The Derive

Seeing the gentleness in Chu Yao's beautiful eyes, Long Chen was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said, "You are too kind; you aren't suited for this kind of thing. Let me handle it."

He understood Chu Yao's personality; she was too soft-hearted. Rather than letting her suffer, it was better for him to do it himself. Besides, he was already numb to it; it was just a matter of killing a few more or a few less.

"No, Long Chen. Back at the Heavenly Wood Palace, I swore that I would protect you forever. For the sake of this vow, I have been cultivating with all my might."

"I know that you chose to cultivate this road of no return because you had your own unavoidable reasons. I don't need to know the reasons; I only need to know that no matter where you go, even if it is to the depths of Hell, I will follow you."

"Since this is a road of no return, it is destined to be stained with blood. Even if it means my hands are covered in blood and I become a heartless Devil Head, I will not regret it."

After Chu Yao finished speaking, she slowly extended her jade hand. With her movement, everyone except Hua Yu opened their mouths in shock.

Because they discovered that the wooden stakes binding the three Blood Luo Sect Elders had suddenly come alive.

The head of one wooden stake slowly rose, like the head of a python, aimed directly at the head of a Blood Luo Sect Elder.

A sharp spike, a foot long, suddenly grew from the head of the wooden stake. Although it was made of wood, it was covered in dense runes, and its sharp aura made the Bone Forging Realm Elders present feel their scalps tingle.

"Kill."

Chu Yao gave a light shout and slowly clenched her jade hand. The three spikes lightning-fast pierced into the space between the eyebrows of the three Blood Luo Sect Elders.

"Pfft, pfft, pfft."

The three Blood Luo Sect Elders died immediately. The simultaneous fall of three Bone Forging Realm experts caused everyone's hearts to tremble.

Chu Yao's pretty face turned pale. Long Chen hurriedly reached out with his large hand to support her. In his heart, he was both moved and ashamed, saying with a hint of reproach, "Why must you put yourself through this?"

If Long Chen remembered correctly, this was Chu Yao's first time killing someone. She had killed three people in one go, and all three were Bone Forging Realm experts. For Chu Yao, who was killing for the first time, this was a huge blow.

"You can stain your hands with blood for me, and so can I!" Although her face was pale, Chu Yao raised her jade hand to gently stroke Long Chen's face, saying with a firm expression.

Looking at the stubborn expression on Chu Yao's face, Long Chen was moved beyond words. Being loved was an indescribable happiness.

"Hey, hey, that's enough. Hurry up and clean up, then go do what you need to do. If you want to be affectionate, wait until the great battle is over," Hua Yu laughed.

Chu Yao's pretty face blushed, but she was reluctant to leave Long Chen, still holding his hand.

"Let's go, I'll take you to see my father."

Long Chen pulled Chu Yao and ran towards Long Tianxiao.

"Awoo."

Little Snow ran to their side and let out a low growl.

"Wow, Little Snow has grown so big."

Only then did Chu Yao notice that Little Snow was even more majestic than before. She couldn't help but step forward to hug Little Snow's neck, pressing her pretty face against Little Snow's head affectionately.

After arriving at Long Tianxiao's side, Chu Yao's pretty face flushed slightly, and she timidly called out, "Yao'er greets Uncle."

"Why call me Uncle? It sounds awkward. Just call me Dad; it'll save you from having to change how you address me later," Long Chen said with a mischievous smile.

Chu Yao's pretty face turned as red as an apple, but her beautiful eyes were full of joy. She parted her cherry lips several times before finally managing to call out, "Dad!"

Long Tianxiao laughed heartily, "Good, good, good. Seeing you two grow up, Dad is truly happy. Come, let's go into the city for a drink."

Long Chen shook his head with a bitter smile, "Dad, I'm afraid that won't work this time. I have many brothers waiting for me on my side."

