16 My Tribulation

Removing the robe from his body gave him a huge increase in power. Not only could he swing his saber around quicker and more accurately than usual, but his speed had increased by at least three times!

Unfortunately good things weren't the only things that came with his newfound might. The naked feeling surrounding him was evidence of his new lack of defense. If the breeze he felt wasn't evident enough, then the scratches formed in his body from tussling with the bear was all the evidence he needed.

Although he healed these wounds up in the blink of an eye thanks to his insane reserves of life force, it still was obvious that his physical body was much weaker than it seemed.

Once the bear saw this, it became even more ferocious in its attacks slashing and biting st him whenever it could. This placed Xue Chang even more on guard than usual.

Even if he had an unlimited supply of life force, if he were to die before it could heal him then it was worthless.

Oh how he wished he could have powerful defenses like body cultivators, or even those mystical technique of internal cultivators.

But this was not the time to mole and weep. He had a battle finish.

Ducking under the paw of the bear swiping at his head, he brought his blade up and sliced a thin line in the bear's armpit.

Using the momentum to his advantage, he spun his hips around while moving his feet quickly in order to cut its heel, wrists, neck, and more. Each of these attacks did little to no damage to the monster itself, but as he continued to increase his rapid attacks, more and more injuries began to accumulate on the bear.

The monster, realizing what was happening, became furious. The floor trembled under its rampage as it slammed hands hands into the ground.

The earth shifted as rocks and debris flew into the air covering Xue Chang's line of sight. Without warning, he coughed out a mouthful of blood as something smashed into his chest.

Getting thrown backwards, Xue Chang crashed heavily into a tree. He couldn't even scream from the pain as vomit built up from his stomach and escaped his mouth.

His breathing became ragged and he could barely breathe properly. All that came out were dry heaves. Grabbing at his chest, he could feel several objects rattle inside of him. Confirming that a couple of his ribs were really broken and his right shoulder had been dislocated, Xue Chang clenched his teeth as he reset his arm and push the bones inside of him out of his body.

A piercing scream escaped his mouth as his own broken ribs pierced through his sides. He couldn't leave these in his body for too long else they would get in his way and possibly stab his internal organs during the fight. As such he chose the worst option possible.

Pulling the jade like white structure out of his skin, he could feel his breathing become slightly better as pressure caused from the bones was relieved. There were still fragments left inside of him, but he could do nothing about these.

Clutching his saber like a crutch, he stood himself up quickly to avoid another attack. Luckily the bear was also blinded by the debris and couldn't see him properly, else he would've died by now.

However, even with the dust blocking its vision, the bear could still hear perfectly. Listening to the sound of his saber scraping the ground, the loud rhythmic thumping of the beast charge over at him sent Xue Chang into a panic.

Clutching at the rib fragment in his hand, he immediately threw it forward on instinct without even thinking.

He prepared himself to jump off to the side right after, but to his surprise, a painful holler sounded out within the dense field of dust.

Suddenly something in the cloud began to move around rapidly, removing what was left of the field. Revealing to Xue Chang a heart stopping scene.

His rib had actually found itself lodged within the bear's eye! He didn't expect his random action to have such a fortuitous outcome.

And this was a huge chance for him!

Without hesitation, he picked back up the large blade and charged forward. He couldn't let this monster live! If he were to escape now, it would undoubtedly go into hiding after having its powers revealed.

Fear did not come from what was known, it came from the unknown. And nothing was more terrifying than an enemy who hid itself deeply into the unknown.

As such he planned to finish it off here and now no matter the cost!

Arriving besides the blinded bear a split second later, Xue Chang took in a deep breath as he unleashed his attack.

"Crescent Slash!"

Moonlight lit up the area as the glint of the blade sliding into the bear's limbs flashed by. Unlike the earlier attacks where he used simple quick attacks, this strike was done with an actual technique that he had to get into position to perform.

Crescent Slash was the same skill Tian Hai had. Back when Xue Chang was studying the martial arts manuals, he found several useful skills and techniques that he decided to teach the brothers.

These skills were easy to learn but also provided a decent boost in strength to the user. And although they weren't fancy nor as powerful as some of the other abilities were, they were the most suitable to their ragtag group who had no immortal cultivation foundation.

