A jade hand gently grabbed Long Chen. Chu Yao told him, “Let me do it. It’s always been you protecting me. Give me a chance to stand in front of you as well.”

Seeing the gentle softness within Chu Yao’s eyes, Long Chen stiffened and shook his head. “You’re too kindhearted for this. Just let me handle it.”

He understood Chu Yao’s character. She was too gentle for this. Doing something like this would definitely be difficult for her to bear. It would be better for him to do it. By now, he was already insensitive to the burden of killing others.

“No, Long Chen. In the Skywood Palace, I swore to myself that I will forever protect you. Due to that promise, I cultivated with all my might.

“I know that cultivation is a path of no retreat, and I know that you must have your own personal difficulties for you to step onto this path. All I need is for you to let me stay with you. It doesn’t matter where you go. Even if you have to step into hell, I will always follow you.

“Since this is a path of no retreat, I will inevitably have my hands stained with blood eventually. And even if I have to have my hands covered in blood and become a merciless demon queen, I will not hesitate.”

After she finished speaking, she slowly extended her hand. Other than Hua Yu, everyone else’s jaws dropped.

Those wooden stakes binding the Bloodnet Sect Elders came to life. A sharp point grew out of their heads, stabbing towards the Bloodnet Sect Elders.

Although these stakes were just made of wood, they were covered in runes. Their sharpness caused those Bone Forging Elders to feel an icy chill.

“Kill!” Chu Yao lightly shouted, suddenly clenching her hand. Three sharp thorns pierced through the three Bloodnet Sect Elders’ foreheads like lightning, immediately killing them. Everyone’s hearts trembled; three Bone Forging experts had died just like that.

Chu Yao’s face was pale, and Long Chen hastily wrapped his arm around her, supporting her. He was extremely moved, as well as ashamed. His voice held a bit of reproach as he said, “Why must you push yourself so hard?”

If Long Chen’s guess was right, this was Chu Yao’s first time killing someone. For her to kill three people at once, and all Bone Forging experts, was definitely a huge impact to her.

“If you are willing to stain your hands with blood for me, then I can also do the same for you!” Although her face was pale, Chu Yao’s voice was still resolute. Her hand caressed Long Chen’s face.

Seeing that determination on Chu Yao’s face, Long Chen was incomparably moved. Being loved by someone was an incredible blessing that could not be described with words.

“Hey, that’s enough. Tidy yourselves up and get back to what you’re supposed to be doing. If you want to be affectionate, there’ll be enough time after the battle’s over.” Hua Yu smiled.

Chu Yao turned red, but she still couldn’t bear to part with Long Chen just yet and continued holding his hand.

“Come, let’s go see father.” Long Chen pulled Chu Yao over to Long Tianxiao.

“Aowu!” Little Snow also rushed over beside them.

“Oh, Little Snow’s so big now!” Only now did Chu Yao realize that Little Snow had become even more amazing than before, and she wrapped her arms around his head and gave him a kiss on the head.

Arriving beside Long Tianxiao, Chu Yao reddened slightly and shyly greeted, “Yao-er greets uncle.”

“What uncle? That sounds weird. You should just call him dad so you don’t have to change it later,” laughed Long Chen naughtily.

Chu Yao immediately turned as red as an apple, but her eyes were still joyful. Her lips stuttered a couple of times, and she finally managed to call out:

“Dad!”

Long Tianxiao laughed heartily, “Good, good, good! Dad’s really happy to see you all grown up. Come, let’s go drink a bit.”

Long Chen bitterly smiled and shook his head. “Dad, I can’t do it this time. I still have many brothers waiting for me on my side.”

Having lived on the battlefield for so long, Long Tianxiao naturally understood Long Chen’s meaning. Patting him on the shoulder, he said, “Ok, then we’ll wait until after your victory for you to come back! Your mom also misses you.”

Long Tianxiao knew Long Chen and Chu Yao also had some words for themselves. He brought his army back into the city. By this time, the majority of people had already evacuated, and it was also time for them to withdraw as well.

After Long Tianxiao left, Long Chen sighed and asked Chu Yao, “Do you want to go to the battlefield with me?”

Chu Yao smiled slightly. “For the moment, I can’t. I want to wait until the enemy’s Favored appears before I can participate in the battle.”

“What are Favored?” Long Chen had never heard of that before.

“My master said Favored are blessed by the heavens, geniuses destined to rise. Favored are… I heard that they are all peerless experts.” After saying that last part, Chu Yao’s expression became a bit unnatural.

Long Chen was both surprised and delighted, holding Chu Yao’s hand, he asked, “Then does that mean you are also a Favored?”

Chu Yao shyly nodded her head, absolutely delighting Long Chen. He hugged and began to spin her around.

“Haha, Yao-er, you’re too amazing!”

Chu Yao held onto Long Chen’s neck, her forehead pressed against his forehead. Seeing how excited he was, she laughed. “I thought you’d be disappointed to hear this news.”

“Why would I be disappointed?” Long Chen couldn’t help but be distracted.

“Isn’t it said that powerful men don’t like their women to be stronger than them?” asked Chu Yao.

“Well, technically you still haven’t become my woman yet. How about we fix that and make you my woman, and then we’ll know whether or not I’ll like it?” Long Chen mischievously laughed.

An enchanting red blush appeared on Chu Yao’s pretty face, and she alluringly looked at Long Chen. “As long as you want to, Yao-er will become yours whenever.”

Long Chen’s heart jumped. He had really miscalculated. He had gotten too used to joking around with Tang Wan-er.

