Chapter 49 Growing Bigger and Smaller "Why don't you call me brother?"
Hua Deng nestled in his arms for a while before her breathing calmed down.
Thanks to her special constitution, when she raised her head again, her lips, which had been ravaged and mangled, had returned to normal. Shen Zhou stroked the corner of her lips, his eyes filled with an unreadable emotion, seemingly regretting that he hadn't been able to leave a mark.
Several knocks sounded on the train car door.
Hua Deng quickly pushed away his face, which was so close to hers: "Yueya and Yueman have come to bring food, let me up."
Shen Zhou pinched her earlobe: "Then let them leave."
Hua Deng blushed and climbed off him: "No, I want to eat something."
Shen Zhou glanced indifferently at the outer room, then stood up as she moved, quietly sitting to the side, watching Yueya and Yueman place the tray on the table and invite Huadeng to taste it.
Hua Deng asked Yueya to place the chestnut cake at Chen Zhou's place, saying, "Try this."
Chen Zhou was indifferent, picked it up and took a bite, but only one bite.
Hua Deng asked, "Is it delicious?"
Shen Zhou: "It doesn't taste good."
Crescent Moon: "?"
Hua Deng wasn't surprised at all. She picked up a piece herself, smiled, and stuffed it into his mouth: "You have to eat it even if it doesn't taste good."
Shen Zhou lowered his eyes, staring at her slender, white fingertips, slowly chewing, and said, "Delicious."
After feeding him the entire piece of pastry, Hua Deng gestured with her chin to the side: "Where's the tea?"
Chen Zhou picked up his teacup and took a sip.
Seeing his expression, Hua Deng couldn't help but chuckle: "The tea isn't good either?"
Shen Zhou: "Hmm."
Full Moon: "?"
Hua Deng personally picked up a cup of tea, fed it to his lips, and asked in a drawn-out tone, "Now? Is it good?"
Shen Zhou's expression remained unchanged. He took a few sips from the rim of his cup and said, "Delicious."
Crescent Moon and Full Moon: "..."
I understand.
They left the carriage, which was filled with an atmosphere of discord, without looking back.
After feeding him pastries and tea, Hua Deng smiled so much that her eyes turned into two crescent moons: "Chen Zhou, you're like a child."
Chen Zhou ignored him, and Hua Deng stuffed another piece of candy into his hand: "Is it tasty?"
"tasty."
Hua Deng's eyes lit up: "Then can you turn into a child for me to see?"
Chen Zhou paused in his chewing motion and lifted his eyelids.
Hua Deng cupped his face and said, "Your dimples aren't very noticeable anymore. You were so cute when you were little, you know?"
Shen Zhou calmly replied, "Is that so?"
"Yes, yes, people are cuter when they're little." Hua Deng was so engrossed in imagining him shrinking that she didn't notice the strangeness in his tone.
Shen Zhou said, "I think so too."
Hua Deng: "Then you... ah!"
She cried out. Because she found that her vision had suddenly changed drastically; the tables and chairs had grown larger, and Chen Zhou had also grown larger. She swung her legs and couldn't even touch the ground.
Looking down again, I saw that my clothes were loose and baggy, so much so that I could no longer be called wearing clothes, but rather I was covered by piles of clothes, which was quite comical.
She shouted angrily, "Shen Zhou, what have you done?!"
Unfortunately, as the person shrinks, their voice also becomes childish, and when they shout, it not only lacks power but also sounds like a childish, coquettish whining.
Shen Zhou pinched her cheek, a hint of amusement in his eyes: "Why don't you call me brother?"
Hua Deng stared in disbelief: "Have you no shame? Who's your sister?!"
Shen Zhou picked her up, put her in his arms, and gave her a mirror: "That's right, my sister isn't as cute as you."
Although Hua Deng was angry, she still admired her cute face in the mirror for a while. She was so adorable when she was five or six years old, with big eyes and long eyelashes. No wonder her grandmother always said she was a little fairy.
After admiring it, Hua Deng slammed the mirror down, still angry: "You better change back right now!"
Shen Zhou picked up a piece of pastry and slowly put it into her mouth, saying, "Open your mouth."
Hua Deng took a big bite, her cheeks bulging, as if imagining Chen Zhou chewing the pastry: "Is your hobby feeding children? How boring."
Shen Zhou patted her head and said, "Eat slowly, don't choke."
Hua Deng quickened her eating pace, and with his help, she gulped down a cup of tea. Wiping her mouth, she said, "Alright, I don't want to eat anymore. Quickly turn me back."
Shen Zhou didn't speak, so she simply turned around, grabbed his arm, and shook it vigorously: "Shen Zhou, Shen Zhou, you're the best, please turn me back."
When adults are embarrassed to do something, they can do it without any psychological burden after shrinking. After meeting her gaze for a while, Shen Zhou gave in and restored her to her original state.
But soon, as he held Hua Deng's soft waist and pressed his ear against her neck, listening to her ticklish laughter, he casually thought, "It's definitely better this way."
As dusk fell, Hua Deng slept in his arms.
Half-asleep in the night, she vaguely sensed that Chen Zhou wasn't asleep, but was fiddling with her peach blossom bracelet from time to time. She asked groggily, "What are you doing?"
Shen Zhou replied, "It's nothing, go to sleep."
She fell asleep again. When she woke up again, it was the next morning.
Hua Deng sat down at the table, feeling refreshed, and picked up his pen to prepare his individual report for the upcoming Immortal Sect Competition.
Yes, there are reports of this kind of thing in the cultivation world as well.
She racked her brains and cobbled together 30,000 words of fabricated experiences from her time at the Qingyang Sect, which was enough to get by.
While she was writing, Shen Zhou sat beside her, casually touching her bracelet.
After she finished writing, Chen Zhou let go. The peach blossom chain was bright and shiny, looking brand new. She couldn't help but ask, "What did you do?"
"I infused it with several strands of sword intent," Shen Zhou said. "It will protect you."
"Sword intent? What is that?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Zhou casually waved his hand, and the surrounding scenery suddenly changed.
Before you know it, the city lights have dazzled you, and you find yourself standing on a cloud, facing the mighty river that flows eastward through towering mountains and valleys.
Mist rises from the river, and the streetlights seem to ask, "Where is this?"
Shen Zhou said, "This is a space I created myself. You can try out the power of your sword intent here."
"?"
Hua Deng no longer wanted to delve into whether it was reasonable to create such a large space.
She stared blankly at the bracelet: "How do I try it on?"
Shen Zhou: "You can set a mnemonic, anything will do."
"Alright." Hua Deng replied without hesitation, "Chen Zhou, you big dog!"
"Yes, the mnemonic is my name."
There are three more words after this.
"At most two words."
"You're talking nonsense! Why didn't you say that before?"
Shen Zhou pressed down on her wrist and glanced at her: "Are you still going to try?"
Hua Deng pointed the bracelet at him and sneered, "Try it, I'll use it to kill you right now!"
Shen Zhou didn't even blink, letting her rush towards him. As she silently recited the incantation, he indeed flicked his wrist, and the sharp sword energy flew off in another direction.
Hua Deng initially didn't take it seriously. The sword intent was too docile in her hands, and there was no recoil when it was released. She figured that as a Golden Core cultivator, she could only unleash the power of a Nascent Soul cultivator at most.
Until the sword energy surged forward relentlessly, and with a thunderous roar, it leveled a mountain!
Hua Deng: "..."
The sword energy continued forward, and one after another, two, three, four... countless mountains collapsed with a thunderous roar, towering peaks crumbled, and rivers boiled.
Hua Deng: “!”
The power of this sword intent is terrifying; destroying a city would be no problem.
She turned around abruptly, asking in shock, "Am I now able to kill cultivators at the Integration Stage?"
Shen Zhou said casually, "The Tribulation Transcending stage is also acceptable."
Hua Deng's heart pounded: "What if it's Qiu Ce?"
Shen Zhou said calmly, "I told you, he's a piece of trash."
At that moment, Hua Deng couldn't care less about anything else, focusing intently on examining her precious bracelet. She managed to squeeze in a reply: "Okay, I know, you're the best!"
Shen Zhou forced her to turn to him, his eyes lowered: "You're so perfunctory when you praise me."
Hua Deng chuckled and said, "No, I didn't. I was just speaking from the bottom of my heart."
