After leaving the river bank, when Cheng Lingran's sight met with Jiang Xiu's, she revealed a smile in her seemingly amorous, lovely eyes. She was unable to hold her laughter, "You… I guess Long Yingqing will hate you all her life."
"Serves her right. As they say, a wicked person gets bedeviled by another wicked person." Jiang Xiu replied.
Cheng Lingran said, "Yes, yes. You're indeed an evil person. Whatever you say is right. Everyone says people from Dongzhou are good at martial arts. Looks like you've picked up some skills there. However, don't overdo it. Long Yingqing isn't someone easy to deal with."
"I guess she won't be able to muster up the courage to come looking for me anytime soon after today's lesson."
Cheng Lingran couldn't help but giggle after recalling Long Yingqing's miserable appearance, but she felt it wasn't right to look down on others when they suffer, so she covered her mouth immediately. However, her eyes which had almost become crescent moons had sold her out.
The Cheng Lingran before Jiang Xiu's eyes was akin to a blooming flower which blossomed silently, as much as it liked, freely expressing its charm.
"You baddie!"
"Enough fun for now. I'm going to class."
Cheng Lingran took short steps, yet her elegance and grace showed itself in her gait subconsciously. From the smile across her face, it could be made out that she felt unprecedently happy spending time with Jiang Xiu.
This side was in high spirits, but it was quite a disaster on the other side. No matter how much Long Yingqing tried to wash it off, she felt as if it hadn't come off her. Moreover, she was a girl so she couldn't strip off her clothes. Anyway, she felt as if she stank all over and felt like vomiting.
Long Tingwei offered his hand to pull her up when he saw her swim towards the shore, but he got berated by Long Yingqing instead, "I don't need your fake kindness."
She was soaking wet and even limp while stinking all over as she made for the university's entrance.
She ran into many people along the way who gesticulated at her. She couldn't hear what they were saying, and she didn't feel the need to know as she knew they were all speaking nothing good.
Her image as the campus diva was destroyed in an instant!
In an instant!
Just thinking of how she, Long Yingqing, a noble, arrogant, princess-like, no, queen-like existence had to suffer such humiliation. That thing was poured on her head… Ugh. She ran to the curb and vomited again, even spewing bile out.
"Surnamed Jiang, I won't let you get away…"
"Gguhg…"
After vomiting for a while, she couldn't vomit anything anymore. Her stomach felt completely empty, making her feel unwell. The more she thought about it, the more grieved she became and felt like crying again.
She made someone drive her back home and rushed into her bathroom as soon as she reached there then stripped her clothes off, throwing them outside the window immediately. The servant picked them up while pinching their nose and disposed of them away.
She shut herself inside for over an hour and still hadn't come out. She had used up a full bottle of shower gel and sprayed perfume all over the bathroom to get rid of the odor, but no matter what she did, she could still feel an overwhelming stench covering her.
That smell wasn't something she could forget anytime soon.
Right now, she was anxious about one thing. It was whether any students had taken pics of her tragic appearance and uploaded them to the university's forum. She put on her bathrobe and came in front of her computer.
What she feared had come to pass.
The forum had already gone crazy.
There was a huge title - No.1 Campus Diva, Long Yingqing got sullied by that.
Her heart had dropped to the rock bottom at this moment and the rancor she felt for Jiang Xiu increased further. She clicked the link, and the first thing she saw was a pic. It was taken when she had left the gym and was covered in that all over. One look at this pic was…
"Gughh!"
Long Yingqing's face turned green again as she rushed towards the bathroom while covering her mouth.
"SURNAMED JIANG!"
The Long family's home resounded with a rage-filled roar, making the entire house tremble.
"I, Long Yingqing, vow that only one of us shall live!"
"Ughg…"
Just as Jiang Xiu had said, Long Yingqing couldn't smell anything. Whenever she tried, she would recall that thing and immediately start vomiting again. She also couldn't bear to see anything yellowish or brownish, as that caused her to vomit as well.
The situation became so worse that she had to be given an IV drip.
Looking at her appearance which seemed to say she had given up on living, the Long family's elders became extremely worried.
"How is Yingqing?"
"Still the same. We'll have to wait for the psychologist's diagnosis."
"She's out!"
