157 Post Tribulation Threa
After dealing with his lightning burn injuries, Cao Mao jumped out of the abyss and landed next to the cleaved crystal ball. He picked it up to inspect the remaining of the Heaven Will.
KQ and White Album flew back to Cao Mao's sides to check what he had obtained.
'What's that?'
"No clue. Should I eat this?"
Before Cao Mao or KQ could decide what they could do to the broken crystal ball, it disintegrated into particles and sank into his hand. The particles entered his dantian and became food for the heavenly fate fragment, which was hidden inside.
The lightning element Qi reappeared again around Cao Mao. A black and white cloud condensed around him as if they were low-altitude fog. This time, they floated around him as if he was the eye of the storm.
Cao Mao frowned as he had no idea what the Qi fog was doing. They didn't attack him nor benefit him.
Meanwhile, KQ laughed and absorbed a strand of the floating Qi fog.
BZZ
'OUCH!'
Unfortunately for KQ, she couldn't absorb the energy. The lightning Qi ejected her out of the field. White Album, who had done nothing wrong, also got booted out of the fog.
The cloud of lightning Qi descended and orbited around Cao Mao, waiting for something.
Cao Mao was perplexed. He didn't know what he should do with this remnant energy, and he was afraid that the Will of Heaven had done something to them.
Then, Cao Mao heard Jia Shan's voice.
"Brat, start comprehending the lightning element and absorb those Qi strands before it disappears! They're the rewards of your tribulation! You have about a day to seize it!"
Hearing his mentor's voice, Cao Mao recalled some of the cultivation novel plots. After Heaven Tribulations, the main characters usually got stronger. Each novel had a unique way of presenting how a protagonist leveled up, and they either gained insight or obtained new power.
Inspired by novel plots, Cao Mao sat cross-legged and began meditating. He also absorbed a strand of lightning element Qi into his dantian, testing his theory. Since he survived the onslaught, he thought that his dantian should be able to resist a bit of thunder Qi.
The experience was not pleasant. The lightning Qi burned his blood vessels. He had to drink another mouthful of spring water to heal himself.
Ding
\u003cYou have absorbed one strand of lightning element Qi.\u003e
\u003cYour compatibility with lightning element Qi is 0%. You cannot digest lightning Qi.\u003e
\u003cThe Qi strand has been ejected from your body.\u003e
Cao Mao failed, but he didn't give up. He still had trump cards for this situation, when he needed to boost his brainpower.
Cao Mao popped one into his mouth. Within a few seconds, his mind was clear. He stared into the lightning cloud as if he was in a trance. The flashback memory of physics knowledge during the high-school days came back.
Life Essence pool within Cao Mao's dantian rumbled, reacting to the fundamentals and characteristics of electricity, magnetic force, and basic physics.
At first, Cao Mao only understood the lightning characteristic in theory. After he combined what he had learned from the wood element and Hopea's memory fragment, he had an inspiration.
Putting his theory to a test, Cao Mao absorbed a strand of lightning Qi. But instead of taking it to his dantian right away, he let the Qi circulate through his meridians and blood vessels.
After the element Qi went through all core meridians - stomach, small intestines, large intestine, kidney, liver, spleen, gall bladder, urinary bladder, lungs, heart, and pericardium. Once it went through all 11 parts, Cao Mao directed it to his dantian, the 12th meridian.
Again, the Qi burned everything it passed through. Without the spring water and his resistance against Yang Flame, Cao Mao would have died a thousand times today.
Ding
\u003cYou have absorbed one strand of lightning element Qi.\u003e
\u003cYour compatibility with lightning element Qi is 0.01%.\u003e
\u003cYour life essence tries to assimilate the lightning element Qi.\u003e
\u003cThe Qi digestion has failed. The Qi strand has been ejected from your body.\u003e
The attempt failed, but Cao Mao could see the progress. Moreover, he had another idea of how he could exploit this situation.
Cao Mao summoned an item, which he had stored in the ring for a long time.
It was the magical wet banana.
Cao Mao ate the rotten soggy banana that he had been keeping in the spatial ring for almost a year. It tasted horrible that he wanted to puke, but he had to because he needed the banana's effect.
"I'm going to have diarrhea after this! Bleh! I wanna puke!"
Ding
\u003cYou have eaten a magic wet banana.\u003e
\u003cYour Yin and Yang acquisition rate has increased by 10,000%. The effect lasts 24 hours.\u003e
\u003cYour meridians and dantian have been temporarily enhanced. The effect lasts 24 hours.\u003e
\u003cYour intelligence and cognitive abilities have temporarily increased by 10,000%. The effect lasts 24 hours.\u003e
The sacrifice had its rewards. Although Cao Mao didn't know if the acquisition rate would affect an element Qi or not, he had to try. This was a rare chance that he could absorb tribulation lightning power, so he didn't want to miss it.
Cao Mao breathed in more lightning Qi, letting it circulating through his 12 meridians. This time, it wasn't so painful as the previous attempts since his meridians got a strengthening buff.
