That night, a thin veil of black covered the entire world. In the pitch-black sky, a hazy thundercloud could be faintly seen, occasionally rolling and flashing with lightning, briefly illuminating a vast forest below. Soon after, a deafening roar of thunder would resound, like the roar of a demonic beast, raging across the heavens. Under the thunder, even some low-level demonic beasts in the forest below couldn't help but feel fear.
In addition, a sinister wind was blowing between heaven and earth, sweeping across the forest like a ghost, creating strangely shaped waves that resembled smiling faces, making this dark world even more terrifying.
At this very moment, in a clearing amidst the flickering firelight in the forest below, two people sat cross-legged before a campfire.
The firelight flickered like a nimble monkey, its faint glow illuminating Xiao Yan and Gu You's faces and brightening the ground within several feet around them.
The atmosphere was slightly quiet. Even now, Xiao Yan was still recalling the appearance of Xiao Jin before Jin Lin took him away, and his eyes revealed a deep sense of reluctance.
In this Origin Martial Continent, besides Xiao Xuan Xiao Yan, who has not yet been resurrected, Xiao Yan only has Xiao Jin left. However, Xiao Xuan's ancestor is still far from being truly resurrected, and Xiao Jin has been taken away at this time. This means that Xiao Yan will be alone on the road ahead.
" Elder Gu, tell me, was it really the right thing for me to send Xiao Jin away?"
Xiao Yan looked worried, but he wasn't worried about facing danger alone. He had experienced this kind of thing many times before, so there was no need to worry. After all, he had come all this way alone.
His only concern was whether Jin Lin was truly trustworthy. Even with the checks and balances of the Lightning Punishment Oath, Jin Lin was still a stranger to Xiao Yan, and who would easily trust a stranger?
"Hehe, Xiao Yan, I can't say much about other things, but you can rest assured about the Lightning Punishment Oath. Even if he has any evil intentions, he definitely can't do them. As for the Ancient Void Dragon Clan, although I've never had any contact with them, I can tell you roughly that, apart from a very small number of people, the rest of the Ancient Void Dragon Clan are of very good character. You can trust that about me."
Upon hearing Xiao Yan's words, Gu You did not clearly explain whether giving away Xiao Jin was right or wrong. He only told Xiao Yan that the Ancient Void Dragon Clan was quite good, but as for how he ultimately made his choice, he left it to Xiao Yan himself.
"Sigh... I hope so."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan sighed softly, his heart filled with resentment.
"Kid, don't forget what you said. You sent that little guy away so you could focus on dealing with the Four Great Sects. Your grudges with the Four Great Sects should be resolved by yourself. Only by sending Xiao Jin away can you prevent him from being affected. You still have to walk your path, so why hold onto one thing?"
Gu You spoke to Xiao Yan in a stern voice.
" Elder Gu..."
Xiao Yan's apple bobbed, and his voice was dry. Gu You nodded upon seeing this and continued:
"Alright, stop thinking about it. Focus on healing your injuries first. Once you're recovered, I have something to tell you."
Gu You said something indifferently, then ignored Xiao Yan and stood up. He turned and flew into the dark night sky. Standing under the dark night, Gu You looked at the rolling thunderclouds above his head with a cold expression and a hint of dissatisfaction on his old face.
"Tch, it's all because of this awful weather that this kid's still so worried. Hmph, all of you, get out of here!"
With a sudden shout, Gu You waved his hand, and a streak of pale white energy shot out like a bolt of lightning, disappearing into the thunderclouds in the sky in an instant.
"Rumble..."
Immediately afterwards, the thunderclouds in the sky began to churn violently. After a short while, the swirling thunderclouds in the sky were swept away and completely dissipated.
As the thunderclouds dispersed, the bright moon rose high in the night sky, and countless stars appeared. The light of the heavens and earth shone down, falling upon Xiao Yan, who was sitting cross-legged below refining the pills within his body. Even the crimson-yellow flames were covered up at this moment.
The light of a firefly can never rival the brilliance of the moon!
In the blink of an eye, Xiao Yan had been sitting cross-legged in front of the extinguished fire for ten days. During these ten days, Xiao Yan had refined no less than five Emperor Grade Pill. And it was only at this moment that Xiao Yan's injuries were fully healed.
"Call..."
Feeling the abundant Dou Qi within his body, Xiao Yan clenched his fist, then stood up from the ground. As he twisted his body from side to side, a series of cracking sounds of bones colliding emanated from all parts of Xiao Yan's Xiao Yan, causing him to let out a long sigh of relief. He hadn't felt this exhilarating feeling in a long time.
Suddenly, Xiao Yan clenched his fists tightly and swung them simultaneously, unleashing a set of skillful fist techniques. Although Xiao Yan did not use his Dou Qi, his terrifying physical strength still caused the void in front of him to distort continuously. One after another, invisible air cannonballs condensed into shape the moment Xiao Yan threw a punch, and then, with terrifying force, mercilessly smashed a boulder several dozen feet away from Xiao Yan.
As the stone chips flew, dust billowed into the sky, and at the same time, the violent explosions echoed through the mountains and forests, causing many low-level magical beasts to turn pale and flee quickly. In an instant, the area within a hundred feet of where Xiao Yan was located became a commotion, and the birds that lived in the forest, like startled birds, all flew into the sky.
Seeing that his mere movement had caused such a commotion, Xiao Yan felt quite helpless. He pursed his lips, reluctantly withdrew his hand, and then turned his gaze to the eastern horizon, the direction Jin Lin had taken ten days ago when he took Xiao Jin Xiao Yan.
"Call..."
Exhaling a deep breath, Xiao Yan raised his head and looked up at the sky. High in the sky, Gu You stood in mid-air. Sunlight shone down, making it possible to only vaguely see a dark shadow, but not to make out its face clearly.
"Hehe, you've recovered?"
Laughter rang out, and Xiao Yan nodded. He stomped his foot on the ground and soared into the air, standing in front of Gu You.
"Now that you've recovered, let's go."
Gu You looked at Xiao Yan, whose aura had recovered, chuckled, and then transformed into a stream of light, disappearing into Xiao Yan's body.
"Um... Elder Gu, didn't you say you had something to tell me the other day? What's wrong...?"
"Hehe, you should go now. It might be a bit rushed. In a few days, when the time is right, I will tell you."
Before Xiao Yan could finish speaking, Gu You Xiao Yan, as if anticipating it, interrupted him with a light laugh that carried a strange meaning, making Xiao Yan suspicious yet unable to guess what was going on.
Helpless, Xiao Yan could only shrug, turn his head to look at the distant horizon behind him again, then turn back and look southwest towards the Xilin Mountain Range, which were right there.