nChapter 178: The Minion Who Ascended into the Higher Realm

nMushroom cried for exactly six hours. From a filling and plump mushroom, he turned into a dried-out mushroom from all that crying, as though all of the water content had flowed out from his body in the form of tears.

nZhu Yao’s buttocks were already aching from sitting beside him, and only then did he finally stop his wails. Zhu Yao casually cast a few recovery spells on him, and he then reverted back to his human Wang Xuzhi look.

nPicking up the half piece of jade on the ground, he looked as though he had lost his soul.

n“Mushroom, where are you planning to go?” Zhu Yao could not help but ask.

nMushroom sniffled, kept the piece of jade, and then said. “I’m going to return to the forest, and plant Rock Spirit back into the soil. I want to see if he can grow back.”

n“…” That’s a rock, not a mushroom. How could it possibly grow back? Wait a minute, he couldn’t possibly be thinking of burying that stone back into that pile of dirt, right?

n“Thank you, for helping me retrieve Rock Spirit.” Mushroom nodded towards Zhu Yao and Xu Nuoyan. After such a long time since they met, he seemed to have learnt a few manners.

n“Mushroom.” Zhu Yao could not help but call out to him. “Umm… Are you still going to seek trouble with those two people?” He best not act crazy, and seek them for revenge.

nMushroom’s expression instantly turned furious. “I’m going to exact revenge for Rock Spirit!”

nAs expected!

n“From how I see it, the Rock Spirit in your hands shouldn’t have been killed by those two people earlier. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have carried this ‘corpse’ on them everywhere they went, right?” Zhu Yao emphasized on the word ‘corpse’.

nMushroom blanked for a moment, and his expression looked a little hesitant. “Then… Who killed Rock Spirit?”

nShe killed herself!

n“How would I know?” Even if she knew, she couldn’t tell you. Without her looking after him, with his low-level cultivation, and with how naively stupid he was, if he were to sillily send himself to death, how would she save him? “Why don’t you first return to the forest and plant it in the soil for now? It might really grow back. Once it wakes up, you can ask it yourself.”

n“Oh.” Mushroom nodded. “That sounds like a good idea.”

nPhew~

nZhu Yao heaved a sigh of relief. She finally managed to divert his attention.

nMushroom’s expression looked better than before too, as he hurriedly bid her farewell, and flew towards the forest where the Lightning Divine Hall was on his flying sword.

n“Is your mind at ease now?” Xu Nuoyan stepped up, and looked at her with a smile. “You sure treat that mushroom well.”

nZhu Yao was startled for a moment. Earlier, he did not make a single sound for the entire time, so she had unconsciously ignored his existence a little. He sure was patient to accompany her in her long wait.

n“Let’s go to Cloudhold City then.” Zhu Yao summoned her celestial sword.

n“Wait!” Xu Nuoyan however blocked her way. Reaching out his hand, he waved past her face, removing her disguise. She then returned to her former look. “Yu Yao looks better this way.”

nZhu Yao shivered. A strange feeling rose in the depths of her heart. At that moment, she suddenly felt that Xu Nuoyan was a little dangerous. She took a step back out of reflex, building a little distance between them.

nXu Nuoyan however did not continue to lean closer to her, as he flew on his flying sword alongside her.

nThis time, Zhu Yao did not dawdle like before, and instead, accelerated towards Cloudhold City.

nCloudhold City was situated on a island, and at the very center of the island, a large pillar of light was piercing into the sky.

n“The Heavenly Door is already opened. It seems like the ascending individual is about to arrive.” Xu Nuoyan said.

nOnly then did Zhu Yao realize that it was the light of guidance. Hence, she flew directly towards that pillar of light.

nAt the source of the light, was what seemed to be altar-like place situated at the center of the island. Light was currently emitting out from the circular formation at the center of the altar.

nThere were already several people standing in the surroundings. Looking at the insignia on their sleeves, they were all disciples of Fluorescent Wind Sect.

