Battle Through the Heavens: Starting with Cao Ying as an apprentice

Chapter 14: Completing Childhood (Data Requested)

"I...I...I don't seem to remember anything." The snake woman's timid words silenced Cao Ying.

Cao Ying stared wide-eyed at the ethereal goddess before her, her once lively eyes now filled with confusion and helplessness.

She instinctively reached out to touch the other person, but then, afraid of being impolite, her fingers twitched in the air before she withdrew them.

Su Baichen, who was in the distance, naturally heard their conversation.

At first, he didn't pay much attention, but when he heard the snake woman say that she had lost her memory, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he suddenly remembered a character who would have a brief but tragic future—the sister of Queen Medusa, Cai Lin, named Die!

That poor woman forcibly used a forbidden spatial technique to escape during the awakening ceremony, the price being the loss of her memory and being stranded in the desert. There, she met and fell in love with the Ice Emperor Hai Bodong, but ultimately, due to a twist of fate, she was accidentally injured in an energy clash between her sister and her lover, and tragically perished. A story that should have been heartwarming ended in tragedy.

Thinking of this, Su Baichen stroked his chin, his eyes flickering.

A daring plan took shape in his mind. In the future, Xiao Yan wouldn't be the only one to find the Azure Lotus Core Flame; wasn't this amnesiac snake woman before him another ready-made "guide"? If handled properly… hehehe!

Just as Su Baichen was rubbing his hands together, plotting how to dig a trap and how to "trick" this amnesiac girl step by step, Cao Ying darted in front of him like a startled rabbit, interrupting his thoughts.

"Master! Master!" Cao Ying tugged at Su Baichen's sleeve, her little face full of anxiety and sympathy: "Did you hear that? That sister, has she lost her memory? She's so pitiful!"

"Yes, I heard you." Su Baichen pulled his wandering thoughts back and nodded with feigned profundity: "It seems that the backlash from forcibly using a forbidden spatial technique damaged the origin of his soul, which is why he lost all his memories."

"Ah? A wounded soul? That...that must hurt a lot, right?" Cao Ying's face scrunched up, her eyes filled with empathetic sorrow. She tugged at Su Baichen's sleeve, her voice brimming with expectation as she looked at him pleadingly, "Master, can...can we take her with us? She doesn't remember anything, it's so dangerous for her to be alone in this desert!"

Seeing the starry look in her apprentice's eyes, Su Baichen knew exactly what she was thinking.

He deliberately put on a stern face, stretched out his finger, and gave Cao Ying a light tap on the forehead.

Boom!

A crisp sound.

"Ouch—!" Cao Ying cried out dramatically, covering her forehead with both hands and squatting down. She then burst into loud sobs, her voice so pitiful that anyone who didn't know better would think she had suffered some great injustice.

"Master, I'm so lonely. You've been looking for things these past few days and haven't paid much attention to me!"

"I just want to talk to someone, I'm so lonely."

…………

Unfortunately, the crying was all bark and no bite; after howling for a long time, not a single tear came out.

She "cried" for a long time, then secretly peeked out from between her fingers. She saw her master calmly walk to the fire, pick up a skewer of sizzling roasted meat, and take out a pot of fragrant fruit wine from his storage ring. He looked like he was ready to watch a good show.

Su Baichen leisurely took a bite of the crispy-on-the-outside, tender-on-the-inside roasted meat, then sipped some fruit wine with relish. Watching his apprentice's exaggerated performance, a playful smile played on his lips, his eyes clearly saying: Keep acting, keep acting, your master is watching.

When Cao Ying saw that her self-inflicted injury had failed, she pouted, knowing that her "superb acting skills" had already been seen through by her master.

She stood up angrily, brushed the sand off her skirt, rolled her eyes, and ran to the side to pick up a dry twig.

Then, she squatted down and began to carefully draw circles in the sand with a twig, muttering to herself in a low voice that Su Baichen could just hear:

I'll draw a circle and curse you!

"I curse you to explode your furnace the next time you refine a seventh-grade pill! May the furnace lid fly straight to the sky!"

May you always get water stuck in your teeth and burn your tongue when you eat barbecue!

I curse you... to live to be a hundred!

"I curse you..."

Hearing the first few sentences, Su Baichen just found it funny, but when the words "live a long and healthy life" clearly entered his ears, he couldn't help but spit out the fruit wine in his mouth.

