Raiden, the Poor Youth

Astoria continued to greedily absorb the mystical white gas that surrounded her like an addict did their daily fix. But oddly enough, just inches away from her current location, an entirely different situation was happening.

Deep in a swamp fire, a golden dome covered in markings similar to a tortoiseshell encased three similar-looking men. These three men each carried three-ringed sabers, which they used to send waves of strength and power at the golden dome in hopes of breaking it and escaping, but nothing worked.

Angered, the tallest but thinest man in the middle shouted, "Raiden! You can't run forever! This damn turtle shell can't last any longer than another minute!" 

The three men each held a three-ringed saber, each glistening in a different color. Each saber sent out air-rippling blasts of power at the shield, hoping to make it dissipate even a second earlier.

Dazzling red, silver, and blue streaks flew out from their weapons and clashed with the tortoiseshell, but no matter how much effort they put in, the shield stayed, keeping them locked in.

Moreover, just to spit them, a young but dreadfully angry voice shouted from afar as they struggled in futility, "HE'S A TORTOISE!"

In the wake of this scream, the triplets sent out even faster and more powerful saber strikes at the tortoiseshell, but nothing happened other than a few shudders of golden light.

So, as to reserve their energy, they stopped. Since their efforts were futile, they regained their composure and stopped wasting energy.

While their target was nothing more than a mortal child that their master wanted to kidnap, even a lion would hunt a rabbit with all of its strength. These triplets were no different.

Once the anger of being schemed against and then trapped by a mortal child, one that they could kill with a simple snap of their fingers, left, they all became cool-headed and prepared themselves for when the shield trapping disappeared.

It wouldn't be long now.

A few hundred meters away from these triplets was their target.

It was a young boy, not much older than 15.

He had short brown hair that extended down to his shoulders. His light hazel eyes, which seemingly glowed in the sunlight, made him look almost like a childhood star.

However, that was what he looked like normally.

Right now, his hair was disheveled, blood covered most of his torso, turning his fashionable cloth tunic into bandages, and a huge cut that went from the left side of his straight hairline to his nose covered his left eye in so much blood that he could barely leave it open.

But, despite all of the injuries he was currently gritting his teeth through and how desperate his situation looked, the boy didn't hesitate at all and continued onward with passion.

"Little Gold, are you sure you can't make it last any longer?! Even just another minute is good. I have enough blood essence from that weasel to create a Void-Tearing Talisman, but I need at least another minute to do so!" The brown-haired boy shouted in desperation toward the golden tortoise sitting on his shoulder. His hands weren't idle. In his left hand was a dark gray calligraphy brush, while he held a tan piece of talisman paper in his right hand.

Using his wrist as a facilitator, his hand moved perfectly. The dark gray calligraphy brush, doused in a mystical purple ink, left eye-catching strokes on the talisman paper. Any mortal human other than this brown-haired boy named Raiden wouldn't even be able to look away from the ink. 

Even in such a chaotic moment, where his life and death were in the balance, and one single mistake could result in his death, Raiden's movements were nothing short of perfection as he effortlessly inscribed a Void-Tearing Talisman.

Yet, while his hand strokes were perfect and his skills a masterpiece, not only was he not even a fourth of the way done yet, but the ink he was using wasn't simple. Other than the dazzling purple in the ink that the brush was using, there was also a hint of a bright red.

And that wasn't just a red-colored ink he was using; it was his blood essence. 

Blood essence was just any bit or part of his blood. It was the most potent and important part of a human's functionality.

Blood was a dime a dozen in a body and would be replenished normally through whatever means. However, blood essence, on the other hand, didn't have that same amount. A human boy like Raiden only had 5, maybe 6 drops throughout his entire body.

And now, to ensure he could finish creating his Void-Tearing Talisman quicker and that he could take him further, Raiden had forced out 2 whole drops.

His very life was in his hands.

Literally.

