The Revenge of the Reborn Supreme Sovereign

Chapter 536 - 524: The Roaring Qilian Demi Immortal!

How many stars hung in the sky?

Upon hearing Demi Immortal Qilian’s unconventional question, Hua Xiaotian was initially startled. Then, by reflex, he raised his head to look toward the sky.

In the pitch-darkness, only a single star, almost completely obscured by dark clouds, flickered in and out of sight. Peculiarly, this star had no luster whatsoever. As the clouds drifted, it appeared and disappeared intermittently.

This sight left Hua Xiaotian utterly astonished!

"Master, there’s only one, and it flickers in and out of sight! It has no luster, and it vanishes and reappears with the movement of the clouds. I can’t tell what kind of star it is!"

In front of Demi Immortal Qilian, Hua Xiaotian always behaved like a student. In both word and deed, he lacked the authoritative air of Huaxia’s number one that he displayed to the world.

"It is the Seven Killings Star!"

Following swiftly after Hua Xiaotian’s words, Demi Immortal Qilian thought for a moment before asking, "Using yourself as the center point, isn’t it located to the southeast?"

"Master, how did you know? What is going on?" Hua Xiaotian exclaimed, his eyes wide with shock.

"It’s not a matter of how I know! The fact is, no matter who stands as the center point, this Seven Killings Star will always appear in the southeast. A calamity is brewing at the Qiantang River! You came to find me because of this trouble, didn’t you?" Demi Immortal Qilian first shook his head, then let out a deep exhale of foul air. He continued, "Actually, I knew you’d encountered a thorny issue without even having to think. In my memory, a phenomenon where not even a blade of grass or a single leaf stirred on the summit of Kunlun Mountain has only occurred once. That was when Orochi invaded Huaxia. Decades later, the strange sign has appeared again! It seems this creature in the Qiantang River is no less formidable than Orochi was back then!"

No less formidable than Orochi was back then?

Hearing these words, Hua Xiaotian couldn’t help but tremble uncontrollably. As the sole witness to the confrontation between Qin Fan and Orochi, Hua Xiaotian knew all too well how monstrous that eight-headed serpent was. Even Qin Fan had been pushed to the brink; who else in Huaxia could possibly handle it?

Those few eccentrics who followed Master Demi Immortal Qilian at the time?

Hua Xiaotian didn’t know, as he had never seen them in action. But he had witnessed the sheer, terrifying might of Orochi with his own eyes!

Could it be that a second being with power rivaling Orochi’s lies beneath the Qiantang River?

At this thought, Hua Xiaotian shuddered.

"Master, you are truly prescient! Indeed, the Qiantang River is the source of the trouble. Many people have disappeared from the water’s surface, not just fishermen but police officers as well. Even the Guardian Institute has lost several people there! Master, you must know that our abilities as Martial Artists are limited underwater, and our strength is greatly reduced! To that end, I have already arranged for the leading master of Huaxia’s Magic faction to go there, to see if a Magician’s power can create the breakthrough we need! But now, hearing you say that we’re facing something no less formidable than Orochi, has everything I’ve done been pointless?" Hua Xiaotian asked, his voice fraught with anxiety.

"I was referring to the original Orochi. The Orochi from back then and the one that was revived recently are on completely different levels of strength! The original Orochi was nowhere near as horrifying as the one you faced in Japan. Furthermore, every monster has different behaviors, attacks, and defenses. You cannot judge its strength or weakness based on your experience fighting Orochi in Japan!"

Saying this, Demi Immortal Qilian shook his head and added, "However, for something to cause such a change in the heavens and the earth, it will not be easy to deal with! Alas, I am blind now. Even if you took me to the Qiantang River, I could not analyze the situation any further! But since you’ve sought out a Magician, it’s worth a try. As they say, everything has its counter. Perhaps a Magician will indeed be the breakthrough you need!"

"Master, I won’t hide it from you. I was planning to contact Qin Fan!" Hua Xiaotian said through clenched teeth, after a moment of silent hesitation.

"Hua Xiaotian!"

Suddenly, upon hearing Hua Xiaotian’s words, Demi Immortal Qilian turned around. His voice was low and incensed as he snapped his disciple’s name.

"Master!"

THUD.

Hua Xiaotian fell to his knees before Demi Immortal Qilian, crying out in alarm. He had clearly heard the anger in his master’s voice.

"Have you been driven to a dead end?" Demi Immortal Qilian questioned loudly.

"No!" Hua Xiaotian gritted his teeth, his voice thick with shame.

"Have you seen the adversary? Have you fought it?"

"No!"

"Do you even know what kind of being it is?"

"I don’t know!"

"Hahaha! Hua Xiaotian, you good-for-nothing! You’re becoming more and more worthless!" Bellowing loudly, Demi Immortal Qilian pounded his own chest with a clenched fist. It was an expression of heartache, of the profound disappointment in someone who fails to live up to their potential.

"Let’s take a thousand steps back: you haven’t been pushed to a dead end. A hundred steps back: you haven’t fought it. Ten steps back: you haven’t even seen it. One step back: you don’t even know what it is! Yet even so, you’re already thinking of running to Qin Fan to solve your problems for you? Hua Xiaotian, oh, Hua Xiaotian, are you telling your master that after all these years, I’ve trained nothing but a worthless parasite? Is that it? HUH?!"

It had been decades since Demi Immortal Qilian, who had long pursued peace and tranquility, had roared like this. In this moment, his emotions reached their peak. His furious, spittle-flying shouts carried nothing but heartache and utter disappointment.

"Master, I—!"

His face flushing a deeper crimson, Hua Xiaotian was nearly overwhelmed with shame.

"Don’t call me Master! I, Demi Immortal Qilian, do not have such a disgraceful disciple! If you’re trash, then lie in the trash heap! But you are not. You are Hua Xiaotian, hailed as the greatest Martial Arts prodigy in Huaxia! You are the disciple I personally trained! You have reached the peak of the Transformation Realm and have stepped into the Gang Realm! Yet now, the moment trouble appears, your first thought isn’t how to solve it yourself, but to find Qin Fan to soothe your fear? To come running to me on the summit of Kunlun Mountain? Are you telling me that after the trip to Japan, you’ve grown accustomed to having Qin Fan solve your problems? That trip to Japan, after helping you break through the Gang Realm bottleneck, did it also extinguish your indomitable fighting spirit?

"You have disappointed me so deeply. If I could turn back time, I would have forbidden you from accompanying Qin Fan to Japan! If you miss one opportunity for a breakthrough in your cultivation, you can wait for the next. But with your current state of mind, hoping to advance further in your Martial Arts Cultivation is a fool’s dream! An absolute fool’s dream!"

By the time he roared the final words, Demi Immortal Qilian was nearly hysterical, revealing the true depth of his disappointment.

"Master, I was wrong!"

Staring at Demi Immortal Qilian’s trembling, aged face, Hua Xiaotian finally uttered words he hadn’t spoken in years.

"Get out! Do not come to see me until you reach the Middle Stage of the Gang Realm!"

His hysterical roar ceased, replaced by a sudden, chilling calm. With a final, emotionless sentence, Demi Immortal Qilian finished speaking.

He turned his back.

Facing the cliff edge, less than three inches away, he sat down cross-legged, as immobile and majestic as a mountain.