Before I begin, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to @occipitallobe -- taking this goofy ass premise and creating a universe compelling enough to draw over a million words from its readers, with a Clan as flawed as it is noble in nature. Threading the needle about respecting the genre conventions while pointing out how ridiculous and depressing they can be.
A perfect world doesn't need stories to be told about it--and the Turtle World is a place that has spawned a legion of them.
Thanks for all of your work over the past few months, and here's to many months more working together.
Now, without further ado. Please, enjoy the fruits of my labor, one of the few pieces of writing that I can genuinely say--without ego--is a step forward in my rudimentary skills as a writer. One of the finest pieces I've ever crafted.
Rina had always imagined that a Tribulation began at the moment the lightning gathered--cast down the moment the Heavens had prepared their trial for the Cultivator who would seek to advance to the next Realm. So when the cloud--thick with promise and crackling with white power simply sat there--she would freely admit that things weren't going as planned.
Admittedly, it gave her time to prepare the Warbanner for action--the great flag smouldering with radiant energies, burning off into the distance as simple material gave way to unleashed energies. But power needed to be
used when gathered like this.
Why was it waiting?
The back of Rina's neck stood up, her sweat cold even in the building heat of the environment, rapidly escalating with the flood of power the Warbanner was releasing into it. Of course it was waiting, what kind of foe simply walks straight into a prepared battleground of their opposition's choosing?
The curse of the Golden Devils--their Tribulations were not merely a perfunctory release of lightning where failure only occurs if one treats it lightly--but a general battle to the death against a foe equipped with at least rudimentary strategy.
Why would it be in a hurry? The Heavens can wait, but Rina was still of mortal flesh and bone, eventually, her focus would slip.
Then it could strike, assured of success.
crack
The sound of a crack pricked Rina's ear up, her gaze shifting in the direction of the stimulus--nothing to worry about, just a boulder splitting..
She realized her mistake in that instant, and lashed out blindly with the Warbanner.
KRAKOOM!!!
It was all that saved her life.
She was pulled off of her feet, driven back by a
furious wave of force--all hope of maintaining her footing evaporating in the face of a will of extermination. Her eyes finally shifted forward again, and she witnessed the white bar of scintillating skyfire halted a mere foot from her face. The Warbanner shuddered as the Tribulation Lightning snaked upwards, pulling Rina up into the sky, beyond the boundaries of her defenses and warning signs.
But not beyond the borders of the plateau--and in that moment, she understood the rules of the Tribulation.
Single combat against the Five Element Tribulation, the field of contest was the Skyscraping Plateau--her defeat marked by either her extermination by the powers of the world or escaping the plateau's borders, where she would be obliterated.
Should she endure for nine cycles, the Dao of the World-Lord would be acknowledged, and her Foundation established.
The bolt of Divine Lightning shattered, splintering into ten thousand fragments as the impetus forcing Rina into the sky abruptly fled. She hung in the air for a moment on the residual momentum, suspended between earth and sky in that critical moment.
Her thoughts went to the Five-Elements Warbanner, and it spun before her, the great flag changing from a span of uttermost flame into a cloud of dust--the pole gaining the solidity of bedrock. The transformation completed in the nick of time, the first blow of Tribulation Lightning had descended, the infusion of purest metal distilling Water beyond Water from the barest traces around, augmenting them to life.
Blue, blue, deepest blue was the Azure Moonwater--dew that descended on the nights where the Full Moon coincided with the Winter Solstice, scattered across all creation in the tiniest drops. A transcendent solvent beyond all others, in trace quantities, it could wash away the deepest impurities in the body and grant a second lease of life on one who's cultivation could go no further.
A thimbleful of Moonwater could freeze a mortal on contact, their meridians and blood vessels shattering to bits, a cold deep enough to freeze the soul.
There was nearly a gallon here, condensed and collected from across the desert as the Moonwater sailed to the glut of Metal Energy to feed on--and it understood its duty. It twisted, taking the form of a great carp, roaring as it swam through the sky into the one who had drawn forth Heaven's ire.
It met the Five Element Warbanner, the dust cloud infiltrating its gills, tying up its fins. How it screeched! How it raged! Its mouth snapped open, its whiskers writhing as it pressed forward regardless, a transient spirit having no fear of death, when its life could be measured in minutes at most.
But Rina's studies had not been in vain, as her polearm lodged into the great carp's maw, suspending it just before her as it thrashed about in the sky. Earth's power over Water is to dam it--to contain the power of water and strip it of motion.
Regardless of its might, of its wrath empowered by heavenly will--the Moonwater Carp could do no harm. Its whiskers twitched, and it burst, Moonwater scattering in all directions. There was a reprieve as Rina steadily gained some control over her descent.
But she knew the next phase was beginning, the clean scent of clean water being replaced with the thickest, heaviest pollen.
Germination from the tiniest seeds, once dead matter suspended in the air--far too tiny to be noticed--given a new lease on life by the Moonwater granting them a baptism. They germinated, and understood their role in this great contest. Vines sprung into view, a jungle in the heavens exploding from the tiniest seeds. Dripping with poison and venom came the Emerald Sabervines, bearing thorns sharper than any edge. From a dozen directions did they creep forth, twisting plant matter cutting off all hopes of escape before coiling inward to the victim.
