"The rebellious period is something that comes at age fourteen for some people, age sixteen for others, and age eighteen for still others. It varies from person to person," said Chen Xia.
"I'm probably a bit special - my rebellious period came at the age of six thousand," he continued. "But that also makes sense, right?"
Chen Xia looked at Ma Xiaohong and asked. The crimson glow in his left eye was still flickering nonstop.
Ma Xiaohong hugged her immortal sword and nodded blankly, "Mm-hmm."
Half a month later.
It was now Ma Xiaohong who sat in front of the shuttle leading the way.
Chen Xia was in the back, arguing with himself. Sometimes when the argument got heated he would start fighting, slapping his left hand with his right.
Chen Xia refused to back down, insisting on debating with his inner demon over matters of reason. When the debate got intense, he would slap his left cheek, while increasing the volume of his voice, "Don't rush me, let me explain slowly."
At this time, the sinister glow would flicker in his left eye's crimson pupils as he retorted, "Take your time explaining, but why hit me?"
"Well hit me back if you want to make a big deal out of it!"
"Fine."
Then his right hand would slap his right cheek.
If one were only listening and not watching, it would seem like a fairly normal conversation, nothing strange about it.
But watching it would be a different story.
Because it was a one-man conversation.
Ma Xiaohong was already used to these kinds of scenes since Chen Xia had explained things to her. So she wasn't scared as she steadily piloted the shuttle forged from her immortal sword, sailing among the stars in the Dead Realm.
By now they had entered the central region of the Great Death Realm, and were encountering more cultivators.
However, their shuttle moved extremely fast, never stopping once the whole way. The other cultivators also didn't dare approach casually, so their journey remained peaceful.
Earlier, Ma Xiaohong had asked Chen Xia where they were going.
Chen Xia himself didn't have a fixed destination in mind, he just said they would take it one step at a time and go wherever news took them.
Though he didn't specify what news.
Ma Xiaohong turned her head to glance at the preoccupied Chen Xia, feeling it was even less likely he would elaborate now.
And so the two of them drifted among the stars, veritable cosmic orphans.
During this period, Chen Xia's rebellious phase grew increasingly severe. He would chatter on endlessly to himself every day.
Until one day, he suddenly fell silent.
Ma Xiaohong curiously asked him about it.
Chen Xia replied, "I'm vexed."
This was indeed a reason Ma Xiaohong did not anticipate.
Sulking with oneself, Chen Xia was probably the first in this regard.
The first in terms of mental illness, that is.
Chen Xia's current cultivation level was also steadily rising as he charged towards the Heaven Mending Realm.
But he wasn't cultivating at all?
At first even Chen Xia himself felt puzzled, wondering if he was exceptionally gifted or if it was his fortune at play, causing his cultivation to automatically increase.
Later on he understood why.
It was his inner demon who was helping him cultivate.
Hmm...
It wasn't so much helping him cultivate, since they were one body to begin with. It could be said his inner demon was helping himself cultivate.
Apart from his cultivation level, after absorbing the Great Sage Remnant, he could unleash purplish black heavenly thunder. But he could only use it at a basic level, far inferior to the thunder techniques the Great Sage Remnant had displayed in its prime.
This was only natural, since Chen Xia had no foundation in the Dao of Thunder to begin with. In the past, he had only learned some of the most basic thunder techniques from books, things that all Seed Formation stage cultivators would know.
And now he could wield Great Saint level purplish black heavenly thunder. This was already going against the heavens. If he used it in his Celestial Dragon form, it would probably be a level more powerful still.
The purplish black heavenly thunder was known as the Great Saint Thunder, unique to those who had attained Great Sagehood through mastering the Dao of Thunder. Its power was extremely terrifying.
But Chen Xia was no Great Sage, so the might he could unleash was limited after all, far from a true Great Sage's power. At best he could match a peak Heaven Mending Realm cultivator.
This was his one and only gain from the remnants, a twist of fate perhaps?
As for the three quasi-Saint corpses, they had long since been blasted into smithereens, probably become stardust floating in the Death Realm without a single speck left to recover.
Now even their ashes were gone with the wind.
Additionally, Chen Xia had taken the bronze spear, a decent mid-grade immortal weapon he reckoned, feeling it was slightly stronger than the bronze sword. Though he had no use for it himself.
That summed up Chen Xia's fortuitous encounters within the remnants. Not much to speak of, hardly befitting the prestige of Great Sage remnants.
As for Ma Xiaohong, her greatest reward was simply surviving and living on, which was already enough for her.
Apart from that, she had exhausted about five hundred years of lifespan. Just a drop in the bucket for a cultivator at the Inverse Sea Realm with their long lifespans. And there were still life-prolonging pills from Chen Xia for her to consume, effectively negating the loss.
It had to be said, Ma Xiaohong's vital constitution truly defied the heavens. No wonder the Realm Domain had gone to such lengths to capture her.
With Chen Xia's innate luck, plus Ma Xiaohong's vital constitution...
Hmm...
While they may not have many other obvious advantages, at least they had ample lives to spare.
If Chen Xia went down, his inner demon could take over. If his inner demon fell, his avatar could pick up half his remaining life. Even if both were gone, Ma Xiaohong could still provide half her lifeline.
The main highlight was their sustainability.
The Great Sage Remnant had likely perished this way, drained bit by bit. It was merely an awakened remnant relying precariously on lingering spiritual energy. With that fading away, it grew weaker and weaker until Chen Xia could finally destroy it.
The Great Sage Remnant probably didn't expect it would encounter such an abnormal foe - seemingly one man, yet with three lives to spare.
More lives than a dog.
Still, it was a testament to Chen Xia's capabilities, an emergency tactic of unleashing all his trump cards from past and future. Barely managing to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
And because this battle mainly relied on his inner demon, the demon was rather unruly now, insisting repeatedly:
"Can't you praise me a bit?"
"Impressive," Chen Xia replied.
"Say it with more feeling," the demon spoke smugly.
"Impressive!" Chen Xia raised his voice.
"I want a praise that's one-third gratified, one-third delighted, one-third affirmative, and one-tenth moved." The demon made yet another demand.
"Ridiculous asshole," came Chen Xia's immediate retort.
The seemingly normal exchange of words actually flowed out from a single body, the crux being it was a one-man conversation.
Ma Xiaohong pursed her lips, not bothering to respond to Chen Xia as she focused on operating the shuttle through the sea of stars.
Yet soon after, she came to an abrupt halt.
Because ahead of them was a gathering of over ten massive ferries!