It was like drinking poison to quench one's thirst, but Raiden didn't have the time or energy to care about the repercussions of his actions in the future. If he didn't make this talisman now, he wouldn't have a future to worry about.

To make matters worse, the assassins currently contained by Little Gold's innate divine ability weren't wrong. Raiden wasn't a cultivator. 

He had just ignited the vital flame in his middle dantian and had barely enough time to achieve any achievements in the Body Tempering path, which earned him some fame in the small village he lived in.

However, his lower dantian was just destroyed, and his spiritual roots were excavated. He had no Spiritual Qi to his name, just a paltry amount of Vital Energy.

Ever since he had lost his spiritual root, Raiden had never been able to sense, let alone absorb, the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth. Thanks to Little Gold and some fortunate encounters, Raiden was able to take on a different path of cultivation than the normal Qi Refining path, but he had too little time!

It hadn't been long since he had fled the destruction of his clan, but they had already found him!

'Time! Just a bit of time, and I can reverse everything!'

Raiden wanted to fight against this fate and change his destiny, but his goals and dreams matter very little at this point. The only thing that mattered was how long the shield containing the assassins could last.

As for who created the shield, it was the tortoise sitting on Raiden's right shoulder.

Currently, the small tortoise's eyes were tightly shut, and his wrinkles crinkled. They struggled with all of his focus to keep his projected shield up.

But despite all of his efforts and the fact that it was currently the only thing to keep the assassins trapped and them alive, Little Gold knew that it wouldn't last very much longer.

Even now, knowing that he could extend the shield's lifespan another half minute or so, Little Gold wanted nothing but to let it down early.

Every saber strike that the three let out reverberated back to him, sending tremors of pain into his soul. But with death creeping toward them, Little Gold gritted his tortoise teeth and kept the shield up despite the soul-wrenching pain.

Eventually, when Little Gold sensed the trio stopped attacking his child and the pain stopped, he opened his eyes and responded to Raiden.

"Impossible! Those three are in the Foundation Establishment Realm. Sure, if I had my previous strength, not only could I trap them, but I could even swallow them in one bite. But, now, another minute is nothing more than a dream." Little Gold spoke in a somber tone.

It, too, was unwilling to die in such a manner, especially with its baggage, but fate was a cruel mistress. The two had exhausted every trump card and piece of power in their arsenal to reach this point. Yet all they could manage was trapping the three assassins in the shield.

Who would've thought that the only reason he and Raiden had trapped them was that the three were, in fact, concealing their strength and were, in fact, in the Foundation Establishment Realm, not the Qi Refining Realm?

'Aren't Foundation Establishment experts people far beyond this barren place? Forget why such high-status people would be in this farmland of a region; why were they so enamored with killing Raiden, a random mortal boy? Did he sleep with their wives or something?' Little Gold wanted to cry, but he was a tortoise. How could he?

The young boy, Raiden, could also sense his partner's increasing despair, but he had too much to live for, too much waiting for him, and too many enmities to avenge. Dying here wasn't possible!

However, with one final shattering sound that came from behind, Raiden finally felt the fear of death encroaching on him.

The golden tortoise shield shattered, and Little Gold on his shoulder screamed out in pain as his innate divine ability was forcibly broken. His soul recoiled from the backlash and nearly passed out from the pain.

"Raiden! The young master wants you alive! Have that turtle of yours curl up and stay mum. Otherwise, my brothers and I will have turtle soup today!" 

Between Raiden and Little Gold, only the tortoise had some type of ability to resist, which warranted the yell. As for Raiden's paltry amount of Vital Energy, it hasn't allowed him to be classified as a martial artist yet. Forget escaping or fighting back. Raiden wouldn't even be able to kill himself if he wanted to.

So the triplets didn't even bother telling him not to resist.

He was worth that little in their minds.

Stomping on the ground with force comparable to a hydrogen bomb, the three instantly traversed the distance Raiden had run, which wasn't very far, and stood before him.

