Quest Maker: 387

Title: A Prophecy Realized (1)

Her very presence stills the monstrous expanse of purplish goo.

“I had so many options: Visiting the Dragon Valley to claim Dragon God’s Core, waiting for another thousand years to recover from my injuries, devouring other lifeforms on the planet to quicken my recovery… but no. I just had to drag my frail body here in some vain attempt at closure.”

The resplendent silver spear in her hand lets out a comforting keen sound as the woman’s flowing silver-white hair sways to the wind. Her purple eyes stare at the almost silent mass of purple goo that acts as a small sea itself!

Her eyes reveal a sense of empathy.

“Divided by Asura, huh? We both are similar in this sense, including our desire to devour each other. I’m sure you must have seen through my ploys by now. You must have realized I wanted to fatten you with energy before consuming you. Alas, YOU aren’t present. Your mind is in a slumber, your soul rests, and your body has to take on the slack reflexively.”

Seeing no form of reply from the mindless creature, the woman cannot help but narrow her eyes.

“I can see what you’re planning. Even if mindless, you remain as devious as ever—”

A burst of coldness from the tip of the decorated silver spear freezes the thin spike of purple goo that passes through the portal right behind her!

“—Dear Beast God.” She finishes speaking before setting her spear free as it floats around her.

Thousands of slimy tendrils shoot out from the sea, but an almost frozen sigh leaving her breath visible escapes the woman’s lips as the spear lets out a sharp noise alongside mind-boggling Immortal Qi that turns everything in its immediate vicinity except the woman into ice. Only the men and women from the island watch in shock and awe as they are safe from the attack thanks to the dome of divine ice around them.

---

“So?” Bibi Dong looks at the ‘sky,’ questioning as Ja Yin and Violet only manage to connect with Ja Sun’s point of view again after employing Lan Ruo’s assistance, “We do not know that woman, but she wants to kill my husband. That is almost in the same wavelength as Ah Yin’s actions.”

Bibi Dong is not one to adopt comedic gestures at all. She has always been a woman that follows her plans adeptly and sees to it that her enemies never survive. So, Ah Yin is only surprised by the humor in Bibi’s tone for a second, but a single look at the spider’s pink pupils reveals stone-cold seriousness that regards the silver spearman cruelly.

Bibi Dong's words only manage to relieve Xiao Bei, Wu, and other beasts who have joined them recently. But her team remains silent throughout.

Not far from them, Xie Yue speaks in a worried tone.

“Grandpa Liu, is Uncle Sun going to be alright?”

Seated under a refreshing canopy, Doaliu rocks the basket of three children around him as Xie Xan and Lana’s eldest son look at the sky. The group wasn’t expecting to witness an attack on Ja Sun the moment they connected with the outside world, so Xie Yue and the other children were out in the open, too.

“Hmm? Why? Something on your mind?” Daoliu smiles calmly, his very existence putting the infants to sleep and greatly relieving Yin’s, Lana’s, and Jun’s stress.

“It’s… I’ll awaken my Martial Spirit soon enough. I wanted everyone to be there…”

Daoliu smiles fondly and stretches his arm to ruffle Xie Yue’s head.

“Just how kids can grow up so quickly is something I’ll never understand,” stopping himself from going off the tracks, Daoliu wags his brows. “Want me to go and bring your Uncle Sun to his senses? Not that I promise I would be of use. But I can help your Aunty Dong Dong.”

“What do you mean?” Bibi Dong’s mental energy has long since reached the boundaries of telepathy as she questions Daoliu.

“If what you have told me about Xunji’s changes, he will take this chance to make a move. The least I can do is stall him and you from killing each other.”

Bibi Dong calmly assesses the situation and narrows her eyes. Her gaze fixates on the silver spear as the Rakshasa Scythe within her body shudders for the umpteenth time.

“I won’t be able to handle Ja Sun and that woman alone.” Bibi Dong admits and looks around before her pink irides transition to crimson as they settle on a particular blue-haired, dark-skinned femme fatale.

“Lan Ruo, Snow, Zi Ji, and… Yin. We all will be going. Unless someone has reservations.”

Her gaze remains on Lan Ruo as the whale-turned-woman calmly matches the stare without an ounce of complication. Bibi Dong would know if Lan Ruo has misgivings because of her Law of Negativity. She has comprehended more about the Law since Bibi Dong completed another trial of completing her set of spirit bones, and she effortlessly feels negative emotions around her.

The only thing Lan Ruo feels is caution. But when push comes to a shove, she rationally suppresses her fears. After all, the woman has given up her former mate within a second, but Lan Ruo no longer has the same choice. It was either sticking to the team and proving her worth and loyalty… or simply getting exiled. She could return to her former tribe, but her life will remain at risk as long as Ja Sun expands without stopping.

