BOOOMM!!

Thunderous sounds, which seemed like they wanted to shake the world, constantly echoed across the battlefield, as thousands of beasts were struck by powerful lightning.

Heavy rain poured from dark clouds in the sky. When it struck the tide of beasts, it fell like knives, tearing bloody holes through their black fur and dropping them in masses. Yet, as if it were nothing, the tide trampled its fallen and continued to advance, unhindered and without fear.

Although the casualties among the beasts seemed continuous, the cultivators in the test were under tremendous pressure. Even Young Master Chun was sweating and breathing heavily, as he felt his energy being consumed in large amounts every second.

The difficulty of that battle lay not only in killing the beasts, but in sustaining the Weather Control spell. It was extremely taxing and relied on external energy—yet in an environment where all spiritual energy had been polluted by impurities, maintaining it meant burning through the cultivator’s own reserves.

In the sky, the dozens of black clouds created by the participants, besides having no support from ambient energy, were also under constant corrosion from the corrupted clouds around them.

Even the cultivators’ own bodies were being invaded by impurities, which forced them to divide their attention to keep themselves steady in battle, without falling along the way.

It was not only the disciples of Dragon Peak who faced such hardship, but also Cang Song, Hui Lang, and Rihai. Especially the latter, who left her water-element avatar in the sect’s old mountain, and now, to use the Weather Control Technique, had to use corrupted water elements in the air, since the roots of her main body no longer had that affinity.

But the big problem with this approach was that, when both the elements in the air and the spiritual energy were swallowed by impurities, it was necessary to purify them to be used again, and performing purification outside the body and in large quantities used a massive amount of one’s own energy.

Rihai, despite her super foundation, could not sustain such consumption for more than one or two minutes, even while conserving, which left her extremely worried.

She looked at Aotian, who controlled a cloud of modest size compared to those of the Dragon Peak cultivators, who had higher realms, but his seemed more concentrated and less susceptible to the impurities in the air. Furthermore, by the ease on his face, he could maintain that state for a long time.

Seeing such a scene made her happy for her husband, but a wave of bitterness could not help but arise in her heart when she saw her own state.

‘I am so… useless.’

Her blue eyes shone with sadness.

She loved her husband, and was always happy to see him triumph and show a talent that left others dumbfounded, but the more that happened, the more distant she felt she was becoming from him. Perhaps there would come a moment when she would simply become a burden that would only prevent him from advancing, and then he, one day, would disappear from her life forever.

Just thinking about such a thing happening already threatened to tear her heart apart with sadness.

Rihai knew how much Aotian loved her, and knew that he would not abandon her. But if she truly became a burden that only held him back, she herself could not bear being the one who harmed the person she loved most in this world.

That was why, when she saw the exchange of looks between Aotian and Senior Sister Xiao Ling, who had helped her husband guide the disciples before exploring the small world, she became irritated and almost fought with Aotian.

Her anger was not directed at either of them, but at herself, she just did not know how to express it. She was not jealous like Aotian thought, but rather desperate for feeling useless, and not even being able to support her husband in simple things, like guiding the disciples.

And when he pretended to abandon her, because she did not want to walk, her heart, even knowing he would not really leave, filled with terror. She feared that, while he pretended to leave, he would realize that he really did not need her anymore, and then leave forever.

So, at that moment, her eyes filled with tears and her heart with despair, wanting frantically to run after him and not let him go. But, when thinking about being just a burden to him, which could hurt him, just like when she was taken hostage, which led to her father’s death, her body froze.

She wanted very much to go with him, but feared going with him.

It was complicated and simple at the same time.

But, when she was lost, not knowing what to do, he came back. He comforted her, wiped her tears, and grabbed her roughly, placing her on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, taking her with him.

Despite the way he did all that, and her symbolic struggle, in her heart, warmth and a feeling of comfort took over.

That was her husband, and she could be a burden, but she was his burden, which he would carry without hesitation, never leaving her behind.

But she still loved Aotian too much, and did not want to harm him, which was why that knot still remained in her heart, even now.

