Chapter41: Not Playing Around With Disciple Leads To Death
It’s as though Zhu Yao had found a new source of entertainment, as she kept enlarging and shrinking, enlarging and shrinking every part of her body.
Eh! Wait a minute. Why did she feel like she was like a balloon, becoming bigger wherever she blows?
Finally realizing this truth, Zhu Yao tearfully stopped. Sensing the mass of air in her body, she actually found out that not only did it not disappear, there were signs of it growing. Hence, she tried to disperse that mass of air, spreading them uniformly across every corner of her body.
This took up more effort than moving an entire mass of air, as she took entirely two hours before she finished guiding the air. And, her body had already turned into the figure of a fifteen or sixteen year old girl.
Growing up in a single night, this sure felt a little fantastical!
Carefully inspecting her new body, the size of every part of her body was very normal. The places that were supposed to be sunk, sank, and for the places that were supposed to be raised……
Flat! This was illogical.
Zhu Yao silently inspected the pair of undeveloped small buns in front of her chest, and suddenly had an idea. Since she was able to control the size of her body, then did that not mean that she could… re-adjust some places that she were lacking in?
When she thought of this, Zhu Yao was a little excited, and immediately controlled the mass of air, guiding it to her chest, silently chanting: b, c, d, e, f……
However, no matter how she guided the mass of energy, the small buns in front of her chest were still very principled, and kept to their original sizes.
She did not believe that she couldn’t do it, and guided the entire mass of energy towards her chest. In the end, with a poof, she returned to being a dumpling. Great, now she did not even have a pair of small little buns. The hell! Does it have to be that hard to make my chest bountiful?
Zhu Yao could only give up on her grand plan, and once again, gathered the mass of energy, returning to her earlier teenage girl figure.
She was really was curious about her looks, as she cast an Ice- Gathering Art, and made use of the reflection on the ice to look at her own face. It seemed like her plump little bun face finally had sharpened edges to it, and had developed into the good direction of a pumpkin seed-like face. However, it was still possible to see traces of her former bulging cheeks, and her eyes still rather looked the same as before, with double eyelids. A face that looked a little like a doll’s, cuter than average, and lacked the feminine charm of a mature woman, in general, she was not considered ugly. But, unknown as to whether it was because of the aftermath of her bun face, her entire face was tightly stiffened. She wanted to smile, only to find out that she was only able to make a strange arc.
Not good, not only was she flat-chested, she even grew out a poker face!
Zhu Yao realized that, after she completely familiarized herself with this body, the mass of air in her body had already disappeared, and she could no longer find a single wisp of air. Hence, she could only inform her master about the incident of her growing up in a single night.
However, her master seemed to have known about it before she even told him, and was not too shocked about her new look.
Yu Yan’s expression turned solemn, as he looked at his disciple in front of him whose height was already at his chest. “Initially, I was worried that there would be effects on your body due to the Heavenly Lightning, but it seems like there’s no problem now.”
“Ah?” What do you mean?
However, Yu Yan turned around and brought her outside. With a wave of his hand, several spiritual swords instantly flew out, landing at a few different directions. The endless cries of of the crickets and the caws of the birds instantly disappeared completely, as an Isolation Barrier had been formed.
“Use all your strength to release your strongest move.” Zhu Yao was a little dazed. Although she did not know his intentions, she still obediently circulated all of the spiritual energy in her body, and summoned a Heavenfall.
A bolt of Heavenly Lightning fell from the sky, directly striking towards grass patch not far away from her. Yet, the moment before it struck on the ground, it was dissipated by the barrier.
Zhu Yao was just about to ask, but, the moment she took a step, guru, she rolled onto the ground.
The hell! Why did she revert back into a child? And she no longer had that enlarging and shrinking mass of air in her body, a cloud of ‘what the fu–’ ran over her head.
“As I thought!” Yu Yan calmly carried the little dumpling off the ground, and returned to the cottage.
“Master?” Just what was going on? She could not understand at all!
“Do you know why regular people have to be a full year old before it’s possible to test for their Spirit Veins?” Yu Yan pulled up her little fat hand, cupped her wrist, and inspected her body through her pulse.
Zhu Yao shook her head. “Do Spirit Veins only grow after one is a year old?”
“The type of Spirit Veins one has is determined since birth, and is not developed on another day.” Only after inspecting that she was indeed fine and sound, did he finally retract his hand. “As to why Spirit Veins can only be tested after one is a year old, is because the body of an infant is too weak, and is basically unable to hold spiritual energy. If one were to forcefully cultivate before then, that infant will die from severed meridians.” The reason why he only broke through into Foundation at ten years old, even though he entered the sect at three years old, was because of this reason. Before he was ten, his body was basically unable to endure the pressure of Foundation.
“But I’m fine!” She was a healthy little dumpling.
“Initially, I was worried about this point as well. But today, I realized you’re able to freely change the size of your body.” Yu Yan stroked her head thoughtfully. “This body of yours, it seems like… it has been specially prepared for your resurrection.”
Zhu Yao was a little startled, and suddenly had the feeling as though she had received a big Level Up reward.
“Then why did I revert back now?”
“Because that art you cast earlier, had already used up all of your spiritual energy. Once your spiritual energy recovers, you will revert back to that form.”
“……” She felt like she was Conan Edogawa!
“Then when can I change back?”
“Once your spiritual energy recovers for two days, it will be enough.”
“Master!” “Mn?”
“Next time, can you please finish your explanation in one go, instead of giving examples?” Clearly, he could have told her directly, why did he have to bring her out to cast that bolt of Heavenly Lightning? You can’t play around with your disciple like this!
Yu Yan’s expression instantly stiffened, unfortunately, because of the cold face he had kept up for so long, it basically could not be seen. “Don’t imagine things, have an early rest.”
Calmly placing his disciple on the bed, calmly covering her with the blanket, and then, he calmly walked to the other side of his room, calmly opening the closet, and calmly taking out a white cotton cloth.
And he calmly asked. “Do you want to change diapers?”
“Change your sister’s!”
Ever since she found out that her body could grow bigger, smaller, longer and shorter at uncertain times, Zhu Yao became very well-behaved, patiently waiting to grow up. There were too many mysteries surrounding her body, and even her master did not know about them, not to mention the words on her corpse back then, and that strange loading bar, which even she could not clearly explain. She kind of felt that she had caught a glimpse of some sort of rule, but after thinking deeply about it, she felt it was illogical.
So as to not bring about unnecessary trouble, she decided to wait till she was fully grown. At the very least, until the time when there’s not too much of a difference with her figure when her spiritual energy depletes? Speaking of which, she found it hilarious. Back then, she kept feeling that she was too old, and when she came into the sect, she was greatly surrounded by a bunch of little turnips. And now, she was actually hoping that she could grow up faster.
Before she was ten, she decided not to head down the mountain.
However, this morning, she felt Wang Xuzhi’s spiritual pressure. That spiritual pressure came from the Main Mountain’s direction. It was both rash and quick, carrying a killing rage which could even be felt from the Jade Forest Mountain. Zhu Yao felt that something must have happened to him. A few days ago, Xiao Yi formed his Azoth Core, so he should have came out by now. With his obsession with Xiao Yi, that little wimp would not do anything stupid, right?
In the end, Zhu Yao still decided to head out to look. Leaving the Jade Forest Mountain, she headed towards the direction where the spiritual pressure was dispersing from.
’心中一百匹草泥马奔过’: Literal translation: A hundred mud horses sprinted past in her heart. ‘Mud horses or 草泥马’ is actually a profanity in Chinese, but because I felt the joke wouldn’t work well with a literal translation, I went with something similar in English instead.
Chapter42: Activating Make-Up Story Mode
Along the way, she encountered quite a number of people, in twos and threes, as though they had dispersed from somewhere earlier. Their faces were all filled with excitement, as though something that excited them had happened, and they chattered while walking.
“That battle earlier was really fascinating.”
“Yeah, as expected of senior-martial uncle Xiao, the personal succeeding disciple of a Sovereign. The moment he attacked, the might he displayed was shocking.”
“I think that the opponent was too weak, he was basically unable to block senior-martial uncle’s attack.”
“But, after all, his opponent’s cultivation was a level lower, it’s normal that he wasn’t able to go up against him.”
“But senior-martial uncle Xiao only used a single attack, and won with that one attack. And, I even heard that currently, senior-martial uncle have already comprehended his Sword Intent. He has just formed his Azoth Core, you know! But, I also heard from the rumors, senior-martial uncle was once an Outer Sect disciple.”
“So what if he’s from the Outer Sect? As time passes, senior- martial uncle might even chase up to that person at the Jade Forest Mountain.”
“Haha! You’re right! Eh, look! It’s senior-martial uncle Xiao, he’s coming over here.”
Zhu Yao had already confirmed that the person they were discussing about was Xiao Yi, and could not help but turn her head as well and looked over.
But with just this single glance, her heart stopped, her eyes suddenly widened, and it’s as though she could hear her jaw falling onto the ground.
That person was Xiao Yi. He had the same face, had a similar figure, and even the mole on the side of his neck was exactly the same. But why the hell was there a word on his face? And it was even black and bolded, the word was so eye-catching, it only lacked a box. The word was: BUG!
The hell, and it’s even in English! And why was there a huge yellow exclamation mark floating above his head? And it was even constantly flashing, trying to make its presence known. It was as though she was even able to hear the warning sounds “Dududu”.
No, no, no. It must definitely be because the method she used to open her eyes was incorrect!
