Chapter 102

Chapter 102: Fourth Core Formation

He hated.

He hated the Ye Clan father and son who targeted Bai Jian. He also hated the one pulling strings behind them. But he found nothing in Ye father’s memory. Even after using a soul search, the memories of the Ye Clan father and son showed no other person. Otherwise, Shen Nan Zhou would have killed them all.

The teen said it without hesitation. But Ye Wan Wan still saw a trace of nerves in his eyes. She thought for a moment, then said: “Kill them then, but do it cleanly. If you do it inside Heavenly One Sect’s territory, Senior Uncle and the others will probably notice.”

Shen Nan Zhou paused, then asked: “You won’t tell on me?”

Ye Wan Wan looked puzzled and said: “Why would I tell on you? I’m not some saint. Why would I report you? Besides, if you don’t act, I will.”

Shen Nan Zhou’s lips moved: “I thought…”

Ye Wan Wan smiled and said: “You didn’t think I’d see you kill someone and call you a demon, right, junior brother? People’s hearts are hard to judge. Even those on the righteous path have blood on their hands. The Cultivation World runs on the strong preying on the weak. How could senior sister think you’re a demon just because you got a little blood on you?”

She added: “If there is a real demon here, it should be Ye father and Ye Yi Ran. Not you.”

Ye Wan Wan pinched his cheek and teased: “I still see you as my dear junior brother.”

The real feel of his skin startled them both. [Wait, this isn’t the Dream Realm.] [Don’t get carried away.] Ye Wan Wan snatched her hand back and coughed, then said: “Eat, eat your melon.”

She stared straight at the Heavenly Tribulation Lightning and did not dare look at Shen Nan Zhou. [If this brat still has his past-life temper, will he chop off my paw in a moment?] [Should I strike first?]

After a long silence, Shen Nan Zhou spoke at her side: “I didn’t act inside Heavenly One Sect’s protected range. I scared them out first.”

Ye Wan Wan needed a few beats to realize he was explaining himself. [No wonder.] [No wonder he was gone so long.]

Ye Yi Ran’s branch family lived in Lin City, where Heavenly One Sect collected offerings. If a whole household was suddenly wiped out inside the city, the city lord would report it and the sect would be duty bound to investigate. But if someone was frightened into fleeing the city and only then killed outside, that was different. It was beyond Heavenly One Sect’s range, so they would not interfere.

To do that, Shen Nan Zhou had to spend a lot more time and effort. He still chose to do it, not only to avoid trouble for their sect, but also so they would not see how ruthless he could be. He was afraid. He was afraid of being disliked.

Thinking of this, Ye Wan Wan took a flask of spiritual liquid and a bottle of pills from her ring and set them in Shen Nan Zhou’s hands, saying: “You worked hard.”

Shen Nan Zhou accepted them obediently.

Together they looked at Yan Ju under the Heavenly Tribulation Lightning. Shen Nan Zhou glanced at the melon that the girl had squeezed, then took a light bite. It tasted sweet.

The Heavenly Tribulation Lightning kept going. Yan Ju’s Thunder Tribulation lasted seven days and seven nights before it ended. There were some twists, but with one sword he cut the binds of the heavenly dao and stepped into Divine Transformation by his own strength. He entered the fifth realm of a Cultivator: Early Divine Transformation Stage.

Seeing Yan Ju succeed and enter a state of insight, Ye Wan Wan turned back into the Spirit Market to continue her own training.

Shen Nan Zhou did not say it directly, but both of them knew the Ye Clan buying the second senior sister was not simple. They moved too early. If Ye Yi Ran had taken a fancy to second senior sister’s talent and wanted a cultivation vessel, that might still be an excuse. But Ye father had his eye on Senior Sister Bai when she was very young. What was that supposed to mean?

It felt wrong. The Ye Clan had a problem. Not only Ye Yi Ran. Even Ye Qian and Ye Cong Ying were suspicious. One wanted a Golden Core. One wanted a spirit bone. What were they trying to do?

No matter what they wanted, Ye Wan Wan knew one thing: if she became strong enough, she would not fear anyone’s schemes. So before anything else, she had to grow stronger.

Another month passed.

Snow Mountain rang again with the sound of Heavenly Tribulation Lightning.