And it was at that moment, while her spiritual energy was running out and sadness began to take over her heart, that a finger suddenly tapped three times on her forehead, making her downcast gaze immediately rise, startled.

At that same instant, she found that pair of bright black eyes she fell in love with.

“What’s going on in that little head of yours? I hope it’s not nonsense again.” Aotian shook his head at her, with a helpless smile.

Rihai, widening her eyes in surprise, opened her mouth to speak, but found herself choking on her words, and no sound came out of her mouth before her gaze fell again.

“I… I’m useless, aren’t I?” she finally murmured, with tears of reluctance filling her blue eyes, no longer able to hold what was trapped in her heart.

This time it was Aotian’s turn to look stunned and speechless at her for a moment.

But the reaction he had next was very different from what she expected.

“Pfff!!” An incredulous laugh escaped his mouth, looking at Rihai as if she were crazy. “You’ve got to be kidding.” He shook his head helplessly at his wife.

He finally understood why her mood had been so strange lately.

“Don’t laugh! I’m serious…” she looked hurt at her husband, with tears falling from her eyes pitifully, sliding down her pouting lips, as her voice lowered at the end.

“I am too!” Aotian laughed incredulously. “Are you hearing yourself? If you’re useless, isn’t the rest of the world a joke? Dear, don’t say that out loud again, or others might commit suicide from shame or say you’re showing off.”

He spoke playfully, after all, she was the bearer of a Divine Physique, the greatest existing talent, and after her father’s death, probably the only one in the world, which was why he said that.

But that did not seem to be the answer she wanted, as her tears only seemed to fall faster.

“I still feel like I’m just holding you back,” she murmured, with her head lowered.

Seeing her like that, Aotian’s smile slowly disappeared, and a serious look took over his face.

Extending his hands, he gently held her tear-wet cheeks and gently lifted her face to look at him.

“Listen, Liu Rihai.”

Aotian spoke in a solemn voice, which startled Rihai, as she rarely saw him like that, especially when calling her by her full name.

“In our marriage, I promised to be with you while we walk the path of immortality. Remember that we swore that if one walks slower than the other, we would still remain together, that on the staircase of sincerity we would support each other at every step, as a preview of what we would live from then on?”

“You are my wife, not a burden, not a servant, disciple, or guard, my wife. And I will always be with you, whether as a carp in the river or a dragon in the heavens, remember?”

As his words fell, Rihai’s eyes became cloudier with memories of the marriage proposal at the top of the mountain, and the wedding on the staircase.

And as those memories came, her heart trembled violently, and without resisting, she jumped into him, hugging him tightly, burying her face in his chest, with sobs and trembling shoulders.

Aotian also hugged her tightly, affectionately stroking her golden hair.

“I don’t want you thinking you’re useless again, okay? You are my family, my woman, and the future mother of our children. If I lost you, I don’t even know what I would do. So don’t even think about leaving—I will never allow it.”

He spoke with an extremely solemn tone, which ended up making a choked little laugh escape from Rihai, with her head still on his chest.

A smile appeared on his face seeing his wife improve.

Kissing the top of her head, he whispered lovingly to her.

“You are not my weakness, Hai’er… you are my strength.”

With the fall of those words, the two remained hugging there, finding strength in each other and reconnecting the feelings they had.

…

While the couple understood each other, Cang Song, at the side, looked speechlessly at them and then at the crowd of beasts advancing fiercely toward them, breaking into a cold sweat and almost crying.

‘Y-You two! Can’t you find a better place to flirt, instead of at a moment when thousands of demonic beasts are crazy to gnaw on our bones?!’

He really wanted to shout at them, but quickly realized he did not dare. So he could only look bitterly at the skies, seriously wondering what was wrong with this world.

Hui Lang, at his side, did not seem to share such doubts about life.

He simply stroked his white beard, amused and fearless, not seeming very worried, even giving a pat on the shoulder of his old friend Cang Song, before returning to focus on his Weather Control technique, which he had mastered quite well over the last ten days.

