Chapter 101

Chapter 101: Not the Same as Last Life

Yan Ju’s Thunder Tribulation was so great it nearly covered the whole mountain range. It alarmed every elder of Heavenly One Sect and even shook Ye Wan Wan and the others who were training in the Spirit Market. The four senior brother and sister came out together, watched the movement among the peaks, and all looked serious. Li Wan Zhi, who was usually loud and jumpy, was at last quiet and tense.

“It’ll be fine, it’ll be fine,” he muttered to himself. “Senior uncles are setting up arrays to help. It’ll be fine.”

But when he saw the Heavenly Tribulation Lightning in the sky, a hundred times stronger than the one he had faced, Li Wan Zhi could not help worrying for this master he had only half-claimed. This wasn’t cargo on a dock that you could carry with a shrug. This was Heavenly Tribulation Lightning. And it was the Divine Transformation Tribulation. The disturbance was so huge it covered a million li; even sects far to the south noticed.

He sniffed and asked in a small voice: “Will Master be okay?”

Just then, Shen Nan Zhou, who had been missing for a while, came back without a sound. He looked even more solemn and was clearly pale. He frowned and said, half to himself: “Why is it early?”

Yan Ju’s tribulation shouldn’t have come this soon. Panic and unease flickered in Shen Nan Zhou’s eyes, and Ye Wan Wan saw it clearly. While Fang He An was calming Li Wan Zhi, Ye Wan Wan walked to Shen Nan Zhou and asked in a low voice: “What is it?”

Shen Nan Zhou’s voice was hoarse: “In my friend’s Dream Realm, Yan Ju’s tribulation didn’t happen this early.”

“An accident changed the path?” Ye Wan Wan asked.

Shen Nan Zhou froze and thought hard. In that tribulation, the sect’s people were withered, Bai Jian died, the Sect Master was badly hurt, and the senior uncles went missing. But now… Shen Nan Zhou looked at Bai Jian. She was still here. They were all here. He opened his mouth and then closed it. There used to be disaster, but now… maybe not.

Ye Wan Wan handed him an apple, then thought for a second, took it back, and split it into four with her hands: “Here.”

She turned and gave the other three pieces to Bai Jian, Fang He An, and Li Wan Zhi. The three noticed Ye Wan Wan had none, so each split off half of their own and gave it back. In the end, Ye Wan Wan held three small pieces.

She looked at Shen Nan Zhou and smiled softly: “See? It’s different now.”

In the past, things she gave out never came back. But now, they did.

Shen Nan Zhou seemed to understand. He walked over, split his half-apple into two right in front of her, and said with a small smile: “Yes, Senior Sister. It’s different.”

He held it out. Ye Wan Wan took it and took a bite: “Sweet.”

Shen Nan Zhou’s brows eased. Yes. It was not the same.

The Thunder Tribulation was still brewing, but Xun Yin and Senior Uncle Ming De were already laying down the arrays. Even Pei Xuan left Snow Mountain to watch the formation in person, while Fifth Senior Uncle Lu Qing Xuan stood ready at his side. Four elders were fully prepared.

The five juniors sat on Disciples’ Peak, watching Yan Ju face the trial at Red Mountain. When the first bolt of Heavenly Tribulation Lightning fell and Yan Ju passed it smoothly, Li Wan Zhi’s tight nerves flipped into excitement: “Look, my master, isn’t he handsome! That’s my master!”

He ran circles around the four of them seven or eight times before Fang He An punched him a few times and made him calm down. Bai Jian took out a honey melon and split it into five with one hand: “Eat.”

They gnawed the melon and watched the white light wash the sky, each of their faces full of longing.

“When will we cross the Divine Transformation Tribulation too,” Li Wan Zhi murmured in a daze.

“Form a Nascent Soul first before talking about Divine Transformation, Junior Brother,” Fang He An said with an eye roll. “You haven’t learned to walk, and you’re thinking about flying.”

“But I think it’s amazing,” Li Wan Zhi said, resting his chin on his hand.