nThey directly landed at the center of the crowd.

n“Senior-martial brother Xu.” Those disciples evidently recognized Xu Nuoyan, as they enthusiastically walked over to greet him. However, they were not that familiar with her, so they simply sized her up with a short glance, and paid no further attention to her.

nXu Nuoyan did not have any intentions to explain either, and asked. “Has the ascending individual arrived?”

nThe expressions of several disciples instantly paled. They exchanged glances between them, before one of them at the center stepped forward. “Senior-martial brother Xu, we are unsure of the cause, but the ascending individual has still not arrived in the higher realm.”

n“How long has it been?” Xu Nuoyan frowned.

n“It’s been about seven hours.” The disciple replied.

nAbout seven hours? Zhu Yao was a little startled as well. The light of guidance would only appear in the lower realm when the ascending individual passes the ascension lightning tribulation, guiding the individual on the path of ascension. Since it had been about seven hours, it proved that the lightning tribulation had already ended for a long time, so why hasn’t the individual appear?

n“How much time left?” Xu Nuoyan looked towards the light of guidance, and asked.

n“At the very most, the light of guidance will disappear in fifteen minutes.”

nXu Nuoyan sank into silence for a moment, before turning to look at Zhu Yao at the side. “Yu Yao, what do you think of this matter?”

n“How would I know?” Zhu Yao blanked for a moment. What did this have to do with her?

n“In my opinion, the ascending individual most likely don’t wish to ascend at all.” Xu Nuoyan found himself an excuse.

n“How can that be possible!?” The disciple at the side could not help but refute. “Since that person has already brought upon the lightning tribulation, if he does not choose to ascend, he will not get another chance in the future. If he doesn’t ascend, without a divine body, he can only wait for his death when his lifespan expires in the lower realm. How can there exist a person who is willing to die, instead of choosing to ascend?”

n“Maybe… That person still has matters to attend to, or… someone he can’t let go of?” Xu Nuoyan looked towards Zhu Yao at the side, and his smile grew even deeper.

nThat expression again. Zhu Yao was getting goosebumps all over body again. She could only shift her gaze and continue to stare at the light of guidance.

nThe other disciple did not reply, and simply treated his words as a light joke. This light of guidance was a pathway which mortals must take to become deities. Only through the baptism from passing this light could one achieve an immortal body, attaining everlasting life. While the reason why practitioners in the lower realm seek the Dao, was exactly to obtain this goal. So could one easily give up on this opportunity?

nThe light was already growing weaker, and it seemed to be close to dispersing as well. The disciples of Fluorescent Wind Sect who were present were all a little confused.

nSuddenly, the earth shook. A bright red light flashed on the formation where the light of guidance was being emitted from, spreading towards all directions.

n“Watch out!” Zhu Yao simply felt her waist tightening, and then, she was carried away from her original spot, flying towards the sky.

nThe ground was beginning to split apart inch by inch, and the earth collapsed into the cracks. The cracks began to grow, and several houses and trees had already collapsed as well. Zhu Yao widened her eyes, as she suddenly felt that this scene was a little familiar.

n“The Heavenly Door is about to close.” A disciple exclaimed.

n“Yet another one!” Someone responded.

n“This is already the fifth one in recent years.”

n“That’s right, more and more Heavenly Doors are closing for no apparent reason.”

n“I never thought that the Heavenly Door so close to the sect would close as well.”

nZhu Yao recalled it now. In her previous life, she seemed to have seen such a scene once before. Back then, the Heavenly Door of Lightning Spiritual World was closed, and now, another one here was closed. From the conversation of these disciples, the Heavenly Doors of various worlds were being closed. Was this normal?

n“Yu Yao, are you alright?” Xu Nuoyan’s voice, which carried a hint of worry, sounded next to her.