But because of the differences brought from their weapon of choice, he worked tirelessly for many nights to turn the original saber skill into a spear and sword skill. After all it would be a great surprise attack as no one would expect such a basic saber technique to be used by a swordsman or a spearman.

He did this for many different skills as well and as he read and learned more, his knowledge and repertoire of abilities grew to a frightening amount.

As Tian Kai had once put it, he was an all rounder. A jack of all trades, but specializing in the saber and one other weapon.

And his most familiar skill was crescent blade. It was just to convenient and could be used in most combat situations.

Two deep scars formed on the legs of the demon beast as another flash of light shines up toward the creatures head.

Another Crescent Slash blasted by its face as the monster stepped back and sent its maw toward him.

Xue Chang tried to quickly step off to the side, but one of the unscathed paws found its way over to his escape path.

Of course the bear wasn't dumb enough to let his prey go just like that. It already had an idea of what his plan was and blocked him before he could do anything.

And with a sickening crunch, the sound of Xue Chang's left arm being shattered screeched in his ear.

The bear had caught onto his forearm and actually bit right through the bone. Making his limb completely worthless.

But Xue Chang did not scream or cry. Instead he clenched his teeth together and gave off a determined expression.

Then to the shock of the bear, he took his saber and actually sawed his own arm off!

In a brutal display, blood and flesh flew everywhere as the blade sliced through his arm in a few quick motions. With that, he dropped from the bear's jaw and fell to the ground bouncing with a thud.

The action caused even the beast to step back in shock. Who would've thought a human child would go through such self-mutilation in order to survive?

Shaking its head to get the shock out of its system, the demonic beast approached and sniffed it to see if its opponent had passed out from the pain.

But as soon as it approached, Xue Chang sprang to life. Using his one good arm to push himself off of the ground, he pulled the stump that used to be his arm back and shouted as he plunged it deep into the bear's one good eye!

This action, which would've made anyone hurl, was done with such viciousness and resolution that no one would expect a ten year old (appearance wise) like him to do it.

Now that the beast's vision was gone, Xue Chang actually bought himself some time. When he saw the final tribulation lightning strike down at the beast, he already knew his chances of winning were slim.

As such everything he did now was in preparation for one thing and one thing only.

The past was a mysterious thing. It both shaped and set the foundation for the present.

If certain things didn't happen in the past, then huge changes would occur in the future. Like how if he wasn't struck by the finger all those years ago, he could've been cultivating spiritual force right at this moment.

But then Tian Hai and Tian Kai would've never met him, he wouldn't have moved to this city, and this beast might've gone unnoticed. And of course, he would've never developed his strongest technique.

Despite the way he acted, Xue Chang wasn't as cheerful as he seemed. After the events of the eternal finger striking him, he always a acted casually and cheerful as to not worry his parents. But in reality, no kid would not be affected after experiencing such traumatic events.

Every night for four years after that fateful day, he would waking up with his faces drenched in a cold sweat. Trembling in the darkness of his own room, he would rock back in forth listening to the loud reverberations of his own heartbeat for hours on ends. Sometimes even spending the entire night awake from fear.

The feeling of death clawing at his throat and tearing at his skin still stained him. The image of the finger and the pain it brought along with it was still vivid and fresh in his memories.

He just couldn't let it go.

But Xue Chang was no coward!

He was the son of Zhao Wei, protector of Water Embryo City. He was a member of the Xue Clan, who ruled over an area thousands of kilometers wide. And most importantly, he was the eldest sibling!

He wouldn't let the fear of death be something that held him back in life. One night he clenched his fist together and gave himself a couple of good punches to the face.

That morning his guards arrived at the villa to the shocking sight of him beaten black and blue.

And with that, he promised to himself that his old self had died and a better person would rise from the ashes.

Instead of staying awake every night fearing the same recurring nightmare, Xue Chang constantly went back to sleep. Whether it be naturally, through the use of medicine, or even through force, he forced himself to sleep every night and confront his dreams.

And finally four years later, he no longer had those nightmares. But that wasn't the end.

Conquering his fears not only allowed him to mature mentally, but helped him develop something unique.

After four years of continuous torture, he was able to memorize every single book and cranny of the finger that struck him.

From its shape to its aura, and even the feeling of its overwhelming might, was recorded within his mind. And with all of this at his disposal, Xue Chang created his very own unique skill.

