novelraw Chapter 521: The Cannon-Fodder Mother of the Child of Destiny Is Finished
Chapter 521: The Cannon-Fodder Mother of the Child of Destiny Is Finished
"It looks like Auntie, you feel the same way."
Seeing it like this, it was probably pretty close to the truth.
Well, no wonder, Xiao Yi couldn't help stroking his chin. After hundreds, even nearly a thousand years of sealing the demon domain, such a long period of restraint was indeed a significant drain on the heavenly dao.
It seemed that raising the Golden Core beyond its current stage might not be easy in his lifetime.
That was exactly what An Ning had said.
But Xiao Yi felt no regret about it.
He knew that ultimately the heavenly dao was not something human effort could change! Why should he trouble himself!
After all, apart from the first few years, this life had been happy—wasn't that fine?
With family and friends around, as long as he stayed happy his life’s length hardly mattered, right?
After a brief moment of thought, the young man who felt no regrets shrugged it off gracefully and soon cheerfully turned his mind to crafting new magical artifacts.Most importantly, given the current state of the cultivation world, this matter had little to do with An Ning and him. Although A-Yi’s cultivation was impressively high, he was still genuinely young. Many of his childhood playmates were still hovering around the Foundation Establishment stage, far from the time to face a lightning tribulation.
As for the elders, the closest to him, Third Young Master Xie, had recently broken through successfully. Hmm… how to put it, Xiao Yi couldn’t help laughing; one could only say that over the decades Uncle Xie persisted, and all those beatings he took for coming over weren’t in vain.
Aunt Lingyun and Fourth Uncle still hadn’t reached the necessary cultivation level yet, so no need to worry for now…
As for Master Yan, his strength was certainly not weak. Having spent years rescuing people across the land, his resilience and some accumulated virtuous merit made this tribulation unusually steady.
As one of the few strong rogue cultivators today, he adhered to the old idea that greater ability meant greater responsibility. After forming his Golden Core, Yan traveled even more, righting wrongs and doing chivalrous deeds with renewed vigor.
From the gossip Auntie and he occasionally overheard when going out, his master had indeed had quite a run of luck with romance lately.
Fallen noble daughters, unfortunate heirs who lost their families, beautiful rogue cultivators, even ordinary mortal women—everything was represented. Most came from chance rescues while traveling.
No way around it: under lightning tribulations, countless people died. With Golden Core experts rising, many powers inevitably reshuffled. The cultivation world’s chaos had never truly ceased.
It was a pity that those relationships often began so beautifully but, in the end, cough… saying they ended in a hurry wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
Just watching such spectacle had An Ning and her little nephew sit through several dramas.
Even the usually optimistic Yan, after a string of incidents, couldn’t help doubting life.
Fortunately, aside from being stubborn in certain ways, he was genuinely carefree and magnanimous. Though he had regrets, he enjoyed living boldly, roaming around performing chivalrous deeds.
"Alas, different paths don’t last long together. Maybe in this life I simply don’t have that kind of fate!"
On one outing, hearing him sigh in melancholy, not far away An Ning and the now-grown-looking Xiao Yi both couldn’t help twitching the corners of their mouths.
Especially when they glanced at the man’s still-simple clothing and the empty belt at his waist…
In short, the cultivation world was full of turmoil, but everyone tacitly dared not provoke An Ning and her companion anymore.
No other reason than the few who passed tribulation and suddenly realized that above the Golden Core, even cultivators of the same realm could differ greatly in strength.
Particularly when looking at the Xuanming Sect, whose sect leader had become increasingly arrogant thanks to personal strength gains, still domineering despite losing some to the tribulation.
The various sects and families sighed deeply.
They wondered why the world treated them so unfairly, forcing righteous cultivators to struggle under the demon sect’s thumb for a lifetime. Was the saying true that where the dao rises a foot, the demon rises a yard?
And those many spiritual treasures they "selflessly" contributed earlier—thinking of them still stung.
That was nearly seventy percent of their fortune!
Heavens, how unjust…
Humble as they were, glancing over at An Ning and her compatriots who always broke through first and crushed rivals, they could only mutter bitterly. When facing the two, outwardly they still wore respectful expressions.
Especially later when it became known that this Miss Shen, besides tremendous strength and top-tier formations, was also an exceptionally skilled alchemist.
Remember that girl from the Xie Family, Xie Lingyun? Because she befriended this grandmaster, despite not having top-tier talent she barely survived her tribulation by grinding pills and nearly made it through.
Now she was one of the elders of the Xie Family.
Once that news spread, the cultivation world went crazier than ever. But for some reason, despite these people groveling and offering large amounts of spiritual medicine, they still couldn’t get a single elixir from Grandmaster Shen.
"This Miss Shen really holds grudges!"
Yes, their futures lay within reach, yet this person was as unyielding as ever. No matter how they displayed sincerity, she gave them no chance.
How could that not infuriate people?
If An Ning could be manipulated, fine, but with such strength in front of them, force was impossible. Their anger needed an outlet.
So the already-ruined Tianxuan Sect was picked out and mercilessly beaten.
Even Lingshu Sect, which had acted in secret earlier, was unearthed.
Suddenly, the crowd’s anger had a channel.
Hey, if that sect hadn’t shamelessly coveted other people’s cultivation methods years ago, Miss Shen—no, Grandmaster Shen—might not have given up on the righteous path so completely.
Otherwise, how would they be in such dire straits now?
Later, whenever members from various sects died due to tribulation or other causes, those people were dragged out to be publicly flogged.
Under this trend, the two formerly leading righteous sects completely vanished and were replaced by others.
The previous Xie Family, thanks to some old ties, had prospered increasingly in recent years.
The crowd: "!!!"
Amid envy and bitterness, many secretly cursed: pfft, that old man who looks respectable, but in private he even gave up legitimate sons and Golden Core cultivators to the grandmaster as playthings.
They were shamed for the righteous path.
Still, despite the gossip, he always seemed to encounter a number of beauties of different temperaments on his travels.
An Ning: "???"
Beside her, Xiao Yi, who loved watching the commotion but pretended otherwise, burst into laughter: "Ahahahahaha!"
Too bad, no matter how many beauty schemes they tried, even until the world ended these people couldn’t squeeze a single life-saving elixir out of stingy Grandmaster Shen.
"How can someone be so petty and hold a grudge like that?"
Even up to their dying moments or being struck down in tribulation, many people were left unable to understand.
Why didn’t he just echo a few rumors casually? He was practically the best in the world—why was Grandmaster Shen so grudging?
Xiao Yi, with pill after pill in his hands beyond counting: "……"
Heh heh, Auntie truly loves me after all……