Chapter 743: 夭夭冰封

"Yao, Yaoyao?!"

Zhou Yuan held Yaoyao's delicate body, feeling the chilling coldness emanating from it. His face instantly turned deathly pale, his voice trembled, and his eyes were filled with panic and confusion.

"Master Cang Yuan!" Before he could finish speaking, Cang Yuan's figure flickered into existence. With a raised hand, Yaoyao's delicate body slowly floated before him. Her fair, jade-like skin was now covered in cracks.

These cracks spread across her body, making Yaoyao look like a shattered porcelain doll, a sight that filled them with immense sorrow.

Cang Yuan's expression was grave. He sighed, "It's as I expected."

"What happened to her?" Zhou Yuan asked urgently.

Cang Yuan frowned. "She unsealed herself and released incredibly powerful energy, but her physical body couldn't withstand it. Her body is now on the verge of breaking apart. To protect herself, the power within her began to seal off her consciousness, forcing her into a deep sleep."

"This is troubling."

"If it were anyone else, even if their body was destroyed, there would be many ways to reconstruct it. But if Yaoyao loses this body, she will never have another chance to reconstruct it."

"Furthermore, Yaoyao's body is too severely damaged. Even though she's now in a deep sleep, it will only delay the inevitable disintegration of her body. Once her body reaches its limit, it will still shatter."

Zhou Yuan's expression changed instantly. He hadn't realized that physical injury would be so critical for Yaoyao.

At that moment, a streak of light shot over and landed on Yaoyao. It was Tun Tun.

Tun Tun also sensed Yaoyao's condition and let out an uneasy whimper. Then it looked at Zhou Yuan, suddenly opening its mouth to spit out a jade slip.

Zhou Yuan took the jade slip and scanned it with his spirit. He found that it contained methods for evolving "Silver Shadow," which stunned him. Clearly, this must have been left by Yaoyao.

Zhou Yuan gripped the jade slip tightly in his hand, a deep sense of self-reproach rising in his heart.

He felt that Yaoyao had done far too much for him, yet in the end, he had failed to protect her. Moreover, it was because of him that she was forced to repeatedly unseal her power.

He knew that with Yaoyao's strength, even if she couldn't defeat the enemy, escaping would have been incredibly easy. But because of his presence, Yaoyao had never considered leaving him behind.

At this moment, Zhou Yuan bitterly resented his own weakness.

If only he had been strong enough, Yaoyao wouldn't have needed to intervene in today's situation!

All these years, his proud cultivation, even his eventual defeat of Wu Huang and the satisfaction it brought, seemed utterly ridiculous on this day.

Before a true powerhouse, Zhou Yuan felt like an ant, easily trampled upon.

"Master Cang Yuan, please save Yaoyao." Zhou Yuan's voice was hoarse and trembling. At that moment, he was like a drowning man, desperately trying to grasp at any chance.

Cang Yuan glanced at Zhou Yuan, who looked dazed and utterly distraught.

Although Cang Yuan and Zhou Yuan had only met twice, he knew the young man's character. Even when he couldn't open his eight meridians for cultivation, he had never been this despondent, which showed how deeply Yaoyao's injury had affected him.

However, even Cang Yuan found Yaoyao's condition incredibly difficult to deal with.

There were many methods in this world to repair physical bodies, but most of them would be ineffective for Yaoyao because of her extraordinary nature; she couldn't be evaluated by ordinary means.

"Don't worry for now. I will naturally do everything I can to help Yaoyao recover her body." Cang Yuan mused for a moment, then waved his sleeve. A crystal coffin radiating extreme cold appeared before them.

Yaoyao's delicate body slowly floated up and then, under Zhou Yuan's unfocused gaze, settled into the crystal coffin.

Tun Tun leaped onto the crystal coffin, its sharp claws repeatedly scraping against the transparent walls, sending ice chips flying as it let out anxious, mournful cries.

Cang Yuan sighed, not stopping it. Tun Tun and Yaoyao had been companions for so many years, their bond was deep, and naturally, it was hard for Tun Tun to accept this sight.

Allowing Tun Tun to vent for a moment, Cang Yuan looked up at the distant realm barrier, where cracks still remained. Through them, a cold, golden eye was visible, indicating that the Saint Race powerhouse had sensed his presence.

"Zhou Yuan, I will take Yaoyao out of the Cangxuan Heaven next. Otherwise, the supreme experts of the Saint Race will undoubtedly find ways to descend here."

Cang Yuan turned his gaze to Zhou Yuan, mused for a moment, then said, "It's also extremely dangerous for you to remain in Cangxuan Heaven, so come with me. Besides, Yaoyao's situation might require your assistance."

Zhou Yuan didn't hesitate, nodding immediately.

He didn't care much about his own danger now. If he could help Yaoyao recover, he wouldn't refuse, no matter what it required of him.

"Master Cang Yuan, I'll go make some arrangements first."

Zhou Yuan took a deep breath, suppressing the grief in his heart, and forced a smile.

Cang Yuan nodded gently.

Zhou Yuan then turned and headed directly towards Patriarch Qing Yang and the others.

Seeing his arrival, Patriarch Qing Yang, Elder Xuan, Peak Master Hongya, Elder Bai Mei, and Peak Master Ling Jun all had complex expressions in their eyes. After all, Zhou Yuan had clearly played an extremely important role in today's world-shaking battle.