A pill-refining furnace exploding? Water getting stuck in your teeth? And you expect me to live to be a hundred? You traitor! Do you even know that a Dou Zun expert can live for hundreds of years like it's nothing? Before I transmigrated, living to be a hundred would definitely be a blessing! But now this is clearly cursing your master to die young… Pah! Pah! Pah!

The more Su Baichen thought about it, the more he felt that his disciple was being "filial" to an excessive degree, and the more he thought about it, the more aggrieved he became.

He immediately decided that this rebellious disciple, who lacked "beatings," must experience what a "complete" childhood is like!

He moved with lightning speed, appearing beside Cao Ying like a ghost.

Cao Ying, who was engrossed in her "curse," suddenly felt a blur before her eyes as a shadow loomed over her. Startled, she looked up abruptly and met her master's forced, "kind" face.

A chill ran from the soles of her feet to the top of her head. Cao Ying froze, cold sweat instantly pouring out. Her voice trembled uncontrollably: "Master...Master? You...you...how did you get here? What...what do you want?"

Su Baichen's smile grew even more "kind," and he said slowly, "It's nothing, I just suddenly felt a little itchy in my hands."

"Then, you suddenly realize that your childhood seems to have lacked a very important, 'precious' experience that you can remember for a lifetime."

"Well, I'm in a good mood today, so I've come to help you complete your childhood meal with stir-fried bamboo shoots with pork."

After saying that, without giving Cao Ying any chance to react or beg for mercy, Su Baichen reached out and, like an eagle catching a chick, accurately grabbed the back of Cao Ying's collar, lifted her up with a gentle lift, and then skillfully pressed her onto his knee.

Hand rises, palm falls.

"what--!"

A crisp, clear sound, accompanied by Cao Ying's earth-shattering scream, carried far and wide in the silent desert twilight... startling several sand lizards that were resting behind the dunes.

Meanwhile, the amnesiac snake-woman butterfly stared blankly with a hint of curiosity at this scene of "deep affection between master and disciple."

"Wow, this little girl is so pitiful, she's screaming so pitifully!"

"But is this what a complete childhood is?"

"Is this the legendary bamboo shoot and pork stir-fry?!"

The touching scene of master and disciple before her eyes completely overturned her limited understanding.

Chapter 15 Taking Cai Die as a Maid

The following morning, three figures wandered across the Tagor Desert.

Su Baichen, still dressed in white, walked unhurriedly among the undulating sand dunes, his figure graceful, like an immortal who was out of place in this harsh environment.

Cao Ying, who was also sulking, followed behind them. However, today, there was another figure behind them: a snake woman named Cai Die, who quietly followed.

Yesterday, Su Baichen said he could take her as a maid, naming her Cai Die, and that she could protect him when he was in danger. She agreed without even thinking about it.

Although she had lost her memory and couldn't remember anything, her instincts told her that following the figure in front of her was the safest option at the moment, and she didn't sense any malice from Su Baichen.

The morning light shone on her slightly pale face, and her unique snake-like eyes held a hint of bewilderment, yet also a trace of submission to her new identity.

Further back, Cao Ying was limping, her little face full of grievance and resentment. She kept rubbing her sore buttocks with one hand and muttering to herself, clearly still resentful about yesterday's "bamboo shoots stir-fried with pork".

"Sister Cai Die." Cao Ying quickened her pace, approached Cai Die, tugged at her sleeve, blinked her big eyes, and said in a tearful voice, "Yesterday I became like this because of you. If anyone bullies me in the future, you must stand up for me."

Looking at her pitiful appearance, Cai Die's heart softened. Without hesitation, she patted her chest and earnestly assured her, "Uh, no problem, I'll take care of you if anything happens to Xiao Cao Ying."

But when she caught a glimpse of the tall, white figure in front of her out of the corner of her eye, she immediately lowered her voice and added, "Of course, except for you, young master."

Cao Ying pouted, somewhat disappointed, but knowing this was the bottom line, she could only nod.

Having a powerful older sister who's willing to protect you is better than nothing.

Su Baichen, who was walking in front, had already spread his soul power, taking in every rustle of grass and every movement within a radius of several miles.

He was not fooled by the two girls' whispers; he merely smiled slightly.

Cao Ying, that little girl, is quite quick-witted. However, his attention at the moment was more focused on the several powerful auras that were rapidly approaching from afar.

"They're here." Su Baichen thought to himself, his steps faltering slightly. Three figures radiating the aura of a Dou Huang were rushing towards them from behind the sand dunes. One of them possessed a cold and powerful aura, carrying the feeling of bloodlines originating from the same source as Cai Die.

