Chapter 401: The Calm Before The Storm
"How long are we going to be stuck here," Wei Lei spoke with an annoyed tone as he was gazing upon the starry skies.
"We"re already back into a familiar galactic system. These stars, I know them," Liang Yu spoke.
"Really? I can"t seem to locate where we are still," Lin replied questioning.
"I"ve traveled with my master for a long while, so I know this region, we should arrive to the Heavenly Academy shortly," spoke Liang Yu.
"What a pain in the a.s.s man, we were stranded for G.o.d knows how much in deep s.p.a.ce," spoke Wei Lei.
"Five years and three months," replied Yuyu who seemed to have opened her eyes for the first time in a long while.
"You"ve been keeping count," Wei Lei spoke surprised.
"Yes, I never stopped counting, since that moment," she said, as coldness spewed out of her body.
"Hold you Qi G.o.d d.a.m.n it, it"s already cold in s.p.a.ce. Anyway, at least we"re here," said Wei Lei as he finally saw the Heavenly Academy"s ma.s.sive formation. "But isn"t this bull moving a bit too straightforward…" he said before he realized that the bull was not going to stop its stampede.
"Oh s.h.i.+t! Oi you stupid ox stop! We"re going to cras.h.!.+" Wei Lei shouted but the bull heeded him no mind.
It continued moving and just as everyone thought that after all that time of being stranded in s.p.a.ce that they would die in such a stupid fas.h.i.+on, something inexplicable happened.
The bull had never stopped its movement and while it seemed like it was going to crash into the constantly moving rock formation, the formation itself seemed to naturally move in a way that it allowed a small opening large enough for the bull to pa.s.s through.
And from that the Thunderbull rushed down towards the upper island of the Heavenly Academy.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!" one of the black-robed elders rushed up to stop the "intruder" only for the bull to completely ignore it and continue its march heading towards the ma.s.sive palace in the middle of the flying island.
"We"re under attack! Sound the alarm!" spoke the elder.
But his words were immediately disregarded when another person with far superior divine sense spoke.
"Let them in you dumb idiot."
Those words were the words of the only person who holds no regard or esteem for anyone who is living here in the Heavenly Academy.
Master Rain"s voice sounded and everyone who was ready to put their lives on the line to stop the "intruder" stopped in their steps.
The bull decelerated and softly stopped its march as it stood in front of the Heavenly Academy"s main building.
Master Rain arrived from the highest tower of the academy and landed softly.
"Ah what am I going to do with you when bao, you idiot why did you have to show this d.a.m.n mount of yours here," Master Rain berated as he approached the carriage.
But then he stopped, as he noticed that something wasn"t right.
There were four people in the carriage, and one of them was a beastkin.
Master Rain looked at them again and said, "You, cold-hearted wench, where is that b.a.s.t.a.r.d?" asked Master Rain.
No one seemed to be willing to answer.
"He is dead," Wei Lei however spoke.
"Are you f.u.c.king stupid?" spoke Master Rain. "How can he die while his Soul Mount is still alive, what the f.u.c.k did you do?!" Master Rain"s patience was pretty slim, and with just words, pressure the size of a mountain seemed to fall upon the head of Wei Lei.
"He didn"t die," Liang Yu spoke, "At least we hope so…" she added.
"You"ve all been gone for a while, what the h.e.l.l have you all been doing?" Master Rain asked.
"Why not let them rest, they don"t seem to be mentally stable right now," spoke one of the elders, and just as Master Rain was about to blast out all kinds of insults on whoever spoke.
When he turned and saw it was the Grand Elder of the Heavenly Academy, he held it in, "Old man, my patience is thinner than a cicada"s wing, don"t push it. I"ve only come here to aid Shen Bao,"
"Calm Down old Rain. Don"t you see it in their eyes? They seem to have seen the truth of the world for the first time. Give them a moment to rest," the elder spoke.
Master rain flung his sleeves and crossed his hands behind him then walked away.
"Come with me, children," the elder said.
The group of four followed the grand elder to the main building.
"Get me some servants, help these disciples give them baths and Spirit Empowering pills. And ask all the elders to come to the meeting chamber. It seems that people have forgotten our existence or think they can push us however they want," the grand elder said.
An hour later, at the top floor of the Heavenly Academy was a room that was seldom used.
And now that it has been opened everyone knew that things had become serious.
The elders of the Heavenly Academy and most black robes had already taken a seat in the hall. The Grand Elder had taken the only seat that was only a step higher than the rest. Even if there was another seat behind him that was three steps higher, no one dared take it.
"Good to have seen you all gathered here," the grand elder spoke.
"What"s the reason for gathering us all here grand elder?" Elder Cho spoke.
"In due time, we"ll wait for the kids to arrive," the Grand Elder said.
Soon, the door opened and the four "kids" entered the room, they looked a bit more refreshed but there was still a solemn look on their faces.
"Good to see that some had actually survived that day, so can you tell me what happened?" asked the grand elder.
Wei Lei moved to speak first, but Master Rain appeared right in front of him, "Not you, you," spoke master Rain as he pointed at Yuyu.
"Yes, that day…when we went to seek treasure and experience. It didn"t go as expected,"
Yuyu began explaining everything in detail, from the moment they arrived at the cultivation cave. And the appearance of another Poison G.o.d cultivator. The fact that Shen Bao was incapacitated inside that world, and still managed to save everyone, and the fact that he faced off against a corpse at the King Level of cultivation. Not only that she even explained how he used the power of all of the Saint Qi cultivators that were surrounding them to use it and refine a King Cla.s.s cultivator.
Everything was going well until that wretched person had her servant come to personally handle the matter.
