Chapter 20: Let's end this
While trying to come up with a solution for his problem, he thought about the inconsistencies.
The system had told him that he wasn't bound by the Heavenly Dao and its rules, so he could avoid its direct strike.
Yet, how had the Heavenly Dao imposed a restriction on him and sealed his cultivation base? And why couldn't he unseal it?
Something didn't add up. If he truly wasn't bound by any rules, he should have easily broken free from the restrictions.
Yet here he was, like a defenseless mortal waiting for his judgment.
Looking at his pathetic condition, he sighed.
He had to come up with a solution and unseal his cultivation base. Otherwise, even if the Heavenly Dao didn't kill him, he would bleed to death—a fate too humiliating for someone like him. It would be worse than dying by the Heavenly Tribulation.
Was this due to his mentality? Or was it because he wasn't worthy of the physique he possessed or something else entirely?
Closing his eyes, he pictured the figure most familiar to him—silver hair, golden eyes, and that otherworldly face.
That was how he had looked in his past life and how he would look again once he grew up.
Now that he thought about it, he had never doubted his strength.
It was never a question of whether he could do something or not, but whether he wanted to do it or not.
As for whether what he did was good or not, it didn't matter to him at all.
He never thought of himself as a good person, but he had done many good deeds and similarly many evil ones too.
For him, good or evil didn't really matter.
He would describe himself as someone who did what he wanted to do, and to him whatever he did was the right thing.
It had always been a matter of choice. It had always been like that for him.
So, when was the first time he really found out that he could do anything, as long as he desired to do it?
Why had he never questioned his thinking before?
Was he always like this?
After all, there were a few people in his previous world who were more powerful than him, but he had always felt that he was even above them.
So why was he questioning himself now?
Nothing had changed.
He was still the same person he had been in his past life.
In that life, his entire clan had been killed, leaving him without a background, so he had to rely on himself, as no one had been there to take care of him.
Furthermore even though he had a far higher starting point in his previous world, as that world was too powerful but that didn't matter much..
Because he now had a terrifying physique, a sky-defying cultivation technique, and battle experience along with fighting techniques from his past life.
He was not the hot-headed battle-maniac he used to be, not the person who would kill someone for an insult.
Hence, strictly speaking, wasn't he in a much better situation now than before?
So, was it because, after he fell in love with her, he grew comfortable with his life and always tried to take fewer risks, ensuring neither he nor she would be in danger?
But why would he take risks when he didn't need to?
He was already invincible in his realm, and as for those stronger than him, he could surpass them in a few years.
Not to mention, he wasn't alone.
Perhaps he wouldn't have cared much if that were the case, but... he cared.
She meant everything to him; he couldn't bear to see her hurt, even a little.
So, instead of acting recklessly that would put them both in danger, he opted to stay low-key, spending a wonderful life with her.
He didn't think anything was wrong with her choice.
What was the most important thing in life?
Strength? Freedom? Love? Happiness? All of them?
He had all of them, so why throw it away?
Saving the world or something, why should he care?
He never doubted his strength, but he blamed himself when he saw her sacrifice her life for him.
He felt he could have done anything, but in the end, he made the easiest choice.
So when he found out that he could
bring her back to life, he couldn't contain his emotions and even shed tears.
Now that he had the chance to bring her back to life again, he didn't want to risk anything before reviving her.
That's why he grew angry at himself for being careless.
But really, why did he forget the thing that made the most dangerous person in his world?
Wasn't the reason he was revered and feared by everyone that he was a crazy person who would do anything to get what he wanted, killing anyone who got in his way, no matter who it was?
Wasn't he the one who, at eight years old, had shouted at the face of an immortal Emperor that he would kill him and everyone who shared his bloodline?
Was that something a sane person would do?
He knew what kind of person he was, and she knew it too.
And yet, she had sacrificed her life so he could live.
Now here he was, lying there, waiting for death even after getting a second chance, just because he didn't want to take any risks.
Had he really forgotten that sometimes what seemed like the most dangerous choice was the right one?
(Really forgot..?)
As he slowly tried to get up, feeling the painful sensation from almost every part of his body, he managed to sit cross-legged again on the ground, which was now wet due to his own blood.
Putting his left hand on his chest and feeling his beating heart, he smiled.
This familiar sensation...
Facing an enemy far more powerful than him, with his life on the line, where any mistake would lead to doom—and yet, he felt his blood boil.
Risking your own life just so you can live.
Wasn't that what he had always done? Why should it be any different now?
He hadn't been able to do it then, but now he had a second chance—a chance to see that face again...to see that smile again.
All he had to do was live (complete the mission—well, don't forget the necessary thing) and remove anything or anyone that got in his way.
__________________
Sitting cross-legged, he closed his eyes as the lightning bolt fell.
Boom!
It struck heavily on his left shoulder, but this time he didn't even open his eyes. Instead, he activated the Chaos Devouring Technique in his mind.
If this technique allowed him to devour anything, then surely it could devour the Heavenly Tribulation as well.