Long Tianxiao was broad-minded by nature. Having fought for so many years, he naturally understood what Long Chen meant. He patted Long Chen's shoulder and said, "Alright, then come back after you have achieved victory. Your mother misses you very much."

Hearing about his mother, Long Chen's eyes turned red, and his nose felt sore. Long Tianxiao said, "Chen'er, don't be sad. Since ancient times, it has been difficult to ensure both loyalty and filial piety. Besides, this isn't a permanent parting. Go, your mother and I will wait for you."

Long Tianxiao knew that Long Chen and Chu Yao had things to say, so he led the army back into the city. By now, most of the people in the city had evacuated, and they were preparing to withdraw as well.

After Long Tianxiao left, Long Chen sighed, turned his head, and asked Chu Yao, "Are you going to the front lines?"

Chu Yao smiled slightly and said, "I'm afraid I can't for now. I need to wait for the opposing Dao Deriver to appear before I can join the battle."

"What Dao Deriver?" Long Chen was startled.

"Master said that a Dao Deriver is a Genius born in response to the times, deriving the Heavenly Dao. Such figures… I heard they are all peerless experts." As she spoke, Chu Yao's expression became somewhat unnatural.

Long Chen was both surprised and happy. He took Chu Yao's hand and said, "So that means, Yao'er, you are a Dao Deriver?"

Chu Yao nodded shyly. Long Chen was overjoyed, grabbing Chu Yao's slender waist and spinning around in the air.

"Haha, Yao'er, you are too strong!"

Seeing Long Chen so excited, Chu Yao wrapped her jade arms around Long Chen's neck, pressed her forehead gently against his, and chuckled, "When I first heard the news, I thought you would be disappointed."

"Why would I be disappointed?" Long Chen was stunned.

"Isn't it said that strong men don't like their women to be more powerful than them?" Chu Yao said softly.

"But you haven't become my woman yet. How about you become my woman first, then I'll know if I like it or not," Long Chen said with a mischievous chuckle.

A charming flush appeared on Chu Yao's pretty face. With somewhat unfocused eyes, she looked at Long Chen and said, "As long as you want me, Yao'er is yours at any time."

Long Chen's heart raced. He had miscalculated. He had made these kinds of jokes with Tang Waner too often in the past, and it had slipped out naturally.

Chu Yao was different from Tang Waner; she couldn't take a joke, and if he joked, she would take it seriously. Long Chen hurriedly said, "Let's not rush this. As Cultivators, if we lose our virginity before the Innate Realm, it will be very difficult to enter the Innate Realm."

"Heehee, so you do know. Yao'er was just teasing you," a playful expression appeared on Chu Yao's pretty face.

"Yao'er, you've learned to be naughty. Needless to say, it must have been Hua Yu who taught you." Long Chen didn't even need to think; she must have learned this from Hua Yu.

"Heehee, Sister Hua says that a woman shouldn't be too gentle, otherwise she will be bullied and despised by men. I'm not afraid of being bullied by you, but I'm afraid that one day you will despise me, so I want to learn more things from Sister Hua," Chu Yao said with some worry.

Long Chen was startled. What good things could she learn from that woman? Hopefully, she wouldn't learn any tricks to mess with him. He hurriedly said, "Yao'er, don't listen to her nonsense. I like your gentleness. Really, you must never change."

"Really? Sister Hua says that a woman is like a dish; if a man eats it too many times, even if it's delicious, it will become boring. So one needs to be versatile," Chu Yao said with a puzzled expression.

Cold sweat broke out on Long Chen's face. As expected, this Sister Hua was an old vixen. It was definitely not a good thing for Chu Yao to be around her for too long.

He decided to stop discussing this topic. Long Chen said seriously, "Yao'er, tell me, what does Dao Deriver actually mean?"

"Master said that a Dao Deriver is born in response to the times, inheriting a trace of the Heavenly Dao's Luck. Their combat power is immense, and they are invincible within their Realm," Chu Yao said.

