Battle Through the Heavens: Starting with Cao Ying as an apprentice

"It's alright." Su Baichen waved his hand casually.

"It's just that I can't stand his arrogance, it's nothing."

As soon as he finished speaking, his fingertips twitched slightly, and the faint array pattern light in the distance quietly dissipated, instantly vanishing the invisible binding force.

With the pressure suddenly relieved, Gu Zhen in the formation breathed a sigh of relief, while Ling Quan swayed slightly, still not daring to raise his head.

Immediately afterwards, Gu Zhen discovered that the group that had disappeared earlier had reappeared. Gu Zhen then led the group forward, but at a slower pace.

He gleaned something from the man's tone; that man might have a connection with the young lady.

Meanwhile, the room fell silent again, with Su Baichen and Xun'er standing facing each other, speechless for a moment.

The feeling of parting spread like a thin mist, and many words were on the tip of my tongue, but I didn't know where to begin.

"I have a gift for you." Su Baichen finally broke the silence.

He took out a jade hairpin from his bosom. It was warm and smooth, and the head of the hairpin had a faint red and blue light flowing around it, as if there was a fusion of ice and fire.

This was meticulously crafted by him using a rare immortal herb from the Yin-Yang Well of Ice and Fire as the main ingredient, supplemented with various rare and precious materials. It has the miraculous effect of calming the mind and aiding cultivation.

Xun'er took the jade hairpin; its warmth touched her skin, and the gentle fighting spirit eased her depressed mood somewhat.

A slight smile played on her lips as she took out a meticulously embroidered sachet from her sleeve and handed it to Su Baichen.

"Big brother, this... is for you."

Just as Su Baichen reached out to take the sachet, Xun'er suddenly tiptoed and quickly gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

The touch was gentle and fleeting, yet it carried all the girl's courage and reluctance.

"Big brother, I will wait for you in the ancient clan!"

Leaving those words behind, she seemed to have used up all her strength, turned around and ran towards the door, her clothes fluttering, disappearing at the end of the corridor in the blink of an eye.

Su Baichen paused for a moment, then raised his hand to gently touch the spot where he had just been kissed. There seemed to be a faint, warm scent still lingering there.

He gazed at the empty doorway, a gentle smile flickering in his eyes, and whispered:

"This girl..."

Outside the courtyard gate, Xun'er looked back one last time at her "home" where she had lived for many years.

Then he turned and flew towards the ancient clan. Gu Zhen saw that he had received the young lady and immediately led Ling Quan away.

After everyone left, Su Baichen appeared in front of the courtyard gate, quietly gazing at the gradually shrinking figure until it disappeared from sight.

He stood there for a long time, his gaze seemingly directed not only at the vanished figure, but also at a more distant and unseen future.

Finally, as he looked away, Su Baichen glanced at a certain empty space.

"It's time to go."

After saying that, Su Baichen turned and walked towards his small courtyard.

I should start preparing to head to Zhongzhou, but before that, that matter should begin!

Chapter 243 The Weak Zi Yan; The Mischievous Daughter!

Thump, thump, thump—

The sound of knuckles tapping on the wooden door echoed in the corridor, carrying a hint of urgency.

Su Baichen stood outside Zi Yan's room and waited for a while. The room was quiet, and he couldn't even hear breathing.

"Zi Yan, it's me!"

He raised his voice again and shouted, pressing his palm against the door, feeling that the temperature inside seemed a bit lower than usual.

It's been half a month, and this girl has locked herself in her room, saying she wants to consolidate her cultivation. But who consolidates their cultivation without even coming out to eat?

This isn't a seclusion!

Su Baichen's unease gradually grew—although the Taixu Ancient Dragon Clan could maintain their vitality through energy, Zi Yan had always been greedy, and this abnormality was definitely not right.

Why is there no sound?!

[Damn it, you haven't come out for almost half a month! It's not like you're in seclusion or have gotten all confused from cultivating!]

The spiritual power spread out like a tide, penetrating the door panel and probing inwards.

In an instant, Su Baichen's expression changed drastically.

[Holy crap, why is his breathing so weak!]

The breath was intermittent, like a candle flickering in the wind, ready to be extinguished at any moment.

He disregarded all etiquette and shattered the door bolt with a single blow, the wooden door creaking open inwards.

The room was dimly lit, the curtains were drawn tightly, and a faint, mixed scent of medicinal pills filled the air.

Zi Yan lay quietly on the bed. Her usually bright and cheerful face was now as pale as paper, and her lips even had a faint bluish-purple tinge.

"I rely on!"

Su Baichen flashed to the bedside and helped her sit up.