They were met by the Five-Elements Warbanner, flag going rigid and sharpening in place. It had gone from symbol of war to a great two handed axe, a jagged edge all the better to saw with.
The Emerald Bladevines could resist the blows of any edge, any tool--but the Power of Metal was always one known for its sharpness and dedication. And resistance is in no way immunity. The Warbanner's cleaver-edge tore into them, jagged tines gripping tight on each vine, and when Rina flicked her wrist, rent each vine in twain, fragments of metal mixing with the poisonous sap and neutralizing both. All thought fled from Rina's mind as she fell into the cold battle logic that had served her as well as it did.
In time, she saw her chance--striking out at a flanking duo of Bladevines with an emission of blade-wind, and sailed through the opening, escaping the reach of the Bladevine Jungle. Tendrils still arced outwards towards her, seeking to drag the prey back into their place of power.
But it could not, as the power of Wood was always slow to move, chained as it is to the earth that it rooted within. Supernaturally generated and empowered as it is, the Bladevines were no exception.
In the end however, the Tribulation would not halt simply because they had been outwitted for a moment. The Bladevines calculated their odds, and chose instead to entrust the battle to the next iteration. Igniting in a terrible flame, the Bladevine Jungle screamed in battle fury and exultation.
From the furthest reaches of the realm, drawn by such a rich harvest came the Ruby Sunfire--the gift of the Sun on high, at its greatest zenith during the longest and hottest day of the year, doled out to all who are lucky enough to catch it. Devoured and assimilated by any alchemist who sought an edge.
Even the tiniest sparks can light a wildfire though, and engorged by the power of the Emerald Sabervines did the Ruby Bird manifest, radiant voice screaming in triumph at its birth, wings spread in glory.
It understood its lot in life, and accepted it--for is it not Fire's nature to burn? That it would serve the will of Heaven was an honor, that it would live a life full of doing what Fire must be a blessing beyond comparison! And so it flapped its wings, rising to the heavens above in a crack of sound, before outrunning even that. It circled rapidly in the skies above, hiding behind the might of the Tribulation Cloud as Rina shifted the Five-Elements Warbanner to its next configuration--flag distorting in a haze of fluid matter, dripping moisture with every gesture. A field of Water formed about the disciple of the Golden Devils.
And when the Ruby Bird dove, song trilling its death-cry, it flash-boiled the barrier, steam blasting out--and extinguishing it even as it clawed and scratched with talons at the defense. It met Rina's impassive gaze, and screamed a curse as it finally burst, spending the last flame of its brief existence hurling her down towards the earth once more.
Perhaps she might have seen this as an opportunity, if she had not studied the nature of the Tribulation in the days to past--in this, she knew that the Ruby Bird's strategy was nothing less than to put her into the power of the next phase of the Tribulation. The Warbanner shifted once again, flowers covering the flag, a fresh scent filling the skies as the handle became wood drawn from the strongest spirit-trees.
It was a miraculous armament, Rina would admit in the back of her mind. While each individual form of the Five-Elements Warbanner did not have exceptional power, the speed of conversion and the emissions of each phase hid a secret of terrifying escalation, when used appropriately. To launch an attack, suffusing the atmosphere with the Five Elements in the augmentative cycle?
If you could maintain that terrifying cycle in the face of enemy action, your combat power would rise without limit--in that sense, it was the perfect treasure to suppress a Five Element Tribulation.
Constantly rising in power even as it suppressed the escalating Tribulation, turned it into a puzzle to be solved instead of an inescapable calamity.
The Primordial Stone rose as Rina entered her terminal descent--a terracotta warrior, most often found within the deepest galleries of the earth, protecting the mightiest ores of the earth from those who lack the strength to shape them. It was silent as the grave as it pulled itself from the plateau's surface, shaped into being by the powers unleashed in the Ruby Sunfire's detonation. A minor colossus at fifteen feet, it immediately understood its role, and sent a fist attack to intercept the falling Rina.
Her response was a quiet huff of disappointment, and her body pivoted in the air, meeting the extended fist with a blow from the Five-Elements Warbanner. She shook with exertion as the shock of the Primordial Stone's attack, and began to be hurled back.
But she was arrested after a single heartbeat, the Warbanner having already latched onto its prey. Questing vines of Wood Qi had already infiltrated the Primordial Stone's fist, snaking down like pulsing veins on an otherwise perfect structure. The terracotta warrior's expression could not change, but Rina felt it would be roaring in rage and pain at the trap it had unwittingly delivered itself into if it could. It flinched back, severing its own arm after a moment--but the attack had already infiltrated the titanic statue's chest. It stepped back, about to deliver strike to its chest.
But fell short, as the hungry qi began to feast upon its core. It slumped over--and Rina finally tapped down on the earth for the first time since the Tribulation had begun in earnest.
First Cycle--clear.