After blinking her eyes countless of times with all her might, the word on his face, still did not have any signs of disappearing.
This could not be, it must definitely be an illusion. Zhu Yao grabbed a cloth from the hands of someone beside her, and casually rubbed that face.
“Eh, that’s my…” rag. The person beside her silently swallowed down his last word. I rub, I rub, I rub-ber-dub-dub! However, that black and bolded word still appeared glaringly on the target’s face. Is there anyone that can give me an explanation for this?
The vicinity was instantly in a state of silence, however, the several female practitioners standing beside Xiao Yi, was staring angrily at Zhu Yao who suddenly appeared. Where did this vixen come out from?
If Zhu Yao were to look carefully, she would realize that among these female practitioners, were Ling Long and Su Zi that she knew of.
“Thank you very much, junior-martial sister!” Xiao Yi finally could no longer stand her skin-peeling action, and stopped her hands. “I’m not tired at all!”
Although he did not know who she was, she was still someone who came over to wipe off his sweat. After inspecting her for a moment, his eyes instantly shone. Although she did not look fully grown, and her face was cold, she still looked especially cute, and her cheeks which carried a bit of baby fat, was even tempting people to gobble her up. Suddenly, a ripple appeared in Xiao Yi’s heart, and he could not help but reveal a gentle smile. “I wonder how I should address this junior-martial sister?”
Zhu Yao was startled, as she stared at that a little exaggerated smile of his, even the word BUG on his face was changing a little. She almost could not stop herself from spitting soda water on his face.
As though she could hear a voice coming from beside her:
Player Xiao Yi used the skill “An Understanding Smile” on you. x 1
Damage received: Miss!
Zhu Yao instantly ignored him, instead, she slowly raised her head and looked towards the yellow exclamation mark which was even bigger than his head above him! If she could not remove the word, she wondered if she could pull down that exclamation mark?
Suddenly, her hands felt a little itchy! “Junior-martial sister?” Seeing that she did not have any reaction, Xiao Yi patiently waited for once, and the smile on his face became even more gentle. “Don’t be afraid, I wonder which Mountain are you a disciple of?”
Only then did Zhu Yao regain her senses. Was he… sending her electrical sparks?
Seeing more and more female practitioners sending her killing intent, she understood how friendly the smile Xiao Yi was giving her was. However, she really found it hard to develop good feelings for a face with the word “BUG” printed on it.
As a qualified technical staff, when she saw this word, her first thought was to “DEL” him, and re-program him, alright?
“Little bun?” Before she could say anything, suddenly, a person interrupted her.
Wang Xuzhi suddenly walked over without her noticing, and he was staring dumbfoundedly at her face. Suddenly, as though he had thought of something, he pulled her to his side, and looked defensively towards Xiao Yi at the side. “What are you planning to do now?”
“Martial-nephew Wang, you have misunderstood. I was simply giving my greetings to this junior-martial sister.”
Wang Xuzhi did not say anything, he simply took a step forward, tried harder to shield Zhu Yao behind him, and looked at the other party coldly. Xiao Yi could not think of anything momentarily, and simply turned around and left.
The surrounding people began to disperse in twos and threes as well. Before they left, they did not forget to point at Wang Xuzhi, as though they were very unhappy with her earlier disrespectful action.
And it looked as though Wang Xuzhi had gotten used to it, as completely did not mind them. He simply tightly pulled onto Zhu Yao behind him and moved away quickly, leaving the Main Mountain.
Zhu Yao was still immersed in the shock that he was able to recognize her in a single glance. When she regained her senses, she realized, she had already reached a very familiar-looking house. This was Wang Xuzhi’s residence, and she had came here before.
“Why are you out here?” The moment they entered the house, Wang Xuzhi’s expression sank, and inspected her a little anxiously. “And, how did you… become like this?”
Zhu Yao was startled for a moment. “Umm, if I were to say you have mistook me for someone else…”
“Impossible!” His expression instantly turned a little stern, as though he was unhappy about her dishonesty, and he reached out his hands to pinch her cheeks. “Even if little bun has grown up, you’re still a bun. Hurry and tell me what’s going on?”
Your sister’s a bun!
She slapped away his evil hands, saving her little cheeks. She hated this doll face.
“I looked like this in the first place!” Zhu Yao thought for a moment, and decided to not tell him the truth for now. “Then back then, you were?” When he saw her two days ago, she was still an infant that was not even a year old, so just how did she turn into a fifteen to sixteen year old teenage girl today?
“In the past, I was struck with a very treacherous type of Mystic Art.” She activated her Make-Up Story Mode. “The people who are struck with this Mystic Art, their age will become younger and younger, until they disappear. Fortunately, I encountered master, and he brought me back because he pitied me. Master told me that this was a Mystic Art that had been lost for a very long time, and he had only heard of it a long time ago. It’s only until recently, did Master finally come up with a way to dispel it.”
“Really?” However, Wang Xuzhi was still a little skeptical, and stared at her suspiciously.
“Of course it’s true. Otherwise, even if I have way to become an adult, my personality would have still been that of a child’s. How else am I able to talk to you freely?” The more she made it up, the more logical it sounded. “To tell you the truth, my actual age is actually about the same as yours. It’s just that, the Mystic Art has yet to be completely dispelled, so I currently look like this.”
Chapter43: Undoing The Knot In One’s Heart
“You’re lying!” Wang Xuzhi’s brows raised slightly. “Then, according to what you said, how did you get struck by that strange Mystic Art? And who was the one that did it? And you’re currently at the cultivation level of a Foundation Paragon, it could be seen that you were a practitioner in the past. Then, before you were struck with the Mystic Art, where did you train at?”
Uh… Why did little wimp suddenly become so sharp for?
“I can’t tell you!”
“Why?”
“Because…” If she was going to act, then she would have to act till the end, telling half of the actual truth was the essence behind a false story. Zhu Yao blinked her eyes, and tried hard to make out a helpless and worried look. “I don’t wish for you to be dragged into this. If you were to know too much, I’m afraid you might bring trouble on yourself.” “……” As expected, Wang Xuzhi was startled, and his eyes instantly became gentler by quite a bit. As though he had thought of something again, he reached out his hand and stroked her head. “As I thought, you two are very alike!”
“Alike? With who? That senior-martial sister you brought up before?” Zhu Yao continued to act.
Wang Xuzhi let out a light sigh, as though he was unwilling to bring up that topic again. “Alright, even if the Mystic Art on your body have been dispelled, you shouldn’t casually run about. Especially that Xiao Yi, you must not easily make contact with him, understand?”
“Why?”
“No questions.” Wang Xuzhi did not explain, and simply pulled her hand and headed outside. “I will return you to the Jade Forest Mountain. Remember not to leave the mountain so easily in the future.”
Zhu Yao could not help but roll his eyes at him. The reason why I came out was because you, stinky brat. But seeing that he was alright, she was no longer worried as well. However, even if he was alright now, it did not mean that he would be this lucky in the future.
After returning to Jade Forest Mountain, she could not help but pull onto Wang Xuzhi, who was about to turn and leave.
“Earlier, did you fight with Xiao Yi at the practice field?”
Wang Xuzhi was silent for a moment, before nodding his head.
Zhu Yao could not help but let out a sigh. “Do you think that, with your cultivation level, you’re able to beat him?”
Wang Xuzhi tightened his fists next to him, and hatefully gritted his teeth. “No!”
“So, you went to pick a fight with him, was to simply seek your own death?” This kid is actually so serious about courting his death as well?
“What do you know?” His face instantly became ashen, filled with the intolerance from his thoughts being hit right on mark, and his emotions suddenly began to burst out. “Do you how it feels to personally see your most important person die right in front of you? Back then, if Xiao Yi had not hesitated… if he had not hesitated!!”
“Then what about you?” Zhu Yao reminded herself not to be soft-hearted, she had to say something that was even harsher. When she saw Wang Xuzhi for the first time after she returned, she knew, her death was the biggest knot in his heart. Hence, he was stuck at the Foundation Paragon bottleneck, and had not progressed. If he were to continue to brood over this, then this knot, would definitely turn into a demon in his heart, and destroy his deity cultivation prospects in the end. And the best way to undo this knot, was to first shatter it.
“You said it was because of Xiao Yi’s hesitation, which led to the death of your most important person. Since she was your most important person, then why did you have to rely on someone else to save her? What were you doing?”
“I… I was maintaining the sword formation back then!” His breathing was a little unsteady, and his eyes began to look blurry. “So you’re saying, you basically did not have any strength to spare to save her?”
“I…”
“You couldn’t even save her yourself, so what right did you have to push the role of saving her to others? Or are you saying that you did not want to save her in the first place?”
“No, I wanted to save her. But, I……”
“But you don’t have the ability to do so? So, you can’t even save her!”
“I…”
“Xuzhi, in the end, do you hate Xiao Yi for not acting in time, or do you hate yourself for not being able to save her?”
“……” Wang Xuzhi stood rooted to the ground, as though he had suddenly understood something, despair surfaced on his face. However, she had no choice but to be firm and decisive. “Who you hate has always been yourself, hasn’t it!?”
Wang Xuzhi became completely dispirited, his lips slightly moved, revealing an expression that could not be made out. “What else can I do? Other than feeling remorse, what else can I do?”
“Are you planning to stay remorse like this for your entire life?”
“……”
“If you’re willing to fall into depravity, I don’t care either! However, the person who died for you, how would she feel about it? Do you think she will wish to see you continue down like this?”
