Chapter 42: CH. 42 | New Disciple, An Xiao

An Xiao had prepared herself. Her heart was fully determined to break free from the sealing array that had bound her for years.

Lin Tian saw An Xiao close her eyes. The man’s hands began forming hand seals, activating a simple technique that was enough to destroy the sealing array inside the woman’s heart.

An Xiao was lucky. The sealing array had been planted by Yun Zhao, who was only a Core Formation cultivator, so it was not difficult for Lin Tian to destroy it.

White runes appeared and expanded beneath An Xiao’s body, accompanied by ancient characters and abstract magical patterns.

An Xiao did not feel anything bad happening to her body, only a gentle breeze from the surroundings brushing across her face and body.

Lin Tian raised his hand and carved an ancient three-stroke character in front of his face, then sent the character forward until it struck An Xiao’s body directly.

"AAKKKHH!" An Xiao screamed, grimacing in pain.

Lin Tian’s hand remained raised, still activating the glow of spiritual qi. It was useful for channeling his qi into the white rune.

Aside from keeping An Xiao conscious, his spiritual qi also prevented the qi turbulence caused by the sealing array’s removal from spreading.

"Hold on, An Xiao," Lin Tian said.

An Xiao gave a short response by nodding.

The woman took a smart initiative by choosing to cultivate. She helped control the qi turbulence from the sealing array by circulating spiritual qi through the meridians in her body, supplying her dantian and giving herself strength to endure. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Lin Tian was impressed. He increased the intensity of his power even further to quickly destroy the sealing array.

The man was worried that if he took too long, An Xiao would suffer fatal injuries.

An Xiao’s eyes remained closed as she tried to control the rhythm of her breathing as well as possible while maintaining her meditation.

Not long after, a burst of blue qi shocked Lin Tian. However, the white rune wall successfully prevented the qi burst from spreading throughout the stone cave.

"I’ve found the core of the sealing array," Lin Tian said.

Lin Tian raised his hand and touched his forehead, summoning a white orb from the essence of his soul consciousness.

With a forward swing of his hand, he shot the essence of his soul consciousness into An Xiao’s body.

An Xiao trembled slightly. Her eyes opened wide as she endured the pain. Inside Lin Tian’s mind, he controlled the essence of his soul consciousness and successfully found the sealing array’s core inside An Xiao’s heart.

With his eyes still closed, Lin Tian’s right hand moved to form a simple hand seal. He released a white beam of light directly toward An Xiao’s chest.

"AAAKKKHHH!" An Xiao screamed, groaning in pain.

"Break!" Lin Tian declared firmly.

BLAST!

An explosion of blue spiritual qi erupted from An Xiao’s body, accompanied by a not-too-powerful tremor across the stone cave floor.

Lin Tian paused the process for a moment, then deactivated the white runes beneath An Xiao’s body.

Both of his eyes glowed white as he carefully examined An Xiao’s condition from head to toe. The sealing array was gone.

Her heart had been freed from its shackles, and her life could now be decided by herself.

However, Lin Tian was slightly surprised when An Xiao collapsed sideways with a pale face. The man acted quickly.

He moved forward and managed to catch An Xiao in his arms.

It seemed the process had drained quite a lot of her strength.

Lin Tian summoned white qi light from the tip of his finger, then directed it toward An Xiao’s forehead.

He checked the woman’s condition and found that she was only exhausted, with her spiritual qi nearly depleted.

An Xiao opened her eyes and looked at Lin Tian’s handsome face. A sweet smile appeared on her face.

"Thank you, Master Lin Tian."

"You should rest. I’ll stay with you until you recover," Lin Tian replied.

An Xiao nodded.

The sleeve of his sect robe swept to the side, creating a stone table from the cave floor using his spiritual qi manipulation.

He laid An Xiao down on the table and told her to rest. An Xiao obediently listened.

Lin Tian tapped his bag of holding and guided five mid-grade spirit stones above An Xiao’s body.

He also released a white qi beam onto the five spirit stones. Qi threads connected one spirit stone to another like a net.

The moment the five spirit stones connected to one another, droplets of spiritual qi particles began raining down on An Xiao’s body.

With the natural ability of a cultivator’s body, she could absorb those qi particles without needing to form cultivation seals.

"This should be enough to help you recover by tomorrow."

Lin Tian turned around and walked outside, staring at the rows of rocky hills ahead of him. There did not seem to be any cultivators passing by.

"The mission to rescue An Xiao was successful. I only need to bring her back to the sect tomorrow."

***

The next day.

Early in the morning, when the sound of birdsong filled the hills, An Xiao slowly opened her eyes and saw herself lying on the table, with five spirit stones still raining qi particles over her body.

Her body had magically recovered quickly and completely. Her head turned to the side, clearly seeing a man sitting in focused cultivation with his back facing her.

"Master Lin Tian?" An Xiao asked.

Lin Tian stopped cultivating, halting the flow of spiritual qi being absorbed into his meridians. He turned around and saw that An Xiao had awakened.

The man walked closer while checking her condition. An Xiao sat up and smiled.

"Much better," An Xiao replied.

"I’ve destroyed the sealing array embedded in your heart. Now, you are completely free from Yun Zhao."

The woman’s eyes shimmered with tears. Her heart pounded quickly, and her head began to lower. She was happy and moved.

She had never expected the day when the sealing array binding her heart would disappear.

"I’m happy... I’m truly so happy," An Xiao whispered.

Lin Tian extended his hand forward, drawing An Xiao’s attention. The man’s eyes could see tears falling from the corners of her eyes, tears of happiness and freedom.

"You must have gone through many difficult times while you were in the Shuzhou Sect."

"Now, you don’t need to worry about that anymore."

"You’re safe with me in Lingxian."

An Xiao gently wiped her tears, then smiled sweetly with complete sincerity. She reached out and held Lin Tian’s hand.

"Thank you... for accepting me back, Master Lin Tian."

When their hands clasped together, a system panel appeared before Lin Tian.

[DING! Bond with An Xiao has been successfully formed]

[Name: An Xiao]

[Cultivation Stage: Peak Foundation Establishment]

[Affinity: Water]

[Emotional Stage: Resonance]

[Emotional Level: Trust (10/100)] [+10]