There was certainly pressure--Rina felt as she turned her gaze back up to the storming heavens--but between her studies and the Warbanner's shifting nature--she felt like she had the edge. She had accumulated a great deal of power within it by now--and while each successive Cycle delivered more energy into the assault than the last--she felt like she was building up faster than the Tribulation was.
Now back on the ground, her Arrays were back in play--and when they suddenly shone a brilliant gold--the Warbanner ignited back into a terrible flame--more intense than it had begun this contest with. The Heavens seemed to hesitate for a moment at that--but the second Cycle ultimately began with a new bolt of Divine Lightning. Rina grit her teeth as it pushed her back on her heels, leaving a great divot in the surface of the Plateau as she gave ground--but lacking the element of surprise the Tribulation exploited at the beginning, it failed to lift her up into the sky a second time.
Though not for a lack of trying, Rina thought as she felt the Divine Lightning twisting and testing at her guard, before accepting that it wasn't going to succeed at the same trick twice and shattering once more into fragments. The Moonwater Carp rose again, larger and more voracious than ever before, bubbling forward and driving Rina further back still--clawing and tearing at her guard of dust and stone before acknowledging defeat in turn.
The Emerald Sabervines emerged in the wake of the Moonwater Carp's dispersal--rooted in the good earth below--tempered already by the Primordial Stone's emergence earlier--it was able to increase its power--rooting deep into the Plateau and sending a series of blade lashes at Rina, parried one and all by the Metal Aspect of the Warbanner, as she scarpered back to escape its reach. She felt a huff of what almost felt like
exasperation as the Sabervines ignited again, calling forth the Ruby Sunfire and its battle form--the Ruby Bird for the second time. It had fewer angles to attack from this time, with Rina's feet firmly on the ground, but it continued to beat at its wings, seeking an opening in the Warbanner's water field.
It found none, and screamed in frustration as it blasted itself into Rina's defenses once again, driving her further behind, but failing once more to do appreciable damage.
This round was arguably easier than the last.
It was that thought that caused Rina's thoughts to stop--even as the Primordial Stone rose for a second go, now sporting a suitably sized saber in hand--a correction from her previous kill maybe? She risked a moment to glance behind her, and blanched.
She was five paces from the edge of the plateau.
Each and every attack in the Tribulation from this cycle was aimed not to defeat her, but to
force her to give ground if she wished to overcome them efficiently! Now, with the Primordial Stone before her, and no further room to retreat…
She grit her teeth in frustration, but there was no denying it--she should have realized it, when she intuited the rules of this contest--of course it would try and force her to lose by way of ring-out rather than attempt to out-escalate the Five-Element Warbanner!
But a tactic spotted is a tactic defeated--and now that she knew what she was up against…
She pressed down on her bracer, the drop of Purified Bronze Blood injected into her veins. Her hair shone with intensified light, a miniature sun piercing through the clouds of night.
With renewed strength suitable to a Foundation Establishment cultivator, Rina chose instead to go
through the Primordial Stone--taking the Warbanner in hand as she burst into forward motion, shattering the stone she previously stood on as her force took her up in the air, impaling the chest of the terracotta soldier, and
tearing through, core run through with the Warbanner's point, pulsing as the Wood Qi within drained it of what power remained, before crumbling to dust along with the rest of its body.
Two Cycles
Rina's expression was not a good one--she had expended one of her ace cards before even the half-way point of the Tribulation. She had been careful not to employ her Purified Blood since reaching the Thirteenth Heavenstage for a reason--the elementary manifestation of her Blood of Gold was simply too much to use only a portion of the droplet--even Millet's designs required a seed of the original material to reconstruct the droplet using her own blood.
Win or lose, the bracer would never work again--and she already felt the strength fading as the Tribulation
politely gave her a moment to catch her breath.
While waiting for her temporary enhancement to fade.
Who was it that said a Tribulation was a dumb manifestation of power incapable of shenanigans? She wanted a refund on the points she spent researching this! Someone had to have known better!
A dark thought occurred to her then, and she chuckled grimly. Then again, anyone who was facing a Tribulation capable of even rudimentary tactics like this probably didn't survive to report about it. A present drawn out for those who trigger a Greater Tribulation maybe?
The final dregs of her enhancement faded, her hair dimming to its normal shade as she observed her wards flashing with the power of metal again. The sense of pressure she felt since releasing the limits on her Cultivation Base redoubled.
The Tribulation was done with the test, now came the extermination.
Divine Lightning descended for the third time, met by the Warbanner's Five Configuration. There were no attempts at skill, no attempts at trickery this time--it was an honest display of force against force.
It was still enough to nearly drive Rina to her knees before the Divine Lightning shattered. The Moonwater Carp rose again, and was met by the dust storm again. It drove against her counterstroke, dissolving the dust wall even as it lashed out arcs of moonwater to seek a gap in Rina's defenses.
It found none.
The Moonwater Carp died, bringing forth the Emerald Sabervines. Wise to their tricks, Rina vaulted high into the air, the spiral of Metal Qi trailing behind her in a wake of glittering light. Finding purchase even on these gossamer strands, Rina jumped again and again into the sky, twisting in the air to see the Sabervines reaching in vain to her.
