Reach For The Skies

"W-wait! How-how could that be you?! That's impossible!" Yun Beishang reacted strongly once nor Rosey nor the Celestial White Tiger denied those words or at least hinted that it wasn't serious, but oh boy, they didn't. As such, with an incredulous face and troubled eyes, Yun Beishang pointed with his right finger up above at the head of the Celestial White Tiger who was still lying its stomach on the floor calmly, and questioned. "How can that be? Are you... this powerful? Oh, about that of not fighting, I also think that it is not necessary. Let us just talk and then we part ways, yes?"

"..." Slightly speechless at the laziness of this new and next extremely important, unique 'God'; the Celestial White Tiger made a little shake of its head to clear its mind and then proceeded to answer him. "Indeed; but it was not really just me. At that time, I only saw that all I needed to do was to guide the will of Main Kingdom, to be its eyes and allow it to aid you. As for the power behind it, only some of it was from me, most of it was from Mother herself."

"Aha, okay. And... who is this 'Mother'?" Responded casually, a neck-back-bending Yun Beishang whose Caber's eyes were narrowing unknowingly.

"Didn't that descendant of the Wolf told you? Hm hm," the Celestial White Tiger hummed slightly, feeling that teasing the new 'God' of things randomly like this was more or less entertaining. It then continued, its majestic voice never faltering one single volume down and somehow going up instead, "Mother is Mother; though it is the equivalent of what your brain would be to you, we live on Her and adhere to her all-caring wishes. She may not be a completely, strictly sentient being nor has She the means to communicate with us directly. But her every caring breath goes through all Sacred Beast Protectors, and together the four of us create a special gate."

The Celestial White Tiger looked up, his gaze unobstructed by the feeble tens of thousands upon tens of thousands of kilometers in distance from their actual position to the surface; as he said with an actually lower but still majestic tone. "Now that we're all dying, the gate will cease functioning. They are going to be even more unrestrained now, just a little more and, it could end."

Lowering its head right after speaking that ambiguous set of words, the Celestial White Tiger lowered its head smoothly, this time, only a comforting and refreshing breeze swept towards Yun Beishang and Rosey to give them an 'at ease' feeling in full. It looked directly into Yun Beishang's eyes with its head lowered quite, then opened its mouth and as countless amount of raging winds swept into its mouth, it continued in a loud and majestic tone. "Once the gate is no more, it will become instead the device for protection. Before, the gate that protected Main Kingdom for several eons will now cease to exist, but if that was it then there wouldn't be a need for you to be here, talking to me. Don't you think so?"

Actually smiling lightly, and towards him which shocked even more; yet Yun Beishang became more absorbed than ever before from any of his other words as he heard the Celestial White Tiger continue. "As such, the 'device' that will be birthed from the dismantling of the protecting gate will now become a triggering bomb. And you, Tongqiu, will carry it."

"Have you felt it, already? That strange presence within your body ever since you killed the felled Azure Dragon? Well, it's time for you to start picking up your Gardener skills to the grade beyond a mortal's! Only like this you will complete your 'requirements' for you to achieve your true purpose and path; become the Evil God!" The Celestial White Tiger slight small never faded from its mouth, as it continued talking, its eyes glowed greenish-grey and bright white. After a purposely made pause, it sucked in some raging winds from its nostrils, then said in a casual but still loud tone. "The Azure Dragon; though they are only one kind of a Race, they are still a part of the Dragon Race, even if they are as strong as the main True Dragon Race, they are not them. Yet, even then, the Azure Dragon Race is known for being the best beings at manipulating and understanding the Core Element of Water. Even those Elementals born as Core Element beings themselves aren't even half-enough as capable as an Azure Dragon. To compare the peak grade of both Races under the 'still being a mortal state', those Core Element beings would be the you before taking the mantle of the Evil Saint, to the you now that is capable of influencing even objects and creation itself as you work on your own professions."

