Ascending Further

'Damn, I just feel amazing...' Xiao Jiantian clenched both of his hands, watching as the white lightning covered them.

Although he was still in the Divine Spirit Realm, every last person present bowed as if he was already the Brahma Heaven God Emperor. Even the three Brahma Gods did so without hesitation... it was rather surreal. Qianye Ying'er's authority over her subjects was unquestionable and this event is proof of that.

Of course, the fact that he triggered the ninth stage of tribulation lightning and actually survived without a scratch on his body certainly helped with his legitimacy. However, Qianye Ying'er's declaration would mean that she would be the first female ruling God Emperor to call herself God Empress. Female God Emperors would always choose to be addressed as 'God Emperor' as that was the norm and the more 'powerful' title.

However, in this case, Qianye Ying'er's authority did not lessen in the slightest. She was still very much the Brahma Heaven God Emperor in everyone's eyes, hearts and souls... while Xiao Jiantian was seen as her chosen consort.

...

After the ordeal, Xiao Jiantian could walk anywhere on the Brahma Monarch God Realm untouched. After all, he had a personal Brahma King looking after him at all times. A Brahma King was the extension of the Brahma Heaven God Empress' will... so who would dare even look his way maliciously? The answer was; not a single soul.

Since he absorbed his heavenly tribulation lightning, Xiao Jiantian had immediately jumped into the middle stages of the Divine Spirit Realm. Then, not long after enjoying the consort life, he went into seclusion to focus solely on cultivation.

~

Naturally, the news spread like wildfire and the upcoming Divine Realm Conference suddenly became all the more exciting. After all, this would be the event in which the God Realm would bear witness to the future Brahma Heaven God Emperor... and the man who incurred nine stages of heavenly tribulation lightning!

In the God Realm, everyone knew that the top two peerless beauties were Shen Xi and Qianye Ying'er. In fact, it was said that they possessed three-fifths of the beauty of the entire Primal Chaos Dimension. Now to be the husband of such a beauty... well, it would certainly bring great prestige (and envy) to the man in question.

Then the news that this future Brahma Heaven God Emperor's first name was 'Jiantian' spread... some thought that it was a simple coincidence but others were led to believe that Xuanyuan Jiantian had been reborn! This coincidence only spread more controversy across the God Realm and even into the Northern Divine Region.

~

Blue Pole Star, the Xiao Sect, three months after Xiao Jiantian's departure.

The Xiao Sect had blossomed under the ownership of Xiao Jiantian despite him only directly affecting five of its members. By now, all the top geniuses and experts in the Blue Wind Empire all belonged to the Xiao Clan... this was a well-known fact. Having been under Xiao Jiantian, Xiao Wuyi and Xiao Wuqing had both picked up new habits of exploring for greater resources. This naturally lead to the Xiao Sect accumulating rare treasures it had never had.

Meanwhile, the Xiao Sect had a new rising star who had been growing over the months. He was the supposed twin-brother of Xiao Jiantian... Xiao Che. Although he was the twin brother of such a prestigious figure, he didn't receive any preferential treatment other than being let in. This was an order left behind by Xiao Jiantian himself... and so, Xiao Che was put through even more trials in his journey.

To be able to bully such a figure without being punished for it... naturally, some took up the task to vent themselves.

However, this stage of humiliation only hardened his resolve to grow even stronger.

That was when the mystery behind his rather special profound veins started to slowly unveil itself, granting him shocking cultivation speed that surpassed even the Heavenly God's Spiritual Veins by a great degree. This speed was further accelerated whenever he recovered after a fight... and so, he abused this trait to the fullest.

He had jumped to the middle stages of the Spirit Profound Realm after spending a whole year in the Xiao Sect, granting him a core disciple status that he had earned completely off his own diligence.

One day, when he was busy meditating, a petite girl kicked him down onto the floor.

"So you're Xiao Che, eh?" The Golden Crow chuckled, looking down on the young man. "Pretty lacklustre compared to your brother..."

"My brother? Everyone is naturally lacklustre when compared to him." Xiao Che stood up, shrugging away the insult. "As for you... who the hell are you?"

"I've come here to sate my boredom, lowly mortal." The Golden Crow sighed, shaking her head. "Now go, entertain me before I turn you to ash."

"Wait... are you serious?"

"I'm dead serious... so you better start running!"

"....!"

Bang.

Xiao Che dodged a small wild fireball from the Golden Crow with drops of sweat falling down his forehead. 'This girl... is crazy!'

"Start running, I said!!"

"YES... I'LL START RUNNING!"