They collapsed, and the Ruby Bird soared, eager to take advantage of Rina's invasion of its home territory. It was left disappointed as her water field slowed it, and a downward hammerblow with the Warbanner's head shattered it. The Primordial Stone emerged to give challenge, now sporting a pair of spiked shields, but Rina spun out of the way of the stroke, running along the shield face to deliver a fatal blow with the Wood Qi in her weapon.
The Third Cycle--and the Fourth followed immediately afterwards, the Divine Lightning shattering the Terracotta Soldier before it could fade, intensifying at the infusion of Earth Qi before crashing into the Warbanner's Fire configuration. Rina grunted as the force pressed her weapon into her body, her Cultivation Base churning at the impact, but the Divine Lightning was given no further ground from there. It burst, and the Moonwater Carp manifested behind Rina, mouth gleefully opening to devour the impertinent mortal.
It was less impressed when Rina kicked up a fragment of the still fading Primordial Stone and drove it in. The Carp flinched, choking at the sudden infusion of power antithetical to its own, and this was enough to allow her to strike it down with the Earth Banner.
The Emerald Jungle manifested in its shattered remains, but Rina was already on the move, Metal Banner striking left and right as she sprints beyond the reach of the writhing masses. At the edge of the forest, she sees one of her array runes--already fraying from the calamitous forces unleashed flickering red briefly--and abruptly changes the configuration to the Water Banner.
The Emerald Sabervines ignite while she is still in the periphery, and it grants the Ruby Bird a chance--however slim--to attack. A trill of victory fills the air as it dives down on the staggering Rina, contacting her Water Field--already depleted by defending against the dregs of Wood Qi left by the dying Sabervines.
And it punches through.
Not all of its power of course, even a berserk rush like this couldn't overcome the Warbanner's defenses, but it managed to reach its beak into the perimeter as it began its terminal ignition.
Rina cried out as she was flung backwards, spitting blood as her Cultivation Base recoiled into her organs. Her armor scorched and features covered in soot.
There was no time to reflect on the hurts she had taken, the Primordial Stone rose swinging a mighty halberd at her. She dove into a slide, forcefully suppressing her injuries, and waved the Warbanner up.
Divine Lightning flashed.
what
The Fifth Cycle began before the Fourth had fully ended, Divine Lightning hammering into the Warbanner.
Still in the Wood Qi configuration.
In the moments the Warbanner shuddered, Rina understood the new tactic the Tribulation had executed. Two Tribulations of high intensity executed sequentially to get her in the rhythm of reacting instead of anticipating. Then a rapid ignition of the Fifth Cycle and a premature ending of the Fourth. All to give the Divine Lightning a chance to trigger a Cycle of Suppression on Rina's own tool!
The Warbanner screamed, and was flung from her hands, sailing up and over the battlespace, falling with a clatter down the rocks at the side of the Plateau--far out of reach.
Her great trump card, stripped from her in a tactic that she couldn't have possibly countered.
"MUQIN GUO!" Rina called out, the Cauldron expanding to full size as the Moonwater Carp manifested itself once more. The Carp gleefully lunging down at the helpless Rina.
Only to be caged within, as the Cauldron grew to a size capable of capturing even the Moonwater Carp.
There was a thing most people tended to forget with Rina's greatest treasure. Sure, it was unbreakable--sure, it could capture targets and limit their movements. With the help of the Forge Spirit, it could even make weapons and armor for her, quite valuable given the attrition hers took!
But the cauldron's first and original purpose was always an
Alchemy Cauldron
"Refine the tribulation!" Rina called out--and Muqin Guo shone with light.
The light of well tilled soil.
"Goodness, you've lasted this long just off of that one treasure!" The cauldron sounded just a touch hysterical at this point.
"I've gathered enough materials by now that refining this one shouldn't be an issue!"
The Primordial Stone employed by the Tribulation wasn't entirely being lost--while Rina fought the Tribulation, the Cauldron had been moving, collecting the embers and fragments left behind by each cycle.
Refine the Tribulation using the Tribulation as her reagents--this was the strategy Rina had set upon before being granted the Warbanner.
"I only have enough materials gathered to handle a single five element cycle though!" The Cauldron cautioned her.
"I can handle this one just fine, and the Lightning of the next one--but after that, the rest will be on you!"
Five Cycles without taking serious injury, while remaining in control of the contest. That was…
Well, it was better than most could have expected, right?
She could do three cycles.
As Muqin Guo frantically continued caging and refining the remaining elements of the Fifth Cycle, Rina marched herself over to her camp, the arrays she had drawn in before this had begun shining--damaged and disrupted, but essentially intact.
Fine, this was fine.
"Puppet Soldiers!" Rina bellowed out, and the earth churned around her arrays.
Never built to resist the Tribulation, even if it would be legal.
Instead, they served a simple purpose--a concealment array to hide her final trump card.
