Ling Aotian nursed his wounds with a pained expression. In his last battle with the Regal Giant Spider, he had used talismans to project his body's potential to the highest limit of a mortal—one who hadn't awakened his spiritual Qi yet. For every limit he broke, whether it was speed or strength, a subsequent backlash afflicted him.
Blood seeped from his ears, nose, and eyes, his skin torn like paper, bones fractured beneath his shredded robes. He was now feeling the full brunt of that backlash.
Ling Luo and Cui Long stood nearby, watching nervously. The ground beneath Aotian was splattered with blood, his breathing ragged. Despite that, he swallowed recovery pills like candy.
They couldn't understand how he could just sit there silently as he treated his wounds. They could see the severity of his injuries and didn't dare touch him. As a touch might just prove fatal in his state.
Aotian opened one eye and growled, "If you two have the time to gape, go fetch the Two-Petal Blossom Lily Flower. It's why we're here."
Cui Long jumped slightly at his tone but nodded. The Two-Petal Blossom Lily was a rare alchemical herb. It was used in making a Two-Star Bronze Tier Pill whose effect was to enable a cultivator under the Qi Refining Realm to calm the mind and enter a meditative state. The two stars referred to the quality of the pill, with one star equivalent to the 1st Heaven Stage and so on.
Cui Long walked toward the Regal Giant Spider's cave, where the spider had been guarding the Two-Petal Blossom Lily. Spiritual beasts usually guarded a treasure. That was how things were. The reason was that the spirituality of the places where spiritual herbs grew usually had a concentrated amount of spiritual Qi, which the beasts passively absorbed, advancing to higher ranks.
Cui Long picked up the spiritual herb, completing the mission they had taken from the Ling Family. Missions in the Ling Family were mandatory—at least one per month as long as you were a member of the family. Not even the Elders of the Body and Soul Tempering Realm were exempt from this rule.
"Since we've finished our mission, when are we going back?" asked Ling Luo, who was already tired of this forest full of gigantic trees. They had already stayed here for almost a month, taking roundabout detours before reaching this place. This action had also raised Ling Luo's suspicion since the family had offered a map showing this exact location. For some reason, Ling Luo had a feeling that they were not yet done with this place.
"Go skin that spider's scales. I also want the spider's essence blood," replied Aotian with a command.
Ling Luo scowled, his face grimacing as he asked, "What is the use of all those formations you put at every camp..? Did you think I wouldn't notice? Do you look down on me..?"
"Do what you're told," Aotian snapped.
Ling Luo clenched his jaw. His pride flared. "You think I'm some servant? Just following you around like a puppy, hoping for scraps?"
Still, he obeyed. A part of him hated how desperate he was for Aotian's approval. It gnawed at him.
"Why do I care what he thinks? I'm a sword cultivator. I walk my own path," Ling Luo muttered under his breath.
As he skinned the beast, Aotian catalogued the resources in his mind. "Essence blood for talismans, scales for armor, web silk for robes or trap runes. The whole corpse is valuable. The market will pay well."
Ling Aotian, who had his eyes closed, healing and thinking about his battle spoils, suddenly opened his eyes. An evil smile creeping out .
At the same time, Ling Luo, who was skinning scales with a hunting knife, also gripped his knife tightly. He hurriedly took on a stance and—
Clang..!
A hunting knife met a blade ! An assassin had descended.
Ling Aotian, who had just opened his eyes, was moved. In front of him was Ling Luo, deflecting a dagger with a hunting knife, not losing in the slightest against the assassin's weapon. What moved him though wasn't that Ling Luo's knife had sword Qi shimmering, but the fast reaction and explosive footwork he displayed to reach Aotian to block the assassin. It was very similar to Aotian's own movement art.
Out of his stunned expression, Aotian looked at the assassin who had taken four steps back and said, "Won't your friends be joining us..?" He looked at four different trees, making the assassin narrow his eyes behind his mask.
"They don't need to..!" shouted the assassin, lunging forward with his dagger, ready to cut down Ling Luo.
Ling Luo flinched, taking on another stance to block or parry the attack. However, the assassin vanished from sight as a bright light from his dagger caused Ling Luo's vision to blur.
It was a feint. But would such a thing work on Ling Aotian ?
"They don't need to..?" Aotian said with a scornful face as he noticed the assassin sneaking behind him, his dagger ready to stab. At this critical moment, Aotian's voice rang out again, this time with anger "They don't need to..? Well then, you can all just.. diiee..!!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Internal explosions came out of Ling Aotian like a breached dam. Waves and waves of spiritual Qi exploded as Aotian made hand seals and released talismans in multiple directions. A wooden platform materialized beneath his feet, its radius one hundred meters. Trees shattered from the Qi surge.
