Chapter 147: Rescued!
Chapter 147: Rescued!
Bang!
Just as Wang Huaqing was preparing to continue his tirade, the courtyard gate suddenly swung open. Zhang Tianyi stormed out, his face twisted with fury.
“You… you… you…”
All he saw was Zhang Tianyi standing at the entrance, trembling all over with rage. His small eyes were now bulging as large as brass bells – specifically, the kind children play with, of course.
“Zh… Zhang… Zhang… I… I was… j-j-joking!”
Witnessing Zhang Tianyi’s visible fury, Wang Huaqing felt his legs go weak with fright, his speech turning into a stutter.
“Hmph! You little bastard! Is that shrew your Instructor? Did she put you up to this?” Zhang Tianyi couldn’t help but erupt into cursing. “Dammit! Was it just that one time I peeked? Just one! Does it warrant this? Was it necessary for her to curse me so viciously? Tell me, isn’t this unjust? It wasn’t even intentional! I just happened to be passing by! Tell me if that’s fair! Tell me the truth! Back then, it was merely a lapse during my astral journey! I unintentionally caught a glimpse at the Immortal Bathing Lake! Besides, this happened fifty years ago! Does she still need to bring it up? Fifty years! And do you know what makes me feel most wronged? What, do you know?”
After opening the door, Zhang Tianyi seemed to plunge into some painful memory, spitting spittle as he tearfully lamented.
“I don’t know!”
Still completely terrified and bewildered, Wang Huaqing shook his head in a daze.
“What? You don’t know? That old witch is already over two hundred years old, yet she retains the figure of a teenage girl! Just a little fourteen- or fifteen-year-old figure! No chest, no height! Me peeking? Bah! My aesthetic standards nearly crumbled on the spot! You have no idea! All these years, I’ve carried a deep, deep guilt! If this gets out… If those lecherous bastards… Bah! If those friends of mine found out… how would they look at me? And the women I’ve had entanglements with, all those complex love-hate relationships… if they heard… what would they think of me? Judge it yourself! Am I not wronged? Is there no law? Is there no justice?”
Zhang Tianyi poured out his suffering torrentially, looking as if he had genuinely committed some unspeakable atrocity.
“I…”
Wang Huaqing was slightly overwhelmed.
“Ah!”
Deep anguish emanated from Tang Jinbiao’s features as he lay unconscious in Wang Huaqing’s arms. Though passed out, the pain clearly lingered.
No, I must find another way. Old Man Zhang has clearly lost it!
Listening to Zhang Tianyi’s mournful rant, Wang Huaqing had no patience for it. He started calculating what to do next.
Because one of Zhang Tianyi’s defining traits was sheer unreliability. Wang Huaqing couldn’t possibly pin all his hopes on him.
“Brother, mate, listen to me! Really! I know I was wrong! That Wang Hanyu…”
Zhang Tianyi continued to prattle on noisily about his sad history. But Wang Huaqing was frantic with worry; how could he possibly pay attention?
What should I do? Seek someone else? But the Instructor isn’t at the Academy right now. The other Vice Presidents… I don’t even have a chance to meet them. As for the Soul Refinement stage stewards… I barely know any, and most have gone to the Hundred Thousand Mountains. Young Master Tang and his group have also taken tasks outside. Nascent Soul Cultivators definitely can’t heal him – a Body Refiner’s physique is nothing like a regular Cultivator’s. What to do? What to do? What on earth should I do?
Seeing Tang Jinbiao’s tortured expression, Wang Huaqing started to worry deeply. Further delay at this point was dangerous.
“Mate, truly, I’m not lying! That Wang Hanyu… Don’t be fooled by her petite, innocent look! She’s crafty underneath, full of sly tricks! Let me tell you, that…”
Within a few sentences, Zhang Tianyi was back to calling him ‘brother’.
That’s it! Vice Dean Li must be at the Academy! He’s a clan member of Tang Yilin. Vice Dean Li is sure to honour that connection!
A flash of inspiration struck Wang Huaqing. He remembered there was a Vice Dean Li in the Academy. Scooping up Tang Jinbiao, a glow began to emanate from his surface. He prepared to leave immediately.
“Vice President Zhang, apologies! Saving him is urgent! I’ll listen to your wisdom another time, Senior!”
Wang Huaqing lifted Tang Jinbiao, shouted this apology to Zhang Tianyi, and soared into the air.
Wham!
But right then, Wang Huaqing suddenly felt his shoulder sink under the weight of an aged and withered hand. The spiritual energy he’d just summoned instantly scattered within him.
“Deputy Zhang… ah!”
Realizing something was wrong, Wang Huaqing whipped his head around, trying to speak. But before he could finish his words, a large hand slammed down onto his forehead. A pained cry escaped him before he collapsed unconscious onto the ground.
“Hehe, trying to leave? Not so easy!”
Seeing Wang Huaqing faint, Zhang Tianyi’s face revealed a hint of a smug smile. Only then did he turn his attention to Tang Jinbiao.
“What? It’s him!”
But when Zhang Tianyi recognized Tang Jinbiao, his eyes flashed with peculiar curiosity.
“Body Refining Third Tier! This boy has reached Body Refining Third Tier? When I last saw him, he was barely First Rank, Intermediate Grade. To achieve such progress in only two short years?”
Though Tang Jinbiao gave off no discernible aura, Zhang Tianyi, as a Tribulation Transcendent, instantly perceived the boy’s massive transformation in two years.
