Xia Xuefeng Interlude 7: Tribulation
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Meanwhile, in the Ashen Mountains, Bing Meilu had just transcended her Foundation Establishment Tribulation.
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Xia Xuefeng inspected her new robes curiously. They had a bronze lining and displayed bronze birds and clouds, which signified her as a 'private', essentially an Outer Sect member of the Sky Swallowing Gulper Armada. When she reached Foundation Establishment, she would be promoted to Lieutenant and receive silver robes.
"I've transferred some contribution points to you," Ji Longyi said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
Xia Xuefeng looked at the sect token she had just received. Upon it, a spectral image appeared. The display read '999,998' That was... a lot of money. She raised an eyebrow.
"Nine hundred thousand?" she gasped in shock.
How many rats would that be? Wouldn't she have a free supply of blood for the rest of her life?
"Is it too low?" Ji Longyi asked worried. "I'll send a little more."
Her display flickered, updating to '2,999,998'. Xia Xuefeng held back a smile.
"I'm afraid I don't know much about the sect economy- After all, I spent the time I should have been familiarizing myself with it locked suffering the Shadow Pit," she sighed mournfully. "So I'll have to ask Senior Brother what he thinks. Is three million worthy compensation for what I had to go through, at such a young age, when I should have been carefree... failed by the system meant to protect me?"
Ji Longyi's eyebrow twitched and he hurriedly sent her another five million.
'How many contribution points does he have, by the Heavens? Tens of millions? How is that even possible?'
"So, what-" Ji Longyi's eyes suddenly widened.
He and Xia Xuefeng screamed and fell to their knees. Within her body, Karmic Merit, normally a warm, comforting energy, was trembling and shrieking in fear. A soul-chilling terror filled Xia Xuefeng. She let loose a shriek of horror, tears pouring from her eyes.
Karmic Merit was the gestalt will of the Heavenly Dao. How could it feel fear? What could possibly scare the very Providence of the world?
"I've never seen anything like this before-" Ji Longyi gasped, clutching his chest.
It was like the world itself was scared for its life.
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Throughout the whole Bird Talon Continent, the few cultivators who possed Karmic Merit felt terrifying chills. Those with weaker will fell to their knees, or even lost consciousness.
One particularly old man had a heart attack and lost his life.
Henceforth, it would be known as the Day of the Great Horror.
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Tang Xi, Supreme Admiral of the Sky Swallowing Gulper Armada sat atop a cloud, a subtle vortex pouring into him. What would shock any cultivator who saw the sense was the gaping black void behind him, like the sky itself had a chunk torn out by some massive creature. The Dao of Heaven seemed loose here, like a cloth frayed at the edges.
The air ripped open, revealing a fairy-like woman in a pink dress, leaves and red and blue flowers braided through her long ink-black hair. She seemed the perfect picture of a cute and sweet young woman, if not for the empty socket where her left eye had once been. A golden archaic character that read 'Heaven' floated in the gaping hole, burning with searing light.
"Something strange has appeared in the Bird Talon Continent," Suyi of the South Sea reported to the Supreme Admiral. "Something that scares my Karmic Merit."
"Is it like True Demon Falling Stars?" Tang Xi asked.
"...Much worse," said the Admiral of Ox Fleet.
"Hmm," Tang Xi pondered, eyelids slowly opening to reveal swirling vortexes where pupils had once. "Worrying?"
"Yes," Suyi admitted.
"I'll speak to the Ancestors."
The fairy-like woman nodded, flashing away as if she had never been there.
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It took Xia Xuefeng a long time to recover. Her mind was hazy and strained. Qi reinforced her limbs as she stood, swiping dust from her robes.
Ji Longyi stood a few meters away, leaning on a tree. The initial horror had faded, but the Karmic Merit was undeniably changed. There was an ever-present tenseness to it, like a coiled muscle. Whereas before it drenched and enclosed the young girl in ever-present comfortable warmth, it seemed far less happy.
"What do you think that was?" Ji Longyi asked.
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"I don't know... Probably beyond our pay grade!" Xia Xuefeng said.
"Paygrade? What's that mean?" the handsome boy asked.
"it's a saying where I'm from," Xia Xuefeng shrugged.
"And where is that?"
"Why do you care?" Xia Xuefeng narrowed her eyes.
"Look, there aren't that many Karmic Meric cultivators in Port Snake. I know you're probably still mad at me for what happened, but I don't have anything against you. I don't see why we can't be friendly."