Chu Yao wasn’t the same as Tang Wan-er; his joke had actually been taken seriously by her.

Long Chen hastily said, “We can’t rush it for now. As cultivators, we can’t do that before reaching the Xiantian realm. Otherwise, it’d be difficult for us to ever reach Xiantian.”

“Hehe, so you actually knew? Yao-er was just teasing you.” An enchanting expression appeared on Chu Yao’s face.

“Yao-er, you’ve been corrupted! You don’t need to explain; it was definitely that Hua Yu who taught you this!” Long Chen didn’t even need to think about it to know that it was definitely Hua Yu!

“Hehe, sister Hua said that women can’t be too gentle, otherwise, they’ll be bullied and ignored by their men. Although I’m not afraid of being bullied, I am afraid of you one day abandoning me. So I have to follow sister Hua and learn a few things.” Chu Yao was a bit worried.

Long Chen was given a scare. What is she learning from that woman? She better not learn any tricks against me.

He hastily said, “Yao-er, don’t listen to her nonsense. I like you most when you’re soft and gentle. Really, I wouldn’t change you at all.”

“Really? Sister Hua said women are like dishes of food, and that once a man eats enough, he’ll get tired of the taste. So we have to change ourselves a couple of times to keep our men,” said Chu Yao nervously.

Sweat was starting to drip from Long Chen’s face. As he had expected, that sister Hua really was an old vixen. It definitely wasn’t a good thing for Chu Yao to stay beside her for too long.

He directly changed the subject. “Yao-er, can you tell me what it means to be Favored?”

“Master said that Favored are born with karmic destiny and are blessed with a hint of karmic luck. They are so strong that they are unrivaled within the same realm,” explained Chu Yao.

Hearing her explanation, Long Chen immediately thought of a certain bow-carrying man. That Mo Nian who had killed hundreds of Corrupt disciples with a single arrow must also be a so-called Favored.

“Yao-er, what exactly does that mean, unrivaled within the same realm?” asked Long Chen.

“The same realm refers to anyone within the same major realm. In other words, even though I am only at the early Tendon Transformation realm, as a Favored, there is no one who is on the same level as me within Tendon Transformation. Not even someone at the peak of Tendon Transformation is a match for me.”

Chu Yao said that somewhat bashfully. Such words really were arrogant. But they weren’t her words, they were her master’s.

Long Chen really was stunned. As long as a Favored had reached the early stage, they would be unrivaled within that realm? That was absolutely terrifying.

But then thinking of those three Bloodnet Sect Elders, they had been about to force him to use Split the Heavens, however, Chu Yao had used a single move to completely subdue them. There was a definite disparity between them.

“Then Yao-er, what grade is your Spirit Root?” asked Long Chen suddenly.

“Favored’s Spirit Roots are not split into grades. They can count as Variant Spirit Roots,” explained Chu Yao.

Other than the bronze, silver, gold, and dark gold grades, there was also a Variant Spirit Root.

People with such Spirit Roots were gifted with an innate control over a certain kind of energy. Chu Yao’s gift was her wood energy.

However, she was completely different from ordinary wood cultivators. Her wood energy had already transcended from the five-element classification and mutual suppressions. She had no fear of fire burning her wood; in fact, her wood would easily suppress fire.

That was the most terrifying aspect of Variant Spirit Roots. It was no wonder the wood Chu Yao condensed was even harder than steel. Even Bone Forging experts were unable to escape her grasp.

But in truth, those Elders couldn’t really count as being true Bone Forging experts. At best, they could only count as possessing an ‘empty realm’. But despite that, they could probably suppress anyone from the monastery who was below the peak of Tendon Transformation.

It was no wonder that Favored were said to be unrivaled within the same realm. And he now realized that Mo Nian’s attacks that he had seen were really just the tip of the iceberg.

“Long Chen, no matter how strong I become, I will always stay by your side. I will always be your Yao-er.” Chu Yao gently nestled herself into Long Chen’s embrace, her head rubbing against his chest.

Long Chen softly caressed Chu Yao’s long hair, he laughed, “Are you afraid your strength will give me a blow to my confidence? Hehe, definitely not. I’ll become even stronger so I can protect you.”

Although that was what he said, inside he was grumbling. I definitely need to get stronger. I’ll have to condense that Alioth Star as soon as possible, otherwise, I’ll really be surpassed by everyone.

Once he returned to the battlefield, he would definitely have to cut off more of their heads and get more points. Otherwise, he really would have to rely on Chu Yao to protect him in the future.

After talking for a few more minutes, he knew he had to return to his station. He couldn’t help but be worried for everyone. As for Chu Yao, she wasn’t to participate in the battles just yet.

Chu Yao’s sudden appearance had given him a pleasant surprise, but it also gave him a feeling of urgency. His craving for strength grew even greater.

That was because Chu Yao said she would only go fight once the Corrupt path’s Favored appeared as well. In other words, the Corrupt path also had Favored, and it was very possible they had more than one.

However, that made Long Chen a bit curious. Why was Mo Nian allowed to participate in the warm-up battles, but not Chu Yao? Were they not the same?

Long Chen rushed back to his station. He saw that Tang Wan-er and the others were still currently in their defensive positions, and everything was still extremely orderly. They probably hadn’t undergone any large battles yet.

Suddenly, a large number of Corrupt disciples charged over. Seeing the monastery’s disciples, they roared and launched an assault.

Long Chen was just about to rush over when he paused. He instead found a hidden spot to watch. He wanted to know just how everyone would fight under this circumstance.