Aside from Ancestor Cangxuan who possessed his body, both Yaoyao and the mysterious black-robed elder had extraordinary connections to Zhou Yuan.

And who would have thought that Zhou Yuan himself was merely at the Divine Dwelling stage?

Normally, someone with this level of strength would not be qualified to participate in today's earth-shattering battle, which would affect the entire structure of Cangxuan Heaven. Yet, Zhou Yuan participated and played a role that could not be ignored.

Therefore, when facing Zhou Yuan again, they could no longer view him as an ordinary disciple.

"Zhou Yuan, if it weren't for you in today's battle, it would have been a great catastrophe for our Cangxuan Sect," Patriarch Qing Yang sighed.

"You think too highly of your disciple, Patriarch." Zhou Yuan gave a bitter smile and said, "Patriarch, I will be leaving Cangxuan Heaven for some time. I ask that the Cangxuan Sect look after my father and mother."

By thwarting Sheng Yuan's plan this time, he had formed a mortal enmity with the Saint Palace. He wasn't afraid for himself, but his only concern was the Saint Palace retaliating against his parents.

After all, the Great Zhou was simply too insignificant compared to a behemoth like the Saint Palace.

Hearing this, Patriarch Qing Yang said with a solemn expression, "Rest assured. You are, after all, a disciple of my Cangxuan Sect. If you hadn't fragmented the Cangxuan Saint Seal this time, Sheng Yuan would probably have succeeded. This is a great favor to our Cangxuan Sect."

"After you leave, I will send powerful experts to guard the Great Zhou. Should anything happen, I will personally intervene. As long as our Cangxuan Sect remains, no one will be able to harm your parents."

Zhou Yuan's expression relaxed slightly. Patriarch Qing Yang had given a very weighty promise. With his protection, surely no one would dare to easily do anything to his parents.

As for the Saint Palace, even if Sheng Yuan harbored immense hatred for him, Sheng Yuan was severely injured now. Even if he recovered later, his primary focus would likely be on searching for the fragments of the Cangxuan Saint Seal.

In the coming years, Cangxuan Heaven would undoubtedly experience much bloodshed and chaos due to the Saint Seal fragments. Even the six great sects would inevitably be drawn into it; no one could avoid it.

However, it was precisely this chaos that would make it difficult for the Saint Palace to focus on dealing with the Cangxuan Sect. As long as the Cangxuan Sect remained stable, no one would dare to plot against his parents.

He didn't know when he would return from this departure.

However, he believed that when he returned to Cangxuan Heaven, he would no longer be as weak as he was today. At that time, he would settle all scores.

Zhou Yuan's gaze fixed on the direction Sheng Yuan had left, his eyes filled with an endless coldness.

Sheng Yuan and the Saint Race were the culprits behind Yaoyao's severe injuries today. Currently, he indeed wasn't qualified to settle accounts with them. But in the future, when he possessed sufficient strength, he would collect every single debt!

Zhou Yuan solemnly bowed deeply to Patriarch Qing Yang.

"Thank you, Patriarch!"

"My father and mother, I entrust them to you!"

After speaking, he glanced at Elder Xuan again, bowed to him as well, and then, without hesitation, turned back to Cang Yuan's side.

At this moment, the various powerhouses who had not yet left were all watching them.

Cang Yuan, however, paid no mind to their gazes. With a sweep of his sleeve, the void before him slowly tore open, forming a dark spatial passage that led to an unknown destination.

"Let's go."

Cang Yuan, with his hand resting on the crystal coffin, was the first to step into the spatial passage.

Zhou Yuan followed behind. He turned to take one last look at this world, then, without a moment's hesitation, he turned abruptly and stepped into the spatial passage.

The spatial passage swirled, engulfing their figures.

Watching Cang Yuan's departure, the various powerhouses present all breathed a sigh of relief.

Cang Yuan's strength was immense; he was like a colossal dragon. If he had chosen to remain in Cangxuan Heaven, it would have had an incalculable impact on the realm's structure.

Patriarch Qing Yang also gazed at the spot where Zhou Yuan had vanished. After a long silence, he slowly said, "I have a premonition that when this young man returns to Cangxuan Heaven again, even we will no longer be able to underestimate him."

"Heh, I'm quite curious to see how far he will reach then..."

With that, he looked at the collapsed land, ravaged by battle, and let out a deep breath.

This world-shaking battle, which would determine the future structure of Cangxuan Heaven, had finally concluded.

However, Patriarch Qing Yang knew that this was not the end. Due to the fragmentation of the Cangxuan Saint Seal, Cangxuan Heaven might experience unprecedented chaos and conflict in the coming years...

For the Cangxuan Sect and perhaps other major sects, this was not necessarily bad news, as Sheng Yuan's ambitions had at least been temporarily curbed.

Before this, perhaps no one could have imagined that this great chaos would be single-handedly brought about by a young man at the Divine Dwelling stage...

The battle of today would undoubtedly be widely recounted in Cangxuan Heaven in the future, and Zhou Yuan's name would truly become known to all in Cangxuan Heaven...

(End of the Cangxuan Heaven Arc.)