Chapter 60

Chiyue and Lin Daoyan's group also left the Ten Thousand Sect Platform. After another five days, the Heavenly Dao Sect did not leave. Finally, on the fifth day, a disheveled figure emerged from the Black Forest.

This figure was none other than Bai Ting, the sole survivor of the Bai family. For several days, he had been hiding in the Black Forest. The reason was simple: he did not dare to come out. He feared that once he left the Black Forest, the people from Chiyue Valley would immediately kill him. So he waited until the twenty-third day before emerging from the Black Forest.

Finally, he came out. When he saw the light again, Bai Ting was even a bit uncomfortable. After more than twenty days in the Black Forest, his body emitted a foul odor. To his surprise, he did not expect that there was still a sect on the Ten Thousand Sect Platform, and it was one of the ten major sects.

"Bai Ting?" Su Muyan frowned when she saw Bai Ting. If she had not seen it with her own eyes, she would not have believed that the descendant of the once glorious Bai family could become so disheveled.

"Princess Thirteen?" Bai Ting was also slightly taken aback, then immediately became wary. When the Bai family was still around, they had always been at odds with the Su family. Now that the Bai family had been destroyed, his first thought was that Su Muyan wanted to kill him.

But Su Muyan did not. She stepped forward, shaking her head with some reluctance: "Heaven, what have you been through?"

"You're not going to kill me?" Bai Ting asked.

"Why would I kill you?"

"Then why are you still here?" In fact, Bai Ting had long given up on the opportunity to join the Ten Thousand Sects. His only thought now was to survive, because only by surviving would he have a chance for revenge. So he hoped most that there would be no one on the Ten Thousand Sect Platform.

"Brother Chu Yan told us to wait here, saying that one more person would come out and join the Heavenly Dao Sect. It seems that person is you," Su Muyan said frankly.

"Chu Yan?" Bai Ting frowned. He did not expect that Chu Yan would have the Heavenly Dao Sect deliberately wait for him. However, to be honest, he did not feel much gratitude. His feelings towards Chu Yan were very complex. He hated Chu Yan because everything that happened to the Bai family was due to Chu Yan, but he was also grateful to Chu Yan for sparing his life and giving him a second chance.

"Teacher, the Bai family in Changlong Kingdom was just exterminated by Chiyue Valley. Now, the Bai family is a hot potato. Do you really want to take him in as a disciple?" Xing'er asked beside him.

Mo Tu looked at Bai Ting, hesitating in his heart. If he had known it was a descendant of the Bai family, he might not have waited. But now that he had waited, not taking him in would seem a waste, as Bai Ting was now an Eighth Star Life Body, a rare talent.

"Take him in. It will be a favor we owe to Chu Yan."

"Teacher, you still haven't given up on him? He has already joined the Vast Heaven Sect," Xing'er said unhappily.

"Hmph, joining the Vast Heaven Sect doesn't mean he will stay there forever. We still have a chance to take him back," Mo Tu said, his target being Chu Yan. He thought to himself, "The only disciple I have chosen in a hundred years, I can't just give up on him like that."

Bai Ting ultimately joined the Heavenly Dao Sect, becoming the third disciple of the year. After that, the Heavenly Dao Sect did not stay any longer and left that day, riding a demonic beast back to their headquarters.

The Ten Thousand Sects' recruitment finally came to an end with the departure of the Heavenly Dao Sect. Of course, this was an end, but also a new beginning. In the next three years, these young men and women would hone their minds and enhance their cultivation. Their goal was only one: to become stronger, because only by becoming stronger could they stand firm on the Dusty World Continent and carve out a clear sky for themselves.

These young people would all participate in the Ten Thousand Sects' grand ceremony in three years. After three years apart, they would all undergo a transformation.

When Bai Ting finally left the Ten Thousand Sect Platform, he glanced in the direction of Changlong Kingdom, then turned resolutely, without any lingering, because that place was no longer his hometown, and he had no home. His only goal now was revenge, revenge on Chiyue Valley.

---

Chu Yan's group's journey to the Vast Heaven Sect was rather dull, as they were riding a demonic beast and could not rest, spending the entire half month in the sky.

This monotonous life continued until the seventh day, when Little Wolf could no longer hold back and bit the griffin, tearing a piece of flesh from its wing. This severely injured the griffin, forcing everyone to stop and rest.

Chu Yan was also very helpless about this. He scolded Little Wolf and apologized to Jiang Yi.

Jiang Yi shook his head helplessly and spent the whole night treating the griffin. The griffin recovered the next day, and everyone continued their journey to the Vast Heaven Sect.

The Vast Heaven Sect recruited a total of nine disciples on this trip, and everyone gradually became familiar with each other. At first, the disciples were worried that Chu Yan would be unsociable, but after interacting with him, they found that he was very down-to-earth, easy-going, and had no airs. He would even joke with them from time to time, which helped build a bond among the nine new disciples.

