Chapter 516: Chapter 505: The Sword Cultivator Father
Hidden Sword Peak was eerily empty at the summit, where Ye Qiu used his sword to create a small lake, then set up a Spirit Gathering Array around it.
At this moment, Ye Sheng also returned from Artifact Refining Peak and was puzzled by what his father had created with the small lake.
"Go in," Ye Qiu commanded succinctly and directly.
Ye Sheng always followed his father’s instructions without hesitation, so he swam to the center of the lake without doubt, to be honest, the water was really cold.
"I’ve found two Spiritual Pets for you. They’re about to hatch, so when they do, you’ll form a contract with them," said Ye Qiu.
Upon hearing this, Ye Sheng became genuinely curious. His father was going to give him Spiritual Pets? Were they of the Water Element? What species could they be?
Soon enough, Ye Sheng understood. He stared at the two semi-transparent merfolk eggs in shock. These were merfolk, right? Or unhatched Merfolk Eggs? Could it be that there were still living merfolk from the Merfolk Secret Realm his father had contributed to the sect?
"Father, are these merfolk?" Ye Sheng asked with a trembling voice.
Ye Qiu nodded calmly: "Although their level might be less than ideal, for now, they’ll be enough to protect you. You will form an equal contract with them later, and if they ever hinder your cultivation progress, you can simply dissolve the contract."
At this moment, Ye Sheng felt his father’s expectations were quite high. These were merfolk, after all! Merfolk that were at the Foundation Establishment Stage from birth, wouldn’t he be the one slowing them down?
"I’ll be here to protect you, don’t be afraid."
"Okay, Father, I’m not afraid." Ye Sheng’s eyes were full of determination. Since his father had gone to such lengths, he couldn’t back down or let his father down.
The hatching of the merfolk took half a day, but the contract formation only took a quarter of an hour. At the moment they hatched, the sky was clouded over, only clearing after the contract was fully formed.
This impressive event attracted a large crowd of onlookers.
"What’s going on? Who’s crossing the tribulation on the summit of Hidden Sword Peak? Aren’t they afraid of offending the Lonely Swallow Sword Lord?"
"Is this the Heavenly Tribulation for Core Formation?"
"No, this is the Foundation Establishment Heavenly Tribulation. I remember Brother Huang’s Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation was much bigger than this."
"But was the Foundation Establishment Heavenly Tribulation ever this intense? I didn’t experience this during my Foundation Establishment. Does the Heavenly Dao play favorites?"
"Why don’t we just go and see for ourselves?"
Soon, the vicinity of Hidden Sword Peak was crowded with Tianyan Sect disciples who came to watch the commotion, but due to Ye Qiu’s formidable presence, they all kept their distance. However, the eyesight of cultivators was sharp; even from afar, they saw everything clearly.
"That is the Lonely Swallow Sword Lord, isn’t it! When did he return?"
"Who’s that in the lake? Looks like Ye Sheng? Has he reached Foundation Establishment?" asked one disciple in disbelief.
"No," someone else argued, "Look carefully, Disciple Ye Sheng is still at the Qi Cultivation Sixth Level."
"Then what’s he doing in the center of the Heavenly Tribulation? Isn’t he afraid of being implicated?"
"Because the one undergoing the Heavenly Tribulation is his Spiritual Pet."
"What Spiritual Pet? I didn’t see any."
"Take a closer look, the spiritual pets are under the water." The person spoke while widening his eyes—if he wasn’t mistaken, those were merfolk, right? And there were two of them?
"Merfolk?" His companion exclaimed in surprise after a careful look.
His shout instantly captured the attention of the nearby crowd, with some taking in a sharp breath just like he had when they couldn’t see clearly before.
Because of his shout, even before the Heavenly Tribulation had struck, the news that Ye Sheng had contracted two merfolk spread throughout the entire sect, compelling even Sect Leader Qin Guan to come and join in the throng.
"Brother Ye, come on, tell us honestly, how many treasures did you snag in that Merfolk Secret Realm?" Qin Guan asked, somewhat itching with curiosity.
Perfected Ming Shi also squinted his eyes, which were prone to laughter: "That’s right, Brother Ye, there must be some Merfolk Silk in there, right? It’s useless in your hands. Why not hand it over to your junior brother here for Artifact Refining? As you know, refining consumes a lot, and with good materials, Sheng’er can make much better progress, right?"
Perfected Ming Shi was absolutely delighted to see his own disciple contract two merfolk. This was a huge win, a really huge win!
"Hmph..." Ye Qiu gave them a cold look, then turned his head away indifferently.
Neither Qin Guan nor Ming Shi felt awkward and kept chatting nonsense into Ye Qiu’s ear. Annoyed, Ye Qiu finally threw each one of them a storage bag, which he had actually prepared in advance.
Perfected Ming Shi looked at the bags gleefully and then glanced at Ye Qiu even more eagerly.
Merfolk Silk, the legendary Merfolk Silk! He actually got two rolls of it? As for Sect Leader Qin Guan, he was much more reserved, giving it only a glance before containing his expression. However, the way he handled the storage bag was both light and solemn, as if fearing the bag might drop or get damaged.
"Boom..." The terrifying thunder of the Heavenly Tribulation descended, with Qin Guan and Ming Shi shifting their focus to Ye Sheng at the center of the lake.
Since it involved two little merfolk, and they had contracted with Ye Sheng, a Human Cultivator, this Foundation Establishment Heavenly Tribulation was much more fearsome than usual ones.
Fortunately, Ye Qiu had made preparations early. He had set up defensive Arrays around them, and Ye Sheng was carrying several high-level defensive Spiritual Artifacts. As for the two young merfolk, having been nourished in fish eggs for over three hundred years, they were much more robust than ordinary merpeople, having reached the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment just upon birth, and thus withstanding a few strikes wasn’t a big deal.
"Boom..." Three more powerful strikes of Heavenly Tribulation, and despite Ye Sheng being only at the Qi Cultivation Sixth Level and only twelve years old, his expression showed no trace of fear.
On a nearby mountaintop, Lin Shen also watched this unfold with a much calmer demeanor compared to the envious looks of others.
"Envious?" Master Wu’an appeared behind him and asked expressionlessly.
"Disciple is not envious," Lin Shen replied candidly, even with a touch of disdain.
"Good, it’s best that you understand. Only your own strength matters most. Never dwell on momentary gains and losses," Master Wu’an was very pleased with his attitude and continued, "Watch and then go back to your cultivation. I’ve revised the Array again; you have five days this time."
"Yes, Master." Lin Shen turned to leave without a second thought.
Indeed, just as Lin Shen thought to himself, he felt Ye Sheng was on the wrong path, even somewhat neglecting proper practices, and he judged both Ye Sheng’s father Ye Qiu and Perfected Ming Shi as incompetent.
A fine Metal Spirit Root, something many dream of possessing, yet Ye Sheng showed no treasure for it. Instead, he diverged halfway to learn Artifact Refining. Not only that, but he also contracted spiritual beasts. Was he insinuating that his talent was too good, and he had too much time?
Lin Shen had regarded Ye Sheng as a rival before, but it seemed he was mistaken; people like Ye Sheng, with their divided focuses, are destined to fade away in the crowd eventually.
His own goal was the supreme Dao, and those like Ye Sheng weren’t even qualified to be his opponents.
If Ye Qiu heard this, he would probably laugh. There are three thousand paths to the Dao; who’s to say Lin Shen’s path is the only correct one?