Chapter 416 Meeting an old friend
It was already evening when Zhan Chen's group came out from the White mist forest range. There was a releived expression on everyone's face as they passed the ordeal of the White mist forest range together.
"Phew! I am tired to death already", a Xuantian sect disciple in Zhan Chen's group spoke. Few others also echoed his sentiment as they wanted to take a rest after completing such a tiresome journey.
"Senior brother Chen, what do you think?", Zhen Yuan the second strongest in the group looked towards Zhan Chen. None in the group could command him, he only respected Zhan Chen's command despite being a Martial ascension realm cultivator himself.
"The meeting point decided by the sect is nearby. It is only an hour of walk from here. We should go there and take a rest at that place. We don't have to worry about our safety either because there most be experts from our sect present there", Zhan Chen spoke.
"Senior brother Chen is right. We should go to the Oak ridge town before thinking about rest", a cultivator among the group supported Zhan Chen's decision. Few wanted to take some rest but they were persuaded by their companions. Finally, it was decided that everyone would rush to the Oak ridge town which was the predecided meeting point of the Xuantian sect disciples.
There were no more obstacles after leaving the White mist forest range. Zhan Chen led his group towards the eastward direction and finally a small town appeared infront of everyone's eyes.
"We are finally here", few cultivators in Zhan Chen's group exhaled in releif. The tense expression in Zhen Yuan, Hui Ling and Yin Ran's eyes eased up after they saw the outline of the small town ahead.
"You two stay here quitely. No need to travel to the Oak ridge town with us. We will probably take a night's rest and resume our travel to the Xuantian sect tomorrow", Zhan Chen spoke to the Earth devil and the shadow devil. Both the devils agreed to his command and hid themselves in the outskirts of the Oakridge town.
A terrifying soul consciousness scanned Zhan Chen's group when they approached the entrance of the Oakridge town. The terrifying soul consciousness lingered for few moments before receding to the depth of the Oak ridge town. 'A fourth stage emperor realm expert!', Zhan Chen muttered to himself. He warned both the earth devil and the shadow devil about the existence of an emperor before entering inside the Oakridge town.
"Junior brother Chen", Zhan Chen heard a melodious voice after entering the Oakridge town. He looked ahead and found a group of cultivators approaching their group.
Leading the group was a familiar person. A smile appeared on Zhan Chen's face after he saw the smiling girl infront of him. The person who called him just now was Sima Chunhua whom he had met in the grand sect competetion. Among the entire group from the Xuantian sect who had participated in the Grand sect competition, two had made an impression in his mind. One was Sima Chunhua "Senior sister, your cultivation?", Zhan Chen exclaimed softly. In the short time he had not met her, she had improved herself greatly.
and another was Jia Lingyi.
"Hello, senior sister. How have you been?", Zhan Chen greeted Sima Chunhua after getting closer to the approaching group.
"Junior brother, I am good. I have heard that you are participating in the battle of the Yellow stone city. So, I have volunteered myself to protect our base nearby", Sima Chunhua explained. Zhan Chen could see that she was really happy after meeting him in the Oakridge town.
"Senior sister, your cultivation?", Zhan Chen exclaimed softly. In the short time he had not met her, she had improved herself greatly.
"Yes, I am already in the second stage of the Martial ascension realm. After the Grand sect competition, I entered seclusion and managed to get a breakthrough to the Martial ascension realm", Sima Chunhua exclaimed.
"Ahem!", a soft coughing sound came from the side and interrupted the conversation between Zhan Chen and Sima Chunhua. It was another girl who had interrupted both of them.
"Senior sister, let's receive them first. You can have a chat with your junior brother after we finished handling the sect's matter", the girl spoke. Sima Chunhua wanted to say few more things to Zhan Chen but she noticed the meaningful expression in her companions' eyes. A faint blush appeared on her face as she realised she had make a fool of herself.
"Junior brother Chen, let's talk later", she spoke faintly. She felt shy to look at Zhan Chen at this moment.
Zhan Chen followed back her group as they entered the depth of the Oakridge town. He saw the graceful appearance of the Sima Chunhua and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face. "I have never persuaded her actively neither I have used any technique on her. So, how can she like me so much after metting me once or twice?", he thought to himself. He didn't know that there was something called love at first sight. He had underestimated his own charm which had a magical effect on girls even if he didn't actively persuade them.
Sima Chunhua was a very talented girl but she had no experience in the matter of heart. She interacted with Zhan Chen and saw him performing one miracle after another. His image gradually grew in stature in her heart and she didn't know when she had fallen for him.
The wonderful feeling she had experienced while looking at Zhan Chen soothed her mind and heart. She entered seclusion after seeing him and magically, she broke through to the Martial ascension realm.
Her bottleneck had bothered her for a year or two. Yet magically, she easily crossed over her bottleneck after experiencing that wonderful feeling when she was in the vicinity of Zhan Chen. It depened her feelings towards him and she hurried over to meet him after ending her seclusion.
Sima Chunhua led Zhan Chen's group to the base of the Xuantian sect. A middle aged elder was in charge of the base in the Oak ridge town.
"Who is the group leader?", he asked after seeing Zhan Chen's group.
"Greetings senior. I am their assigned group leader", Zhan Chen stepped forward. The elder felt slightly surprised after seeing how young Zhan Chen actually was. He took a look at the group and found three Martial ascension realm experts in Zhan Chen's group. Two of them, Yin Ran and Hui Ling were at first stage of the Martial ascension realm. As for Zhen Yuan, he was a second stage Martial ascension realm expert. With such a line up, the elder couldn't understand why the elders in the Yellow stone city assigned Zhan Chen as the group leader. He tried to appear calm and asked Zhan Chen for his identity token.
Zhan Chen brought out his sect token and handed it over to the elder in charge. "A blue token", the middle aged elder exclaimed after seeing the token of Zhan Chen.
"Are you the Core disciple brought to the sect by elder Chao?", he looked towards Zhan Chen.
"Yes senior. It is elder Chao who has brought me to the Xuantian sect", Zhan Chen conformed his conjecture.
"I am Qian Bo. Happy to see little brother Chen here", the elder spoke. His indifferent expression changed to one of enthusiasm after he learned the identity of Zhan Chen.
"Little brother Chen, you have performed brilliantly. Let me record your acheivement first. Sect will reward you after elders fighting in the Yellow stone city retreat", Qian Bo spoke.
"Many thanks. Please inform me once elder Chao and other disciples returned", Zhan Chen replied. Qian Bo commanded the disciples in Sima Chunhua's group to show Zhan Chen and his group their resting quarters.