Not Much Time Left for Lin Heng to Argue

Meng Yutong suddenly looked up at the void.

Her face instantly drained of color.

"Could the aftershock of the battle have disturbed that bell?"

At the very center of the Kingdom-Destroying Secret Realm stood a bell tower, and hanging atop it was an Ancient Bronze Bell.

The entire tower was surrounded by Dao Power. Even Return to Void cultivators could not easily withstand its shredding force.

Dong!

Dong, dong!

The bell's chime rang throughout the secret realm. Then terrifying Dao Power erupted, its might sweeping out and instantly swallowing every cultivator within ten miles.

Those cultivators were all outstanding disciples brought by their respective sects. Most were in the Golden Core Realm, yet even so, they did not have time to let out a single scream.

Meng Yutong reacted swiftly, grabbing Ye Tian like a chick and fleeing.

They were too close to the central area. Even after Meng Yutong used the Great Spatial Shift, they could not fully evade the Dao Power.

Could this Dao Power make my cultivation plummet?!

Meng Yutong was horrified. She would never allow such a thing to happen.

In her urgency, she immediately brought out a Life-Saving Talisman and a Mystic Fan.

Both were treasures she had kept at the bottom of her chest. The Life-Saving Talisman could protect her Divine Soul, while the Mystic Fan, forged from Starfall Iron, could forcibly withstand the shredding force.

According to the usual plot, Meng Yutong would have used the Life-Saving Talisman on Ye Tian out of concern for her beloved disciple, unaware that the most terrifying aspect of Dao Power was its ability to shred Mind Sense.

But now, to avoid getting hurt herself, she used the Life-Saving Talisman directly on herself and even placed Ye Tian in front of her as a shield.

Ye Tian was instantly dumbfounded.

"Master, what are you doing...?"

"Tian'er, do not be afraid. Your master is protecting you. With the Mystic Fan here, it will surely keep us safe and sound."

Seventy miles away.

Lin Heng and the others naturally felt the violent tremor and heard the bell, but the Dao Power had yet to reach them.

"What's going on?"

"Could they be fighting again?"

Lin Heng glanced at the dust and smoke gradually spreading from behind them, and his heart immediately tightened with an ominous premonition.

He instinctively pulled Yun Yao in front of himself.

"No, that isn't dust and smoke. Take cover, quickly!" Mu Liuxi shouted.

Yun Yao also sensed that something was wrong. She wanted to dart behind a huge boulder nearby, but Lin Heng had hold of her slender waist from behind.

"Hey! Lin Heng, let go of me!"

"Senior Sister, put up a barrier! There's no time!"

Could Lin Heng let go now?

You could dart behind that boulder thirty meters away, but I couldn't!

Boom~

The Protective Qi came up, but it did not last even three seconds before shattering.

The two were sent flying several meters, crashing headfirst into the ground.

Lin Heng was doing all right. With Yun Yao blocking him from the front, only his nose hurt a little after being struck by the back of her head.

As for Yun Yao, she had already been injured by Meng Yutong and the others' battle. After being struck by the Dao Power again, she fainted on the spot.

"Xiao Yao!"

"Lin Heng!"

Mu Liuxi hurried over, full of guilt. "It's all my fault. I forgot that Xiao Yao was injured."

She had moved too quickly at the time and had also forgotten that Lin Heng had no means of protecting himself.

"Cough, cough!" Lin Heng coughed twice, grimacing as he climbed to his feet. He hurried to Mu Liuxi's side and asked anxiously, "Second Senior Sister, is Senior Sister Xiao Yao all right?"

"She should not be in any mortal danger... She has merely fainted."

"It's all because I held Senior Sister Xiao Yao back. If she hadn't protected me... I'm afraid..."

Tears welled up in the corners of Lin Heng's eyes, but inwardly, he was thinking:

Good thing I was quick-witted and hid directly behind Senior Sister. I have to say, this human shield is safe and reliable.

Senior Sister Xiao Yao, you can't blame me. If I hadn't done that, I would probably have lost my little life. At most, you only got a little hurt.

Uh...

Mu Liuxi had just been about to comfort him, but his two muttered thoughts immediately choked the words back down.

Though his actions were understandable, was it not far too rude to compare his senior sister to a "human shield" in his heart?

No matter how she listened to that tone, it carried a hint of gloating over someone else's misfortune.

Not long after.

Meng Yutong found Lin Heng and the others. A paper puppet followed at her side, while Ye Tian was slung over her shoulder.

"Master, Junior Brother Ye, he..."

"We'll talk after we leave. We cannot stay here any longer."