The two quickly returned to focusing on combat, but their energies, despite lasting longer than Rihai’s due to their affinity with all elements, would not last much longer either, especially when their realms had not yet reached the Nascent Soul.

While everyone persisted in combat, and even the blue dragon was not idle, occasionally stepping in to kill powerful beasts, the couple had the luxury of spending two minutes hugging before separating.

Rihai, despite still having her face stained with tears, no longer had the difficulty she had before and seemed much more relieved, smiling with love at Aotian, who smiled back at her.

“Well… Tian’er, then I will no longer dwell on being a burden to you. I will just do my best from now on to be able to help you, even if only minimally.”

She made the promise with a firm look on her gentle face.

“Hmm,” Aotian nodded, not stopping her.

Her effort would make her stronger and, consequently, safer, which was all he wanted for her. And it was better for her to be making an effort than thinking nonsense.

But he would have to keep an eye on it, because Rihai already pushed herself a lot, and Aotian did not want her to overdo it.

He quickly wiped her tears with his thumb, gently kissed her nose, then slid his hand down her arm until he reached her hand.

Aotian intertwined his fingers with hers and then made two stones appear in his palm, coming from his storage ring.

Rihai was surprised by the sudden sensation of weight in her hand and, when she looked at Aotian, she saw him winking conspiratorially at her with a discreet smile.

She quickly probed and finally discovered, stunned, what that was. They were a spirit stone and an elemental stone of the water attribute, but the most important thing was the intense energy inside and the perfect purity. Yes, they were perfect-grade stones, something that should not exist in this world.

Rihai quickly understood that Aotian had realized she was running out of energy and had given her those two things, which were all the fuel she needed to maintain the Weather Control technique for a long time without worry.

Her heart warmed. That was not just an opportunity for her, but it would also greatly compensate for the imbalance in her heart of feeling useless.

Rihai did not refuse, because she knew Aotian had a lot of those things, as if they were useless stones, with she herself having received some fire-attribute ones from him in the past. She had also received some water-attribute ones before, but they were all in her second body.

The best part was that that was a tremendous advantage they had over the Dragon Peak disciples, who could not use any stones, because the internal impurities in them would attract impurities from outside, which would soon pollute and destroy them.

But the perfect-quality ones Aotian gave, and that only they possessed, since they had no impurities, how would they attract external ones? And, with their intense pure energy, they easily repelled any from outside that tried to enter.

Thus, Rihai’s cloud, which had been the most modest until then, suddenly seemed to receive a steroid injection. It swelled uncontrollably, surpassing all the others before launching a brutal assault against the tide of beasts that was already closing in on them.

The attacks rained down without pause, as if spiritual energy were inexhaustible, leaving the Dragon Peak disciples staring in disbelief.

Even the blue dragon quickly tore apart another hornless dragon, before looking back with bulging eyes.

But it did not end there, for before Rihai made her move, Aotian had quickly and secretly given a pair of stones to Cang Song and Hui Lang. As a result, the moment the massive cloud appeared, two more—only slightly smaller—followed, making everyone watching freeze in place, even forgetting the tide of beasts for a moment.

Aotian smiled to himself, amused. Normally, he would not reveal such a unique treasure in front of others for fear of exposing it. However, the Dragon Peak disciples were too overwhelmed at that moment to notice anything unusual. 

As for the blue dragon, even if it did notice, it would not be a problem. After all, through the missions he had created, Aotian had already confirmed that the dragon was a reliable ally, and there was no danger in using the stones this time.

Thus, without hesitating anymore, he also held a pair of stones in his hand, hidden by the sleeve of his robes.

Smiling, he watched as his small cloud expanded rapidly, surpassing all the others—including Rihai’s. 

With a deafening crack of thunder and a torrential downpour, every raindrop became a deadly strike, plunging from the heavens onto the beasts below and ripping through them with terrifying ferocity.

‘Weather forecast: heavy rain, with possible Shadow Beast fragments falling from the sky.’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep