‘…..What the hell is this??’

‘I have no clue.’

‘No, seriously, what is going on here? Where are the Tribulation Clouds?? The Lightning??’

I had no answer to give the old demon since I did not have them either.

Since I decided to have Yan Ling learn the Great Sun Wheel technique and breakthrough into the Foundation Establishment realm, I wanted her to know the dangers of breaking through and attracting tribulations from the Heavens so that she would know what to expect when she breaks through.

Unlike ordinary cultivators who only face tribulations while breaking through a major realm from the Core Formation realm onwards, people with Supreme physiques face tribulations from the very beginning of their cultivation. This meant that when Yan Ling tried to break through in the near future, she would face a powerful tribulation.

With that in mind, I decided to break through to the Core Formation realm to attract a tribulation and allow Yan Ling to observe from a safe distance.

However, just like always, it seems that either my luck or hers activated and ruined my plan from the get-go.

Case in point, I am already nearing the stage where my core is nearly formed, yet there is no sign of even a single cloud in the sky much less a Tribulation.

Essentially, a normal cultivator utilizes their spiritual roots, the metaphysical pseudo-circulatory system to circulate the Qi within their body in specific patterns according to their cultivation technique. Then, they would increase the concentration of the Qi within their Spirit Roots until it becomes so dense that it could be compared to an extremely viscous substance similar to syrup.

When the Qi within the spirit roots reach this stage, they concentrate this Qi into their dantian, the metaphysical container for their excess Qi, and condense it until it becomes a nearly solid sphere of energy. This is what marks a Cultivator’s ascension from Foundation Establishment to Core Formation.

During this process, the Qi within the cultivator and their spirit roots themselves undergo a qualitative change, attracting Heavenly Tribulation due to the unnatural change within their body.

In reality, this entire process is much more complex but I have nothing to compare the complete process with and no words to describe it, so I had no way to clearly describe the process to Yan Ling, leading me to use this explanation for her.

Of course, all of this explanation ended up being completely useless since no tribulations arrived to strike me down.

‘….I think I know what’s happening.’

‘Well? Don’t keep me in the dark.’

‘I think your unique cultivation method and Qi have been deemed by the Heavens to be ‘natural’. Which means that there is no reason for the Heavens to send down a tribulation your way to test you Dao.’

‘Huh? How can anything I do be considered natural?’

‘Think carefully about what kind of Qi you cultivate and what your new Core is being condensed from.’

‘What is there to think about? I utilize the bead to break and regenerate my body and use it to absorb the Qi from the world and store it within like a pseudo-spirit root- Ah! I get your point.’

What the old demon pointed out made sense.

Unlike regular cultivators who use their spirit roots to convert the pure Qi of the world into their elemental Qi or how the body cultivators use various herbs and pills to infuse their bodies with elemental Qi, I use the bead to pull the pure Qi directly into my body without converting it into any other forms.

In essence, what I use is not elemental Qi but pure Qi. This meant that the core I condensed did not have any elemental energy within it but was made of pure Qi, the very same kind that exists everywhere on the planet.

In the view of the Heavens, if it has any consciousness and is not just some automated system, my Core formation was not that different from a heavenly treasure spontaneously forming from the concentration of pure qi in its vicinity. This meant that it did not consider my Core Formation to be an unnatural phenomenon as it did with other Cultivators, hence the lack of a tribulation.

Normally, this revelation would be a cause for celebration. However, right now, this revelation is doing nothing but make things awkward for me since I now have to explain all of this to Yan Ling lest I lose respect in her eyes and take significant damage to my pride as a teacher.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

‘Oh well. You learn something every day. I just have to think of this as a learning experience for both of us. Be positive about this.’

‘….I don’t know why, but that statement feels like a direct attack on my conscience.’

‘Huh? You have a conscience??’

‘HA.HA. Very funny.’

With that, the old demon cut off our connecting and skulked back into the bead.

Sensing the semi-solid core sitting within my dantian, I suddenly had an intrusive thought that I wanted to test out.

Thankfully, before I let this thought win out, I felt Yan Ling carefully approach me, coming out of her hiding place from behind the trees.

“Umm, Master? Are you ok??”

“Yeah. I’m fine. Sorry about this, but it seems I won’t be able to teach you about a Heavenly Tribulation properly since there was no tribulation when I broke through.”

