As that weird fourth-wall-breaking thought flashed past Xi Shen’s mind, a loud rumble echoed in the sky and the clouds increased to five hundred meters. The barrage of lightning has stopped and it seemed as if the Heavenly Tribulation was charging up to send out another tribulation.
Xi Shen’s eyes narrowed.
“What kind of tribulation would the Heavens would use against Yang Su I wonder.”
Xi Shen mumbled under his breath as he watch the clouds curiously.
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
The void beneath the cloud suddenly shattered and out came over a dozen dragon-serpent-like creatures made of the Fire Element.
Xi Shen was taken aback by the sudden appearance of these creatures, but his eyes went wider when the void tremble and shatter once again to have more of those creatures appear, but this time they were made up of the Water Element.
“So that’s how it is! Interesting, really interesting, even the tribulation for cultivators is specifically tailored for that cultivator. Yang Su had created both his Fire Qi Sea and Water Qi Sea, so following principle he would face these elements during his tribulation.”
Xi Shen’s eyes gleam with fascination. It was the first time he came in contact with a Heavenly Tribulation so he was extremely eager to know more about them. He was the type of person who was greedy for a lot of things but power and knowledge were the topmost of those greedy desires, and he wouldn’t miss any opportunity to increase the two.
Yang Su stood tall in the air against the many creatures that had just appeared, he looked very heroic and outstanding as his robes fluttered in the raging winds.
With his ruby-red eyes glowing intensely Yang Su used his right hand to form a single hand seal in front of his chest.
That hand seal seemed to have become a trigger for a chain reaction, as the Fire Qi in the surroundings suddenly began to jump in excitement and eagerness. Yang Su then swished his sleeves out and the Fire Qi under his complete command rushed out in front of him and coalesce into several Divine Fire Serpents.
Each of them was around sixty meters in size but was a few meters smaller than the Heavenly Tribulations.
Now within the sky, the scene of divine beasts battling intensely was occurring, heaven-shaking and earth-shattering roars echoed out nonstop.
Fang Chen and Fei Yin were looking on at this scene in awe. It looked like a scene straight out of a folktale, or stories you would hear about mystical beasts roaming above the nine heavens while looking down at the mortal world in scorn.
*ROAR!!*
One of Yang Su’s Divine Fire Serpent created from his Divine Fire Serpent Absorption Technique’s Divine Ability let out a furious roar before ripping at the throat of one of the Heavenly Tribulations.
Yang Su himself didn’t stand still and the golden runes on the wooden sword lit up causing the aura surrounding him to skyrocket. Like a valiant hero on the battlefield, Yang Su lead the charge towards the Heavenly Tribulation.
To be honest, Xi Shen was a bit taken aback by Yang Su’s actions. He seemed like a completely different person than his once meek and timid self.
Where was he getting the motivation to be this domineering, and what was the cause of it?
Xi Shen could only guess it was some personal reason on Yang Su’s part.
As Xi Shen was watching Yang Su go all out, his eyes suddenly narrowed when he saw him calling back one of his Fire Serpents and absorbing a part of its body.
“Huh? What is he doing?”
Xi Shen mumbled in confusion but suddenly became dumbfounded when the tribulation cloud trembled and then increased to eight hundred meters! The void then shattered and out came creatures made of powerful heavenly lightning.
Xi Shen’s face immediately darkened and he stepped forward, but the lightning serpents were extremely fast, one of them reached Yang Su in no time and opened its gaping maw and clampdown.
The Fire Divine Serpents in the surrounding seemed to have sensed this and immediately turn their attention to the lightning serpent and began tearing at its body.
But the other lightning serpents intervene and knock them away. Seeming almost desperate, the Fire Divine Serpents combusted themselves in an effort to destroy the lightning serpents. But the water and fire serpents joined in as well, causing the lightning serpent that swallowed Yang Su to turn and make its way towards the Heavenly Tribulation clouds.
Just before it could enter though with Yang Su within its mouth, Xi Shen appeared above its head and furiously grab towards the lightning serpent.
A translucent dark hand materialized around its enormous figure and began squeezing its body. Time Qi and Heavenly Tribulation Lightning clashed, but because the Heavenly Tribulation lightning the serpent was made of was only so strong, it lost to Xi Shen’s powerful Time Qi.
The void twisted and turn violently before the lightning serpent burst into dazzling sparks of electricity.
Xi Shen then called upon his Heavenly Physique and sent its aura towards the tribulation clouds. As if sensing something it couldn't fight against, the consciousness dissipated and the dark cloud began to disperse. The fire, water, and lighting serpents all rush back towards the Heavenly Tribulation before everything disappeared fully.