“Hmm? That’s odd. Though he’s reached Body Refining Third Tier, his meridians are shockingly chaotic, seemingly recently ravaged! But even before… were just ordinary meridians, completely unaltered. How could such a body possibly attain Body Refining Third Tier? Strange, very strange! For a Mortal’s meridians to support reaching the Body Refining Third Tier… and now he’s even formed a Pseudo Qi Sea!”
With a single glance, Zhang Tianyi analyzed Tang Jinbiao’s physical condition with pinpoint accuracy.
“Just what kind of person is this? His body’s a mess, looks like he’s self-taught… Can self-taught Body Refiners genuinely exist in this world?”
Zhang Tianyi furrowed his brow deeply, utterly unable to fathom Tang Jinbiao.
“Hmm? An Indestructible Body?”
But as Zhang Tianyi frowned, he seemed to spot something, his eyes lighting up with startled delight as they fixed intently on Tang Jinbiao’s wrist.
Gurgle Gurgle!
During his coma, something worm-like seemed to be wriggling slowly within Tang Jinbiao’s severed wrist. If one could see through flesh and bone, they’d be astonished to discover his broken hand bones were slowly knitting themselves back together.
“No. Not an Indestructible Body. He consumed a Nirvana Pill!”
After observing for a moment, Zhang Tianyi realized his initial guess was wrong.
“Impossible! If he took a Nirvana Pill, with his cultivation level and constitution, he’d be completely incapable of withstanding the pill’s potency! What is this kid? And his Absolute Spiritual Energy Perception… is there something strange about that too?”
Questions piled upon questions, deepening Zhang Tianyi’s intense curiosity about Tang Jinbiao.
Zhang Tianyi knelt down and gently pried open one of Tang Jinbiao’s eyes, as if trying to peer into its very structure.
Fwoosh!
The instant Zhang Tianyi lifted Tang Jinbiao’s eyelid, a blade of extreme cold, utterly intangible, erupted from the boy’s eye.
“What? DANGER!”
Sensing the terrifyingly frigid blade, Zhang Tianyi dodged frantically aside. But in that fleeting instant, he clearly saw it— engraved deep within Tang Jinbiao’s pupil was an infinitesimal, yet impossibly intricate Array.
Shoom!
The ethereal blade shot skywards and dissolved into the air.
“What was that?”
Seeing the Array within Tang Jinbiao’s pupil, Zhang Tianyi’s eyes filled with shock and terror.
Though miniscule, the Array was of such profound complexity that merely glimpsing it felt like tumbling into an endless abyss.
Standing beside Tang Jinbiao, Zhang Tianyi shuddered with an uncontrollable chill.
This was one of the few fears he experienced after his cultivation level reached Tribulation Transcendence.
“Ah!” Tang Jinbiao, completely oblivious, continued to lie on the ground, his muscles writhing incessantly, as he groaned with a pained look on his face.
“Damn it! Whatever. Since I ran into you, it’s fate between us. Saving your life isn’t a big deal for me!”
After hesitating briefly, Zhang Tianyi showed a resolute expression on his face, seeming to decide to rescue Tang Jinbiao, even though without Zhang Tianyi’s aid, Tang Jinbiao would have recovered normally after some time.
Swish!
Zhang Tianyi flicked his sleeve, sending a yellow beam into Wang Huaqing’s body, then wrapped his sleeve and dragged Tang Jinbiao, leaping into the courtyard.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
After Zhang Tianyi brought Tang Jinbiao into the courtyard, an extremely terrifying barrier enveloped the entire courtyard instantly.
“Ah!”
A short while later, Wang Huaqing slowly woke up.
“What?”
Suddenly, Wang Huaqing seemed to realize something. After finding Tang Jinbiao gone, a tense look crossed his face.
“Whew, good thing. It looks like Vice President Zhang stepped in after all!”
But just as tension gripped him, abruptly sensing the oppressive aura of the barrier nearby, he sighed quietly with a pang of relief.
“Hmm, since Vice President Wang intervened, there shouldn’t be any issues. I should notify Tang Yilin; this person must be the one she’s searching for shortly!”
A moment later, Wang Huaqing calmed somewhat. With a single flip of his hand, a Message Talisman appeared in his grasp. He infused it lightly with spiritual energy, leaving his intended words inside using divine sense. With a ‘bang,’ it transformed into a yellow beam and shot fiercely westward.
After waiting an hour here, Wang Huaqing felt no further need to linger. He left behind another Message Talisman, then departed slowly on foot.
…
Three days later.
In a vast valley of the Hundred Thousand Mountains, tens of thousands of li away, seven or eight cultivators of the Early-Stage Nascent Soul Realm were engaged in a fierce, unending battle with a Mid Nascent Soul Stage snake-shaped demon beast.
This demon beast measured about a hundred zhang in length and three zhang in girth, boasting an enormous serpent head. Its entire body was crimson-red, covered all over with countless black protrusions the size of a human, resembling a colossal snake riddled with black boils.
However, this valley was now a scene of utter ruin. Trees had long been charred to ash, and even numerous giant boulders were burned into lime.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
One after another, diverse magical artifacts bombarded the demon beast’s body, producing deafening roars. But due to its exceptionally tough hide, those artifacts couldn’t harm it at all. As time wore on, weariness marked the cultivators’ faces.
Roar!
The demon beast seemed incensed by the attack, roaring fiercely and ejecting countless black flames from its maw.
“Everyone, scatter fast!”
“The Flame Python is enraged!”
“Go!”
Paling in alarm, the cultivators transformed one by one into streaks of escape light, shooting off in all directions. Yet, one person remained behind.
Roar!
The snake-shaped demon beast bellowed with fury. The flames in its maw appeared to scorch the very air, warping the void into a hazy blur. Simultaneously, as those flames struck the ground, the hard rocks directly melted into magma…