The peak of Mount Geumji was still and silent, save for the ominous roiling of the dark clouds high above. Even in the middle of summer, the air so high up was deathly cold to mortals, but barely an inconvenience for the small group gathering together at the top of Jiaguo’s infamous mountain.

Even before the Sovereign’s Tear, an artifact that exudes unlimited power, was relocated to the city at its base, the mountain was the most powerful conflux of leylines on the entire continent. Despite its immense power, no one nation had been able to maintain control over it for long, and so its vast resources had gone mostly untapped until the founding of the Jiaguo Empire, starting with a tiny little city state nestled at the foot of the imposing place of power.

The divine energy of the Sovereign’s Tear had only made the mountain an even more restless and dangerous place, but for those willing and able to take that risk, it was a fantastic source of magical materials. It was popular among students of Jiaguo’s grand academy to embark on expeditions up the mountain in order to test their abilities and gather resources.

It was a privilege that was carefully managed and monitored, with access to the mountain strictly forbidden without permission.

Naturally, that wasn’t enough to stop younger students from trying to sneak off on their own little adventures when they thought nobody was looking. Unfortunately for the pair of teenage girls skulking around the peak, however, somebody very much was looking.

“What are you two doing here?”

Lee Narae jumped at the sudden sound of An Eui’s voice behind her, putting on a strained smile as she tried to explain.

“Oh, uh, hey there Aunt Eui, we were just—”

“Trespassing without permission? The mountain is closed for a reason, girls.”

Narae grimaced, giving her partner in crime a plaintive look. Princess Seong Haeun sighed and shook her head before bowing gracefully.

“Forgive us, Master. As the academy paragons, we were given standing permission to explore the mountain at our discretion. We didn’t realize that the restriction applied.”

“Nice try, but you wouldn’t have snuck out if you thought you had permission to go. What kind of example do you think you’re setting for the other students by acting as if the rules don’t apply to you?”

Narae shrugged.

“Do they, though? We’re the top students, and direct disciples of the Empress herself, plus we’re leagues ahead of anyone else studying at the academy—even most of the professors don’t match us in cultivation.”

Haeun buried her face in her palms and groaned as Eui scowled up at Narae with her hands on her hips.

“Let me get something straight for you, little miss. Haeun is the top student, while you are her lazy-ass tag-along. With how badly you’ve been slacking lately, it’s a wonder that even Jiaying hasn’t surpassed you. If you continue abusing your status as our disciples, we won’t hesitate to revoke it!”

“I’m not little anymore! I’m taller than—hey!”

Haeun grabbed Narae by the horns and dragged her down into a bow.

“Please forgive our indiscretion, Your Majesty. In truth, we were just curious to witness the High Arbiter’s ascension to xiantian. It’s a rare opportunity.”

Eui sighed and shook her head.

“It’s also dangerous. And it was supposed to be a secret. But I guess it’s pointless to just send you back home at this point, so come on. Just stay close, stay quiet, and don’t touch anything.”

Narae’s eyes lit up and she nodded eagerly.

“Yes, Master! We promise!”

The two of them followed along behind Eui, and Haeun gave Narae a harsh look.

“What was that? You know better than to antagonize our master, Narae.”

Her best friend scuffed the ground with her foot and pouted.

“It was bad luck we got caught by Aunt Eui. Big sis Jia or Aunt Kaede would have been nicer.”

Eui’s rat-like tail cracked like a whip.

“I can hear you, you little brat! It’s not too late for me to change my mind and send you both home.”

“S-sorry, hehe!”

Haeun raised an eyebrow at Narae silently. She winced in response.

“You’re right, sorry. I’m the one who talked you into this, I’ll try to watch my behavior.”

Narae could be such a challenging person to get along with. Despite her humble origins, she reveled in the status afforded to her as the empress’ little sister, and her arrogance made it difficult for anyone else to take her seriously.

For better or worse, though, that arrogance was backed up by raw talent. While her grades in the academy may have been suffering lately, Lee Narae remained one of the strongest cultivators in the entire school, and few apart from Haeun herself could keep up.

