Chapter 131: I'm a student! Give me a break!

Qian Renxue walked slowly into the simple Thunder God Formation as Zi Yi had requested, which was also the Six-pointed Star Formation.

She grabbed Xiao Qing from her neck and let it wait aside for a moment.

Qian Renxue's face remained calm on the surface, but her heart was already blooming with joy; she was about to show off.

Zi Yi was also quite interested in Qian Renxue, whether it was her strength or her excessively outrageous soul-ring configuration; without further words, she directly activated her soul power to activate the Thunder God Pillar.

Zi Yi slowly raised both hands, lifting them to chest level, palms facing each other half a foot apart; a faint purple-gold lightning appeared at the center of her palms and gradually intensified.

When the purple-gold lightning filled Zi Yi's palms, the light suddenly burst forth, suffusing the entire formation with a purple-gold glow.

Six bamboo-shoot-like plants suddenly lit up, emitting fine lightning; immediately, all the lightning shot toward Qian Renxue, who stood before the pillar.

After a moment, the lightning faded; a flash of light appeared at the base of the originally white pillar, and a purple-gold lightning spread upward along the pillar's patterns, reaching the top in the blink of an eye.

The next instant, a purple-gold column of light suddenly appeared, radiating light that enveloped Qian Renxue's body.

The column's color began to shift, from blue to white, then quickly from white to yellow, and almost without pause transformed into purple.

Purple-gold, white, yellow, purple—these four colors each flashed for an instant before becoming the next, so fast it gave a dizzying feeling.

Even the shift from purple to black took only an instant; the next moment, black patterns surged upward at astonishing speed.

The black patterns passed through two-thirds of the white pillar, turned blood-red, and the crimson patterns suddenly appeared, likewise shooting straight to the top in an instant; lightning coiled around the white pillar and lingered.

The changes had not ceased; the lightning surged and instantly transformed into various thunder-attribute soul beast silhouettes, which resembled the white bones seen earlier before the palace, and she even saw within them the Thunder Roar Hell Abyss Vine.

These soul beast phantoms slowly bowed and knelt before Qian Renxue, as if facing a future deity of faith.

Moments later, all the soul beast phantoms merged and collided, forming an upward-bursting column of light.

Just as Qian Renxue thought the underground space would be shattered, the light column emitting immense pressure suddenly went out.

Exactly, like a sudden earthquake—it came fast and left fast.

The lightning faded, the underground grew dim again; Qian Renxue fell silent for a moment, then asked, "Is your Thunder God Pillar out of power?"

Zi Yi, as if she had hit a glitch on a TV, stepped forward and slammed the pillar, looking strange: "This shouldn't happen? Why did it suddenly disappear? The procedure is correct—we were almost successful just now."

At that moment, the extinguished white pillar suddenly lit up again, shining on Qian Renxue.

"Ah, all right, I told you my procedure was fine."

Qian Renxue heard Zi Yi's nagging words, and for some reason she felt her consciousness growing hazy.

A faint purple-gold lightning domain lingered around; as Qian Renxue gradually opened her eyes and her consciousness cleared, her mental state also underwent some changes.

Everything before her seemed to be fading, and the external world was likewise dimming.

Around her, reality and illusion intertwined, with golden light winding about.

"Descendant of the Angelic God, welcome to my temple."

A soft call echoed, summoning Qian Renxue.

Qian Renxue lifted her head with difficulty; her body felt as if it were filled to bursting, as though it might explode…

A purple-gold light before her suddenly brightened, and a figure began to walk slowly out of it.

The purple-gold light and shadow were dreamlike and illusory.

"Are you... the Thunder God?"

Qian Renxue's voice was hoarse; in this illusory world, she felt her whole mind greatly affected.

"The Thunder God has fallen; I am merely a remnant of his divine soul, not worthy of the title."

He was a remarkably handsome young man, clad in purple-gold armor, his black hair disheveled and flowing behind him, giving off an air of unrestrained abandon.

On his forehead he wore a purple-gold headband, its center bearing a bright, dazzling gem; in his right hand he grasped a purple-gold great hammer that seemed to symbolize supreme authority, casually slung over his shoulder.