A pretty woman came out from Long Yingqing's room and sat down in the lobby. A scholarly middle-aged man was also present here. They were Long Yingqing's parents.
"The psychologist said that she can't go to university. It's best to let her move elsewhere, far away from the place where the incident happened. It's better to send her on a trip abroad."
Long Xiaozheng said, "How about Europe then? She can also handle the business over there."
"Lin Yao!"
A short old man in the nook answered, "This one is ready to serve!"
"Accompany the young lady to Europe, got it?"
"Understood." He nodded. "I'll leave for Europe along with the young lady tomorrow then."
Today night, Cheng Lingsu was staying at the hospital so Jiang Xiu could cultivate in peace. Jiang Xiu's cultivation had come to a standstill. The divine regalia was already complete, and according to reason, he should have become a God already, but he was suppressed by this world, and before he found a method to solve that, cultivating was a vain thing to do.
However, he had one kind of obsession towards cultivation. It was just like playing a game, even though a person is aware they can't level up anymore, they still feel the kick in playing it.
Since there was no means to breakthrough, he could only change his approach and purify the divine force.
"Why is this world preventing me from becoming a God?"
Jiang Xiu really couldn't this matter. His situation wasn't that different from Ji Wudao's. One had cultivated to a God, and the other had become a God over time, no matter what the method, the end target was the same, becoming a God.
Since Ji Wudao was permitted to become a God, Jiang Xiu should've also been allowed to become one. He wondered whether the heavens were being picky.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Jiang Xiu's expression morphed. He felt pretty abnormal. His body showed signs of making a breakthrough. The last time this happened, he was suppressed by the power of heaven's wrath and vomited blood. His heart tensed up, thinking that the same was about to happen again, yet the outcome was different this time.
"What's happening?"
Jiang Xiu's mind flew to the skies, rising towards the void unceasingly. The farther his thoughts wandered, the farther he reached. He then suddenly felt a faint pressure.
"Just what is happening?"
From a region within the void, one kind of a mysterious, archaic existence seemed to be calling out to him.
"Is this perhaps…"
Last time, he had suffered through heaven's wrath, but he didn't this time. This wasn't without rhyme or reason. There was only one explanation. This world's divine mandates were completely filled already, but since the God Ji Wudao got killed, a divine mandate became free. Therefore, heaven's wrath hadn't descended this time.
And right now, it was possible that this world was in a state where it was possible for someone to become a God!
As he thought of this, he began to fly up against the pressure.
He saw lots of flickering lights in the pitch-black void.
"This is…"
Jiang Xiu approached the light nearest to him and was left dumbfounded. The light he saw was the same as the three Godhood Halos inside his body.
"Godhood Halo!"
The void was full of many Godhood Halos. The vast starry skies of the nine heavens were incomparably splendid. If Jiang Xiu had guessed it right, after obtaining a Godhood Halo, it should be possible to become the relevant God. All these Godhood Halos had their differences, and their effects were naturally different as well. It was just that he didn't have a person to guide him, so he didn't know which one was weaker or stronger.
"This is a skull?"
A skull could be vaguely seen inside one of the Godhood Halos. He wasn't interested in this demonic thing.
"This is a flame?"
This made Jiang Xiu recall the Fire God's curse within the Ancient Desert City.
"This one is black and full of a dense aura of ruin."
As he flew higher, Jiang Xiu had to spend more effort and felt it difficult to proceed further.
"What's this one? Its greenish tint looks similar to the one of the Heavenly Dao Religion's God." Jiang Xiu muttered to himself. "I wonder if their effects would superimpose if they are the same."
He planned to take a look further and floated higher!
"This should be the Divine Faith Godhood Halo."
After a while, he encountered a Godhood Halo similar to Ming Lun's.
The pressure became stronger the higher his divine intent floated. Jiang Xiu felt his head hurt more, feeling it difficult to endure it and felt as if his head was about to explode.
From his cultivation experience, he judged that the farther the halo was located, the stronger it was.
Thereupon, he gritted his teeth and made for the highest location.
"AAAAHHHH…"
Jiang Xiu's nose, eyes, mouth, and ears began to bleed, giving him a terrifying appearance, but he ignored all of it and floated towards the highest location. When he saw the strongest halo there, he didn't bother about which kind it was and planned to research it after merging it with his soul.