Chapter 459 - What Happened to Ximen Qianxue
When he was an average and anonymous nominal disciple, it was the very girl in his arms who scolded him in class and put high hopes on him. Again and again, she called him into her small garden and told him earnestly that he could be an elixir pharmacist, and that he shouldn’t waste time in class...
It was also precisely the girl who offered him the brochures which contained experience she worked hard to gain. She gave them to him without any hesitation and only hoped that he could change his mind...
It’s the girl too. She used to go against her aloof nature to help him cover his secrets. She worked hard to become one of the masterminds behind the Heavenly World and then tried hard to gain various benefits from the sect for him...
At that time, he just started to make a name for himself and didn’t seem promising in getting the status and strength he had today. Even Wang Juefeng hadn’t started to watch him and tell him to treasure time as he did in the following time. However, Ximen Qianxue always acted like his big sister, spurring and encouraging him.
Later, many times, when he refined elixirs, he would ask Ximen Qianxue to help him collect herbs in the medicine garden of the sect and do all kinds of early-stage preparation for him...
Until it was in the Sword-hidden Peak battle, he really gained a reputation for himself and became the master of Sword-hidden Peak, possessing great power in his hands. At that time, the entire Snow Province stopped and stared at him. He could be called a young man who had achieved his dreams and gained high status. Many who were either familiar or unfamiliar with him all approached him for establishing a friendly relationship; even disciples who had something against him, like Yin Yifei and Lu Qi, all asked people to offer an olive branch to him, hoping to make peace with him...
At that time, even Swordsmanship-seeking Sect elders with real power all showed their kindness to him.
However, it was at the exact time that Ximen Qianxue, the mild-mannered girl, stepped away from him quietly. She didn’t yield to power or fortune. She hadn’t felt proud because of his status rise or asked for anything from him—not even a tiny thing that he could do with just a word from him!
Ximen Qianxue knew very clearly that as long as she asked, no matter what kind of thing it was, he would do it for her.
However, she never asked.
She was like a person who quietly supported her friend until the friend made it in the center of the stage. Nevertheless, after her friend succeeded, she left quietly, applauding and praying for the friend in a place no one knew.
Looking back at everything, Ding Hao suddenly felt he was a little ungrateful.
Ximen Qianxue had done everything a friend and a teacher should do, but he had never repaid her kindness. After leaping onto a higher place, he was busy with various things and unintentionally walked away from the friendship he used to treasure. Even, this time, on the way to Sage Battlefield, he had never talked to or reached Ximen Qianxue in any other way.
Therefore, after hearing the gentle “you’re here”, Ding Hao felt heartbroken.
Ding Hao’s eyes misted. He wrapped around the ethereal and gentle girl’s waist with one hand and pressed her back with another. “Senior Sister Ximen, I’m sorry. I’m late...” Rich Heaven Fire Qi continuously transferred into her jade-like weak body, removing the coldness and injuries in it.
Ximen Qianxue clearly felt gushes of heat flowing into her body from the palm of the young man in front of her. The warm feeling made her feel comfortable and regain some energy. It brought a slight blush to her cheeks. Since young, she hadn’t gotten so close to one of the opposite sex. While her body pressed tightly against the young man’s chest, she even felt his strong heartbeats.
All of a sudden, a sense of safety she never felt before welled inside the girl.
She found she was a little reluctant to lose the warm feeling.
Ximen Qianxue gently pushed Ding Hao and wanted to stand up on her own. “I... I feel better now. Let me stand on my own.” However, with just a slight twist, she groaned from the pain on her body. A frown creased her delicate brows, which was the expression she would make in extreme pain.
“Don’t move.”
Ding Hao gently wrapped around her waist and took a soft animal fur from Storage Ring. Then, with the gentlest gesture, he slowly put Ximen Qianxue down on the ground. Then, he took a clean robe and put it on the girl with extremely soft gestures.
After finishing those, again, Ding Hao took an aquamarine bottle from Storage Ring. He popped the cork and a refreshing aroma oozed out, and he said, “This is the healing potion I refined. Senior Sister Qianxue, open your mouth. I’ll help you take it!”
A light smile appeared on Ximen Qianxue’s face. “In elixir class, you didn’t focus and even had to ask Zhang Xiaofan to grow a pot of Blood Spiritual Herb. Can I drink a potion from a disciple like you?”
Ding Hao subconsciously scratched the back of his head. He did not expect that, at that time, Ximen Qianxue acted like another person and took the initiative to tease him.