Apparently noticing Qian Renxue's discomfort, everything around instantly turned into a dark starry sky, utterly unlike the recent purple-gold hall.

The man's face was indifferent and calm, but his dark-purple eyes, flashing with lightning, were like violent thunderbolts—or like the most terrifying cosmic black hole, breeding endless dreadful disaster.

Qian Renxue stared at him blankly; although she had seen many divine traces, this was her first direct confrontation with a powerful deity.

The man suddenly laughed, the heavy pressure he'd exerted gradually fading; he said, "Seeing me, you seem quite surprised."

Qian Renxue drew a deep breath: "No matter who, seeing a deity would be surprising, right? Why did you bring me here? From the Thunder God Pillar's recent failure, it seems you don't intend to choose me to inherit your Thunder God position—why drag me to this strange place?"

The man let out a light sigh: "Of course it's because of you—you greedy child, you already bear two divine inheritances, even including the Asura God's position, yet you still want my Thunder God Nine Trials; you deserve punishment."

"Ah?"

Qian Renxue's heart startled, then she hurriedly said: "I was wrong; I shouldn't have been leeching off you. If I just don't take your Thunder God trial, wouldn't that be fine? Don't punish me—I'm still a child!"

"I'm a student! Cut me some slack!"

The man before her said nothing, merely gazing calmly at Qian Renxue, yet his heart grew ever more delighted; this shameless girl had a touch of his former bearing.

Although the man released no aura at all, Qian Renxue felt as if she were facing empty air.

But the more this was so, the more Qian Renxue could grasp the terror of the person before her; if he wished to kill her, a single thought would suffice.

The man said lightly: "Student? Even being a beast wouldn't do."

Qian Renxue's face stiffened: "If not, then not; why is your attitude so bad?"

The man raised his brows: "Yo, weren't you just admitting fault? Now you're being so stubborn?"

Qian Renxue sighed like a salted fish, closed her eyes, and opened her arms, as if welcoming a storm.

"Anyway, I'm going to be punished—what did I do wrong? Let the storm come harder!"

"Aren't you looking for a gifted soul master? My talent isn't good enough? If you won't let me inherit, just forget it, miser!"

The man was amused by her, sized her up, and said with a hint of regret: "Your talent is indeed excellent; if I were still alive, I might truly have to compete with them, but alas I have fallen, and must quickly find a successor—no matter how good your talent, I can't hold onto it."

"If you had found this place first, it would have been fine—but you are the Angelic God's descendant, also chosen by the Asura God; even if you took my Thunder God Mark, you might not choose my divine position; perhaps this is fate."

"My divine power is dwindling with use; if you keep milking me, will I even find a successor? You're cutting off my lineage—do you think you deserve punishment?"

"Er" she turned her face away, feeling guilty; Qian Renxue had always been rather unpleasant, she could be much worse than Tang San.

"Then how do you say you'll punish me?"

The man gave a light smile: "Don't worry, it's an easy punishment—go bring back a supremely talented thunder-attribute soul master for me; I've already boosted your soul bone's thunder attribute to the extreme lightning degree—bringing a genius as compensation isn't too much, right?"

Qian Renxue nodded, suddenly enlightened, then asked doubtfully, "The voice I heard earlier really is yours! But Zi Yi helped you for so long and still failed—could I possibly bring them back? You won't trick me like you tricked Zi Yi, will you? I'm not some obedient promise‑keeper, and what if none of the people I bring catch your eye?"

The man said softly, "Rest assured, an era with you in it is destined to be a glorious age that past generations could never hope to match; the once‑rare geniuses will pop up like pebbles by the roadside—this is the inevitability of the times."

"I don't know if a genius rivaling you will ever appear out of nowhere, but pick a thunder‑attributed soul master of middling talent from among the geniuses for me—I've already used up most of my divine power contending with the other gods."

"If no new Thunder God appears, the world's heavenly tribulation becomes ownerless and easily manipulated by the other gods of the Divine Realm; I have no fondness for other spirit beasts, after all I died in the Dragon God War amid the divine beasts' riot, but that child who always obeyed my earlier jest makes me unable not to feel pity—I can wait for you thanks to her efforts, so once you become a god please look after her for me."

