"Na Xinyi!!" A nearly shrieking voice cried out in complete horror. An urgent and tense expression revealed itself on Qing Qiumu's face as she lunged at Na Xinyi's fallen body. Witnessing it ragdoll to the floor as if losing all motor functions, a characteristic often shown when someone dies abruptly, her heart was racing without end.
Unhesitatingly, Qing Qiumu clutched Na Xinyi's soft body into her arms, using her hands to inject wood force with Life Meadow Wood's rejuvenating and life-sustaining powers. She hadn't even sent her spiritual sense through Na Xinyi to determine if she was a corpse or not, not wanting to waste a second.
That grave mentality and swift action had saved Na Xinyi's life, grabbing hold of the faint embers of life that remained. Only after feeling the faint throbbing of her heart, signs of her shallow breathing, and warmth of her skin remain consistent did Qing Qiumu breathe a breath of incredible relief. Her astral force was continuously pumping into Na Xinyi's body in a gentle and direct manner, causing her skin to radiate a faint emerald glow.
The others hadn't fully reacted to the events yet, but Qing Qiumu's shout had shook them out of their stupor. Long Tingyu cried out, "Big Sis Xinyi!" Seeing Na Xinyi's corpse-like state scared her half to death. While Na Xinyi had decided to become Wei Wuyin's wife, she still held an emotional connection to Na Xinyi.
Furthermore, from the very beginning, Na Xinyi had been contemplating whether to accept Wei Wuyin's proposal. Whether it was obvious to others, she wasn't certain, but she was there when Wei Wuyin offered to take responsibility. She had later learned of what happened to her, and felt that it was only right for Wei Wuyin to dedicate his life to her. Considering he had saved her Big Sis Qiumu, her, and her ancestor was more than enough to redeem him.
At least a little.
Her thoughts were that simple. Even then, she also felt it was a pity that her Big Brother and Na Xinyi weren't destined to be an item. But to her, Long Chen could have any woman he wanted. He was that awesome!
Leaving her master's protective embrace, she hurried over with quick steps, peering at Na Xinyi's pale complexion with concern. "Is she alright?" This was a question on the minds of everyone. It was only with Qing Qiumu's faint nodding motion that they felt the lump of anxiety in their hearts dissipate.
Long Chen was startled by Na Xinyi's current state. He turned to see the other individuals nearby and witnessed that their state was deprived of life. The only ones to survive were those at the Astral Core Realm, but they were unconscious and nearing the precipice of their end. A few had even expired already. A ward of astral force originating from Tuo Bihan had engulfed the survivors, sustaining their lives.
'What the hell was that?' He calmly asked himself as he recalled how he reacted, unleashing the Imperial Heaven Aura to shield the others.
Whatever that was unleashed had been completely blocked out by his aura. He was thankful that it did, lest something happen to Qing Qiumu, Lian Yu, and Long Tingyu. He didn't know what he'd do if he lost them.
However, there was a voice that was filled with horror that would soon collapse his happiness into dust.
"You…you didn't shield her!" Xiang Ling was aghast. Whatever that had just assaulted the crowd, including them, had been fended off by Long Chen with ease. But when his aura erupted, he shielded everyone, including herself, but not Na Xinyi.
"…!" Long Tingyu heard the words spoken by her master and shot her a disbelieving look. Her first instincts were to reject that idea. The idea that Long Chen had allowed whatever came to strike Na Xinyi. The situation was too fast to react to, and Na Xinyi was…
She shook her head and pressed down the thought, creating a few other explanations in her heart.
Lian Yu was similarly shocked. She was nearest to Long Chen, so she felt his aura first. Furthermore, they were the only ones in the crowd that wasn't affected. Those closer to the crater and even behind them were smashed by that unknown force. If one had to speak about distance from Long Chen, then from closest to furthest it was: Her, Qing Qiumu, Na Xinyi, Xiang Ling, and Long Tingyu. The master and disciple were relatively some distance away, and behind Na Xinyi, who was directly behind Qing Qiumu.
Yet the aura had somehow zipped past Na Xinyi and shielded Xiang Ling and held Long Tingyu in her embrace after the crater fell who was further away. She couldn't help but think the only reason Xiang Ling was even protected was due to her holding Long Tingyu.
She had even witnessed the aura contort around Na Xinyi deliberately. This caused her heart to quiver intensely, shocking her thoroughly. She wasn't the only one. Xiang Ling's cultivation was at the Soul Idol Phase, so her senses were profoundly powerful. She had observed the aura twisting about and arrived to shield her and Long Tingyu, completely avoiding Na Xinyi.