Wang Xuzhi strongly shook his head.
Zhu Yao patted on his shoulder. “Since you think that you couldn’t save her because your cultivation was insufficient, then, train to reach a realm that allows you to save people, bastard!”
“……” Wang Xuzhi did not reply, his eyes still looked a little blurry, however, he had finally began to reflect on his own. Dragging his heavy feet, he went back.
Zhu Yao sighed deeply. She had already said what she needed to, after all, there’s a need to give him time to think it through on his own. At the very least, while he’s thinking it through, she need not worry about him running to Xiao Yi and seeking his own death again.
The strange things happening on Xiao Yi were increasing, and she did not know why they were happening either. The strange BUG on his face, and that fresh and clear exclamation mark above his head, no one else could see either of them. Was this giving her a hint or something?
She was beginning to feel that, her resurrection after crossing into this world, was not as simple as it seemed on the surface, and it was even closely related with Xiao Yi.
Zhu Yao had a dream, yet, it did not feel like her own dream either. Because, in the dream, she personally witnessed the life of another person, and that person was even the one who was giving her a terrible headache – Xiao Yi.
Ever since he was young, Xiao Yi was an orphan. He did not have a shockingly complicated background, and was simply a child that was casually thrown away by his family due to a famine. He was like every single beggar, using all possible means to live, and had done many underhanded things. However, he had also suffered from countless of cold stares and had been cast aside many times. Even for just a single bite of rice, he would fight with a wild dog for it. This lasted until he was ten years old, when he was taken in as a disciple and brought to the Ancient Hill Sect.
He was taken in as the Sect Master’s disciple, and was held in high-esteem at first. However, because he offended the Inner Sect disciple, little fatty Zhao, his cultivation was crippled, and was thrown out of the Inner Sect. However, this instead saved him, as when he was in the Outer Sect, he was punished by watching over the Former North Pavilion.
What were placed in the Former North Pavilion were the scraps from weapon refinement in the Sect, and due to a fateful coincidence, he obtained a piece of very strange scrap material. Out of a moment of fun, he wore it on him, however, due to suffering from an injury in a certain incident, his blood dripped onto that piece of scrap, and he realized it was actually the “Metal Spirit”. Ever since the sky and earth was formed, between heaven and earth, the “Metal Spirit” was the purest form of metal spiritual energy which converged into a Spirit. The Metal Spirit had only gained sentience, yet, because it made contact with his blood, it immediately took him as its master.
And incidentally, he had the Metal Spirit Vein as well. The “Metal Spirit”, the spirit which was converged by spiritual energy, had the power to administrate all of the metal spiritual energy in the world, so, possessing the Metal Spirit was equal to possessing the metal spiritual energy of the entire world. And, the Metal Spirit Vein was the firmest Spirit Vein out of the five Spirit Veins, it had a very important effect on controlling weapons, and using sword techniques.
Hence, because of the “Metal Spirit’s” effects, he instantly activated the protagonist’s cheat, his cultivation improved by leaps and bounds, and bult his Foundation in four years. He hid his cultivation, participated in the Inter-Sect Tournament, and even obtained first place, leading him to be taken in as Sovereign Feng Yi’s personal succeeding disciple.
Chapter44: The Protagonist’s Cheat Is Tricking You
Under the guidance of a famous master, as though he had activated a hack, Xiao Yi’s cultivation climbed up quickly. Although in the middle of it, there were a few reckless people who came to look for trouble, they were all oppressed by his strength, and unintentionally, he gained the hearts of many girls. In the later stages of his life, he achieved even more impressive feats, such as fighting against heretic practitioners, killing devils, and conquering secret realms. Every single time, when he looked as though he was at a great disadvantage, he would always turn the tides, either by suddenly awakening some unique ability, and then, with a loud roar, eliminating the opposing party in the name of the moon, or, by having certain girls who could not live on without him, extend their helping hands in the nick of time. And because of these experiences, he gained even more opportunities.
In the end, he even unintentionally gathered all five sentient Spirits of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, and summoned Shenlong! Oh, that’s wrong. He successfully ascended! He even defeated those geniuses with mutated Spirit Veins, including the Lightning Spirit Vein, in one fell swoop, becoming the first person in the cultivation world to ever ascend in just two thousand years. Those people who were to cultivate in the future, could only look up to his buttocks. When Zhu Yao saw the late stages, she could not help but retort at this dream of hers. The Xiao Yi in this dream was still rather inspirational at the early stages, raising his cultivation and walking on the road to the summit of life. However, at the later stages, it completely changed, from working hard in his cultivation, it turned into him working hard in flirting with girls.
As long as the girl had a relationship with him, she would always end up falling under his robes.
Xiao Yi even began to go on harem mode. Princess of the Demon World, Queen of the Human Realm, martial sisters of the same sect, the wild flowers along the road, anyway, as long as the girls were to see him, they would obtain some form of sickness as though “they had not seen a man for thousands of years”, and would cling onto him even if they had to die. And, they were even able to get along harmoniously with each other, every single of them would feel extremely uncomfortable if they did not love him. And, his definition towards love was, if you love me, give me n-play. The hell, this was simply a miracle. Among them, even that Demigod Sovereign master of his was included.
When Zhu Yao watched this, she felt like calling this a “brain- dead film”. In the end, obviously, Xiao Yi formed a gigantic harem. And, when this Xiao Yi was a late-stage Demigod, he especially stayed in the cultivation world for a thousand years, all for the sake of waiting for a few dozen of his most favored girlies, to ascend together.
As for the things that happened after his ascension, Zhu Yao were unable to see them. She thought the dreamscape would end here, however, the scenery in front of her changed, from viewing the rays of light due to the countless ascensions, her vision returned to the cultivation world.
After the legendary Xiao Yi ascended, the cultivation world did not welcome an era of calm. During his ascension, the five cheat-like divine Spirits, followed him to the High Realm as well. With the cultivation world’s loss of the five spirits’ administration, the spiritual energy in the world continued to disappear, and they could not be gathered.
The ones that had the most obvious impact were all the spiritual plants. Without the administration of the Wood Spirit, the spiritual spirits were unable to receive wood spiritual energy, and began to wilt. In less than a hundred years, even the materials for the most common Heart-Raising Pill could no longer be found in the cultivation world. And for the practitioners, because they were no longer able to take in spiritual energy into their bodies, forget about ascension, their cultivation could no longer be raised.
Yet, the human realm was the most unfortunate. Due to the loss of the five Spirits, water could no longer moisturize anything, even regular plants were affected, wilting to death. Fire could no longer counter bacteria, the mortals were infected with strange diseases, and a large number of them died. The earth no longer had life, the soil was no longer able to grow crops. Food were unnecessary to practitioners, however, without food, it was a fatal blow to mortals. Hence, famine was widespread, and the world was littered with corpses.
In just a short span of a few thousand years, not even a single living being could be seen in the entire world, and the world came to an end.
When Zhu Yao saw the figures falling over one after another, and the barren land where one could not even see a single life with a gaze from high above, a heavy sense of sorrow, suddenly pressed onto her, and she could not breathe. That did not come from her own emotions, yet, the heaviness that could stop one from breathing, was as though it was the final scream of this collapsing world. She felt more and more uncomfortable, and then, when the scenery in front of her suddenly flashed, that feeling instantly disappeared again. She realized she was sitting in her own house.
It was not that natural cottage on Jade Forest Mountain, rather, it was the small seventy-odd square metres apartment she worked hard for a few years to purchase.
She had returned to the modern era!
Zhu Yao looked blankly at all that was familiar in front of her. This was her home. Her room. In front of her was exactly her own computer. And even the cup, which was only printed with a ‘y’, beside her computer, was exactly the same. She was a little unable to react for a moment.
The QQ-chat on her computer screen suddenly flashed and vibrated, it was a message that came from her colleague Xiao Fang.
Xiao Fang: Boss, the bug you mentioned the other time, have already been settled. You’re sure godly! How were you able to identify it? No matter was it during the closed beta or the alpha, not a single person had realized it!
Zhu Yao startled for a moment, and then, she suddenly recalled. Was this not what her colleague had said before she crossed over into the other world? Back then, she seemed to have been discussing about the newly found bug in the new net- game developed by her company. That was a considerably fatal technical bug, and it was very possible that, due to the imbalanced design, it might cause the entire game system to be in a state of imbalance. If such a game were to really be released, it could bring about a huge loss to the company, and the game would obviously be shut down as well.
However, she was not the one who found this problem. It was her old friend, a player, who had found it.
She moved her mouse to find that particular player’s qq account – Realmspirit.
Zhu Yao was in a daze for a moment, yet, she realized that her hands were no longer under her control, and began to type something to him. And, it was even the same exact words she said to him before she crossed into the other world. Technical Department Zhu Yao: Thank you, the bug informed us of have already been fixed. You helped me once again.
Realmspirit: No problem. I only pointed out where the problem was. The actual person who thought of the solution and moved to fix it was you.
Technical Department Zhu Yao: Haha, I still have to thank you. After all, I have spent my sweat and blood on this game. This game was created with my own hands, and if it were to collapse because of this, I will feel very depressed.
Realmspirit: Are you very concerned about this world?
Technical Department Zhu Yao: Of course. It’s my blood and sweat after all?
Realmspirit: I have a world as well, and it has encountered some problems.
Technical Department Zhu Yao: Oh? What game is it? Can I help you? Realmspirit: You’re willing to help me?
