Chapter 2823 — One Step Ahead

"I feel awful—just terrible!" Tian Chan saw that Wei Zhao was dodging the subject, no longer mentioning the matter of the weapon, and grew anxious. She reached out to grab it—but the instant her hand closed around it, she knew something was wrong. Her pretty face flushed bright red in an instant, the blush spreading from her neck to the tips of her ears, and her little hand recoiled as if struck by lightning. "You're playing the rogue!" she snapped.

"I... how is this me playing the rogue?" Wei Zhao could only give a wry smile. "It's a natural reaction—it means you're beautiful, that you're attractive to me. If you looked like the Five Baleful Dragon, then it'd be strange if I had any reaction at all."

"You're the Five Baleful Dragon!" Though Tian Chan felt thoroughly embarrassed, Wei Zhao's praise of her beauty was secretly gratifying; it warmed her heart. What girl didn't enjoy being complimented? Especially since, back at her sect, Tian Chan had never had any such opportunity...

"Heh, all right, don't move around. It'll pass in a moment. We'll bind ourselves together with the yellow silk," Wei Zhao said.

"Fine then..." Though Tian Chan found the thing pressing against her back rather uncomfortable, she had to pretend she noticed nothing, for the sake of returning safely to the summit of the Five Baleful Mountains. She reached out and took the yellow silk Wei Zhao handed her, wound it once around her body, then handed it back to him.

Wei Zhao took the yellow silk, wound it around himself as well, and passed it back to Tian Chan. They repeated this many times, until at last the two of them were bound tightly together into one, rather like how Wei Zhao had once carried Feng Xiaoxiao on his back during the Ice Palace trial.

"There." Wei Zhao tied off the rope with a knot, and once he was sure it was secure and wouldn't come loose, he said to Tian Chan, "We're ready now."

"Mm, then I'll get ready to jump. Is there anything else we need to do?" Tian Chan asked.

"Oink, oink!" At that moment, the Heavenly Thunder Pig pointed at the Five Baleful Dragon's claw lying on the ground.

"You mean this is a good thing?" Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback. He had thought the Five Baleful Dragon's claw was utterly useless and had casually tossed it aside—but judging by the Heavenly Thunder Pig's manner, it seemed to be a treasure?

"Oink, oink!" The Heavenly Thunder Pig nodded.

"It's right, you know. The Five Baleful Dragon is a treasure from head to tail," Tian Chan explained. "This claw is of the earth attribute—a fine natural treasure for strengthening the constitution of earth-element cultivators. Though for me, it's of no use."

"Oh? Since it's useful, we'll take it back." Wei Zhao said to the Heavenly Thunder Pig, "Pick it up and cling to me. We're leaving!"

"Oink, oink!" The Heavenly Thunder Pig darted over, snatched up the claw in its mouth, then leaped onto Wei Zhao and clamped onto him with all four limbs.

"All right, that's it. Let's head up," Wei Zhao said to Tian Chan.

Tian Chan nodded, drew a deep breath, and said to Wei Zhao, "I'm going to jump now. Be careful."

"Mm." Bound by the yellow silk, Wei Zhao didn't need to hold on to Tian Chan's body, but the lower half of him kept pressing against her, which made even Wei Zhao blush. Yet the more one thought about such things, the harder it was to calm down, and Wei Zhao felt rather awkward—he could only try his best not to think about it.

Tian Chan could do nothing about it now. She circulated her mental cultivation method and its incantation, then suddenly sprang upward, hurling herself at the cliff face, and thrust both palms out flat, slamming them hard against the rock...

Wei Zhao could tell this must be the Five Elements Eight Trigrams Palm, Tian Chan's strongest technique. Though he harbored thoughts of secretly learning it, he knew that even if he asked, she wouldn't tell him—just as Tian Chan had never asked how he was able to heal her injuries, knowing that even if she asked, he wouldn't tell her.

"Boom!"

Tian Chan had struck with all her strength, yet all that remained on the cliff face was a rather shallow imprint—barely enough for her to grip and keep from falling.

Then Tian Chan kicked hard against the cliff with both feet, and likewise left only a shallow mark on the rock, just enough to let her hang there for the moment.

"Wei Zhao, I can't go on. When I was fighting the Five Baleful Dragon earlier, I used up almost all my stamina and true qi. Eating a little helped some, but after unleashing that martial technique, there's not a shred of stamina or true qi left in my body." Tian Chan said urgently to Wei Zhao, "I can't hold on much longer—this position is unbearable. Hurry and replenish my stamina and true qi!"

"Right!" Wei Zhao did not dare delay. He hastily circulated the mental cultivation method and incantation of the Heavenly Descent of Spring Rain—though in his current position it was rather strenuous to trigger, he managed it in the end: "Heavenly Descent of Spring Rain—Fifth Form!"

The first form of the Heavenly Descent of Spring Rain could channel true qi into one person; the second form could channel it into two; and thus the fifth form could channel it into five. Now there was only Tian Chan beside Wei Zhao, so using the fifth form meant pouring five portions of true qi into her at once, swiftly transferring the stamina and true qi from his body into hers.

A pale blue mist of true qi suddenly welled up from Wei Zhao's hands, and as he unleashed his martial technique, the pale blue true qi abruptly left his palms, drifting through the air, then falling like spring rain and surging into Tian Chan's body...

In an instant, Tian Chan felt her stamina and true qi rapidly restored. Before long, all of Wei Zhao's stamina and true qi had passed into her body, and Wei Zhao was left utterly weakened.

"It really is amazing!" Tian Chan exclaimed. "I never imagined this martial technique could be so wondrous. My stamina and true qi have been replenished in a flash—not quite at their peak, but two more jumps won't be a problem!"

"Good." Having used the Heavenly Descent of Spring Rain, Wei Zhao had no other concerns; he quickly entered the jade pendant's space, circulated the second layer of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art, and began recovering the stamina and true qi he had lost.

After resting a moment, Tian Chan sprang up once more, leaping to a somewhat greater height, then unleashed the Five Elements Eight Trigrams Palm—and so on it went...

Behind the Five Baleful Mountains lay the Five Baleful Wasteland.

Zhang Naipao was fortunate: the place he had been teleported to was the closest of all to safe ground.

Whether the Xuandan Sect had arranged it deliberately or he was simply lucky, Zhang Naipao found the safe ground with ease, then hid himself there, waiting for the rabbit to come to him!