Raiden's precious, hopeful, and resilient eye glimmer had faded, and now he looked like nothing but a mortified 13-year-old boy. However, he was still unwilling to die here.

Slightly prepared, he tried to throw out the blood-inscribed talisman he had just managed to refine by the skin of his teeth, but before he could, three strands of spiritual sense instantly locked him, immobilizing him and stopping his hand from moving even an inch.

'Fly!!' Raiden roared in his heart, hoping to gain some unnatural strength to throw the Void-Tearing Talisman, but nothing came.

'I even broke through and became a high-grade talisman apprentice. I'm unresigned! I refuse to die here!' Unwillingness roared in his soul, but nothing he attempted worked. His arm wouldn't listen to him anymore, and the treasure he just advanced to create couldn't be activated.

Seeing Raiden's perseverance even in the face of death, the three sneered and began to laugh.

"Wow, would you look at this? He even managed to make a Void-Tearing talisman! I thought only people at the peak of the Meridian Opening Realm could create this thing. Who would've thought a mortal kid could create one, even with his Spiritual Roots extracted? Not me. Haha!" He praised Raiden, but his words quickly turned derisive.

"Too bad the Talisman Guild will never see the greatest prodigy in the Black Lotus Domain's history." Snatching the Void Tearing Talisman from Raiden's hand, the assassin lunged at Raiden, grabbing his neck.

He wouldn't kill the boy, as his young master wanted him alive, but who said anything about a beating?

As long as Raiden was alive and his limbs intact, their young master wouldn't care if he was bruised or not.

Plus, after being fooled and consequently sealed by a mortal child, the lead assassin had a belly full of anger. And what better way to vent it out than beating the perseverance out of Raiden's eyes?

The glint in Raiden's eyes gave him chills and angered him at the same time.

It was just that the second he lunged at Raiden, Little Gold, who was still in heart-wrenching pain, gained some clarity and jumped at the outstretched hand.

Even if he knew it was pointless, he still planned on defending Raiden. He owed Raiden that much. Without the boy, he would've died months ago. Repaying him now was a bit pointless, but at least he wouldn't die with any regrets.

"I knew you wouldn't sit still." Sadly, the assassin was prepared. Changing his claw motion into a smacking one, he easily swatted Little Gold away, sending him flying into a tree. Whether he was dead or alive was unknown.

"Little Gold!" Raiden cried out as he saw his partner get swatted away so easily.

Anger enveloped his mind, and his eyes turned red, but the claw finally reached his throat before Raiden could say or do anything else.

"You should worry about yourself." The assassin sneered as he grabbed Raiden's neck and held him up like a chicken.

Raiden obviously struggled, but without a cultivation base, he could not do anything against the Foundation Establishment Realm assassin. He couldn't even bite his own tongue to kill himself at this point.

However, even if he was defenseless, Raiden still glared daggers at him with bloodshot eyes.

If looks could kill, the assassin would've died ten times over.

"Little Third, Little Second, go get that turtle and seal its power. I heard the Young Master's pet needs a lot of demonic beasts with strong bloodlines as tonics. Perhaps this turtle is something special," the lead assassin said to his two younger siblings.

"Don't you dare!" Raiden roared in anger. Little Gold was the only reason he had managed to live this long. How could he let his companion become his mortal enemy's elixir?

The two siblings naturally ignored Raiden's rage-filled roar and nodded at their elder brother's words.

He was a target. Why would they listen to him?

Yet, the second they went to complete their sibling's order, their bodies froze as something in the air changed.

An ocean's worth of pressure suddenly engulfed all four people in the forest, and everyone, from the mortal Raiden to the Foundation Establishment Realm assassin triplets, felt like a huge basin of cold water had been dumped on them.

Death felt close, and they all feared for their lives, but with a mountain above them, no one moved. Until a half-angry, half-naughty voice sounded, confusing them all.

"Who the hell was cursing me a moment ago?!"

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