TIT Chapter 9: Possession!
A big dark thunderstorm built up in the sky, looming over
the entire tribe. All the warriors that were close to breaking through to the 2nd
level of Body Refinement immediately stepped back and suppressed themselves.
Any more than a single person participating in a Heavenly Tribulation would
drastically increase the power of the Tribulation, and none of them were
confident in boding through their own tribulation yet.
As Jie Jun stared at the clouds, he noticed the difference
in the colour of the lightning from before. It was blood red in colour and
seemed to contain power within that threatened to eradicate any and all life
forces. In the previous time he did his tribulation with Ming, it was blue in
colour. Taking into account the difference, he wondered what brought about this
difference in Heavenly Tribulations. Was it the cultivation styles?
Unlike the serious demeanour of the entire tribe, Jie Jun
seemed to be entirely too casual about the tribulation. This could be the
result of him already going through a tribulation before, but it was also
because he felt quite detached from the concept of going through a tribulation.
It wasn’t like there was a qualitative benefit for him. However, this time, his
ability to absorb tribulation lightning would be vital to ensuring a position
for him amongst the tribe. Much unlike the usual physics of the world he was
used to, lightning did not necessarily strike at metal during tribulations. There
was clearly something else at work that made him such a wonderful conductor
during turbulent times. As to whether it brought him calamity or fortune truly
depended on himself.
As the lightning struck downwards, Ode struck upwards with
his weapon in an attempt to deflect the lightning and succeeded. Surprised at
the ease of his attempt to resist his tribulation, he turned to the left to see
the pavilion being hit by a large branch of lightning. Shocked, he realised
that his strength may not have been sufficient for this tribulation without
proper preparation. After all, this first strike was but the testing round of
sorts by the heavens.
Pulling out a bone bracelet, he immediately chanted softly
before being empowered by a faint red aura with a spear totem appearing on his
forearm. Not wanting to take any chances, he struck forth at the sky,
determined to take the initiative in his own tribulation. As the lightning
struck down and increased in intensity, Ode steadily found himself weakening
even with the support of the pavilion. It was only then that he realised how
far off he was from being truly ready for greater power. As he regretted and
stared at the sky preparing its last 3 bouts of lightning, he apologised: “I am
sorry, my lord. Even with your help, this is too much for me to handle.”
--
Jie Jun was just wondering about why the lightning in this
particular area seemed to hurt much more than the one he had experienced
before. Technically, they should have been about the same, given the fact that
the green bar was replenishing at the same rate as before. Curious as to why
there was such a difference, he noticed his red bar dropping slightly as time
went by. It wasn’t a significant amount, but it was clear that there was an
effect on his life energy as the tribulation took place.
Then, he heard the apology from Ode. Not to mention the fact
that Ode seemed to be about as strong as Ming, or even stronger, possibly, this
made Jie Jun very perturbed about the events taking place. Jie Jun was also no
longer able to take on much more of the lightning, so he could only keep quiet
and watch as Ode carried on. It was not that he was not willing to endure, but
that Jie Jun had no means of increasing or decreasing the burden that he was
able to take from this tribulation.
Crash
Watching Ode suffer burn wounds all over his body, Jie Jun
could only sigh. It seemed that there was a price to pay for one’s insistence
on going against natural order. There were only 2 strikes of lightning left,
but Ode had already lost his consciousness. There was no more point to this
tribulation already.
As if sensing the massive loss of life energy from Ode, the
tribulation clouds dispersed, paying no heed to the possibility of Ode
surviving, for it knew, that with those wounds, there was no way he could
recover.
Doom and gloom filled the tribe. Tribulations were rare heavenly
opportunities that could also lead to their downfalls. What more with their
belief in Ares, their tribulations were all the more difficult than the others.
The tribe had no blame for Jie Jun as well. It was quite clear that he had done
his best and had taken in much of the lightning, yet Ode’s lack of preparation spelled
his downfall.
“Bring him to me” the great voice boomed. This time with no
airs, or attempts to flaunt its superiority.
Some of the warriors went up and carried him to the
pavilion, hoping for a miracle, a possibility. But they knew deep down inside,
that even Ares had no power over death, so how could they hope for this house
to be able to do the same?
Some of the tribal people were crying, mourning the loss of
their own. What should have been a great day of celebrations after ritual
combat ended up in a loss of their loved one.
Jie Jun stared at Ode’s dying body. He could tell that Ode
was still alive, but he was dying, slowly and steadily. The red bar filling up
was proof of it. However, Jie Jun had no mood for that. He looked into the boy’s
eyes and saw it shine with tenacity and bravery. Just as he was considering how
to talk to the Tribal Chief about this failure of a tribulation, an option
window appeared in his consciousness.
“Do you wish to possess Ode Shiktar?”
Possess? What did it mean to possess? Did the pavilion have
the ability to create zombies? Or did it mean that he could use this body? But
what about the pavilion?
With no answer to these questions, Jie Jun considered his
situation carefully. Staying in the pavilion was not beneficial forever. There
would surely be someday where he would be refined and wiped out if noticed.
However, possessing this body might end up creating weirder scenarios…
With all these thoughts in mind, Jie Jun decided to agree.
For if he at least had free will, he could decide his own fate. Staying in the
house was not going to be ideal forever. Still, he had no idea what “possessing”,
in this case, would do so he went on to say one last thing to the tribe before
he began: “I am going to attempt a blessing of Ares on him. Please leave us alone
for the time being.”
The Tribal elders and leader were stunned, but immediately
left the vicinity to give him peace. Anyways, Ode was already dead, so there
was nothing worse that could happen, right?
--
As Jie Jun stared at the open clearing in front of him, he
wondered if he should take this opportunity to teleport away while he could.
However, he knew that the chance of having a dead body, or rather, a close to
dead body would be small if he did leave again. Not wanting to waver over this
decision, he stared into the eyes of Ode and transmitted his intent to possess
Ode to the pavilion.
After a short while, a vacuum like feeling encased Jie Jun
as he felt like he was being squished into Ode through his left eye. The pain
was even greater than that he experienced while being in the pavilion as he
went through the tribulation. As his eyes flickered, he felt his head ache as
he pushed against the cold hard ground. Sitting up, he realised he had hands
again, and that he could feel with his limbs! Opening his pants to check the
most important part, he realised he was truly a man again!
Looking around for the golden pavilion, he realised that it
was missing! Astonished, he physically checked the grounds he was on just a few
minutes ago to discover that it was truly gone. Somehow disappointed that he couldn’t
keep this treasure to himself, he smiled wryly. He knew that the pavilion was a
treasure of a realm that he could not fathom, but he knew that if he could not
utilise it fully, then there was no point harping on about it. At least now, he
could run around as a man! He would come across the pavilion again one day,
surely!
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