The Creatures That We Are-Chapter 1146: Overcoming Tribulation

Ni Nation, early May, three o’clock in the morning.

High above the desert, riding wind, two figures cut through the night sky. The first, a girl with gray-purple hair and an eyepatch, wore a witch's cape and carried a heavy suitcase. In her arms, she held another girl with a short ponytail dressed in a gray sweater—Nainai and Liao Liao, soaring toward the vast landscape ahead.

Green, white, red, and golden lights danced across their faces as if celestials themselves were locked in combat a kilometer away. Pale lightning cut through the deep night sky. Cyan blade aura tore the darkness. Red flames threatened to ignite heaven and earth. Golden lotuses bloomed across the desert.

Amid the grand fireworks of energy, two figures engaged, pursued, collided, and tangled with each other like two balls rolling around in a washing machine.

Liao Liao clicked her tongue, the sound scattering in the quick current. She had to raise her voice to be heard. “If I hadn’t been informed beforehand, I would’ve thought a daoist couple were overcoming their tribulation together!”

Nainai scoffed. “Merely mortals attempting to transcend their limit. This is nothing compared to when this Empress overcame my tribulation!”

“Oh, how amazing you are.” Liao Liao cackled. “Would you say the same when you’re staring at the ‘mortals’ in the face, Your Majesty?”

Nainai’s expression stiffened, and she slowed unconsciously. “My-my achievement isn’t anything to bring up. There’s no need to tell anyone else about it.”

“Haha, yeah, right.” Liao Liao stopped teasing Nainai. She said instead, “Nainai, do you think Gao Yang and Qing Ling are a couple?”

“No way!” Nainai shouted, shocking Liao Liao.

“Why not? They are cute together. And everyone’s been calling them Brother and Sister-in-Law. They never say otherwise.”

“It’s only because she doesn’t care to explain it!” Nainai raised her voice further.

Liao Liao’s smile turned curious. “You’re acting strange, Nainai.”

Nainai simply couldn’t accept that her natural bane would have romantic feelings like a simple woman; it should be beneath her!

But she couldn’t say that, could she? So she said something else that came to her mind. “How about Fresh Snow?”

Liao Liao paused. Yeah, how did she forget Fresh Snow?

She had shipped her with Gao Yang for a while. It had been quite a while since she last saw Fresh Snow, and Gao Yang never brought her up. Had they had a falling out? That seemed unlikely—White Dew wouldn't still be helping Gao Yang if they had. Fresh Snow must be occupied with other matters. Given Gao Yang's tendency to plan for every possibility, he surely had contingencies in place for contingencies.

Liao Liao was best at slacking while working, and shipping people was one of her main sources of fun. She wasn’t picky. Shipping anyone and everyone gave her more mileage than sticking to one true pairing.

“Why don’t we have a bet, Nainai? I bet that Gao Yang and Qing Ling are an item.”

“No way!” Nainai insisted.

“Alright. The winner can make any request within reason to the loser, and the loser must agree.”

“Hmph, this Empress accepts the challenge. Prepare yourself for defeat!”

...

Three minutes later, the "tribulation" subsided. Gao Yang and Qing Ling faced each other across a dune, their battlefield scarred by elemental forces. Both bore marks of their intense exchange.

“Let’s call it a day,” Gao Yang said, the golden sword of energy scattering.

“Yeah.” Qing Ling lifted a hand, and the dozen Black Gold weapons swirling around her vanished into white light.

She had reached her limit for today's training. Pushing further would deplete her energy reserves—a violation of Training's rules that would do more harm than good.

These nightly sparring sessions had become routine over the past week. Outside of War Tiger, there were few who could help Qing Ling train, and War Tiger couldn’t spend all his time sparring with Qing Ling, so the responsibility fell to Gao Yang.

Since elements were always generously used when Gao Yang and Qing Ling fought, the resulting damage would make them stand out too much in Li City. Thus, they moved to the heart of the Ni Nation desert.

Gao Yang had been her training partner for a week, helping Qing Ling with her “tribulation” every late night in this desert.

Of course, he wasn’t doing this solely for Qing Ling. It was training for Gao Yang as well, and it improved their teamwork, which would be beneficial to the Battle of the Curtain Call.

“How are you overcoming your tribulations, fellow daoists?” Liao Liao’s lilting voice came from above. A gentle wind brought her and Nainai down for a safe landing.

“Here! I bring food! You are what you eat, so without food, you’ll be nothing.” Liao Liao took the suitcase from Nainai and quickly got food, water, and camping instruments out. She laid down the picnic blanket, then the paper cups, bowls, chopsticks, and an alcohol stove. She then took out the food.

Gao Yang teleported to Liao Liao, conjuring fire with a wave of his hand. The four of them sat down on the ground.

Despite her earlier posturing, Nainai quietly handed Qing Ling a clean towel. After Qing Ling wiped the sweat from her face and neck, Nainai opened a sports drink and passed it to her. Qing Ling tipped her head back, drinking deeply.

“Captain, water.” Liao Liao offered Gao Yang a bottle.

Gao Yang twisted the cap open while asking, “Done with the power concentrating plan?”

“Yeah, the last trading pair finished today. Cold Cicada transferred his Talents to Heavenly Dog.” Liao Liao took two lists out of her pocket, handing them to Gao Yang and Qing Ling. “The finalized list. Please confirm it.”

Gao Yang took his copy.

Since Qing Ling was holding a towel and a bottle of drink, Nainai took the list instead and held it up for her, acting as her bookstand.

Gao Yang was involved in the discussion for allocating the Talents, leaving the execution to Vermilion Bird and Liao Liao. He was in charge of the most important part—assigning the awakeners to each death monster. That would determine the outcome of the final battle and everyone’s survival, and he could only do that after the power concentration process was completed.

He went over the list seriously. First were those who had named their recipients:

—Wang Weiyan (Iron Skin, Cleansing, Damage Roulette) gave her Talents to Lovely Lamb (Damage Transfer, Maze, Specialized Guard).

Wang Weiyan’s third Talent was Damage Roulette, serial number 124, Damage-type. It allowed one to amplify or suppress the damage done to the user or someone else, as well as shift the damage to different parts of the body. But fatal damage and special damage were exceptions.

Lovely Lamb’s third Talent was Specialized Guard, once belonging to Nagging Mister of the Qilin Guild.

Now, Lovely Lamb had six Talents, and most were defensive or allowed her to offset damage. She would be the most difficult to kill outside of him, with Absolute Defense, and Vermilion Bird, with Unreachable. That eased Gao Yang somewhat.

—Donxote (Organ Puzzle, Corpse Herder, Petrify) gave his Talents to Zhang Wei (Confidence, Crisis Aversion).

Last week, Zhang Wei finally acquired his second Talent, Crisis Aversion, serial number 101, Guard-type.

It was an active Talent that could mitigate a crisis for the Talent user or another target. No matter how great the damage was, it wouldn’t destroy or kill the target. Worst, they would be on the brink of death—without treatment, though, the target might still die. And the Talent could only be used once every three days.

Petrify granted Zhang Wei much greater fighting power, and Organ Puzzle and Crisis Aversion greatly increased his chance of survival. Corpse Herder wouldn’t be of much help, but it did grant some willpower bonus, which was exactly what Zhang Wei needed.

—Canary (Rabies, Jeer, Dodge) gave her Talents to Harvest Song (Master of Hidden Weapons, Mirror Man, Possession).

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Possession was Harvest Song’s newly acquired Talent, serial number 140, Summon-type.