Once he returned, Tundra went through his treasury and quickly ordered the merchants to procure materials from all over the world. Most of these materials were on the 4th to 6th realm, but he needed knowledge.
He summoned his elders and his core disciples, and quickly briefed them on the new developments.
“And thus, Yavin, Julia, Agnia, the three of you must prepare to be 5th realm within the next three months. I will have the pills necessary.”
So, Tundra began a frantic rush to prepare pills for all of the participants, while spending quite a bit of time giving his three selected children special training.
He couldn’t let his children and disciples go to a Treasure realm unprepared.
***
Anna, Edison, Larian. Three fortunate souls chosen for the Princess’s treasure realms. It is an opportunity, and yet Anna feared the worst. So much was said about treasure realms that it is hard to distinguish fact or fiction, and amongst their family, not one of them had ever ventured in a royal family’s treasure realms.
Pills. Every other day they were given pills. Strange ones that they’ve never seen before. They didn’t know their father knew how to make so many pills.
“What’s this, father?” Anna stared at a black pill that seemed to have a faint blue light.
“A spirit reinforcement pill. It’s for 4th realms to shore up their spirit walls before breakthrough, but it can also be used on 3rd realms for the same effect. It’s normally considered a waste to give it to 3rd realmers, but circumstances are what they are.”
Anna nodded, and swallowed the pill. The pill channeled pure energy into her spirit, and she felt it form structures around her spiritual realm, as if forming a wall at the edges of her spirit realm. In theory, the main use of this pill was to prevent any negative downsides should their attempt to breakthrough to the 4th realm fail. The reinforced walls should support the spirit realm long enough for the cultivator to reassert their control over the 3rd realm.
“In about a month you should be able to attempt to break through to the 4th realm. You will be taking this pill repeatedly, until we succeed.” Father said.
Anna nodded. Breakthroughs stressed her out. She recalled her own breakthrough to the 3rd realm and remembered the sensation of pushing the energies against the walls of her soul. Breakthroughs were the moment when a cultivator truly felt the heaven’s attempt to hamper their progress.
Edison’s face was pale, but he also nodded. He hated the taste of pills, yet at this point, he had no luxury to reject them. Anna sighed, but she had to concentrate on her own cultivation. Larian, was the laggard of the three. In terms of talent, he was the worst of the three, and so he struggled.
But there was something else that also stressed them.
Their father’s presence.
Father sat, and in the room, he condensed motes of energy for them. It was almost as if they were in a cultivation chamber, and yet, different. Father’s presence meant their hearts could never be truly still and calm. How could they be? Every time he looked at them, he was judging their progress. He was trying to understand their cultivation. He assessed and measured, and as his children, they felt themselves wanting.
Only he could make them feel this way.
This went on for days.
All three of them were nervous as hell, even though their father said nothing. No, maybe it was because he said nothing that they felt insufficient. They were not sure whether they did right, or wrong.
The three suffered, and Anna felt it suffocating. Maybe it was the pressure. Maybe it was the fact that a rare opportunity now hung over their heads like a sword.
So one day, Anna could not take it anymore and spoke up.
“Father- I think we need some space.” Anna said, mustering courage to tell their father that even though she appreciated his help, their hearts were troubled just being in his presence. Even children needed to study in peace.
Their minds needed space to regroup. To make sense of new realities and changes brought by the pills. Their father looked at them for a moment, as if trying to figure out Anna’s intention.
Anna quickly explained. “Father, to us, you are always our father, and I think- I think you don’t quite understand how large a shadow you cast on our soul. I- Just being in your presence I feel judged.”
Edison’s immediate nod of agreement verified Anna’s suspicion that most children felt the same. They were always compared to Father.
“What you do for us is helpful, but- is there a way for it to happen without your presence? So that we can clear our minds and approach cultivation?”
The Sect Master looked at their three children, blinked, and then eventually nodded. “Very well.”
***
Tundra wanted to help, and he formulated a plan. In his mind, his children needed handholding. That’s why he tried this regime of assisted cultivation, just like with his wives. But unlike his wives who were generally comfortable with his presence, his children were not.
The power and hierarchical difference meant they always had to pay attention to him.
He sighed. Anna was right. His children were not disciples. His disciples and him had a master-disciple relationship, and naturally they were used to cultivating in his presence. His children on the other hand, didn’t.