So it is in everyone’s best interest to stop him.

“I don’t plan to kill him.” Bibi Dong interjects Lan Ruo’s train of thought as others quickly understand why she would say such a thang, making Zi Ji snarl at the despicable woman with her energy almost unleashing.

“Careful,” Lan Ruo remarks calmly, “Your control is not as precise as you imagine, and there are infants around you. Infants that you have grown fond of.”

“You want to kill him?” Xiao Wu shouts softly with her round eyes widening further in anger, but Bibi Dong, Ah Yin, and the rest of the team watch things unfold quietly with Feng Liu in tow.

Bing Bing mostly looks reluctant, while Snow has a deep frown. Ja Yin and Violet are agitated as Bi Ji places her hand on Zi Ji’s shoulder.

Xiao Bei and Yuehua settle for silent nervousness, and Erlong reacts similarly to Zi Ji.

“Ja Sun never struck me as a man who cared for his life,” Lan Ruo looks Zi Ji in the eye and questions, “So, why must I share burdens he does not carry? He and I came to a simple arrangement. I follow him for strength, and he grants me said strength. Anything else will only be a fortunate accident, working mostly in my favor. But just because I can put things to words does not mean most of us are different.”

“Excuse you?” Hu Lana finally interjects and crosses her arms under her breasts as Xiao Jun has an equally offended look.

“Aside from you two. It’s rather clear Ja Sun views you and your husbands as a subject of respect.” Lan Ruo looks at the interested Daoliu for a second before retracting her gaze and looking at Ah Yin.

“Do stop me when I’m wrong.”

“You’re on point for now. Continue.” Ah Yin replies with an easygoing expression as Lan Ruo nods.

“If all of us, including his son’s survival, hinges on his demise, Ja Sun will accept the outcome without ill will. I think that to be the truth. But again, I have known the man for days, at best. But something tells me he did not adopt a mask and hide his true intentions around me. A shared characteristic for the strong and the bold, I presume.”

Narrowing her eyes and observing the more emotional ones in the group, Lan Ruo questions, “Or would you choose to die along Ja Sun?”

Ah Yin and Bibi Dong look at each other for a moment. Meanwhile, Xiao Jun lets out a short snicker.

“It’s like looking at a blend of untainted Little Yin and Teacher.”

Her words make Hu Lana, Oscar, and Xie Xan snort and chuckle under their breaths while the two wives look at each other with cold yet embarrassed looks.

“I wasn’t a complete bitch about it,” Ah Yin hums calmly.

“Oh, please!” Xiao Jun rolls her eyes. “You would always ask—What do I gain?—for any help I requested!”

“A valid question at the time.” Yin stares at the true bitch of their group.

“And Sister Bibi used to be all calculative with a similar snobbish tone! It’s truly like looking at a confused mirror!”

Lan Ruo frown at their reactions as Bibi Dong utters a soft groan and responds, “Your reasoning is impeccable, Lan Ruo. Truly, it’s not beneath what I would think.”

Xiao Wu and Xiao Bei gasp in surprise.

“But you’re married to him!” Xiao Wu cried out with a mixture of shock and anger. It was her first time seeing… this side of whom she considered her friends against one of their own. Ja Sun, no less!

“The thing is,” Xie Xan cups his jaws. “If they don’t have the determination to kill Ja Sun, they will die in a few seconds. See? While Lan Ruo was articulating her thoughts so eloquently, I observed Ja Sun’s battle with another troublesome chick he has attracted for some reason. And… he is slowly increasing the severity of his attacks.”

“And?” Bing Bing questions coldly. “You humans are traitorous like always!”

Xie Xan raises his hands to gesture his surrender since he wasn’t kicked enough to argue with a 100000-year-old scorpion.

“Let my husband speak!” Hu Lana snappily glares at the petite scorpion, who jerks at the mother’s glare.

“Xie Xan means to say Ja Sun is following a primitive pattern. He did not even need to consume other aquatic beasts using anything skills. But he is beginning to demonstrate his spirit skills, starting from the weakest as the woman pushes his buttons.”

“And?” Bing Bing retorts. “We should find a way to snap him out!”

To be fair, Bi Ji quickly notes how calm Ja Sun’s teammates and family are in the notion of killing him, and the beasts he strictly tamed are more in tune with saving him. It makes Bi Ji question her thoughts on the matter, and the green-haired Swan Monarch has to admit that she wants to try and assist her kind in saving Ja Sun despite being scammed brutally by him in the past.