Ding
\u003cYour compatibility with lightning element Qi is 0.02%.\u003e
\u003cYour compatibility with lightning element Qi is 0.03%.\u003e
\u003cYour compatibility with lightning element Qi is 0.04%.\u003e
'Alright!'
.
.
Wei Yuan and yin slaves observed the lightning element fog from a distance, waiting for Cao Mao to finish what he was doing. Getting nervous and anxious, Wei Yuan asked the seniors.
"Senior Jia, do you know what happened? What happened to my husband?"
Jia Wenhe grinned, "The Hell Tribulation is over. Right now, that brat is digesting the lightning Qi."
"What!? He can use lightning Qi!?"
"Not now, but he might. Who knows?"
Jia Wenhe returned to one of the carriages to calm the horses. The battle just now damaged the road, so he guided all carriages to get further away from here before some nosy cultivators appeared.
Jia Shan also did the same. He drove a carriage, which stored the baby geese, and followed Jia Wenhe's wagon.
The yin slaves were confused. They wanted to stop the elders since they thought that they wanted to abandon Cao Mao.
"That brat won't die, but we'll die if you girls keep staying out in clear view! Get your asses back in the carriages and hide from plain sight! The fight just now will attract more random experts. If they see all of you, you all will be kidnapped for sure! I can't protect all of you alone!"
Jia Wenhe scolded the yin slaves and reminded them that they were the obvious targets if a fight were to break out. Even if some of them had already reached Essence Gathering Realm, they still had to protect their babies, which dragged the others down.
In short, Jia Wenhe was the only main fighting force while Ju Chen was the reserve. As for the others, they were dead weights.
"S-Senior, that's cruel. At least, we can still fight," Jiang Lan protested.
"Fight? Nope. You're just a dick-bait! Do you know who will be attracted to this place after all the commotion the brat made? A bunch of 5th and 6th-stage experts! No 4th-stage or weaker guys dare to mess with tribulation scenes but the stronger ones will come here to steal the tribulation fortune. Aside from me and Ju Chen, none of you can be counted as the fighting force."
"…"
Jiang Lan and other's faces paled. They thought that after they got to the Essence Gathering Realm, they could be useful in combat. But in reality, old cultivators or masters from various sects could still always take advantage of them.
The girls had not reached the top of the food chain yet. They were merely fledgling birds that had just learned how to fly.
"Yes, that's right. Once they find you, they are likely to capture you, especially since you lots have good bodies and faces. Your current cultivation base is only useful against someone your peers or someone in your generation. But in the real world, If you can't use any element Qi, you're as powerless as anyone under the 3rd-stage! Now, get inside the carriage, so we can avoid the complications!"
Jia Wenhe didn't hold back his tongue. He lashed out and herded the girls like a horde of sheep.
Kang Yan obediently followed the others to one of the carriages, but Jia Wenhe grabbed her shoulder, "Except you and Ju Chen. You can stay here."
"Eh?" Kang Yan and the others were confused.
"She can use the sword Qi, right?" Jia Wenhe turned to Jia Shan, asking for a confirmation.
Jia Shan shook his head, "Not yet. She's at the stage of becoming one with the sword. She's nowhere near the Sword Qi level yet."
"That's good enough," Jia Wenhe rumbled through Ju Shoufen's spatial ring and brought out a heaven-grade broadsword, a sky-grade robe, and sky-grade chainmail. "Put these on. Throw away that trash earth-grade sword."
The other girls gazed at Kang Yan in envy, but they couldn't complain.
Kang Yan accepted the items in confusion and disbelief. She unsheathed the broadsword to admire the weapon.
When Kang Yan was looking at the heaven-grade broadsword, Jia Wenhe cut the tip of her finger. He let the heaven-grade sword drink the blood before he handed it back to her.
"S-Sir?" Kang Yan was surprised.
"This sword is an imitation of a divine-grade weapon, the Sun Crow Sword. It doesn't have a sentient spirit like other heaven-grade weapons, but you can implant your sword intent into it when you're strong enough. If you're lucky, you can refine it into a real immortal-grade weapon one day."
Kang Yan received the broadsword in astonishment. Although she already had a sky-grade katana and an earth-grade double-edged sword from Cao Mao, this one made her weapons look like a kid's toy.
"Now, go change into these clothes and stay with the other girls. You'll be in charge of protecting them if an asshole wants to attack one of you. Also, call Ju Chen over. I need her help."
"O-Okay, senior."
Kang Yan took the sky-grade chainmail and robes. Then, she ran toward the carriages. Jia Shan followed after her since he couldn't fight against someone stronger than the 4th-stage with his Qi-less domain.
Now, Jia Wenhe stayed behind by himself. He jumped onto the top of a pine tree nearby, waiting for the first group of hyenas while he observed Cao Mao in the middle of lightning Qi.
"Hmm. Thing brings back memories," Jia Wenhe grinned as he stretched his neck and shoulders. "It has been a while since I last fought."
Green and red smoke leaked out of Jia Wenhe's nostrils. He warmed up his poison and fire element Qi in his dantian, getting ready to attack anyone on sight.
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