Chapter 72: Silence

Back in Tiannan Province.

*Bang!*

Lu Qingxue was sent flying.

Her body crashed into the ground, rolling several meters before stopping as blood flowed from the corner of her lips.

"Qingxue!"

Fang Jinxing's expression changed, wanting to rush over immediately, but several Azure Spirit Sect disciples blocked his path.

The Wu Family Young Master stood in front of Lu Qingxue, his sword pointed downward as he stared at her with cold eyes.

"Now, tell me... what is the name of your cultivation technique, and where did you get it?"

Lu Qingxue slowly stood up, wiping the blood from the corner of her lips, but she still didn't answer.

The Wu Family Young Master's gaze became increasingly colder.

Behind him, several Azure Spirit Sect disciples were approaching.

The other True Martial Sect disciples had almost all been defeated, and Fang Jinxing was also surrounded.

The situation had reached its most dangerous point.

Although her master had given her many trump cards, they had already been exhausted.

Lu Qingxue knew that she couldn't reveal the origin of her cultivation technique, otherwise, the Lu Family would be in extreme danger.

Although she knew that if the other person reported back, it would still be revealed after some deliberate investigation, not directly revealing it could at least buy more time.

Even if she died, she wouldn't reveal it.

At this moment, she suddenly thought of Lu Yang, that person who had once been revered as the Rising Sun of the Lu Family, the father who had watched her grow up, the man who had given her everything he could.

Lu Qingxue's eyes gradually became firm as she tightened her grip on her weapon.

"Are you even worthy of knowing?"

Her voice was calm as she uttered those mocking words, causing the Wu Family Young Master's expression to become ice-cold.

"So be it."

The sword in his hand slowly rose as he stepped forward.

...

A white haired old man moved rapidly across the vast wilderness.

His figure crossed the ground like a phantom, with very step carrying him dozens of meters forward, and the surrounding scenery continuously retreated behind him.

Lu Yang had been traveling non-stop for several days.

When he felt his Blood Qi becoming sluggish, he simply ate a medicinal pill and continued forward.

An ordinary Spirit Awakening cultivator certainly couldn't handle it, but Lu Yang was no ordinary Spirit Awakening cultivator.

His expression remained calm throughout the journey, but the feeling in his heart had become increasingly ominous.

The closer he got to Tiannan Province, the stronger that feeling became.

Lu Yang had lived three lifetimes.

Although his cultivation was not particularly high compared to the true powerhouses of the Great Qian Dynasty, his experiences across those three lives had given him an extremely keen perception of danger.

It was like an instinctive sense of impending disaster.

Something had happened. He didn't know what, but he could feel it.

Along the way, Lu Yang encountered many cultivators.

Among them were Rogue Cultivators, disciples from various sects, and cultivators from some of the great cultivation families.

However, no one dared to approach him.

The moment they sensed the aura radiating from his body, they would instinctively move aside.

Absolute pinnacle Ninth Stage Spirit Awakening Realm, that was the strongest tier beneath Essence Gathering Realm.

For most cultivators in Great Qian, such an existence was someone they could only look up to.

The Great Qian Dynasty was enormous. Its territory stretched across several provinces, containing innumerable cultivation factions and Rogue Cultivators.

Yet despite its vastness, the number of publicly known Essence Gathering cultivators throughout the entire dynasty was only in the few hundreds.

Even the Imperial Capital, the true center of power in Great Qian, only had around a hundred permanent Essence Gathering cultivators.

As for Ninth Stage Spirit Awakening cultivators, there were naturally far more, but they were still extremely rare compared to the enormous population of the dynasty.

A cultivator who could reach this level could already be considered an exalted existence within Great Qian's lower levels, comparable to powerful elders of factions such as the True Martial Sect.

Naturally, none of this mattered to Lu Yang at the moment.

During these days of travel, he had crossed paths with no less than five Essence Gathering cultivators.

