Yu was in the training area of the Long estate, struggling with her time-controlling Spatial subskill when her master entered. He carried in his left hand an undecorated white jade bottle with a string holding a small green jade slip tied to it. That bottle had been the last item from the auction that ended one week ago. She had not seen it since her master had ordered Fengdu to purchase it for her for close to two-and-a-half billion silver.
“We will not speak on this. I have added a note to read with everything you need to know, including instructions. Do not read the jade or open the bottle until just prior to your final meridian cleansing. Put it in your ring for now and pack it later. At the moment everyone thinks I am carrying it, as we have publicly shown me storing it. So far only seventeen individuals have attempted to steal it, and none in the last two days.”
Yu winced. Those people would not have ended well, but taunting a dragon was unwise, and unwise actions tended to end in unpleasant results. She had no sympathy for the attempted perpetrators and just hoped her master hadn’t made too much of a mess.
“When they search your bag prior to entering the spirit realm aperture, it will be too late for them anyway, so there is no longer a point in me keeping it.”
Yu nodded, stepping from the middle of the room to stand in front of him, and then very gently took the outrageously rare and expensive bottle and put it in her ring. Well technically, the drop of liquid inside was what was rare and expensive, but either way, she didn’t even want to take the chance of damaging it.
“Thank you, master,” she said with a bow. “I’ll pack it carefully tonight.”
“Good. Now sit, we must speak,” he told her with a gesture to her bamboo meditation mat. “And call your bond. This discussion involves him as well.”
She nodded, giving Bai a nudge through the bond as she stepped back to the middle of the room and sat cross-legged on the mat. He joined her, materialized a short tea table, and sat on his own materialized mat.
“While we’re waiting for Bai, I have a question I’ve been curious about since my… umm… Release and your description of that other life.”
He looked surprised with raised eye ridges and asked, “Oh?”
“My clan at home uses an Eye of the Gods for the Declaration Ceremony,” Yu told him.
Before she could ask her question, his face cleared and he nodded. “Ah. And you would like to know how your affinity did not become public knowledge.”
Yu nodded. She had been witness to two Declaration Ceremonies during her visits home and did not understand how she had not been exposed as a Spatial Affinity wielder.
“Well, in this life, your ceremony was interrupted.” He held up his hand at her immediate and obvious question. “Do not ask for details.” Yu slumped.
I still don’t understand why it’s such a big secret, but one day I’ll definitely find out what happened.
“In the case of your family’s Eye, the device does not offer the ability to display any affinity other than those it has a beast core for. So for your clan that would be the standard eight on the affinity wheel. Any other could not be forced to show. You would have to call for your God Sign for your affinity to become known.”
“Ah. Thank you.” Yu nodded at the explanation.
He had answered her question, but she was still bothered by everyone hiding the truth from her. Then again, it had been concealed from her for her entire life, so she was used to it by now. That did not mean she didn’t think about it, she just accepted it as one more element of the strangeness that was her existence.
They shared tea without speaking further until Bai padded in silently. He halted at the doorway, seeing her master. Bai had always been wary of him, smartly Yu believed. But she called Bai and he sat next to her.
“He has grown well, especially after the alchemical assistance provided by your prior teacher. I assume you have used them all up?”
Yu nodded. “Almost a year ago. We followed the instruction she provided, but I think he grew even faster than Grandma Huan projected.”
“Likely. Either way, he should not receive more of such until he advances. It will only hinder him.”
“Yes, master.” Their demonic beast training instruction had said the same, but it was good to get confirmation.
“Now, onto why I have you both here. Given what is in that bottle, I am adding something to discuss before we head toward the spirit realm camp. It was always my intent to do so, I am simply moving up my timeline. We must speak of how demonic beasts advance.”
Yu leaned forward, quite interested. “That will definitely be helpful for when Bai becomes grade 3 after I’ve broken through. Thank you, Master.”
“Certainly. Now, demonic beasts have a core, as you know. Every time a beast advances, their core is responsible for that advancement, as it is responsible for their power. You see, beasts do not have meridians. Their entire body is a pathway for Qi so they have no need for them.”
