“Mom, what array was that? I never seen a formation like that before in the spellbook at home.” Li Li asked as they were flying back home.
“It was a heaven-ranked trapping formation. Soul-Tearing Path of Nirvana is what it’s called.” Jing answered.
“What does it do?” Li Li couldn’t sense anything different about that old guy except he was getting stronger after being placed in the formation. He wasn’t dumb enough to think his mom would help someone who tried to kill her get stronger. There had to be something he didn’t know. So, he asked.
“The Soul-Tearing Path of Nirvana traps those within its barrier in an endless nightmare. They’ll go through several lives enduring heartbreak, agony, torture, and pain until their body in the real world perishes.” Jing explained.
“Is that why he got stronger after being put in the array? So that he won’t die so easily in the real world?”
“No and yes. Mom made him sick then took away his sickness, that’s why he got better. The natural vitality of an Earthly Immortal isn’t to be underestimated. In normal cases, they can’t die of natural causes.”
“What are some not natural causes of death?”
“If someone managed to reach a high cultivation stage with an unstable foundation. Relying on cultivation techniques that go against the heavens is usually the cause of that. Another unnatural cause of death is the death of the soul. That could only happen if Patriarch Cao truly succumbs to despair and his mind, body, and soul cannot take living anymore.”
“Is that what you’re hoping for with the formation?”
“Yes. There’s no better torture than having someone give up the chance to re-enter the reincarnation wheel and erase themselves from the universe entirely. If he does despair, Mom just might bring her cultivation technique to completion.” Jing happily smiled thinking how many lives of pain and death Patriarch Cao has gone through so far.
Jing knew better than anyone the pain of having to go through the same thing over and over and over and over again. However, Patriarch Cao had it somewhat worse than she did. His memories would be kept every regression. Jing’s experience every rebirth was more of muscle memory, something she just felt that she knew or could do. Not something she knew from the beginning. It was a total blank slate every restart for her.
“I need to eat more souls before I can complete my cultivation technique.” Li Li felt that he was still a long way off from perfecting Gluttonous Spirit. His mom was already about to perfect her’s if she was lucky.
“Don’t worry.” Jing ran her fingers through his snow-white hair. “You still got plenty of growing up to do. In a few years, you might just perfect all of them if you try your best.”
“I’ll do it in one year!” Li Li vowed.
“Mom will be cheering for you.” Jing smiled.
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“Is she back yet? Wan Qing asked turning away from her fight momentarily
“Nope. She’s still on her way.” Ying shrugged.
“Couldn’t she just teleport here with a movement talisman?” Lin Shu questioned.
“Nope. Elders.” Ying pointed at the elders.
“Ah, that does make sense.” Bing nodded.
“If anyone could just teleport in, where would the face of the sect’s spellmasters be?” Lei Zhi agreed.
“Where the heck did she even go? She could’ve just done those good deeds after the tournament! It’s not like there is a time limit on the contract.” Ying complained.
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“She has to complete it within two days. There is a time limit.” Lei Zhi corrected her.
“Damn it, Lei.” Ying crossed her arms, annoyed.
“With Jing’s strength, she could solve it in a matter of hours.” Lei argued.
“I agree, she must have got caught up with something outside the sect.” Bing couldn’t believe it would be difficult at all to do ten good deeds.
“Hmph. I know that.” Ying turned her head and focused on Qing’s match.
Wan Qing frowned as she saw her two teammates, Wang and Haoran doing their best to stall for time. Wang specialized in trapping spells so both he and Wan were working together to keep the enemy group from reaching them. With her strong powerful winds, it was basically impossible for the other team to avoid falling into Wang’s traps. At Wan’s request, most of the traps were not dangerous enough to finish them just injure them or annoy them. Eventually, at the 30-minute mark, the enemy team simply gave up and surrendered. Haoran smiled as a harming spellmaster, he barely had to do anything in this fight. He managed to save a lot of useful spells compared to Wang who had to use a majority of his trapping spells and formations to delay for time.
“I apologize. As we agreed, I'll owe you one favor for delaying time with me.” Wan respectfully cuffed her fist into her hand toward Wang.
“No problem. No problem. I just hope we’ll be able to make it through the finals, alright.” Wang was completely out of breath from running around planting traps for thirty minutes.
“It depends on who we get matched up with.” Wan didn’t feel that she would lose to any of the Qi Consolidators present right now except for Jing.
Wan Qing soon left the ring with her teammates after being declared the winner of the match. She searched the crowd and there still was no sign of Jing despite her match being next. Wan didn’t know how to feel if Jing got disqualified for not showing up to the match. It would be her own fault really. There was no need for her to leave the sect to do good deeds when she had a two-day contract period on doing it. Wan could think of dozens of ways of doing good deeds in half the time it took Jing. There had to be something important that she had to do to risk being late to her match.
Heaven’s Angels weren’t the only ones to know of Jing’s missing status. People began to chatter and whisper as Jing’s teammates went on stage when called up. They desperately searched the crowd to find her but saw no trace of her! Their eyes tearfully looked over at Heaven’s Angels who could only shrug. She’s on her way but they didn’t know when exactly that would be. It could be in a couple of seconds, minutes, hours, or even a day later.
“I just sent her a message that it was her turn but then she told me to somehow cause a commotion to stall for time.” Ying brought up.
“A commotion, huh?” He Wenqing rubbed his chin as he was thinking.
“You know who would be perfect for causing a commotion?” Bing grinned.
“Don’t say it...” Ying pinched the bridge between her eyes.
“I’ll handle it.” Wan stepped up as future Supreme Commander of the Golden Serpent Sect.
If she couldn’t handle something as small as this, how could she handle leading the next generation of Heaven’s Angels? If she could solve this, maybe the others would look up to her and see her as someone to rely on in troubled times. The big sister of Heaven’s Angels. The reliable, strong, beautiful, Big Sister. Wan Qing scanned the crowd for the perfect target.
“Choose him.” Lei Zhi pointed to a young man in the crowd.
“Him? Why him?” Wan questioned.
“He’s one of us.” Lei answered mysteriously.
‘I never saw him in my life but if Lei’s saying this, he must be able to see something that I cannot.’ Wan listened to his advice.
As the elder on the stage was calling for Jing, Wan Qing suddenly screamed as she grew created four qi wings and flew towards the average-looking young man like she’s lost her mind. Many in the crowd fled for their lives after seeing the pissed-off Wan Qing. The wind picked up harshly and even blew away some folks.
“How dare you!?” Wan Qing shouted, swinging her closed fan at the man.
“It was a matter of circumstance. That fool should’ve recognized her limits and stopped earlier.” He spoke, his voice radiating through the crowd despite being spoken softly. He blocked her fan with just his forearm. “As her talented big sister, you should’ve kept a better eye on her. You cannot blame me for killing someone who was after my life.” He explained.
“I will never forgive you!” Wan’s eyebrows rose in amazement, he could block her attack so easily?
Sure, she was holding back quite a bit but the weight of her fan isn’t something the average cultivator could defend against. This man wasn’t as ordinary as he looked. Plus, he was quite quick on the uptake. Wan planned to extend this until Jing managed to show up, even if she was disqualified. She felt a little bit guilty toward her teammates, but she promised to make it up to them later if she does get punished.
“Hmph. Are you trying to follow that fool to the grave? Know your limits!” The young man glowed with a warm yellow light and his strength increased twofold! Wan Qing was sent flying away toward the crowd and he swiftly dashed after her.