How he chased after them, and how Shen Bao released everyone and gave them his only means of escape while sacrificing himself to face that old monster.
With her words, many of the elders in the room were already at the boiling point, but the only one who had the calmest expression was the one that no one expected to be calm at all.
"Master Rain, it seems that you know who that person is," the grand elder said.
"Yes. I know him all too well, he is Servant Mao, a pretty powerful person, however, he has a twisted personality. He is a perverted b.a.s.t.a.r.d who finds joy in torturing and humiliating people, and the ones who have the greatest hatred for him are the disciples of the Poison G.o.d. He had killed many poison G.o.d disciples in the past. But he always allows the parasitic Acolyte to escape."
"Why would he do that?" asked another elder.
"Simple, so that the Acolyte can possess another person, and for him to track, chase and capture another victim, but this fool dared go for Shen Bao. Even if the wills of the heavens wish to save him from my hand, I"ll tear through it and bring him under my foot. A thousand deaths are not enough for me to appease my anger," Master Rain"s words were expressed with the literal shaking of the entire structure they were in.
"Calm your anger Master Rain, you had mentioned that the mount outside was a Soul Bounded Mount, so he should still be alive," the grand elder said.
"Alive in body, but probably not in spirit, no one can survive that man"s methods for such a long time without going mad. I"m afraid even if we find Shen Bao, he wouldn"t be the same…"
The words Master Rain spoke were a reality that everyone had realized, and from the silent tears on Yuyu and Liang Yu"s eyes it was already clear that they had lost all hope of finding Shen Bao sane and sound.
"I"ll need to make a personal visit to that fool"s house," spoke Master Rain.
"Wait, are you insane, do you know that that house is in the capital planet of the Wind Realm, you"re willing to step foot at the territory of the person who despises you the most for a person who is probably nothing more than a madman?!" an elder spoke this one was the same person who tried to finish Shen Bao off in the Advent Tower when he was in the Ancient Sect simulation.
Before Master Rain could even act, Grand Elder waved his hand and the elder who spoke was immediately forced to prostrate on the ground, "Speak another word and I"ll end your life with my own hands." The Grand Elder said.
"Master Rain, I suppose you"re going to go to the Wind Realm. Do you need my a.s.sistance, it will be a tough battle," spoke the Grand Elder.
"No, I"m not going there to fight," spoke Master Rain, "I"m going there to save Servant Mao"s life," Master Rain said.
His words were obviously pretty confusing to everyone in the room, why is he trying to save the person who tortured Shen Bao?
"Because the moment that woman knows what that fool had done, he"ll die, and death is far too easy of a punishment for him. What many of you don"t know, is that Shen Bao had received the favor of that woman, because he saved her son from my own formation. He had liberated Zhang Tian from a thousand year prison, and for that, she had sworn to protect Shen Bao thrice," spoke Master Rain.
"Then couldn"t it have been that she had already realized what had happened and come to save Shen Bao? He may still be well?" the words of the Grand Elder seemed to bring some hope to the people around them.
Master Rain shook his head, "That man, I know him well, he uses the Soul Sealing Stakes to pin his victims, if Shen Bao had uttered that person"s name, he"ll die. And since Shen Bao is still alive, he never spoke her name, and she never realized he was trapped," Master Rain spoke, his words colder than arctic waters.
The smidgen of hope that was ignited had been snuffed causing everyone to fall into deeper despair.
"In a couple of days, Zhang Tian"s eleventh-century birthday. Many people with gather for that day. There will be a grand festival and reception at the Wind Realm"s capital planet. Servant Mao will be there along with the family he serves. I can go then, and I"ll make sure to settle this matter," Spoke Master Rain.
"Then…can you take me with you?" spoke Liang Yu.
"Me too, can I go with you?" added Yuyu.
"You have just arrived from a travel through s.p.a.ce you should rest and cultivate to recuperate your energy, spatial travel is dangerous and unless you stabilize your condition you may harm your bodies," spoke the Grand Elder.
Yuyu shook her head, "The Thunderbull carriage was effective against the spatial drain, we didn"t suffer anything, and cultivators who chased after us were never able to catch up to how fast the bull was. We"re still in prime condition, so please Master Rain," Yuyu spoke as she deeply bowed, "Please take us with you," she added.
"Very well then," Master Rain said, "Those who are willing to come with me can come, but I can"t guarantee your survival once that woman gets angry, h.e.l.l I can"t even guarantee the lives of the people around her. Servant Mao, you did something unnecessary. Gather your belongings, we"ll be leaving in an hour," Master Rain said.
Yuyu, and Liang Yu headed out leaving Lin alone.
"And you child, who are you?" asked the Grand Elder.
"I"m someone who is indebted to Shen Bao, I"d like to a.s.sist however I can," she said.
"How can you a.s.sist?" spoke Master Rain.
"Well, I might not have much power but I can ask my father to be a witness," she said.
Master Rain tilted his head a bit, and said, "Golden eyes, black hair, ears that resemble those of a cat, you"re that leopard b.a.s.t.a.r.d"s daughter aren"t you," Master Rain spoke.
She smiled as she said, "My father was right, he always said that you"re the only person who"ll ever insult him, in his presence or his absence without a care, yes, I"m that b.a.s.t.a.r.d"s daughter, Lord of the Earth Realm, Can I have a Spatial Owl communication device?" she asked.
"Sure thing, now let"s settle this matter," The grand elder said, "Master Rain, you have the backing of the whole of the Heavenly Academy, even if you flip the wind realm upside down, we"ll a.s.sist you in it. Go wreak havoc," the Grand Elder said.
"I was going to do that, with or without your permission," Master Rain said as he turned to leave the room.
"Shen Bao, you better be alive when I get there!"