Xiao Che, sensing the Golden Crow's frightening strength which was far beyond him, he smashed through his cultivation room's door and started running through the Xiao Sect.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

He constantly had to evade her fireballs, leaping around like he was a khajiit high on several bottles of skooma. Never had he run so quickly in his life... but he had no choice if he wanted to live!

"Hahaha, this is a rather amusing display of dexterity, keep going... mortal!" The Golden Crow followed not too far behind him at all times.

"Who dares to cause a disruption in the mighty Xiao Sect-" Xiao Juetian had wanted to intervene but he was stopped by Xiao Wuyi.

"Relax, she's one of the Heavenly Lord's companions and her strength far surpasses my own... so disgruntling her won't do us any good."

"I understand, Grand Elder." Xiao Juetian nodded, bowing his head.

And so, the chase continued until Xiao Che made it out of the Xiao Sect and into the wilderness.

"I..." Xiao Che fell onto the ground, completely out of breath. Every muscle in his body ached from exhaustion to the point that he could barely move. The edges of his robes had been burnt by the Golden Crow's flames but the damage he himself had sustained from the Golden Crow's flames were minimal.

"I'm... dead..."

"Half an hour of running and you're done already?" The Golden Crow shook her head, looking rather disappointed. "We'll have to work on that poor endurance of yours."

"Poor? I was running... for... my life!"

"Mortal, what is your ambition in this life of yours?"

"My... ambition?" Xiao Che scratched his hair, shrugging a little in an act of uncertainty. "Well, I... don't really have one. At the moment, I just want to be strong enough to hold my head high."

"That's all?" The Golden Crow laughed at his face. "You are content with being in Xiao Jiantian's shadow?"

"... What are you saying?"

"It's simple really; wherever he goes, he'll have all the treasure and you will only have his scraps. Not that I'm telling you to be his rival or anything... he'd turn you into a pancake with one strike no matter how strong you become... I'm simply presenting your mortal self with a solution."

"Become independent, make your own destiny... you have that ability. He gave you that ability. So use it properly."

"You're saying that I can become someone great like him?" Xiao Che asked, the light in his eyes glowing.

"Well, with my guidance, it's not out of the question. You've already made the first step and that was leaving the Xiao Sect... now, surely you have more wishes than just being slightly stronger?"

"Well... that would be..." Xiao Che prepared to start dodging again as he got onto his feet. "Women!"

"Hahahaha... that is rather unfortunate! You won't be getting any beauties when you're around Xiao Jiantian simply because they won't have eyes for you."

"Wow... thanks. I definitely need to be reminded that I'm inferior to him every damn second..." He sighed.

"If you accept the fact, then it will no longer offend you when you hear it." The Golden Crow shrugged indifferently. "Now, I happen to have an interest in these... mortal affairs. So, I will protect you on this journey of yours."

"Your task for this year; woo a worthy beauty... or die!"

"You can't be serious..." Xiao Che wiped the sweat off his forehead. "I'll die if I can't accomplish this task?"

"That's right... use this threat as a push of encouragement!"

"...I'll do my best!"

Xiao Che naturally did not wish to meet an early grave so his journey to 'woo a worthy beauty' began. The first step was finding what the Golden Crow considered worthy... which turned out to be difficult in itself. In the end, the Golden Crow decided strictly on the Blue Moon Princess. Xiao Che wanted to cry on the inside.

'I'm still a virgin and you expect me to 'woo' the only Blue Wind Princess?!'

~

The Blue WInd Ranking Tournament, nearly eight months after Xiao Jiantian's departure.

The Heavenly Sword Villa was bustling with activity as the quarterfinals were just about to begin. Within these quarterfinals, there were naturally eight participants. Three of those came from the Xiao Sect, three from the Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace, one from the Heavenly Sword Villa and the other from the Blue Wind Imperial Family. These were;

Xiao Nan, Xiao Zhen, Xiao Kuanglei, Wu Wuexin, Shui Wushuang, Xia Qingyue, Ling Jiantian and... Xiao Che!

If one were to connect all the dots, they'd realise that every last one was under the influential Xiao Clan except for Ling Jiantian himself!

The (totally... I used a wheel!) randomised matchups were;

Xiao Nan (EP1) vs Ling Jiantian (EP1)

Shui Wushuang (EP1) vs Wu Xuexin (EP1)

Xiao Kuanglei (EP1) vs Xiao Zhen (EP1)

Xia Qingyue (SP5) vs Xiao Che (EP3)

(EP- Earth Profound, SP- Sky Profound)

...

The first fight:

Xiao Nan jumped down as Ling Jiantian gracefully entered the stage. They both faced each other off before the fight began... and there was a light exchange of words, too.