Technical Department Zhu Yao: Of course, we should help each other in times of need. I’m still a technical staff, after all. Fixing a bug or two is completely not a problem at all!
Realmspirit: Alright!
Technical Department Zhu Yao: Oh right, what kind of game is it? What kind of problem occurred?
Realmspirit: My problem is…
Before Zhu Yao could see clearly what the problem was, a strong ray of white light pierced towards her, and Zhu Yao suddenly woke up.
She looked at her surroundings a little blankly.
This place was, Jade Forest Mountain. She was still in the cultivation world. Realmspirit was someone she knew ever since she entered the gaming career five years ago. In the beginning, she simply made a few web browser games, and Realmspirit was her first player. He would frequently give a pertinent opinions on her games, and he would always hit right on mark. Hence, she would make changes based on his opinions.
Replace ‘n’ with any number you can think of.
Chapter45: The So-Called Invincibility Mode
After a long time, the two became friends. When she entered a gaming company, and became in-charge of the technical support for a large-scale net game, he followed after her and entered the game she was in-charge of as well, and would always inform her instantly the existences of the bugs in her game, while she was in-charge of undergoing fixes. She had always thought that he was a certain huge figure who was related to game designs, or a professional gamer, and hence the proficiency he demonstrated.
However, the two of them had always contacted each other through the web, and had never seen each other face to face before. Now that she recalled it, she was filled with even more questions. For example, she had once urged him to join the company and work with her in technical support. However, he actually rejected the invitation, and the reason he gave was, he was unable to.
It was not that he did not think of it, nor was he unwilling, he was simply unable to do it.
And the timing she crossed into the other world, seemed to be the moment after she agreed to help him fix bugs, and then, she had already found herself in that small village. She could not help but suspect, if he was a certain supreme individual in this world, who had pulled her into this world to fix a bug.
And the things that were happening on Xiao Yi, they were clearly telling her, that he was that bug! She pondered deeply for a moment. Although that dream was outrageous, the scenarios that happened at the front, was indeed the same exact things that had happened on Xiao Yi. If her guess was correct, currently, he should not be merely at the early stages of Azoth, rather, he should be a late-stage Azoth practitioner, and was soon to be a Paragon.
She was just a Foundation-stage practitioner, how was she going to fight out with him? Zhu Yao felt completely terrible. What could be more depressing than finding out you had turned into the opposing party after transporting into another world?
Eh, wait a minute! In that dream of hers, she seemed to have not seen herself at all? As though she did not exist at all in the first place. Even Master and Wang Xuzhi were not present.
However, she clearly existed, and even made contact with Xiao Yi. Then, could she think that, her appearance was actually just an accident? After pondering for a moment, if she had not existed, Doctor Wang would not have sent Wang Xuzhi to the Deity’s Disciple Selection, and naturally, he would not have went to the Ancient Hill Sect. And because her master was unable to take in a disciple with Lightning Spirit Vein no matter what, he had no choice but to ascend, and hence naturally, he would not appear in the cultivation world. Because of the butterfly effect caused by her appearance, these changes occurred.
When she thought of this, she felt she was really…
Incredible, my ass! In the end, Xiao Yi still obtained the “Metal Spirit”. Zhu Yao instantly felt her head aching.
If Xiao Yi was a bug, then what was she? A game master? Haah! She was just a game development staff, it’s fine if she had to fix regular bugs in a game, but how the hell could she fix the bug in this world!? And, even if she was a game master, at the very least, there be some game privileges right? For example, Invincibility or something similar.
She suddenly recalled that strange resurrection, where she saw the notification of returning to the resurrection point after her death. She couldn’t be able to resurrect infinitely, right!? But what’s the point of such a privilege? I can’t beat him, so I just have to let him watch me die?
The hell, I don’t want such an Invincibility Mode at all! Haah!
Zhu Yao who realized the truth, was depressed for three entire days. She silently pondered about her fate of having to go against the protagonist who had activated his cheat, and picked herself up after three days. She had always been a good and optimistic woman, believing that there could never be an uncrossable threshold in life. As the saying goes, ‘as long as you swing your pickaxe well, there’s never a wall that you cannot dig.’
So what if he was the protagonist? She was, after all, a game master who had activated her Invincibility Mode (though she did not want it).
Summing it up, Xiao Yi’s biggest golden spoons, were the five types of “Spirits”, and with the disappearance of these five Spirits, it caused the world to collapse. Currently, Xiao Yi already had the “Metal Spirit” in his hands, then, he definitely must not possess the remaining four.
“Master, in ten years, it’s the period of time where the ‘Tasyoluk’ Secret Realm is opened, isn’t it?”
Yu Yan looked at her a little strangely. “The Tasyoluk Secret Realm opens once every five hundred years, that time is indeed approaching.” This disciple of his had always been unconcerned with foreign matters, how did she know about this?
Of course she would know. Because, Xiao Yi obtained the “Wood Spirit” in this Secret Realm. Although it was unknown if it was due to his Spirit Veins, what Xiao Yi first found, was the “Metal Spirit” and “Wood Spirit” which corresponded with his own Spirit Veins. And it was because of this, he successfully formed his Azoth Core.
“Master, I wish to go to that Secret Realm as well.”
Yu Yan frowned. Tasyoluk was a mustard seed dimensional space that was left by a supreme individual from the ancient times. It would open once every five hundred years, and although there were countless spiritual grass, spiritual medicine, and various mysterious treasures, danger was widespread as well, and there were even tenth-rank spiritual beasts. “No. That place is too dangerous, and, you have yet to form your Azoth Core.” Only practitioners who had the cultivation level at the Azoth-stage were able to enter. Practitioners who were below, or above the Azoth-stage would be automatically bounced out by the formation at the entrance.
“I will form my Azoth Core within ten years!” Zhu Yao was very confident in her comprehension ability.
Yu Yan frowned even deeper. “Even if you form your Azoth Coret, you will only have the cultivation of an early-stage Azoth practitioner. Although there are many opportunities in Tasyoluk, this can only be discussed when you have the ability to defend yourself.”
He had once entered that Secret Realm as well. Back then, he was an Azoth Paragon, and even with that level of cultivation, he still found it very strenuous inside. Even it was simply the outer sector, many sixth and seventh rank spiritual beasts were gathered there, and the further one proceeded towards the core, the more dangerous it was. There had never been anyone to reach the core. At least, she had to be an Azoth Paragon before trying it out. “When the next time it opens, master will not stop you!” “Master, I must go.” Next time, there will no longer be a next time. Because, she clearly knew that, after Xiao Yi brings out the “Wood Spirit”, the entire Secret Realm will collapse, and there will no longer be a “Tasyoluk”.
“I have my own reasons, however, it’s still too inconvenient to tell this to anyone right now. Master, please grant my request.”
Yu Yan went silent for a moment. His stupid disciple rarely requested something from him this seriously. He recalled the last time she begged him, was to give Zi Mo’s stinky brat a defensive mystic artifact. He did not allow it, and in the end, she never returned. He suddenly felt a little worried. Would she not return again if he were to deny her request this time?
Zhu Yao silently waited, yet, her heart was determined. No matter if he allowed her or not, she would still go. At most, she could sneak into the place.
After a while, Yu Yan stood up, and seemed to be taking something out from his storage ring. A moment later, his hand was grabbing onto a purple lightning that was still flashing and making thundering noises. Just how the hell did he keep something like this? Zhu Yao looked at him dumbfoundedly. Master, what are you doing? Even if he was angry, he should not hold onto a lightning and strike her with it, right?
“Follow me!” Yu Yan signalled her to catch up to him, and with a turn of his body, he headed towards the direction of the cold lake at the mountain peak.
Standing next to the cold lake, Yu Yan waved his hand and cast a water separating Mystic Art. The lake which was still emitting out a heavily cold chill, suddenly, as though it had been sliced, opened up into two halves. And, the lake which lacked the body of water, was completely dark, as the bottom of the lake was too deep to be seen.
However, Yu Yan did not stop, and directly walked down the passageway opened up by the separated waters.
Only then did Zhu Yao realized that there were layers of stairs next to the lake, which stretched all the way downwards to the bottom of the lake, and master was currently walking down those stairs. Zhu Yao did not hesitate, and hurriedly followed after him.
Chapter46: The Promised Protagonist’s Cheat
The deeper they went, the darker it became, and it looked as though there were completely no light in the place. And, it reached to the point where there were not even a bit of light from the surroundings, and only the purple lightning in Yu Yan’s hands was flashing with crackling noises. Zhu Yao could not help but grab onto the corner of the the person’s clothes in front of her, as she was afraid of stepping onto empty air, and make a huge slip. That would be too embarrassing.
Yu Yan who was grabbed onto, startled for a moment. Thinking that the person behind him was his own stupid disciple, he did not stop her, and continued to bring her down.
Not knowing how long they had walked, Zhu Yao felt a white light flashing right in front of her, and then, as though a black curtain had been suddenly pulled open, her surroundings began to light up.
This was a spacious stone room. Only a “prayer mat” was placed right at the center, and there were no other furnitures in the surroundings. It seemed like a regular training cave residence, however, the surroundings were filled with lightning spiritual energy, letting her feel especially comfortable. Yu Yan walked to the center of the stone room, he raised his hand, and threw the purple lightning high in the air. Only then did Zhu Yao realize that, above her, was actually a huge floating pool of water. The entire sight of the lake could be seen from here clearly, and she could even faintly see the scenery at the banks of the lake. They were under the lake. This was challenging the principle of gravity, causing her to feel extremely astonished.