The Golden Devil Clan has been besieged since time immemorial, a favored target by all who seek to wear a mask of righteousness over the face of naked greed. The sins of ages past forever being paid interest. Disciples in Qi Condensation raised by the thousands--and dying in thousands.
But not every fate is death. Some are crippled beyond recovery, others reach the limit of their lifespan and have no chance of breaking through. Others simply have specialties ill suited for surviving the Heavenly Tribulation and cannot surpass Qi Condensation.
Many of these retire, their careers complete and honored for their service. But for those who are willing to give their everything to the Clan--and submit themselves to the ministrations of the Array Engineers--another possibility exists.
For the Golden Devils have ever sought to overcome their weaknesses. A willing volunteer can be refined into a Puppet Soldier--mind blasted of thought and soul released to re-enter the cycle of reincarnation.
But their body and cultivation base remain, ready to fight one final battle in the name of the Clan.
Heavenly Tribulation is fair, while outside interference is forbidden on penalty of obliteration, all tools and techniques are otherwise permitted.
And puppets without a will of their own qualify as tools in the eyes of Heaven
Twenty Puppet Soldiers emerge from the sands, glassy eyed, modified soldiers in Legionnaire uniform, spears held at attention.
"Thank you all for your sacrifice…" Rina bowed to them all. If these heroes hadn't been willing to consign their bodies and cultivation base to serve the Clan beyond death…
But they did, and they had, and she would not spit on that sacrifice, for the chance they bought her.
"Assemble the Formation!" Her voice bellowed.
"AYE!" The Puppet Soldiers bellowed, mechanically arranging themselves as was required around Rina. She rose in the air in the light of Qi manifested, as their spears rose in salute.
Power condensed about Rina and the Puppet Soldiers, and a great spear burst forth from the masses, followed shortly by a bronze shield.
The phantom materialized, a giant Legionnaire with Rina's face, settling into a fighting posture.
"That's all I've got, good luck Rina!" Muqin Guo's voice echoed as it spat out the remnants of the Divine Lightning of the Sixth Cycle, the old black grease having been scorched off at some point during its stand.
"That's enough! I've got it from here!" Rina called out, as the Cauldron
plopped down on the ground, spent. She turned her Hoplite's gaze upon the fragments of the Sixth Cycle's Divine Lightning, already manifesting in the form of the Moonwater Carp.
"I've had enough of you by now" Rina's voice boomed, amplified by the Qi of twenty Cultivators. The Moonwater Carp--delighted that its prey was
finally in reach, exploded into motion, swimming through the sky as though it were the deepest sea. Balls of Moonwater formed in its wake, discharging in blasts of pressure seeking Rina's heart.
The Hoplite brought her shield up, Azure Moonwater splashing against it. It froze, cracked, and Rina felt blood streaming from her mouth as she caught each and every blow in sequence. The freezing hurt.
But she could take it, how many of her Clansmen had suffered this kind of pain while she was busy chasing this particular
qilin?
The Moonwater Carp, annoyed that its attacks were ineffective, twitched its whiskers. It swam faster, faster--maw opening wide as it sought to devour the Hoplite whole.
It would be disappointed once more, as the great spear--unharmed by the successive strikes of Azure Moonwater--lanced up in its blind spot, piercing its vulnerable belly and driving it up above the Hoplite, bleeding further Moonwater across the plateau.
"It's just like fishing, you know? You just need enough leverage and a good dish to serve it on!" Rina quipped, mouth in a rictus as her Hoplite pivoted, shield shedding frozen air and reforming itself, driving rim-first into the gasping Moonwater Carp's new wounds. It gurgled sharply, twitching violently--and burst in a shower of Water Qi.
The Emerald Sabervines would avenge it, as was their purpose. The great jungle grew fat and mighty off of the Water Qi distributed, power no longer suppressed by the Five Element Treasures Rina had employed up until now. The vines lashed out, dripping venom that seared and corroded all things.
But Bronze did not rust--perhaps it tarnished over time--but it was not petty iron to corrode at the mere touch of the sky. The Hoplite crouched downward, shield raised up to defend the components of the Formation from assault. The vines quested around it, seeking a vulnerability to exploit, but found themselves met by the unerring aim of the spear, aimed by the collective combat experience of twenty one lives, fueled by the prowess of a genius in the Thirteenth Heavenstage.
The vines quested, were severed despite their resilience, and oh how they
raged. The plateau splintered, crumbled, dissolved under their pressure, but the spire on which Rina's Hoplite stood strong, even as the area around them had barren stone replaced with fertile soil.
The Sabervines understood then that they would not be victorious--not in this exchange. They immolated as was their way in the face of defeat. The heat filled the air--but the Hoplite Formation was not so easily defeated by as little as the foemen setting your fortress ablaze around you.
Stone erodes, iron rusts, flesh bleeds--only Bronze endures eternally.
The Ruby Bird rose from the flames, the embers of the Emerald Sabervines still smouldering in the fresh soil of the landscape as it flapped its wings, gaze turned to the phantasmal soldier standing against it, shield scarred and pitted by frost and acid alike.
A calculating, assessing look.
