"If all elements converge and are used in the creation of my inner sea, can I make a concerted effort to gain proficiency with each of them?" I wondered.

"It has been tried," Elder Shadow admitted. "But all those that have, have stunted their path. Perhaps, that is what happens with a cultivator that faces and overcomes the final Tribulation. Those that enter Heaven's realm finally gain mastery over every element. But until then, there are limits to our potential.

"There is a reason why cultivators with dual affinities are highly prized. Historical evidence shows that those cultivators straddle the line, able to combine affinities to gain control of more of the ancillary elements. Cultivators that have three or more primary affinities wind up diluting their understanding and control. The number of primary and secondary affinities overwhelm the cultivator. There become so many elements to learn to control that they never master any of them."

"Your dual affinity and Platinum Spirit root are prized for a reason. Precedence has proven that the combination creates a perfect storm leading those individuals to the pinnacle of power and cultivation. Cultivators with dual affinity and Platinum or Gold Spirit roots can advance faster and farther. And the Empire nurtures the talented in an effort to foster patriotism for those times when war between Empires flares out into the open. is reached by individuals like yourself.

"The affinities may be different between cultivators. Certainly, what cultivation technique each person practices will vary. But you and they have the chance to become one of those few individuals that actually manage to brave that final tribulation and enter Heaven's Realm."

"Why would…"

"We can discuss this more at a later time Jay," Elder Shadow said interrupting me. "I have reserved tribulation field for your use today. You need to let those questions go for now. It is more important that you embrace calm and find your center so that your tribulation will proceed without issue."

I had followed Elder Shadow from the training arena without paying much attention to where he was headed. The path that he'd taken had snaked around the main Four Element building to follow a sloping path that had meandered near Crater Lake.

The prepared ground in front of me was devoid of any plant life. The Sect had sectioned and divided the area into seven separate array formations. Each section the focus of an array that resonated with one of the primary elements. It took me a few moments of study to understand what I was seeing. Each component of the formation had been created using copper, iron, cobalt, silver, tin, platinum, or gold. A physical representation of the spirit root a cultivator might awaken.

"Why bother creating an area for copper or iron spirit roots?" I wondered. "The Sect will never recruit any cultivator whose potential is so low."

"They won't," Elder Shadow agreed, "the Sects have become too focused on the best and have turned their back on what those the lower-ranked spirit roots may have to offer."

"Then why bother?" I asked again.

"Because we have found that tribulation survivability increases when each of the Spirit roots are represented in formations as you see. It should serve as a warning to the Sects. If the Heavens can be influenced by including copper, iron, and cobalt in tribulation fields, then there must be some intrinsic value to these people as cultivators that they are missing."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

I knew which section was reserved for platinum even without the obvious sheen of the worked metal. There was a resonance, feedback between my Spirit Root and the platform that captured my attention and drew me to it. It made me aware for the first time that there was more in common between my root and the metal than just the name and the number of meridian paths.

"It would have been better if I had reserved this time for you before your meeting with Elder Dill," Elder Shadow admitted. "But there is never going to be a perfect moment when some outside event doesn't influence your emotions.

"The largest part of surviving your tribulations is how you deal with your emotions. You need to remain centered. Let the memories, the paths taken and not taken, wash over you. What you will see is real. What the Heavens show you are reflections of truth that may have been, had you taken the path less traveled.

"You should not ignore those visions. Accept them. If there is a loss, pain, or regret, experience those emotions, try to understand why the Heavens have selected those memories to share, or what the ghost of possibilities really means. What is it the Heavens offer for you to meditate and reflect on," he directed.

"How do I start?" I asked moving to sit in the area that was rife with platinum.

"Start?" he asked confused.

"For my previous breakthroughs, I had gathered enough Qi that my Dantian was over-flowing. Enough refined energy to break the physical constraints of the Dantian and reform it. I don't have that surplus of Qi stored to push past my limits now. How do I invoke the tribulation required between Realms?

"How is it different from the breakthrough for tiers within the same Realm?" I clarified.

"The Heavens will supply the energy," he assured me. "The lightning strikes that occur during a tribulation is Heaven's way to feed you the energy you will need as well as temper your Dharmic body. You will never need to worry about finding the energy to move between Realms, the problem is harnessing the energy the Heavens will provide and finding a way to ground the excess so that you survive and don't explode.

"The localized weather effect, lightning storms, the change in atmospheric pressure. These are all events that coincide with your progress. Push against the walls of your Dantian. Focus on breaking the walls, and when they shatter, rebuild them using the ruby facets that you internalized."

"Why isn't this method used when we rank up between tiers during breakthroughs?" I asked. "There has to be a downside, a reason someone doesn't brave tribulation after tribulation barreling past tiers and Realms."

"There have been fools who have encountered bottlenecks that have attempted a tribulation," Elder Shadow agreed. "It doesn't end well. You have to remember; your body will be undergoing real changes. Changes that require time to heal and become permanent.

"The time you spend gathering, cycling, and condensing Qi, as you increase tiers gives your body the time it needs to rebuild so that you have a foundation that can withstand tribulation. The time it takes for you to reach the perfected stage of each Realm, is the time you need to completely internalize and adjust to the changes a tribulation makes to the physical and Dharmic.

"Attempt a second tribulation before you have reached the perfected tier for that Realm and you will die," he warned.

"And not slowly.

"Your body will begin to mutate as cells experience exponential growth and an influx of world energy. The process is similar to honing, except you are unable to contain the changes the tribulation exerts on the cells of your body.

"You become monstrous, riddled with cancerous growth. A beast in name and nature. The Dantian shatters, unable to reform, meridians fry, unable to gather or cycle Qi, and your inner sea boils destroying anything of the astral you may have stored.

"Companions, Dao, Dharmic body. Anything that is created within your inner sea will be destroyed.

"You will find, if you are interested that there are jade tokens stored within the library that detailed some of the most horrific mutations that have transformed into beast lords having failed the attempt. A few every generation ignore the warnings, people desperate enough to break past the bottleneck. The results of their failure have been captured, stored in jade so that cultivators can understand for themselves the risks that path entails."