Chapter Twenty-Four: Breaking the Wall

Xu Yuan's emotions were somewhat complex.

But no matter what had happened before, he would probably only be able to use the name Xu Changtian in the future.

"Oh...."

A slightly disappointed voice echoed softly in the dark cavern, as if she was a bit saddened that he hadn't told her his real name.

After a few seconds of silence, she softly said,

"Then.. will you always use the name Xu Yuan?"

"....."

Xu Yuan?

A flicker of confusion crossed his eyes.

After a moment of thought, Xu Yuan remembered that in "Cangyuan Chronicles," there was mention of the concept of courtesy names, but this Third Young Master always died as soon as he appeared, and his name was never revealed.

Now that he learned that his original identity also bore the name Xu Yuan, he found it somewhat surprising.

Was it a coincidence?

Or was it because of some other reason?

His thoughts wandered, then quickly refocused. Xu Yuan was not one to waste time on matters he couldn't comprehend.

With this thought, Xu Yuan turned to the woman beside him and said in a slow voice,

"Miss Ran, wait a moment....."

"Ran Qingmo."

Suddenly, Big Ice Lump interrupted him, her clear eyes unwavering and serious,

"My name is Ran Qingmo."

"....."

The air was quiet for a moment as they silently gazed at each other in the darkness.

Feeling somewhat at a loss, Xu Yuan nodded and smiled, speaking again,

"Ran Qingmo, after they come later, don't speak. I'll deal with it."

This time, Big Ice Lump seemed satisfied and nodded her head,

"Mm.. okay."

After that, neither of them spoke again.

Xu Yuan slowly closed his eyes and re-entered the state of cultivation.

Since the spiritual spring had been completely absorbed into the Sumeru Ring, the Origin Qi of the cave was gradually thinning, but due to the spirit-sealing formation still being in effect, the surrounding Origin Qi remained impressively dense to Xu Yuan.

The cultivation technique started to operate within his meridians, and the surrounding Origin Qi was gradually absorbed into his body.

The meridians in Xu Yuan's body, which were originally as narrow as sheep intestines, had now become wide highways, and the icy blue Origin Qi that had lined the walls of the meridians had been thoroughly swept away by the overwhelming medicinal power.

The free-floating Origin Qi in the world entered his meridians almost without any resistance and quickly began to transform.

Just a quarter of an hour later,

Xu Yuan realized that the amount of Origin Qi he had refined in this short period of time was already equivalent to a week's worth of his arduous cultivation before.

His emotions were somewhat moved and also slightly helpless.

What ordinary people strive their whole life to achieve can't compare to what geniuses can do effortlessly.

His mind fully immersed in cultivation, only those who had strived as ordinary people and faintly sensed the sparse Origin Qi could understand the terrifying advantage brought by his Innate Taoist Body.

But soon, Xu Yuan noticed, for some reason, that the free-floating Origin Qi around him was dissipating at a visibly rapid rate.

Origin Qi, similar to air, continuously flows from "high pressure" areas to "low pressure" areas, refilling any voids.

But despite that, the Origin Qi within the cave was disappearing rapidly.

From dense to thin, and finally, until only a weak "Qi cluster" remained around him at a distance of about two feet.

Xu Yuan's eyes, still closed, frowned slightly as he sent out his will-spirit to probe.

When ordinary people begin their cultivation, their will-spirit can only sense a faint Origin Qi less than a foot away from their bodies, and they can't detect anything else about the Origin Qi—the flow or replenishment.

At this moment, the terror of the Innate Soul Body was once again evident. Not only was Xu Yuan's sensory range wider, but he could also clearly perceive the flow direction of the Origin Qi.

As his will-spirit probed, Xu Yuan sensed that the dissipating Origin Qi within the cave was flowing towards a spot one meter beside him.

"....." Xu Yuan.

He stopped his cultivation technique and opened his eyes to look.

Ran Qingmo was sitting cross-legged beside him with her eyes closed.

The Origin Qi of the cavern was being hoarded by her.

And he, he simply couldn't compete with Big Ice Lump.

His eyes flickered slightly, Xu Yuan shook his head lightly and stopped cultivating, leaning against the stone wall to rest with his eyes closed.

He began to understand why Ran Qingmo was able to cultivate to the level of Great Grandmaster at such a young age.

She was cultivating at all times.

Whether it was during their first meeting in the Buddha Hall, when she woke up with hypothermia in the cave, or during the breaks while trekking through the Wanxing Mountain Range.

If she was sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed, then she was meditating.

A genius who works hard is a true genius.

Thinking up to this point, Xu Yuan's thoughts suddenly stalled as he recalled his eldest brother from his memories.

That guy, he hadn't cultivated much, had he?

In the childhood memories, he would always pester his brother, who was ten years his senior, to play with him.

While Xu Changge looked unwilling, he would still accompany him, often for the whole day.

In these memories, he had never seen Xu Changge stop to sit down and cultivate.

As Xu Yuan's thoughts wandered,

Ran Qingmo, sitting beside him, had quietly opened her eyes and said in her cool voice,

"They're here."

Xu Yuan immediately snapped back to attention, his expression sharpening.

The next moment,

"Boom!!!!"

