Spirit Cultivation

This is the sample of Against Heaven's Will, which is Spirit Cultivation continuation! If you still didn't switch, please add Against Heaven's Will to your library and continue the journey of Xuefeng and his wives!

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Chapter 1 - Water Element Land

Cough, cough!

Fresh, stream water gushed out from Xuefeng's throat as they finally reached the shore. Thin but strong arms gripped him in place until he coughed out all the water clogging his lungs.

"Are you alright?" Tianshi asked worriedly, rubbing his cheek with care.

She was his wife, the only one who left the passage with him while the rest got lost, separated from them forcefully.

"I'm fine…" Xuefeng assured weakly, lifting himself, but then flinched, feeling a throbbing pain in his chest.

Right… Heavenly Chains broke my ribs…

"Don't move yet. Your wounds are still healing," Tianshi reminded and forced him to lie down, placing his white-haired head on her lap. "Rest for a moment. Rushing won't benefit us right now anyway."

Thighs were much softer than the hard ground.

'I'm sorry for being useless…'

A sudden sweet voice resounded in his mind, clearly apologetic.

'It's not your fault Ling… I should be the one taking care of my wives… I'm the useless one…' Xuefeng replied depressed, still unable to cope with what just happened.

'Let me heal the wounds for you…' Ling muttered, and he immediately felt the pain disappear, his bones reconstructing.

She was one of the two Fate Spirits living inside his body and had been helping him since the beginning of his journey. Had it not been for their help, he wouldn't have stayed alive till now, so he couldn't even think of blaming them.

'I don't know how did this happen…' Ming shared Ling's feelings. 'If only there was a way for me to help, I would prevent it…'

As Ling's mother, she was supposed to fill the gaps which Ling couldn't help him with, yet even her unlimited knowledge turned out to be lacking. Even as the former Queen of Heavens, she couldn't influence the Heaven's Will.

"Xuefeng…"

Xuefeng gazed at his beautiful wife who called out his name.

Tianshi's face hovered above his own, water dripping from her wet brown hair, but their clothes were completely drained anyway so a few more drops didn't make a difference. Her crystal clear blue eyes gazed at him while her slender fingers held his face, rubbing on his elvish ears to ease his pain.

Having a Royal Forest Elf Bloodline, his lovers could please him with just a soft touch on his ears, but in the current situation, even that couldn't help to cheer him up.

"Don't blame yourself… It's not your fault… We will find everyone in no time…"

Her soothing words sank into his mind, yet he couldn't get rid of his guilt and shame. He couldn't forgive himself.

Xuefeng locked his golden orbs with her own and saw a smile on Tianshi's face.

"I failed everyone," he muttered.

He couldn't protect his wives.

He couldn't keep his promise.

Did he even deserve them anymore?

"No," Tianshi shook her head. "It's everyone's fault. We weren't strong enough to support each other and failed together. It happens to the best. What matters now is how we grow and improve from this. We can only learn by failing."

She lifted his left arm, showing him the birthday present he got from them. Nine multi-colored crystals on a string, creating one of a kind bracelet.

Ba-dum, ba-dum.

Each crystal beat like a heart, one quicker, one slower. Each represented one of his wives. The crystals were bathed in their blood and had part of their soul inside of them. As long as the crystals were whole, his wives were safe.

"We are all alive. That's what's most important," Tianshi added.

"Ah… you are right," Xuefeng admitted with a sigh and finally stood up, pulling her up. "Let's focus on finding everyone then. I won't be at peace until we are all together."

Even if he was depressed, there was nothing else he could do now. The longer he stalled, the more chances of his wives getting hurt.

"Yes!" Tianshi nodded firmly. "Is your chest alright?"

"Mhmm, it's fully healed already," Xuefeng replied, pulling up his shirt as proof.

Thanks to his regeneration ability, he only needed a few breaths of time to recover.

"I still don't understand… Why would Heavens want to split us?" Tianshi questioned, squeezing out water from her hair. "Are there rules preventing groups from entering the Heaven Realm?"

"There shouldn't be any. It must be something else…" Xuefeng replied. He was confused and completely clueless.

Revenge?

He couldn't count how many times he angered or challenged the Heavens.

Swoosh!

He dried his clothes in a blink, evaporating the water inside them, and then scanned his surroundings. Endless greenery, lush trees, and grass-fields till horizon yet his gaze stopped on the stream they just got out from.

The passage from the Earth Realm threw them out at the bottom.

Everything was going so well. He would even say it was perfect.

He reincarnated to the World of Cultivation after dying on Earth. Though he was new to everything, he survived with little to no harm.

He learned how to battle, cultivate, and even how to love. He trained along with his wives, mastering all the nine elements, and they finally ascended together. They planned to continue their adventures together in the higher realm called 'Heaven Realm'.

Too bad, everything crumbled.

Just as they thought they had succeeded, rushing through the passage between the Realms, they were attacked by the Heavens, forcefully split apart. Even their two Spirit Beasts ascending together with them were not spared.

