SWNOVELXO Chapter 35: A Black Brick?!
At the center of the Immortal World, the ruins of an ancient sect that once stretched its roots across thousands of kilometers stood.
On the ground, in front of the main hall of this ancient sect, was a wooden plaque. Though eons had passed and the plaque had long since been neglected, anyone with sharp enough eyes could still make out the Dao laws imbued in its words.
Heavens Suppression Sect.
These words were deeply engraved on the wooden plaque.
Inside a chamber within the same main hall—one untouched by the ravages of time—paintings adorned the walls. Each depicted a similar scene: a man wielding a solid rectangular black object, standing defiantly against the heavens.
At the center of the chamber stood an altar, and atop it rested the same solid rectangular black object. It was so black that no light could be reflected on it, all energy that touched its surface was absorbed.
It had remained dormant for eons, unaffected by the passage of time.
But now, after countless millennia of stillness, it trembled ever so slightly.
The object began to absorb the surrounding immortal spiritual qi. At first, it drew from the chamber alone, but its influence quickly expanded. Soon, all the immortal spiritual qi within thousands of kilometers had been drained dry.
As if driven by its own will, the object surged upward toward the sky, destroying anything in its path.
After ascending a few kilometers, it unleashed a powerful wave of qi ahead of it, tearing through space and time to create a rift.
Without hesitation, the object entered the rift, leaving the Immortal World behind.
This event didn't go unnoticed by the top dogs in the Immortal World. The ancient beings, who had lived through the era when that very object had once been active, trembled with fear as they watched it ascend into the skies.
"He has returned..." one muttered.
"The Leader of the Heavens Suppression Sect is back," another whispered.
Their voice was heavy with dread.
—
Feng Fan and Zhang Qi stood face to face, the tension between them thick enough to cut with a blade.
Zhang Qi could sense the change in Feng Fan. He was no longer the easy prey he had seemed moments ago. Zhang Qi now regarded him with the same caution he would reserve for an opponent of equal strength.
What neither of them noticed, however, was the ominous shift in the sky.
Dark clouds began to gather unnaturally, spreading across dozens of kilometers, with the two of them standing at the very heart of this brewing storm.
Rumble!
The rumble of thunder echoing through the dark clouds drew their attention to the sky.
A suffocating pressure descended, pressing heavily on Feng Fan, Huang Xue, and Zhang Qi.
Zhang Qi shuddered under the weight of the oppressive force, his gaze fixed on the ominous heavens. Recognition flashed in his eyes, and his voice trembled as he spoke.
"A heavenly tribulation? That's… impossible!"
He recalled the time before he began his cultivation journey when he had witnessed a distant expert facing a heavenly tribulation. The memory burned in his mind, and he knew this was far more intense than anything he had seen before.
His eyes darted toward Feng Fan, disbelief etched across his face. An unsettling realization clawed its way into his thoughts.
"You… you're the one causing this tribulation! It's targeting you! How in the heavens did you provoke this? What kind of cultivation have you practiced? Only an expert breaking into the Transcending Tribulation realm should face this!"
Feng Fan also realized he was the cause of the phenomenon, but the reason was unknown to him.
'I'm only breaking into the Qi Gathering realm. How could this happen? Do even the heavens want me dead?'
Doubt clouded his mind, but retreat was not an option. He knew the nature of a heavenly tribulation—there was no escape.
No matter how far he ran, the lightning would find him. His only path was forward.
"If the heavens want to strike me down, I'll fight against them for my survival!"
A fierce determination lit his eyes as he steadied himself under the oppressive storm. His thoughts sharpened, and a bold conviction surged within him.
"My Qi cultivation technique is called the Heavens Suppression Arts for a reason. Today, I, Feng Fan, will prove its name true and suppress the heavens themselves!" He declared aloud.
Zhang Qi watched the unfolding scene, his body trembling with fear. In the presence of a heavenly tribulation, he felt as insignificant as an ant.
Even though the tribulation wasn't directed at him, its overwhelming presence left him frozen in place.
The sheer pressure took away his courage, paralyzing him with fear.
Every fiber of his being screamed for him to turn and flee. His earlier greed, the desire to steal Feng Fan's cultivation technique, had completely vanished.
Yet, no matter how desperately he willed his body to move, it refused to obey.
As Feng Fan circulated his cultivation technique and prepared to face heaven's wrath without fear, he suddenly felt a strong pull on his hand.
Instinctively, he moved his arm upward and opened his hand. At that moment, a black rectangular object tore through space and landed in his palm, as if it were the most natural thing to happen.
"A black brick?!" Feng Fan exclaimed in surprise.
Words soon appeared in his mind.
Suppression Relic
That was the name of the mysterious brick, but Feng Fan had no time to ponder how it had come into his hand or why he felt such a strong connection to it.
Rumble!
A lightning strike surged toward him, and he instinctively knew what to do. Without hesitation, he hurled the brick skyward.
The brick moved as if it had a will of its own. As the lightning collided with it, the energy was absorbed entirely, vanishing as though it had never existed.
This only seemed to enrage the heavens further.
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
Multiple bolts of lightning descended in rapid succession, yet every strike was devoured by the brick without exception.
The Suppression Relic then launched itself higher, crashing into the storm clouds above. It began absorbing the boundless energy from the skies with relentless hunger.
Feng Fan stood below, watching the scene unfold in stunned amazement. "This brick is incredible!"
Before long, the once-dark clouds dissipated, leaving the sky clear and calm. The Suppression Relic returned to Feng Fan's hand as if it had always belonged there.