years...your words are still as sweet as honey."
"More than a thousand years...?" A frown immediately formed on Yi Chen’s face when he heard this.
Seeing his reaction, Feng Yu let out a soft chuckle as she said, "It seems you’re yet to be fully awake... Well, it’s natural in a way since we had such a huge banquet last night to celebrate your arrival at my sect."
"This... I’m unable to recall it properly." Yi Chen answered as the confusion on his face became more and more evident.
"It’s completely fine, Chen’er..." Feng Yu answered with a playful smile when she heard him, and the next instant her face inched closer to Yi Chen’s, "...as I’ve heard that repeating the same actions as before helps one remember things faster."
"What do yo-"
Before Yi Chen could finish his words, he was cut off by Feng Yu, who plunged her lips onto his as an intense exchange of passion soon followed in the bedroom chamber.
Feeling the familiar touch and sensation all over his body, Yi Chen’s mind immediately turned clouded as he began to lose himself to passion.
...
Meanwhile, outside the illusion array, Yu Xong was standing upright on the stage with his hands folded.
Out of the five incense sticks, two had already turned into powder, signifying that two hours had already elapsed.
"It looks like I overestimated him a little..." Yu Xong muttered to himself while pulling his gaze away from Yi Chen, who was sitting cross-legged inside the circling runes with his eyes firmly closed.
Step!
Step!
Step!
It was at that instant that Yu Xong’s attention was drawn by the sound of steps. However, before he could turn around, the following words entered his ears.
"As quick as ever to draw conclusions, aren’t you? Elder Yu Xong?" A chuckle came from behind Yu Xong, which immediately prompted him to turn even quicker than before.
"Greetings, Grand Elder Jian!" Yu Xong bowed respectfully the very next instant.
"Mhm." Grand Elder Jian nodded with a calm smile and said while glancing towards the hundreds of candidates in front of him, "I’ve heard that we’ve got some great seedlings this time around? There’s talk about a candidate possessing a Peak Grade spirit root spreading like wildfire among all the Grand Elders."
"Indeed. That’s the candidate Grand Elder Jian is talking about." Yu Xong nodded at those words and pointed towards Yi Chen’s direction and continued, "My earlier words may have sounded harsh, but they were particularly directed towards him. With a peak-grade spirit root and immense comprehension ability, I was expecting him to perform exceptionally in the Heart Test as well...what a pity."
Yu Xong shook his head as he said those words.
"Haha, but I’ll stick to my earlier words that Elder Yu Xong is too quick to make judgments. They are all still young and carrying a lot of things in their heads. Therefore, it’s only natural for them to take time with the Heart Test..." Grand Elder Jian said with an understanding expression.
"Rubbish!"
A piercing voice came from behind the two of them, prompting them to turn around simultaneously.
"The main factor that’s being tested in the Heart Test is a cultivator’s decisiveness. So, what if they are young? If a sword pierces their heart, they’ll die all the same. As cultivators, if one isn’t decisive enough, then the only fate that awaits them is death!"
The person snorted with an air of authority evident in his voice. He had a sharp set of eyes and a pointy nose that naturally gave one the impression that he wasn’t an easy person to talk to.
"Greetings, Grand Elder Yan."
"Grand Elder Yan."
Both Yu Xong and Grand Elder Jian greeted with a forced smile as the air around them turned a little tense.
"Mhm." Grand Elder Yan nodded briefly with a cold countenance while taking a few steps forward to arrive next to them.
"The fact that even after two hours none of them has managed to get out of the illusion array is indicative of the fact that the candidates this time are much inferior to the previous batch."
"Well..." An amused expression appeared on Grand Elder Jian’s face upon hearing those words as he commented, "There’s a candidate who possesses a peak-grade spirit root, which might make the other Grand Elders and even the Patriarch compete against each other to get him as their personal disciple.
However, if Grand Elder Yan truly thinks that way, then as your junior, I’ll ruminate over your words to expand my horizon."
"You..." Grand Elder Yan’s eyes narrowed the moment he heard that sarcastic remark. "Do you think the patriarch will come and save you if I decide to cut your tongue off right now?"
To that threat, Grand Elder Jian just shook his head in an obvious manner.
"No, that’s not the case at all. I just trust the fact that Grand Elder Yan won’t do something that would tarnish the reputation of the Heavenly Azure Dragon Sect...isn’t that the case?"
Snort!
An irritated snort immediately echoed in the hall the next second as Grand Elder Yan commented with an ugly expression, "Unlike your cultivation, that tongue of yours keeps reaching new heights every time we meet."
"I’ll be taking Grand Elder Yan’s words as a compliment then. Thank you." Grand Elder Jian replied with an unbothered smile.
Meanwhile, Elder Yu Xong, who had been standing in between the two of them all this while, couldn’t help but panic, as he saw the atmosphere around them worsening with each passing second.
Suddenly noticing something, Yu Xong’s eyes immediately brightened as he directed their attention elsewhere.
"Look! That’s the first candidate to break out of the illusion array!"
Hearing those words, everyone’s eyes immediately followed Yu Xong’s gaze and fell upon Zhou Mei’s figure, who had opened her eyes by now and was looking around with a completely confused expression.
"This... I’m first?" she muttered with a trace of disbelief evident on her face.
Meanwhile, Grand Elder Yan turned to check how much of the incense stick had burned before commenting, "Two and a half hours, a fine seedling!"
"Indeed, and she even seems to be in her early teens." Grand Elder Jian also nodded in agreement.
Fifteen minutes later, another person managed to break free from the Illusion array as the number started increasing rapidly when the fourth incense stick started to burn.
Ten...thirty...ninety.
The number of successful candidates kept increasing with the passing of every minute, and by the time the fifth incense stick was lit, the number had already crossed three hundred.
However, Yi Chen wasn’t among those candidates.
Just like the remaining nine hundred or so candidates, his eyes were firmly closed, and he was still under the influence of the illusion array.