Chapter 159 - Echoes of a Lost Name
The atmosphere crackled with the residual hum of spiritual energy, the air heavy with the scent of ozone and the cold, sharp tang of Li Xue’s killing intent. Neither Li Xue nor Li Lin had seen exactly how the stranger had bypassed their defenses. He had appeared like a ghost between them, a feat that should have been impossible given their current cultivation levels.
Li Xue’s Divine Sense flickered like a cold flame, her Ice Soul Divine Needles trembling within her sleeves, ready to be unleashed at a moment’s notice. However, Li Lin was faster. His face was a mask of thunderous confusion as he reached out, his fingers locking onto the stranger’s collar with bruising force. He hauled the man upward until they were eye-to-eye.
"What did you just call me?" Li Lin’s voice was a low growl, vibrating with an intensity that bordered on desperation.
The young cultivator, his robes tattered and stained with the grime of a long pursuit, didn't flinch at the aggression. Instead, he let out a ragged sob, tears carving pale tracks through the dust on his cheeks. He stole a trembling glance at Li Lin’s features—the sharp brow, the steady set of the jaw, and the eyes that held a depth far beyond his years.
"I... I was desperate," the man stammered, his voice barely a whisper. "I saw your face and I just... I called out for Great-Grandmaster Hao Ran. I didn't mean any offense! It’s just... you look so much like him. You are the living image of my Great-Grandmaster!"
A cold shiver raced down Li Xue’s spine, a sensation like needles of ice pricking her skin. She stepped forward, her gaze piercing. "Your Great-Grandmaster... what is his full name? Where does he come from?"
The fugitive swallowed hard, sensing the shift in the air. The woman before him was no longer just a protector; she was a predator seeking a truth hidden in the stars. "My Great-Grandmaster is of the Li Clan," he gasped, trying to find his breath. "His name is Li Haoran. He is known as the Venerable Hao Ran, a cultivator who has already reached the Great Circle of the Mahayana stage. If you help me, my sect will reward you beyond your wildest dreams!"
He saw the complex, unreadable expressions crossing their faces and hurried to add more weight to his plea. "My sect is located in the Fangyuan Star Domain. We are a power to be reckoned with! We even have an 8th Tribulation Loose Immortal guarding our foundations. If we weren't so far from home, a petty, wretched place like the Purple Charm Sect would never have dared to lay a finger on me!"
Li Xue and Li Lin exchanged a long, silent look. The name 'Li Haoran' echoed in their minds like a bell tolling from a distant life. Could it be? Was the sickly hunter from the mountain village truly this legendary figure? The possibility was a whirlwind that threatened to upend everything they knew.
Without a word, Li Lin began to weave a series of intricate hand seals. The Nebula Boat groaned as its hidden arrays hummed to life, the silver hull shimmering with an ethereal light. With a sharp tug, Li Lin hauled the fugitive onto the deck. "Save your breath for the journey," he muttered.
The Nebula Boat lurched, its engines roaring with spiritual power as it tore through the fabric of the void, leaving the Wanhai Star Region behind in a blur of starlight.
A quarter of an hour later, the space around the nearby teleportation array rippled like disturbed water. Three figures stepped out, their presence immediately saturating the area with a cloying, floral fragrance. They were female cultivators at the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm, dressed in diaphanous silks of deep violet that left little to the imagination. Their beauty was predatory, their eyes gleaming with a cruel, practiced charm.
One of them, a woman with a serpentine grace, scanned the empty horizon and hissed in frustration. "Sister, the boy has vanished. The trail is cold. We’ve lost him."
The youngest of the three, a woman with delicately arched brows, touched her forehead as if nursing a headache. She looked toward the direction the Nebula Boat had fled, her expression one of weary pragmatism. "Forget it. Let us return. That boy’s sect is far too powerful for us to truly provoke. Even if we had caught him, we couldn't have done much more than rough him up a bit without inviting a calamity upon our own heads."
With a final, lingering look at the empty void, the three enchantresses turned back toward the array. A flash of purple light signaled their departure, leaving the silent stars to guard the secrets of the fleeing boat.
