The many moons above Smog Mountain were entering their new moon phase simultaneously. The new moon would begin in only a few hours, and women around the sect would make their breakthroughs. Fireworks were launched high in the air, forming dragons, empresses, and thunderbirds. Someone from one of the desert kingdoms was dressed up like a sphinx, with two other girls asking riddles. Lines of men followed behind the waving banners with the Thunder Eagle sect’s prized thunderbird on them. Men were dressed in fabulous, feathered robes, prancing around and dancing to a marching band. There was so much going on it might as well be a New Year instead of one of the new moons.
Sweet smells filled the streets as vendors sold sweet buns and meat on sticks. Visitors milled about in the lower valley as the sect celebrated the coming of many breakthroughs. All the hidden realms, immortal caves, and chi veins in the Thunder Eagle sect were fully booked.
I stopped at a vendor and bought a fan made of Thunderbird and lesser Roc feathers. Just holding the fan was supposed to empower wind, water, and lightning fragments.
In my bag, I had 10 Lightning Tribulation absorption formations, which, alone, ate into my budget. If not for the flesh pit, my cultivation would have hit a major snag. Fortunately, by killing hungry ghosts with my soul arrow, I was able to cultivate my Soul Pressure fragment. I wasn’t anywhere near as strong as I could be, but I was ready to break through to the core realm in a quiet place.
There were still some rough edges I needed to take care of in my cultivation. Stepping into the core realm was a serious matter, and it would completely change the quality of my chi.
Chi in the foundation realm was solid and chunky. The core realm turned that chi into dense, energized material that could unleash vast amounts of power. The core realm was the last realm where chi storage resembled anything related to the physical world. Nascent Soul would create an avatar of chi around my soul, moving the source of my reserves to my soul space.
That could be complete nonsense. I understood that there was a lot I didn’t know about the soul realm. My latest library dives and paying for entry into higher floors helped. With these last few days, I felt my soul space would become the source of my chi. So, I decided pouring my excess generated chi into it was a good idea.
Once I reached the nascent soul realm, my reserves and regeneration would be beyond that of any other creature. Of course, the problem was surviving the nascent soul and absorbing the tribulation. That’s the reason for my formation.
The stored energy could be used for body refinement in a controlled environment by absorbing the tribulation instead of deflecting it.
I made my way to the bridge crossing to Smog Mountain, the home of the alchemists. It was actually a weird place to go through the tribulation, but Elder Yu knew what he was doing. I stepped on the bridge and made my way across without an incident.
I stared out at the valley below, shooting fireworks and celebrating with us. Normally, I choose this time to rest after a hard month of work. Lui Fang didn’t want to see me around this time; she was too busy cultivating.
What was it like to sit still for hours, absorb the energies of heaven and earth, and mold them into personal chi? My refinery formation did all that for me; my soul could attract those energies in vast amounts.
Maybe I should sit down and quickly break through. I had the power; all I needed was to condense my foundation into a core. The biggest bottleneck for that one was Chi. I had all my excess in my soul space ready for use.
I thought about it but somehow avoided the temptation. She could die and the last thing I wanted to do was distract her by wounding her pride. Lui Fang might refuse my formations if she sensed I was in the core realm.
After crossing into Smog Mountain, I noticed a lack of alchemists. It was the new moon so that they might celebrate with everyone else. There will be some parties tonight, and some babies might be conceived. Some women get rather horny after breaking through.
I smirked at that. Imagine if Liu Fang and I conceived a child tonight. Her father would have to accept our marriage or have a bastard stain the Lui clan.
An overwhelming presence stepped out of the shadows of some trees, showing his face under the lamplight. He was Elder Yu, the childlike nascent soul expert, and a core elder. He held the record at 25, so if he was anything to go by, Lui Fang might look even younger when she broke through. If that was any indication, I should have sex with her while she looked like a proper woman.
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“You certainly love her, don’t you, Atom.” Elder Yu said.
“Her clan is a little low on funds, and she is always too prideful to ask. Allow me to be the middleman.” Elder Yu said.
“She doesn’t seem too receptive to that kind of advance. 41,000 spirit stones and only a kiss. Are you telling her where the money is from?”
“It's obvious, and her pride wouldn’t allow her to take it if she knew. A core realm core disciple taking funds from a foundation realm outer disciple would be embarrassing. If anything, she should give you money. Though I have to ask where it all is coming from.”
“Let's just say selling organs is more profitable if they can be regrown,” I said.
“Interesting. I knew you were the right kind of man for her. A selfless guy like you would gladly cut out your heart for Ms. Lui Fang.” Elder Yu said.
“You’re putting it on a little thick there, right? No man wants their woman’s family to suffer.” I said.
“Allow me to guide you directly to the basement.” Elder Yu said.
The pleasantries were over. The man looked strange as if he had triumphed over something or another. It wasn't reassuring to see the face of a child.
He took me to an open shaft and turned to me with a smile.
“I understand you can’t pass the second lock, so flight is impossible. Allow me to assist you.”
I raised an eyebrow but didn’t mention it. An unseen force gripped me with chi I could barely fathom. Nascent soul was such a massive leap from the core realm that I could barely understand it.