Meng Yutong's face was somewhat pale, clearly bearing the appearance of someone seriously injured.

After leaving the secret realm, the group boarded the Cloud Boat and began their return journey.

Inside the Cloud Boat's cabin.

Yun Yao lay on the left bed, while Ye Tian lay on the right. Mu Liuxi and Lin Heng each attended to one of them.

Clearly, Yun Yao's injuries were much lighter. Dao Power gradually weakened with distance, and their location had been a full seventy miles from that central bell.

Meng Yutong, meanwhile, sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion with her eyes closed, seemingly regulating her breath to heal her wounds.

Master must be panicking right about now... She can feel her cultivation slowly slipping away, can't she?

ㄟ( ▔, ▔ )ㄏ But who told you to bring this upon yourself?

Still, it's a little strange. How did that brat Ye Tian get injured? And so badly too... Could something have gone wrong?

Forget it. Once Ye Tian wakes up, I should receive my reward as well.

Lin Heng secretly rejoiced.

Although the outcome had deviated somewhat from the plot, the Master-Defying Disciple instance was certainly as good as nailed to the board.

He was becoming more and more curious about what the top-grade reward would be.

A weapon, pills, or perhaps some heaven-defying cultivation technique?

Lin Heng shook his head, warning himself not to let his guard down yet.

This was only the first key plot point. Many more pits lay waiting for him ahead.

After Ye Tian defied his master, all of Fairy Cloud Peak would become a harem.

Whether it was the mysterious First Senior Sister or the icy Second Senior Sister, neither would be able to escape their ordained harem fates.

Therefore, he had to choose certain key points and push the plot in the "opposite direction," lest Ye Tian get him killed.

Before long, the sect would assign a mission. During that mission, Ye Tian would break one of his legs and take the opportunity to directly win Yun Yao over.

To avoid having his leg broken, the best course was not to take part in the mission.

As long as he did not participate, perhaps Yun Yao would not offer herself up for free either.

That, in turn, would slow the protagonist's rate of growth.

After all, the protagonist possessed the Many Wives, Many Blessings Aura. The more heroines he took in, the stronger his power would become.

As he thought this,

Yun Yao suddenly snapped her eyes open.

Hm?

Before Lin Heng could react, an agonizing pain like being kicked by a donkey exploded in his chest. Then his entire body flew backward two meters.

Smack!

Yun Yao raised her jade-like foot from above and stomped directly onto his nearly fractured chest.

"Fuck!"

"Senior Sister, what are you doing?"

Lin Heng was completely dumbfounded. Over the past two hours, he had fed her water and wiped her sweat.

Yet the moment she woke up, she gave him a kick.

Could it be because he had used her as a shield?

The situation had been so dangerous then. Surely she would not go that far over it, right?

What he did not know was,

Yun Yao had merely suffered some shock to her Divine Soul. That did not mean she could not hear Lin Heng's thoughts while unconscious.

Using her as a human shield was one thing, but he had even gloated in his heart that she was foolish and thick-skinned.

If she did not properly teach such a junior brother a lesson, how could she establish her authority!!

"Xiao Yao, what are you doing? Don't disturb Master while she regulates her breath and recovers!"

Mu Liuxi pointed outside the cabin and gave her a meaningful look.

Yun Yao immediately understood. She grabbed Lin Heng by the collar and dragged him outside.

"Senior Sister! Senior Sister! Have you gone mad? I kindly took care of you all the way here, so why are you hitting me instead?!"

"Hehe!" Yun Yao laughed. A heart-stirring smile appeared on her exquisite, pretty face.

"My dear junior brother, I don't mind that you used your senior sister as a human shield. After all, I have an obligation to protect you! Did you think that just because I fainted, I couldn't sense the smile curling at the corner of your lips?"

"Did you think I couldn't feel your restless little movements when you held me?"

Thump!

Lin Heng's heart gave a violent jolt.

Had he smiled?

He clearly remembered squeezing out two tears. As a master of acting at the level of an award-winning actor, how could he make such a low-level mistake?

Even if he wanted to laugh, he should only have laughed in his heart.

As for those little movements...

"I... I only..."

Not much time was left for Lin Heng to argue.

In truth, Yun Yao had no bodily sensation while unconscious, but she had heard one sentence:

She looks small, but she's actually quite big in the palm of my hand. So soft to squeeze.

There was no need to say what that sentence described.

PS: Let me clarify first: Yun Yao might enjoy bullying the male lead in the early stages, but she is definitely not into abuse, because the protagonist will fiercely thrust back later on. Their later storyline is a little sweet.