Rina didn't like that--the idea of
Impressing the Tribulation didn't occur to her when she began this contest in the first place.
So when it simply burst in place, she began to grow wary. The echoes of flame that reached the Hoplite Formation still singed her even through its aegis--but nothing serious.
The Primordial Stone this time was different--a hulking behemoth, twice the size of the earliest ones--as was to be expected from a three element augmentation cycle--with the most recent one having expended the entirety of its power to foster its own rise. Forged from much of the remaining stone littering the ruins that was once the Skyscraping Plateau, it was large enough to face the Hoplite Formation face to face--despite standing apart from the forming spire.
It faced her, spear and shield in hand.
"Hah! You want to challenge my Clan at our own techniques?" Rina laughed.
"So be it then! Let's exchange pointers, Heavenly Tribulation!"
Her Hoplite's spear thrust out, skidding off of the Terracotta Soldier's own upraised shield. It took advantage of the opportunity to return the favor--and Rina thought nothing of blocking it in turn.
She immediately regretted it.
Her bones fractured sympathetically as the Hoplite's Shield cracked in several places, the Puppet Soldiers all spat up blood, and the sympathetic link between the participants immediately reported several of them suffering organ damage, and would be going into shock if they were capable of it in this state.
But damaged as the Formation was,
it held. For a Hoplite of the Golden Devils would only fall when the heart of its components did.
More importantly, she had learned something in that exchange--while the Primordial Stone held terrific power,
it was slow and clumsy.
The Hoplite struck out again with its spear, the foe's invincible shield rising to meet the blow. It skidded off ineffectually, sparks sailing across and igniting much of the rapidly growing plant life in the growing crater below. Flames licked at the Primordial Stone, which it endures without complaint--as was its way.
It brought its spear up, and thrust for the Hoplite once more.
Perhaps it would have been surprised then, if it had the thought for this--that Rina did
not respond.
Instead, the spear punctured through the Hoplite Formation's head… And did
nothing
It was a common mistake held by the Clan's foes, those who only had the understanding that a Formation's entire body was real. It wasn't really, the main body of the Hoplite Formation was the Spear and the Shield--everything else? Just a phantasmal projection of Qi to provide space for the Cultivators participating in it.
With a mere twenty one components, the head was entirely empty.
The Terracotta Soldier had no time to react to its mistake--Rina's bronze shield snapped up, the rim catching it in its overextended elbow, severing it in a flash of sparks and Qi. Its defense compromised, the Spear drove into its heart, cracking the Primordial Stone's core.
It stood there, transfixed at the blow it had suffered, and fell to its knees, defeated.
Six Cycles down.
But the Tribulation was not finished yet--and nor was the Primordial Stone. For the energy generated by the Cycle of Mutual Augmentation must be released eventually.
The Core sparked, visible through the gap the Spear was even now withdrawing from--and Rina understood what was coming next intuitively.
She raised the Shield before the Formation.
The Primordial Stone self-detonated.
Calamity ensued, connections winked out one by one as the Puppet Soldiers burned to ashes grounding out the power released in this apocalypse of Earth Qi. Rina's glasses shattered and her armor tore as she staggered back--her hair knocked loose from the shockwaves released in the detonation.
"I let it get a bit long, didn't I?" She wondered absently in the moment it took for her head to stop spinning, her golden hair strewn out all over the place--down nearly to her knees when left outside of the tight braided bun she normally kept it in.
"Does that really make me a princess?"
She couldn't help it, she laughed at that--she laughed so hard that it agitated her new injuries.
It wasn't good. Her Cultivation Base was a mess, her Meridians were torn and it'd be easier to report the parts of her that
weren't a broken mess at this point.
Six Cycles down, Three to go.
"Have to look on the bright side though!" She thought, with unreasonable cheer given the gravity of the situation, as she pulled herself up to her feet, with nothing but a chunk of rock to support her. [i}"That's two-thirds of the way through it! What's three more after I've already taken six, right?"[/i]
The crack of lightning in the distance snapped her attention forward, as the Divine Lightning snapped out into the Seventh Cycle.
Striking nothing but the land beneath.
"Wait what?" Rina asked, the power in the air doubling again as the Moonwater Carp rose in the wake of the Divine Lightning--and self detonated itself, filling the air with Water Qi again.
"Oh that's not even remotely fair" She shook her head as the Seventh Cycle executed in rapid succession, Emerald Sabervines immediately immolating and releasing the Ruby Bird, which exploded and gave rise to the Primordial Stone--which was
struck down in turn by the start of the Eighth Cycle and the lash of Divine Lightning.
Nothing would be left to chance.
The Karmic Debt was paid, the suffering of the Golden Devils no longer necessary--enough good had been done over the countless years since the Fall that their punishment no longer came from the Heavens.
But they could not be trusted to rise to power again--the seeds of the calamity that was the Sea-Conquering Army still burn in the hearts of the Clan.
The Moonwater Carp--and it was looking distinctly less Carp like by the minute--rose once again, and burst immediately, a jungle of deepest Emerald growing beneath it, which immolated to release a three colored bird--no longer Ruby alone.
