1539 Purpose

The tiger's anger scared Alex. He had seen him angry before, but not this angry. This was killing Intent in his anger that didn't come naturally. 

Alex had to step aside in fear of what would happen to him.

Bai Jingshen's fury rose to new heights. His daughter was dead. His son-in-law was dead. His granddaughter was dead. This was an attack on his family and he couldn't stand it.

He burned with anger, the air around his rippling with his Qi that rose from him. He couldn't calm himself. He needed blood. The blood of his enemies was the only thing that could calm him.

That was what his primal instincts demanded.

And with his anger formed something in his forehead. Something that glimmered in golden light, something that flickered so fast that the distracted couldn't notice in time.

Bai Jingshen hadn't realized that he had nearly revealed a very deep secret that he had hidden about himself for the longest time.

"I'm going," he said and turned to leave.

"Brother Shen!" Alex spoke out, but the White Tiger didn't listen to him.

"Bai!" the snake spoke, but he didn't speak to him either.

"White Tiger!" Senior Yang called for him as well, but the White Tiger didn't wait for his words. He flew and ran.

"Grandpa!" Pearl teleported in front of Bai Jingshen, stopping him momentarily. Bai Jingshen looked at him for a moment and shook his head.

"Don't stop me, Pearl. I'll do it. I won't stop for anyone," he said.

"Please don't do this," Pearl said. "You'll die."

"And I'll die have avenged my family," the White Tiger said. "I should have done this from the start, but I let my fear of death stop me."

"And it should," Pearl said in desperation. "Stop, please. I don't want you to die."

"It's too late, my mind is made," Bai Jingshen said, not looking at Pearl anymore. He flew past him, a determined look filling what had been anger a moment ago. He was going to do this.

It was time to end this.

"Stop, Grandpa!" Pearl shouted from the distance even as Bai Jingshen flew to the edges of the mansion, ready to walk out of the formation. "I don't want to lose you too."

Bai Jingshen stopped. The words cut him deep. The final word was too heavy for him to hear from his great-grandson.

I don't want to lose you… too.

He turned around to see Pearl flying toward him desperately, tears filling his face, rolling down his cheek.

"Please don't go," Pearl said again. "I don't want to lose you too. I lost my grandfather and grandmother before I could even meet them. I lost my mother before I got to know her at all. My father is most likely dead too."

"You and Grandmas are my only blood relatives remaining," he said with an ugly cry. "I don't want to lose you. I can't lose someone else again. I'm not strong enough for that."

Bai Jingshen's determination shattered like glass hit by a rock, his anger vanishing like water on a hot stove. Tears filled his face as well, some his own pain, some Pearl's.

He slowly flew toward Pearl who had stopped as he sobbed in the sky. The large White Tiger came next to him placed his right paw on Pearl's shoulder and met his forehead with his own.

"I'm sorry, Pearl," he said slowly. "I was too angry. I didn't think what the rest of you would feel if I died. Forgive me."

The Great-grandfather and Great grandson stayed in the air, silently sobbing as they shared the moment. Alex and the rest arrived moments later and stopped when they saw that he wasn't leaving.

Bai Jingshen looked up from Pearl and saw the others. His eyes fell on Alex beside the other two. He couldn't help but silently curse himself when he saw him.

'Stupid!' he thought to himself. 'How could I have thought about dying? How could I have thought about killing myself just for revenge?'

His purpose in life was much more than this. His was a mission on which balanced the fate of the entire universe. If Alex was the man that his master was waiting for, his purpose, his mission was to bring Alex to the truth so that he may do what no one else could.

That was his purpose. He could not die before he had served his purpose.

'I must take him to the truth,' Bai Jingshen thought to himself. "We cannot die this soon. I'm sorry, let's go back."

Everyone sighed in relief as things calmed down once again.

Alex and the rest left Bai Jingshen to talk with Pearl for a while before he arrived to talk with them.