Shen Zhou's expression remained unfriendly, but unfortunately, Hua Deng's attention was entirely focused on the bracelet, and she excitedly asked, "How much sword intent do you have?"
Shen Zhou replied calmly, "Ten, nine remain."
Hua Deng quickly put the bracelet away, not daring to try it again: "Why is there so little? Did you slack off?"
"You think I'm like you?" Shen Zhou glanced at her, and seeing that she really liked it, he reluctantly added, "There will be more in the future, but I can only condense this much for now."
That sounds difficult. Hua Deng asked, "Did it take you a long time? When did you start?"
"It didn't take much time," Shen Zhou said casually. "It started a month ago."
A month ago, wasn't that when she was just rescued from Yu Heng's clutches?
He had started preparing so early on, and she was completely unaware.
Hua Deng put her arm around his neck and said with a smile, "Even so, I won't pay you a salary."
Shen Zhou lowered his head in response to her movement: "I told you, you can offset it with other rewards."
Unexpectedly, Hua Deng blocked her way with one hand. She stepped back and, suppressing a laugh, asked, "When are you planning to undergo your tribulation?"
Shen Zhou said, "Are you in a hurry?"
He waved his hand and exited the space, and the two returned to the carriage.
“Then let’s go now,” he said. “You go back to Yaoqing Sect first, I—”
"Why? I want to be with you!" Before he could finish speaking, Hua Deng immediately grabbed his hand.
“I’ll be back soon,” Shen Zhou said, clearly not intending to take her with him.
Hua Deng asked sullenly, "How long is 'sooner'?"
Shen Zhou said, "Within five days."
Hua Deng was speechless: "Five days is considered fast?!"
An unprecedented anxiety welled up inside her. She rushed over and hugged Shen Zhou's waist, saying in a low voice, "I have never been separated from you for so long."
Shen Zhou paused for a moment, then changed his words: "Four days."
Hua Deng shook her head sadly and said, "I don't want you to shorten my time; I want to stay with you."
Undeterred by the lack of an answer, she looked up into his eyes and said, "I won't bother you. I'll just watch from the side, okay?"
As they spent more time together, she noticed that he seemed to compromise every time she looked at him like that.
She looked at him for a moment with her eyes drooping, and Shen Zhou sighed almost imperceptibly, saying, "You can only stay until the next day."
Hua Deng was about to say something more, but he didn't give him the chance and said directly, "Starting from the third day, the Heavenly Tribulation will end, and I will officially attempt to break through to the Tribulation Transcending Realm. My true energy will affect you, so you must leave immediately."
Hua Deng stared intently at him, and seeing that he was indeed not going to back down, she reluctantly said, "Alright, then you must come back safely."
Shen Zhou agreed, and after she told Yueya and Yueman to go directly back to Yaoqing Sect to wait, he took her to Tianhan Mountain.
Tianhan Mountain has a special formation. Whenever he appears, he will immediately notify the Left Protector. Before long, the Left Protector will rush over and bow to the two of them.
Shen Zhou said, "Call Jin Ze over."
The Left Protector nodded, and after a while, Jinze, with a pill still in his mouth, was carried over along with the bed.
He swallowed the pill with difficulty, looking completely bewildered.
Ignoring his bloodied back, Shen Zhou pointed to Hua Deng and said, "I will be undergoing tribulation in the next few days. Protect her and send her back to Yaoqing Sect before the day after tomorrow."
Jinze: "???"
The Left Protector sighed with shame, "I'm sorry, Young Master, I was too rough with my strength."
Jinze's eyes twitched, thinking to himself, "You didn't hold back at all during those thirty lashes, I think you did it on purpose!"
But he was more concerned about something else: "Are you crazy? Taking a tribulation at this time? You're going alone without me?"
He dared not shout it out loud, but could only send a telepathic message to Shen Zhou, for fear that Hua Deng would hear it.
Shen Zhou remained calm, as if he hadn't heard anything. He gave Hua Deng a few instructions, and just before leaving, he transmitted his voice to him: "Yes, I'll be alone. Lie Tian will remain in your hands."
Jinze was so angry that his head ached, and he could only watch helplessly as the other man walked away.
