Chapter 2960: Summoned
Chapter 2960: Summoned
Alex was woken up from deep concentration with a knock on the door.
He walked up to the door, expecting to see his Master. Bladedance would be leaving in 3 days, so he assumed it was time for her to leave the palace and prepare for her eventual departure from this realm.
However, when he opened the door, he was surprised to find a White Tiger standing before him instead. He got confused for a moment, but he thought he recognized the shape of the face and the design of the stripes as the one he had seen before.
“Senior… Fulin?” Alex said with a hint of uncertainty.
“You’re the human named Alex, aren’t you?” she asked. “The one bonded to young Shouchuang.”
“I am,” Alex said.
“Good! Come with me,” she said with a stern voice of disapproval. “You’ve been summoned by the patriarch.”
Alex followed without saying any words, somewhat surprised at having been called upon by none other than the patriarch of the White Tiger himself. At the same time, aside from his surprise, there was also a level of concern to this.
Since it was clear that he was bonded to Pearl, he had already offended the White Tigers by merely being present in their palace. It was very much possible that he was being taken to the patriarch to be heard of his crimes against the White Tiger.
Bai Jingshen waited outside the main palace with Pearl, both holding a slightly worried look on his face.
“Don’t say too much and let me do the talking,” Bai Jingshen said. “I may be able to defuse the situation.”
Alex nodded slowly.
“I’ll do what I can too, brother,” Pearl said as he walked alongside Alex.
“That’s fine,” Alex said. “I knew this day was going to come sooner or later. It’s better to be done with it right away so we can focus on our next breakthrough.”
Pearl nodded.
“I was in the library with Keixu when I was notified that you had been summoned. I’m sorry I couldn’t warn you in advance to prepare for this.”
Alex shrugged since there was nothing else he could do. “Did you find anything in the library?” he asked. “Anything in regards to Tribulation lightning specifically.”
“No records on tribulation lightning that we managed to dig up had anything on Creation. A few spoke about the impracticality of it, but they didn’t go in-depth into it. Not that they need to. The Sword God has already explained to us the reasoning behind that, hasn’t she?”
Alex nodded slowly.
“I’m now divided between something similar to Heavenly Judgment lightning, which will be impossible to get, and Pill lightning, which I can easily get but won’t be as difficult to come by. As an Alchemist, it might be better to get it just in case too. However, I’m keeping myself open if I ever change my mind again or find something better.”
“Pill Lightning?” Bai Jingshen asked with a thoughtful look. “For an alchemist, that sounds good. I don’t truly understand how they work, but I’m sure you’ll figure it out. So long as you’re not using it to attack others, it should be fine, I assume.”
Alex sighed. “That’s kind of the issue. It’s not an offensive technique. I really wanted an offensive Creation.”
“Maybe you have to pivot at this situation. Instead of an offensive Creation, go for a defensive one. Have you thought about those?” he asked.
Alex shook his head. “I’ve never really had to ever think about defensive techniques. It sort of doesn’t matter in my case, after all.”
“Maybe. It’s just a suggestion still,” Bai Jingshen said. “I found some records about how you can turn a technique or a cultivated physique into a Creation. Maybe you can take the White Tiger’s Dominating Body technique.”
“Jingshen!” Bai Fulin shouted with a shocked expression. “What are you talking about? We don’t give out White Tiger’s secret techniques to nobody.”
“He’s not a nobody, aunt Fulin,” Bai Jingshen said.
“He’s a human,” Bai Fulin said.
“He is,” Bai Jingshen said. “But he’s also more.”
He looked into his aunt’s eyes and saw the look of fear that came from seeing someone with a radical, almost heretical, thought. “Maybe not,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”
“Thank you for the idea, brother Shen. But I don’t think I’ll be going for any defensive techniques just yet. I’ll keep it in my mind in case I don’t find anything else, but for now, I won’t be going with this.”
Bai Jingshen shrugged. “Whatever you decide. I’m merely here to give suggestions.”
They continued down the giant corridor painted with various murals all around until they arrived at the massive garden tinted golden with the sunlight through the giant dome in the sky.
At the center was the statue of the progenitor, standing tall and proud as the first White Tiger ever to be blessed.
Alex stared at the statue in awe for nearly half a minute, looking at not just the being that was sculpted but also the craftsmanship behind it to make it look as if it was going to come to life at any moment.
“Oh, grandpa! Brother is here now like you said he should. Should we show him that?” Pearl asked with an excited look. “You said he needed to see it.”
Bai Jingshen looked at Alex for a moment before turning to Bai Fulin. “We have to meet the patriarch first. We’ll talk about the mural afterwards.”
“Mural?” Alex asked, turning around to see what Bai Jingshen was talking about. When he did, he realized that the outer walls of the palace that encircled the garden were filled to the brim with all sorts of murals.
“What mural are you talking about?” Alex asked, turning around to see where they were looking.
Pearl gestured behind him, pointed at a wall.
As Alex followed his lead, his eyes landed on the wall closest to him, on a quarter-circle wall, going from the western gate all the way to the north.