Late at night, Ye Xun sat on one of the griffin's wings, looking down at the vast land below.

From a thousand meters in the sky, one could overlook tens of thousands of miles, but these tens of thousands of miles were just a tiny corner of the Dusty World. On the griffin, they passed by in a flash. Looking at the vast land, Ye Xun was deeply moved. His mind was heavy, and the scene on the Ten Thousand Sect Platform kept replaying in his head: Chiyue attacking Chu Yan, and his own helplessness despite his best efforts.

Ye Xun could even imagine that if Qin Zixuan had not intervened, he and Chu Yan would have certainly died. Even with the Iron Dragon Spear, the absolute gap in strength could not be changed.

"What are you doing, contemplating life?" Chu Yan plopped down beside Ye Xun.

Ye Xun rolled his eyes at Chu Yan: "Chu Yan, speaking from the heart, you really ruin the mood."

"How do you talk to your brother like that?"

"Who's your brother? Last time you called me brother."

"That was then, this is now. I'm your brother now. Come on, tell me, what's wrong? I've noticed you've been gloomy since we got on the griffin." Chu Yan laughed heartily.

"What do you think of what happened?" Ye Xun looked at Chu Yan.

"What do you mean?"

"Chiyue and Lin Daoyan."

Chu Yan's eyes turned cold. He had long guessed that Ye Xun would be thinking about this, so he was very direct: "This enmity is definitely settled. I never got along with them, and our paths are different. When I was young, I was the descendant of the Wilderness, and I always beat them. They didn't dare to fight back, and if they did, my sister would beat them up. So it's normal for them to want to kill me. We'll just have to fight back."

"That's not what I mean." Ye Xun shook his head and sighed deeply. "Chu Yan, don't you think the gap between us and them is huge? You know, when I faced Chiyue and Lin Daoyan on the Ten Thousand Sect Platform, to be honest, I was scared. I was extremely terrified, a feeling I've never had before."

Chu Yan smiled bitterly and patted Ye Xun's shoulder. He understood Ye Xun's feelings and was moved because he knew that Ye Xun would only say such things to him, without any pretense, but with genuine honesty.

"Do you think I'm a failure?"

"No, I think you're pretty cool."

"You're still making fun of me!" Ye Xun glared at Chu Yan.

"No, I'm being honest. You were scared, but you still stood in front of me when Chiyue attacked me. Isn't that cool? I was scared too. Do you think I'm a fool? When you're about to die, how can you not be scared? I'm not a monk who has transcended life and death. Otherwise, I wouldn't have shattered my sister's soul power."

Chu Yan looked up at a bright star in the sky, the star he had always remembered, and continued: "Ye Xun, let me tell you something. You know, I grew up as the descendant of the Wilderness, and I could walk around the Dusty World without fear, including now. But I've always been afraid of death. Being afraid of death isn't wrong. I always think that if a person has no fear in life, that's the most terrifying thing, and life would be meaningless. I'm afraid of death because I respect life and death. I want to save my mother, so I can't die. I'm afraid of dying because if I die, no one will save her. It's been fifteen years, and I can't let her wait any longer."

Ye Xun looked at Chu Yan strangely. Chu Yan continued: "To be honest, I feel quite lonely. Before I met you, everyone was afraid of me, afraid of provoking the Wilderness, so they all respected me. But that feeling... was strange. You're different. You joke with me, you play with me, and when I went to the Ye family, you didn't beg for mercy, but chose to die. At that moment, I admired you so much. I thought you were so cool because I asked myself if I would have the courage to die if the same thing happened to me."

Ye Xun smiled and rolled his eyes at Chu Yan: "Even though your words don't sound very nice, I appreciate them."

"Alright, stop feeling sorry for yourself. The road is long, and this is just the beginning. It's just Chiyue Valley and Blood Extermination Valley. If they dare to provoke us, we'll get stronger and destroy them. What I want has always been that star." This was the first time Chu Yan had revealed his heart to an outsider. The place he wanted to go to had always been the same.

Ye Xun nodded: "Alright, I was just venting. The blood seal from Chiyue didn't hit you, but it hit me. I will avenge this."

"Alright, when we surpass Juedust, I'll take you to Chiyue Valley and crush Chiyue." Chu Yan patted Ye Xun's shoulder.

"Two big men, talking about love and affection in the middle of the night?"

At that moment, a laugh echoed, and Fan Ye walked over, pulling out a flask of wine and throwing it to Chu Yan: "Want a drink?"

Chu Yan caught the flask and took a hearty swig: "Great, where did you get this wine? I haven't had a drink for over half a month. Do you have more?"

Fan Ye didn't hesitate and threw another flask to Chu Yan: "Plenty of wine, enough to get drunk."

"You have good stuff, but you didn't share it earlier." Chu Yan grumbled and passed the other flask to Ye Xun.

"Let's talk about you. Eighth Layer of the Dusty World, pretending to be Third Layer to fight me. How does that feel? Pretty accomplished, huh?"