"So, did you get the heritage?" asked Master Rain just as I finished inscribing the remaining seals and placed them against Shen Mo's body.
"Yep, right now I placed it along my original body, this one can't protect it," I said.
"Then, where is your original body?" asked Zhang Tian.
"Oh, it's in the pagoda," I replied since Zhang Tian knows and was the one who lead me to it in the first place.
"Now this is done, we shouldn't be in any hurry, sadly Meng Hao I'll have to take a couple of years for my original body to heal before I can venture out with you to retrieve your fiancée's soul," I said.
Meng Hao nodded in understanding as he realized that with the current body I possess which was far from even becoming an ascendant, our chances in retrieving her were close to nil, so we had no choice but to wait for my original body to heal from all the damage it received when fighting the Sword Spirit.
"Wait, what are you talking about?" Zhang Tian asked.
"Oh, you didn't tell him, I mean he is by proxy also your senior brother, I told Meng Hao,"
"No I didn't wish to impose," he said.
"That's not how it works, if you have a problem you come to me," Zhang Tian berated, "For what else do I have all this influence if it isn't to help those close, so speak your mind and say what plagues it, this scholar might have a way," he said.
"Its regarding the attack on planet Xi Son, our home planet," he said.
"Oh, it was a tragic event, was your fiancée one of the captured souls?" asked Zhang Tian.
"Yes, she fell to the hands of one of the Fire Lord's generals, they caught her soul in one of those Incense Burning Pots.
"I suppose I could lend a hand, it shouldn't be that difficult since the Fire Lord himself is still in cultivation," Zhang Tian said.
Just as I was glad that things turned out this way, suddenly the Automaton spoke to me in a loud ear rending shout.
"MY LORD PULL OUT THE MAIN BODY!" he said.
But before I could even act or understand what went on, a holographic appearance of the giant serpent appeared around us, opening its jaws wide, no one, not even Master Rain or Zhang Tian could react as the jaws of the holographic and ethereal serpent closed on us.
***
A moment ago, Senior Brother Shen Bao just requested his great lordship Zhang Tian to assist us in retrieving Yan'er soul. As happy as Meng Hao was, he was also disappointed when he realized that he was this weak that he required and needed the assistance of a princely and godly like being like his Lordship Zhang Tian to help him.
This further confirmed his lack of 'talent' and ability, unlike his older brother Shen Bao who was a great cultivator, able to climb peaks upon peaks in the cultivation world and forge mighty strong connections.
His only satisfaction and consolation was the fact that instead of him being the one making connections to other great people of the Vast Expanse, Meng Hao had forged a brotherhood with Shen Bao, so by proxy, Shen Bao's connections are his connections, and now though with this mighty connection to lord Zhang Tian as a senior brother by proxy, he can finally retrieve her soul, since this man wearing full white is one of the greats of the Vast Expanse.
With the Immortal Scholar's abilities, it should give them a greater chance to make it out safely after going deep into the territory of the Fire Lord
Just as Meng Hao was thinking of thanking his lordship for this great assistance, something strange happened.
The hair on his body stood to no end as he felt this feeling once before, it was the same feeling he had when the entire planet of Xi Son was being taken over. And this time, it was far stronger, mightier, and frightening.
The space itself began morphing as his eyes opened wide to what appeared to be the Eternal and Primordial God Serpent manifesting.
How did this happen, his mind asked as it was acting far faster than his body in this situation.
The serpent was manifesting itself, even after Master Rain and lord Zhang Tian collaborated together to banish it to another dimension.
The jaws of this serpent opened so wide and were closing in around them, as if two planets were about to collapse on them, forget running away, there is no time to cross the distance from between this creature's jaws even if one was faster than the speed of lightning itself.
The jaws of the mighty creature locked against each other and the entire group.
For a second Meng Hao thought he had perished and died, he didn't even have the luxury or time to even have his life flash in front of his eyes as his 'death' was too sudden and fast for him to even react.
Yet, opening his eyes, he noticed that the serpent had disappeared and it was no longer around him. He checked his body, making sure that everything was in place, enough that he even pinched his cheeks to make sure he wasn't asleep or dreaming.
Feeling the pain in his cheeks, he realized he still lived, but what was that he asked himself?