The assassin was sent flying but a golden glow protected him from the vast Qi waves. Ling Luo however was surprisingly still rooted to the ground, a halo of light redirecting the Qi waves away from him. Above him, a talisman was igniting and vanishing into ashes at a visible pace From a distance, Cui Long, who was holding the herb in her hand, was also protected by a talisman. She was outside the wooden platform's range, but the Qi waves were still gushing out like a spring. Her eyes were wide open in shock, looking at Aotian who was still struggling to even stand. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
Aotian, however, was still making hand seals and releasing formation disks and talismans like a deranged immortal. He was activating the Spiritual Qi Concentration Grand Formation.
The wooden platform glowed with golden light, making the Qi waves from Aotian's body even stronger. As the grand formation became more active, a Supreme Heaven Merging Realm pressure began to leak out, making Aotian's spirit body twitch as it began to retaliate. The others, however, forgot to even breathe. The pressure was too great, ramming them all to the ground, desperately trying not to be smashed into mush.
Ling Aotian looked at Ling Luo and Cui Long and said, "Lucky bastards." Then he made hand seals, activating the grand formation's other function. Ling Luo and Cui Long vanished, their robes, shoes, and weapons falling to the ground.
Ling Aotian then looked at the poor assassin within the range of the grand formation.
"Are they still not coming out yet..?"
This assassin was doing relatively better than Ling Luo and Cui Long. That was because he was in the 9th Heaven Stage of the Spiritual Awakening Realm.
Aotian deduced that he was the weakest of the assassins present. He also deduced that he himself had merely become a training dummy for this novice assassin. His seniors had probably waited until Aotian was at his lowest before allowing this novice to take action. It was a solid plan, an easy first kill for the novice assassin. Or so they thought.
Aotian released mid-grade spiritual stones and thousands of silver beast cores into the formation disks and nodes. The pressure instantly skyrocketed, a blast of spiritual Qi and pressure enveloping the entire platform and extending toward the heavens. The poor assassin was instantly crushed by the pressure.
Seeing this, the four assassins in the distance gritted their teeth and decided to flee. Aotian just smiled, his Yuan Spirit emerging from his physical body and taking the brunt of the pressure. Qi waves then emanated from Aotian's Yuan Spirit, spreading as far as 300 meters before losing power. The four assassins were terrified. Just what kind of power was this..? Was this really the power of a partially awakened spiritual Qi cultivator..?
They ran for their lives, their movement arts peculiar and fast, traversing through the giant trees as if they had already planned an escape route in advance. In their minds, they all screamed the same thought:
"We have to report this to the Hall Master! This kid needs to be dealt with while he's still a bud..!"
One of them was bold enough to take out a photographic jade slip to record the awakening as he ran. He wanted substantial proof, knowing he'd definitely receive greater benefits for this slip. He was actually excited—a stark contrast to the others. He seemed to thrive in dangerous situations, not despair.
However, in the next moment, he despaired.
Ling Aotian's Yuan Spirit broke one of Heaven's seals under the pressure of the formation, eliciting Heaven's wrath and tribulation clouds. Noticing them forming, the shrewd assassin was finally scared. He stopped recording and moved faster than the others, leaving them behind as Qi waves continued to expand. The Qi waves were now covering kilometers.
"Ahhhhhh!!!!" Aotian screamed, his physical body also under pressure after the tribulation clouds formed. His Yuan Spirit could not fully protect him, making him bear Heaven's pressure with his mangled and broken body.
Booom!!
His Yuan Spirit broke another seal. The second out of nine.
Tribulation lightning circulated, covering hundreds and hundreds of kilometers of the giant tree forest. Aotian breathed in and out heavily, his body on the brink of collapse. He looked at the tribulation lightning and frowned. The heavens were angry. He knew for certain that they would not allow him to possess a Yuan Spirit at the Spiritual Qi Awakening Realm.
He let out a sigh, looking at the tribulation with greedy and angry eyes. Taking a recovery pill, he stood up, ready to fight these damnable heavens.
***
At one of the camps that Aotian and cohort had stayed, a formation glowed and two naked people appeared.They were lightheaded, trying to uncover their bearings and surroundings. Ling Luo didn't even notice Cui Long or that he was naked. He jumped onto one tree and looked west. He had already noticed they were East, at a camp they had stayed briefly.
He looked at the tribulation clouds forming, even reaching this camp hundreds of kilometres with awe.
" What an interesting sight!! " Suddenly a voice was heard through the giant trees. Ling Luo instinctively jumped to Cui Long's side to protect her. That was when he noticed Cui Long's fullness of youth. He blushed but still readily concentrated to where the voice originated.
From a giant tree, a tall man came out of its roots. He had an agreeable face but a scar on his left ear, making him rather ferocious looking. Ling Luo sized up the man, then suddenly narrowed his eyes as he recognize the Ling family emblem on the man's robes.
" You.. you are Ling sun..?" He recognized him. This was the previous heavenly genius of the Ling family. Ling Luo had a bad feeling wanting to know why he was here.
" Where is that brat..?" Ling Sun asked, making Cui Long instinctively think about Ling Aotian and look at towards the tribulation clouds. Ling sun's eyes narrowed, he looked at the two and said.." Cover yourself up. You look like dogs in heat.."
He disappeared, leaving a trailing mist facing straight towards the eye of the tribulation clouds.