by Catofdreams
"Even if the entire world… no… even if the heavens wanted to stop me, they can not!"
CHAPTER 3 – “A RUMBLING STOMACH FAR LOUDER THAN THUNDER”
"Heavenly Lotus Strike!", the elderly man ruthlessly attacked Xue Yan, who stood in the middle of multiple martial artists, just like a cornered prey.
A purple aura started swirling around the elderly man. Multiple lotus flowers appeared beside him. As they started budding, multiple blades came out of them at astonishing speed, all of them making their way towards Xue Yan.
Xue Yan's other opponents were nothing to be scoffed at as well. They were all masters at their respective arts. They all had their special attack, ready to be thrown at Xue Yan, but she wasn't worried about them. The only one that could pose a threat against her was the elderly man.
"I see. You're the patriarch of the Purple Lotus Clan… Wen Cheng!", Xue Yan recognized the moves that the elderly man had made. She knew that there was only one man in the entire Purple Lotus Clan that was capable of executing such difficult moves, and that was their most powerful member, the patriarch himself.
"So what if you know of my identity? Today is the day you will die!", Wen Cheng exclaimed as he continued barraging Xue Yan with the Heavenly Lotus Strike.
"Hmph! Such power could barely even touch me.", Xue Yan dashed towards Wen Cheng, which shocked all her other opponents. They didn't expect her to rush towards the blades that were coming straight for her.
As the purple blades got close to Xue Yan, she started swatting them one by one, as if they were just flies.
"Geh! As expected of the one who has ascended to the peak of cultivation…", Wen Cheng cursed himself for underestimating the woman before him. If he knew she was this powerful even while facing the Heavenly Tribulation, he would've brought more masters with him.
As Xue Yan closed the gap between her and Wen Cheng, Wen Cheng pulled out a talisman from his robes and threw it straight towards her.
Standing on the peak of the cultivation, her senses were sharp enough to examine anything miles away. Along with her vast experience in the cultivation world, she immediately recognized what the talisman was for.
"Resorting to sly tricks…", Xue Yan clicked her tongue and snarled as she knew that she was about to take damage. She activated a relic that would block a certain amount of damage, but she knew that it wasn't enough for what was coming.
As soon as the talisman was within a foot before Xue Yan, a large burst of light started coming from it, as well as from the other mountains.
"Even an immortal can not get away from a level 7 array unscathed!", Wen Cheng exclaimed.
"We'll see about that!", Xue Yan responded. Wen Cheng was right. Even with a relic, she still knew that she would be in trouble when the array activates. The damage from the Heavenly Tribulation was accumulating as well, and she did not know when the next thunder strike would be.
The bright light prevented Xue Yan from moving. Within moments, Xue Yan looked as if she was being devoured by the light.
"AAHHHH!!!!!", Xue Yan screamed out of agony. The relic that blocked some of the damage was already disintegrating. It had already taken more damage than it could.
"D-did we do it?", one of the martial artists asked his comrades.
"I'm afraid it's not that easy…", Wen Cheng warned them. He was still ready for battle. He knew that even if the level 7 array could easily deal with hundreds of masters of his caliber, it wouldn't be enough to bring down an immortal.
As soon as the light started fading, Wen Cheng immediately started charging up his next attack.
"Chaining Petals!", Wen Cheng exclaimed as lotus petals started swirling around Xue Yan. The petals then formed into chains, constricting her tightly.
"Now! Everybody attack while she's incapacitated!", Wen Cheng ordered the other masters, who immediately attacked as soon as they heard the command. He couldn't hold Xue Yan for longer than a few seconds since he could already feel the chains breaking out of her sheer strength.
This was the deciding moment of their fight. Wen Cheng could see the path to victory, and he knew that it was going to be decided on the next move, but alas, fate itself did not allow it.
The skies rumbled. A roar far louder than the ones that came before it bellowed in the skies. The next thunder strike was coming, and it was far stronger than the ones that came before it.
"Die!", as the master's attacks were about to connect to Xue Yan, the thunder strike from the Heavenly Tribulation came. As the thunder descended to the ground, a light brighter than the earlier array covered the entire mountain. The ground cracked from the sheer force of the thunder strike.
The masters that were around Xue Yan didn't stand a chance. As soon as the thunder landed, they had completely disintegrated, as if they were made out of dirt.
Xue Yan's screams of agony filled the air. This was far more painful than everything she has ever experienced in her entire life.
The ground shook as Xue Yan started losing control of her power. Thunder strikes continued to pour from the skies, making Xue Yan leak more and more of her power.
"Tsk. If you still survive after this, that means that fate will never allow you to die.", Wen Cheng cursed at Xue Yan's good luck. He knew he had to evacuate as fast as he can. If he gets caught in Xue Yan's powers going haywire, he knew he had a very low chance of surviving, and so he retreated.