“Master, master, why isn’t the water pouring down?” She was like a country bumpkin, pointing to the ceiling.
Very naturally, she received her master’s rolling eyes. “Formation!” As expected of his stupid disciple. “This place is where your master usually train in. In these few years, you can use this place to form your Azoth Core.”
So her master frequently used this place to train. It’s little wonder why he would go missing frequently.
Yu Yan looked at that purple lightning which he had already fixated in the air above. “This is the Nine Heavenly Lightning, you can guide out the lightning spiritual energy you need from it.” Nine Heavenly Lightning, was it not the Ascension Tribulation Lightning? Master could even capture bolts of lightning as well?
Zhu Yao sensed it for a moment, and indeed, the surrounding lightning spiritual energy had gotten denser. Obediently sitting at the center of the formation, she sat in the lotus position and began to meditate. Using the method to guide spiritual energy into her body she learnt before, she slowly allowed the lightning spiritual energy into her body. Because she had the prior experience, she no longer felt the pain she had when the spiritual energy went berserk the other time, and her entire body simply felt comfortable.
Yu Yan observed at the side for a moment, and only felt at ease after realizing that nothing abnormal was occurring to his disciple. After pondering for a moment, he took out a few more bolts of lightning that were exactly the same as the previous one, fixated them high in the air, before leaving without any worry. The Nine Heavenly Lightning was indeed the Ascension Tribulation Lightning, so the amount of lightning spiritual energy contained in it was the largest as well. Usually, it could not be easily seen easily, and these bolts of lightning were something he captured by chance from the Abyssal Lands.
His disciple only had to guide spiritual energy into her body to cause the spiritual energy to go berserk. These bolts of lightning, no longer required to take in any other lightning spiritual energy, so they were just right for aiding his disciple in her cultivation.
With this one period of meditation, Zhu Yao had meditated for two years. When she woke up, her body had already accumulated a layer of dust. With just a casual pat, it brought about a small-scaled sandstorm, choking her, and she could not help but cough a few times.
When she was about to raise her hand and cast the Dirt Removal Art, she glanced at the clear water above her, and decided to head out to wash herself. Although Dirt Removal Art was convenient, as someone who was used to bathing, she still felt she was not clean enough after using it, this might be probably a form of psychological disorder of cleanliness in another meaning as well.
The moment she left the bottom of the lake, she saw a piece of lotus leaf being placed next to the lake. On the leaf, was a neatly arranged set of clothes, and looking at the style and size, it should be hers. She instantly realized who placed it here.
As expected, master was her caring little jacket, his life skills were all maxed out, and she gave him a huge thumbs up.
She picked up the clothes and realized, other than the clothes, there was a bottle of pellets as well. Master had always discouraged her from eating medicinal pellets to raise her cultivation, so why would he place a bottle of pellets here? She curiously poured some of the contents out, and realized they were actually candies.
The hell! Only her body would change into a child’s, she’s not actually a child, alright? What point was he trying to get by placing candies here!?
Zhu Yao poured out a bunch of them, and stuffed them into her mouth out of anger, making ‘kuchi kuchi’ sounds as she chewed. Mn, the taste is pretty good.
Patting away the crumbs of candies in her hands, she stripped off entirely and dove into the lake. This was a cold lake, so the water was very cold in the first place, however, to practitioners, the temperature was just right. Zhu Yao cleaned the dust off her body, and could not help but start to inspect this cold lake.
Actually, this cold lake was pretty big. It’s unknown how much larger it was compared to the modern pools either. The lake was deep as well, and it was basically impossible to see the bottom of the lake from the top. However, mystically, the stone room below could clearly see what was happening at the top. It was good that there was currently no one at the bottom lake.
Wait a minute! She seemed to have frequently came over here to bathe in the past, and she was always stark naked, while below her was the stone room her master usually used to train… Then did that not mean she…
The hell! Suddenly, her entire body felt extremely uncomfortable. Master, let us talk about life!
However, when she recalled that when she was a child, she had already been bathed by him countless of times, and she was always stark naked then as well, suddenly, she no longer felt that uncomfortable. As expected, she no longer had any morals left to speak of! Those morals of hers had already been scrubbed off, and she was already used to it.
Zhu Yao bathed for nearly an hour, before crawling out of the water. After changing into the clothes on the bank of the lake, stuffing another bunch of candies into her mouth, she was just about to return to training, only to suddenly sense a spiritual energy disturbance at the Sword Mountain. And this spiritual power was very familiar, it was Wang Xuzhi’s!
Zhu Yao was a little worried, however, she realized bunch of dark clouds suddenly gathered in the sky above the Sword Mountain, and not a moment later, the sky over that had already darkened. Those were Tribulation Clouds, little wimp was about to form his Azoth Core!
She was a little shocked, however, immediately after, she was relieved. So many years had passed, with his talent, he should have formed his Azoth Core long before. However, because of her own death, the knot in his heart was unresolved, thus, causing his cultivation to stagnate. Currently, it seemed like her words earlier, were still of use. He had thought it through.
Wang Xuzhi’s Azoth Tribulation Clouds were not as exaggerated as Xiao Yi’s, the Tribulation Clouds did not cover the entire sky either. There were no land covered in complete darkness, no flying sands and rocks. It simply followed the regulations and covered only a small piece of the sky above the Sword Mountain, and the Heavenly Lightning that struck down was exactly eighty-one times, not more, not less, nor was there a cheeky Tribulation Lightning running towards her. Of course, there was no special phenomenon in the sky, once the Tribulation Clouds had finished striking, they quickly called it a day, and dispersed completely and cleanly.
Zhu Yao waited for a moment, only after she once again sensed Wang Xuzhi’s spiritual power, did she finally feel at ease. It seemed like he broke through, and had successfully raised his cultivation. After all, he was a child that she had personally seen growing up, Zhu Yao felt a little satisfied in her heart. And then, her thoughts instantly made a turn, she was still a Foundation- stage practitioner, and did not even have a trace of forming his Azoth Core. She instantly felt extremely terrible.
A good comparison to this was, when she was young, her teacher had assigned students into small help groups of two, one with good results, and the other with poor results. She had initially been one of those children with good results, and she wholeheartedly helped the child with poor results with his studies. In the end, when the result slip came in, his score was actually higher than hers. She felt extremely terrible, and could barely hold it in at all.
The hell, what happened to the promised cheat for the protagonist who’s here to save the world!?
Caring Little Jacket: Usually, it’s used to describe the parents’ daughter, as the daughter is both kind and knows how it feels like to be a parent.
Chapter47: The Round Azoth Core
Returning to the stone room, Zhu Yao worked even harder in her cultivation, and she constantly took in the spiritual energy from the purple bolts of lightning above, while those purple bolts of lightning began to slowly disappear as well. When two bolts of lightning completely dispersed, Zhu Yao finally felt that familiar pain.
However, forming her Azoth Core was different compared to that of building her Foundation. Foundation only required to break through the limitations of the tendons in one’s body, and it could be made possible simply by expanding one’s amount of spiritual energy absorbed. However, Azoth required the spiritual energy to be compressed and stored. This process required one to be extremely careful, just a slight mistake could cause one’s cinnabar to shatter, and the breakthrough would fail.
Zhu Yao looked internally for a moment, she realized that the lightning spiritual energy had already been completely filled, and they began to rush out in all directions. If this was to keep up, it would definitely tear apart her meridians. She had no choice but to endure the terrible pain, and according to the method taught by her master, she slowly guided the spiritual energy into her cinnabar, and then, compressed the lightning spiritual energy together. It sounded simple, however, in actual fact, controlling it was extremely difficult. She was not a compressor after all, and, spiritual energy never had a physical body in the first place, so how could it decrease in size whenever she wanted it to?
No matter how she guided the spiritual energy with her will, when the spiritual energy at one side was suppressed, the other side would bulge up, it was very hard to control. Unless there was a sort of energy that could prevent the spiritual energy from flowing everywhere, and have them gather at one point.
Zhu Yao pondered deeply for a moment, and she did not know why, but she suddenly thought of centrifugal forces. If a substance were to continuously revolve in the same direction, it would then gather at one point. It’s similar to stirring water in a cup in the same direction, it would form a swirl with a point as it’s center. If she were to suppress the spiritual energy while it’s spiraling with a point at the center, it could roll into a ball, like that of a dustball?
Thinking of this method, she immediately circulated the spiritual energy in her cinnabar, and she constantly moved it in a spiraling method in a specific direction at high speed. As expected, at the center of the spiral, the pressure slowly suppressed the spiritual energy into a dot. That dot was extremely small, yet, as the amount of spiritual energy entering it increased, the dot slowly began to expand, from a dot, it became the size of a bean. However, the spiritual energy in her body had already been depleted.
She could not help but continue to rapidly absorb spiritual energy, a huge amount of spiritual energy entered her body, yet, it was instantly absorbed into the revolving spiral in her cinnabar, and the bean became bigger and bigger. And the remaining five bolts of lightning in the stone room were beginning to disappear at a speed that could be seen with the naked eyes.
When Yu Yan came in, he just happened to see the final bolt of lightning disappear. He quickly took out another three bolts, and threw it upwards, narrowly preventing the violent turbulence of spiritual energy from happening once again. He turned to look at his disciple in the middle of the room. It was as though she was surrounded by a huge amount of lightning spiritual energy particles, and those lightning spiritual energy particles seemed to have received a command, circling around her in a certain direction.
