It had been almost a week since Elder came to this village, but Mo Shatian had not seen him since then.
I knew it wouldn't be easy to meet him again, after all he was an important guest of the village chief who came from outside.
Mo Shatian walked to herd sheep. On the way, he kept thinking about Elder he had met back then. I wonder if everyone from outside the village is like him.
A fierce flash of lightning suddenly appeared at the top of Misty Mountain. The lightning that fell from the sky was so fierce that it could not be compare to any lightning he had ever seeen.
Boom!
"Wha! It looks like there's going to be a storm today. I need to get back to the village before the storm arrives."
The thunderous sound of lightning can even still be heard in the distance, making the ears tingle.
The sky above the peak of Misty Mountain darkened, black clouds that seemed to be clustered together emitted flashes of lightning
The panicked Mo Shatian immediately brought the sheep flock back to the village.
Suddenly, he felt something coming from the direction of Misty Mountain. When he looked behind him, he saw something huge ambushing the flock of sheep. It was a pitch-black beast with two pairs of blood-colored eyes and a body similar to a wolf—except it was twice the size of an ordinary wolf.
Upon closer inspection of the direction it came from, he also realized that there were a few more following a beast behind it. Mo Shatian subconciusly started swearing in his heart as he ran towards the village—he ran as fast as he could like his life depended on it.
Where... Where did those monsters appear?! I never heard anything about them!
Mo Shatian felt an intense bloodlust rush toward him, cold sweat running down his back. He realized that he no longer heard the sound of the sheep behind him.
Just a few meters before the sharp fangs pounced from behind, Mo Shatian felt a strong wind rush pass him.
SWOOSH!
In an instant, the intense bloodlust he felt behind his back suddenly vanished. Unable to stop himself from looking back, Mo Shatian could not believe what his eyes were seeing.
The monsters that were previously chasing his life have now turned into a pile of corpses lying motionless. Blood gushed out from the bodies that had separated from the head, creating a red-coloured puddle around the corpses.
How could a group of more than a dozen monsters suddenly fall...? It was as if an invisible sword passed by and cut the necks of a dozen monster at once!
Still in a state of confusion due to the sudden change in situation, Mo Shatian did not sense someone approaching him from behind.
"What's with the confused face? Hurry back to the village as there will be more to come."
Realisation came back to him as he heard a voice coming from behind, making him turn his head back to look at the source of the voice.
"E-E-Elder what are you doing here?!"
"I'm the one who should be asking... What are you doing here, boy?"
Mo Shatian, who was still in a dazed state opened his mouth, "I was herding sheep when suddenly there was a violent thunderclap at the top of the mountain."
He pointed his hand towards the peak of Misty Mountain.
"Go back. Xiao Ling is worried about you since you're the only one who hasn't returned to the village." Elder just sighed while looking towards the top of the mountain.
"Thank you for saving me, Elder... I will return to the village immediately." Mo Shatian said as he bowed his head before running towards the village.
He tried to look back one last time. What he saw was a strange phenomenon where only the sky above the mountain was filled with lightning.
*******
Hmm. Does he think that I'm the one who saved him just because I came? Well... It is true that there is no one here but me. Elder pondered as he saw Mo Shatian leave.
When not a single soul remained around him, Elder smiled contentedly as he looked back towards the mountain peak.
"How long has it been since I last saw this beautiful phenomenon? A decade? Two decades? Or maybe more than that? Regardless, I am very excited about this encounter."
It seems that heavens is still smiling upon me!
Elder strengthened his footsteps as he headed towards the peak of the Misty Mountain.
*******
When he arrived at the village, Mo Shatian saw the villagers gathered in the main square.
All the villagers who had gathered in the square seemed to be checking up on each other.
"Has anyone seen Shatian?" A girl asked.
"Has he still not returned to the village?" Someone answered with another question.
"Don't worry. I've asked Elder directly to check on him." Someone said while calming the other villagers.
Mo Shatian, who had just returned breathlessly, finally arrived at the main square. The villagers who saw him were happy that he was fine. But there was someone who ran straight to him and hugged him tightly.
"Are you okay...?" Asked a girl with a worried look on her face.
"Yeah, I'm fine... It seems Elder came to save me." He answered Xiao Lin with an awkward smile.
"I'm glad you're safe." Xiao Ling said while patting him on the shoulder.
"Uncle Ling, do you know what happened at the peak of Misty Mountain? There was a thunderstorm," Mo Shatian said, still being hugged thightly by Xiao Lin. "The strange thing is that this is only happened at the peak. There are also many monsters roaming around."
There was a while before Xiao Ling actually gave him an answer.
"If I'm not mistaken, that phenomenon is called Heavenly Tribulation."
Xiao Ling, who seemed to understand that his explanation was still lacking based on the look on Mo Shatian's face, began his explanation.
"A phenomenon that occurs when a Magical Beast tries to evolve into a Demon Beast or a Demon Beast that tries to ascend to a higher level. It can also be reffered to as Demon Ascension. This is also the first time I've seen it, so we're all gathered here to be prepared in case something bad happens," Xiao Ling said as he looked towards the Misty Mountain.
Not understanding what was meant by a bad situation, Mo Shatian simply waited for an explanation.
"When Heavenly Tribulation occurs, an incredible amount of Spiritual Energy will descend from the sky and the surge of energy will attract the attention of monster hundred kilometers away. That is the reason monsters that should not have been seen around the village suddenly appeared, as they were attracted by Spritual Energy from the Heavenly Tribulation. We are all gathered here in case any monsters try to break through and enter the village." Xiao Ling ended his explanation.
Recalling the monsters that chased him earlier, Mo Shatian couldn't help but think. Are they really going to fight those monsters...? These crazy monsters are so terrifying and don't look like common beast, I don't think humans can fight with them unless it's someone like Elder, who has an aura like not an ordinary human.
It was as if Xiao Ling could tell what Mo Shatian was thinking just by looking at his face.
"You may not know this, but almost everyone in this village is a Cultivator. Although most of them are only there to help with daily life, but that doesn't mean they can't fight. In fact, some of them only focused their abilities on fighting, such as the group in charge of hunting. Their job is actually to guard and protect the village by killing all the monsters around the village area. That's why you never see those monsters before."
"Then what about Elder? The last time I saw him, he was heading to the Misty Mountain." Mo Shatian asked.
"You don't have to worry about him. Because after all, he is much stronger than everyone in this village. 'I will go there to check on the Heavenly Tribulation.' that was he said," Xiao Ling said with a hopeful expression on his face.
Cultivator... I think after hearing his explanation, I think almost everyone in this village as well as Elder is a Cultivator.
Mo Shatian finally got to know a little about Elder and the other side of the village he had been living in all this time