“The third time,” someone breathed.

It was the third Thunder Tribulation, but Ye Wan Wan’s fourth time forming a Golden Core. People went from nervous, to numb, to relieved, and then back to worried again: “How many times will junior sister form a core?”

“Maybe five, six, seven, eight, nine times,” Li Wan Zhi counted on his fingers, then added: “Or maybe five, six, seven, eight hundred times.”

Fang He An fell silent. The moment he pictured junior sister enduring five hundred Thunder Tribulations and forming over two thousand Golden Cores in her dantian, he got mad and snapped: “Shut up.”

Li Wan Zhi blinked: “Huh? What did I do?”

[Why am I getting scolded out of nowhere?] he thought as Fang He An ignored him. A moment later, Fang He An started worrying again and muttered: “With that many, what if a few fall out?”

Li Wan Zhi stared: “Senior brother, your brain is wild.”

But once he pictured it, he felt weird too. He rubbed Fang He An’s stomach and asked: “With that many, will they explode out, or be born out?”

Fang He An raised a branch and swatted him: “What are you thinking? The dantian is tiny on the outside but a whole world inside. How would anything explode out? Are you even a cultivator? Are you really Golden Core? Your Golden Core must be fake!”

Li Wan Zhi clutched his head and ran while yelling: “You’re the one who said they’d fall out!”

“I meant if junior sister releases her Golden Cores outside and forgets to pull a few back, they might drop. When did I say anything about exploding?”

Li Wan Zhi bolted and shouted: “You should have said that earlier!”

The two of them bickered on the side, trying to break the heavy mood. But Bai Jian kept watching the girl inside the lightning with worried eyes: “Getting struck by lightning again and again hurts.”

So many times. It had to hurt.

Yet every time, Ye Wan Wan climbed back up and met the lightning head on. Bai Jian felt awful.

Shen Nan Zhou also stared at Ye Wan Wan, brows locked tight, wordless.

This time, the Thunder Tribulation went smoother than last time. Ye Wan Wan had started using Heavenly Thunder Body Refining and was getting used to it. When the Heavenly Tribulation Lightning ended and sweet rain fell again, Bai Jian and Shen Nan Zhou rushed to her side together.

Bai Jian pushed the pills she had prepared into Ye Wan Wan’s hands and kept wiping rain from her face. She did not dare touch Ye Wan Wan’s body, afraid of hurting her wounds. She did not even know what part was unhurt, because the girl looked wounded everywhere.

Shen Nan Zhou watched from the side with fists clenched.

Ye Wan Wan, burned black all over with only her face still clean, smiled at them and said: “Senior sister, it doesn’t hurt.”

Bai Jian shook her head, clearly not believing her. She peeked at Pei Xuan and whispered: “Will there be many more strikes?”

Ye Wan Wan smiled and said: “Don’t worry. The later it gets, the more my body will adapt to the Thunder Tribulation. By then it won’t feel like Heavenly Tribulation Lightning. It will feel like a cleansing bath.”

She added: “It will help me.”

Seeing that the worry between Bai Jian’s brows would not fade, Ye Wan Wan lifted a hand to wipe the rain from Bai Jian’s face, as if she could rub away her fear. She spoke softly: “And it won’t take that many. When I feel sure, I’ll make a run for Nascent Soul.”

Bai Jian nodded and said: “Good, we’ll go together.”

The two girls hooked their pinkies: “Together.”

Fang He An and Li Wan Zhi squeezed in at that moment and said: “We’re together too.”

Ye Wan Wan laughed and said: “Okay, together.”

Fang He An slapped Shen Nan Zhou’s back and said: “Junior brother, what about you? Not going to say it?”

Shen Nan Zhou stared at Ye Wan Wan’s face and said in a low voice: “Together.”

The five of them looked at one another, then shouted in unison: “Together!”

Together they would charge for Nascent Soul. Together they would protect their sect. Together they would take first place.

Li Ming De chuckled: “Still kids. So full of life.”

Pei Xuan also looked at the girl, eyes soft.

After the Heavenly Tribulation Lightning, Ye Wan Wan entered insight. When she woke from it, there were only seven days left before the Grand Sect Tournament. It was time to set out.