He noticed the fearful look on Edison’s face. His son, the young master. Afraid, and in that moment he knew his son wasn’t ready. A cultivator challenges the heavens. A cultivator seeks to impose their will on the world. Edison didn’t deserve to be the young master, and his actions thus far have failed to support his case.
All he wanted to do so far was avoid problems, as if problems solved themselves. Yet when he tried to help them, he lashed out.
Elly said to encourage them. Maybe he should. “Very well. Then let’s stop here. I will only supply pills and lectures. But you are free to cultivate on your own. You are free to come to me for guidance.”
Anna nodded. “Thank you, father.”
The other two boys also nodded in relief.
In Tundra’s mind, he wondered why it was Anna that spoke up, and not his sons. For Edison, as the so-called young master, why didn’t he advocate for himself?
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Did they deserve the special benefits he gave to them so far? Most likely not. But they were his children, and Tundra repeated it to himself. He couldn’t abandon them in this life. He had to offer his hand for them to meet him halfway.
This trial would be the deciding moment. If he failed, he’d pass the position to someone else. No, maybe he should separate the role into two.
In the first place, there really was no reason for the Sect Master to be hereditary. Only family sects had that sort of tradition, and in those sects, the heir was usually the second-strongest anyway.
But that was not so for their family. The Sect’s strength exceeded the family, and as Tundra understood it, that was part of the appeal for many disciples who didn’t want to join sects where they ended up as glorified servants of the main family.
Edison could still be the future leader of the Fox family, if Edison somehow survives him. But looking at it, Tundra didn’t know whether he had it in him.
He wished he thought better of his own son, and at that moment, felt a twinge of guilt.
But no. It’s been a year and more since he returned, almost 2 years once the Treasure Realm was over.
It was time for him to decide on where he wanted to go in his life.
***
Yavin, Julia, and Agnia made for a rather noisy group as they made their way into the depths of the mountains. They would meet their Sect Master in the depths of darkness.
“Have you done the deed with the two girls?” Julia asked, a little curious. “Did you see it, Agnia? The two Blackshore daughters were stuck to Senior Brother like they were glue.”
Yavin rolled his eyes. “It is improper to ask such a question, Sister Julia.”
“Hah. Come on, I’m curious. Are you such a prude, Senior Brother?” Julia teased. Agnia somehow smiled.
“I found the three to be quite irritating, I am surprised you find yourself interested in them.” Agnia countered.
“That’s because you are a woman, Agnia.” Julia replied. “To the two girls, you are competition. You are better than them, and not just that, if you somehow decided that you wanted to carve the Blackshore family up, what’s the Patriarch going to do? Stop you? Brother Yavin, on the other hand, secures their position in the family.”
Agnia laughed. “True, true. It is a charmed thing to find myself rotated out of the role. Has the Sect Master told you how we’ll have to babysit his three children?”
Both Yavin and Julia nodded. Julia thought for a while, and said. “I’m not too worried about Young Mistress Anna. I’m more worried about the young masters. I’ll have to trouble you, brother Yavin, to deal with Young Master Edison. He’s- he’s a handful.”
Yavin tapped his chest. “Leave it to me. Dealing with young masters will be challenging, but I have some experience. At the very least, I should be able to keep him alive.”
Agnia nodded. “Then I’ll babysit Young Master Larian, then. Not the hardest of the three, even if he is the weakest.”
“Do you think it’ll work?” Yavin asked. “That the Princess wants to hold the master’s family as a way for leverage.”
“Maybe not.” Julia countered. Thanks to all the pills they received over the past few weeks and months, they were at the peak of the 4th realm. It is said that cultivation favored those who possessed wealth and power, and this was very true for pills. Pills, formations, cultivation chambers are all huge accelerators. “Master looked a little annoyed.”
“I could tell.” Yavin thought. “I think Princess Luharl is not the master’s first choice among the members of the royal family, but we can’t turn them down.”
“Oh, we’re almost there. Let’s go.”
***
Tundra sat as he watched the three cultivators approach the designated place. Three quite talented children, and they had a bright future ahead of them.
“Come, disciples.”
Cultivation breakthroughs. It is quite rare to have multiple cultivators breaking through at the same time, and strangely, it was one of the few things where there are advantages for doing so.
One, the damage to the environment can sometimes be offset if the cultivators were of different elements. The elements battled each other for control, and so, they reduced each other’s effects on the world around them.