But she finds no reason to bear malice to anyone in this group. As things are… Ja Sun’s family, and ironically Lan Ruo, know him better. And deep down, Bi Ji understands that Ja Sun would adopt a similar response if he did not have enough strength to tame whatever is ailing him.

“And, you ask?” Daoliu chuckles as he supplants Xie Xan’s observation. “It means Ja Sun is following the response pattern of the most uncomplicated animal there can exist. He registers a threat, and only then his body responds increasingly more strongly. It means two things that can be used in our favor. First, present Ja Sun takes time to register the threat and escalate his actions. It gives us some time until he starts using his inhuman spirit skills. Second, instead of fighting Ja Sun by harming his true body, we can stall his weaker skills as we deal with that spear-wielding woman instead.”

“And what if Ja Sun doesn’t snap out of it—”

“The problem isn’t him snapping out of it,” Bi Ji cuts Bing Bing off and frowns in realization. “He is injured. He needs to be healed. As simple as that. That’s why you want Ah Yin to accompany you, right?” Her emerald pupils observe Bibi Dong. “I wish to follow the group and help expend my strength to heal Ja Sun. If not his body and spirit, then his mind, at least.”

“What… about Qian Xunji?” Yuehua gups and questions.

“Leave him to me. If not that, then I suppose Bibi will have to come up with something else.” Qian Daoliu responds.

“Hmm, and where does she fit in all this?” Oscar questions this time. He settles to observe the battle, knowing he is too weak or resourceless to follow them. So, he quickly finds a strange sight.”

Qian Daoliu looks at the individual walking on the surface of the goop and mutters with a strange expression, “Now, isn’t that intriguing.”

“She has a familiar martial soul, huh? It looks like Ja Sun doesn’t only like getting stepped on by you, Little Yin. It’s most likely a universal thing.” Hu Lana smirks, but Bibi Dong has no time for jokes.

She stares at Ja Yin, Violet, and Lan Ruo.

“Prepare us to get out of this space. Now!”

---

She smirks quietly as she finds it relieving to converse with the mindless monster beneath her through her divine intent.

“When I was separated from my other half, I was in the same condition as you. But instead of losing my spirit energy, I was set on losing my precious Immortal Qi. I knew I couldn’t let that happen.”

A golden-white light covers Ja Sun’s tentacles as they start jabbing at the woman quicker than before. She dodges all the attacks skillfully and draws a long arc with her spear that lets out a divine glow cutting through the slimy body and turning it to dust with the sheer heat of the light.

“But Immortal Qi has various uses, for instance, a divine weapon’s creation. Gods who succeed in their tribulation are granted a Divine Weapon from the excess Immortal Qi, but what I did not tell you is, the first Divine Weapon rarely follows a God’s journey till the end. Even Asura gave his sword up eventually. Needless to say, it takes a long time to form a divine weapon unless you have special items or a quality of supreme Immortal Qi.”

Noting Ja Sun’s tentacles getting even quicker while following strange paths in an attempt to lock her retreat, she chuckles and snaps her fingers as the Law of Water and Wind concentrates around her to create a freezing hell again.

*Crack*

A golden spirit ring the size of small castle blooms over the body of the purple ocean as Ja Sun’s body uses his first spirit skill—Silver Burst!

The strength of his basic attacks increases by three times, which means thousands of tentacles attacking the woman at full force… which his body deems worthwhile for the time being.

“Luckily, I had enough sense of concentrating my remaining half of Immortal Qi at one point before even the Laws I used to control slipped away.”

The spear lets out an intense glow of light that vaporizes everything alongside a small chunk of the purple ocean.

“And I formed my Divine Spear. The only reason I can wield it is that it’s a living part of me. Do you understand, Ja Sun?”

She stares at the mass of purple with false hope in her.

“We are the best tonic for each other! I am sure you hoped to use me as part of your martial souls, right? I wouldn’t expect anything less from you! But I don’t accept being a living part of anyone!”

Her voice directly booms in the remains of Ja Sun’s mind.

“Not yours! Not my original body’s! I refuse to accept the phantom urges of my past and revert to my former pitiful perfect self! Why can’t I, the Silver Dragon King, evolve?! Why must I be destined to become the Dragon God again?!”

Her beautiful features contort with deep frustration as she finds Ja Sun’s attacks stopping midway while the tentacles use some form of shock energy that could bypass the hard exterior.

Instead of attacking her, the tentacles strike the Icy Dome around the Sea God Island from one spot.

They drill into the tough ice as the woman feels a familiar draconic cry, and the Water Dragon King Saber floats out from Ja Sun’s body to let his tentacles open a way.

A path for a shocked Priestess who merely wished to find a way out of the icy dome and confirm her suspicion.

