Chapter 72: Stars Align

Chapter 72: Stars Align

Han Lingyun had momentarily stopped. He forcibly calmed down his thoughts that started to run wild and put some flags in a large circle around the scene. He was trying to uncover the direction Wang Yimo went to through the residual yin attribute qi. He rapidly found a trace and followed it.

Before long, he came in front of a crack in the ground of a rocky hilltop. Trying his best to calm his nerves, he took a step forward.

*BOOM.* A large explosion shook the entrance.

Half an hour ago, Wang Yimo was carefully treading towards Han Lingyun when the soil disappeared under her feat. With lightning reflexes, she immediately took off on a flying sword while simultaneously launching her Moon Gaze but a violent explosion rocketed her and threw her out of balance. She crashed back down to notice 5 disciples wearing robes of the Cheng Huang School surrounding her. A sharp pain to her left wrist suddenly assaulted her senses.

Wang Yimo examined her condition as she cursed her luck, her left wrist had broken due to the collision.

Her defensive art had saved her life but she was now facing a terrible crisis. At the same time, she noticed her white token on the ground far away. It had escaped her left hand under the shock and was thrown far away. Wang Yimos adrenaline level shot up like never before.

Some distance away, the sound of large explosions echoed in the meandering valleys, accompanied by the occasional tremor of the ground.

By coincidence, Yu Tao was in the same area. His strategy was simple: head straight in the direction with the loudest explosions to meet the strongest opponents, then crush them to dominate the rankings with the highest number on his black token. At this instant, Yu Taos eyes gleamed as the ferocity of this fight was the greatest he had sensed yet.

Thus, Yu Tao rapidly arrived on the combat involving Wang Yimo. He scanned the scene in the blink of an eye. The fighting was desperate and all the vegetation around had been pulverized. There was a dismembered body half buried under the ground and two other black tokens lying around. Wang Yimo had a deep wound on her right leg, with blood tricking down. She kept her left hand to her torso, its unnatural angle showing it had broken. Wang Yimos right hand was holding on to a sword, trembling slightly due to her reserves being nearly depleted.

She faced off two disciples of the Cheng Huang School. All three wore savage expressions and looked consumed by hatred.

Without saying a word, Yu Tao circulated his power frantically. A huge lightning ark circled the terrifying spear that zoomed towards the two Chen Huangs disciples. Before they had time to scream or move, they were pierced through by the unstoppable attack. Qi of unimaginable wildness destroyed their bodies from the inside before burning the remains. They died on the spot and their bodies soon disappeared into ashes.

It was over! Wang Yimos pain was swept by a wave a weakness and fatigue. She fainted on the spot, in part due to the blood loss and in part due to the immense shock she had received. Yu Tao managed to gently catch her falling body and picked her up. He rapidly destroyed the last corpse and picked the Black Tokens left behind.

Wang Yimo eventually regained consciousness and nearly cried out because of pain caused by the injuries she had repressed and ignored during the fight.

As she gritted her teeth, a hand placed a healing pill in her mouth. The pain didnt disappear but it was toned down. Wang Yimo gradually became aware of her surroundings. This was underground, and Yu Tao had taken care of her worst wounds.

She whispered. Thank you.

Yu Tao smiled. It is my duty to help fellow sect disciples. Does it still hurt?

Yes, I-Ill have to rest a bit longer. Wang Yimo didnt want to move. She could but that thought terrified her.

Some images of the fight flashed back in her head and her heart suddenly started beating faster and irregularly. Wang Yimo gripped the cold stone with her right hand as she felt the world spinning. Images of her first mission with Han Lingyun mixed into her erratic memories.

Yu Tao noticed Wang Yimos sudden breathlessness and the beads of sweat trickling down her forehead.

Miss Yimo, quickly activate this white token, your injuries seem to be relapsing.

Wang Yimo firmly grabbed the white jade, to the point when her right hand started trembling too.