Although he knew that his disciple had extremely high affinity with lightning spiritual energy, this was still the first time he had ever seen such obedient lightning spiritual energy particles. It was as though, they were revolving completely according to her intentions.
Not knowing how long had passed, only when Zhu Yao felt that bean in her body had slowly grew into the size of a pearl, and could no longer circulate anymore spiritual energy, did she finally stop.
The Azoth Core had been formed.
Only then did Zhu Yao finally heave a sigh of relief. Opening her eyes, she just happened to see Yu Yan who had a stern expression, sitting right in front of her.
“Master? Are you here to help me protect the formation?”
“Mn!” Yu Yan made a response. Reaching out his finger, he tapped on the center of her forehead. “Relax, let me see your Dantian.”
A cooling air directly rushed into her cinnabar, out of reflex, Zhu Yao had wanted to stop it, however, when she heard his words, she relaxed once again. Yu Yan inspected her cinnabar, and as expected, he saw a round silver-colored Core floating there. It was filled with spiritual energy, and there were hints of lightning sparks circling its vicinity. When he took a closer look, there were even lines of purple markings.
Yu Yan felt even more strange. In usual Azoth Cores, rarely would there be such a round sphere with completely no edges. It had to be known that suppressing spiritual energy was something that was strenuous on the mind, energy consuming, and time consuming. It was impossible to achieve without even a slight slip up. Hence, the shapes of everyone’s Azoth Cores would be different, but generally speaking, there would all be dents and edges in them.
This Azoth Cores his disciple had… there’s none on it at all!
Yu Yan retracted his hand, and looked at Zhu Yao for a moment. He was beginning to understand this disciple of his less and less.
“Master, master. How is it, how is it?” Although she had formed her Azoth Core, she herself still did not have any notion of it. Yu Yan was silent for a moment, before nodding his head. “Not bad! Your Azoth Core is much more condensed than regular people.”
Hearing such a praise from him, Zhu Yao completely entered her show-off mode. “Hahahaha, I knew that I’m incredible. Master, you saw that I have formed my Azoth Core, is there any reward for me?”
Zhu Yao stretched out her hand, and revealed a expression that was begging for praise and and rewards.
Yu Yan was startled for a moment. Looking at her eyes which were about to emit out stars, he casually nodded. He should indeed reward her for forming her Azoth Core, and casually took out a bottle and placed it on her hand.
Zhu Yao’s eyes instantly shone brighter, and immediately opened the cap of the bottle and looked inside. Her earlier excited expression, instantly completely darkened.
The hell, why are they candies!? Raising her head, she looked towards a certain master who had a calm expression. What to do? She felt like destroying her master.
“Master…” Zhu Yao planned on chatting with her master about the problem regarding his education methods, yet, when she stood up, she suddenly stepped on something, and putong, she fell onto the ground.
She looked at her body strangely, and then, she suddenly realized the sleeves of her clothes and pants had grown larger.
Hell! Why did I turn back into a child!?
Because forming the Azoth Core had used up all of Zhu Yao’s spiritual energy in her body, she returned back into the figure she was supposed to have, the figure of a seven year old. That’s right, she spent seven years before she finally formed her Azoth Core.
Master said that she had only just formed her Core, when her realm had stabilized, the situation of her turning into a child like this would no longer happen. After forming her Core, there would be a huge Lightning Tribulation, she only had to step outside of the stone room to sense it, and the Lightning Tribulation would then fall. But, in her current situation, it would be very dangerous for her to leave, hence, the best plan was to first charge up her batter- no wait, restore her spiritual power before leaving the stone room. There was an isolation formation set up here, so temporarily, she would not be found by the Lightning Tribulation.
Hence, she had no choice but to continue meditating, and take in spiritual energy. She raised her head and glanced at the last bolt of purple lightning which had already thinned by a large amount at the ceiling. A little jokingly, Zhu Yao said this. “Don’t be anxious, I will eat you later.”
The moment those words fell, that bolt of lightning which had been quietly emitting out light, suddenly trembled coquettishly, releasing out even louder crackling noises. It looked so excited, it was as though it had taken in stimulants.
Zhu Yao was a little speechless. Never did she know that these bolts of lightning actually had masochistic characteristics, and would be so excited after hearing that they would be eaten.
That bolt of lightning trembled even more happily, Zhu Yao decided to increase her pace, and hurriedly ate it.
After spending another half a day worth of effort, Zhu Yao’s spiritual power was finally restored, and her body was filled with energy as well… No, she had returned to her teenage girl figure, however, she had yet to completely absorb that bolt of lightning.
“I’m going!” Zhu Yao waved her hand, and left the stone room.
That bolt of lightning, stretched into a bent shape, and shook towards her as well, as though it was waving her goodbye.
Zhu Yao’s expression darkened. Could it be that bolts of lightning could turn into spirits as well?
Chapter48: Cultivation Requires Entrance Examinations
When she came out, Yu Yan was already waiting for her.
He had set up a couple of formations on the empty space next to the lake, which could help her defend against the Lightning Tribulation. Under Yu Yan’s instructions, Zhu Yao sat at the core of the formation. All preparations were ready, now, she only had to wait for the Heavenly Lightning to fall.
Zhu Yao took a deep breath, looked at the wide sky, and then…
The sun went down.
The hell, where’s the promised Lightning Tribulation!?
Zhu Yao who had waited for an entire day, turned around, seeking assistance. “Master…” Why were there not any bolts of Tribulation Lightning? She clearly had formed her Azoth Core! When it was time to strike, it did not come, when it was not supposed to strike, it deliberately struck her! There’s definitely a problem with this world! Yu Yan did not know what was going on either. Logically speaking, his disciple was indeed at the Azoth-stage, and with the shape of her Core, the might of her Lightning Tribulation should not be weak either, hence, he made such preparations. However, it had been an entire day, yet, there was not even a single movement in the sky.
“Return for now!” He had no other ideas either. There were too many strange things happening on his disciple, he had already gotten used to it.
Zhu Yao nodded, and crawled up. Though, to practitioners, not being struck by lightning was a good thing, because, they would have one less tribulation to go through. However, why did she feel a strange dissatisfaction for being tricked?
“Wait a minute!” Yu Yan suddenly reached out his hand to stop her, and with a stern expression, he looked towards the sky. “There’s the presence of Tribulation Clouds.”
Zhu Yao immediately raised her head anxiously and looked towards the sky as well. Currently, it was already evening, and the sky was already half-darkened, yet, there was still a slight glow of light. After staring for a moment, suddenly, she saw a Tribulation Cloud floating over. But…
Why the momma’s egg was it so small?
Zhu Yao stared dumbfoundedly at the Tribulation Cloud that had the size of a basin. It looked as though it had rushed here hastily, as it floated very comically. It was floating towards her while leaking out air…
It was just like a car’s exhaust puffing out exhaust gas. Every single puff, the cloud would shrink a little, and when it arrived above her head, it had already shrunk into the size of a bowl.
The key point was, the cloud had little sense of direction as well, as it accidentally floated past her head. And after pausing for a moment, it floated back towards her head.
The Tribulation Cloud finally stopped moving above her head, and then, as though it was brewing something, it stopped for probably a few moments, before the sounds of crackling could be heard. Within the clouds, a thin thread-like bolt of lightning was released, and it came striking down towards her. And then…
It stopped!
The Tribulation Lightning stopped. It stopped at a place two steps away from her. It shook about frustratedly, and then, it nestled against her face. Bachi!
Zhu Yao: “……”
Yu Yan: “……”
Bachi! Bachi bachi, your sister! Don’t you dare tell me you’re a bolt of Tribulation Lightning!
Unfortunately, that bolt of lightning had already disappeared, and then… the Tribulation Cloud floated away!
The cloud floated away… floated away… away!
Momma’s egg! Just what the hell happened? Are you guys sent by the heavens to act all cutesy?
The master and disciple duo was stunned for a period of a few minutes before they finally reacted.
“Yu Wang?”
“Ah?”
“Nothing.”
“Oh.”
“……”
“……”
After a while, Yu Yan silently kept the formations on the ground. Stroking the head of his disciple who had already been completely shocked silly, he suddenly understood a little why his disciple was stupid to this extent, it was actually caused by her environment.
“First, return and have some rest. I will teach you Mystic Arts tomorrow!”
“Ou!”
A moment later…
“Your sister’s Desire!”
Zhu Yao was shocked. She was deeply shocked. Recalling Xiao Yi who had activated his protagonist’s cheat, during the Lightning Tribulation he experienced, the entire Ancient Hill Sect was covered by the Tribulation Clouds. That atmosphere and that extravagance, especially that gigantic dragon, that emitted out an imposing aura with the first half of its body, and brought about strong winds with the latter half of its body, just by recalling it, she could feel the domineering pressure leaking out!
Even if she did not bring up the protagonist’s cheat, even Wang Xuzhi, that little wimp’s Lightning Tribulation, at the least, even covered the entire Sword Mountain, and actual bolts of Tribulating Lightning rang throughout the clouds.
Why did hers, turn into a basin…
She felt extremely saddened due to the basin tribulation.
However, time still had to pass. Her master had already agreed to her entering the ‘Tasyoluk’ Secret Realm. Although she did not know the reason for his compromise, to her, it was still a good thing.