"Sigh..." The Celestial White Tiger seemed to want to give him a history lesson and wasn't going to stop anytime soon, but Yun Beishang didn't deny it nor was he too much of a rude asshole, as he simply kept on recording these few lines about the Myriad Beasts Division's Sacred Beast Protectors. As for the lines of his 'very special' class, why even care? Anymore, that is. The Celestial White Tiger finished his sight, surprisingly not creating any powerful gusts of wind as it instead continued with a majestic but whispering tone. "The Carmesí Vermilion Bird, though one of the many Races from the Vermilion Bird, it is one that carries the most purest of flames from even all other purest of flames of the rest of the other branches from the Vermilion Bird Race. Even then, Pure's longing and relationship with that blue worm became powerful when their 'accidental' child ended up escaping the fate of a slave of an unqualified chain of— 'lords'. With nothing but grief in her heart, she could only separate her being and existence into the last strands of her life to create a small child for herself. Yet it was taken by the ever so avaricious and incomprehensible Human nature!"

Clear vehement, venomous hatred was more than clear in the eyes of the Celestial White Tiger as it didn't gazed away from Yun Beishang's eyes, not afraid that he would think he was either intimidating him or going to kill him. After some thundering but low-hearing growls, the Celestial White Tiger under the awkward gaze of Yun Beishang as he looked left and right without a word.

"Ahem..." A loud and majestic 'cough-throat-clearing' sound emanated from the Celestial White Tiger's throat before continuing in its typical majestic tone, "As for that dumb Black Turtle, it went to sleep too much and woke up to the realization of all Regions having become corrupted and useless in the progress of Main Kingdom itself. After realizing of it, it just went back to sleep while hoping that once he finished fooling 'them', the person that is you would come and do your job. Naturally, that fool wasn't willing to just let it be like that, and laid eggs in a fit of 'rebellious' behavior; as the Sacred Beast Protector Black Turtles are supposed to hold onto their bearing a children a few moments before dying. Now, along with the mixed Race young Azure Dragon, your partnering 'Journeyer' and that other 'Journeyer' which you gave the Black Turtle's child to; you've successfully completed your job in coming here to slay them all. But at the same time, you were, intentionally or not; helping them accomplish their dreams of the real freedom of their Races. You have given them hope when dying, and carried their children to either safety or with you."

"..."

"..." Towards the sudden pause and immediate silence form the Celestial White Tiger, as the big ol' kitty looked from above at him with those unwavering and still eyes, Yun Beishang similarly remained in a non-commentary fashion as he waited for it to continue.

"Ah, as for me..." The Celestial White Tiger sighed, proceeding to place its chin on top of its front limbs before closing its eyes, lowering its head lightly in comfort, it then continued in a soft and low tone. "Took the chance to integrate myself to the skies and joined the will of Main Kingdom, since then, I have been taking from the land as the land became emptied and lifeless. Do you see the yellow trees, the dried grass and the pathetic hills whose entire bodies span over thousands of meters when you came here? All of those, were made so by me. I drained the trees of their beauty, making them stay alive but without growth nor death. Stole every fiber of Light, Darkness and even what tiny little particles of Life from the flora; drying hundreds of kilometers every day totally in a matter of seconds. Those hills, hmph, they used to be mountains that would surround the territory of the Celestial White Tiger Sub-Division, dividing the rest of the Bright Sunset Region's west. I flattened them all after just a few weeks, only the outside of the Sub-Division were left intact, yet my very own Sub-Division was brought to this kind of ruin. Do you know why?"

Still with its eyes closed and its chin rested and after a little pause, the Celestial White Tiger continued, "So that my offspring, whose potential and talents overwhelm my own, could break off from us Sacred Protectors' shackles of mortality! The greatest level that a mortal being can reach, is to that of the Mythical level. Main Kingdom is utterly incapable of giving birth to a God Devourer since time immemorial, exactly the same reason for why those little women beside you cannot act to aid you at the moment."

