Little Fresh Meat
Everyone stood a hundred nautical miles away, without the slightest idea of what to do next. They closed their eyes in silence as they heard the last, deafening strike of the three bolts of lightning.
Within the depths of the bone-chilling ocean, Yang Chen was completely numb to it. For all intents and purposes, he was basically dead. Other than the Endless Resolve Restoration Scripture’s rapid workings within his dantian, the rest of his body only held what could just pass off as life.
Boom! Boom Boom! Rumble…
Finally, among the clouds, a bolt of Tai Qing Heavenly Lightning many times more powerful than the last roared like a thunder dragon. It opened its bloody jaws, then bit down upon the tiny body a thousand leagues under the sea.
This bolt triggered shock waves strong enough to uproot a small island. The ripples created waves a hundred feet tall, sucking in water from shores a thousand miles away!
At this moment, the Pacific Ocean was grey-white.
It was dead silent.
…
About a minute later, the waves and winds calmed.
The storm clouds in the sky quietly dispersed, revealing the bright, full moon.
Amidst the light breeze, no one would’ve imagined the terrifying scene that just happened a minute ago.
“It has ended…” said Poseidon mildly, standing mid-air.
Christen, who was already sobbing on her knees violently looked up, then glared daggers at Poseidon. “It’s all because of you! Look at what you’ve done! Why did you attack without listening? Even if you don’t recognize him as Hades, will you only be satisfied when he’s tossed back into rebirth?! What good would it bring you?!”
Poseidon took the tall chef’s hat off, revealing a head of grey-brown curly hair. He threw it into the ocean, allowing the waves to swallow it whole.
Facing her, Poseidon said calmly, “Aphrodite, mind your language. I am only using my abilities to let this man know that the laws of space would never be beneath Chinese cultivation. As for attracting the heavenly tribulations, that’s his own doing. Since his cultivation had already reached the peak of Soul Forming stage, he would have to face the heavenly tribulation to achieve the Tribulation Passing stage. The tribulations would’ve arrived at any moment. That has nothing to do with me.”
“He wouldn’t have attracted the tribulations if you hadn’t made him go all out,” raged Christen.
“Hmph. If he’d just admitted defeat sooner, none of this would have happened. Then again, how would I have known his cultivation had reached such a level?”
“Alright alright!” said Alice, hurriedly breaking up the fight. “We’ve known each other for tens of thousands of years now. I can’t believe you both can fight at a time like this. Let’s see what happened to Yang Chen.”
When Christen and the rest arrived at the exact point the lightning struck, the four of them were speechless.
They watched as a body floated up to the surface of the water. At this point, it looked like he had just been roasted in an oven. His skin wasn’t just wounded—it was burned black.
“His body... is still intact?!” exclaimed Poseidon, shocked.
Realistically speaking, they weren’t sure if they could find his body or find if they did, in how many pieces.
The four of them were there when the huge war broke out ten thousand years ago. Although they never cultivated Chinese techniques, they were familiar with their abilities.
However, after an attack by such powerful heavenly lightning, they could not believe that Yang Chen wasn’t pulverized.
“That’s odd…” Stern frowned. “Why do I sense… like there isn’t any form of energy in his body…”
“You’re right.” Poseidon’s grey-blue eyes flashed with confusion. “There is still life in him, he’s not dead but he seemed to have lost his cultivation.”
“That’s not right. If his cultivated powers are lost, then that would mean he’d become a normal person. But his body is obviously recovering on its own,” said Alice, pointing urgently.
“Recovering?”
Everyone looked at the body closer. Indeed, although his body was burnt black, the structures under his skin were alive and changing at a pace detectable by the naked eye to replace dead cells with new tissues.
“What’s going on? I can’t feel any energy waves, but his body is recovering. Is his body undergoing some changes we cannot sense?” wondered Stern aloud.
Christen wasn’t panicking anymore. She landed on the ocean’s surface, gently lifting Yang Chen’s body with both arms and hugging him tightly.
When she felt his pulse, Christen’s eyes filled with tears. Smiling, she scolded gently, “I knew you were too stubborn to die. You’ve suffered so much.”
Yang Chen was still unconscious in the beautiful blonde’s arms. Half of his face was already starting to recover, revealing a new, fair face. He looked at peace.
Christen looked at the familiar face, then smiled. “You’re unlucky you know that? You don’t look any more handsome than you did even after being struck by lightning.”
Stern and his sister walked up to her. They looked at the unconscious Yang Chen, puzzled but still smiling. They were so relieved at the fact that this man hadn’t died.
“Aphrodite, you’ve fallen for Hades, haven’t you? I didn’t know you like little fresh meat,” joked Alice.
Christen cocked an eyebrow. “I’m not like you, Sister Artemis. Not me.”
“Hmph!” Alice wrinkled her nose, grabbing her brother’s arm like a little bird coming closer to a man. Obviously, she was ignoring Christen’s teasing.
Stern gave off a dry laugh. Patting his sister’s silver locks, he asked, “Say… there are only a few of us here. Other than Ares, why aren’t the rest of them awake yet?”
“Who knows? Then again this is near the USA. Even if they were awake they’d probably be too lazy to come over. We already have this heartless man with us here, so it’d be meaningless for the boss to be here.” Christen narrowed her eyes at Poseidon behind them, her tone full of venom.
Poseidon was still staring at Yang Chen in Christen’s arms. How could such a miracle happen? he wondered.
“Aphrodite, where do you plan to bring Hades? We can’t bring him back to China like this,” asked Stern.
Christen nodded. “I’ll bring him to the place I’m staying. We’ll talk more when he awakes.”
“The… the person who destroyed the fleet... Is it…” Alice hesitated, not sure what to say.
“Not him.”
This time, Poseidon spoke up. “The characteristics of his space law techniques were different from the person in the video. His aura and qualities are different too. He willingly risked his life to fight me with all the powers he had. That meant he couldn’t be someone with some ill-intentions. He clearly understood that he wasn’t in my league.”
“Not him? Then who? Why did he look exactly like Hades? As for the people who understand spatial laws, isn’t it just the twelve of us?” asked Stern.
Poseidon shook his head. “I’m not sure either.”
Christen clenched her teeth, exclaiming, “Poseidon! What do you mean?! You mean you’ve always known it wasn’t Yang Chen, and you still had to fight him to this point?!”
Poseidon shook his head, looking like he was too lazy to explain.
Stern quickly broke the fight. “Aphrodite, calm down. It has been tens of millenia. Aren’t you familiar with this man’s temper yet? Other than Zeus and Athena, he would never listen to anyone. You should bring Yang Chen back to rest now, maybe even wash him. There’s still not an ounce of energy in him, I don’t know how he’s making his body recover like this. Hopefully, there won’t be any side effects.”