They would endure the trials of the mortal realm as common Cultivators, to rise and fall by the merits permitted to them--and no more.
"With all due respect, that's wrong"
The Primordial Stone rose in the detonation of the Three-Colored Bird, barely holding the image of a man--but it paused.
"If this was a world without Cultivation, you'd be absolutely correct" Rina met the gaze of the Tribulation unflinchingly. "We could find strength in our unity, we could make things better with the strength of mortals, and endure the trials of nature as is proper. To fall from grace isn't a bad thing, as long as you can live to learn from the experience, and become better people as a result."
Her eyes shone gold, deepest gold--her hair glittering like a newborn sun.
Something had shifted.
"But this is a world of Cultivation, where strength is the only virtue inherent within--where the strong do what they want and the weak suffer as they must. Where the will of Heaven itself must accept the actions of the biggest fist." She
understood now.
By every Heaven there ever was and ever would be. She
Understood now!
"How can we possibly learn to be better, when it takes everything we have just to
survive the next twenty years?" Rina asked. "Learning… You can't learn to be better, if doing so just gets you killed before your epiphany."
The Primordial Stone gazed back, and its head tilted ever so slightly, acknowledging the point.
It crumbled this time, not a self-detonation, and the world filled with the oppression of a Heavenly Tribulation once more.
The Ninth Cycle.
"But I know, you're as bound as everyone else is." Rina continued. "If you were to intervene before things got bad, nobody
could learn--they'd just grow to rely on you… And nobody grows that way. It's you, isn't it? The Shadow and the Heavens--it's the same thing, isn't it?"
The Tribulation Cloud crackled--and every soul in a thousand leagues felt Heaven itself girding its loins.
"But I can't move you with words, even if you would be moved by them." Rina exhaled, and settled into a fighting stance--her body was in tatters, and her soul was strained. Her Cultivation Base was inaccessible.
But that was okay.
Because she had the
Dao in her heart.
"So I'll move you with my Fist. Please advise me, Heavenly Tribulation."
Apocalypse rained down on the spire, and time slowed to a crawl.
Inhale.
Exhale.
"VOID!" She shouted, sending her fist to meet the Divine Lightning.
In the absence of all powers lies peace, may it last for all time
The Divine Lightning parted around Rina's fist, scattering off to all sides. Mineral veins germinated throughout the landscape.
Azure Moonwater--enough to fill a castle manifested--and condensed together. It was no longer a Moonwater Carp, it had crossed the Dragon Gate long ago.
The Moonwater Dragon roared in challenge, power beyond power gathering in its maw. Its body rippled in righteous fury, and its breath an ocean.
In response, Rina chambered a second fist.
Inhale
Exhale
"FLAME!"
Intoxicated by her beauty, Flame gave chase for a thousand years
Blossoms of pure flame formed in the path of the Dragon's Breath--crashing against the breath attack. Under traditional understanding of Elemental Theory, Fire is suppressed by Water.
And yet…
These flames didn't seem to care that they boiled off into nothing--if anything, the opposition made them all the more determined to claim their prize! They coiled up around the torrent of dragon's breath, reaching up into the Tribulation Beast, and coiled lovingly around it.
It
howled, and burst into steam, Azure Moonwater
boiled off
The steam scattered across the newborn valley--and it knew its first rains in the days to come--there would be no desert here in the future.
The Moonwater Dragon fell to earth, bleeding steam, and burst into pieces. The Emerald Sabervines would take their place, as was right and proper--the valley growing mighty and rich with life, all with a single purpose in mind.
The Third Fist.
"WIND!"
Ever the adventurer, ever the scholar, he traveled the land, hindered by none
The coiling Sabervines lashed out--only to find themselves severed, chopped bit by bit to pieces. They attempted to parry, to resist this onslaught--but the fist wind was beyond their grasp.
The Emerald Jungle collapsed around the spire, fitfully igniting as its resistance collapsed. From the ashes rose the now Five-Colored Bird, carrying a majesty that had been absent in its prior interactions, a crest that very nearly could be considered a crown.
A monarch among fires, who looked down upon the world with disdain. It spread its wings, and gave a cry of battle, a challenge to the pretender standing before it.
The fourth fist.
"STONE!"
He tolerated their adventures upon him, making art of his scars when he thought nobody was looking
From the girl's feet came a spike of stone, tempered by eight cycles of Tribulation. Her fist struck it from the base, sending it hurling into the Five-Colored Bird's heart.
It shook as the spike pierced through, hanging in the air disbelievingly--then it shrieked in pain as its body ignited.
One breath, two.
And the world was
fire. Burning away the toxins and venom left by the Sabervines, cleaning the land of the debris of a Five Element Tribulation taken to the extreme, leaving the most fertile ash soil in its wake. The valley would evermore be capable of growing the finest crops, in quantities envied throughout the desert. It washed over Rina, and found her unmoved by its fury--for Stone shielded body and soul.
But one final trial lay ahead. One final calamity.
The earth shook, the sky rattled--and the remaining ridge of the Plateau itself rose to its feet--taking the form of an immortal cultivator. Dispassionately did it gaze upon the world at its feet--no mere terracotta soldier.
