Chapter 1114, The Nine Heavens Lightning Tribulation, Senior Qing

Translator: Silavin

 

Within the Sacred Jiang Family.

 

Twelve enormous stone steles stood tall within the Secret Realm. Above them, dark clouds gathered, and within those clouds, thunder rumbled ceaselessly.

 

The lightning serpents threading through them were each as thick as a barrel. Their destructive force went without saying. They were comparable to the full-strength strike of a Fifth Profession Player.

 

Each of the twelve stone steles had an iron chain driven into it.

 

The chains converged at a single point, binding tightly around the person standing at the centre of the steles, rendering him utterly incapable of movement.

 

That person was unmistakably Yei Xiu. His entire body was bound in chains, half-kneeling on the ground, his skin charred black all over.

 

*Boom!* The lightning serpents coiled through the dark clouds and then plunged down, striking Yei Xiu directly on the crown of his head.

 

Struck by such a savage and unrelenting assault, he immediately let out a muffled groan, his condition dropping sharply by another level.

 

And that single bolt was merely the opening note. As the seventh hundred and fifty-seventh streak of lightning crashed down, the dark clouds seemed to burst like a dam breaking. Ten thousand bolts of lightning fell like a waterfall, converging and hammering down upon the spot where Yei Xiu knelt.

 

*Arrgghhh!!!!!*

 

At last, Yei Xiu could endure it no longer. A cry of agony tore from his throat. It was a sound that made all who heard it feel a chill run down their spine.

 

The lightning enveloped Yei Xiu for a full ten-plus minutes before it finally dissipated, revealing his figure once more.

 

By now, Yei Xiu looked worse than before. The crimson armour on his body was entirely charred black; the flesh beneath was split open and lacerated, with severe burns covering him everywhere.

 

Had the lightning been any more powerful, had it rivalled the Damage Output of a Sixth Profession Player, Yei Xiu might truly have died right then.

 

After all, he had already been struck by lightning numerous times before this, and his condition was far from its peak.

 

His Profession Characteristics were not oriented towards Defence, either. To have survived being bound and helpless like this while the tribulation hammered him, that alone was no small feat.

 

After the final round of lightning concluded, describing Yei Xiu as barely clinging to life would have been no overstatement.

 

His breath came in the faintest wisps. He collapsed completely onto the ground, the iron chains rattling and clanging as he pulled at them.

 

It was precisely at this moment that a ray of green light descended from above, enveloping the crown of Yei Xiu’s head.

 

Within that green radiance pulsed a Life Essence of incomparable magnitude.

 

That Life Essence flowed into Yei Xiu’s body, and his wounds began to close at a visible rate. Before long, the scorched scabs began to slough away, revealing the pale pink flesh and skin beneath.

 

Yei Xiu slowly pushed himself up from the ground and let out a quiet breath of relief, knowing he had survived.

 

He raised his head and looked ahead, just in time to see Jiang Baishen approaching with his hands clasped behind his back, and behind him was a tall and lean elderly man.

 

The old man’s hands still bore the lingering traces of green light that had not yet fully faded, proof that the Skill earlier had been casted by him.

 

Jiang Baishen walked up before Yei Xiu and flicked his sleeve with a casual gesture.

 

In an instant, all the iron chains withdrew from Yei Xiu’s body and retreated back into the stone steles.

 

“Stand up!” Jiang Baishen commanded Yei Xiu in a tone that took no refusal.

 

Yei Xiu let out a muffled grunt and began to force himself upright.

 

In the act of rising, the wounds across his body were torn open once more. Fresh blood seeping freely down his frame, a sight that was wretched to behold.

 

Yei Xiu understood inwardly that the Healing Skill just now had been deliberately held back. It was not released to its full effect.

 

Otherwise, the injuries on his body should have been some seventy or eighty percent healed by now. He should not still feel as though every step were agony.

 

He did not dare utter so much as a superfluous word, and quickly stood to his feet.

 

“Sacred Master…” He said softly.

 

Jiang Baishen looked at Yei Xiu, gave a slight nod, and said. “The Nine Heavens Lightning Tribulation has erased the brand on your body. It seems like the other party will find it a lot more difficult to use that brand to locate you, much less confirm the position of the Sacred Jiang Family.”

 

He paused, and when he spoke again, his voice had cooled by several degrees. “Within the Sacred Jiang Family, you are still considered to be rather exceptional. I had high expectations of you. So how could you be so careless? You didn’t even notice someone had branded you, and on top of that, you came straight back to the Sacred Jiang Family!?”

 

Hearing this, Yei Xiu broke into an immediate cold sweat and hastily explained. “I am sorry, Sacred Master, I was too careless. The other party was merely a Supreme Tier Ancient Noble Family. I slaughtered them without much thought. I did not expect them to have such a contingency in place, leaving a brand on my body after death…”

 

“A Supreme Tier Ancient Noble Family is not to be taken lightly, either!” Jiang Baishen’s voice cracked like a whip, sharp enough that Yei Xiu did not dare speak further.

 

Jiang Baishen shook out his sleeve and continued. “Though we of the Sacred Jiang Family do not fear a Supreme Tier Ancient Noble Family, nor do we fear the Sacred Yei Family, if our location were to be exposed, we would be surrounded by the other Sacred Lands. Even if that is of no consequence, considering we have the Slaughter Ancient God here with us, now is not yet the right moment for our Sacred Jiang Family, nor for the Slaughter Ancient God, to reveal ourselves.”

 

“The Slaughter Ancient God has not fully awakened. If we draw the attention of the other Ancient Gods, whose degree of awakening is higher than his, the Sacred Jiang Family would still face danger.”

 

Yei Xiu’s cold sweat was flowing in earnest now, for he understood precisely what it would mean if his own carelessness had truly brought about consequences this grave, and what the Slaughter Ancient God might do to him.

 

He dropped immediately to his knees, not daring to even lift his head, and said in a trembling voice. “It was my fault. I swear that it will never happen again.”

 

“Never happen again?” Jiang Baishen let out a cold snort. “Should it happen again, what you will face will not be something as simple as this Nine Heavens Lightning Tribulation.”

 

“Originally, dealing with the brand on your body did not require the use of the Nine Heavens Lightning Tribulation. But in order to teach you a lesson, it was arranged that you undergo this ordeal. I hope you will remember just how much pain each lightning strike was over these past few days. If you remain as careless and reckless, I guarantee the punishment you receive next time will be a hundredfold more agonising than this.”

 

“This subordinate understands!” Yei Xiu replied immediately.

 

Jiang Baishen said nothing more, turned, and departed.

 

Yei Xiu did not dare raise his head even once, waiting in place until Jiang Baishen had completely left.

 

Though Jiang Baishen was gone, the tall and lean elderly man, who had accompanied him, did not move.

 

Only when Jiang Baishen had exited the Secret Realm did he step forward, help Yei Xiu to his feet, and once again release his Healing Skill, helping Yei Xiu’s wounds knit themselves back together at a speed visible to the naked eye.

 

“Many thanks, Senior Qing. My injuries are already much better. There is no need for you to spend more effort on my behalf.” Yei Xiu held this Senior in the deepest respect as well.

 

This old man was Jiang Baishen’s adjutant and, though not a member of the Jiang Family’s direct Bloodline and though he had joined the Sacred Jiang Family only later, his standing within it was second only to Jiang Baishen himself.

 

Senior Qing had the look of a smiling tiger. His expression perpetually carried a faint smile. He did not halt the Skill in his hands even after Yei Xiu had asked him to stop.

 

“The Sacred Master actually has a mission to convey to you. Allow me to relay it on his behalf.”