That brought a question to Yu’s mind. “Is that why they can all use multiple Qi types?”
“Technically, they do not. That woman at the auction did a poor job but she sort of described it. Demonic beasts use all Qi type qualities, but with a single source. So it is one Qi that can do what all three can. There is no conclusive agreement on why this so, but your question about the meridians is the prevailing belief, at least currently.”
Yu still had no firm knowledge as to why she could use more than one Qi type, although she assumed it was the tiger’s doing. It was as good a guess as any. However, hearing that beasts technically don’t have three types of Qi made her doubt that assumption. Also she had meridians while beast apparently did not, which was an additional point against her theory.
“Back to what we were discussing before. Demonic beasts advance because of how their core improves. A grade 2 core is denser, holds more Qi, and is capable of withstanding more Qi flow than a grade 1 core. Obvious right? Of course it is. While the difference between a grade 1 and 2 core is negligible, there is a difference. A grade 3 core, however, is many, many times more capable than a grade 2 core.”
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Yu nodded. She also knew this, if nothing else because of the point or silver value difference between grades 2 and 3 cores. She assumed it was sort of a major breakthrough for them, like the third stage was for cultivators.
“Here is why I bring that up. While the advancement from grade 1 to 2 is nothing special for demonic beasts, the advancement to grades 3 and beyond are quite dramatic. And by advancement, I mean the actual act of advancing. Specifically, a heavenly tribulation takes place.”
Yu had a history with tribulations… an unknown one.
“Tribulations are when the Heavens use their most powerful direct force, heavenly lightning, to dissuade advancement. It is said, though I am not sure I believe this, that the gods do not wish for creatures to be so powerful and, especially, long-lived. Mortality is natural, immortality is not. So to combat this, the Heavens strike down the potential danger to the world’s balance before they become too strong. However – and this is where I find that theory failing – the tribulation also grants the opportunity for the beasts to take the lightning within themselves and to become something greater.
“In the case of beasts, they attempt to direct the lightning to their cores and force it to absorb the power, to compress, and to grow. If they survive doing so, the creature becomes smarter, stronger, faster, and so forth. For most demonic beasts, it also grants them the ability to control their Qi outside their bodies, meaning they can use the equivalent of Qi skills.”
Yu had long known the general ideas behind all that, but the specifics of beasts absorbing lightning was new information for her.
“So when Bai advances,” Yu said, “he’ll need to direct the lightning into his core, not fight it. Is there anything I can do to help him accomplish that? Can we practice or something?”
Her master shook his head, staring at both of them hard. “You absolutely must not fight against it. That would ruin your core at best, and extinguish it at worst. As for helping your bond, no, there is nothing you can do for him.
“There has been quite a bit of study on the topic of advancing bonded demonic beasts, and all evidence states we must simply step back and let them try on their own. In fact, interfering is detrimental because the tribulation becomes more challenging if there is interference. The Heavens are not kind to those who attempt to cheat its ways.”
Yu was frightened for Bai, but he was so smart and strong, she believed he would make it through his tribulation. She had to believe that.
“What we do know is that stronger beasts tend to have stronger bloodlines which results in stronger tribulations. So your bond, being quite a powerful creature, will likely have to survive an equally challenging tribulation.”
Yu sensed a smugness coming from Bai, which made her mentally roll her eyes at him. But she also sensed nervousness, which she understood but did not respond to.
She thought about what a Heavenly tribulation might be like, and then realized she probably already knew, but could not remember.
This might be an opportunity. Hmm…
“Master, speaking of tribulations, before I consolidated my God Sign, it showed Titles and Honors. With all the talk about tribulations and bloodlines, what it shows in my Sign—”
“I will not speak of bloodlines. It is too early.”
Yu sighed, expecting something like that. Well, we she wanted answers to at least a few questions she had had for a while.
“Can you at least tell me about Titles and Honors without going into specifics? Like what are they and why do I have them?”
“That I can do. Let’s start at a very high level and work our way down. Titles are something about you, and Honors are something you have done.”