nThe corner of Zhu Yao’s lips twitched, and only then did she recall that she was still in his embrace. For a moment, she felt a little uncomfortable, as she immediately pushed him away, and floated on her own flying sword. “Thank you!”

nIt was as though Xu Nuoyan did not see her scornful look at all, as he smiled without a mind. “It’s fine as long as you’re alright.”

nZhu Yao felt a little uncomfortable again. His words sounded as though she was ungrateful.

nMn… It seemed to feel that way alright.

nMore and more people were being forced to fly on their flying swords, and the cracks formed from the collapse were already quickly being submerged by the ocean water. A beautiful island was instantly cracked and split apart, and even the former look of the ascension altar could no longer be distinguished. The light of guidance emitting from it was growing weaker as well.

nJust when the final strand of light disappeared, a yellow figure suddenly flew out, and a complacent laugh sounded throughout the place.

n“Hahahaha! The gods have not abandoned me!”

nA person suddenly appeared in the sky. He was dressed entirely in yellow, and even his hair was yellow in color. A single word immediately surfaced in Zhu Yao’s mind. A minion!

nHe did not have a single flying tool beneath his feet, however, he had a large pair of wings growing on his back, yellow in color! With every single flap of his wings, a large gust would be brought about.

n“A demonic immortal!” An unknown person exclaimed.

n“Why would a demonic immortal ascend from this place?”

n“It’s no wonder he took such a long time to ascend.”

n“What do we do? He seems to have come prepared.”

nThe crowd seemed to be in a fluster. A demonic immortal’s strength had always been tougher than deities in the first place. What’s even more important was that demonic immortals were tightly-knitted, and they had always treated ascended demonic immortals with extreme importance. Since this one had appeared here, there would definitely be a group of them coming to welcome him in a moment. Earlier, he had been delaying his arrival to the higher realm, most likely to wait for his companions to receive him.

n“If you’re sensible enough, then hurry and scram. Do not block this mighty one’s way.” The minion complacently glared at the crowd of deities. Just as he was thinking of flapping his wings and fly away, he unexpectedly turned around to give another glance, and his line of sight fell on Zhu Yao. His eyes fiercely widened, and brightly shone right after.

nZhu Yao simply felt her heart skip a beat, as she suddenly had a bad premonition.

nAs expected, that minion decided not to leave. In a flash, he appeared before her, and grabbed onto her arm. “Miss, why don’t we become friends?”

n“…” Zhu Yao’s expression darkened. Sizing him up for a moment, she then pinched a layer of meat on his claw, and forcefully twisted it. “I’m sorry, I don’t become friends with… demonic beasts with poor tastes!” As expected, things like little animals were really hateful.

nThe minion painfully released his hand, yet, he wasn’t the least bit furious. The snowy shine in his eyes were like lit candles. “Don’t worry, if we can’t become friends, you can marry me. Let me bring you back to the demonic continent.”

nAfter saying that, he seriously moved to pull Zhu Yao towards him.

nSuddenly, an icicle was sent straight towards him. The figure of the minion flashed, and the icicle flew past Zhu Yao.

n“A mere beast dares to have such wishful thinking.” Xu Nuoyan took a step forward, and blocked Zhu Yao. His voice was as cold as ice.

n“Where did you pop out from?” The minion was furious as well, as he ruthlessly glared at Xu Nuoyan. In an instant, the flaps of his wings became even more forceful. “I like that girly, so hand her over to me. Once the people receiving me arrives, I will let all of you here go, how about it?”

nZhu Yao was speechless. Even though she was referring him as a minion, his intelligence shouldn’t approach that of an actual one in the animated movie, right!?

nXu Nuoyan did not reply, instead, his smile grew even colder.

n“Girly, girly!” The minion desperately waved his claws at her. “Return home with me.”

n“Scram!”

nJust where did he get his confidence from? Although he was a demonic immortal, he had only just ascended. The people here were all Profound Immortals, alright? Instead of taking this opportunity to flee, he actually dared to threaten them.

n