It did not look like a very impressive skill, but that did not subtract from its actual prowess.

Xue Chang wasn't able to describe just how powerful the skill was, but he was able to say it was strong enough to push him and his brother to a draw two years ago. And that was with Xue Hai having the power of a level two Qi refiner!

This fact spoke wonders on the skill's power already. It's only downside was the fact that it needed a sufficient amount of time for him to prepare. That and the huge drawback that would come afterwords.

But right now he needed to end this. He was almost completely out of strength, and once he lost his energy it would be the end for him.

hesitating no longer, Xue Chang took in a deep breath as he felt the air enter into his lungs and flow into his bloodstream. He could feel every cell in his body tremble as his heartbeat began to slow to a crawl.

The sight of the bear began to blur even further as a stream of blood trickled from the corner of his eyes. His skin prickled and tore as an overbearing aura suddenly shrouded him in the depths of the night.

Loud rhythmic thumping drowned out any other sounds in the air. And his vision finally became pitch black. But he wasn't blinded, quite contrary to it, he could see everything clearly.

Shockingly, this was different from his first experience of using this skill. The changes that were occurring was something incredible to him. In the past, he felt as if his might and will were disappearing as he kept the attack going, but now it was different.

He felt omnipotent.

Everything within the vicinity was within his view. Every tiny detail unnoticeable to the naked eye were being seen by him right at this moment. The bristling of the bear's fur, the cracks spreading across the fallen dried leaves, even a worm burrowing its way underground could not leave his notice.

Most importantly of all, he could see a mist of light silently floating through the air. They moved in such intricate pattern and formations that Xue Chang felt as if he was viewing an invisible army marching toward the battlefield.

Yet such a thing did not phase him whatsoever, it was almost as if what he was seeing was only natural. He was unnaturally calm at this moment.

His body was no long listening to him as his mind was solely focused on the glowing mist around him.

After dealing with the pain of having its eye removed, the bear lividly sniffed into the air to search for its prey. Suddenly the aura surrounding Xue Chang shot in the bear's direction. The murderous intent and power behind the aura was enough to make the beast feel like it was in mUd

its movement slowed and it could not help but release a terrified growl.

Gnashing its teeth together, the beast charged forward toward where the aura was, prepared to finish this fight.

It would no longer let this child live, it had accrued more injuries than it should've. Now it was completely out for the kill, holding nothing back. That terrifying aura told it something big was happening, and if it allowed the human child to finish what it was doing, it would be done for!

Yet before the beast could even do anything, a glint of light flashed by as a red blur pierced right into its forehead between its brow. And suddenly a powerful force shot into the opening in its forehead and tore his body apart from the inside out. Muscles, skeleton, organs, and even its dantian were destroyed without even a fragment left behind.

Without a single clue of what happened, the demonic beast lifelessly collapsed onto the ground.

All of this happened within just a second!

and standing over the creature's dead body was Xue Chang swaying heavily in the wind. Looking down at his fallen opponent, a grin formed on his face as he fell back onto the soft dirt behind him.

With his eyes covered from his own blood, he peered into the now red tinted sky and laughed maniacally.

"I did it! I did it! I actually defeated a beast whose strength isn't too far off from the third level of Qi refinement!"

He thought back to all his effort and all the work he put in to training in the past and remembered his uncle's words.

"Even if you train till you reached the peak of humanity and became the greatest martial artist master, no mortal can ever transcend over a Qi refinement cultivator passed the second level. At that point we are no longer fully humans and are already on the path to something greater."

Yet here he was with the corpse of something at that exact level laying at his feet. He was sure of it now, his path was not wrong!

So what if he couldn't go through immortal cultivation!? So what if he could not take in spiritual force?! He was not wrong in his choices. Whether it be to jump out at the curse seven years ago, or his training from then till now, nothing he did was wrong.

"Even if my soul might dissipate in a couple of decades, I won't give up. I'll find a way around this and when Xue Hai becomes an immortal, I'll definitely see him at the top of this world. If cultivators have to face lightning tribulations when they breakthrough to a new level, then let this curse be my tribulation. I will overcome it and rise!"

And with a smile that was fading as his consciousness fell into a deep slumber, he quietly said to himself, "And I'll make him proud to call me his older brother-"