Looking at Ding Hao’s face, Ximen Qianxue smiled again. “Alright. I’ll trust you this time.” She slowly sat up and took the green bottle, taking the initiative to pat Ding Hao’s shoulder and saying, “There, there. I’m fine. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine taking your potion.”
Seeing her smile, Ding Hao felt a bit sad.
Ximen Qianxue was an elixir pharmacist who knew about pharmacology and human bodies. Therefore, she knew her condition better than anyone. Her Qi Seed was shattered and she had been drenched in icy water for such a long time. She had run out of her vitality. Some unknown energy supported her until now. In such a condition, even if she survived, it would practically be impossible to recover her cultivation. As a warrior, she would be useless for the rest of her life.
Having suffered such a blow, she actually started to comfort him.
The calm and mild girl had always put herself in others’ shoes thinking for them.
At that time, others who were also locked in the water dungeon also discovered the noise in the hall. When they saw Ding Hao knock out four Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect disciples with just one punch, they struggled excitedly. Like Ximen Qianxue, these people were all chained by scarlet inscription iron chains and drenched in icy water. However, they still possessed their Qi cultivation. Therefore, their spirits seemed much better than Ximen Qianxue’s.
“Brother, save us!”
Someone asked for help with a glimmer of hope.
“Brother, I’m the son of the head of Earth Spirits Sect in Sword Province. Save me. When I get out, I’ll reward you generously!”
“That’s it, young brother. Help me. Break the shackles. I’ll never forget your kindness!”
Others also pled for help excitedly.
Ding Hao had fixed his gaze on Ximen Qianxue all the time. Hearing that, he didn’t even look back and just casually grabbed a long sword on the ground. He slashed without a backward glance, and sword light scattered. After a few swooshes, he had cut off the shackles on the hands and legs of the five rest people.
The five people felt elated and thanked Ding Hao again and again and scrambled out of the water cell.
“Thank you, brother. What happened outside? Have the Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect people left?”
A young man about 24 or 25 years old thanked Ding Hao. He looked well-mannered and gentle. He grew a square face and a big mouth, looking quite handsome and sounding grateful. He was near six-apertured great grandmaster realm and dropped to the Great Martial Mentor realm under the oppression of primordial inscriptions here. Though they still had their cultivation, they also looked very tired.
While the man was speaking, three of the other four warriors Ding Hao rescued didn’t even look at Ding Hao, as if they forgot their promises when they asked for help, and directly ran past the hall and into the passageway at the first opportunity, running toward the outside for their lives.
Coldness flashed across Ding Hao’s eyes. He ignored them and fixed his eyes on the man speaking. He slightly frowned and said, “Why do you still have your Qi cultivation?”
The young man with a square face and a big mouth sighed and answered, “I’m a man and no one made it hard for me, but the girl...” He pointed at Ximen Qianxue and said in a pitiful but respectful tone, “The girl is pretty and has an excellent temperament. After they locked us here, a Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect disciple coveted her and wanted her to be his concubine. Your friend refused from the beginning to the end. The guy named Duan felt insulted and removed her cultivation and tied her in the icy water of the dungeon, saying that your friend would suffer and beg for death. And when she couldn’t take it anymore, she’d beg him and... and...”
While saying that, the young man with a square face and big mouth hesitated.
A flame that could burn everything flashed in Ding Hao’s eyes. He said coldly, “And she’d crawl under his crotch to serve him.”
Boom!
Ding Hao punched on the ground and the ground covered in primordial inscriptions tore apart like tofu.
The man with a square face and a big mouth was startled; a thoughtful light flashed in his eyes. Before, when he saw Ding Hao twist the scarlet inscription chains bare-handed, he already felt very shocked. Now, seeing this, he became astounded. He knew clearly the energy of primordial inscriptions. Even at the peak of his strength, he could only leave a mark on the ground, but the young man should directly tear it apart...
He speculated that Ding Hao’s strength must have been near the Martial Emperor realm, right?
Feeling Ding Hao’s anger, the young man with a square face and a big mouth paused but then had to add, “Brother, what on earth had happened outside? Could it be that the Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect people had retreated? Or... you’ve defeated them?”
Ding Hao glanced at him and said, “Nothing had happened. I snuck in.”
Before he had finished his words.
The last and the fifth person Ding Hao saved screamed. “Ah? What? They’re still here? Why didn’t you tell me that...? I have to go. If they find about this, we’ll be doomed...” He instantly dashed forward the passageway like a homeless dog. He should abandon Ding Hao and others, running for his life.
Ding Hao sneered and turned back to gently said to Ximen Qianxue, “Senior Sister Qianxue, watch me while I avenge you!”