Chapter 28: Talents of the Taigao Tribe (3)
Ye Wanshi nodded, wiping his eyes and facing the crowd. Sensing his resolve, Logean Wuji knew exactly what he was going to do. Realizing that, he smiled and sent one last spirit transmission.
"You are lucky that you asked for my help, or I would not have stepped in."
After he was sure that Ye Wanshi had learned his lesson, Logean Wuji stepped forward. At this point, Even Ye Zuliao was preparing to rush forward and stand by Ye Wanshi's side, just to support him. Despite his usual self-confidence, it was evident now that Ye Wanshi still retained his morality.
Logean Wuji wanted to make sure of that.
To assuage the crowd and also to assist Ye Wanshi, Logean Wuji raised his hand to silence the people. Once they realized that he was going to speak, the people all shushed themselves and others until the place was quiet.
"Do not worry. Long Chen's body was indeed destroyed, but his soul remains; I personally ensured that it would. I need simply bring him back." There was a snap following these words; Logean Wuji's simple action sent underlying, yet existing, laws into a spiral of activity.
Their usual functions under the surface were hijacked by Logean Wuji's will, allowing for something miraculous to occur.
Out of nowhere and nothing, Long Chen's body was reformed. He looked exactly the same, but he was a bit paler and deathly quiet. His short black hair seemed wet and slick, almost sticking onto his forehead. The black pearls in his eyes were colder and distant, making him appear to have been trapped in another world and was now coming back to this one.
Logean Wuji frowned, not expecting these minor changes. 'I brought him back from the realm of the dead, so maybe it was the timing? No, maybe the new King Yama reinstated by the Omni-Law has changed things in the First Hell of Grief.'
His thoughts straying, he snapped out of it and returned to dealing with the matter at hand.
Long Chen was finally starting to 'wake up,' so he looked around and his expression begun to brighten. The absence of consciousness in his eyes went away, and the paleness of his skin was soon reverted. In a matter of seconds, he was back to normal.
"Ahaha! So I did it? I became an immortal being? Ahhahahaha!"
Long Chen happily skipped off of the stage and reunited with his friends in the crowd, feeling as though he had gained a new lease on life. Logean Wuji regarded him with a weird look, committing the entire scenario to memory.
Ye Wanshi came over to him, his eyes still a bit wet and slightly puffed. He thanked Logean Wuji in a small voice, then ran off of the stage. Ye Zhiyuan and Ye Zuliao wanted to go after him, but it was now Ye Zuliao's time to showcase his talents. Ye Zhiyuan alone left, following Ye Wanshi back to the inn they had been staying at.
Logean Wuji once again took a look at the sky, seeing that it was getting closer and closer to nighttime. Very soon, the talent show would end and he would be left with decisions to make and, finally, students to teach.
Even so, something lingered in the back of his mind. It felt like unfinished business almost, but was also something that he did not yet know of. Not liking that feeling, he put effort into his divine will, allowing it to easily breach the limiters of time, space and any other conceptual law in his way. This was similar to how someone would try desperately to understand why they got a bad feeling about something, but would not be able to.
Only, in his case, Logean Wuji looked across time and space to find out exactly what was causing his feeling. His eyes flashed a plethora of colors, until what remained reflected in them was the image of a mountain of cherry blossoms high above the clouds. After a while, he blinked and the image disappeared. His divine will also became dormant again, as he had already seen what was coming.
'Interesting.'
Ye Zuliao cleared his throat, alerting Logean Wuji to his presence. Looking down, Logean Wuji saw a cheerful boy looking up at him and waving, trying respectfully to get his attention.
"Oh, it's you. What is it?"
"Well, Sir Wuji, I was hoping you could help me with my demonstration as well."
Since he was already there, and particularly interested, he quickly agreed and followed the boy's lead. Ye Zuliao kindly asked Logean Wuji to stand opposite him, then spread his legs and bent them at the knees. Once he was ready, he opened his mouth and tried to say something to Logean Wuji.
"Ah-hay. Eiyu ka heh eee ow!" Logean Wuji's expression sunk. He could sense, through spiritual fluctuations, what Ye Zuliao wanted to say, but he could not believe that he had actually said that.
So, he asked in incredulity, "What?"
Ye Zuliao seemed to have realized something and slapped himself on the forehead. "Sorry about that. I said that you can hit me now. Any kind of magical attack! Don't worry, I can take it!"
'Bitch, no you can't!" Logean Wuji, for the first time in a while, started to panic. Was this kid crazy or something? He wanted him, Logean Wuji himself, to hit him?
Even the people in the crowd were absolutely horrified, thinking that this kid had already grown tired of living.
Ye Zuliao remained confident and excited, yet also completely serious. He had a pretty decent idea of the magnitude of what he was doing, thanks to Sun Wukong, but he would not dare take it easy. Sun Wukong had told him quite plainly that even if Logean Wuji held back the vast majority of his power, he could probably still grind the world to dust.
Still, there was nothing to worry about; as long as Ye Zuliao did everything right, he would be able to survive.
"Hey, monkey, what madness is this?" Father Tang asked, already worried about the child's safety. Mother Guan had also returned after dropping the kids to the inn with their aunt, and she was also wondering what crazy ideas Sun Wukong had filled the boy's head with.
"Heh heh! You both worry too much. If I'm right, this child should be able to knock Sir Wuji's socks off!" Father Tang frowned but said nothing.
Mother Guan, on the other hand, was not having it. "You irresponsible monkey! What if you're wrong? Did you ever consider that?"
Seeing that they both were heavily skeptical, Old Man Sun smirked and rammed his fingers into his ear. When he pulled them out, a dim golden light flashed and his staff grew from the size of a hair to the size of a twig. When Father Tang and Mother Guan saw it, their eyes widened and they subconsciously looked again at the boy on stage.
