CHAPTER 223 HAVING A CRISIS

Panting, Darren dragged himself through the darkness with Elder Thomas on his back. He could not

run away with Elder Thomas in his current state—if they were found, they would get themselves into an

incredibly difficult situation. The only option he had left was to go locate Bruce and Elsa in hopes that

he would find a way out.

After having carefully avoided several patrolling disciples of the Blade Holy Land, Darren eventually

found the living grounds where the disciples from the Lotus Holy Land were staying.

He then released his spiritual sense and soon felt a familiar aura of sword intent coming from one of

the rooms.

Darren walked straight towards the room where the familiar aura came from and pushed the door open.

Inside the room was Elsa. Her face was pulled into an uneasy scowl as soon as she saw the unfamiliar

man.

"Who the hell are you?" She pursed her lips, wary of the stranger. However, also sensing something

familiar about him, she did not try to attack.

"Elsa, it's me." Elsa paused at the voice.

"Darren? Is that you?" She hesitated for a moment, but as soon as she saw the face of the man on

Darren's back, she immediately ran up to them.

"You saved my father!" Her face lit up and she hugged Darren, barely able to contain her delight.

She had been trying to track down her father in secret, but Bruce suddenly appeared and stopped her.

Bruce told her that Darren was back, so she resisted the strong impulse to find her father, and waited

with a mixture of anticipation and anxiety.

Seeing the two people she loved the most back, she sobbed uncontrollably on Darren's shoulder.

"Elsa, I think you need to check on Elder Thomas immediately. There's something wrong with him. As

for me, I have an internal injury and I need to adjust my breath," Darren weakly said, still panting.

Elsa quickly took her father from Darren's back and laid him on the bed to examine him. The results of

the examination gave her a jolt.

"Darren..." Her voice started to shake. "My father... He's not... M-my father's not breathing, he's..." She

then started to cry before she had even finished.

At that point, the door suddenly creaked open.

Darren and Elsa exchanged nervous glances, and then immediately went on full alert mode.

Had they been discovered?

The people at the door were not disciples from the Blade Holy Land, but was rather the beautiful

figures of two girls—one dressed in green garments and the other in purple.

Sensing the sword intent that Darren and Elsa simultaneously released, the girl in purple chuckled.

"Aren't you going to welcome us?" she asked mockingly.

"And why should we welcome you? Get out of here this instant!" Darren shouted as he gave them a

cold stare.

Standing next to the girl in purple, Hailey, the veiled girl in green did not speak.

"Alas, we are not welcome here. Hailey, let's go. The man whose soul has been stripped will die soon."

The girl in purple breathed out an exaggerated sigh. She did not seem to be intending to leave any time

soon.

"Callie, stop talking." The girl in green stepped forward, staring intently at Darren. "Darren, Elder

Thomas' soul has been taken away by a rule cultivator. He is in urgent need of treatment. You can

leave him to me. I will take him back and ask my master for help. Perhaps, he can still be saved."

"You can save my father?" The girl's words suddenly pulled Elsa back up from the brink of despair—

she didn't even seem to care who the stranger was.

"Hold on... Who are you? Why do you know me? Why do you know Elder Thomas?" Darren, on the

other hand, was not willing to let his guard down. After all, the girl in purple he encountered last time

had tried to kill him with an illusion. He was curious why these two were being so kind to offer him help.

Not wanting to spend too much time to explain, the girl in green gently pulled away her veil, revealing

her beautiful features.

"It's you."

Darren's eyes widened as he recognized Hailey at once.

"Please trust me, Darren. I couldn't help the Ilmen Sect before, so please allow me to help Elder

Thomas this time."

Darren thought for a moment. He had no idea how to treat Elder Thomas, and although the two girls'

arrival was unexpected, they seemed to have some knowledge about how to treat him. He had no

choice but to accept their help.

Moreover, Elder Thomas was almost as good as dead at that point. They would not have gone through

all that trouble just to harm him.

"Alright. I trust you. Take Elder Thomas with you." Darren finally agreed. His instincts told him that

Hailey could be trusted. "How do we know that he's healed? Where can we find you?" he asked.

"I'll send him back to your house in the Lotus Holy Land once he's healed. Anyway, time is running out.

