Story 8 - Tribulation Troubles (Part 19) (Patreon)

When I attached the last painted silk onto the flag stick for my Lin’s Awesome Defensive formation, it hit me that I’d finished my preparations for my tribulation.

I had my armor, my formation flags, spiritual tools, and my talismans. One was even at Golden Core, thanks to Shadow Gopher. I could also borrow the small pagoda from Salamander.

And aside from that, I’d mentally prepared myself for how I’d build my foundation.

I had everything ready to go.

Technically, I could start it at any moment.

There was only one final thing I was missing. Something similar to a ritual I went through before starting each of my tribulations. Because, even though I was confident I could overcome them, I knew I wasn’t the main character of this dumbass Xianxia. And even if I was, plenty of them had died or become a literal sea. Of course, they usually found a way to return.

It was something every cultivator without a disciple, and with techniques, they’ve developed, did — leave an inheritance.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t create a grand space with a complex set of tests like I did before I attempted to ascend.

There was a difference between then and now. Because now I had people I cared for. Ones that hadn’t all died or ascended.

Ah! Thoughts about that could wait. I had to pick up Little Spring.

***

As soon as I landed my flying sword, the little apprentice chefs scattered. Fairy Garlic walked over with the brat.

“Well, if it isn’t your little girlfriend, here to pick you up.”

This again?! I pulled out my sword. I was seriously done with this shit. At this point I didn’t care if I did damage to her kitchen and it delayed my tribulation.

Little Spring ran up to me and grabbed my hand.

“Sister Lin! She’s just trying to start a fight with you because you took me on that mission. Don’t fall for her goading.”

I glared at him and he took a step back.

Garlic crossed her arms under her chest and smirked. “You look a bit too vicious this time, Great Martial Aunt. Something on your mind?”

“Beating your ass until you stop saying useless things.”

She chuckled. Of course, she wouldn’t take me seriously while I was still at Qi Condensation.

“You ever wonder what Little Spring was dueling Little Tangerine Flower over a week ago?”

Ah! Orange Robes was named Tangerine Flower. “It’s his business, not mine.”

She smirked. “It was about how he wasn’t as good as the other chefs who started at the same time. How he could never learn more without investing fully in immortal cooking. And how hanging around his sister forever stuck in Qi Condensation was only holding him back.”

Little Spring tightened his hands into fists and glared at Garlic. “Master Chef!”

I smirked. “Even though he tied, I believe he proved his own side during that duel.”

“I thought it was a silly argument, myself.” She tapped her chin. “However, I am worried that you can’t help him along his path. A student stuck at Qi Condensation, no matter how talented, cannot teach another student in the same realm.”

Was this bitch serious?

“Chef Garlic, my sister isn’t stuck. She’s almost finished her preparations and will go through her tribulation soon!” He turned to me with a grin. “Right?”

I put my sword away. This wasn’t a time to physically fight someone in a higher realm. “Little Fairy Garlic.”

Her lips twitched as she obviously tried not to frown.

The kid’s brow furrowed.

“I understand that you’re worried for my junior brother. I appreciate all you’ve taught him. But that’s no excuse to tease your Great Martial Aunt. Stop your disrespect or you’ll regret it.”

She smirked. “Says someone who’s been at the peak of Qi Condensation for over a year while collecting over-powered defensive items. Of course, there is only one reason you would do that...”

I knew what she was implying. This bitch was seriously tempting me to attack her this time.

“Makes me wonder if we’ll still have to call you our Great Martial Aunt if you never increase your realm. If you’re stuck here for ten or twenty years...”

“Plenty of cultivators who have reached Immortal Ascension spent a decade or more in Qi Condensation.”

“Or maybe you’ll die during your tribulation despite your best efforts.”

Did she just curse me?! My hand itched to grab my sword again. I clenched it into a fist to stop myself.

Garlic threw a strand of warm white hair over her shoulder. “You have nothing to fear. If that happens, I will take Little Spring as my disciple.”

I pointed my thumb at my chest. “I’m not dying! Besides, he already has a master.”

“Not one that’s here in this realm. And Immortal Zhenren Sword Within the Light of Virtue never learned immortal cooking. Little Spring at least needs a master for this discipline.”

“He’d have to agree to that first.”