All of them were heading towards Tiannan Province.

The moment their auras collided from a distance, both sides would notice each other, yet neither party paid the other any attention.

An Essence Gathering cultivator had no need to fear or even interact with a Ninth Stage Spirit Awakening cultivator, and likewise, Lu Yang had no reason to deliberately approach an Essence Gathering cultivator.

Everyone was rushing towards Tiannan due to various circumstances, some to fish in troubled waters, others having no extra choice in the matter.

Even an Essence Gathering cultivator was merely a spectator with barely enough power to protect themself in a conflict involving existences at the Qi Sea Realm and above.

Lu Yang... didn't even have the qualifications to become a spectator.

He only wanted to find his daughter, that was all.

...

At this moment, Lu Yang was crossing a vast grassland. The wind swept across the green fields, causing countless blades of grass to sway.

In the distance were several small mountains.

Lu Yang's eyes suddenly narrowed as he looked ahead.

A figure was running out from between those mountains.

At first, it was merely a tiny dot, but gradually it transformed into a blurry figure Lu Yang could see clearly with his eyesight.

However, as soon as he saw who it was, his expression froze.

"Fang Jinxing?"

The figure was indeed Fang Jinxing.

At this moment, Fang Jinxing was desperately running.

His clothes were torn and stained with blood, his face was pale, his long black hair were disheveled and covered in dirt, and one of his legs was bent at an unnatural angle, the bones clearly fractured, yet he continued running.

Every step caused his entire body to tremble violently as blood flowed from his knees and joints. Even his fingers were bleeding, and his eyes were completely bloodshot, but he didn't seem to feel any pain.

He was carrying someone on his back.

Lu Yang's heart suddenly tightened as he looked at the person.

With long hair and wearing tattered white clothes, it was a familiar figure.

Lu Yang's breathing seemed to stop momentarily.

"Xue'er...?"

His voice was extremely soft, almost as if ge was mumbling to himself.

Fang Jinxing continued running, seemingly not hearing anything.

His lips were moving continuously, muttering incessantly.

"Hold on... just hold on...

We'll be there soon...

Qingxue, hold on..."

His voice was hoarse and his breathing was ragged, yet he continued moving forward step by step.

Lu Yang's body trembled slightly as he suddenly moved.

In an instant, he appeared directly in front of Fang Jinxing.

"Jinxing!"

The shout echoed across the grassland, however, Fang Jinxing continued forward as if he hadn't heard anything.

"Fang Jinxing!"

Lu Yang shouted again, still getting no response.

Only when Lu Yang grabbed his shoulder did Fang Jinxing's body suddenly jerk.

His bloodshot eyes slowly focused, and for several breaths of time, he stared blankly at the old man before him.

"Uncle..." His voice was barely audible.

Lu Yang's gaze had already fallen upon the person on his back.

"Xue'er?"

Fang Jinxing's lips trembled as he turned his head.

"Qingxue..."

He called Lu Qingxue's name several times in succession as he turned his head.

However, even after a while, there was no response.

Fang Jinxing's expression slowly changed.

He had been running for so long that his mind had become almost completely numb.

He had refused to stop and refused to look back, just carrying her and running.

He thought that as long as he kept running, she would be fine, but now that he had stopped, he suddenly realized something.

He couldn't feel her breathing.

His eyes widened slightly, trying to feel her heartbeat only to find nothing but total silence.

"Qing... Qingxue?"

His voice trembled as he called out again, turning around and carefully lowering her from his back.

"Qingxue."

He slowly placed her on the ground with hands shaking violently as he touched her face.

It had no warmth left to speak of, only coldness like falling into an ice cellar.

"Qingxue, wake up."

He shook her shoulder with both hands as he called out again.

"Lu Qingxue!"

His voice suddenly became louder, the name echoing across the vast plains.

Fang Jinxing hurriedly tried every method he knew.

