"Cough, cough, cough, it's the War God's Tears," Si Qing said in a serious, hushed voice. "This, this War God's Tears is extremely effective in dispelling inner demons! Truly."
He had just scanned the vicinity with his divine sense and discovered a divine portrait of himself nearby.
It was also adorned with incense and candles, likely offerings from his followers.
"Oh, really?" Qi Yu fell into thought.
She had sold many War God offerings before, but had never heard of such a legend.
After much deliberation, Qi Yu finally expressed her doubts to Si Qing.
Si Qing cleared his throat again. "Of course, not many people know that the War God's Tears can dispel inner demons. Come on, he's the War God, would the War God cry easily? How could that be possible? So, besides the War God himself, only a few believers know about it. I am one of those believers."
"Is that so?" Qi Yu scratched her head. "Then why can't others go together?"
The War God's Tears could dispel inner demons. If everyone could get their hands on the War God's Tears together, it would benefit everyone in the future.
Si Qing's ears turned red.
He wanted to say that he was the War God himself, and he didn't want to shed tears in front of so many people; he was too embarrassed!
But he couldn't say it, alas.
Qi Yu looked at Si Qing, seeing his troubled expression, and leaned closer. "By the way, A Qing, before you came to the Bei Yuan Sect, you must have lived in the Nine Heavens, right? After all, the events back then didn't involve you. So, what is your divine position in the Nine Heavens now?"
"...I served as a minor Martial God under the War God," Si Qing mumbled, making up a story.
He hadn't intended to hide his identity as the War God... after all, Qi Yu was his elder sister, and they even shared the same soul attribute!
But...
Si Qing lowered his gaze.
Ever since their parents were banished to the mortal realm and his sister's soul was taken, he had been constantly targeted by the Heavenly Emperor, living on thin ice.
Moreover, to this day, his natal core was held by the Heavenly Emperor, forcing him to act as the Heavenly Emperor's puppet.
Therefore, if he told his sister about his true divine position and let her know about his hardships in the divine realm over the years, it would only worsen her inner demons, make her more worried, and more pained, with no other benefit.
He couldn't make his sister sad anymore.
He wanted to help her.
Therefore, the fact that he was the War God must absolutely not be revealed for now.
Qi Yu, as expected, didn't think much of it and looked enlightened. "I see. No wonder you know that the War God's Tears can dispel inner demons. But where can we find the War God's temple?"
"There's a War God portrait not far ahead," Si Qing gestured with his chin. "Let's go pay our respects, and perhaps we can ask for it."
Actually, Qi Yu still didn't understand. It was just praying to a god, and whether she could obtain the War God's Tears was uncertain. Why couldn't they all go together?
But... seeing that Si Qing really didn't want them to go together, and the place with the War God's portrait was not far, at most three or four steps away, Qi Yu didn't press the issue further. Using the excuse of needing to use the restroom, she pulled Si Qing along and went over.
On the dilapidated wall.
A handsome man, holding a divine spear, clad in a green War God King's robe, and riding a celestial horse, was painted with lifelike detail.
A faint divine light emanated from around the painting.
In front of the painting, there were incense, candles, and offerings.
Below, there were two kneeling cushions.
Many cultivators were offering sacrifices.
In the Nine Heavens Palace, Si Qing was the only War God. His followers were spread across the eight directions, including demonic cultivators, human cultivators, and even martial monks and Buddhist disciples who believed in him.
When Si Qing descended to the mortal realm with a clone, he slightly altered his appearance. Therefore, standing beside Qi Yu at this moment, he only resembled his true form but was not exactly the same.
Qi Yu prepared to go and pay her respects.
How could Si Qing let her kneel to himself? He grabbed Qi Yu's arm. "Brother, you wait here for me. I'll go."
With that, he ran straight over, knelt on one of the cushions, closed his eyes, and performed a ritual.
In the Nine Heavens Palace.
Si Qing's true form, Si Qing Divine Venerable, sensed the worship from the All-Elemental Forest in the mortal realm.
He raised his hand and, looking at Qi Yu standing not far away in the All-Elemental Forest, gazing at his portrait, his eyes turned red, and tears rolled down his cheeks.
Each tear fell in mid-air, condensing into transparent beads.
Si Qing Divine Venerable collected these beads into a jade bottle, inscribed Qi Yu's name on it, and dropped it to the mortal realm.
Soon.