Yu did not really see the difference. “Aren’t I made up of what I’ve done?”
“Well, yes, but remember that the purpose of our God Sign, to the best of our knowledge anyway, is to help us progress. It tells us where we stand, and that alerts us to what we must do to improve. So, thinking about it from that perspective, a Title is a simple descriptor of who you were or are. Pull them up.”
“Sign, titles,” Yu called to the world.
Titles: The Corrupted, The Blessed, Tiger’s Blood
“We are going to ignore the last and focus on the others. Think about your first two titles. You were corrupted. It wasn’t a representative of your actions, but of your person. Of who and what you are, or in this case, were. ‘The Blessed’ title is the same. You did not work to be blessed. You did not walk around and try to get blessed. You are blessed, at least as far as the Sign sees you. Just don’t get a big head about it.”
Yu chuckled but moved on, calling to the world again. “Sign, honors.”
Honors: *Tribulation Supplicant
“Forget that reference mark for the moment and focus on what it says. Tribulation Supplicant. What it really means is tribulation survivor, because the only people who could see that honor are those that have actually survived a tribulation. After all, if you are dead, you have no Sign.”
“I still don’t remember my tribulation, but I think I understand. I survived it, which means I earned recognition from the Gods or the Sign or something like that?”
“In summary, yes. A title isn’t something to be proud of. You just are whatever the title is. They are not common exactly, but they are also not rare. Maybe one in half a million cultivators has a title. So quite a large number.
“But honors are rare – perhaps one in a quarter billion have one. And, most importantly, they are earned. It is one of the things that stuck out to me about you. Not just that you went through and survived a tribulation – at the age of thirteen no less, which was a fascinating insight into your past – but more so that the Sign actually recognized you as being worthy of an honor. This means the Gods or the Sign, or some mix of the two, felt you did something exceptional to survive a tribulation. That was what stood out to me.”
Yu shook her head. “I wish I could remember. All I know is that the Tiger did something, and the rest is a blank.”
“Well, I have some guesses, but I refuse to bias you going forward with my unfounded assumptions. Now, to close out this topic, remember that titles are just an observation of the state you were at when you were assigned it. Think of it like this: Someone painted a portrait of you at a singular moment in time, and then you carry that painting around with you for the rest of your life. It is just a thing. An object that doesn’t hold particular value.
“Honors, however, are more like you painted a masterpiece of your own. You carry it around because it is something to be proud of.” Her master then raised a finger in emphasis. “Now, here is the trick of it. Honors, depending on the quality of the masterpiece, can sometimes come with rewards. In your case, your painting was so miraculous that you were given a prize of sorts.”
Yu nodded. That metaphor was surprisingly helpful, making the difference between titles and honors more understandable. And she did sort of “win” a prize from her honor.
“Something to keep in mind is that, according to all the records I know of, an Honor’s award has always been related in some way to the Honor itself. In your case, surviving a tribulation, which is an act of heavenly lightning, awarded you with a lightning-based skill. That we still have not discovered its purpose demonstrates that the awards always – and again, the records back this – come with certain caveats. In your case, you need to figure out how to use it.”
“Huh. That makes sense, I suppose,” Yu said with a nod. “Even so, I admit I’m pretty frustrated not knowing what Enchant Lightning does, but at the same time, I’m still far away from producing any decent enchantments anyway, so it isn’t worth stressing about. Still, I wonder what other people with honors got.”
“Oh, the records are fascinating on the topic.” Yu thought he actually sounded moderately passionate about the subject, which probably meant anyone else would be jumping up and down. “I recall reading of an honor award that was a drop of mysterious liquid in the recipient’s mindscape. It took centuries for that fellow to discover what it was. He never told anyone though, and he was killed a few decades later by some old codger who thought he could steal the liquid and use it to extend his life. It did not work as he died shortly after, but I will admit to a certain level of curiosity.”
Yu was surprised. And annoyed. “Wait, what? What the hells! You can’t just tell me that story and not have an ending! That’s so mean!”
He just snickered.