While thinking about possible solutions for the problem, he had initially directly dismissed what would have been his obvious choice in his past life.
Directly devouring the Thunder Tribulation was risky, as its destructive nature was too great, and who knew what it could do to his body?
But it was still a better option than doing nothing.
One by one, four lightning strikes fell in rapid succession on his Dantian and both shoulders. His inner bones were shattered, his vision blurred, and his blood flowed endlessly.
"System," he murmured weakly, feeling the energy draining from his body.
[Yes, Host?]
The system responded instantly.
"Heal me," he ordered. "And protect my Dantian."
Self-confidence was important, but being blindly confident and confronting a situation without knowing your own condition was something only fools (or protagonists from urban novels) would do.
He had always believed in himself because he knew he could overcome any situation, but he never overestimated his capabilities.
In his current state, he wouldn't last long, so he directly commanded the system to heal him.
He knew it would require a considerable amount of system points to continuously heal himself, especially since the Heavenly Tribulation showed no sign of ending.
Moreover, he didn't want to spend too many points since he needed them to revive her.
But he could only do that if he stayed alive.
As for his Dantian—well, let's say he didn't want to be crippled.
Even though it would eventually heal, he would have to start cultivating from scratch again, and who knew if he would face a similar tribulation?
It was better to solve the problem once and for all.
[Ok, Host.]
The system's reply came, and a cooling sensation spread across his body. The bleeding stopped, and his cracked bones began to rejoin rapidly.
At this moment, he didn't care about anything else.
Every time the lightning bolt struck, he would attempt to devour it.
Earlier, he had discovered that he could actually devour a small part of the lightning bolt, though it was less than a millionth of its power. But it was still something, so he continued.
As long as he could devour some source of the lightning, he would be able to unseal his cultivation base.
As for the pain from his bones and meridians, which were being destroyed and healed repeatedly, he didn't care.
This level of pain was nothing to him.
As if feeling the changes happening to its target, the Heavenly Dao grew angrier as five more lightning strikes fell in quick succession on five different points of his body.
Boom!!
Boom!!
The Meridians got broken and healed continuously as the cross-legged figure just sat with his eyes closed.
Boom!
_________________________
Earlier, the Heavenly Dao had observed that this pest could evade its authority, so it saw him as a threat. Now, it wanted to obliterate him completely.
Although it didn't know what he was doing while sitting cross-legged before, it didn't think much, but now that it saw that the boy's wounds were healing continuously, it became furious.
In its frustration, the next lightning bolt targeted his head directly.
At that moment, the cross-legged figure opened his eyes.
Boom!
A deafening sound echoed across the area.
Though this time, it wasn't the usual sound of thunder hitting flesh but the sound of a collision.
The thunder strike collided with the spiritual barrier and disappeared.
Seeing the sudden change, everyone watching had different expressions on their faces.
The woman watching from the side and the little girl watching through the screen displayed ecstatic expressions, while the Heavenly Dao—well, although its expression couldn't be known—was clearly stunned.
But the cross-legged figure still had an indifferent expression on his face before.
"Stop!"
He said, and the healing stopped.
"How many system points are left now?"
He asked the system.
It seemed like he had lost quite a lot of system points.
[Host, 25,000 system points are left.]
Hearing the system's reply, he sighed.
Before the Heavenly Tribulation, he had amassed around 60,000 points. Now, only 25,000 remained.
[Host, you don't have to worry.].
The gains far outweigh the losses, and you will be able to recover those points in no time.
As if consoling him, the system replied,
Really...
What kind of gain?
Apart from a new ferocious adversary, it appeared he had gained nothing more.
Well, it was better than dying, so he didn't regret using the points.
But he was really angry at this Heavenly Dao now, as it made him waste so many of his various system points.
He swore that if the Heavenly Dao didn't disappear by itself in the future, as the system had told him, then he would be the one to tear it apart.
As he slowly stood up, stretching his bones, he glanced at the blood beneath him and couldn't help but sigh.
It felt as if he would have really bled to death if he hadn't used the system points to heal himself.
He looked up at the heavens with a smirk, as if mocking and challenging the authority that couldn't even deal with a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator.
How easily the tables had turned.
Previously, the Heavenly Dao had been mocking and looking down on him, but now he was the one doing so.
As if it heard his challenge or felt his mocking expression, the Heavenly Dao erupted in fury.
And a thunderous rumble echoed across the sky.
The previously dark purple lightning turned white, and this time there were hundreds of them rumbling across the sky.
It seemed that his continuous defiance had enraged the Heavenly Dao beyond its limits, prompting it to violate its own rules.
These white lightning bolts far exceeded the strength expected of the Foundation realm.
Yet, despite the Divine Damnation gathering above him, the boy's expression didn't change in the slightest as he drew the sword he had obtained from the novice package in the System store.
"Let's end this."
.....
P.S. All these things were what he thought so; the only thing he did was to get up and sit cross-legged; that's why only a few seconds passed.
So, now, don't say that in all this, why did the lightning strike never fall?)