Chapter 111 The Book of the nameless.

Chapter 111: Chapter 110: The Book of the nameless.

"We do have so much to discuss, Chen Yuan."

Chen Feng was the first to speak, his gaze lingering over Chen Yuan’s body for a moment before a long, quiet sigh escaped his lips. "But please do think about yourself first. I know you’ve recovered, though that doesn’t mean we should take your word for it and leave things at that."

"Even if you’ve managed to heal your visible injuries, who can say whether there are any hidden complications left behind?"

He paused, and in a deeper tone, continued, "You should undergo another proper examination by a second-grade spiritual alchemist or even a spiritual herbalist. Let someone with enough credibility check on you."

Chen Yan nodded from the side as he strode through the air, and the three slowly moved upward toward the center of the inheritance cave as his voice sounded across the cavern. "He is right, Chen Yuan. There is no reason to rush. Whatever you intend to do can wait a little longer, can’t it?"

Chen Yuan listened without interruption, his expression remaining the same as it had been from the start.

He understood their concerns, but some things couldn’t be left unattended for too long.

And before he could offer a proper reply, Chen Yueran suddenly let out an amused snort. "You two really have no idea what I’ve witnessed."

Both men turned toward her, and Chen Yuan’s gaze fixed on her face, as he had already guessed what she wanted to say.

Chen Yueran folded her arms, looking between them. "His self-healing capability is something out of this world. You should have seen for yourselves how quickly he recovered."

"One moment, he was badly injured, and the next, he was already looking as though nothing had happened. If I hadn’t witnessed it myself, I might have thought someone was trying to fool me."

Her gaze drifted back to Chen Yuan, and the amusement in her expression gradually gave way to curiosity.

She studied his calm, piercing gaze for a few seconds as she recalled what had happened on the day he was attacked by the Zhao Family’s Half-Step Golden Core ancestor.

"Actually, there’s something else I’ve been meaning to ask you..."

The two sensed the strangeness in her tone. Recalling what she had reported to them when she escaped from the Imperial City, they seemed to understand what she was getting at.

Chen Yuan noticed their strange gazes and calmly asked, "What is it?"

He knew he couldn’t hide it for too long.

And soon enough, Chen Yueran finally spoke. "The way you escaped from the Zhao Imperial Palace..."

She tilted her head slightly, her eyes narrowing as she scrutinized him. "You fractured the space around you, didn’t you?"

"And that strange darkness..."

Chen Yueran tried to arrange her words properly before continuing. "Why do I feel... despair and madness from it?"

"Chen Yuan..."

"What exactly did you do... to yourself?"

Slowly, Chen Feng and Chen Yan came to a stop around him. It was as though the three were circling him, caging him in the center.

Chen Yuan’s eyes flickered, but he didn’t say anything yet and simply took in the three’s expressions.

"Do you doubt me?"

The question was quiet, without any trace of anger, yet it caused Chen Feng’s expression to change. Chen Yan fell silent, while Chen Yueran, who had been the first to question him, slowly lowered her arms.

"That isn’t what we’re saying," Chen Feng answered after a moment. "We’ve known you long enough to understand that you wouldn’t do something without a reason. But what Yueran described isn’t something we can simply ignore."

He paused, his brows drawing together as he searched for the right words.

"Chen Yuan, I’ve seen cultivators lose themselves chasing power. Some begin with good intentions, convinced they can overcome the limitations imposed upon them, only to find themselves walking a path they can no longer turn back from. By the time they realize what they’ve become, there’s often nothing left of the person they used to be."

His voice grew heavier.

"I don’t want that to happen to you."

Chen Yan nodded slowly, his expression unusually solemn. "If you’ve truly stumbled onto something dangerous, you don’t have to bear it alone. We can look for a way to resolve it, no matter how difficult it might be."

Chen Feng looked directly at Chen Yuan.

"And if you’ve been led astray without realizing it, then we’ll do whatever we can to bring you back. Even if that means confining you for a time while we find a way to heal you, we’ll do it. You might hate us for it, but I’d rather have you alive and cursing us than watch you become something we can no longer recognize."

