Daily life of a cultivation judge-Chapter 1140 - The look of desperate plea

1140: The look of desperate plea

1140: The look of desperate plea

Of course, desiring one and finding one were two completely different things.

As with treasures of this nature, finding one was easier said than done.

Even locating just a four-petaled flower would prove to be a daunting task, as they grew in auspicious places where countless natural dao laws of the universe intertwined—or at the gravesite of a soul formation expert.

This was why Yang Qing couldn’t help but be curious about the mysterious realm Xia Fang’s elder and the others had stumbled upon.

Considering they found a four-petaled Celestial Light Hawthorn there and one that was well on its way to forming six petals—it couldn’t have been an ordinary place.

None of the locations that nurtured such flowers ever were, with almost all of them being either terrifying or mystical.

Presently, the Millionsfold Treasure Ocean was one of the few places where one was almost guaranteed to find a Celestial Light Hawthorn Flower.

Even the fabled 36-petaled one was said—if it existed—to likely be found within its depths.

The 36-petaled Celestial Light Hawthorn was believed to be the absolute peak of what the flower could become, and its abilities bordered on the miraculous.

Rumor had it that it could transform a mere mortal into a peak soul formation expert within 100 years whilst also granting an absurd lifespan far beyond what any soul formation expert should possess.

Of course, such claims had never been proven true as no one had ever seen a 36-petaled Celestial Light Hawthorn—but that didn’t stop countless cultivators from searching for it.

After all, if it could potentially elevate a mortal to such heights, what other wondrous things could it do?

Such mystical wonders were one of the few reasons that made Yang Qing half-tempted to visit the Millionsfold Treasure Ocean.

Of course, given that he had read of even soul formation experts perishing there, those temptations would forever remain just that—temptations.

At least, not until he gained the ability to revive from a single drop of blood, a bead of sweat, a strand of hair, or even a speck of saliva hidden in all sorts of well-guarded places.

Either that, or he broke through to the soul formation realm.

Even if soul formation experts had met their end there, as cowardly as he was, he still had confidence in his survival abilities—which, much like the Celestial Light Hawthorn, would likely see considerable leaps once he reached the soul formation stage.

Before his mind could drift too far into fantasies of strutting smugly through the continent’s most dangerous places as an untouchable soul formation expert, he pulled himself back to reality and refocused on Xia Fang.

“What happened next?” he asked.

Xia Fang took a breath, steadying herself before continuing.

“Maybe due to some unseen restrictions of the realm, none of those inside—including my clan members—had cultivation bases beyond the core formation realm.

At the time, that elder and the others were at the late stages of core formation.

They had stumbled into the mysterious realm while searching for places to temper themselves, as well as fortuitous encounters that could help them break through to the palace realm.

I don’t know much about the others who were in there with them, but from the account we were given, it was said that not a single expert present in that realm was at the palace realm or above.

Almost everyone there was at the core formation realm or lower.”

“When the fight for the Celestial Light Hawthorn broke out, it was among core formation experts,” Xia Fang continued.

“From what my grandfather told me, there were about thirty of them battling over it, and our clan elder only managed to survive until the end because he wasn’t alone.

He had a few other clan members, including two retainers, backing him up.

But even then, even with that advantage, they still suffered heavy losses.

Of the five who were with him, one died in that brutal fight, and two were fatally injured and forced out.

The remaining two—our clan elder included—suffered severe injuries, but…

they survived to the end, becoming part of the final four standing on a battlefield that housed a party of thirty,” Xia Fang said.

“Of those four, two were from my clan, one was a rogue cultivator, and the last one… My grandfather didn’t know much about him, since he gave up his claim on the flower when he realized the odds weren’t in his favor when he saw we still had two people on our side able to put up a fight.” She paused briefly as her gaze turned distant.

“But that rogue cultivator… despite things not being in his favor, he stayed,” Xia Fang softly said as she shook her head.

“His injuries were far worse than those of our clan elders, yet he stubbornly refused to give up—even after our elder tried to persuade him to walk away,” she said, her voice laced with regret.

A sigh escaped her lips, quiet but filled with years of weight.

“Not a day goes by that I don’t find myself wishing our elder had just abandoned the Celestial Light Hawthorn and left… How differently things would have turned out.”

“But I know it’s just wishful thinking,” Xia Fang said, a bitter smile tugging at her lips.

“Hindsight is a beautiful yet cruel thing,” she whispered.

“The three of them ended up fighting, and despite being at a disadvantage, that rogue cultivator somehow slipped through their attacks, seized the Celestial Light Hawthorn, and made a break for it the moment he had the chance.

But alas, due to the severity of his injuries, he didn’t make it far before the clan elder and the other clan member caught up to him,” Xia Fang continued, the grief she had been struggling to suppress rising once more.

“Realizing he no longer had the strength to fight, the rogue cultivator chose to beg,” she said, pausing briefly under the weight of her words.

“He pleaded with them to give him just a single petal—to save his wife’s life,” Xia Fang said slowly, her mind drifting to that moment.

She may not have been there, but with the life she had lived, she could easily picture the expression he must have worn at the time.

That look of sheer desperation as someone begs for the life of a loved one. ƒrēenovelkiss.com

It was a look she had become all too familiar with, as it was the same expression so many in her clan had worn since that fateful day.

That look of desperate plea when you knew the life of someone you cared for hung at a precarious balance.

“They should have listened,” Xia Fang murmured to herself, her voice slightly cracked, with her lips trembling as her tears threatened to push beyond the rims of her eyes.