She had to find the “Wood Spirit” before Xiao Yi. Xiao Yi had the Metal and Wood Dual Spirit Veins, and he who had already obtained the “Metal Spirit”, his cultivation had already rose so quickly, let alone adding another “Wood Spirit”. She believed that, by then, there’s no other humans capable of stopping him from raising his cultivation.
So, she must definitely not let him obtain the “Wood Spirit”.
However, with her cultivation, she was unable to go into a direct conflict with him. Hence, unprecedentedly, Zhu Yao began to work hard in her cultivation. She seemed to have pulled out the momentum she had during her studies for her entrance examinations in the past, and continued to cultivate throughout the day and night. And, she realized that there were many Mystic Arts in this world which were similar to those in games. As a game development staff, she was able to accept the principles very easily.
However, even if that’s the case, she still spent three entire years to completely master them.
Bang!
Zhu Yao was struck down by a certain master, for the three thousand, five hundred and sixty ninth time. Spitting out the weeds that had entered her mouth, Zhu Yao stood up. Swinging the long sword in her hands, she said. “Again!”
Flying, she pounced towards him. She had always believed the best method to improve her techniques, was actual battles. Hence, in these three years, what she had done the most, was to get beaten up.
Uh… No, wait a minute, it’s getting master to spar with her. However, the level differences between her and Yu Yan was not just by a small margin. Even if she were to compete with him in pure sword techniques, basically, she could not escape the fate of sticking to the ground.
Even after three years of hard work, she was still unable to take more than a single blow from her master.
She had already grown accustomed to it…
Another resounding bang!
The three thousand, five hundred and seventieth time!
“Again!”
Zhu Yao continued to pounce towards him. This time, Yu Yan did not retaliate, he simply waved his hand, and his disciple’s long sword had automatically flew into his hands.
“There’s no need to train any longer today!” “Ah?” Before, had they not always trained till dusk? Zhu Yao was a little stunned. Master is treating me too well, I simply can’t believe it.
Yu Yan approached her, reached out his hand and stroked her head. However, his brows furrowed. “Do you still insist on going to ‘Tasyoluk’?”
Zhu Yao nodded. “I have to go!” She did not dare to casually say she was going to save the world or anything. However, since she had already arrived in this world, if it’s something she could do, she would give her best to do so.
Yu Yan lightly sighed, and was even more worried. Why couldn’t his disciple be a little more stupid? “Tomorrow is the day when the Secret Realm opens. You have to make your preparations early.”
“Thank you, master!” So this was why he stopped the training.
“Follow me!” Yu Yan turned and walked towards the cottage. Zhu Yao hurriedly caught up to him. She saw him place her sword on the table, and even took out the tassel from his own sword. After pondering for a moment, he took out another bell which was as white as jade, and weaved them together. Then, he tied it onto her sword, before passing it to her.
“Try inserting your spiritual power.”
Zhu Yao skeptically picked it up, and circulated her spiritual power. She then saw the blade of her sword suddenly being covered by the purple light of lightning, and it was now a sword with lightning imbued in it.
“This sword tassel carries my imprint, and could be used to block an attack of full power by practitioners at the Azoth-stage and below. And I have sealed a bolt of Nine Heavenly Lightning in that bell, and as long as you insert your spiritual power, it will be attached onto the blade. Every swing of your sword, will be equal to using a single Lightning Art.”
Chapter49: Setting Off To Tasyoluk
Zhu Yao widened her eyes out of excitement. This was the Nine Heavenly Lightning, and with this, even if she were to encounter a demonic beast that’s of a higher rank than her, she would not need to be afraid.
“Master, you’re the best!” So moving!
Yu Yan did not reply, and simply stretched out his hand towards her hair which was already a pile of mess, messing it up even more. Looking at his stupid disciple who was still smiling sillily, he became more and more worried. His disciple was so stupid, yet, she still liked to head to dangerous places. Back then, she had already lost her life once, this time, he was even more worried. No, I have to give her a few more guarantees.
“The dangers in ‘Tasyoluk’ are widespread. Master cannot be by your side, you have to pay more attention by yourself. This sword, can only be used to attack. You have to be on your guard at all times!” After pondering for a moment, he took out a defensive mystic robe from his storage ring. “Wear this.”
Zhu Yao looked at that gold sparkling mystic robe, which was sparkling so bright, it almost blinded her eyes. She spoke up weakly. “Master, this isn’t suitable, right?”
“You don’t like it?” Yu Yan frowned, and took out another one. “Then this set of robes. A defensive formation has been placed on it, and it is able to defend against any Mystic Art attacks for fifteen minutes.”
“Uh…” This set was not sparkling gold, however, it was bright red and purple in color, and was embroidered with a bunch of flowers, as though it was welcoming the new year. She didn’t dare to wear it at all.
“You do not want it either?” Yu Yan frowned even deeper, and continued to pull out another one. “Then, this one.”
“……” This set was not sparkling, nor was it bright red and purple in color. However, master, why the hell are there so many gems sewn onto it!? She was not going out to sell merchandises!
Zhu Yao speechlessly looked at her master who had already activated the River God mode, and then, once again looked at the three set of clothes on the table. She could faintly see the words “So silly” being written on the first set of clothes, “yet so rich” on the second set, and “hurry and steal him away!” on the third set.
She was clearly heading out to steal an item, she did not want to change her objective into stealing a rural landlord!
Finally, under her firm refusal, her master could only regretfully keep the items, and he looked at her with a complicated expression. My disciple is so stupid, she will be bullied when she goes out, won’t she? She will definitely be bullied, won’t she? She will totally be bullied, won’t she?
Zhu Yao could only use rest as her excuse, and escaped.
Having a master who loved to worry, the pressure on her was immense.
Finally, it was the day of the opening of the ‘Tasyoluk’ Secret Realm. Zhu Yao arranged a few life necessities, and prepared to head to the Main Mountain’s open field, to gather for the instance dungeon run. Right before she left, her master actually popped out all of a sudden again. Zhu Yao’s heart trembled, afraid that he would once again pull out some gold and sparkling item for her to bring along. Fortunately, this time, master was more reasonable. He simply took out a jade pendant necklace, and wore it for her.
“You must remember to wear this at all times. It must not leave your body, understand?”
Yu Yan said very seriously, and completely did not have the unreasonable look he usually had. Zhu Yao instantly felt that this must definitely be some sort of very incredible Mystic Tool. She stuffed it into her chest, placed it at a position which was in contact with her body, and patted it twice.
“Master, don’t worry. Wherever the jade is, I will be there too!”
However, Yu Yan’s expression was a little strange, he stared at the collar where she placed the necklace into for a moment, before turning away and leaving without saying anything.
Zhu Yao inexplicably curled her lips, and flew away from the Jade Forest Mountain with a flying sword.
After going through the demonic training in these few years, her fear of heights had been completely cured. She was finally able to safely become a bird-woman.
The moment when she flew away from Jade Forest Mountain, Yu Yan had sensed it. Turning his head, he looked towards the direction his stupid disciple left in, and deeply sighed. As expected, he was still unable to put his heart at ease. Suddenly, he once again recalled the scene when his disciple placed the jade pendant on her chest, his face strangely grew a little hotter. Was it because of the weather today?
There were about a dozen of people in the group, and there were actually four or five female disciples among them as well. In their eyes, without exception, all of them were sparkling with lights of love, and were currently circling around a man, conversing with him. The black bolded “BUG” word on the man’s face, even if she did not want to recognize that he was Xiao Yi, it was impossible.
As expected of the protagonist’s cheat, the women would instantly feel uncomfortable if they did not stick to him.
“Little Bun!” Her shoulder was patted on, and when Zhu Yao turned her head, she just happened to see Wang Xuzhi. Zhu Yao was startled for a moment, and when she thought about it, it was understandable. He had formed his Azoth Core, so obviously, he would go as well.
“You formed your Azoth Core?” Wang Xuzhi was very astonished, after all, he did not see anyone forming the Azoth Core in the Ancient Hill Sect in the recent years.
“I have just returned from field training. I formed my Azoth Core outside.” Zhu Yao casually came up with an excuse. She really did not wish to bring up that washbasin tribulation.
I see. Wang Xuzhi nodded, and then, continued to ask in surprise. “You’re going into ‘Tasyoluk’ as well?”
“Yeah! A Secret Realm that only opens once every five hundred years, obviously, I can’t miss out on it.”
“But, you have just formed your Azoth Core.” Wang Xuzhi showed his disapproval. “‘Tasyoluk’ is extremely dangerous. It’s stated in the legends that, even a Demigod-stage expert would not be completely safe when venturing into its core area. Why don’t you…” “My master has agreed to it!” Zhu Yao interrupted his words.
Wang Xuzhi felt it was not his place to oppose her either. Looking at her a little worriedly, he still could not help but remind her. “Later, after we enter, remember to stick close to me. It’s fine to stay at the outer areas, don’t head deep into the center of the place, understand?”
Little wimp, are you caring for me? Zhu Yao felt a little pleased, and could not help but stretch out her hand and stroke this man who was even taller than she was. “I understand! Senior, martial, brother, Wang!”
Wang Xuzhi was stunned for a moment, and simply stared at her blankly. After a while, he finally sighed and regained his senses. He pretended to be angry and lectured her. “Mischievous!” At that moment, he actually thought he was looking at big sister Zhu Yao. As expected, was it because his obsession was too deep?