"After all, she's just a spirit beast who's been through the Dragon God War; the gods above must be even harsher toward spirit beasts."

"At the very least keep her alive; I can feel her resentment toward me, but this child is dull—with your silver tongue she'll be easily duped. Once she's free, you can trick her into accepting the next agreement, then help me protect her—please."

Qian Renxue fell silent for a moment, then said, "Rest assured, once I become a god I will protect her in the hands of the gods."

Your wife and daughter—I will raise them; go in peace.

His body had grown increasingly illusory, and the surrounding starlight began to dim along with it.

"My divine power is running low, yet I still have to oversee the later divine examination, but earlier I used my divine sense to follow you all the way and discovered you were practicing the secret art of drawing down heavenly thunder—this is also the Thunder God's most fundamental and important ability, governing heaven's fortune and misfortune, holding the balance of things."

"You also possess thunderbolt power; I can transfer it to you."

As he spoke, a surge of soul energy instantly rushed toward Qian Renxue's sea of consciousness; the man swung his right hand, and the violet‑gold great hammer on his shoulder turned into a stream of light that shot toward her forehead, while the pattern of half feather, half blood‑sword also appeared, the two echoing each other.

The incoming violet‑gold great hammer suddenly drilled into Qian Renxue's divine examination mark, and a sharp pain and numbness spread from her sea of consciousness, making her groan; accompanying it came a large number of memory imprints.

A somewhat illusory voice came from nearby: "This is the true divine art, and that hammer—help me pass it to the future Thunder God; my consciousness will fall into sleep, only my divine power will oversee the examination, and the next Thunder God will be entrusted to you."

The voice cut off abruptly, and the numbness felt as if it were pulling her out of illusion and sinking her into reality.

Everything around turned to darkness, the pitch‑black fading away, and Qian Renxue felt everything spinning; in her mind, streams of violet‑gold thunder slurry burst outward, and four characters appeared in her consciousness—Divine Thunder Heavenly Punishment! Her head felt numb, as if it were about to explode.

"You've finally woken up." A call with a hint of emotion sounded, and the surroundings also rustled softly.

Qian Renxue struggled to open her purple eyes, her gaze unfocused; at this moment she only felt that being alive was wonderful, just a step away from falling into the gods' hands.

As her consciousness returned, strength seemed to descend upon her again; Qian Renxue heard her own heartbeat and also heard the powerful contraction of the Angelic Holy Core.

Qi and blood surged, and instinctively Qian Renxue sat up.

Although the surroundings were dark, Zi Yi had lit a candle, dyeing the nearby stone walls orange‑yellow.

Qian Renxue glanced at the purple‑haired woman kneeling behind her and instantly felt she had lost a hundred million.

Thus she again followed her instinct and lay back down on Zi Yi's full, smooth thigh.

"What are you doing? Dizzy again?" Zi Yi asked, looking strangely at Qian Renxue as she lay down once more.

"Mm, a little dizzy."

Qian Renxue lay on the comfortable lap pillow, and by the firelight she unconsciously began to study Zi Yi's face.

Although she's a clumsy oaf, she unexpectedly looks fine—quite the mature woman, and most importantly she's nicely proportioned in that full‑bodied way.

Zi Yi tilted her head and asked, "What just happened to you? Why did you suddenly faint?"

Hearing that, Qian Renxue couldn't help but shiver, her mind clearing in the sea of consciousness where the intense numbness still lingered—the gods' power is truly terrifying.

Qian Renxue said, "I just met the Thunder God, and he told me to look after you."

"Thunder God? So he isn't dead after all."

4000, damn, I was on a business trip today but I managed to find time to write four thousand words—I'm truly awesome. Sigh, having to be away for four days, only Sunday can be a day off, people are already numb, because I have to lug all kinds of photography gear, I can't even bring my computer, tomorrow I'll officially start shooting, and I don't know if I'll have time to write, manpower is short, I, a post‑production editor, have been reassigned to be a camera assistant.

(End of Chapter)