Lights flashed as we descended deep into the mountain’s depths while the new moon stretched on. I could feel feminine chi fall upon the world and spread through the shaft drawn by countless formations. No seals were used to hide the formations or cover anything up.
The entire shaft worked as a straw sucking down yin chi and the soon-to-arrive lightning tribulation. It was an interesting use of an elevator shaft. Maybe I would try it sometime.
“Did you know that even with the new moon, only 1 in 10,000 women survive the lightning tribulation? Men have a 1 in 1000 chance due to the nature of yang chi itself. That sounds unfair, doesn’t it? If there was a way to shield Lui Fang with your yang chi without compromising her tribulation, wouldn’t you want to do it?” Elder Yu said.
I nodded slowly. “Surviving is only one part; the other is the body tempering.”
“Yes, my thoughts exactly, but a woman’s body isn’t built to temper with lightning as fluidly as men's. Ice and darkness tempering work well, but lightning is such a powerful element. Do you have any experience with lightning?”
I shook my head. “I can’t say that I do.”
The Elder, who appeared to be a 12-year-old, smiled. “Few outside of spars with their fellow disciples do. Have no fear; you will gain experience by doing.”
We dropped down to sink knee-deep into a red, viscous fluid.
“See, I told you I would get him here on time.” Elder Yu said.
My eyes turned to a massive pill furnace in the distance, large enough to contain a man. The air smelled of powerful medicinal ingredients, and the fluid grasped at me. Through my mighty soul, I heard the screams of countless women trapped within the fluid. A charge ran through them. It was the death rattle of dozens of young girls clawing at my soul. They were fragmented things, unconscious and rendered. Parts were stripped away and condensed to form a barrier to protect someone they loved. What remained was the broken fragments of their soul manifested in the material world mixed with medicinal ingredients.
I looked up slowly to see Lui Fang smiling at me. “Thank you, Atom, for making this sacrifice for me.” A poke from Elder Yu paralyzed me, freezing the chi in my body and leaving me helpless.
“I can’t do this without your sacrifice. For my family, I need you to become my shield against heaven’s judgment.”
The girls, the fluid on the ground, and Elder Yu’s record.
“I think he wants to speak, so let's hear it.” Elder Yu said.
“41,000,” my voice was cut off.
“What was that?” Lui Fang asked.
“It's just an offer; he can’t hope to pay anything more. He’s getting cold feet; they all do so at this point. But do not worry; love doesn’t leave so easily. There will be enough within him to make your pill.”
Elder Yu waved his hand, and black flames appeared in the distance. Screams echoed through the fluid as massive tubes drank it from the ground into the vast machine. Black and violet herbs and monster parts flowed into the pill furnace. A red and black slurry bubbled within as my body was taken to peer above it. I was given a good look at the mess I was about to be dumped in.
“No bribe is enough. I was forced to face the ridicule of my peers for being associated with you. My father sent me letters expressing his disappointment. Even after I gave my family the spirit stones Elder Yu gifted me it wasn’t enough. All I could do in the core realm was help my family struggle a little longer. 21,000 spirit stones isn’t nearly enough. I need power to save my clan. Help me and you can become a part of my cultivation like the girls did for Elder Yu. It will be the greatest thing you’ve ever done, becoming a part of my greatness.”
I struggled to do anything, but all I could feel was my soul. Any chi I moved was dispersed by Elder Yu. The bubbling cauldron roared like the pits of hell, and there was nothing I could do. I loved her. Tears fell from my eyes as I turned to look at her. If she loved me, she would stop this madness and look for another way.
“On your command, say it, and we’ll stop this right here. You can face the lightning yourself, or I can drop him in. It's your choice,” Elder Yu said.
“Drop him,” My eyes widened and I fell into the furnace.
My skin melted first and then my eyes. I pushed hard railing against the pain. My cultivation responded with dragon’s body. An unending tide of chi matched the destruction and I felt myself continue to break. My muscles broke down slowly as the heat and pressure bore down on me, and then-nascent soul chi took control of the concoction. My body evaporated into the mix as the slurry pressed upon my soul. No mouth, mind, or thought I existed as pressure. The slurry raged and so did my pressure. My soul could not be destroyed even by the nascent soul.
Pressure battled chi as my soul, something infinite and tiny beyond physical space, was pushed under pressure and all within the space of a pill. No thought or identity, only feelings, were left by my death. Betrayal, love, and resistance were all my soul had to work with. Atom Newman was dead. Only a record of who he existed in the soul, and the soul had no mind to copy the record onto.
Desires warred within the soul without a mind or body. It was not a thinking thing. At that moment, I was only pressured by three principles: revenge, protection, and resistance. Those were the edicts from the heavens with no context, given that all I could do was flow with the pill.
…
Lui Fang held the golden pill in her hand and marveled at the sparkling black dot within. According to Elder Yu, it was Atom’s Soul. Even if he wanted revenge he had no mind or memories to direct it. The soul would somewhat remember her as someone to protect, and all the negative emotions would be directed toward the lightning tribulation.
“Get ready. I am calling the tribulation now. Take the pill and do your best. The annoying part is over, and the hard part starts now.” Elder Yu said.