"He... But how?" Father Tang was the first to speak, already hard at work trying to understand. Mother Guan was equally confounded, unable to say anything in response to what she had just witnessed.
"Now you understand. My Jingu Bang is the divine artifact that is melded with my essence soul. As long as I live and have power, it lives and has power. Even so, it's divinity was almost entirely consumed by that 'little boy' you see up there."
Gautama Buddha and Guan Yin were astounded by this news. Even they could not understand it. Now, instead of being worried they became eager and impatient. Logean Wuji could not attack the boy fast enough!
As for Logean Wuji, he couldn't help overhearing their conversation and many others. He could clearly hear Master Gouki shouting his approval, saying that Ye Zuliao was a true man with the truest expression of "fighting spirit."
Taking a breather, Logean Wuji nodded toward Ye Zuliao, wordlessly informing him to prepare himself.
Then, after carefully reducing his power output to 0.0000000000000001%, he made his move. His arm moved through the air, coming from behind his back to then stop directly in front of him, his finger pointing at Ye Zuliao. When he did this, those that were watching too closely felt their eyes burn, forcing them to blink savagely.
The sky, for more than a few seconds, was brighter than it had ever been. The faint stars that had begun to show themselves vanished and the setting sun along with them. All the world seemed to be filled with godly splendor and light.
Due to Logean Wuji's finger, a sizable speck of dust flitted through the air toward Ye Zuliao.
'It's fast!' Alarmed, he opened his mouth and braced for impact. It was quite a sight; seeing a young boy with his mouth wide open in the face of impending doom.
As the speck of dust moved, it left a trail of minor spatial and temporal tempests in its wake. This was due to the fact that it was on the verge of shattering spacetime laws and teleporting over to Ye Zuliao.
Logean Wuji's fists tightened and he considered stopping the attack before it could hit. He then reconsidered what the elders had said, but by then it was too late. The speck of dust had reached Ye Zuliao.
Like a vacuum, Ye Zuliao sucked with all his might. To the bewilderment of those spectating- and Logean Wuji- a monstrous force came from this suction, pulling the speck of dust into it. The terrifying speck of dust and its inherent energy vanished from the world, returning all to a state of calm and normalcy.
Ye Zuliao leapt into the air, fist high as he cried out, "Yes!"
He kept jumping up and down, feeling amazing after having survived his most monumental near-death experience. He even ran over to Logean Wuji and hugged his leg, excitedly saying, "Did you see that, Sir Wuji? I did it!"
After that, he looked for Ye Zhiyuan and Ye Wanshi, but remembered that they weren't there. So, he found Old Man Sun and shouted over to him, "Great Sage, I did it! Just like you said I would!"
Hearing the term of address 'Great Sage,' some of the people looked over at Old Man Sun curiously. After assessing him and finding that he seemed to be nothing more than a mere mortal, the people disregarded it as just a respectful title.
Old Man Sun nodded, clapping his hands. His actions led to everyone else clapping, even Logean Wuji gave a wide-eyed slow clap.
He had to admit that, at the final moment, he thought that Ye Zuliao would be killed. He had thought about warning the boy beforehand, but he did not know how to tell him that the speck of dust he was about to try 'eating' was actually capable of mass destruction.
Seeing such an attack be entirely negated, Logean Wuji was nothing if not impressed.
Ye Zuliao left with Old Man Sun, heading straight for one of the vendors who had come to the plaza to capitalize on a sales opportunity. Ye Zuliao got what he wanted and some stuff for the other children, about to leave when he heard some people call out to him.
Looking over, he saw the Taigao tribesmen that had been ignoring him completely ever since he arrived. They acted this way because, for the longest time, it was accepted that Ye Zuliao was nothing but a gluttonous wastrel. He had no obvious talent besides being able to eat anything without ever getting sick or feeling full.
So, naturally, they did not expect much from him. After seeing what he could do, they felt horrible about how they treated him and thus had come to apologize.
"Little Zuliao, we were fools. We should never have treated you that way and-"
"It's fine," Ye Zuliao cut them off, "I totally understand. Even I thought I was a good-for-nothing pig until Great Sage showed me what I was truly capable of."
Ye Zuliao smiled cheerfully at them and even gave them something to eat. After chatting for a little while, they still felt the need to apologize. This time, Ye Zuliao did not interrupt their apology, then he left to go give the food and snacks to the others.
After they left, Old Man Sun looked down at him and said, "Weren't expecting that, were ya?"
Fighting tears so as to avoid dirtying the food he was holding with his tears, Ye Zuliao nodded. Voice breaking, he said, "Great Sage... Thank you so much!"
Sun Wukong's heart warmed and he pulled the boy closer to him. They left for the inn in high spirits, looking forward to the day that Sir Wuji would make his decision.
On the stage, he saw that the people were still shocked after what had transpired. He took some time to calm himself, then he addressed them.
"Alright folks, that marks the end of our little talent show. I would like to thank all of you that showed up, all of you that took part, and all of you that helped ensure it was as safe as possible."
The people became lively, fiery and energetic yet again. Their combined cries filled the village, signaling the successful end to the talent show.
"Tomorrow, on my mountain, I will be allowing all those present today to witness my selection of disciples and servants. As for the potential candidates, listen close: there are very strict criteria to be met in order to be a student of mine. Even so, if you are chosen as my servant it is not because you have not met them. That is all!"
Just as he was about to leave, a light flashed in Logean Wuji's silver eyes. 'Right on time.'
Descending from the sky on a giant cherry blossom, two parents and their daughter made haste to the stage.
"Please wait, Young Master!"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone