Chapter 24 – My Master Is Actually Number One on the Heaven Ranking?
Morning light streamed through the window lattice, casting mottled patterns onto the bluestone floor.
Xiao Chen's eyelids trembled, and in a haze, he saw a delicate, doll-like little face peering down at him.
"Big brother, you're awake!" The little girl looked about five or six, with two short pigtails and eyes as bright as obsidian in a mountain stream.
In her hand she clutched half a piece of osmanthus cake, its sweet fragrance mingling with the faint scent of medicinal herbs that lingered in the room.
Xiao Chen's eyes widened abruptly as memories before losing consciousness surged back—bloody battles, desperate flight, the cliff… Instinctively, he reached for the short sword at his waist, only to pull at his injuries, hissing in pain.
"Don't move." A gentle male voice came from the doorway. Backlit by the sun, Chen Chang'an entered with a bowl of medicine, golden light edging his figure. "You've broken seven bones and torn three meridians. The fact you're alive is already fortune enough."
Xiao Chen forced himself off the bed, falling to his knees despite wounds reopening, blood seeping across his white robes. "Master above, please accept your disciple's bow."
Every word carried the weight of blood, yet fell firm and resolute.
Chen Chang'an accepted the salute calmly, but his gaze settled on the bronze ring in Xiao Chen's fingers.
With the cultivation of his true body at the Saint Realm, it was easy for him to see through the ring's secret—
Inside lay the weakened remnant soul of a Longevity Realm expert, curled up and struggling to absorb stray spiritual energy from the air.
"This ring…" Chen Chang'an lifted his hand, a golden light flashing.
Before Xiao Chen could react, the ring was already floating in Chen Chang'an's palm.
"Master!" Xiao Chen blurted, "Yao Lao is not a bad person."
"I know." Chen Chang'an smiled faintly, multicolored radiance blooming at his fingertips.
The light coiled around the ring as if tangible, sketching out the outline of a human form in midair.
Amid drifting starlight, the figure of a gray-robed elder gradually solidified—hair white as snow, face gaunt, the deep furrow between his brows pronounced.
Yao Lao's eyes snapped open, staring in disbelief at his own solid hands. "V-Void Creation?!"
He touched his chest with a trembling hand, feeling the long-lost beat of his heart. "This… this is the means of the Saint Realm!"
Xiao Chen was stunned.
With a casual wave, Chen Chang'an conjured a tea table in the air, three cups of spirit tea steaming gently upon it.
"These past days, thank you for taking care of my disciple," Chen Chang'an said, sipping his tea without the cup's contents diminishing. "From now on, follow him in this body."
Yao Lao dropped to his knees, tears streaming down his face. "Thank you, Saint Venerable, for granting me new life!"
He pinched his thigh discreetly—the pain was as real as in life! More astonishing, his new body brimmed with Longevity Realm spiritual power.
Chen Chang'an watched their stunned expressions with satisfaction.
Inwardly, he was pleased—luckily this was just the protagonist of a beginner's map. With a small display, he could leave him dumbstruck.
Once he latched onto the protagonist's thigh, his own future security was assured.
Meanwhile…
"S-Saint Realm…" Xiao Chen was truly shaken by Chen Chang'an's miraculous Void Creation.
Especially when it was used to fashion the body of a Longevity Realm powerhouse.
So his master was actually a Saint Venerable?
The sudden, overwhelming joy made him feel as if he were dreaming.
What was the Xiao family? What was the Tianyun Sect?
Before the Saint Realm, all were but ants!
Yet the next moment, he thought of the Heaven Ranking. If his master was a Saint Venerable, then surely his name was on the Heaven Ranking?
Hesitantly, he asked, "Master, you… exactly who are you?"
"The name of your master—"
The entire room fell into absolute silence. Outside, the chirping of birds and the rustling of wind vanished, even the shifting light and shadows froze in place. Within this domain of suspended time, only a wisp of chaotic qi danced at his fingertips. "Chen Chang'an."
Chen Chang'an?
Number one on the Heaven Ranking?
My master… is the legendary first on the Heaven Ranking?
Xiao Chen was utterly stunned, unable to suppress the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
The next moment, a small porcelain bottle dropped into his arms.
"This is the Life-Creation Pill. Your meridians are severely damaged—take it and rest well."
As he left the room, Chen Chang'an waved his hand casually without turning back. "If anything comes up, find Wu Bo—he's… my steward here. Also… Xingcai, time for your lessons."
"Okay, I know, Daddy!"
…
Several days later, Xiao Chen stood amid the morning dew of the valley, fingers rubbing the now-empty bronze ring.
The rising sun stretched his shadow long, as if nailing the boy who had once fled in disgrace forever to yesterday.
"Ten years…" he murmured, the corner of his mouth lifting in a sharp arc.
In his mind appeared Lin Qingyue's arrogant face, the phoenix hairpin in her hair gleaming painfully in the sunlight. That girl who once followed behind him calling "Brother Xiao Chen" now looked at him through the Tianyun Sect's eyes of shallow calculation.
"I'm looking forward to it." Xiao Chen suddenly laughed aloud, startling the sparrows on the branches. He flexed his wrist—his meridians, reforged by the Creation Pill, were now over three times as wide as before, the flow of spiritual power within them roaring like a great river.
Yao Lao came over carrying freshly picked spirit fruits, raising an eyebrow at the sight. "Thinking of something pleasant?"
"I was thinking…" Xiao Chen took a fierce bite of the fruit, not caring as the juice splattered on his robe, "ten years from now, what's the most stylish way to kick down the gates of the Tianyun Sect?"
Yao Lao roared with laughter, loud enough to startle Chen Xingcai from catching bugs in the medicine field.
The little girl skipped over, the wildflower in her hair bobbing with every step. "Senior Brother Xiao, whose gate are you going to kick?"
Xiao Chen bent down and lifted her high above his head, making her giggle. "A bunch of dogs who look down on others."
In the morning light, the fire in the young man's eyes shone brighter than a sword's edge. He remembered Bai Mufeng's condescending gaze that day, and the gloating faces of the Xiao family. None of it made him cower—on the contrary, it stoked an unquenchable blaze in his chest.
"Master says my bones are suited for cultivating the Nine Heavens Thunder-Moving Sword. This sword art gathers all lightning techniques under heaven and unites them as one." Xiao Chen set Xingcai back on the ground and plucked a tree branch at random. Lightning crackled across the rough bark, and in a blink, the withered branch transformed into a phantom sword wrapped in arcs of thunder.
Yao Lao's pupils contracted.
Only three days! Most cultivators would need three months to even touch the threshold of lightning sword intent!
"Ten years from now…" Xiao Chen flicked his wrist, the thunder sword carving a dazzling arc of light. "I will make everyone in the Tianyun Sect remember—"
A sword cry like rolling thunder resounded through the valley, scattering the beasts in the forest. As the lingering echoes faded, the young man sheathed his sword and stood tall, a defiant fire dancing in his eyes.
"—exactly what kind of man it was they once cast aside in marriage."
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