“This little martial sister, we meet again.” Out of nowhere, Xiao Yi popped out. His dimples showed when he smiled towards her, and instantly, the protagonist’s cheat was fully activated. Sizing Zhu Yao up, he asked in amazement. “Little martial sister, you formed your Azoth Core?” Ever since he came over, Wang Xuzhi’s expression was ugly. Although the knot in his heart had been resolved, he still hated the person whom he hates. Before Zhu Yao could even react, he had already side stepped and forcefully inserted himself between them. Staring at him defensively, he rightly pulled Zhu Yao behind his back.
“Senior-martial uncle Xiao, what you said was incorrect. You’re Sovereign Feng Yi’s personal succeeding disciple, according to seniority, we should be calling you senior-martial uncle, so how could she be your little martial sister!”
“Seniority is only a form of addressing others, I do not mind at all.” Towards Wang Xuzhi’s causing a scene, Xiao Yi was a little displeased.
“Senior-martial uncle do not mind, but this junior minds.” Don’t think of using the martial brother and sister trick to approach her. Little Bun was big sister Zhu Yao’s junior-martial sister, he had to protect her. “If other people were to know of this, they would think that we don’t know our courtesies.”
As expected, Xiao Yi’s expression darkened. Although he knew that Wang Xuzhi had always been unhappy with him, he never expected that Wang Xuzhi would challenge him by himself. As expected, these so-called Inner Sect disciples, were all who did not know the meaning of death. Xiao Yi held in the anger in his heart, looking at the cute little martial sister behind him who was blinking her pair of black grape-like eyes, his tone could not help but soothe down. “Little martial… niece, I wonder which Mountain you’re a disciple of?”
After saying that, he smiled coldly towards Wang Xuzhi. Didn’t you say we can’t forget about our courtesies? Could it be that you’re also able to stop a senior from asking a question?
Chapter50: Outsiders Watching The Commotion
As expected, Wang Xuzhi frowned. He could not chase him away directly, and he would not feel at ease by moving aside either. He could only block in front of Zhu Yao, and was stuck in a difficult position.
Zhu Yao felt it was a little funny as she watched little wimp behaving like a protective mother hen, blocking in front of her. Her heart was filled with warmth, and had a feeling of ‘my son has finally grown up, and knows how to protect this elderly woman’.
Seeing such a heart-warming little wimp, how could she not give him face?
“Kuh kuh…” She pretended to cough, and did her best to act out a cute, naive and oblivious look. With widened eyes, she looked straight at Xiao Yi, and said. “Who are you?”
Xiao Yi: “……”
“Tasyoluk” was positioned at a barren land north of the cultivation world. Because of the scattered spiritual energy, and the countless cliffs everywhere, not mentioning mortals, even practitioners would not usually step into this piece of land. However, every five hundred years, the entrance to the Secret Realm would open. Inside, the place was filled with spiritual energy, and spiritual grass were widespread. Although usually, great opportunities would be accompanied by great dangers, every single time, the various clans and sects would still dispatch their elites to search for these opportunities.
However, only practitioners whose cultivation were below the Nascent Soul stage could enter the Secret Realm. So, every single time, those dispatched were all Azoth-stage elites, and this was a very important matter to every sect.
Zhu Yao had already felt that the number of people heading there from her sect was large enough, however, when she arrived at the designated location, she actually saw disciples from the various clans and sects had already gathered at the place, and there were even some wandering practitioners as well. The entire place was filled with practitioners, and she did not even see this much people in the previous Inter-Sect Tournament.
She roughly estimated the number of people to be in the high thousands. The various sect disciples were all lead by their respective Nascent Soul stage practitioners. Their clothes were uniform, and they were even standing together, so they were very easily recognizable. The wandering practitioners were basically segregated, however, there were a few of them that were in small groups of four or five.
This time, Ancient Hill Sect especially dispatched the two great Mountain Lords of Sword Mountain and Talisman Mountain to send them over. Beside the Weapon Mountain Lord Zi Yuan, he was accompanied by a very familiar person. It was actually little fatty Zhao. She did not expect that he had actually formed his Azoth Core as well.
The current little fatty Zhao had properly kept his initial unique trait, and had turned into big fatty Zhao. It was unknown if it was due to his figure, the arrogant and tyrannical look he had when he was young had disappeared, rather, he seemed to be rather pleasant and charming. He seemed to have something on his mind, and completely did not have the look of excitement and eagerness like the rest of the people in the vicinity.
Zhu Yao had been pulled along by Wang Xuzhi the entire time, as though he was afraid that she would get herself lost. Along the way, he had repeatedly instructed her to stay away from Xiao Yi, and not to easily trust him. His constant nagging made him look exactly like a mother.
“It’s here.” A commotion suddenly started within the crowd, and instantly, the entire site became especially noisy.
Most of the people had already raised their heads and looked towards the sky. They simply saw the sky which was initially still clear and quiet. Suddenly, like it was being torn apart by something, a gigantic crack appeared, as though it was splitting the entire sky into two halves. The crack grew bigger and bigger, and only when it grew the size whereby a dozen people could enter it at the same time, did it finally stop expanding.
The people below could not wait any longer, as they took out their swords one after another and flew into the crack. However, the ones that moved were just the wandering practitioners. After all, the disciples from the various sects still had to attend to their courtesies, and they still stood unmoving in their original positions.
A Nascent Soul-stage practitioner walked over, and smiled at the two people who came to lead the Ancient Hill Sect group. “Dear Reverends, as there are so many disciples from your Ancient Hill Sect, why don’t your group enter first?” Zi Yuan seemed to have been waiting for these words, and did not decline. He turned and said to the fifty or so Azoth disciples behind him. “This journey will be dangerous, everyone, please remember to not act recklessly at all times. The entrance will close in a month’s time, everyone must make haste to return before the entrance closes.”
Everyone’s voices were in unison as they replied. “Yes!”
Zi Yuan waved his hand, and the disciples summoned their flying swords one after another, flying towards the entrance.
“Be careful, follow me closely!” Wang Xuzhi turned to the back as he spoke, and then, pulled Zhu Yao as they flew towards the entrance. When she entered the entrance, the jade pendant on Zhu Yao’s neck flashed for a moment, before instantly reverting to its initial look. However, no one noticed this.
After entering, what came into view was a different scenery. In front was a humongous forest where its boundaries could not be seen with a single glance. The disciples that entered earlier had already scattered, and in their current position, there were only the dozen few Ancient Hill Sect disciples who had just entered. Zhu Yao, who was used to following a group, naturally flew over as well, however, she realized they were saying their goodbyes. It seemed like these people had already decided on their groups since the beginning, and had already scattered after entering inside. Zhu Yao who was left behind was a little speechless, as she tugged onto Wang Xuzhi beside her. “Who are we going to go with?”
Wang Xuzhi pointed to Xiao Yi in front of him, and his expression was a little unhappy. “Master had instructed me to follow senior-martial uncle Xiao’s group.”
Zhu Yao looked at Wang Xuzhi who was extremely unwilling, yet, in her heart, she was a little happy. She did not know the exact location of the “Wood Spirit”, and in her dream, she simply saw that Xiao Yi would find it in an ancient ruin. However, as for the location of that ruin, she still did not know of it. And she was still worried that she did not have an excuse to follow Xiao Yi just earlier.
Little fatty Zhao was the last to enter the Secret Realm, and the moment he landed, he ran towards a green-clothed lady in the crowd. “Junior-martial sister Lu Cha!” His figure was big- sized in the first place, when he squeezed in, it instantly pushed the few disciples beside him a few steps away. The female practitioner whose name was called, slightly furrowed her brows for a moment, yet, she still responded him with a polite smile. “Senior-martial brother Zhao.”
However, little fatty Zhao was oblivious, and began to chat even more enthusiastically. “Junior-martial sister, are you already in a group? If not…”
“Senior-martial brother Zhao, I have already decided to be in the same group as Senior-martial uncle Xiao.” Before he could finish what he wanted to say, Lu Cha interrupted him. She then rightly took a step back to the side, and stood beside Xiao Yi.
“Is that so…” Little fatty Zhao was depressed for a moment, then suddenly, as though he had thought of something, he continued. “It’s fine, incidentally, I have yet to find a group, why don’t I join your group as well?”
“Junior-martial nephew Zhao!” Xiao Yi laughed coldly. The both of them had a feud with each other in the first place, and currently, his voice became even colder. “It’s still best that you follow the rest of the Weapon Mountain disciples. There are many people in our group, I’m afraid it would be too much of an inconvenience for you, and we might not be able to take care of you.” Not only did these words contain rejection, it even carried contempt as well.
Little fatty Zhao’s face stiffened a little. Looking at Lu Cha in front of him, his eyes revealed a certain amount of obsession, and he held in the anger within him that was about to explode. “Senior-martial… uncle Xiao, it’s fine. I can take care of myself.”
Since he had already put it this way, Xiao Yi could not reject him anymore either, and could only silently allowed him to follow them.
Zhu Yao who was watching at the side, felt a little helpless. This was really a twist of fate. When the two of them were still little wimps, Xiao Yi had been bullied by little fatty Zhao a couple of times. Now, their roles were actually reversed. However, seeing the way little fatty Zhao was acting, he seemed to really like that girly called Lu Cha.
It’s a pity…
Zhu Yao looked at the girly who was following closely behind Xiao Yi, and she only had a single thought: while the dropping flowers pine for love, the heartless brook babbles on unrequited love.
“What are you looking at?” Wang Xuzhi saw her shaking her head, and then sighing, over and over again.
I’m looking at the commotion over there of course. Zhu Yao pointed to the front.