Chapter 140

Chapter 140: Cutting Through Thorns
Fang Cheng Lang saw the emotion in Ji Han Zhou’s eyes and felt a bitterness he could not put into words.

He opened his mouth, wanting to ask about Yu Zhao’s situation, but no sound came out.

Anyone with eyes could see that after Yu Zhao left the Five Elements Dao Sect, she had been living very well.

She had grown stronger and more confident. She was no longer that junior sister who trailed behind him, calling him First Senior Brother every other sentence.

Fang Cheng Lang once again clearly realized that Yu Zhao had not lived well on Lone Moon Peak. She was supposed to shine brightly, but everyday chores had worn down her sharp edges, and people even disliked her for having weak spiritual energy, calling her stupid and coarse.

They had almost strangled a genius.

The corner of his mouth twitched. His gaze unconsciously followed after Yu Zhao, and inside he cried in silence.

[Little Six. First Senior Brother was wrong. First Senior Brother is sorry. Will you forgive First Senior Brother, just this once? Please give your Senior Brother another chance.]

Ji Han Zhou asked carefully: “Y-you… are you all right?”

The sorrow around Fang Cheng Lang was too heavy to ignore.

Ji Han Zhou watched him carefully, and the sympathy in his eyes grew deeper.

[So pitiful. He must be this sad because his own junior brother is about to die.]

Fang Cheng Lang started to speak: “Fellow Daoist…”

From the side, Mo Ci called out impatiently: “Ji Han Zhou, are you done yet?”

Fang Cheng Lang had finally gathered his courage and was just about to start talking with Ji Han Zhou when Mo Ci, who had been waiting, grew impatient and urged him to hurry.

The others had long been ready. They were only waiting on Ji Han Zhou.

They had only met by chance. Ji Han Zhou had not kicked him while he was down and had even given him medicine for free. He felt he had already done enough. He answered Mo Ci, then gave Fang Cheng Lang an apologetic smile.

He cupped his hands to Fang Cheng Lang and said: “Senior Brother, I have to go. If we get a chance in the future, I will definitely ask you for guidance in sword arts. I am Ji Han Zhou from the Heavenly Sword Sect, you have to remember that. We will meet again.”

After bowing, he quickly walked back to Yu Zhao’s side, and their group headed off in another direction.

Fang Cheng Lang stared blankly at Yu Zhao’s back.

Other than that first glance at the start, Yu Zhao did not look at him a second time before she left.

[So this was the Ruthless Dao? It really was emotionless.]

For a moment, despair washed over him. He even started to doubt the meaning of staying in the Marsh Forest.

[Little Six is cultivating the Ruthless Dao, cutting off all feelings and love. No matter what I do, will I never be able to make up for my past mistakes?]

[No! I don’t believe that!]

He remembered that Senior Sister Zhou had said before that Little Six was not truly heartless.

She was only too disappointed, so she took back the feelings she had given them. As long as he could prove that his feelings for Little Six were real, she would surely change her mind and accept them again, just like she had accepted Senior Sister Zhou and Ji Han Zhou.

Fang Cheng Lang pulled himself together, swallowed the antidote pill in one gulp, and looked worriedly at the still unconscious Cui Jue.

The most urgent thing now was to save A’Jue. He would not be able to hold on for long.

The Marsh Forest was too far from the Five Elements Dao Sect. Fang Cheng Lang was afraid Cui Jue would not last until they made it back.

He frowned and thought for a while. Then a perfect place suddenly popped into his mind: Greenwood Sect!

First, Greenwood Sect was less than seven days’ journey from the Marsh Forest. Second, there were many alchemists in Greenwood Sect. They would definitely have a way to save Cui Jue.

He bent over and said softly: “A’Jue, A’Jue, you can still be saved. Senior Brother will definitely carry you to Greenwood Sect and ask the elders there to treat you! You have to hold on, you must not fall. Little Six is still waiting for you, do you hear? Little Six is waiting for you, nothing can happen to you.”

Cui Jue seemed to hear Fang Cheng Lang’s words. Even in his deep sleep, he kept mumbling Yu Zhao’s name: “Little Zhao, Little Zhao…”

Fang Cheng Lang’s throat tightened. He answered: “Yes, yes, Little Zhao is waiting for you. You have to keep going.”