Seong Haeun, meanwhile, had trouble making friends for an entirely different reason. As a foreign princess, she was one of the few students who was not actually a resident of Jiaguo. Though she’d been living there for five years, she was still generally viewed as an outsider, and her status only served to put even more distance between her and the others. Tragically, she lacked her big sister Eunae’s flair for socialization, so Narae was all she had.

Not that she was complaining. Narae was her first and best friend, and Haeun wouldn’t trade her for anyone, no matter how challenging she could be.

They arrived at the peak to find an elaborate formation taking up most of the plateau, with Lee Jia scrambling from point to point checking and double checking every little detail while Yan Yue watched from the center of it all.

Yan Yue was the High Arbiter of Jiaguo City—as opposed to the greater empire of the same name—and she let out a long-suffering sigh as Narae’s older sister fussed over her.

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“The wards are fine, Jia—stop fiddling with them!”

“I just want to make sure everything’s perfect!”

“I swear, you worried less over the tribulations of your own students—speaking of which...”

Yan Yue flicked her head in the direction of the approaching girls, and Lee Jia paused in her fussing to greet them.

“Hey you two! Narae, Eui is right—you shouldn’t count on me to go easy on you just because we’re sisters.”

Narae crossed her arms and grumbled incoherently. Lee Jia and An Eui were partners, both by marriage and by cultivation. Together, along with Hayakawa Kaede of Yamato, and their civilian guise Li Meili, they formed a single entity—Yoshika, Empress of the Jiaguo Empire.

When dealing with them individually, it was easy to forget that they all shared the same experiences, no matter how far apart they appeared to be.

Eui snorted and shook her head.

“Yue, these two weren’t ascending to xiantian when they faced their tribulations, and they are also more talented than we ever were. It can’t hurt to be extra careful.”

“Tsk, and I’m not? If I didn’t know any better, I’d be insulted that you think so little of me. Besides, should you be telling them that to their faces?”

An Eui glanced back at the pair of teenagers and gave them a sinister smirk.

“Oh, they already know that if they let it get to their heads, I’ll give them a hands-on lesson about just how far talent alone will get them.”

Haeun shuddered—she would, too.

While the adults got back to work preparing for Yan Yue’s upcoming tribulation, Narae and Haeun stepped aside to get out of their way. The princess closed her eyes and listened to the mana in the air.

Yoshika’s domain was always prevalent in Jiaguo—especially the city—but all the way up on Geumji’s peak, it was almost overpowered by the raw, untamed force of nature and the vengeful wrath of heaven roiling high above.

Tribulations were fascinating things. During her own, Haeun had tried communicating with the essence trying to smite her, but it was too single-minded and driven. It made one thing loud and clear—divinity was off limits, and anyone reaching for it was to be punished.

But there was more to it. Not all tribulations were created equal. Narae’s ‘crime’ such as it was, had been limited only to mixing together the essences of the body, mind, and soul into a single greater form—apparently more closely approaching divinity by doing so than one who focused on only one at a time.

For Haeun, however, there had been a little extra. Something about the embodiment of a spirit—a naturally occurring form of divinity that would ascend on its own, given enough time.

It struck her as odd. After all, Narae was a half spirit just like her, and neither of them had ever experienced the kind of spiritual communion described by their masters or Haeun’s sister. In fact, she was far more comfortable communing with the mana outside of herself, as she was doing at that moment. Had her divination somehow invoked heaven’s wrath?

In either case, the reason she’d let Narae talk her into sneaking out to witness Yan Yue’s ascension was that she was dying to know what the essence of a xiantian tribulation would say.

“Looks like everything’s ready!”

Lee Jia’s voice snapped Haeun out of her reverie. Yan Yue rolled her eyes and waved them off.

“Everything was ready weeks ago, Jia! Unlike some of us, I know how to prepare for these things properly, and I’ve had the better part of five years to get it right. Now get back, I can feel it approaching and I’d like to focus on my breakthrough, please.”

Jia and Eui backed off, joining the girls at the edge of the plateau as they watched on with trepidation.

