NOVEL NEXT Chapter 72: Hat Trick
On the border between the normal space and the frontier, Long Juan stood alone. She was part of the Long family reinforcements called by her grandson, Shao Bai. Bringing the frontier affair to a close was a top priority for the Long family. Even if the information sent by Shao Bai was false, they had to make sure the safety of her daughter Long Xiu, and her son Han De.
The people that went to the central world of this frontier was her other daughter, Long Daiyu, and her servants. She was here, waiting for a certain someone to appear. The message received from Shao Bai mentioned a higher being. Emperor of the Flowing Realms, Shen Guo have been rampaging for some time, and was last seen heading for this region.
Long Juan didn’t believe in coincidences. She was also very curious if this prediction by her controversial grandson Han De would come to pass.
Sensing the mass of spiritual energy mixed with killing intent, Long Juan smiled.
‘Interesting, so he was right. I wonder where the netherworld demons came from though...’
Long Juan slowly walked towards the mass of killing intent. She covered the colossal distance between them with just 10 graceful steps. Blocking the famous butcher's path like this, would be a death sentence for anyone else, but things were different for the Long family.
|Fellow Daoist Shen Guo. There is a Long family matter. I ask you to give us some face and leave this region...|
The Shen family wasn’t very well known across the realms. Their numbers were few, but they were fiercely loyal to each other. Due to unknown reasons, they seldom used their family names out in the open. Every generation would get a different fake family name. By using the name Shen, and mentioning the Long family in the same breath, Long Juan wanted to both sober him up, and check the validity of the rumors.
Shen Guo narrowed his eyes. Ever since his son’s soul shard shattered to pieces, he traveled to many different worlds. Reincarnation was an impossible to predict process. Not even his son would know which world he would end up in when he released his soul. The resonance created by the shattered soul shard was his only clue, along with the image of his son's murderer imprinted on the remains of the shard.
As they stared at each other in silence, Long Juan got the confirmation she wanted.
‘Shen Xing really died. As suspected, he wasn’t dispersing his cultivation, but using a forbidden technique to reincarnate...’
Long Juan and Shen Guo kept staring at each other. A silent conversation ensued. Long Juan didn’t budge at the news of Shen Guo’s son’s demise. Shen Guo claimed the Long family’s interference was highly suspect. Long Juan denied any involvement, then mentioned that there were Long family members about to leave the frontier. With just a look, they understood each other. Shen Guo furrowed his brows.
|1 day.|
Shen Guo closed his eyes and started meditating. His answer meant that he was only giving face because of Long family members. However, if they weren’t gone by the mentioned time, Flowing Realms wouldn’t hesitate to wage total war against the Long family over this matter. Once the time was up, he was going to destroy these worlds, one way or another.
Long Juan followed his example and started meditating as well. She decided to secretly watch Shen Guo from far away as he searched for the murderer. It was bound to be an interesting distraction.
* * *
A few minutes before the tribulation clouds started to condense.
The aura coming from the leviathans forced human and netherworld demon Transcendent experts to submit. The difference that came from a higher order of life was difficult, if not impossible to overcome.
High above the atmosphere, inside the ghetto celestial ship, lackeys were already on their knees. Despite the huge cultivation difference, Han Bai was holding on. Complex emotions were eating him from the inside. Previously unthinkable thoughts kept emerging in his mind.
The disciples were staying close to their master due to his condition. They could feel the aura coming from the nearly-higher-beings, but it didn’t have any effect on them.
Han De was still in the middle absorbing the Heaven and Earth Serene Renewal pill. Only half of its layers were released so far, but Han De had already stopped paying attention to the process. The pill wasn’t healing him at all and he still wasn’t aware why everything was pissing him off. Now that he wasn’t interfering with the spiritual energy released by the pill, his meridians were silently getting nurtured and reinforced with great speed.
Thick killing intent appeared out of nowhere. Although the aura was still influencing Han De’s thoughts through the Heaven Defying Tyrannical Scripture, the killing intent pulled him out of his torture fantasy spiral. His face kept twitching with anger as he realized the situation.
‘F#$%! They are going berserk. Tentacle-chan.. Weren’t you going to deal with the false ruler? Aren’t these leviathans sent by that guy?! Couldn’t you have destroyed them first?!?!’
{Brat, your time is up. Your fate was sealed the moment you were born. HAHAHAHAHAHA...}
Han De lost control of his aura. Creepy grandpa’s words were the straw that broke the camel's back. The aura of his self-made scripture expanded on its own. Inside the spiritual boat turned pitch black. Moments later, the aura retracted and started condensing itself into a seed.
Han De entered a strange state. Normally, it was supposed to be a state of peace and tranquility, but Han De was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. It was impossible for him to achieve inner peace with everything that was going on. He had no idea what was going on, much less perceive the secrets of the universe.
Even under normal circumstances, Han De’s state of mind was too jumbled. Often he had no idea what he wanted. The state of pseudo-tranquility induced by his aura didn’t last longer than a few breaths, but that was enough for Han De to truly convey his will for the first time through his bloodline.
* * *
Black void reappeared. It was involuntarily pulsating. One second it was trying to goad his target, and the next as if by instinct, it ended up removing itself from that plane.
{...}
Black void found the experience vexing.
