Chapter 739: Chapter 164: A Bizarre Woman
The land was cloaked in a blanket of snow, blanketing the ground with a thick layer.
Bursts of cold that could penetrate the heart blew through Heaven and Earth from time to time, making one’s body and even more so, their soul, bitterly cold.
The Ancient Ice Glacier was a remnant from the Ancient Times.
The frigid air within the glacier was also a vestige from the Ancient Times, more potent than ordinary coldness, with an added hint of Heavenly Dao’s killing intent.
Heavenly Killing Mechanism, everything withers away.
Zhou Yan’s soul was exceedingly weak, so weak it felt like all his Origin had been drained away. Yet he was very excited because the foundation of his soul hadn’t suffered any harm; it was merely a depletion of Soul Power. Conversely, within his soul, there was now a hint of extreme coldness and a bit of Heavenly Tribulation Power.
Zhou Yan believed that after the next Soul Slash, his Soul Split would definitely withstand two strikes.
Withstanding two strikes might seem like a disdainfully minor achievement, but for Zhou Yan, it was the utmost effort he could give.
The result of such effort and torment was naturally very gratifying. Zhou Yan felt that even without the Xuanyuan Ancestor’s help in suppressing the Heavenly Man’s Five Declines with his method, he could still quell the restless Five Declines.
Suppressing the Heavenly Man’s Five Declines was by no means an easy task. With the memories of Lei Yan King, Zhou Yan was even more aware of the danger involved.
Therefore, the Rebuilding Bones technique was indeed a very great Cultivation Technique.
Zhou Yan had been weak for quite a while before he finally caught his breath, only to start coughing uncontrollably, hacking up large mouthfuls of blood, in an extremely disheveled state.
But being able to cough up blood was proof that his condition had turned for the better, in many ways.
"You, you, you— you’re really too surprising," Xiao Fei said after a long while, standing in front of Zhou Yan again. She stared at him from head to toe, scrutinizing him, occasionally showing a pondering expression. Evidently, Zhou Yan’s performance was incredibly unbelievable to her.
"What’s wrong with me? I told you this Heavenly Tribulation isn’t so tough, but I was just a bit too slow. If I had been a bit quicker and dragged out the time longer, I could have withstood the second strike. It’s a pity, such a pity, I’m really too worthless to not even withstand two!"
Although Zhou Yan did have some regrets in his heart, he certainly didn’t feel as he had said.
But since Xiao Fei had smeared him with ’filth’ earlier on, he was deliberately playing dumb this time.
After all, causing jaw-dropping surprises was something Zhou Yan always enjoyed doing—especially seeing the cute Xiao Fei drop her cool demeanor to open her little mouth in shock. Zhou Yan genuinely felt a ’sense of achievement’.
"Isn’t that underestimating me? From now on, you’ll gradually become numb to it. With my possession of the six great Ancient Sword Bodies, if I can’t handle this Heavenly Tribulation, I really refuse to believe it. Besides, I’m the Lei Yan King! To be worshipped by a little girl while simultaneously looked down upon by her, that’s simply not acceptable."
Zhou Yan muttered to himself internally, yet on the surface, he wore an expression of lament.
"Uh—this, are you, are you not satisfied?"
Sure enough, Xiao Fei’s pretty face revealed a trace of skepticism, seemingly finding it inconceivable. Zhou Yan had caused such a commotion that even she, Xiao Fei, was astounded, yet he was still dissatisfied?
Could this be wrong?
Was this a blow to her, Xiao Fei’s, talent?
As Xiao Fei looked toward Zhou Yan, she saw his face full of regret and the look of someone who had been struck a blow; she wanted to say something several times, but found she didn’t know how to put it.
He probably doesn’t know what true talent is either, so... for his sake, it’s better not to praise him. The Palace Master said he was prone to pride and complacency. Yeah... that’s it."
Xiao Fei quickly made up her mind, and her expression gradually stabilized.
"Satisfied? Can you be satisfied when you can’t even withstand the first two strikes of the first round of the Heavenly Tribulation?"
Zhou Yan shook his head and sighed.
"Yes, not being able to withstand even two strikes is indeed lacking. At the very least, you should withstand four, or else the effect of the Heavenly Tribulation training would be very limited. However, with your ability, being able to withstand one strike is still considered okay, as after all, you are at the bottom of the battle power rankings," Xiao Fei nodded, saying so against her better judgment.
As she spoke, she looked at Zhou Yan with a sympathetic gaze.
"Hmm?"
Zhou Yan almost spat out another mouthful of blood, thinking to himself that Xiao Fei really was something else, still being stubborn at a time like this.
However, after careful analysis, Zhou Yan immediately understood that Xiao Fei probably feigned lowering her evaluation because she was worried about his "pride" if he knew the truth.
Realizing this, Zhou Yan just found this manner of interacting with Xiao Fei quite interesting; at the very least, if things continued this way, the three months in the Ancient Ice Glacier wouldn’t seem so tediously long.
With this mindset, Zhou Yan could completely ignore any further comments or evaluations from Xiao Fei.
"You should rest more now and recover. Although I have many Divine Soul Pills provided by the Palace Master, I can’t give you any for the moment. They should only be used when you’re completely unable to recover on your own. Otherwise, if you start using them now, it will reduce the number of Heavenly Tribulations you can withstand later, and you’ll become dependent on the Divine Soul Pills."
Xiao Fei took out several emerald-colored jade bottles and shook them in front of Zhou Yan before putting them away again.