"Ooh boy, I'm glad to know the guy who got me falsely locked up doesn't hold anything against me!"
Ji Longyi winced.
"Okay, poor choice of words, but you get what I mean?"
"I get it too much is the problem..." Xia Xuefeng scowled, before giving Ji Longyi a fierce look. "You know, you can't force people to like you, right? There is no 'correct option', where you suddenly say the right words and my opinion of your skyrockets."
Ji Longyi fell silent, giving her a considering look, before shaking his head.
"I looked into that girl you came to the Port with, to help you guys reignite. Bing Meilu, currently a member of the Crimson Dragon faction, although apparently, they may have changed their name. They're not in the sect right now, out on a training mission, but if you wait out at their faction hall, they shouldn't take too long to come back."
Ji Longyi tapped his sect token, and a map appeared on her own, showing where said hall was located in the Port, nearby a demonic beast enclosure.
"For whatever it's worth, I really am sorry. If you ever decide to forgive me, my society is always open to helping out fellow Karmic Merit possessors."
With that, Ji Longyi gave her one last look, before jumping into the air and flying off. Xia Xuefeng let loose a long sigh, shoulders relaxing.
In all honestly, if it weren't for the Karmic Merit, she'd be a lot more open to considering being forgiving. However, with it constantly nipping her heels with blatant manipulation to befriend the so-called 'Chosen of Heaven', she didn't trust any impulse that felt affectionate or absolving to Ji Longyi, even after he had shown great remorse.
After all, a cultivator in his situation did not have to be so kind to a 'mere' first realm, even if he had wronged her. He was almost certainly objectively a good person, even by mortal standards, let alone compared to cultivation culture.
'Whatever. If I forgive him, I forgive him. If I don't, I don't. So long as it's up to me and not the manipulations of some outside force, I don't care.'
Then, Xia Xuefeng began to head to her the 'Crimson Dragon Faction Hall'. What she found was a modest two-story building about the width of a few barns. There was a torn-up training field beside it, turned to mud by the constant footsteps of humans.
The front door was locked, but a window was open, so she jumped straight in. There was an armoury, mostly empty, and what seemed to be a grain storage area.
Walking through another door, she found a large throne. Xia Xuefeng couldn't help but giggle. Knowing Bing Meilu, she had taken over the faction, not willing to abide under the authority of someone else. She could imagine the young girl, sitting on the oversize throne like a daughter in her father's chair, that imperious expression on her otherwise cute and childlike face. It was astonishing for Xia Xuefeng to remind herself Bing Meilu was actually likely younger than her.
In a corner of the room, Xia Xuefeng spotted a large block of red ice, encasing a white-scaled serpent. She smiled, recognizing the beast her mistress had captured. It was proof Bing Meilu had indeed been here.
"Hey, buddy, enjoying prison time? Ah, who am I kidding? You're too stupid to understand jail, aren't you snakey?"
If she didn't know any better, she would have thought the snake understood speech. Its piercing demonic red eyes glared into her like she had killed its father. Other than that, it remained entirely silent.
"Well, it's just you and me for a while, lil bud."
Xia Xuefeng hopped on the oversized throne, considering her options. Priority one was probably to break through to Foundation Establishment. Other than that, she should just stay in the Crimson Dragon hall and await her mistress's return.
Xia Xuefeng had already reached the threshold of Foundation Establishment back in the Shadow Pit. She had suppressed her cultivation to not be sent to the deeper part of the prison. Now, finally free, she could break through.
Xia Xuefeng left the hall, walking away from the buildings of the port. She made her way through the forest and climbed to the top of a large hill.
'Seems a like good spot- I'm as ready as I'll ever be. let's do this!'
Xia Xuefeng pushed through her nervousness. If she ever wanted to become someone, she would have to be powerful. There was only one way to do so. Heavenly Tribulations were scary, but not as scary as the thought of dying alone and forgotten, never having done anything impressive in her life.
Inside her Dantian were fifty fixed spectral crosses, each resembling an 'x' and built of intensely concentrated blood energy. Inhaling, Xia Xuefeng's will grasped each cross... and with a single thought, they all exploded!
Bloody qi erupted from Xia Xuefeng like a red star had exploded where she stood. It swirled uncontrollably, rushing off in every direction.
"Battle Art! Blood Demon's Whirlwind."
The air around her shuddered, and a massive vortex surged into being, the chaotic blood reversing mid-air, and pouring back into Xia Xuefeng like water at the bottom of a sink.