Xi Shen turned his attention to a staggering Yang Su who could barely stay afloat in mid-air.
Approaching his side Xi Shen asked, “Yang Su, are you alright?”
Yang Su released a small smile and was about to open his mouth but Xi Shen had to catch him as he was about to fall out of the sky.
Xi Shen frowned as he saw sparks of Tribulation Lightning dancing around Yang Su’s body.
Skeptical, Xi Shen sent his perception into Yang Su Dantian and what he saw made him turn to Yang Su in surprise.
“You brat, did I accept an assistant that’s secretly insane?”
What Xi Shen had seen in Yang Su’s Dantian was a third Qi Sea that was made from Tribulation Lightning.
“I thought that I could take advantage of tribulation lightning and absorb it to create a third Qi Sea. And if anything happened I’ll just rely on elder brother to resolve it… haha, I wasn’t wrong.”
Xi Shen could only shake his head at Yang Su’s words. He never thought he would be this daring to absorb tribulation lightning! Even he had to admit that Yang Su was starting to get the mindset of a cultivator.
“If you see an opportunity to increase your cultivation strength, one should take it.”
A common saying among cultivators who wish to accomplish great things on their path of cultivation.
“Why are you going so far? This is not like the Yang Su I had helped back in the Celestial Academy’s Disciple Selection Ceremony.”
‘You're giving off too much of a main character vibe.’
Those last words were said in Xi Shen’s head though.
Hearing his elder brother’s question, Yang leaned against his shoulders and responded after a pause, “When I was attacked by those masked men, I could only rely on elder brother. The same thing occurred back when senior brother Ling Tian had tried to cripple my foundation. Both times I had to be saved. And even after that when elder brother was attacked by senior brother Ling Tian and that Bai Clan Elder, I could only watch as it happened. That feeling of not being able to help you elder brother Shen is something I never wish to experience again.”
Yang Su said with conviction in his voice.
Xi Shen only smiled and said, “What are you talking about, I’m the one responsible for you after I took you under my wing. Our relationship has become something like a master and a student, as the master, I should be the one protecting you, not the other way around, no?”
Yang Su was taken aback by Xi Shen's words, as he said, “Master and disciple? Then, should I address elder brother as master from now on?”
Xi Shen used his Divine Will to lower himself and Yang Su to the base of the mountain volcano.
Xi Shen waved his hand rather dismissively and said, “I keep saying I don’t mind what address people by my side call me by, so it’s up to you.”
Yang Su thought for a moment then made a declaration, “Elder brother Shen, from now on I’ll address you as my master, but in my heart, I’ll always think of you as an elder brother.”
“Haha, then I guess you're my first disciple.”
Xi Shen said rather amused, but he thought of something and suddenly said, “At first I thought you were working so hard to see that girl Ling Xia again, are you sure that wasn’t one of your motivations to become stronger?”
Having his thoughts read by Xi Shen, Yang Su smiled sheepishly and said, “Senior sister Xia is… um… bossy. I like her...”
Yang Su blushed a bit when he said those last words, but Xi Shen had to stare at him with a strange expression when he heard that.
‘Is he an M?’
That thought briefly flash past Xi Shen’s mind, but he didn’t voice it.
….
…
..
Somewhere in the forest outside of the Bai Clan territory, a small inconspicuous boulder about two meters wide was casually laying among the grassy terrain.
All of a sudden a forceful impact caused it to be knocked into the air. A passageway underground was revealed, and Xi Shen’s puppet came rushing out.
One of its arms was missing and there was a massive hole in its torso.
It seemed as if he had gone through one hell of a fierce battle.
“Goddammit, that old bastard was actually searching through the Labyrinth to find me! How could my luck be so bad as to run into him in such a maze-like place?! This is a rip-off!! A total rip-off !! What son of heaven?! What enormous fortune and good luck?! If the Labyrinth wasn’t filled with that type of ore that blocked Soul Sense and Divine Wills’ I would have been destroyed multiple times!!”
Xi Shen yelled in indignation, while his remaining arm clutched at the storage bag that had Tai and Little Snow inside, as well as the pill furnace.
However, he soon forgot about his lack of good luck this time, and instead became elated that he actually got the pill furnace.
Now he just had to find the right time to study it, but not at the Celestial Academy. With so many experts there, it would be weird if a few of them didn't pick up on the strange nature of Chaos Qi.
Xi Shen decided that when he returned to the Imperial Palace for his birthday, he’d use one of the isolated training chambers to investigate it.
Coming to that conclusion, he moved in the direction of Yang Su’s village, and after he was far enough from the Bai Clan, he call out to Tai and Little Snow to use their ability to travel faster.
*******
Word Count: 1864
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