As he gently encouraged Cui Jue, he lifted him onto his back again and walked out of the Marsh Forest step by step.

He would bring Cui Jue alive to Greenwood Sect. He had to.

After everyone left, a dull gray beetle slowly fluttered its wings and landed on the bloody wound of the companion spirit beast.

It opened its mouthparts and took small bites of the flesh of the half demonic beast’s body. In a short while, the cracked shell on its back healed completely, and its pair of blood-red eyes quietly changed.

On the other side.

Yu Zhao did not know that, in the dark, her path and Fang Cheng Lang’s had crossed again. Led by Mo Ci and the others, she found the Heavenly Immortal Herb and, after some effort, successfully picked three stalks.

With this, she had collected all the materials she needed for artifact forging, and she could finally start forging her artifact.

One of the female cultivators smiled and said: “Fellow Daoist Yu, traveling with you this time has been the happiest thing in this whole trip of training. You must visit our Hundred Flowers Valley in the future.”

Another girl sniffled and said: “Sister Yu, I really don’t want to part from you. Please don’t forget us.”

A third grinned and said: “Senior Sister Yu, the Hundred Flowers Brew I make tastes the best. I’ll be waiting for you in Hundred Flowers Valley.”

Yu Zhao smiled and said: “Of course, of course.”

Outside the Marsh Forest, the female cultivators from Hundred Flowers Valley reluctantly said goodbye to Yu Zhao.

If Yu Zhao had not repeatedly said she had urgent things to handle, the four women from Hundred Flowers Valley would have dragged her straight back to be their guest.

In Hundred Flowers Valley, they admired female cultivators like Yu Zhao the most, ones who were smart, strong, and full of personal charm.

As for Ji Han Zhou, he was, of course, ignored once again.

After sending off the four from Hundred Flowers Valley, Ji Han Zhou also told Yu Zhao that he was leaving.

Yu Zhao was not surprised.

Ji Han Zhou had been away from the Heavenly Sword Sect for a long time and had only sent one letter home. It was about time he went back.

But Yu Zhao did not know that Ji Han Zhou had another reason for choosing to leave now.

After several life-or-death experiences, Ji Han Zhou had realized that the gap between him and Yu Zhao was too big. To put it harshly, he was her burden, and Yu Zhao had to split her attention to protect him in battle.

Ji Han Zhou was a sword cultivator, and he had been praised as extremely gifted since he was a child. He also had the pride that a sword cultivator should have.

He did not want to stand behind Yu Zhao and only look up at her back. He wanted to fight side by side with her and become the kind of teammate she could trust with her back.

Of course, he could not reach that goal just by talking. He needed to work much harder than before.

There was only one year left before the Cultivation World Grand Tournament. If Ji Han Zhou wanted a better result, he had to hurry back to the Heavenly Sword Sect and go into closed-door cultivation.

He lifted his head and said: “Senior Sister Yu, the next time we meet, I will make you look at me in a new light.”

Ji Han Zhou raised his head, his brows and eyes firm, carrying the same rebellious air he had when he first met Yu Zhao.

Yu Zhao smiled. At that moment, she suddenly realized that the Ji Han Zhou she had treated like a junior brother had quietly grown a lot.

She said: “All right, I’ll wait for that day.”

Then she added quietly: “Take care.”

Ji Han Zhou nodded to her, took a deep breath, and strode forward.

He walked very fast, afraid he would not be able to control his expression and that Yu Zhao would see something was wrong.

[Senior Sister Yu, you have to wait for me.]

Watching Ji Han Zhou’s figure disappear from her sight, Yu Zhao let out a soft sigh.

After traveling with him for many months, suddenly parting ways and saying she felt nothing at all would have been a lie.

But Yu Zhao was very clear about what she wanted.

Family and friendship were her driving force to move forward, but they would not become chains that held her back.

In this life, she was destined to walk on the path of becoming stronger and would not stop for anyone. She wanted to step out of the cage of her past life and go see bigger, farther places.

Cutting through thorns and brambles, she would fear nothing.