It gestured, a flying sword manifesting from its own body--and sent the assault down on the ant that had provoked it.
Rina shook her head in good humor at this sight--this, of all things was the end?
Ah well.
The Fifth Fist!
"WATER!"
She found all of the secret places, making her home where she pleased--none dared stand in her way, for her temper ran colder than all others.
The steam brought up earlier responded to her call--phase shifting once again into liquid water. They caught the flying sword within it--the erosion of untold years wearing it into dust, and leaving the water unharmed. The Terracotta Immortal was unimpressed--and with a wave of his finger, a hundred more such blades manifested and struck the oncoming tide.
It was no more effective than the first attack--and it lashed out with a fist strike in challenge.
The Water parted slightly--but was undeterred as it engulfed the Terracotta Immortal, grinding and eroding it. Its immaculate features are unchanging even as it steadily erodes away. It mattered not.
Its heart was still intact--and would do its duty.
It melted away, leaving nothing but a gleaming core, pulsing with uncontrolled power. The final line in the way of any upstarts.
An apocalypse, at the end of an impossible trial. Outsiders were not entitled to a path to life, when taking a forbidden act.
"Thank you"
The Tribulation hesitated.
"If you really wanted to destroy us, all Tribulations would be like this--we would be reduced to mortals, and slaughtered one by one, we would have no power to even hope to pay the karmic debt brought on by the acts of our Ancestors." Rina asked, chambering one final fist.
"So… Thank you--for not closing off every chance, for giving us a possibility to survive, even if we have to face the winds and the rains at every step."
She clenched her fist, and summoned forth all of her focus.
Inhale
Exhale
"LIGHTNING!"
The creative force, the spark of life and light, the interaction between what is within and without.
Golden
Light filled the valley.
And the Core was no more.
Rina Callista stood--alone upon the last Spire in what was once a plateau--and was now a great valley of fertile soil, dotted with channels and holes that would soon be great rivers and lakes. Riches abound within the crater, created and revealed in the clash of unthinkable forces.
It wouldn't change the Clan's fortunes--it was too small, too limited in scale. A villa at best when the Clan required a city.
But good things started off with small things that built up and became big things in the future.
There was probably something profound to be said in that. Something to consider--later.
For there was one final task Rina needed to complete, in the wake of the Five Element Tribulation.
She sat down, crossed her legs, and rested her hands upon them, closing her eyes. Breathing in, and out.
Her Qi Sea was in chaos, but shone brighter than it ever had before--tempered beyond all reason by the Tribulation. Even if she did nothing at all, assembling her first Pillar would be simplicity in itself, a moment's thought to manifest it from the sea of power.
But she didn't go through all of this for an ordinary array of Pillars.
All of her thoughts, her philosophy, and her tears flowed into her most essential being. The labor and love of nearly two centuries of adventure and cultivation. Of duty and dreams entwined into one great chain of being.
Upon Four Olympian Keystones would she raise a Pillar of unmatched strength--embodying in itself the Dao that would ordinarily be found through painstaking meditation and enlightenment alloyed together at the end of a long road.
In her case, it took the form of a ring--a structure with no beginning or ending, bound from end to end in a virtuous cycle. Where any could approach from any direction and be welcomed.
The days of dismissing all beyond her clan as barbarians and brutes had ended--the World-Lord needed to hold compassion even for those who would threaten their charge. And so rose from the sea of her mind a great ring, forged from finest Celestial Bronze. Adorning its surface were strange glyphs--never before seen in the world. She understood their nature--as was proper from the one who had envisioned them.
Stone, Water, Flame, Wind, Void, Lightning, Life, Fate, Man--the nine elements of the World-Lord.
She knew--here and now--that her cultivation path would not be the same as others. Her Dao-Pillar was comprehensive, embodying within it the sum total of her Truth. Instead, her labors would be refining and reinforcing this pillar further, to draw in further Qi from Heaven and Earth and tolerate greater pressure within. Sevenfold refinement would be enough to withstand the weight of a Core. Eightfold would be enough to bring the power of Fate out into the greater realm.
Ninefold was beyond her speculation, and she wasn't sure she wanted to guess either--even if it was physically possible, could she even justify it as anything more than hubris?
A King was already a generational prodigy, capable of running rampant over the Virtuous Flipper Region when they reached maturity. What possible use would it be to become an Emperor? Or Heaven forbid, a
Saint?
The Golden Devil Clan didn't need an Emperor to find their footing. The lifespan and strength of a King would be enough to reverse their fortunes, and carve a place in the Virtuous Flipper Region where they could grow in peace, to discard the darkness they so badly needed at present.
Her Truth echoed through the land of her rebirth--and if she felt the
tiniest feeling of acceptance from the World at large…
Well, that's just the least it can do. Really, Five Element Tribulation? That's just way too excessive for anyone!
Rina Callista opened her eyes, and rotated her Cultivation Base.
The phantom projection of the
[World Lord's Halo] glittered like a newborn star in the night.