He pressed his palm against her chest and circulated his Blood Qi, tried to stimulate her meridians, and even tried to forcefully transfer his own Blood Qi into her body.

However, nothing worked.

Lu Qingxue's body remained completely still, giving no response at all.

Fang Jinxing's hands froze as his eyes gradually became empty and dazed.

"No..." he shook his head.

"No, impossible."

His voice became increasingly hoarse as he shook his head desperately, as if trying to convince himself.

"You were still... you were still talking to me... you told me to run, and you said..."

His words abruptly stopped, as though he was drained of his voice.

Lu Yang stood beside him, not moving an inch, simply staring at Lu Qingxue's corpse.

At this moment, his mind had become completely blank.

The world around him seemed to disappear.

Whether it be the grassland, the mountains, the sky, or the wind, everything became incomparably distant.

His ears could no longer hear anything, and his eyes could only see that familiar figure lying on the ground.

Lu Qingxue, his daughter... was dead?

That thought appeared in his mind, but Lu Yang couldn't accept it.

It couldn't be true.

He had imagined countless possibilities before coming here.

She could have been injured or captured, perhaps she encountered some terrifying enemy and may even have been crippled, but she could not die.

Not the little girl he had watched grow up for decades.

His body swayed slightly as he slowly fell to the ground. His knees struck the grass, but he didn't seem to notice.

He simply stared at her with an empty gaze, his mind filled with fragments of the past.

In his memories appeared a swaddled infant, tiny and fragile.

The first time he held her in his arms, he remembered how carefully he had supported her head, how she grasped his finger, and how he had stared at her for a long time.

At that time, he never imagined that this child would one day become the greatest genius the Lu Family had ever produced.

Then, she became a little girl, one who followed him everywhere like a tail.

Wherever he went, she would follow, sometimes grabbing his clothes, sometimes sitting beside him and asking questions, and sometimes falling asleep beside him.

Then, she grew older.

The little girl gradually became a young woman.

Her cultivation rose, and her reputation spread far and wide.

She left the Lu Family and entered the True Martial Sect, becoming Hall Master Su's disciple, the number one genius of her generation.

Yet every time she returned home, she would still smile just like always and behave like the little girl who had once followed him around.

All of those memories flashed through his mind one after another until they finally converged upon the lifeless figure before him.

A conversation from several years ago suddenly flashed past his mind like a hammer striking his soul.

"Father, I just entered the Spirit Awakening Realm and still have a long time before considering Essence Gathering. As long as I work hard and complete sect missions after becoming a Spirit Awakening cultivator for ten or twenty years, I can slowly accumulate contribution points."

How confident had she sounded when saying those words, not knowing that there wouldn't be ten years left.

Lu Yang slowly raised his hand, his fingers trembling slightly as he reached towards her face, gently brushing away a strand of black hair that had fallen across her cheek.

His movements were extremely careful, as if moving too roughly would wake her, even when her eyes were still open.

His fingers touched her cold skin as he stared at her for a long time before slowly closing her eyes.

"Xue'er..."

Lu Yang's voice was almost inaudible, as if talking to himself.

The old man remained kneeling there, the Ninth Stage Spirit Awakening cultivator who had suppressed powerful enemies with a single hand appearing completely helpless.

He couldn't accept it.

He couldn't accept it at all.

He had spent his entire life cultivating.

Three lifetimes of memories, countless hardships, and countless dangers.

He had desperately sought strength precisely because he wanted to control his own fate.

Yet when the moment truly arrived, he still couldn't protect the person he cared about most.

He slowly withdrew his hand from her face, letting it fall limply to the side.

Fang Jinxing lowered his head, his shoulders trembling.

"I couldn't protect her..."

His voice broke with each word.

"Uncle Lu... I couldn't protect her..."

The wind blew quietly across the grassland, causing Lu Qingxue's hair to move slightly.

For a moment, it almost seemed as if she was just in a deep sleep.

The two men remained sitting there silently for a long time.