She smirked. “We get along well. And unlike some, I don’t take my young students out on missions that could get them killed.”

The kid, who had been looking back and forth between us as we argued, tugged on my sleeve.

Right. Fighting her was the same as battling an internet troll. She knew just what buttons to press.

Even though my blood was boiling, I clenched my teeth and said, “This argument is getting boring. Let’s go.”

I flicked my sleeve behind me as I turned and walked away.

Little Spring hurried after me. He pulled out his flying fan spiritual tool, enlarged it enough for the both of us, and hopped on. Then he smiled awkwardly.

“I wish you two could stop fighting.” He offered me a hand up.

I took it, then smoothed an annoyingly loose strand of his hair. “People you enjoy spending time with can’t always get along. Of course, that doesn’t mean they’ll kill each other. Sometimes, personalities just clash and you can’t do anything about it.”

***

As we flew above a garden in the inner sect, Little Spring said, “Ah, Sister Lin. Have you finished your flags yet?”

“What do you think?”

He grinned. “Then you’re going to go through your tribulation soon, right?”

My eyes landed on a familiar silhouette of a really annoying guy from my past life. He held a beautiful fairy’s hands in both of his and spoke to her seriously. The whole aura around them was very romantic.

Yeah. I remembered those two.

I took control of the spiritual tool and had us fly down.

The cultivators jumped and separated.

Little Spring sent me a very confused look.

“Who are you?” The man said. I noticed the familiar eagle pendant attached to his belt.

No wonder the guy who made a scene at Little Black’s place was so familiar. He was Three Eagle Screams! A man infamous throughout the sect in my past life.

I grinned at the two. “I’m your Great Martial Aunt. Is this your wife Little Three Eagle Screams?”

If I remembered correctly, she was called Fairy Fourth Oak Branch or something.

He cleared his throat. “Not yet, but—“

I nodded. “Good.”

They both scowled. “Hey!”

“I am a little knowledgeable in divination. From your energies, I can see that if you two marry, you’ll make each other and those around you miserable. Don’t do it.”

Fourth Oak frowned at me, then looked lovingly at her romantic partner. “Eagle and I love each other. We’re going to become Dao companions. Right?”

He cleared his throat. “Isn’t marriage better?”

She narrowed her eyes at Eagle.

I stepped forward. “A Dao companion is supposed to be someone who walks with you on your path to immortality. They are your only partner while you’re with them. They’re someone you share resources with, during good times and bad. Someone you’ll risk your life for. A Dao Companion should be an equal partner. And what do you think a wife is?”

He cleared his throat. “Obviously a member of my family who will bear my children and...” he blushed, “cultivate with. Someone I’ll protect. I don’t understand how being my wife is inferior.”

I stared at Fairy Fourth and gestured to Eagle with both hands. “Is this the guy you choose? Is being this man’s wife the limit that you want for your long life as a cultivator?”

She bit her lip and I could see her heart cracking. The idea of the person she’d built up had shattered. “I don’t want children. My goal is to reach immortality.”

“I’m striving for that too, but I also want kids. There are plenty of women who have had a family and reached the peak of the world.”

I cleared my throat. “Yes, but they had families that supported their cultivation. Are you the type of man who would give up his own resources to ensure your wife achieved your same level? Or would you take hers and then become disgusted because she can’t keep up with you?”

He glared at me. “Stop butting in.” Then he realized who he was talking to and blushed. “Sorry, Great Martial Aunt, but this is between me and Fourth Oak Branch.”

Fourth Oak crossed her arms under her chest. “No. I want to know the answer.”

“Of course I wouldn’t take your cultivation resources,” he said like the liar he was.

“No,” Fourth Oak said, taking a step back. “But you’d ask for them, wouldn’t you? If you were desperate enough. Like that one time before the inner sect tournament.”

He briefly glared at me, then attempted to appease his girlfriend. “Maybe, if I needed to be stronger to protect my family. Which is you if you marry me.”

The two argued back and forth.

Feeling like I’d made the world a better place, I walked away with a grin.

Little Spring looked at me in horror and followed. “Sister Lin. You just ruined their marriage.”

“Did I? Or did I help them clarify what each wanted and realize that they didn’t know enough about each other to get married?”

