Retake *Discontinued*

Chapter Twenty Nine: The Connection

It was the next morning and one in particular was miserable. Chu Yuan was looking extremely sickly: his face pale, his hands shaky, his eyes dazed. The male was barely able to move while Nie Tai was shining. The early morning light set her hair ablaze as the group walked away from the fortress and to the ancient training ground. Along the way, they came across a giant hole in the ground behind a large monument. Nie Tai approached, Biu Hao and Chen Linjian right behind her, and examined the large monument.

"What is this?" Asked Biu Hao, turning to Nie Tai.

"How could she know?" Muttered Shen Yue. The boy had learned his lesson of speaking loudly against Nie Tai; he noticed that Chen Linjian held a special admiration for the girl and could only quiet his complaints.

"What makes you think I know?" Questioned Nie Tai rhetorically. Before Biu Hao could answer, she lightly traced the writing on the monument and lightly said, "This is the language of the Sacred Empire."

"What does it say?"

"How do you know?"

Many questions rang out behind her as she continued tracing the ancient language, mouthing the words silently before declaring their meaning, "Those who follow me, shall be honored. Those who are against me, shall perish."

For some reason, the strength behind her words caused the listeners to be in awe of the girl. The crowd was quiet for a minute, thinking of those powerful words. Chen Linjian chuckled and asked, "How arrogant, who wrote this?"

"I've no idea; perhaps, our answer will be in the treasure," replied Nie Tai, walking over to the edge of the gaping hole in the ground. She looked down it and kicked a rock into the hole; she waited a minute but did not hear the rock hit the bottom.

"Hopefully, the demon-beast is the one who fell down that." Said Biu Hao, glancing at Nie Tai in brotherly worry.

"Hmm. Let's continue to the training ground. It's not too far." Said Nie Tai, ignoring Biu Hao's concerns and walking the in direction of their destination. She only made it a few steps before a strange feeling came over her. Her pace slowed as the heat of her soul realm increased. Others walked ahead of her, but Huyan Lanruo stopped and tried talking to the redhead; however, Nie Tai was only able focus on the state of her soul, so she did not answer.

It was in turmoil, yet it was exceedingly familiar. The pain increased and caused Nie Tai to fall; luckily, she was caught by Huyan Lanruo, who called Biu Hao to pitch a tent for them. The young woman carried Nie Tai into the tent and watched with concern as sweat beaded the forehead of the younger girl. The pinkette could feel waves of heat coming out of Nie Tai and prepared a cold washcloth for the younger girl's forehead. Chen Linjian tried to enter the tent out of worry, but Huyan Lanruo made him oversee the expedition. Huyan Lanruo felt responsible for the redhead; that was because Huyan Lanruo thought she caused the death of Nie Li. The young woman simply monitored Nie Tai, for she did not know how to provide any more assistance.

Inside Nie Tai's soul realm, there was chaos. A mysterious energy was intruding, yet she was powerless before it; the border of her soul realm was simultaneously stable and on fire. Nie Tai couldn't help but crave water and coolness when facing this heat. A bit of writing, as if searing into the border of her soul realm, slowly appeared. Through the haze, Nie Tai was shocked: it was a piece of the Temporal Demon-Spirit Book! She held half of this artifact in her previous life, and it was the most probable cause for the resurrection of the twins! Nie Tai was unable to focus on its appearance because another wave of pain hit her; she was barely able to stay conscious. A change, however, was immediately noticeable. Nie Tai was able to feel her brother's presence!

She could feel Nie Li's surprise as the pain subsided. Nie Tai noticed that this connection came from the Temporal Demon-Spirit Book imprinted on her soul realm. When she focused on another part of her soul realm, Nie Tai could feel the connection weakening, but not disappearing. She guessed Nie Li did the sameーthe connection weakened a bit moreーand would discuss this with him when she saw him again.

Sitting up suddenly, Nie Tai coughed violently and raspily asked for water. Huyan Lanruo was prepared and gave Nie Tai a large bottle of water. The young woman had felt the heat coming from Nie Tai, but held her questioning as Nie Tai quickly downed the beverage. When the redhead was done, Huyan Lanruo asked, "What was that?"

Coughing slightly, Nie Tai said, "I have no idea. It happened very suddenly. Thank you for helping me."

Nie Tai bowed her head towards Huyan Lanruo in gratitude; however the latter refused to accept it as she helped Nie Tai up. The pinkette said, "It is of no consequence. I know that you would do the same for most everyone here. All I ask is some warning in the future."

"Of course," smiled Nie Tai. The two walked out of the tent; the redhead looked at the sun that was right above them. She said, "I was out for a bit, huh. Let's go join the others."

Still concerned, Huyan Lanruo said that they should continue slowly, as to not aggravate whatever ailed Nie Tai earlier; however, Nie Tai assured the older female that she was fine. With Huyan Lanruo keeping a close eye on Nie Tai, the two girls quickly packed up the tent and joined the others. On the way over, Huyan Lanruo noticed that Nie Tai's skin became more smooth and healthy. The pinkette blinked in surprise as she noticed how beautiful Nie Tai was; any sign of discomfort of the earlier occurrence had completely disappeared while leaving a confident, strong aura behind.