We need to go now. Just wait for my news." Hailey gave Darren a nod and held Elder Thomas up using

a mystical skill. Callie activated her golden bell, and their figures started to fade as glowing runes

flashed around them.

"One last word of warning, boy. I feel that a powerful rule cultivator has come to the Blade Holy Land.

Be careful. He might be using the arcane skill to find you," Callie said, giggling. Her giggles rang out,

lingering in the air as they completely disappeared.

A while after the two had left, Darren told Elsa about his previous encounters with Hailey and how he

got to know her.

After hearing more about the girl, Elsa inexplicably developed a sense of trust in Hailey. She believed

that they would be able to save her father and that Darren had made the right choice.

In the night wind, Hailey and Callie flew to the south with Thomas.

"We probably should have taken Darren with us. I have a strong feeling that he's in danger," Hailey

said, her eyebrows knitted together in worry.

"Wow, Hailey. Why are you worried for Darren but not for that girl? Tell me, aside from your intention to

ask for his help in the future, does he mean something else to you?" Callie raised her eyebrows and

sniggered.

"Of course not! I'm only worried about him because the master prophesized that he was the only one

who would be able to solve the 'Heavenly Repression' inside me."

"Really? It's just that I noticed a strange look in your eyes when you saw that stunning young girl. Were

you jealous? Don't you deny it! I absolutely felt it with my Spirit Power!" Callie then burst into laughter,

which Hailey scoffed at in return.

"Don't talk nonsense." She kept a serious face, trying hard to cover up the fact that she was flustered

by what the other girl had said.

...

The night passed.

Overnight, the number of masters patrolling around the Blade Holy Land increased. Each entrance and

exit was guarded by masters at the advanced stage of the Wonder Realm. Many of the disciples were

inexplicably terrified as none of them had any clue as to what happened.

Darren initially wanted to leave with Elsa in the middle of the night, but the whole place was tightly

guarded. Although he did try to do a few test runs, he eventually gave up and just stayed in his room to

heal up instead of running the risk of being discovered. They had no choice but to play it by ear when

the time came.

By dawn the next morning, the disciples who had come from different Holy Lands received the

message that the day's competitions would continue as usual. Before the sun was fully up, all those

disciples then gathered in the training ground of the Blade Holy Land.

Everything was ready—the disciples of the various Holy Lands were all fired up and ready to display

their capabilities in the competition—when suddenly, waves of terrifying blade intent washed over the

entire training ground. A dozen masters at the advanced stage of the Wonder Realm and three super

masters at the premium stage of the Wonder Realm stood above them in mid-air.

Soon after them, the Holy Lord of the Blade Holy Land himself appeared. Beside him stood a rule

cultivator in a purple robe.

"What's the matter?" "What happened?"

"Why are all the powerful elders of the Blade Holy Land here? Did anything important happen last

night?"

All the disciples in the training ground were growing uneasy and were starting to feel a sense of

foreboding.

Darren didn't want to come to the training ground, but there was an ordinary elder above the middle

stage of the Wonder Realm, going door to door to each room and ordering everyone to come out. He

could not avoid it and had no choice but to blend in with the crowd.

Darren immediately sensed the huge aura as soon as he arrived at the ground. Once he was certain

that no one was looking at him, he hurriedly mobilized his Spirit Power to undo the effects of the elixir

that changed his appearance, returning him to his original appearance. He then performed the aura

concealing skill, altering his aura and cultivation base down to the common level. This way, his aura

and strength were close to that of the majority of the disciples present.

"Mr. Wan, is that guy here?" the Holy Lord asked the rule cultivator in the purple robe, scanning the

crowd with his icy stare. "Yes, but his aura has changed. Hmm, and he seems to have changed his

appearance as well.

Look for him yourself first." Now that the rule cultivator had obtained the Eight Corners Tripod, he did

not see any reason why he should bother to help the Holy Lord of the Blade Holy Land. NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

"Very well. As long as he is here." He then looked at the crowd of people.

"You bastard! Come out now or I'll kill everyone in here!" the Holy Lord of the Blade Holy Land

threatened with a sneer. The thousands of disciples from various sects were then suddenly shrouded

with the Holy Lord's icy killing intent.