Hearing Chu Yao say this, Long Chen couldn't help but think of Mo Nian, who held a longbow and destroyed hundreds of Evil Path Disciples with a single arrow. It seemed he was also a so-called Dao Deriver.

"Yao'er, what do you mean by invincible within the same Realm?" Long Chen asked.

"This 'same Realm' refers to everyone within the same major Realm. In other words, although Yao'er is only in the Early Stage of the Tendon Changing Realm, as a Dao Deriver, no one within this Realm is my opponent, not even those at the Peak of the Tendon Changing Realm." Chu Yao said shyly. Such words were indeed a bit arrogant, but she wasn't the one saying them; her Master was.

Long Chen was left speechless upon hearing this. To be invincible within the same Realm just by entering the Early Stage was truly terrifying.

But thinking about it, those three Blood Luo Sect Elders had almost forced him to use Heaven Opening, yet Chu Yao had subdued them with a wave of her hand. The gap was indeed quite large.

"By the way, Yao'er, what grade is your Spiritual Root?" Long Chen asked suddenly.

"The Spiritual Roots of Dao Derivers have no grade; they belong to the category of Variant Spiritual Roots," Chu Yao explained.

It turned out that besides Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Dark Gold, there was another type of Spiritual Root called a Variant Spiritual Root.

Those who possessed such Spiritual Roots had an Innate talent for absolute control over a certain ability. Chu Yao's talent was the power of wood.

However, it was completely different from ordinary wood-element Cultivators. The wood power she condensed transcended the ordinary mutual generation and restriction of the Five Elements. It feared neither fire nor sword strikes, and there was nothing that could completely counter it.

This was the terrifying aspect of a Variant Spiritual Root. No wonder the wood Chu Yao condensed was tougher than steel, to the point that even Bone Forging Realm Elders could not break free.

However, those Elders couldn't be considered true Bone Forging Realm experts; at best, they were just fakes. But even fakes were incredibly powerful and could definitely match a Peak Tendon Changing Realm expert in the Branch Academy.

No wonder they said Dao Derivers were invincible within the same Realm; it really was true. In that case, Mo Nian's display the other day was just a drizzle.

"Long Chen, no matter how powerful I become, I will always be by your side, always your Yao'er," Chu Yao leaned gently into Long Chen's embrace, her jade head resting softly against his chest, as she said tenderly.

Long Chen gently stroked Chu Yao's soft long hair and laughed, "Are you afraid of discouraging me? Hehe, that will absolutely not happen, because I will become even stronger to protect you."

While he said this, he was secretly complaining in his heart. This won't do, this won't do. If things continue like this, it's absolutely not okay. I must hurry and open the Yuheng Star, or I will really be beaten like a dog.

This time when I go back, I must kill more heads and earn more points to open the Fengfu Star as soon as possible. Otherwise, I'll really have to rely on Chu Yao to protect me.

After gently giving Chu Yao a few instructions, knowing that she couldn't join the battle right now, he had to return to the base himself, as he was a bit worried.

Chu Yao's appearance left Long Chen both surprised and happy, but also feeling a sense of urgency. His thirst for power grew even stronger.

Because Chu Yao could only strike after the Evil Path's Dao Deriver appeared, this meant that the Evil Path also had Dao Derivers, and very likely more than one.

However, Long Chen was a bit puzzled. Since Chu Yao couldn't strike, why did Mo Nian strike first? Could it be that he wasn't with them?

When Long Chen returned to the base, Tang Waner and the others were still guarding the area. The group was still intact, so it seemed they hadn't engaged in any major battles.

Suddenly, a large group of Evil Path Disciples swarmed out from the front. Upon seeing the Branch Academy Disciples, they roared and charged towards them.

Just as Long Chen was about to fly out, he hesitated for a moment, then found a corner to watch from a distance. He wanted to know how everyone would fight in this situation.