Two, the breakthrough is a tiny bit easier. Each cultivator’s spiritual battle against the world around them calls upon the world to resist. Together, the world’s resistance is a bit weaker.
Third, it was a good reference, and motivation. Knowing one’s peers breaking through spurred one on. But naturally, if someone failed first, it could also demotivate the rest. Each cultivator breaking through could instinctively understand the battle within each other’s soul, a kind of breakthrough-resonance, and thus each cultivator would then be able to understand how to better fight the forces of nature.
It was once said that to have five primary elements, one of each, breaking through at the same time, is the best, and per Tundra’s own estimates, the energy needed for the breakthrough was reduced by about a fifth.
Even if it was possible to synchronize disciple’s for mutual breakthrough, somehow, the breakthrough-resonance was also influenced by how well the five cultivators knew each other. It was one of those really rare events that remained difficult to collect data on, and even harder to study.
The three sat, and laid down their pills and equipment. Tundra nodded. “I will stand guard. Start when you are ready.”
The three did not hesitate, and together, they began their breakthrough. The breakthrough from 4th realm to 5th realm would only take a day or two, and together, the mountains shook as the powers of their elements battled.
Tundra brought a few pills specifically for Yavin, if Yavin fails to properly balance his dual spiritual roots.
He watched them sweat, and Tundra’s own energies spread throughout the mountain. He would have to calm the land, soften the winds, and quiet the noisy woods. As he had for a thousand times before.
They began chugging pills, as the winds howled.
He looked, and then, he sensed something amiss. A slight disturbance in Julia’s cultivation, and for a moment, thought about whether to intervene. Julia grunted, ate a few more pills, and somehow, Tundra felt her battle against nature itself, and brought it all back in line.
Even though it wasn’t him who had a breakthrough, the sheer sensation of a potentially failed breakthrough made his entire palm sweaty. Julia was able to wrestle her spirit and get herself back on track, her talent and experience meant she could.
Was it too early for her? Maybe just a little bit.
She was only sitting there, Tundra could sense the battle in the spirit realm. Her spirit was locked in battle, and he observed her tense body.
She ate her last pill, and Tundra checked his pouch. It’s a good thing he brought spares, just in case. He quickly threw a few more over, the pills landed right in front of her. In the end, both Yavin and Agnia finished about the same time, both successful.
Julia needed a little more, she ate one more from Tundra, and luckily, it was now enough to push her over to the fifth realm.
When her eyes opened, she was already drenched in sweat and her entire body was in pain. Successful, but she collapsed backwards. Yavin and Agnia immediately wanted to help, but Tundra stopped them.
“Don’t touch her.” Tundra said. “Her breakthrough is successful, but she needs to consolidate her spirit. Her body endured quite a bit from her battle, it seems the heavens were harsh on her.”
Yavin and Agnia nodded.
“Sit, medidate.”
Tundra’s presence seemingly faded, and he hid his soul to the smallest he could ever get it to be. He walked as if he wasn’t there, and then sat next to Julia. Julia was now lying on the ground, her eyes were staring at the sky. “You did well, disciple Julia. Close your eyes and sleep. I’ll feed you a mild 1st realm healing pill.”
Their body was highly vulnerable and sensitive in this state, and using a strong healing elixir would be counterproductive, because it added more ‘rough’ energy to the already turbulent forces within their soul.
Instead, the only thing they could take was something of a balm. Something to just mildly help, but not enough to make things worse.
“I’ve not tasted a 1st realm Healing Pill in a long time.” Julia admitted with her eyes closed. Already, Tundra could feel her body gradually coming to terms with her new realm.
He briefly wondered whether Julia managed to break through to the fifth realm in his first life. Maybe she did, but much, much later. He couldn’t exactly remember, but watching what she went through, it was entirely possible she failed her own breakthrough the first time, and had to try again much later.
Yavin and Agnia were both able to walk, but Julia wasn’t, so they waited an extra day for their friend.
“I’ll have you carried to the medical hall, Julia.” Tundra said.
She nodded. Her body was in better shape after a day, but still, she needed a bit more to recover. Julia had to spend a week in the medical halls to recuperate from her injuries, and she’ll have to devote some time for physical body cultivation to help restore her body’s strength. The battle within her spirit made deep wounds within her body, the violent war between spirit and reality a reminder of the dangers of breakthroughs, even if successful.
Tundra ordered and only announced that the Verdant Snow had three new elders after she was in much better shape a week later.
***