"I heard Pearl's Uncle tore away the protection I left on you," the White Tiger asked.

"Yes," Alex said. "Would you mind replacing it?"

"Sure," Bai Jingshen said. "But later. For now, surely you didn't call me just because of this."

"That is why we called you," Senior Yang said. "That was the only reason. At least back then."

Bai Jingshen's eyes narrowed. "Something's changed?" he asked.

The man surnamed Yang explained everything to Bai Jingshen, who couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise. "You have the bloody World Tree and the Nine Yang Divine Tree in your Soul Space? How does that even happen?" he asked.

"I can give you a written document on what happened later," the man said.

Bai Jingshen gave him a glare when he heard that. "Fine. I don't really care why," he said. "But this is big. Does the snake know?"

"He's a nobody. He doesn't deserve to know," the senior said.

Alex was surprised to hear the snake being referred to in this fashion.

"But I do?" Bai Jingshen asked.

"If the Godkiller's disciple doesn't deserve to know, I don't know who does," the man said.

Bai Jingshen could only smile. "So, what do we do?" he asked.

"At first I had thought of taking just his daughter and Hao Ya with me, but as things stand, I might have to take him to the Sky God's palace myself," he said.

"Okay," Bai Jingshen said. "As long as it doesn't reignite the war, I don't have any problem with that. What does that have to do with me though? Why tell me the secret?"

"Because I wish to ask you to relieve the burden you've set upon them," the man said, gesturing to Alex and Pearl.

"The burden?" Bai Jingshen asked, eyeing the two of them.

"You've made them seek vengeance on your behalf," the man said. "You've set them on a path which has a high chance of leading them to their death. Can you let them not vie for such a future?" 

Bai Jingshen thought for a moment and said, "I think their fate is much stronger than that given what I believe they are going to accomplish. Still, I will let them decide."

The White Tiger turned to Alex and Pearl.

"After hearing all of this. What is it that you two think is the right thing to do?" Bai Jingshen asked. "Speak your mind openly, and I will let you do whatever it is that you wish to do henceforth."

Alex thought for a moment and then looked toward Pearl who simply nodded. No words needed to be spoken between them for them to share their answer.

"We'll continue," Alex said. "There's nothing else to do. I've already given up so much. It's too late to back out now. The only way this ends is with us bringing justice to Pearl and Brother Shen."

"There you go," Bai Jingshen beamed as he spoke. "I have nothing else to say."

The senior sighed. He worried still, but he couldn't say anything. "You will have to be extremely careful then."

"I know," Alex said. "We're doing it slowly and silently. They won't know what's coming for them until it's too late."

"I like the bombastic approach, but this isn't bad either," Bai Jingshen roared in laughter.

Senior Yang gave up in the end and walked away, letting the three talk amongst themselves. Alex told Bai Jingshen about his adventures in the Beast Paradise. His recount was much more elaborate than Pearl's as he had been the one to witness it mostly.

Still, Pearl had remained with the lion for long enough that he might have known more history, which he relayed.

"How are you dealing with the Yin problem? Is it alright here?" Bai Jingshen asked.

"It's fine," Alex said. "I made sure to have a plethora of Yang treasures before I came here, so I can absorb them if I need to. The Yin isn't something we have to worry about yet."

"You are only treating the symptoms, right? Do you know how to get rid of it altogether?" Bai Jingshen asked.

"Senior said that when I reach the Immortal realm, the problem should subside. If it doesn't, I will have two ways to deal with it," Alex said.

"What ways?" Bai Jingshen asked.

"First is to get rid of the Yin bead in my body. If I do that, the problem disappears," Alex said.

"But that brings back your Yang problem, doesn't it?" Bai Jingshen asked. "You never truly treated it."

"Yes," Alex said. "Which is why I'll most likely go for the second solution. I'll absorb a strong Yang energy to improve the Yang source that is balancing the Yin."

"If I am able to bring the two to balance once again, I will have nothing to worry about."