Chen Yueran said nothing.

Chen Yuan listened to them until they had finished, and then he let out a soft breath.

"So that’s what you’ve been worrying about."

He shook his head.

"You think I’ve strayed from the proper path. That whatever I used to escape the Zhao Imperial Palace has begun to corrupt me, and that I might eventually lose control of myself."

He looked at Chen Feng.

"Tell me, if I had truly lost my way, would I be standing here calmly explaining myself to you?"

"That alone proves nothing," Chen Feng replied. "A person who has fallen into madness isn’t necessarily aware of it."

"Fair enough."

Chen Yuan accepted the answer without argument, which only made Chen Feng frown more deeply.

He had expected resistance, a dismissive remark, but Chen Yuan seemed perfectly willing to acknowledge their concerns.

After a brief silence, Chen Yuan finally spoke again.

"I’ve already found the path ahead of me."

The three exchanged glances, but none of them immediately responded.

Chen Yan was the first to break the silence. "What do you mean by that?"

Rather than answer, Chen Yuan slowly raised his right hand.

At first, nothing appeared unusual.

Then the outline of his fingers began to blur, as though the boundaries separating his flesh from the surrounding air had ceased to exist. A moment later, his entire hand dissolved into a shapeless mass of darkness.

The darkness simply existed, shifting in a manner that seemed to defy the need for a fixed shape, its edges stretching and contracting.

The three fell silent.

And Chen Yuan, with the same harmless expression, gestured with his other hand. "I am being transparent right now, and I hope you three will be able to understand that I have not fallen into madness."

The three frowned...

They cautiously extended their divine senses toward the strange manifestation, attempting to probe its nature.

Yet the moment their divine senses touched the shapeless darkness, an overwhelming sensation surged through their minds.

Despair.

Pain.

Chen Feng’s expression tightened as an inexplicable heaviness settled over his chest. His spiritual energy erupted instinctively, causing the stone tiles beneath his feet to groan as the cave trembled.

Chen Yan’s spiritual energy flared alongside his, while Chen Yueran’s surged for a brief moment before she managed to suppress it.

Yet Chen Feng’s reaction was the most terrifying... A terrifying sword intent burst from his body, sweeping through the cave before vanishing almost as quickly as it had appeared.

Beyond the cave, the clouds parted abruptly around the main peak, while flocks of birds scattered from the surrounding trees, their startled cries echoing across the mountains.

Several Chen Family members looked up in alarm.

"What was that?"

"I don’t know..."

Within the cave, Chen Feng slowly reined in his aura, his gaze fixed on Chen Yuan’s right hand.

"Chen Yuan," he said gravely, "what exactly have you created?"

His gaze shifted from the darkness to Chen Yuan’s face, his earlier concern now mixed with caution.

"You’d better explain yourself."

Chen Yuan looked at the shapeless darkness enveloping his hand.

"This," he began, "is the path I’ve created for myself."

He raised his eyes toward them.

"A path that will allow us to break free from the shackles of the broken cultivation path..."

The words struck the three.

Chen Feng’s expression froze. Chen Yan’s eyes widened ever so slightly, while Chen Yueran stared at him without a trace of her usual playfulness.

A moment passed between them, and none of them spoke.

They understood the implications of what he had just said, but understanding the words was not the same as accepting what they might mean.

Chen Feng was the first to recover.

"You mean..."

He stopped, seemingly reluctant to finish the question.

Chen Yuan slowly closed his right hand. The darkness contracted with it, gathering around his fingers before retracting to its original appearance, seemingly contained beneath the ordinary appearance of his skin.

When he spoke again, his voice was calm. "I call it the Path of the Nameless."

Chen Yuan observed their reactions without immediately speaking.

From the looks of it, they weren’t satisfied with his answers.

To that, Chen Yuan slowly closed his eyes. "I suppose the best way for you three to understand is to see it for yourselves."