"Before all of this, Ling Jiantian, you were touted as the number one genius in the Blue Wind Empire." Xiao Nan stated respectfully. "I looked up to you and was told time and time again that I would never be able to surpass the Heavenly Sword Villa's top disciples. But... Xiao Jiantian opened my eyes."

"Now, after learning from his teachings, all I see is a stepping stone!"

Ling Jiantian frowned, preparing his sword for the fight. "We will see about that."

"Begin!"

As the two clashed, Ling Jiantian started to realise that he was severely outmatched despite being in the exact same level of profound strength as him. To win, Ling Jiantian was forced to use the Sword Spirit Doppelganger which created a complete copy of himself with the same strength... effectively doubling his battle power (more or less)!

But even so, Xiao Nan surprised him and everyone watching as he stood his ground.

"How are you so fast...?"

"You... embarrass the name 'Jiantian'!!"

Using the Xiao Sect's wind profound art to its fullest strength, he phased through both Ling Jiantian's and immediately shattered the Doppelganger. Ling Jiantian's eyes widened as he spit out a mouthful of blood, suffering the consequences of the Sword Spirit Doppelganger.

"I... withdraw." Ling Jiantian's knees buckled as he couldn't stand anymore, using his sword to support him.

Xiao Nan took the suppressing artefact off his neck, revealing his true profound strength which was the seventh level of the Earth Profound Realm!

"... You were holding back the whole time?" Ling Jiantian inquired, slightly angered by that fact.

"I wanted to give you a decently fair fight." He shrugged, moving away from the fighting stage.

Afterwards, the Sword Discourse Arena exploded into more disbelief as the other disciples of Xiao Jiantian revealed their true strength as well. The power and great future of the Xiao Clan... even without Xiao Jiantian present, could not be denied.

The second fight:

Shui Wushuang managed to defeat Wu Xuexin after a drawn-out battle.

The third fight:

"Young master Kuanglei..." Xiao Zhen remarked, smiling as he drew his spear. "I've been waiting for this decisive match for so long! This isn't just another spar or off-hand fight... this is the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament, where everyone can bear witness to the winner! From this, we'll decide who truly is the stronger one of us!"

"Hmph... I admit, it is rather exciting." Xiao Kuanglei nodded. "May the strongest profound practitioner here win."

"Xiao Sect's Xiao Kuanglei versus Xiao Sect's Xiao Zhen... begin!"

Afterwards...

The two had nearly killed each other on the Sword Discourse Arena, refusing to yield to each other no matter what. Though, in the end, Xiao Zhen admitted defeat as Xiao Kuanglei managed to outlast him.

"Young master Kuanglei... you are still... miles stronger than me. Hehe... nothing has changed..."

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Zhen." Xiao Kuanglei kneeled before his severely injured friend. "If you hadn't spent every moment trying to surpass me... then I wouldn't be spending just as much time trying to stay ahead of you. Even after all that, I could only barely win... this is a testament to your great strength and will, Zhen."

"If we had fought again, you'd beat me. That's just how close it was."

"... Ahh, young master Kuanglei, are you trying to make me cry? This is too much... you know..."

Xiao Kuanglei laughed, helping him up. "Get up you lousy bastard... I still need a rival to keep me going!"

"As you wish, young master!"

Fourth match:

Xiao Che sighed as he was matched up with Xia Qingyue, who was in an entire universe of strength compared to him. There was no way he could ever hope to defeat her... best-case scenario was walking away without any severe damage.

'Why did the Heavens curse me in this way...?'

"I concede." Xiao Che said hesitantly, though it was certainly a better choice than getting humiliated in battle. As he returned to Cang Yue's side, he sighed... disappointed in himself. Though, that was when Cang Yue comforted him.

"You went as far as you could... and that's all that matters."

'Man, forget the Golden Crow's wishes... she's a keeper either way!' Xiao Che thought to himself as he glanced at Cang Yue. "Yeah... Xia Qingyue is in a league of her own."

~

The Brahma Monarch God Realm, Xiao Jiantian's cultivation hall.

Xiao Jiantian finally opened his eyes and stood up from a pool of cultivation resources that would make even God Emperors drool. This pool in particular was made out of Divine Water of Absolute Beginning... yes, the Divine Water of Absolute Beginning! Divine Masters were willing to risk their own lives and spend centuries searching for a single drop of this thing.

As he left the pool, every gesture of his overflowed with a strange mix of grace and tyranny that somehow meshed together.

In his left raised palm, he released a golden power that only Divine Masters could match.

Smirking, he swayed his new shade of irresistible golden hair and flexed in front of a mirror he had created.

"I might be getting a little too handsome..."