Chapter 200: Elaine & Elif

(Note: 200 Chapters!! Let's fucking go!!!)

Being forced to continuously wipe my tears while Miss Lynda tended to my wounds for the next multiple hours, Brother did nothing but sob to his heart's content as he released all of his pent-up emotions, and it wasn't until the following day that he finally stopped crying. Though by then, I could tell he had changed; something about him was drastically different from before, yet I just couldn't pinpoint the exact change.

"Somethings different with, Brother." Muttered Elaine with furrowed brows as she stood up from her laying position and approached Maria, who was still sharing her divine sense with Elaine.

"Your Highness, I know you're worried about His Highness, but please stay still; you're still injured." Said Miss Lynda as she was forced to halt her actions, lest he make a mistake while Elaine was moving, though she promptly ignored her advice.

"Elif's changed; his whole demeanor and aura have fundamentally changed; it's almost like he's an entirely different person." Muttered Marcus with a frown as he observed Elif, who was completely emotionless except for his sense of pride.

"Not quite, your Majesty; it's more like everything about him has seemingly vanished rather than changing, leaving behind only his pride." Stated Illumia respectfully, her words spot on, which wasn't surprising considering she's beside Elif nearly twenty-four/seven.

"Do you sense that? That intent, such purity, and potency; it's the same one that emerged when he was facing the ninth lightning tribulation. Is this what Progenitor Lourdes was referring to when she mentioned awakening?" Remarked Tyler with awe as he and everyone else gazed upon the mysterious intent that leaked from Elif's very being, causing everyone to recoil from the sheer aura it gave off.

'So this is what Brother was talking about when he mentions that mysterious intent; incredible, it's giving off such a powerful aura, with a seemingly unbreakable will of pride and the desire for all beings to submit themselves to him.' Thought Elaine in astonishment as she watched Elif forcefully suppress the monster to his knees with just his words.

"How is such a thing possible? That mysterious intent completely ignored the concept of cultivation and directly attacked the monster's dao heart, forcing it to submit itself to Elif. Throughout my life, I've never seen or heard something so ridiculous; how can such a thing even exist?" Questioned Tiana in astonishment as she was forced to cover her mouth with her hands from the mere implication of such a thing.

"Even from such a distance, and with a cultivation base of a peak True God Emperor, I can feel its effects, trying to forcefully suppress my dao heart: unbelievable." Stated Maria with bated breaths and widened eyes, vividly feeling her dao heart forced to fight off the effects of Elif's mysterious intent, and she wasn't the only one; everyone else present felt it as well.

"Hmm? What are you talking about? I don't feel it, Mother." Asked Elaine as she slightly tilted her head in confusion, since although she could sense Elif's mysterious intent, it practically ignored her presence, floating right by her as if she didn't even exist.

"You don't feel anything, Dear? Nothing? Not even a slight headache?" Questioned Marcus as he and Maria gave Elaine curious yet confused expressions, which only deepened when Elaine shook her head.

"No, well, I feel a slight headache, but that's because a piece of my soul was destroyed, not because of Elif's mysterious intent." Replied Elaine while shaking her head, even going as far as to actively reach out to the mysterious intent with her divine sense, though other than it not reacting and her headache worsening, nothing occurred.

"That's interesting, but it might be because you're experiencing everything through my divine sense, so maybe that's why; anyways, we should save this talk for later-" Said Lavender as she tenderly rubbed Elaine's head, though she wasn't able to finish speaking as a massive void storm suddenly descended upon the heavenly realm, catching everyone by surprise.

"Why did a void storm suddenly appear, and why is it so massive? It completely dwarfs the Heavenly realm?" Questioned Maxim as he and everyone else were quickly confused; although no one present was an expert on the void, they understood a void storm, and specifically, such a massive one, wouldn't just suddenly appear.

"Impossible; Heavenly Punishment!" Said Tyler with an ugly expression, his words striking fear in everyone present except for Elaine; even Miss Lynda was forced to momentarily halt her actions of healing Elaine and look toward the heavenly realm.

"F-Father a Heavenly Punishment!? You must be joking; when was the last time a Heavenly Punishment happened!? How could one just suddenly occur now all of a sudden!?" Exclaimed Maria fearfully, having read and heard stories of the sheer destruction they're able to cause, capable of changing entire faunas within the OverRealm with a single strike.

"It must be because of Brother, right?" Said Elaine as she looked at her family; although she wasn't entirely sure, she couldn't discern how it could be anyone else.

"Elaine is most likely correct, but still, how did he summon a Heavenly Punishment? He hasn't done anything that violated the laws of nature." Remarked Tiana with an ugly expression as she watched the void storm increase in size while a small chunk of it entered the heavenly realm.

"It must be related to that mysterious intent Elif awakened; that intent allows Elif to ignore the concept of cultivation and attack people's dao hearts directly. Does that not count as violating one of nature's laws of cultivation?" Stated Marcus with a frown as he watched the dark clouds within the heavenly realm converge while lighting danced through its body, ready to strike down upon Elif with immense force.