"The laborers have come to my door." Su Baichen was in a good mood and was thinking about how to greet them in a "friendly" way so that they would be willing to help him find the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame.

However, no sooner had the thought crossed his mind than a sudden change occurred!

The leader, a snake-man elder, was thin and had sharp eyes like a hawk; he showed no intention of engaging in conversation whatsoever.

He saw Su Baichen and the other two from afar, and especially when he sensed the familiar aura emanating from Cai Die, his eyes flashed with murderous intent.

"Traitor! Prepare to die!"

The withered elder roared and slammed his dry hand forward! A surge of powerful battle qi erupted, instantly condensing in the air into a giant, deep purple energy python several meters long!

The giant python was incredibly lifelike, its scales menacing. It opened its blood-red maw, letting out a piercing hiss, and tore through the air as it lunged at Su Baichen! Wherever it passed, the scattered energy ploughed a deep trench in the sand.

This is clearly a powerful high-level Xuan-rank combat skill!

"Damn it! No sportsmanship at all!" Su Baichen hadn't expected his opponent to be so decisive and ruthless, launching a killing move right from the start. His relaxed expression vanished instantly, and he cursed under his breath, his reaction as swift as lightning.

Faced with the serpentine phantom that was powerful enough to shatter a small hill, Su Baichen neither dodged nor flinched, but simply raised his right hand seemingly casually.

Without dazzling battle aura or earth-shattering momentum, it simply and lightly slapped forward with a palm.

His hands were fair and slender, like those of a scholar playing the zither and writing calligraphy, forming a stark contrast to the ferocious and menacing giant python of energy.

"Hmph, to catch my high-level Xuan-rank combat skill with your bare hands, you really don't know what's good for you!" The withered snake-man elder sneered mockingly upon seeing this.

He could almost see the scene of this arrogant human boy being torn to pieces by the giant python.

Behind them, Cai Die and Cao Ying were even more terrified, their faces turning pale. Cai Die cried out in alarm, instinctively trying to rush forward, but was rendered immobile by the terrifying pressure of the Dou Huang aura. Cao Ying's face was even paler, and she tightly gripped Cai Die's clothes.

"boom--!"

Just as the giant python was about to devour Su Baichen, his palm struck the python's forehead with pinpoint accuracy.

There was no violent explosion as expected, only a muffled, thunderous roar. The menacing energy serpent seemed to have crashed into an invisible yet indestructible barrier. Its massive body shattered inch by inch, starting from its head, like broken glass, turning into pure energy specks that quickly vanished into the air. The dissipating shockwave stirred up a cloud of yellow sand, forming a brief curtain of dust.

Su Baichen remained completely still, not even the hem of his clothes was disheveled.

He slowly withdrew his hand, gently dusted off non-existent dust from his sleeve, and calmly looked at the three serpent-man warriors in the air, their faces filled with horror, through the gradually dissipating sand.

The sneer on the face of the gaunt elder who had made the move had frozen, replaced by deep disbelief and a hint of fear.

His high-level Xuan-rank combat skill, which he had exerted all his strength, was shattered by the opponent with a single, effortless palm strike? Just who is this kid?

Just as Su Baichen deflected the attack, another elder of the snake-people clan transformed into a streak of light, his target Cai Die and Cao Ying. A powerful pressure descended like a mountain, and his voice was icy cold, carrying an undeniable authority: "Those who violate the clan rules, come back with me to be punished!"

Cai Die sensed the hostile aura that originated from the same source, as well as the undisguised killing intent of the other party, and the glimmer of hope for her clan that had just risen in her heart was instantly shattered.

She endured the discomfort brought by the pressure of the Dou Huang aura, shielding Cao Ying behind her. Although her face was pale, she still held her head high and said, "I can go with you, but spare the child beside me! She has nothing to do with this!"

The snake-man elder, who had swooped in, swept his gaze over Cao Ying. There was no pity in his eyes, only a deep disgust for humans. He roared, "Betraying the snake-man race and colluding with humans, you deserve to die! I will not let either of you go!"

Before he finished speaking, he formed his five fingers into claws, and with a sharp gust of wind, he was about to grab at Cai Die and Cao Ying!

As the dust settled, the atmosphere in the arena became tense. Su Baichen sighed softly. He had originally wanted to save his energy, but now it seemed that a proper "exchange" was necessary.

His gaze gradually sharpened.

Chapter 16 Demanding Compensation (Data Requested)