Bing Meilu calmly stared out at the massive purple-skinned monstrosity that was currently gorging itself full. Its huge gaping maw spun with row after row of teeth as seawater poured into it. Countless living creatures were ground to bits and then sucked down it’s dark gullet. There were a few Third-Tier Sea Beasts fast enough to escape the vortex of churning water. But not fast enough to escape the huge leathery purple tentacles that would grab at them and toss them right into the circling teeth.

Despite its somewhat eldritch appearance, the creature before Bing Meilu was actually a familiar one. In fact, it was none other than the humble White-Toothed Rainbow-Carp, also known as the Burrower. Those tiny finger-sized parasites that so filled the seas around the Captured Slavey Galley. As Demons borne of Hunger Qi, Burrowers were extremely common in the ravenous waters of the Grand Expanse Ocean. If they survived to feast and feast without end, they could grow into the massive castle-sized mass of flesh and teeth before her. Few however managed to survive long enough to form their Nascent Soul and attain basic Wisdom like this one had.

In Bing Meilu's first life, she had actually seen a peak Truth-Dao half-step Immortal Burrower. It had been tamed by a rival Chosen of Heaven, Deep Sea Queen Yu Cao and assisted the woman when she duelled Bing Meilu during the Semi-Immortal War. Compared to that one, which was nearly the size of the Bird Talon Continent when it unleashed its true form, this thing could barely be considered a juvenile.

Flickers of rainbow light lit up the sky as the creature extended the power of its Nascent Soul. Bing Meilu could see her subordinates tense at the sight.

"Fuck!" Li Ji cried. "A Nascent Soul!"

In the Jade Sparrow World, translucent, fractal rainbow light was an unmistakable symbol of the Nascent Soul Realm. To the point where many from less educated backgrounds mistakenly thought that the soul itself was a rainbow colour. In truth, the soul was actually pure and colourless- except only for changes made by one's Cultivation. Those famous rainbow colours that appeared when a Nascent Soul imposed itself upon the physical space of a world were nothing but traces of pollutants caused by mortal life. In the fifth realm of Qi Cultivation, Transcending Impurity, one would focus on removing those adulterants. Only once their soul was completely cleansed of any such filth would they be capable of harmonizing with the rhythm of nature and entering the Saint Realm.

"Activate the Dragon-Maw! Full power!" Li Ji declared.

"Just wait," Bing Meilu ordered.

The rest of the crew looked at her in confusion. The Yin Cultivator tapped her fingers against the black crystal of her throne.

"Boss, shouldn't we get the drop on it before it attacks us? While it is preoccupied with eating?" Li Ji asked, sweat-drops forming on his head.

"It's not going to attack us," his faction leader shrugged.

At that, all the cultivators on the bridge looked at her in confusion. Bing Meilu opened her mouth to explain when Ji Hui eagerly raised his hand into the air.

"Wait, wait! Can I explain?" his eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. "I studied so I should know this!"

Bing Meilu raised an eyebrow.

"Very well," she agreed.

"So, as you all know, predators tend to be very territorial, and they mark their territory to warn off others and avoid a confrontation with another predatory animal-The purple worm thing must have smelled Boots's pee and decided not to come close!" the Lieutenant declared.

Bing Meilu stared at him in long-suffering silence before slowly shaking her head.

"No. In case you could not tell by looking at it, the White-Toothed Rainbow-Carp is not, in fact, a type of dog, Ji Hui!"

"Oh," Ji Hui deflated. "Damn... Then what is the answer?"

Bing Meilu rolled her eyes.

"In the Nascent Soul realm, Demons began to attain wisdom and awareness. It is just a crude, bestial intelligence, but enough for them to be more than the mindless slaughter engines of their lesser brethren. The Rainbow-Carp is a creature of hunger that seeks to sate its endless appetite. It is just smart enough to realize that we are the cause of the feeding frenzy occurring. Thus, it has decided to leave us alone. So long as enough other food continues to gather in its mouth, it won't attack us."