Zhou Yan was no longer surprised by her actions; he already knew Xiao Fei was a very "unique" woman.
"Mhm."
Zhou Yan nodded in agreement with Xiao Fei, not saying anything more. He then continued to cultivate earnestly to recover and started to carefully contemplate the earlier scene of confronting the Heavenly Tribulation, experiencing the profundity of the Heavenly Tribulation’s strike.
Zhou Yan concentrated and opened the Nine Orifice Exquisite Heart of his Soul Body to reflect on the moment of the Heavenly Tribulation’s strike. At the same time, Zhou Yan opened the Eye of Destruction to complement the Nine Orifice Exquisite Heart.
The Eye of Destruction was not only effective for destruction; it also provided a certain boost to the Nine Orifice Exquisite Heart, like a kind of aid.
Through these, Zhou Yan could grasp the inner essence of the Heavenly Tribulation, gaining insight into the imprint of the Heavenly Dao.
In this realization, the power of the Thunderflame Sword Body manifested. Zhou Yan felt as if he were becoming that ancient Heavenly Tribulation itself, and in his heart, the ancient Heavenly Tribulation, represented by the Giant Axe-wielding man, was clearly an imprint of the Pangu Great Power, the one who created Heaven and Earth.
Zhou Yan saw the clues of the Heavenly Tribulation, and combining it with what Xiao Fei had said earlier about the "Pan Emperor’s Heaven-Creating Tribulation," Zhou Yan finally sensed that the figures from Earth’s mythology who made a splash there might also have some fame in other great Star Domains.
"My brother Lee Ran gathered two strands of essence souls of Hou Yi and Chang’e on ancient Mars, brought them into the Nine Origin Universe, and thereby created Lee Jidao and Wan Nishang, founding a generation of Emperor Qi Sword Bodies. Yet, there are sayings about ’Emperor Qi Pangu, Sword Body Xuan Yuan’—what does this represent? The Xuanyuan Ancestor has always been silent about this. And my brother Lee Ran has disappeared without a trace."
"And this Heavenly Tribulation, the Supreme Dao, the Tai Chu Rune’s handiwork, is truly astonishing. Almost even I, who am so proficient in the Tai Chu Rune and assisted by the Nine Orifice Exquisite Heart and Eye of Destruction, almost missed it."
Zhou Yan muttered to himself, his expression solemn. He was even confident that in this world, perhaps not even in the Upper Planes, would anyone be able to discover the ancient intentions and the Tai Chu Rune Array Patterns contained within the Tai Chu Secret Realm. It was even less likely for anyone to deduce the corresponding offensive moves from the killing mechanism of the Giant Axe-wielding man.
It was precisely because he had realized the immense terrifying power of forming an array with the Tai Chu Runes that Zhou Yan felt full of reverence for the coming Heavenly Tribulation.
That was not just Heavenly Tribulation; it was a record of the formation process of the Supreme Dao during the Ancient Times. This sort of Supreme Dao even surpasses the Supreme Dao, and anyone unable to endure such Tribulation is just gathering more energy for the Heavenly Tribulation of the Ancient times.
Because the souls, spirit, and Essence Qi of any Cultivator who dies here return to this Heaven and Earth, increasing the total energy of this Heaven and Earth.
The more Zhou Yan understood, the more he felt a sense of dread, until finally, he was completely unable to comprehend and abruptly stood up, his eyes filled with shock.
With his temperament, unless necessary, he would never show shock or astonishment, especially while concentrating and holding his breath with a solemn expression. He wouldn’t have reacted like this.
But the violent emotional turbulence still showed, because for a moment, he felt as if he traced back to the Origin and saw the source of the Heavenly Tribulation, seeing the Giant Axe-wielding man cutting across the river of time with another axe.
If it hadn’t been for the timely retraction of his Soul Perception and Derivation abilities, Zhou Yan knew that he would likely truly perish in this strange place.
"Terrifying, bizarre!"
Zhou Yan took a deep breath of cold air. He had been out of that sensing state for a while now, but his heart was still ’thumping’ wildly, unable to calm down.
"This is certainly not simple. What kind of place is the Ancient Ice Glacier, and why does it exhibit anomalies from the ancient legends of Earth’s mythology? The Pan Emperor’s Heaven-Creating Tribulation? Is this the creation of Heaven by Pangu? Then what is the connection between those from Earth and this Ancient Ice Glacier?"
Zhou Yan had many doubts in his heart, like opening a window in the endless Universe. Suddenly, he saw a vaster Heaven and Earth, a completely different Heaven and Earth.
Zhou Yan’s expression grew a few shades more grave, and he suddenly thought of the Observing Qi Skill, the combination of Qi Fortune, and various other Supreme Dao, to the extent that Zhou Yan’s soul vibrated violently!
Thus, Zhou Yan completely ignored Xiao Fei beside him and immediately began to derive the arrangements of energy he saw using the Tai Chu Runes, gathering them to heal his Soul wounds while also allowing his Soul to manifest in this form.
Zhou Yan felt that if the Soul also had different grades, then a Soul in the form of the Tai Chu Rune Heavenly Tribulation would be a few grades higher in Innate quality.
This was merely a feeling, but Zhou Yan’s feelings now were equivalent to an innate judgment with a high degree of credibility. Therefore, he did not hesitate to do so, to change the normal arrangement of his Soul Power—such an action often causes the Soul to collapse.
The Soul is very mysterious and fragile. The soul of an ordinary Cultivator is an independent whole. In the lower planes, it is not easy for a Cultivator’s soul to recover from injuries.