The faces of his crying wives as their hands slipped away from his palms still lingered in his mind. He never wanted to see this sight again.

"Water Element seems to dominate in this area. There are almost no other elements in the air," Tianshi pointed out. And surely, she wasn't wrong.

Aside from the Water Essence in the air, all other elements were barely existent, not enough to fill his tank even if he cultivated for years.

"We should be in the Water Element Land. I remember Ming mentioning it before," Xuefeng explained. "There are nine lands in the Heaven Realm and each land represents one element."

'Ming?' He called out in his mind, requiring more information.

'You are lucky,' Ming summarized. 'Water Element Land is the least harsh one among all of them, having the most greenery and wildlife. You even landed in the southern part which is the easiest one to explore. The northern part should be covered in endless snow and ice.'

His thoughts instantly wandered to his wives.

'Does that mean everyone else has to face harsher conditions…?'

'There are no 'good' or 'bad' locations in the Heaven Realm. Everywhere is dangerous. Because you can only replenish one element in each Land, the Heaven Realm is hard to live in. I suggest you find a hideout so I can slowly explain everythin—'

Boom!

Before Ming could finish, they heard an explosion not far from them. The sounds of battle quickly followed it, which to their surprise, were getting louder with each second.

'They are coming to us!' Ming called out. 'There are more than a hundred of them!'

Xuefeng and Tianshi got alarmed, gazing at the horizon, and saw multiple black dots rushing in their direction.

Golden Wings momentarily appeared behind his back as Xuefeng grabbed Tianshi in his arms, ready to run away when she stopped him, pointing at the incoming group.

"Xuefeng, look! They are chasing something!"

A shiny object seemed to be flying speedily in front of countless cultivators. The closer they were, the better view they got at the scene.

It turned out all of them were focusing on the dark blue ball that flew away from them. They didn't seem to have bad blood with each other, but whoever got the closest to the flying ball got quickly attacked by everyone else.

Before they even decided what to do, the group flew past them without even noticing their existence.

It must have been quite a treasure…

Just as Xuefeng thought about it, pondering if they should join the chase as well, Ming cried out in his mind, 'Xuefeng! You need to get it!'

If Ming got excited over something, it would definitely be a precious treasure. Xuefeng didn't hesitate and launched to the sky like a rocket with Tianshi in his arms. Fire blasted from his feet, giving him an additional boost, and Tianshi helped as well, wrapping his body with her Support Arts that sped them up even further.

She already got used to flying with him. His Golden Wings were much faster than her own, which was perfect in such a race of speed.

"Tianshi! Grab it quickly when we'll fly past it!" Xuefeng cried out mid-air.

He held her with both arms across her chest and waist so she had to be the catcher this time.

In barely ten seconds they caught up with the group and flew above everyone. White uniforms with a light-blue bird on their back caught his attention, but before Xuefeng inspected it further, he was already in front of them, chasing the Dark Blue object.

"Hey!"

"It's our Fragment!"

"Damn it!"

Curses fell like an avalanche, but Xuefeng ignored them all, closing in on the treasure in a blink of an eye.

Huh?

They were just above the Fragment, ready to catch it when the ball came to an immediate stop, diving downward. He turned sharply, but with his speed; it was impossible to be as nimble as the treasure.

"Hahahaha! Amateur!"

The cultivators laughed at him as they followed right after what they called a fragment, gaining meters ahead of him. Someone else even launched himself forward, trying to end the race.

Did they really think they could win?

Time Flow!

Everything froze when his newest ability activated.

Xuefeng smiled and stopped speeding, flying calmly through the frozen sky. The faster he moved, the more Fate Qi he had to use to change the time flow of the space in front of him.

He wasn't a fan of wasting the precious Fate Qi which his Fate Spirits patiently cultivated from his limited stock of Fate Stones.

If anyone took a closer look at the cultivators' bodies, they would notice they were actually moving, although rather slow. Compared to them, Xuefeng was like a ghost, passing the sky unnoticed.

"So cool… It's my first time seeing this…" Tianshi muttered, slightly jealous. "You could have shown it to me earlier…"

"I didn't use it for a long time. It drains too many resources to just activate it," Xuefeng replied casually. "I hope it was worth it."

'It is!' Ming called out just as Tianshi reached out to grab the object which many desired. 'I didn't even tell you about them, yet you already got your first Water Qi Upgrade Fragment. It hasn't even been ten minutes since we arrived here.'

Now that they had it in hand, they found it was just a shiny dark blue rock with an oval shape.

'What is this Upgrade Element?' Xuefeng questioned when the time around them suddenly returned to normal.

The group halted, staring at them dumbfoundedly. Xuefeng appeared out of nowhere as if teleported, yet there was no disturbance in space.

"They have the Fragment!" Someone in the group called out and everyone shifted their gaze to Tianshi's palm, no longer caring about how he got there.

The cultivators in white were fighting against each other, but now the two were their sole enemy. Tens of weapons immediately appeared in their hands, signaling the end of Xuefeng's games.

"Fuck."