He glanced at the streetlights again, enduring the throbbing pain in his back from the lightning, and gave a weak smile: "Don't worry, I'll protect you."
Hua Deng: "...Thank you."
Jinze lay on the bed, looking worried, and listlessly counted on his fingers. Suddenly, a cool spiritual energy flowed into his back, instantly relieving the pain from his wound that had kept him awake.
He turned around in surprise and found that Hua Deng was treating his injuries.
"Your name is Jinze, right?" she asked.
"……right."
“I am a healer. Although your injury is serious, I should be able to heal half of it,” she said.
"...No need. It looks heavy, but it's almost healed. I don't need you to help."
Hua Deng laughed: "You speak the same way he does."
Jinze muttered, "How could that be? I'm a real man."
He finally didn't refuse Hua Deng's treatment anymore, and even when she withdrew her hand to wipe her sweat, he hesitantly said thank you.
Hua Deng looked outside, wondering where Chen Zhou had gone, and couldn't help but feel a little uneasy: "Will he be in danger during his tribulation?"
"No," Jinze said absentmindedly.
Not even a little?
"Of course, why are you still worried about that? Unless he wants to die, no one can kill him, so don't worry."
His words were probably true, and Hua Deng finally felt relieved. She stayed at Duan Yun Palace that night.
However, the heart that had just been put at ease was once again gripped by the sound of thunder in the night.
She sat by the window, hugging her knees, watching the distant clouds filled with lightning and thunder, waiting silently.
She waited and waited, all night long, but the thunder continued, and the light of the sunrise made the purple lightning appear even more ferocious.
She couldn't sit still any longer, but she didn't want to wake Jinze, who seemed to be asleep, so she could only anxiously ask the system, "What's going on? Why is the tribulation lasting so long?"
Cultivators often face the Forty-Nine Heavenly Tribulation when they advance in their cultivation. The one that the sword immortal personally tore apart ten thousand years ago was also the Forty-Nine Heavenly Tribulation.
Even if one were to attempt to break through to the Tribulation Stage, the most one would face would be the Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation. Yet, in the few hours Hua Deng had been observing, countless heavenly tribulations had already fallen—hundreds? Or even thousands?
The system's tone was unusually heavy: "Host, do you remember what I told you before? The Heavenly Dao energy in this world is too weak, so the points progress has stagnated."
Hua Deng said urgently, "Why are you bringing this up now?"
“But after monitoring the heavenly tribulation last night, I think I was wrong,” it said. “Because you see, the fact that a heavenly tribulation of this magnitude can be sent down is enough to prove that the Heavenly Dao of this world is not weak at all, but on the contrary, it is extremely powerful and can ignore the rules of the plane.”
"...Are you sure?"
“Confirmed,” the system said. “It is precisely because it is too powerful that even I, as a system, am suppressed and unable to draw energy from it.”
The bright lights were incomprehensible, almost overturning her understanding.
Since the destruction of the Four-Nine Heavenly Tribulation, the fear of the Heavenly Dao among the people of the Nine Provinces has diminished considerably. In addition, few people have died under the Heavenly Tribulation in the past ten thousand years. As a result, the Heavenly Dao has gradually changed from being fierce and cruel to being gentle and harmless in the mouths of cultivators.
But the system says that this idea is wrong. It has simply gone into hibernation for some reason, silently observing the world, and waiting for the right moment to strike and kill.
"You say this Heavenly Dao is very strong, but just how strong is it?" After a long while, Hua Deng asked, looking at the purple lightning that was descending once again.
"In at least the dozens of worlds I've visited, I've never seen such a powerful Heavenly Dao."
Hua Deng's heart skipped a beat: "What about Chen Zhou? Is he in danger?"
“Host, you don’t need to worry about him,” the system said. “The strongest tribulation in this world should be the Ascension Tribulation of the past. Those who undergo the tribulation will be subjected to five hundred lightning strikes, so that only one in ten who ascend to become immortals survives.”
"But this time, the Heavenly Dao faced a Nascent Soul cultivator and unleashed a heavenly punishment far more severe than the Ascension Tribulation. In my opinion, this is enough to prove one thing."
"Even the mighty Heavenly Dao fears the existence of one person."
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