The bottle descended from the sky and slowly landed in the hands of Si Qing in the mortal realm.
The surrounding believers whispered amongst themselves:
"Did you see that? The War God actually sent him something!"
"It looks like a bottle. I always thought the War God couldn't hear mortal prayers, so does the War God always know we are his followers?"
"Quick, quick, go worship the War God."
Seeing Si Qing receive a divine gift after worshipping the War God, a group of people immediately swarmed forward.
Si Qing made way for them and walked directly to Qi Yu, handing her the bottle. "See? I have some connection with the War God. I got it easily. Brother, you try it."
Qi Yu nodded, opening the bottle and curiously asking, "Si Qing, I've noticed that since we recognized each other, you've never asked me why I'm disguised as a man."
Since Qi Yu regained her memories, she had been waiting for him to ask.
Si Qing wasn't particularly concerned about it. "If you like dressing as a man, then dress as a man. Wear whatever you like. Why should I ask?"
Qi Yu held the bottle, poured out a transparent tear, and hearing his words, used one hand to pat Si Qing's head.
Si Qing nuzzled her hand a few times. "Brother, try it. Eat this bead. It might hurt a little at first, but after circulating your energy and meditating a few times, it will gradually dispel the demonic obstacles. After finishing the bottle, you'll be fine soon."
Qi Yu nodded, staring nervously at the tear for a long time, and finally opened her mouth and swallowed it.
Qi Yu had initially thought the tear would be hard and difficult to swallow, but to her surprise, it melted in her mouth. Within a short time, it began to generate heat and flow around her heart meridian and dan field.
Qi Yu felt her heart pounding violently, her spiritual energy rising continuously, and her golden core began to spin madly, forcefully breaking through the suppression of her cultivation that Li Yu had imposed on her.
At the same time, not far away, thunder rumbled.
The tribulation clouds for the Nascent Soul stage had already risen directly above Qi Yu.
Yu Zhen and Li Yu, who were chatting not far away, heard the sudden rumbling thunder from the sky and instinctively fell silent, looking around.
They wanted to see which unlucky person was undergoing tribulation in such a dangerous place as the All-Elemental Forest.
As it turned out, the unlucky person they spotted... was their Qi Yu.
"Junior Brother Qi Yu!" Yue Zhiyin's face turned pale. But cultivators undergoing tribulation could not be helped, and everyone was unable to get close.
"How could this happen?" Si Qing was completely stunned. He only wanted to use his divine power to suppress his sister's inner demons.
He had never heard before that this could lead to a surge in cultivation and a breakthrough in tribulation.
Si Qing panicked outside, but at the same moment, the first heavenly lightning struck.
Qi Yu raised her hand and cast a spell to block it.
The rumbling thunder easily shattered Qi Yu's barrier.
For the first time, Qi Yu felt that she was truly unlucky.
She had originally wanted to try harder and combine the Nascent Soul tribulation with the tribulation that occurred once every fifty years, passing it all at once.
She hadn't expected... it to advance to the Nascent Soul stage so early!
Damn it... what a mess!
At this moment, the heavenly lightning was not falling too fast, nor was it too powerful. Qi Yu still had the leisure to think about other things.
But after three consecutive heavenly lightning strikes, Qi Yu could no longer hold on.
There were thirteen heavenly lightning strikes in total for the Nascent Soul tribulation.
She had only endured three strikes so far, with ten more awaiting her.
Qi Yu knelt on one knee, feeling her internal energy churning. Her golden core had already begun to crack, revealing the tiny Nascent Soul within.
Qi Yu took a deep breath, threw talismans from her storage bag into the air, summoned her original artifact to block above them, and spat out her golden core to set up a barrier.
As the heavenly lightning struck one by one, Qi Yu's talismans gradually could not withstand it and were blasted into fragments.
Seeing the last heavenly lightning strike from the sky, Qi Yu, while resisting with all her might, closed her eyes tightly.
Unexpectedly, the anticipated pain did not arrive.
Qi Yu slowly opened her eyes.
She found herself in complete darkness.
She was floating in mid-air.
Before her, a Qilin auspicious beast had appeared at some point.
It was enormous and majestic, with auspicious clouds beneath its feet.
Qi Yu stared blankly, frozen for a moment, unsure how to react.
The Qilin's beastly eyes met hers directly, and after a long while, it spoke in a powerful and steady voice:
"Do you know who I am?"