The moment his palm touched her back, his heart sank again—the energy in her meridians was surging wildly, like a herd of wild horses rampaging through a narrow passage, with tiny cracks already appearing in many places.

The white innate fighting energy was slowly injected, gently yet firmly guiding the turbulent energy.

This process must be handled with extreme care, as the slightest mistake could trigger an even more severe backlash.

Su Baichen's forehead was covered in a fine sweat as he focused intently on stripping away, dissolving, and guiding the strands of alien energy back to their proper path.

One hour, a full hour.

When the last surge of violent energy subsided, Zi Yan's eyelashes trembled a few times, and she slowly opened her eyes.

Her purplish-gold eyes were filled with confusion. She blinked, seemingly still unsure of where she was.

"What's wrong with me...?"

She instinctively tried to sit up straight, but as soon as she moved, a tearing pain shot through her chest, causing her to hiss and gasp for breath. She curled up and clutched her chest tightly with her hands.

"Why does my chest hurt so much!"

Just then, a cold laugh came from a table not far away.

"Hehe, then I'll have to ask you."

Zi Yan looked up abruptly and saw that Su Baichen had already sat down at the tea table by the window.

He held a white porcelain cup in his hand, steam rising from its rim, the aroma of tea faintly spreading throughout the room.

He sipped his tea leisurely, as if he weren't the one who had just been sweating profusely and doing his best to save lives.

"What are you doing here?!" Zi Yan blurted out, her voice still hoarse from just waking up.

Su Baichen slowly put down the teacup, the bottom of the cup lightly touching the table, making a crisp sound.

He turned his head, his gaze calm yet extremely oppressive as it fell upon Zi Yan.

"Heh, why I'm here is not important." He stood up, walked step by step to the bedside, and looked down at Zi Yan, who was curled up in the quilt.

"What matters is what you did."

Zi Yan felt a chill run down her spine under his gaze, and instinctively shrank back, her fingers gripping the corner of the blanket, her eyes darting around.

"Um... I took a bit too many pills," she muttered softly, trying to get away with it.

"An accident, purely an accident!"

Upon hearing this, Su Baichen's face darkened visibly.

"Hehe, ate too much?" He repeated these two words, pronouncing each syllable exceptionally clearly.

"Did you eat too much?"

The voice suddenly rose: "You're eating so much you're about to explode!"

Zi Yan shuddered in fright and lowered her head even further.

Su Baichen took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

He knew all too well the source of Zi Yan's pills—almost all of them were given to her by him personally, with strict control over the dosage and medicinal properties of each bottle, and he selected only mild and nourishing types.

Even if this girl greedily swallowed it all, at most she would suffer from indigestion and feel bloated for a few days. It would be impossible for her to experience such a crisis of energy chaos and meridian damage.

During the process of calming her down, he clearly sensed that there were at least seven or eight different types of medicinal energy clashing within Zi Yan's body, with water and fire antagonizing each other and metal and wood clashing, creating a chaotic mess.

This situation was definitely not caused by the pills he gave.

"explain."

"Where did you get those other pills? I don't remember giving you any of them."

Su Baichen stared at her, his gaze sharp as a knife.

The room was so quiet that only Zi Yan's tense breathing could be heard.

She bit her lower lip, her fingers unconsciously picking at the embroidered patterns on the quilt, refusing to speak.

Su Baichen laughed in exasperation.

"Good, that's loyal." He nodded, and with a flick of his wrist, a dark red wooden stick about the thickness of an arm appeared out of thin air in his hand.

"I'd like to see just how strong your sense of loyalty really is."

Zi Yan's pupils suddenly contracted.

She was all too familiar with the material of that wooden stick—it was incredibly tough, and when it hit you, it hurt like hell, but it wouldn't leave any serious internal injuries. It was the perfect tool for "teaching someone a lesson."

"The last stick broke, so I made another one." Su Baichen weighed the stick in his palm; it was of moderate weight and felt solid.

"Look! Those wooden clips were made of the same material back then, specially prepared to deal with you."

As he spoke, he slowly walked towards the bedside. His footsteps were light, but to Zi Yan's ears, they sounded like a death knell.

Those deeply buried memories suddenly awakened—

Many years ago, when she was still young, she secretly sneaked into the alchemy room hoping to steal a few bottles of pills to satisfy her craving, but ended up triggering a trap set by Su Baichen.

A dozen or so of these wooden clamps popped out with a "click-clack" sound, trapping her hands and feet. She was in so much pain that she hung there with tears in her eyes for most of the day until Su Baichen returned and freed her.

That taste... was truly unforgettable.