Yan Yue was a pretty powerful cultivator herself, and the moon spirit she’d bonded with gave her a strong edge. Despite years among humans, Yue’s spirit companion still struggled to understand them, communicating only through Yue or directly with other spirits.

Haeun could somewhat understand it, but didn’t try communing with it now, since it would be busy assisting with Yue’s ascension.

Xiantian ascensions were incredibly rare events. Even in the Qin Empire, where the vast majority of the world’s known xiantian cultivators resided, there were perhaps one or two new ascensions every century. Recently, however, there’d been an abnormal surge in them. Empress Yoshika was the youngest living xiantian cultivator, though there was some debate over how her age should be counted. Tied with her for most recent, though he was older, was a man from Qin named Zheng Long, who had managed to reach xiantian at nearly the exact same time.

Before them, the next most recent was Haeun’s eldest sister, Seong Misun, who had ascended a little over a decade earlier when she was only twenty nine. Going further back, the only other example in over a century was Ienaga Yumi—the first ever person to ascend to xiantian as a body-cultivator.

Four times in a hundred years didn’t sound like much, but three of them had been in the span of less than twenty years, and they were about to witness the fifth. That was—unless Yan Yue failed, which was a very real possibility. After all, Haeun had only been considering the number of successful ascensions. Failed attempts were much more common.

But times were changing, and Haeun had faith in her master’s friend.

The first strike came without warning—a sudden flash of bluish white followed by the deafening roar of thunder and a pressure that Haeun could feel right down to her bones. Yue weathered it calmly, her wards holding as she continued to meditate unperturbed.

The second bolt was stronger, but still the wards held. Haeun remembered how much she’d struggled with her own tribulation—frantically summoning mana constructs that barely managed to reduce the strength of the bolts raining down on her. By comparison, Yue made it look almost peaceful.

A third, fourth, and fifth bolt struck, each stronger than the last. Haeun tried to listen to the mana, but she couldn’t glean anything from it. There was no sound, but the sense she got was the equivalent of screaming in impotent rage.

The sixth bolt was strong enough to knock her back, even from the distance they were watching. Eui caught her, and Jia ushered them back down away from the plateau as the seventh bolt struck with enough force that it shook the mountain under them.

“H-how many more are there going to be?!”

Jia shook her head as she dragged the girls down the mountain.

“Impossible to tell—this is more than I’ve seen before, though.”

“Will she be okay?”

Narae’s big sister smiled, no longer looking as worried as she had before.

“Yue will be fine—I’m more worried about you two.”

The eighth lightning bolt was so loud that it may as well have just been an explosion. Haeun flattened her ears against her head and winced—the shockwave alone was enough to hurt her, despite being at the peak of houtian.

Narae gawked up at the sky in disbelief.

“That had to be the last one, right?”

Jia didn’t even look before shaking her head.

“Nope. There’s not enough time to get away—take cover, you two!”

Haeun followed her master’s command without question, ducking down and covering her head as she summoned the mana around her to form a protective shield.

She needn’t have bothered—Lee Jia threw up a barrier that blocked out all sound, and Haeun watched as the final bolt struck, practically covering the entire plateau in a brilliant blue light that lingered far longer than it should have, silently shaking the mountain beneath them.

Debris flew in every direction, rolling down the cliffs and causing widespread landslides, but all of it glanced harmlessly off of Lee Jia’s barrier. When the devastation finally died down, Jia dropped the barrier and glanced back at the girls.

“Are you two okay?”

Haeun looked up at her with wide eyes.

“W-we’re fine! What about Yan Yue?”

From the plateau, An Eui began descending, supporting Yue as best she could with her diminutive frame. For her part, Yan Yue mostly just looked exhausted—only her loose hair buns and a trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth betraying the trial she’d just endured.

“See, girls? What did I tell you? That’s how one ascends properly!”

Sure enough, Haeun could feel Yue’s domain surging with power around them, dominating almost everything else in the area. The princess had been hoping to learn more about tribulations by listening to the essence of a true ascension, but all the experience had done was remind her just how far she was from being prepared for her own.

She and Narae may have been at the peak of houtian, but they had a long, long way to go before they could ever match their master or her peers.