Shocking Yun Beishang as his eyes turned wide and his pupils constricted, while even his mouth was left hanging slightly as his doubts were more or less answered to a correct 'yes'; the Celestial White Tiger then continued. "But once the day arrives, which is rather close, and once the device placed upon you finally acts up; Main Kingdom will become more and more powerful at a speed never before seen, not even when the highly acclaimed Leader of Main Kingdom was here! And all of this, depends just on you, next Evil God."

"Now, do you feel the pressure, boy?"

'Well fuck, yes!' Yun Beishang silently thought to himself, maintaining a deadpan expression after having become so shocked that some drool dropped onto Rosey's petals on top of her head which caused her to blink in curiosity. Yun Beishang gulped down the imaginary saliva before speaking up at last, "Senior, but, this ah... About all of this. How come it comes into my head as if it was already planned? Did the de-ahem, did someone already planned for this?!"

"Naturally, it was the very same leader. Why? Not too obvious for such a sharp fellow like yourself?" The Celestial White Tiger responded, lifting its head up and going back to its relaxing pose with its stomach flat on the floor and its head high up to its normal level; yet it was between 70 to 90 meters high up into the sky, so it was still difficult to glare up at it.

"W-what? Okay, okay. But then, why are you telling me about the other felled Sacred Beast Protectors, what's the point of it? Could it be... something about those missing 'overlords'?" Asked Yun Beishang with a perfunctory tone, and then with a casual tone after taking in a casual but deep breath in for this was still, after all, just a game; he wasn't being brainlessly warm nor polite towards this easy-going big fellow whose simple bash of its paws could very well instantly kill him. But the Celestial White Tiger, instead of taking it even slightly humiliating, smiled in understanding casually before amply replying to his query. A strange glint covering both its eyes as it gazed at Yun Beishang as soon as his words were fully spoken. "That's correct. Those missing overlords, are all also equally in trouble in the same deep waters as those in which you saw the 3 Sacred Beast Protectors in before."

"In truth, Tongqiu, the reason of why I have helped you back then, guided you here and finally spoke to you; was to let you know of the Overlord of the Bright Sunset Region, whose entire body could encompass the entire Myriad Beasts Division with just a fraction of its body. Unlike many others believe, the Overlord of the Bright Sunset Region isn't missing, but simply parted ways with the civilizations of all of Main Kingdom."

At this moment, however, Yun Beishang interrupted the big ol' kitty with some hurried waves of his hands. "Wait, wait, wait! This is a bit... too fast? I know there is supposed to be overlords around, but why are they suddenly so important?"

The Celestial White Tiger smiled ambiguously, letting Yun Beishang's mind become curious and anticipating before finally continuing with its thunderous and majestic voice thorough all of the Celestial White Tiger Sacred Underground. "Because the Overlords are all of the God Devourer level. And right now, the only one who is still at that level, is our Bright Sunset region's Overlord."

The Celestial White Tiger continued with another impractical question, with a smile, "Do you know what one needs to become one? A 'God Devourer'?"

"No." Responded a blankly staring back at the Celestial White Tiger Yun Beishang, as if silently conveying other meaning 'how the fuck could I ever know, kitty?'.

"Hmph~," Smirking wildly at his response, the Celestial White Tiger didn't reprimand Yun Beishang but instead gazed at him laughingly before saying, "...by devouring a God."

KA-CHA~!!!

"!!" Immediately after, the ceiling of the Sacred Underground trembled and quaked, an ever so familiar sound for the two of them resounded as Yun Beishang cringed in sudden fear while the Celestial White Tiger smirked even more wildly with its eyes flickering before blood spurted out of the corner of themselves. Its voice was heard amidst the intense rumbling of the Sacred Underground, for as Yun Beishang realized... realized that it wasn't going to stop at all. "Now that our fated meeting is coming to an end, allow me to grant you these gifts. And this one; please, pass it on to my daughter, this will aid her in the breaking of her own shackles. As for the matter of the Overlord of this Region... look for the Overlord, Yun Beishang. But do it so prepared, once you've accomplished your task of bringing back those pair of beings that have now become yours and became the Evil God, he will take you in with the gates of the Heavenly Citadel; wide open!"

RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE~~...

Amidst the still thundering around walls, ceiling and quaking ground; 2 strikingly white brilliant glows in the shape of a ball that were hiding a few items each and 1 dark-red colored brilliant glow shape of a ball descended from pure and almost-omnipresent eyes of the Celestial White Tiger and from its blood that was streaming down the corner of its eyes respectively, moved towards Yun Beishang before the two white glows entered his body and the dark-red one entered his Master's Bag after failing to enter his White Space without permission. Which shocked Yun Beishang since the Celestial White Tiger was, by far, the most powerful BOSS he has ever seen before. Then, the Celestial White Tiger continued to calmly speak among the rumbling of the entirety of its own Sacred Underground as a strange glint went off in front of it that covered from the floor all the way up to the ceiling and all of its fur was discolored by a lot.

"Try your newest addition of your Gardener's profession on small animals and monsters first, then once you've completely understood it. Use the presences in your body and turn them into nutrition for your ascension!" The Celestial White Tiger conveyed, serious expression and with strict words. But after saying so, it turned completely different as a warm gaze and another different type of strange glint appeared on its eyes.

"I also require you to do one thing for me. My daughter, Ruo Paodan, is still a fragile 23 years old little girl. I require of you, explicitly..." In the middle of the big ol' papa's words, Yun Beishang's face fell as a thought emerged in his head, 'Oh no.'

"...to mate with her and bring her with you!"

"..." Yun Beishang speechlessly stared back at the Celestial White Tiger as he thought 'well fuck' and then placed both his hands on his hips and lowered his head. He then turned his head upwards to gaze at the slightly awkward and less strikingly white and blue colored fur but still emanating a righteous aura, and asked it without politeness at all. "For any reason? No? Like, some ritual... a requirement... my 'essence', something? Anything...?"

The Celestial White Tiger blinked thrice, before then licking its mouth from the outside before asking in a weird tone, "Did the... did the Azure Dragon asked you of something back then?"

RUMBLE, RUMBLE~~!

Yun Beishang: "..."

"Indeed, cough. No, it is not because of any reason. It's just that I want that little brat taken care of, what best than you, Yun Beishang. Don't you think?"

Yun Beishang: "..."

"..." The Celestial White Tiger looked at him from above; seriously. Yun Beishang then broke off that strange atmosphere as he exasperatedly released out a breath of held air after shaking his head before then speaking clearly and fast, "Father-in-law, huh. Indeed... Alright, I'll do it. Anything else? I'm leaving now, and now I have to yet again tell another child that their parents are all dead."

The Celestial White Tiger ignored Yun Beishang's rudeness as he took out the White Key and then spoke his farewell towards him; and its daughters. "No. That will be all, farewell, young God. I wish you are successful on both your paths, and tell my daughter... She must be strong!"

RUMBLE~~~!!

Yun Beishang didn't say anything else and closed his eyes for a while before a strange portal appeared behind him, but this time, it didn't suctioned him abruptly like it has before. Obvious that this was the result of the strong, prideful and righteous Celestial White Tiger remaining completely untouched by the dirt of 'them'. A white and greyish-green barrier enveloped him when he had his eyes closed. And right before Yun Beishang was about to hop into the white small, twirling portal; he suddenly gazed back at the Celestial White Tiger who in turn looked down at him from having its head looking far ahead, and asked. "Did you seriously banged a little black rabbit?"

"!!!"

Before the kitty could respond with more than just its eyes widening fully, Yun Beishang scurried into the small and twirling white portal, disappearing at once.

Only one word was spoken as Yun Beishang left its sight, "SHAMELESS!"

...