"Bloody fucking hell was that!" muttered the ever-rude and arrogant Master Rain.
"I have no idea, I'm sure we locked it inside a different dimension how did it manifest itself… well more like manifest its spirit," Zhang Tian said then turned to Shen Bao and asked.
"Shen Bao, your views of the Spatial Laws are far different than mine, do you know what happened?" he asked him.
Yet Shen Bao did not reply, in fact, something was strangely happening to Shen Bao's body.
This avatar he was using was exuding a black smoke as if it was the vilest and most disgusting being to ever exist, it was a foul and dark aura that was seeping out of his body.
"Shen Bao!" Lord Zhang Tian called, then soon Shen Bao's female companions realized that something was wrong and they called him out, but no response ever came out.
Master Rain grabbed him then by the shoulder turning him to face him, only to back away stunned.
Looking at the eyes of this avatar they were pitch black without the whiteness of the eyes.
"A demonic spirit? But how?!" Master Rain questioned as he saw something he never expected
"Foul being you dare possess Shen Bao's body!" the Immortal Scholar called out as he was about to strike down his fan.
"No!" Meng Hao shouted, "It's Shen Bao, but… not him at the same time, he wasn't possessed…" Meng Hao said.
Thinking for a second wasn't an option because the body full of evil aura began channeling its Qi preparing to attack.
"What the hell is happening?" Yuyu asked as worry was clear in her eyes.
Master Rain's brain seemed to function at a speed far faster than anyone present when he finally deduced the problem.
"Curses…curses! CURSES UPON YOU DAMN SERPENT! ETERNAL CURSES UPON YOU!" Master Rain's roar against the unfairness of the world emerged in a shout so loud and full of indignation.
"W-what's going on, please explain?! Shen Bao is alright right!?" Liang Yu asked who seemed to be on the verge of tears.
Zhang Tian who seemed to lower his fan finally realized what had happened, "Alas…this serpent was actually smart enough to not go after this fake body. Trapped inside another dimension, instead of materializing itself to come here… it actually went into the dimension where Shen Bao's Pagoda was hiding…"
"What does that mean?" Meng Hao asked, "How does that affect Shen Bao to become like this? a mindless husk that can't even control itself?" it was clear to him that he was not something sentient, it was as if emotions of hatred and pain, agony and injustice were moving this body instead of a soul.
"Because the serpent consumed the entire pagoda, the link between Shen Bao's main body and this avatar was severed… Shen Bao is currently residing inside that serpent's stomach…and since he is in a banished dimension, we can't even go help him if we wanted to…"
"No…not like this!" Yuyu said, the grabbed Zhang Tian by the robes, "You sent the serpent to another dimension, pull it out! Or at least send me in there!" she asked.
Zhang Tian shook his head, "I cannot do that, not to mention it nigh impossible to even find the dimension the serpent is currently in, since it was able to locate the pagoda, it means that it could easily travel between the different folds of space as it wishes, and even by some miracle, we end up finding it…we have no way to defeat that thing, it was not meant to be defeated, it was never meant to be slain… I'm afraid that Shen Bao is no-"
"Don't say it!" Liang Yu shouted, "Don't you dare say it! he'll come out, I know him, he'll come back out and say it was easy! He's not someone who'll die just like that! So don't you dare say it!" her words left lord Zhang Tian feeling apologetic and unable to speak because he too knew that the possibility of returning from the stomach of that thing was not even possible to calculate.
Never mind the strength of Shen Bao, once that serpent consumes something it is considered dead, no wonder it lived in the vast expanse for as long as the vast expanse itself existed.
The primordial serpent it was called, one of twelve, but the remaining eleven were nowhere to be seen or found. Perhaps it was just a myth that more of this type of being existed in the vast expanse, but one thing is for sure, it has never been defeated, harmed, or killed… it had lived as long as the world itself was alive, and it will continue to do so… this thing wasn't meant to be killed and that means that Shen Bao's chances of returning alive… are none existing…
Just like that, as Meng Hao was watching, as simple as that, even after such a grandiose battle and achievement of retrieving the full heritage of the poison god, after so much battle and effort, he was consumed just like that…
What a cruel world.
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