It was clearly deliberate. She couldn't help but be shocked at the utter heartlessness of it. Her thoughts and impression that had formed about Long Chen, which was only formed after much convincing by her little disciple, had shattered and fallen to the lowest point possible. Furthermore, she hadn't even known about Na Xinyi giving up her Primal Yins for him to ascend the Astral Core Realm and yet she felt this way.
But Qing Qiumu and Lian Yu did.
Long Chen was taken aback by Xiang Ling's accusing words. He spoke with a somewhat guilty heart, but concealed it all from his tone. He seemingly explained with sadness, "The situation developed so fast, I couldn't react in time."
Lian Yu, "…"
Xiang Ling was shocked by his excuse.
Long Tingyu felt this was likely, as the situation had happened so fast. They didn't even know what happened, so it must've been a shock. Even if the logic didn't hold up, she distorted it in her mind to be the truth.
As a Soul Idol Phase cultivator with such extreme talent, there was no way Long Chen couldn't react when they could. Furthermore, he would've had far more time to think.
Long Chen saw Lian Yu's odd expression and hurriedly explained himself further, "My aura could only extend to five people, myself included. I'm sorry." His words were apologetic as he glanced at the barely breathing Na Xinyi with remorse and sadness.
Lian Yu, "…"
"Yeah, see! Master, only five people. We're lucky Big Brother was capable of protecting us." Long Tingyu smiled, her beautiful face twisted slightly for some odd reason. From her expression, one truly didn't know if she wanted to laugh or cry.
Qing Qiumu finally stabilized Na Xinyi's condition. She sighed heavily with relief. It was fortunate that she had such pure life-type energies and Na Xinyi wasn't an ordinary Qi Condensation Realm cultivator. If she was, she would've ended up like the other Qi Condensation Realm cultivators—dead before she hit the ground.
Her emerald eyes then lifted upwards, betraying her rage. Her heart was in turmoil as everything in her mind was telling her that Long Chen wouldn't have deliberately shielded everyone else and allowed Na Xinyi to take the full brunt of that unknown force, but as she heard Xiang Ling and recalled what happened, how could she not?
While he couldn't have known of its lethal powers, he had to know it could've harmed her or was likely.
As for the five people max?
"Five people? Five?! FIVE?!?!" Qing Qiumu, for the very first time in her life, screamed viciously at Long Chen. Clearly, she didn't believe it. Likely for a number of reasons, but those reasons were entirely irrelevant. What was relevant was her exploding anger. She fiercely shouted, "She helped you! She gave up her physique for you! How could you do this to her? Why did you do this?! Is it because she wanted to marry Wei Wuyin?! Because she wanted to make her own choice and that choice WASN'T YOU!? WHY?!"
"…" Lian Yu pouted slightly but remained silent. Whatever her thoughts on the subject, she didn't feel her input would better the situation one bit. Furthermore, she similarly didn't believe in Long Chen's excuse. Five? Xiang Ling and Long Tingyu were chest to chest, fully embraced, and they could roughly be considered one person. It also seems very arbitrary for it to be five.
Even if, EVEN IF, you could only shield five, why avoid Na Xinyi? She was the weakest here, the only one not in the Astral Core Realm, and even her foundation was severely damaged. Xiang Ling could've defended herself. The chances of Na Xinyi suffering a negative result was higher than everyone present.
"…" Long Chen hadn't thought much about his responses, and he froze after being yelled at by Qing Qiumu. Unable to respond to such a question, he could only act mute at the moment, but that only revealed his guilt.
Xiang Ling looked at Long Chen, her normally seductive eyes trembling with surprise and disappointment. "I was convinced by Yu'er that you were different from other men, but it seems like you're not. You're just like 'him'. Someone who discards anyone that is no longer useful to you." Her words contained a sharp, hidden pain filled with an extremely gloomy air. Her eyes radiated disgust and contempt towards Long Chen.
Long Chen shivered at those words, feeling completely lost after hearing them. He wanted to argue, but for some reason, for some unfathomable reason, he couldn't.
Long Tingyu's face was streaming with tears, but she didn't know when it started. Was it when Qing Qiumu shouted or when Long Chen remained silent that she realized the truth of the situation. Despite being a young girl, her thinking was extremely simple and always has been. She never thought Long Chen would ever act in such a despicable manner, so much so that she was even willing to lie to herself.
She also knew of the past 'betrayal' her master suffered, recalling the time she told her that Long Chen would never do anything like that. That he was 'different'. In fact, he would give up his life for his friends with ease. As he always said: Repay kindness with ten times the kindness, repay enmity with ten times the enmity.
But when a moment came where he could've easily protected someone who supported him and helped him for over decade while never asking for anything in return, even gave up her talent and future for him, he nearly allowed her to die.
She was utterly speechless, feeling as if the world had just lost a little bit of color, looking a little bit more grey than before.