Her thoughts had already wondered off to the times before she turned 10, when her talent had yet to be uncovered. In the terrifying wilderness, a long-repressed memory. That time her sister was brutally killed. And the culprit wasnt one of the beasts they came to hunt, but her own cousin. For the longest time, she couldnt remember the scene and her memories of the events were shrouded in darkness.

The blood spraying, the mangled corpse, the horror. The events of that day fused with the forgotten past. Wang Yimos head was buzzing. She was gasping for air. It was as if she was drowning.

Yu Tao could only feed the young girl another pill. He seemed to realize that it wasnt a physical issue.

Wang Yimo, listen to yourself, this isnt you! Where did all your ambition go? Where is the Wang Yimo that subdued all the first years and ended the faction fights?

I know that you just had a shock but it is especially in times of vulnerability that you temper your Dao Heart. What about your teacher? How would she feel if she heard you talking? Come on, lets head out and start to slowly become hunters once again. What about our training for this competition, are you abandoning before even trying out the results?

By now, Wang Yimo had mostly recovered from her light injuries already with the healing pills but she had yet to move.

But do we have to fight? Look at alchemists, they dont need to fight and can become powerful cultivators too. Perhaps, in my heart, I want to become an alchemist.

Its not about choosing the right path; its about not abandoning and backtracking on the road!

Han Lingyun was troubled. When has Yimo ever had the slightest interest in alchemy? Im concerned this is just an excuse to abandon. Shit Im not a psychologist nor a powerful cultivator. There is no way I can mend her Dao Heart with a couple of words.

Wang Yimo interrupted Han Lingyun with her hand. She wanted some silence.

In fact, Wang Yimo still felt completely lost. As clarity replaced the horror, random thoughts were popping up in her mind. What would her master want her to do? How would she react after fighting to the death like this?

Then she remembered Yu Taos words. Wouldnt it be easier?

She still hesitated as her instinct told her that this decision was important. But she didnt want to go on, this world was too hard to face, too violent.

I think, I want to rest in the cave a bit more

Han Lingyun slumped back, defeated. He understood that he had failed. The boy began to groggily head back out like he had taken a serious hit or lost a precious friend.

His steps stopped as a thought suddenly crossed his mind and he turned around to see Wang Yimo fixing the empty wall in front of her. He bitterly remembered the long nights spent admiring the sky and making plans to explore the universe. What about the stars?

Wang Yimos breath froze for an instant. What about the stars? She murmured.

There was a long silence

There was a pause that felt like an unending silence. Han Lingyun didnt know how long it lasted. It could have been one minute or perhaps 10, but he didnt dare to move an inch as he stared at Wang Yimos thoughtful face.

She raised her head to only find darkness. She could vaguely discern the rocks above. An intense frustration overturned her indecisiveness. I cant see the stars in here.

Her heart inexplicably clenched at the thought. The stars and all the dreams she had when she first started to cultivate, when she trained with her sister. If I stay here, I feel like Im abandoning all of them.

Wang Yimo slowly stood back up, still trembling faintly; her eyes had regained a hint of their usual determination. Ill give it a chance.

It was as if she had received a bucket of water in the face, as her mind focused back again. She took a big breath.

Was I ready to abandon just like that? I have a lot of progress to do in that area. Anyway, did Yu Tao take the 4 black tokens?

As her thoughts started racing again, Wang Yimo took out a fan from her sleeve to cool herself down. A normal girl would have never recovered that fast but Wang Yimo was a true cultivator.

Han Lingyun was momentarily stunned by the complete shift Wang Yimo went through. As Wang Yimo passed him and exited the cave, he couldnt help but smile brightly in absolute delight.

What about the stars? Her goals, her dreams, her meaning, her reason to live. Han Lingyun had opened her view to a whole other world by expanding on the universe and now she wanted to explore it too. But how could she pretend to reach it one day if she didnt fight for her destiny, if she abandoned so easily?

Wang Yimo walked with Han Lingyun out of her dark cave, back to the competition, back to the cultivation struggle. Back to the light.