Yan Ling’s expression brightened considerably when she heard that I broke through and ignored everything else I said.

She just shouted in joy and hugged me like the child she was, happily talking about how she was going to brag to her friends in the village about it and how Old Li was going to be jealous of me.

I just patted her head and listened to everything she had to say with a smile.

Sometimes, I wonder. Is this what it feels like to have a daughter?

In my old life, I never had any chance to have a proper family. All my life, all I did was chase after wealth and status, never paying any attention to anything else.

By the time I died, I had achieved everything that I had set out to achieve, but I felt no satisfaction in it.

Originally, I was planning to retire from my successful career and head out to the mansion I bought for myself in Canada’s wilder parts. Hoping to live away from civilization in the last decade or so of my life in peace. Who knew that I would end up dying on the last day of my job and end up here?

Of course, I did not even entertain the thought of having a family in this world. From the very moment I woke up and understood my circumstances, I already knew that there was nothing more dangerous in this world than having a family for my enemies to target.

And then, Yan Ling happened.

Looking down fondly at the girl still excitedly chatting away, I felt an emotion that I never felt before in either of my lives.

’I do not know who you are. Heavens? Fate? God? Whatever name you choose for yourself, I don’t care. All I want to say is thank you. For bringing Yan Ling into my life and showing me what I was missing out on in both my lives.’

Yan Ling got up and started pulling my hand, intent on directly heading to the village to brag to her friends, and specifically, Old Li, about my breakthrough and having her favorite noodles in the village for celebration.

I just smiled and allowed her to do as she pleased.

‘Yeah, I could get used to this.’

----------------------------------------

Starfall City

In the streets of the city bustling with activity, two figures were walking in the streets while wearing long cloaks to obscure their identities, a sight that was very common in this place.

What was uncommon, however, was the way they seemed to be moving randomly in the city before abruptly turning down alleyways after alleyways, as if tracking something.

They continued walking for nearly an hour, doing whatever it was they were doing until they finally arrived at a small collection of shacks and huts put together by those without anywhere else to go within this city.

Walking through those huts under the wary and frightened eyes of the people living there, they arrived at an old and dilapidated hut located at the corner of the alley.

Even at a glance, it was clear that this place had not seen use in some time. Most of its walls, roof, and door had been torn apart, most likely by the same people who took everything within the hut. All that was left were rags that looked just big enough for a child and a few other useless things left behind.

“….The Qi signature stops here.”

The shorter one among the two figures said, revealing the person to be a female.

The taller one was startled at those words and spoke out to his companion.

“What do you mean? There is no one here.”

“I mean that the Qi signature of the Seal stops here. From what the tool indicates, the seal vanished from here over three to four months ago.”

“She can’t have vanished into thin air, right? She didn’t know any cultivation technique for heaven’s sake!”

“You think I don’t know that?? I am just telling you what the tool is telling me.”

The woman turned back from her irritating companion and looked at her surroundings. Rage and despair burned within her while sadness and pity overwhelmed her senses at the sight.

“…..I can’t even imagine what she went through here. This is no place for a child.”

“…….The mistress is going to be really mad when she learns about this. Even more so when she learns that we failed. Do you have any solution to escape her wrath??”

The woman shuddered at those words.

“We haven’t failed yet! We just have to search harder.”

“What is that going to achieve? We are going in blind here.”

“Not really. We just need to learn if any child left this city in the past few months, either alone or with someone else.”

“And how do you plan to find that out? I doubt the guards will just tell you and we can’t use our cultivation to force them since the military forces of the Empire are under Imperial control and we would need backup from the family to intimidate them.”

“Fool. There is no need to use a hammer for something that can be solved with a brush. We just need to have a little ‘talk’ with the city lord.”

“……I didn’t think of that.’

“Of course you didn’t. It’s the reason why I came with you in the first place.”

“Enough of that. Let’s go.”

With those words, the two figures suddenly burst out in flames and directly flew towards the most luxurious building in the city, intent on finding their target through any means necessary lest they end up enraging their mistress even more than she already is thanks to recent events.

Of course, the poor City Lord had no idea of the calamity headed his way and was in the middle of indulging in his vices through the use of his status and cultivation.

All in all, it was clear that the peaceful days that the residents of this city and the Empire enjoyed were about to change very soon.

Whether this change would be good or bad was something for those in the future to decide.