The woman stares at the Priestess for a moment before realizing the threat she holds the second she steps on Ja Sun’s bulbous oceanic form barefoot with no poison from his body affecting her one bit.

---

The battle between Ja Sun’s eldritch tentacles and the strange woman did not surpass minutes, yet Bo Saixi already felt something amiss.

She held a suspicion that needed confirmation.

“There is no way out!” Xiao Bai exhales vexingly as Bo Saixi stares at the thick wall of ice.

“There has to be a way out. I can sense it.”

“How?” One of the seven guardians questions with a frown. They did not doubt Bo Saixi’s ability, but she couldn’t put a scratch on this wall even in her prime.

‘Pray for me, will you?’

The voice practically compels her as Bo Saixi begins to understand that Ja Sun honestly did everything for a reason, as selfish as they may be.

His words were not empty musings or ideal chatter to try and form an enigmatic impression in her heart.

Ja Sun is far from an enigma.

He is a dick, and Ja Sun carries his personality on his sleeves whenever possible. Others never needed to look beyond his motives or take his power into account to understand Ja Sun. Not at all.

He usually keeps his actions apparent, including times he held himself back to get more rewards through his traits.

He is holding back—what else did his opponents need to understand? He did not do it to humiliate them. He did it to earn as many goodies as possible!

He came to this island to flex!

He wanted to rob Poseidon! He wants to take what is another's. He wanted Bo Saixi, the guardians, and the rest! He wants everything!

‘A petty man with shallow motivations fuelled by bastardized godly strength and a charm of a wild boar!’

Bo Saixi finally realizes… she did not think too deeply about Ja Sun. He did not even try to hide anything. He practically fed her the answer to how she could exact vengeance on him!

He is at his weakest, metaphorically. So is she.

But… she holds a piece of Ja Sun—an untainted piece by his corrupted power in the form of a linked Martial Soul.

‘Pray for me.’

He left her with a single thought, a simple choice.

Her vengeance will be her inaction.

There are several ways others can take advantage of him, but could Bo Saixi honestly come to hate this man’s shallowness?

‘The Island is safe, your people are safe, you are safe.’

Ja Sun did not mean him saving them from the tribulation he incited. He simply means his desire driving him to protect what he deems his.

Like a dragon hoarding a treasure.

So, Bo Saixi’s emerald pupils stare at the thick wall, and she soon closes her eyes while feeling the impact of the stranger’s attacks.

‘I either give up my past… or let anyone attack the Island once Ja Sun is dealt with. I felt the connection from the moment I awoke, but I simply refused to accept its existence. You freed me to pursue the path of godhood out of selfishness.’

Her heart stills as a strange echo of formless energy radiates from her body.

‘I shall repay the favor by reluctantly praying for you… and hopefully, guide you to victory as indirectly as possible. After all, you are not my god.’

She could practically imagine the impish smirk of the carefree individual suffering the consequence of his actions, but—

*Crack*

“Bo!” Bai cries aloud as a massive pressure of energy impacts all eight of them behind Saixi, but not a strand of Saixi’s hair moves.

Her eyes open slightly as she sees a small path ahead through the ice. She steps on the purplish mass, and her sandals corrode almost instantly, but her feet are unharmed.

‘Which means… my clothes are at risk.’ Bo Saixi’s eyes twitch.

‘You continue to impress me with your shamelessness even in this state.’

She steps out as the icy wall behind her is sealed again, and the beautiful icy saber starts revolving around Saixi reflexively as if protecting her.

Saixi looks up momentarily to match her gaze with the violet-eyed sensation as the sword around her vibrates a frightening noise, creating a small patch of ice on her head.

‘A… mental attack.’

“I see,” the Lady of the Lake, aka the Silver Dragon King, stares at the blob.

“So, you take things easy even now against the enemy but go all out to protect those you deem yours. I don’t even know whether to laugh or cry about it.”

The woman smirks as another golden spirit ring blooms around the first one.

“Laugh it is.”

***

Alternate Title: Ja Sun is as Simple as They Come—He Loves Shiny Things and Soft Tits; Step On Me *Probably Ja Sun in His Comatose State*; Two Camps of Thoughts; The Irony of Man and Beast; Lan Ruo is the Edgier Mirror; The Best Nanny in Existence—Qian Daoliu; Shit’s Real When Bing Bing Speaks for Ja Sun; Just Pray For Me; Reluctant Assistance—Selfish Protection; A Simple Defense Mechanism for Oneself, A Nuke Protection of Others; The Silver Dragon King Refuses to Revert!; Evolution’s the Trend, Baby!; The Fraction of a Divine Strength Unleashed; Silver Dragon Refuses to be Tamed… Until Otherwise?