{...}
It forcibly calmed itself down. The pulsations slowly became regular once again.
{...}
{Very well. You’ve got yourself a deal.}
{...}
* * *
Tribulation clouds started to form above the knock-off celestial ship. As the recipient, Han De immediately understood by instinct that this tribulation was aimed at himself. His rollercoaster emotions were forcibly calmed down by the threat of imminent death.
‘Shit, shit, shit, shi- wait, this isn’t actually a bad thing...’
A smile appeared in Han De’s flushed face.
“Yao Qing, do you think you can manipulate this tribulation?”
After a few seconds of silence, Han De looked at Yao Qing to see why she wasn’t answering, only to see her staring at him like he was some sort of alien.
“M-Master, i-isn’t this your Dao Seed tribulation?”
“Nevermind that, can you do it?”
Yao Qing stayed silent for a few more seconds, then gave a sharp nod.
‘Good, she is confident. Should I summon one more? I can still recite the fundamental forces definitions. The token would be too risky, but-’
Han De suddenly felt his soul stir. It resonated with the tribulation clouds. This feeling somehow felt extremely familiar. As he was pondering its origin, he was reminded of the cultivation idiot’s tribulations. When someone was about to break through, their soul would resonate with heaven and earth. During that stage, it was vital that they wouldn’t come near someone else's tribulation, as there was a risk of involuntarily summoning their own just by being nearby.
As a mid-stage Core Formation cultivator, Han De didn’t need to worry about something like that. His tribulation was a long way away. As Han De was thinking that, the tribulation clouds started to change. At the moment, he felt the remains of the Heaven and Earth Serene Renewal disappear.
“M-Master, you cannot! How can you force a Nascent Soul tribulation like this?!”
Han De felt indignant. He wasn’t doing anything and had no idea what was going on. There was no time to explain.
“Can you still manipulate it?”
Yao Qing looked bitter, but once again, she gave a sharp nod.
Han De mumbled “Good.” and led the disciples to the open deck. Ning Bi was still staring into emptiness, he had to resort to a princess carry. The gravity formation of the spiritual boat was already active. Han De ordered Peng to tilt the boat sideways to get a better view.
Just an hour ago the area under them was filled with emerald green forests meeting a deep blue ocean. Now, there was a gargantuan island that was only uniform black. Even with the great altitude, shockwaves from a prolonged battle of this many Transcendent experts was enough to destroy an area that was larger than Earth.
“You see those giant floating worms with big teeth? Manipulate the heavenly tribulation lightning to attack them instead. Don’t even let it touc-”
“This is your Dao tribulation! Master! You cannot give up this chance, you need to absorb some of it to perceive and temper your own Dao! This is crucial for reaching the Dao Seed Realm!!”
Yao Qing normally would’ve used voice transmission, but her master’s words first surprised, then angered her greatly.
Han De facepalmed, he wanted to say ‘Just an hour ago I was most likely bleeding my brains out. Even with double cheats, I would still need a few hundred years to reach the Dao Seed realm. At my current state, I probably won’t make a few hundred minutes.’ Seeing Yao Qing’s stupidly determined and slightly angry expression, he decided not to break his facade.
‘Should I give them random body constitutions while I can? I really should’ve used the spiritual root cleansing tokens when I had the chance… Shit...’
Han De waved his hand dismissively.
“This isn’t my Dao, and I don’t need nor want a heavenly tribulation even if were. The current situation is much more urgent. You will divert everything towards them.”
<Get the highest cultivation remaining to use the power of space on my signal. Take my disciples towards Cloudy Mountains, mother should be very close.>
Old Peng paused for a second, but still did his signature respectful bow to Han De.
Tribulation clouds were nearly done forming. The aura of the leviathans disappeared. A huge weight was instantly lifted from Han De’s shoulders. Yao Qing didn’t even notice the aura’s disappearance. She was intently looking at Han De.
‘This isn’t enough, not at all. Better prepare for the worst. Yes, now that I think about it, the bloodlines probably weren’t random anyway. The System will most likely choose something useful for them.’
[Activating Random Constitution Token on disciple Ning Bi]
[Activating Random Constitution Token on disciple Yao Qing]
[Activating Random Constitution Token on disciple Jin Shu]
Han De didn’t even look at the descriptions. He eyed the Potential Point Upgrade Token as he checked his inventory.
‘Very powerful tribulation… No. There is no way she can control that. The target of the token will be the recipient, so they can’t even run away from the tribulation by teleporting.’
Looking at the leviathans eying them, Han De thought he needed more. The more damaged they are, the less likely they’ll follow his disciples and lackeys when they escape.
“Can you handle one more?”
Yao Qing, along with Jin Shu, and Ning Bi, was distracted by something. Han De was able to sense his body constitution right away. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to explain their effects, they would have to discover them on their own. Once he got a tiny nod from Yao Qing, Han De started talking with his Profound Teacher persona.
“There are four fundamental forces in the universe. Gravity, weak force, strong force, and electromagnetism. Gravity is the weakest, but it brings all things that have mass or…”
Just like when he was in the sect, hundreds of black chrysanthemum flowers appeared. The deck looked like a flower field that extended far beyond the spiritual boat. By the time Han De finished his short description of electromagnetism, the clouds made out of spiritual energy were looking dangerously calm.