Xue Yan continued screaming out of pain, but she felt that the consecutive thunder strikes were getting weaker and weaker.
After a few hours of thunder strikes raining on Xue Yan, the mountain she stood in had become extremely unstable. The cracks on the ground started growing larger and larger, and even if Xue Yan was still alive, she had no more strength to move. She was completely exhausted.
The ground beneath her had completely collapsed. Mountain rocks started falling one by one, and it didn't take long before Xue Yan's body also fell.
*ACHOO*
The young man who had come to the Kunlun Mountain Range was now caught in quite a dilemma.
The way back to the safe area was now too dangerous to traverse. The storm also seemed to be extremely strong, plus, his phone didn't seem to have any signal. He also heard the endless thunder roaring in the skies above him, and so he decided to stay at the foot of a random mountain.
Luckily enough, he brought camping gear. He thought that if he ever wanted to see the stars, he would have to stay overnight.
"Ahh… how unlucky…", the young man stared at the small plastic window of his tent. The rain didn't seem to be getting any weaker.
He opened up a can of beans to eat and tried to relax. He sat down on an air mattress that barely fit his tent. He already knew that he couldn't do anything else but wait.
After a while, the sound of thunder suddenly stopped. He looked out the window, and sure enough, the rain also stopped. The dark clouds in the skies were quickly dispersing. He went out of the tent and was quite confused as to how a storm could disappear that quickly.
As he examined the skies, looking for any signs of the storm, a large rock suddenly landed a few feet beside him.
"Eek!", the young man got startled and jumped towards his tent, but the surprises didn't stop there.
More rocks were raining down towards him. He ran as fast as he could, hoping that none of them will hit him.
After a minute, the debris stopped falling. He panted heavily, feeling extremely exhausted from both the stress of having rocks dropped on you and the physical strain on his body after running as hard as he could.
"It was better when it was just raining water… why'd it have to rain rocks…", the young man cursed his own bad luck. He remained alert for a bit longer, trying to be cautious of any more falling debris.
After he saw that the coast was clear, he let out a sigh of relief. He sat down and closed his eyes to rest, but then he remembered…
"Ah! My tent! That was the last of my savings!", he immediately stood up and panicked over th
e financial loss he had just experienced.
Now, everybody listen. If this ever happens to you and you are fortunate enough to survive the incident, please don't go back to the dangerous place… instead, go to a safe area.
But since our little young man here isn't very smart, he ran back towards his tent, hoping to salvage anything that was still intact.
Sadly, his expectations were crushed… just like his tent, and everything in it.
"Waaaa! What do I tell mom...", the young man slowly approached the crash site which was once where his tent stood. There wasn't a big rock that landed on it, but something had indeed landed since the tent had collapsed. The young man thought that maybe there were still some things inside that he could bring home, but as he checked the tent, he saw something unexpected.
Lying on the ground, on his deflated airbed, was a beautiful woman. Despite the burn marks and scratches all over her body, she still looked extremely beautiful.
The young man was stunned by her beauty for a moment, but then he quickly realized that the woman was probably very hurt.
He quickly approached her and checked if she was still breathing. Thankfully, she was still alive, but he knew that she was in a critical condition.
"Y-you wait here! I'll go find some help!", the young man told the woman who was lying on the ground, but before he could leave, the woman caught his arm. The young man tried to move, but her grip was no joke.
He looked at the woman and saw that she was about to say something.
"F…", the woman tried to speak, but she couldn't. The young man thought that perhaps she was too injured to even speak.
"Please, rest! There's still time for me to call help!", the young man urged the woman to let go, but it seems like she had no intention to.
The woman still tried to form the words she wanted to say. The young man thought that perhaps, she herself felt that she didn't have much time left, and that she wanted him to pass on some words for her, and as soon as he had those thoughts, tears formed in his eyes. This woman looked too young to pass away. Her family might be waiting for her, and maybe even her boyfriend, which wouldn't be surprising considering her looks.
"Tell me… what is it?", the young man now calmly asked the woman who was lying on the ground.
After a while, she had finally managed to say what she wanted to say earlier.
"F-food… please… give me some food…", she asked the young man who was beside her. As soon as she finished saying those words, an extremely loud rumbling sound came from the woman's stomach, comparable to the sound of the thunder that was roaring earlier.
"Eh?", the young man was confused. The woman's stomach was rumbling.
"Please… quickly…", the woman continued.
The young man immediately thought of what to do. Maybe this was the woman's final wish… to be able to eat something before she passes.
"Don't worry! I'll find something!", the young man assured her as he stood up once again.
"T-thank you…", the woman responded. She let go of the young man's arm.
"Please, wait for me!", the young man told her as she ran off to find help as soon as he could, along with some food.