"Wait," Li Ji blinked in surprise. "So, we're not going to attack it then?"

"We're not going to attack it yet," Bing Meilu emphasized. "We're going to let it eat and get stronger. Then, once its value has reached its peak, we will kill it. Or more accurately, you-"

She raised her hand and pointed at Jiang Hu, the draconic sabre fighter.

"You-" she pointed to Li Ji, the Yin-metal Accountant.

"You-" she pointed to the Elemental Five, the group of Five-Phases Formation Cultivators.

"And you," she finally pointed to Ji Hui, the dog-focused Beast Cultivator.

"Are going to kill it."

"...What?!" Li Ji and Ji Hui shouted at the same time.

"But- Boss!" Li Ji protested, eyes wide in terror. "I'm just a frail accountant! How can you make me fight a terrifying Nascent Soul Demon?"

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"You are a late Core Formation Cultivator. You will be assisted by six other powerful Core Formation cultivators. And all of you practice secret techniques that let you fight above your realm. Killing the Rainbow-Carp will not be an easy task, but you will be unlikely to perish." Bing Meilu explained. "So, you will go and fight it, Li Ji. Am I understood?"

"But-But-" Li Ji fell to his knees as he realized his master had no intention of showing mercy on this matter.

"Am I understood?" she repeated.

"...Yes, boss." Li Ji finally responded.

"W-what about me?" Lieutenant Ji questioned, pointing to himself. "I'm only in Foundation Establishment. Will I be safe as well?"

"Oh, no. You, you are definitely going to die," Bing Meilu shrugged.

Ji Hui blinked.

"Um, what?"

"A Nascent Soul Demon is no joke." Bing Meilu shrugged. "And you are indeed, only in the Foundation Establishment Realm. With the Beast-Man Becoming Art and the Earth Flame Ghoul Armor, you might stand a chance against a Core Formation, but against a Fourth Tier Sea Beast? Its pressure alone might just kill you. Then it will no doubt suck your soulless corpse into its toothy maw and grind you into mincemeat before swallowing you whole."

Each word Bing Meilu spoke made Ji Hui’s face paler and paler. Slowly, a look of horror was dawning on the somewhat dim man's face.

"But-then? Then why are you sending me to face it? It will just kill me!" Lieutenant Ji questioned.

"Hmm? Does that sound like my problem?" Bing Meilu asked.

Ji Hui blinked in confusion.

"You've been in the Foundation Establishment Realm for far longer than any of the other Inner Circle Members. Unlike Xia Xuefeng, you don't have the excuse of being locked in a resourceless prison. I'm not going to baby you simply because you are weak. If you live, you live. If you die, you die. Either way, you are not free to shirk the responsibilities and tasks assigned to your peers simply because of your own weakness and laziness. Your strength is solely your responsibility. If you don't want to die, then get stronger. If you reach Core Formation before we attack the Demon, you may yet just live."

A hesitant look appeared on the Beast-Cultivator's face.

"Uh-and how long is that going to be?"

"Who knows?" Bing Meilu shrugged. "It will depend on how fast the Rainbow-Carp grows in strength. Maybe it will be in a few weeks. Maybe tomorrow."

Jiang Hu, the nominal leader of the Inner Circle, looked like he had something to say, but Bing Meilu gave him a look that made it certain he was not to interfere.

"Of course-If you feel like you are incapable of, or unwilling to achieve the tasks I assign to my Inner Circle, you can always leave. No one is forcing you to be here. We will drop you off at the nearest port, and you can go live the rest of your life doing whatever you wish."

The hesitant look on Hui's face vanished, replaced by a sudden and blazing expression of resolve.

"No way, Boss!” the man declared “I, Ji Hui, swore to reach the pinnacle of the Dao of the Spirit Dog. There is no retreat. Even if it means risking my life-I can only walk the path that I have chosen. The next time you see me, I will be in the Core Formation Realm!"