In their eyes, the world seemed to have only Yan Ju. At that moment, he looked like the lord of heaven and earth. With an Azure Thunder Sword in his hand, he pierced the sky, ruled the world, and cut down the Heavenly Tribulation Lightning without fear. His always-stiff brows now showed a cool, aloof sharpness. Bathed in Heavenly Tribulation Lightning and standing against the will of the heavens, Yan Ju became the only light in Li Wan Zhi’s heart and eyes. He was light.

“I’m going to become strong like Master,” Li Wan Zhi whispered. “Very strong. And then I’ll earn lots and lots of money. One hand on the sword, one hand making money.”

He muttered, but his face grew more and more firm. Fang He An didn’t break his dream, only looked at Li Wan Zhi with pleased approval, as if to say, You can do it, just remember to share with me. Shen Nan Zhou also glanced at Li Wan Zhi, lost in thought.

Ye Wan Wan cut in and asked: “Where have you been these days?” Even though he had changed clothes, she could still tell he had just come back from a place that stank of heavy blood.

Shen Nan Zhou came back to himself and chuckled: “Senior Sister, guess.”

Ye Wan Wan raised a brow: “Ye Clan?”

Shen Nan Zhou sighed: “As expected of Senior Sister. I can’t fool you.”

Before Ye Wan Wan could press him, Shen Nan Zhou spoke: “Ye Yi Ran said he didn’t know anything. He said he thought Second Senior Sister was special and wanted to use her as a cultivation vessel to raise his level and help himself break through to Golden Core. After he found out where she came from, he gave the Bai Clan five thousand Spirit Stones to buy her.”

Ye Wan Wan’s hand stilled, and her eyes turned cold: “Five thousand Spirit Stones?”

Shen Nan Zhou sneered: “Yes. The Bai Clan thought this daughter was lost years ago. When someone brought Spirit Stones to their door, they took the free fortune and agreed, even signing a deed. Oh, and after they signed, they got another five thousand Spirit Stones.”

“So the Ye Clan spent ten thousand Spirit Stones to buy Bai Jian. Only ten thousand.”

Rage rose in Ye Wan Wan with nowhere to go. Shen Nan Zhou swapped the crushed melon in her hand for his untouched piece and went on: “The Bai Clan has two sons. One trains in Azure Cloud Sect, and one studies in Xuan Tian Sect. They say both are gifted. The Spirit Stones from selling Senior Sister Bai were treated as their entrance money so the elders could send the boys to those sects. They should take part in the Grand Sect Tournament this time.”

Ye Wan Wan narrowed her eyes: “Really?”

“It’s true,” Shen Nan Zhou said.

“Good,” Ye Wan Wan said with a sharp bite of melon. “Something to do again.”

Then she paused. Her keen mind caught a flaw in his story. She fixed her eyes on Shen Nan Zhou: “They joined those sects after Ye Yi Ran bought Second Senior Sister? The timing doesn’t match.”

“Sects have standards,” Ye Wan Wan said, frowning. “If the age is too old, they won’t take you. To enter, you have to be young or truly gifted. Especially Xuan Tian Sect, one of the three top sects. Their rules are very strict; they don’t take anyone over twelve. Even if the brothers were lucky and joined late, if they entered only two or three years ago, they wouldn’t qualify for the Grand Sect Tournament. But if they entered much earlier, that still doesn’t match. How old was Ye Yi Ran back then? How could he suddenly think to buy Second Senior Sister? And without Spirit Stones, how did the Bai brothers enter and take teachers?”

Shen Nan Zhou smiled; he had known she would figure it out: “It was eighteen years ago. It wasn’t Ye Yi Ran. It was his father. If the Sect Master hadn’t picked up Second Senior Sister in advance and brought her back, she would be in Ye Clan now, and maybe… she wouldn’t be alive.”

Bai Jian was three when she was thrown away. When the Bai elders took the Spirit Stones and led Ye Yi Ran’s father to get her, Li Ming De had already taken her back to the sect. It was that close. Just a little more, and Bai Jian would have been gone. Every time he thought of this, the boy felt a chill of fear: “So I paid Ye Clan a visit.”

Ye Wan Wan looked at Shen Nan Zhou. His lips curved with mockery and a trace of cruelty as he said, slow and clear: “Then I killed them all.”

Thunder rolled among the mountains, but it could not drown the boy’s voice. He had killed Ye Yi Ran’s whole family.