Xia Xuefeng crushed Qi into her Dantian, condensing it further and further and further, well beyond the density of Tenth stage Qi condensation. As it grew thicker and thicker, she felt a threshold forcing her back.
This was the barrier of Foundation Establishment. If she stopped here, her Qi would naturally expand to its previous density.
Xia Xuefeng pushed with all her might, past the barrier. Every drop of Qi within her meridian system rushed into her Dantian. A tiny crystal lattice formed in the center of her Sea of Energy, like a seed. It rapidly grew, absorbing the Qi around it. Its shape became clear soon, a massive Crucific bursting with blood energy.
Above, black thunderclouds gathered. Heavenly Tribulation had arrived. Xia Xuefeng had done her basic research in the sect library, before breaking through. Tribulation lightning had both destructive thunder force and bountiful life energy. If one aligned themselves to the tempo of the tribulation, they could baptize themselves in its vitality.
However, what shocked Xia Xuefeng, was that she could not sense any life force whatsoever. There was a terrifying lightning gathering, a pressure of supreme dominance that crashed down on her and nearly buckled her knees. But none of the verdant energy she had expected.
'What's going on?'
A sense of confusion filled the girl, but not from herself, from the Karmic Merit inside it. It seemed bewildered. Without her direction, the Yang energy burst from her body, forming a pillar of light that stretched into the sky. It connected with the black tribulations clouds above and began to pulse with a strange rhythm.
Despite not knowing what the pulses meant, Xia Xuefeng was sure that somehow the Karmic Merit in her body was communing with the will of the tribulation.
A moment later, the all-crushing pressure seemed to dramatically lighten, and Xia Xuefeng gasped. A boundless, vibrant Qi filled the air, shedding from the thunderclouds. It was life and blessing and vitality, the breath of a million things.
Thunderbolts began to fall like lances, and Xia Xuefeng dodged, her steps almost like a dance, as she weaved between punishments while absorbing the life force. She felt a transformation occurring in her body, as the seemingly endless vitality poured into her. Her meridians expanded, and her movements became more fluid. Black sweat poured out of her, filled with expelled impurities. Her skin became clearer, and her eyes seemed to glow with an inner light.
All the while, a strange spectral Qi flooded into the void of her meridians, forming orbs that swirled about the central cross as if in orbit.
The Tribulation shuddered, and a green-yellow bolt of lightning poured from the skies, seeming more like a river of fluid than a bolt of thunder. Xuefeng wreathed herself in the spectral Qi, preparing to defend, before suddenly dropping the shield. Her Karmit Merit seemed to advise her to let the lighting touch her. The river of yellow-green energy showered over her.
She felt a horrifying pain as the lighting poured through her, body and skin sizzling and burning. Immediately after, endless lifeforce poured into her body, richer and thicker than anything she'd ever felt, like the sap of a tree. It filled her wounds, replacing them with new flesh, only for her healed body to once more burn in the terrifying power of the thunder.
The cycle continued over and over again as the river endlessly showed down from above. Each time the thunder grew more and more powerful, and yet it seemed to be having a harder and harder time destroying her flesh. Xia Xuefeng could feel the terrifying power of the thunder churn through her meridians, burning away every impurity and letting her Qi flow even more smoothly. A fundamental transformation was taking place in her body.
'Given how crazy talented Bing Meilu is, her tribulations must be even more beneficial than mine. I wonder what a Chosen of Heaven like Ji Longyi has?'
Soon, the river of lifeforce faded. Above, the tribulations clouds began to gather, forming into a massive spear of lightning. It seemed almost hesitant, waiting for her to prepare.
Xia Xuefeng wreathed herself in spectral Yin Qi. Having reached Foundation Establishment, a new battle skill appeared in the Anthem of the Crucified.
'Deity Piercing Spectral Lance'
Ghostly energy swirled around her hand, just barely distorting the air. A long spear of ghostly yin Qi, covered in vague screaming mouths formed.
After waiting for another long moment, the spear of thunder gently whooshed down from the sky. Xuefeng's spear stabbed up. The blades met, sizzling and hissing like fire met water.
The spear of thunder cracked, shattering into countless fragments of lightning. They simply floated in the air, not dispersing. After a moment, Xia Xuefeng reached out to grab one. A gentle electric energy ran through her body, tempering it even further.
The blood cultivator raised an eyebrow, quickly absorbing all the gentle lightning energy. With that, the tribulation ended.