He grabbed his tamed Corpse Refining Red Wolf and ran away from the bridge.

"Um-Boss, wasn't that a little... cruel?" Li Ji eventually asked.

"No."

Sensing his master had no intention of elaborating, Li Ji shrugged, turning back to the controls of the Captured Slave Galley.

Days passed, as the golden galley continued to slice through the waters of Snake Sector Sea, trailed by a lake of red blood and gore. The massive Burrower had visibly swelled as it feasted on the creatures around. It had an interesting hunting technique-it would suppress its aura so as to not scare away the nearby creatures. It would let them gather until they hit a critical mass before the Burrower would unleash its aura to freeze its prey in place and swallow them all up in one gulp.

By human standards, the creature had probably increased from the sixth to the eighth stage of the Nascent Soul Realm. And all the creature had to do to achieve such miraculous cultivation speed was feast. It was almost unfair how much easier a Hunger Demon had it compared to a human being. Then again, even it would have to have some skill in comprehension to be able to reach the Saint Realm. Not that it would live to see that day.

Around five days later, Xia Xuefeng entered the bridge. The thirteen-year-old girl had risen all the way to the utmost pinnacle of the tenth stage of the second realm. Her shaky aura made it clear she was barely suppressing a breakthrough to the Third Realm.

"Master, I am ready to face my Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation."

Previously, the girl had called usually Bing Meilu ‘Mistress’. However, since Bing Meilu had officially taken Xia Xuefeng on as an offical Disciple, in the lineage of the Crystal Providence Heavenly Palace, she had taken to calling her Master instead, as was the proper way to address one’s teacher.

Bing Meilu nodded, pleased.

"You may use all of your items in the breakthrough."

During her combat tempering over the last several weeks, Bing Meilu had forbidden Xia Xuefeng from using any of the numerous magical treasures she had acquired from the Son of Heaven Societies vault. She wanted the girl's actual power to grow, rather than for her to become a dandy who could only rely on the power of items, like Li Ji. However, there was no such thing as holding back when one was fighting a Heavenly Tribulation.

"Yes, Master," Xuefeng nodded.

"I will act as your Dharma Protector during the breakthrough," Bing Meilu continued.

A cultivator was at their most vulnerable during a Heavenly Tribulation. First of all, their Cultivation Base itself was in a critical state where any error could lead to death or permanent crippling. They were also literally fighting against divine punishment from the skies, including both searing bolts of thunder, and the suppressive authority of the Dao of Heaven. Any outside interference was usually a death sentence. For that reason, the vast majority of cultivators would never undergo a breakthrough anywhere but their own Sect for safety reasons.

One of the closest times Bing Meilu had ever come to death in her first life was when Daoist Skyfall had attacked her in the midst of her breakthrough to the Great Sage Realm in the Jade-Heart Palace. Luckily, she had managed to cancel the breakthrough with minimal damage to herself, before driving him off, with the assistance of the Chosen of Heaven, Flame Princess Hong Long Xiyi.

When a cultivator did have to break through in a dangerous area, like the Ocean of Ximu's Demise, they would usually have other allied cultivators wait just outside the range of their tribulation to protect them from outside attacks. So long as said did not interfere in the tribulation itself, the Heavenly Dao would allow the presence of such a protector, since outside attacks were not part of the allotted punishment anyways.

Such guardians were usually referred to as Dharma Protectors. Supposedly, the first people to establish the tradition were Buddhist cultivators, and the term stuck even in the modern era.

Bing Meilu did not think Xia Xuefeng had much to worry about from the tribulation itself, given she still possessed a good quantity of Karmic Merit. But if a powerful Sea Beasts tried to attack her during it, something might go wrong. Even more than that, Xuefeng's Master wanted to see how the Dao of Heaven would react to the Key of Grand Emperor Blacksky's Vault that had attached itself to Xia Xuefeng. That was something even Bing Meilu herself was not sure of.

The Blood Cultivator nodded gratefully.

"Thank you, Master!"