Seeing how everyone got quiet, Father must've been correct, though, as I didn't know much about Heavenly Punishment; in fact, this was the first time I'd ever heard such a term. I was somewhat confused as to why everyone seemed so frightened of such a thing.

"Why is everyone so scared of a Heavenly Punishment? Isn't it just a slightly stronger Heavenly Tribulation? Even in Brother's state, I'm confident he can handle it." Declared Elaine confidently with a smile as she folded her arms and nodded her head, not knowing how utterly ridiculous her words sounded in everyone else's ears.

"Dear, I know you have faith in Elif, but you clearly don't know the might of a Heavenly Punishment; they aren't anything like a Heavenly Tribulation; in fact, even calling those two similar would be disrespectful to Heaven itself. A Heavenly Tribulation is given the title of a Tribulation because it's able to be overcome, but not a Punishment; once you're deserving of a punishment, it won't stop until you've been punished, or in other words, you've been killed. Not only will a Heavenly Punishment persist until you've finally died, but with each lightning bolt, its power multiples by ten-fold, meaning no one who was summoned a Heavenly Punishment has lived to tell the tale abo-" Said Tiana seriously as she attempted to explain the horror of a Heavenly Punishment and the certainty of death that comes with it, but before everyone's very eyes, they watched how Elif abolished the Heavenly Punishment with his mysterious intent, seemingly forcing nature itself to its knees.

"Heh, see, Grandmother, you were worrying for no reason; Heavenly Tribulation, Heavenly Punishment, before Brother, they are nothing but normal storms." Remarked Elaine with a confident smirk as she nodded her head while placing her hands on her hips, though Tiana and everyone else were too dumbfounded by what they witnessed to notice Progenitor Lourdes's presence had vanished.

"I-I-I'm speechless." Muttered Tyler softly, witnessing unbelievable occurrences one after another.

"W-Well, at least Elif is safe." Said Maria with her mouth agape as she gazed upon the dispersing voidstorm.

"Come on, Mother and Father! Progenitor Lourdes's presence has disappeared; we can finally enter the realm!" Yelled Elaine anxiously as she flew swiftly towards the realm in the distance, her words successfully snapping everyone out of the slight trance they were put in.

"Finally!" Yelled Maria in excitement, and with a slight movement of her Qi, everyone, along with the flying Elaine, was transported into the Heavenly Realm before Elif.

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Seeing the Heavenly Punishment disperse, I looked back down towards the monster, only to suddenly sense several familiar presences, ones that hardly caused a reaction to spur within my pride-filled heart.

"Mother, Father, Grandmother, Grandfather, Illumia, Maxim, Miss Lynda." Remarked Elif with a prideful expression while his voice was nearly emotionless.

As I gazed upon my family and acquaintances, I felt next to nothing within my heart; only when looking at my parents or grandparents did I feel some form of connection, but it was so faint that it gave me the feeling that even if they were to die before me, I'd hardly react.

"Your presence would've been helpful, but it's of no use now; I've already dealt with everything. Oh, and Elaine is dead." Said Elif as his every word carried with it his mysterious intent, causing everyone's, except Elaine's, dao heart to be hit with waves of suppression, which had next no effect on them, their dao hearts being far too robust.

Just as I was about to approach them with the one responsible for everything, I suddenly heard a familiar voice that forced the pride in my heart to the side as an emotion I thought I had lost emerged.

"Brother!!" Yelled Elaine with teary eyes as she flew right toward motionless Elif, colliding right into his body, which was still incredibly injured.

"E-Elaine? H-How are you alive? N-No, this isn't real; it seems like I'm still not able to accept you've really died; my mind must be playing tricks on me." Stated Elif in shock as he looked down at Elaine in his embrace and shook his head, refusing to believe she was alive, not wishing to be given hope only for it to be ruthlessly crushed.

"Hmph, stop being so mean, Brother; how could I ever die? I can't leave you all alone; what would you do without me? Besides, even if you don't believe me, you should believe this." Remarked Elaine with a cheeky smile as she used her divine sense to instill Elif with all the knowledge Maria gave her, causing him to close his eyes as he processed everything.

As I processed everything Elaine sent into my mind and realized what I'd just gone through, I didn't feel one bit sorry for calling Progenitor a bitch; in fact, I wanted to call her many profanities for putting Elaine and I through that, but I would save that for later, as I had more important matters to attend to. Opening my eyes, I looked down at Elaine and affectionately wrapped my arms around her as our eyes locked.

"So, you're not actually dead, Elaine?" Asked Elif softly while looking into Elaine's beautiful golden eyes that he was lost in.

"Hehe, nope, I told you-" Replied Elaine with a smile, though she couldn't finish speaking as Elif had reached down and passionately kissed her, causing everyone watching to smirk in silence.

"That's wonderful the-" Stated Elif with a lovely smile as he retracted his lips from Elaine's and rested his forehead against hers before suddenly collapsing into her arms.