Chapter Seventy-Nine: An Awkward Atmosphere

“Divine Escape Talisman is also a type of magical artifact, but it’s a single-use item.”

Seeing Yang Yan’s puzzled expression, Liu Zhengqing stood up and explained earnestly, then pointed toward the ranking board before continuing, “As for its function… as the name suggests, it allows for instantaneous movement!”

Upon hearing this, Yang Yan hurriedly looked up at the ranking board. He saw that Long Ao Di, who had previously collapsed before them, was now dozens of miles away, rapidly moving further from their location.

Yang Yan felt a chill run through him. Although he had already guessed the reason when Long Ao Di disappeared earlier, Liu Zhengqing’s confirmation still left him somewhat shocked.

“As far as I know, the lowest grade of Divine Escape Talisman is at least a mid-tier spiritual artifact. The higher its quality, the farther it can teleport its user. Judging by the distance Long Ao Di traveled just now, his talisman must have been a mid-tier spiritual artifact…” Liu Zhengqing continued.

“A single-use artifact at the level of a mid-tier spiritual item… that’s truly extravagant…” Yang Yan couldn’t help but sigh. Even the Zhang family, one of the three great clans of Jinhuan City, possessed only a handful of mid-tier artifacts, aside from the Moon Shadow Frost he had acquired by chance. Yet Long Ao Di had just expended one in a moment. Clearly, the overall strength between the two families was worlds apart!

“Though the Divine Escape Talisman is quite marvelous, it has one flaw—its teleportation destination is random. Luckily, that kid had good fortune and wasn’t sent somewhere crowded or infested with fierce beasts. Otherwise…” Liu Zhengqing’s face showed a hint of disappointment as he shook his head and sighed.

“You really know quite a lot…” Yang Yan stared at Liu Zhengqing with an odd expression.

Since childhood, Yang Yan had been fascinated by artifact forging and alchemy. Although he’d never pursued these interests formally, he’d read extensively on their basics. The Divine Escape Talisman might not be particularly rare among artifact forgers, but for an outsider, such knowledge was impossible to acquire.

Liu Zhengqing’s innate spiritual body was of the gold element. When Yang Yan fought him before, he sensed no formidable soul strength, ruling out the possibility that Liu Zhengqing was an artifact forger.

“Uh… regarding… the Divine Escape Talisman, I just happened to overhear some elders in my clan talking about it…”

Liu Zhengqing’s words were vague, clearly unwilling to elaborate, and Yang Yan once again caught glimpses of pain and helplessness in his evasive gaze.

“All right… Hey, aren’t you going to return Sun Zhixin’s identity token? Or we could crush it and split the soul hunting points between us…” Liu Zhengqing, unwilling to linger on the previous topic, quickly changed the subject and looked at Yang Yan with a mischievous grin.

Yang Yan was speechless, rolling his eyes at Liu Zhengqing and muttering to himself, “This guy… is he only serious during combat?”

He took a deep breath and slowly walked over to the girl sitting cross-legged on the ground, extending his hand to return her identity token, his voice stiff as he uttered a single word, “Here…”

The girl’s long lashes quivered slightly, and her eyes slowly opened.

“Take all the soul hunting points inside. They’re rightfully your spoils…” Sun Zhixin stared at the token in Yang Yan’s hand for a long moment before finally speaking, never once looking at Yang Yan.

“I won’t stoop as low as those three, taking advantage of someone’s misfortune. If I want your soul hunting points, I’ll wait until you recover, and then we’ll have a proper duel…” Yang Yan noticed that when he mentioned “taking advantage” and “duel,” Sun Zhixin’s brows furrowed slightly. Then he recalled the “unseemly” scene during the clan tournament, his throat tightening as if someone had seized it, leaving him unable to speak…

“In some ways, what I did was even more disgraceful than Long Ao Di and his companions…”

“Thank you.”

As if she feared Yang Yan would continue, Sun Zhixin gently raised her delicate hand, a waft of fragrance brushing against his palm as she took back the identity token, her voice cool and calm.

“You… you’re not hurt, are you…”

For some reason, ever since the clan tournament, whenever Yang Yan saw Sun Zhixin, his heart would pound uncontrollably, as if it would leap from his chest. Now, he even stammered when he spoke—something he hadn’t experienced even when facing the vastly superior Xu Hongfei, with his life hanging by a thread.

“I’m fine.”

Three simple words, spoken with a detached tone, slipped from Sun Zhixin’s lips. Afterward, she lowered her head to one side, silent.

Never had Yang Yan felt so awkward and helpless, scratching his head without a word, while Liu Zhengqing and the newly arrived Zhang Fei and Zhang Lin wisely moved a hundred meters away to give them space.

The atmosphere became unbearably awkward and strange. Yang Yan felt as if the air had solidified, and the world consisted of just the two of them.

Perhaps noticing the oddness, Sun Zhixin stood and walked toward the forest. As she passed Yang Yan, she paused briefly, her expression conflicted. Finally, she spoke.

“This time… thank you…”

With those words, she strode away into the woods.

“Why not… join us? We’re all cultivators from Jinhuan City; we ought to look out for each other…”

“If you act alone and encounter Long Ao Di and his companions, you might lose your chance to become a disciple of Azure Profound Sect!”

As Yang Yan spoke, the distant figure of the girl finally stopped, her back turned to him, motionless for a long time.

“That’s right! I’m already fifteen years old. If I’m eliminated this time, even if Azure Profound Sect holds another selection next year, I’ll have no eligibility to participate…”

Rules must be maintained; Azure Profound Sect had strict requirements for disciple selection that would not change for anyone.

Perhaps due to her family, she’d possessed resilience and maturity far beyond her peers since childhood. Yet toward the boy who had dared “offend” her in public, she still harbored a measure of resentment. Though she knew it was unintentional, she could never convince herself to forgive him.

But whenever she thought of her mother’s disappointed face, or her clan’s bitter sighs upon her elimination, she could not help but pause in her tracks…