The woman watched the young man's back as he ran as fast as he could.
"What an odd young man…", she muttered as she closed her eyes to relax.
"Quickly! She's over here!", the young man urged the people he brought along to hurry.
"Lang JIe… it's already been more than thirty minutes… we might already be too late…", one of his companions responded. As much as he wanted to save someone, he knew that if the woman really did fall from the mountain, she wouldn't last that long.
"We still have to try!", the young man responded.
"Over there! That's where she landed!", he continued. As soon as he said that, they all rushed towards where he pointed. The young man ran as fast as he could, hoping that he could still make it to the woman.
"Lang Jie, wait!", the others lagged behind him, as they were bringing some equipment in order to help the injured. Lang Jie was only carrying a plastic bag filled with bread in it, after all, the woman did ask for food.
Lang Jie ran extremely quickly. The gap between him and the others grew bigger and bigger. Everyone continued running until suddenly, Lang Jie stopped right before the tent.
The others noticed that Lang Jie stopped and didn't move at all. They looked at each other and had a hunch as to what happened.
"She… she's probably dead now, right?", one of them asked the other.
"Judging from Lang Jie's reaction… I guess so.", the other one responded.
"Let's wait here until he calms down… he must feel bad for being unable to save her."
The rest of them nodded as they looked at Lang Jie's back. They felt his sadness radiate in the air, and, in turn, they also felt sad.
Lang Jie stood still and stared at the place where his tent once stood, but unlike what the others expected, he wasn't feeling sad or anything. He was just surprised.
Why you ask? Because the woman who was lying down earlier was now squatting down on the ground with a can of tuna and a spoon in her hands. She was still covered in injuries, but she was moving as if she was completely fine.
After chewing for a bit, she noticed Lang Jie, who was standing beside her looking completely dumbfounded.
She then smiled at him and asked:
"Oh? You're back! Do you have more food?"
CHAPTER 4 – “MARRIED IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE”
Lang Jie stood there, completely dumbfounded by the scene that was happening before him.
The woman, who he thought was heavily injured, was sitting there and eating, as if nothing ever happened.
"A-are you okay?", Lang Jie asked the woman, who was still eating the canned tuna.
She nodded her head in response and pointed at the plastic bag that Lang Jie was holding.
Lang Jie slowly approached the woman who was munching on her food and sat down beside her. Behind him, the people who were following him were still looking at him. They felt that Lang Jie was still mourning, and so they decided to mourn with him from afar.
As soon as Lang Jie approached her, she immediately snatched the plastic bag from his hands and quickly ate all the bread that was inside it.
Despite the woman's dirty appearance, as well as her unsightly manner of eating, Lang Jie still felt incredibly attracted to her. The woman still looked incredibly beautiful in his eyes.
"The gifts you have given me will be greatly rewarded, young man.", the woman told Lang Jie, who was still staring at her.
"Tell me your wish, and I, Xue Yan, swear upon my name, that I will grant it!", she confidently exclaimed.
After she said that, Lang Jie took her hand and held it with both of his. Xue Yan was startled and felt slightly embarrassed. Her face looked slightly flushed, partly due to the surprise.
"W-what is it?", Xue Yan asked Lang Jie, whose eyes were still locked onto her.
"Marry me.", Lang Jie let go of such heavy words without any hesitation. He felt that if he were to marry a woman as beautiful as her, he would be happy being with her until the end of time.
"W-WHAT?!", Xue Yan couldn't help but yell in response.
The people behind Lang Jie heard Xue Yan yell. They immediately realized that Lang Jie wasn't grieving at all!
They quickly made their way towards Lang Jie. They stared at him as he held a woman's hand tightly. The woman looked incredibly flustered, but Lang Jie had a very serious look on his face.
"I wasn't kidding. You just said that you'll grant my wish… then marry me!", Lang Jie insisted.
"B-but we just met!"
"It doesn't matter!"
"A-are you sure you're okay with me?", Xue Yan's red was completely red. She felt incredibly embarrassed about the chain of events that had just happened. She couldn't believe a cultivator of her level could be struck by a mere mortal. All her life, she had been training and cultivating. She ha
d no prior experience with men, making her completely vulnerable to attacks like these.
But she wasn't the only one embarrassed by what was happening. The people behind Lang Jie, who were watching everything unfold, also couldn't help but be embarrassed by Lang Jie's boldness.
"Ehem… we'll… we'll just take our leave now…", one of them told Lang Jie.
"Yeah… we shouldn't be disturbing you two…", another one added. All of them went back to where they came from, leaving Lang Jie and Xue Yan behind.
Lang Jie was a man of boldness. If he wanted something, he would get it. Most of the time, he'd fail to get it, but he would still try, nonetheless. He continued looking straight at Xue Yan's eyes, as if he was staring a hole through her.