Stones flew, and the sturdy wall of the cave was blasted open by an external force, creating a deep hole of over ten meters and sunlight poured in through that opening, instantly dispelling all darkness inside the cave.

In that incoming sunlight, several figures could be faintly seen.

It seems that out of a fear for Ran Qingmo's strength, they dare not to rush into this narrow cave dwelling.

After a moment of silence,

a cold and hoarse female voice came from outside the cave.

"Mr. Ran, please come out."

The voice echoed throughout the entire cave dwelling.

After a second of silence,

Ran Qingmo silently picked up her sword and stood up to walk towards the cave entrance.

Xu Yuan reached out and grabbed her wrist directly.

She turned her head to look at him, and Xu Yuan shook his head gently at her.

At the current moment, with the strength of his cheap elder brother, he could deal a deadly blow to that Big Ice Lump.

Ran Qingmo stayed silent for two seconds, but obediently stood still.

Xu Yuan slowly rose to his feet, patted his blood-red robe, and said aloud:

"Mr. Ran has not hurt me, do not attack her, let her leave."

"....."

Hearing Xu Yuan's voice, the figures outside the cave did not respond.

Seeing this, Xu Yuan also walked toward the cave exit.

The blasted cave stretched about ten meters, with rubble all over the ground. His boots clicked on the stones as he walked.

Standing at the entrance of the cave, Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes and infused them with Origin Qi to adapt to the sunlight outside.

Xu Yuan raised his hand and gently touched his neck, seeing the four figures standing in the air outside.

A man with a sloppy beard, a woman in a tight ponytail dressed in a tight outfit, a bald monk, and that masked woman in tight black clothes exposing her fair arms.

Xu Yuan's gaze locked onto the last masked woman.

He remembered her.

This woman was Ying'er, who had handed over the weapon during Xu Changge's attack on him.

Ying'er's indifferent gaze swept over Xu Yuan and she said in a low voice:

"Zhou Chen, take the Third Young Master away."

"...."

Zhou Chen glanced at the Third Young Master standing at the cave's entrance, his eyes helplessly shaking his head.

The blood-red robe was quite dashing indeed, but who would listen to the words of this prodigal Third Young Master?

Killing Ran Qingmo was an order from Changtian.

With that in mind,

Zhou Chen dashed towards Xu Yuan in a flash, so fast that Xu Yuan could not see clearly.

But halfway, Zhou Chen's figure suddenly came to a violent stop, frowning and hanging in mid-air.

Where the gaze met,

strands of eerie blood-red Origin Qi were emerging from the palm of that good-for-nothing Third Young Master's hand touching his neck, coiling around his own fair neck.

In the instant that Zhou Chen moved, thin streams of fresh blood had already begun seeping out on his neck.

Xu Yuan gently touched his neck, once again scanning the four people around him, and repeated each word deliberately:

"I said,

"let Mr. Ran leave."

Feeling the warmth of the fresh blood trickling down his neck, Xu Yuan felt that if he could be completely rational, he should seize this opportunity to get rid of that Big Ice Lump.

By doing so, his identity would naturally be fully confirmed, with no flaws left.

But Xu Yuan couldn't.

Perhaps in the future, he and she might end up in conflict over some matters, but it definitely shouldn't be now.

Call him a holy mother or a bootlicker if you will.

If one cannot repay kindness, the very least one should not do is repay kindness with enmity.

She had helped him so much along the way, and in the cave dwelling as well, she helped him silently; if not for her, just being unable to solve the rejection sickness alone would have cost him his life at this moment.

Ran Qingmo stood with her sword inside the cave, watching the blood-red figure at the entrance, her red lips slightly pursing...

"....."

Mists swirled, and beneath lay the thousand-foot abyss of the hanging cliff; the entrance of the cave suddenly fell into deathly silence.

Seeing that burst of blood-red Origin Qi, Ying'er's detached eyes flashed with a hint of surprise, but then quickly returned to normal:

"Third Young Master, we are here to save you, what do you mean by this?"

Xu Yuan shifted his gaze towards her and said softly:

"To save me is not in conflict with letting Mr. Ran go."

After a brief conversation, the cave entrance fell silent once again.

To the four figures floating outside the cave, it was unexpected that the Third Young Master had Origin Qi in his body, but to people of their cultivation, it did not count for much.

It was easy to knock the Third Young Master unconscious and take him away, it was just a matter of flashing forward.

But the problem was, no one knew what cultivation technique the Third Young Master practiced, nor did they know if the blood-red Origin Qi coiled around the Third Young Master's neck would go berserk after he was knocked unconscious.

It's true, the gap in strength would allow them to suppress it forcibly with their own Origin Qi before it could go berserk.

But,

what if?

What if the situation didn't match expectations and the Third Young Master accidentally got hurt, who would take the responsibility?

If the Third Young Master dies at their hands, it would roughly equate to a collective burial for the entire family.

No one dared to take that responsibility.

No one knew how long the stand-off in the atmosphere lasted,

when a sigh suddenly came slowly from the top of the hanging cliff.

It was faint, but clear enough to fall into the ears of everyone present.

After the sigh,

a voice as smooth as jade arose:

"Ying'er, if Mr. Ran wishes to leave, let her go. Just bring Changtian up here."