I might be anti-relationship, but it wasn’t like I expected others to be that way as well. That said, in my last life, those two argued everywhere every day. About resources, about how weak she was, about how he would never have attained his current realm if she hadn’t sacrificed, and how she thought that when he reached a higher realm and had access to better resources, he’d return the favor but never did.

It got to the point where most of the inner sect knew about these two and their drama. It certainly made Eagle infamous.

I just saved the sect a hundred years of having to listen to their toxic bickering. Muahahaha!

***

As soon as we reached our courtyard, Little Spring tugged on my sleeve. “You didn’t answer my question earlier.”

“Ah, which one?”

“Will you go through your tribulation now?”

I clasped my hands behind my back like the little master I was. “There are still a few things I need to arrange, so I have to wait a little longer.”

He frowned. “What things?”

I paused. Well, it wasn’t a secret. “An inheritance. Maybe it’s more like a will.”

Both of his fists clutched my sleeve tightly. “Why would you need one? You’re not going to die after all those preparations you made… Are you?”

I tilted my chin up. “Of course not! Who do you think I am?”

“Fairy Lin!”

“That’s right.”

He scowled. “Then why prepare something like an inheritance?”

I sighed. “As a master, it would be a significant loss to the world if my work ended with me. Before going through any tribulation, I set up an inheritance.”

The kid crossed his arms. “Aren’t you just trying to put it off again?”

I raised a brow at the brat. “What do you mean, ‘put it off?’”

“First, you needed to have sufficient body cultivation, then you needed to have a list of items. Now you’re saying you can’t go through with it yet because you need to put an inheritance together?”

I rubbed my glabella. “Just say it straight.”

“You’re scared! And you’re making excuses! Even dealing with that couple was an excuse to not answer my question about it.”

This fuckin’ brat had some fucking guts! He dared to say I was scared of my tribulation?! “Don’t be ridiculous! I would never do that!”

“But you are!”

“I’ve been through tribulations far more powerful than the one that’s waiting for me! How could I be so terrified of facing it that I’d put it off?”

He just looked at me.

“I’m not!”

“Is there something I don’t know? Do you really think it might kill you?”

I puffed up my chest. “Of course it won’t kill me.”

“Then why wait?”

“Enough!” I turned. Similar to the conversation with Garlic, this was going nowhere.

“No!” He pulled on the sleeve of my mundane silk robe that I'd changed into earlier so I wouldn't get flag paint on my new armor. The sound of cloth ripping echoed through the courtyard.

We both froze.

For some reason, that torn sleeve was like me — pulled and pulled, seeming fine until suddenly it wasn’t.

Everything that had happened weighed down on me all at once. Originally transmigrating, my rebirth, fighting off assassins, the dichotomy between my soul and body that practically killed me, saving the Junior Sect Leader, the sect trials, the vine plague, the crab mission, almost losing this damn brat to an ascendant beast, and even all the arguments with that troll Garlic. I snapped.

“You know what! Yes!” I poked him in the chest. He took a step back. “There is always a chance that I’ll die!”

I wasn’t you! I didn’t have fucking plot armor. I was stuck inside this god-forsaken Xianxia universe. But in my past-past life, I’d been an average person! Maybe I had been a bit successful at science and research, but I was still normal. Then I came here and... “I crawled, tooth and nail, to get to the top of this dumbass world! Then I fucking died in a goddamn tribulation accident caused by you!” I poked him again and his eyes went wide.

“And now I have to risk my life all the fuck over again. Only, this time, it’s a hundred times more difficult! Even with all my preparations, I’m not positive I’ll survive.”

He bit his lip. And I immediately regretted my outburst.

While his body was the same, the kid was not Bloodsword. He was not the one responsible for my death. Although I’d been pushed too far recently, that was no excuse for yelling at an innocent person.

He clenched his hand into a fist and stood with his back straight. “One of the first things you said to me was that, in our past lives, because of my stupidity, I killed you. So in this life, I need to pay you back.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “You spoke like you lived in another world. But that’s not exactly it.”

Wait. In my whole triad, that’s what the brat picked up?!

“I have lived in another world.”

“Sister Lin. I respect you, but I think I’m old enough that you can tell me the truth.” His big brown eyes stared at me very seriously, as if waiting.

“The truth, kid? I’m not sure you can handle the truth.”

He looked exasperated.

“Fine!” He held up his index finger. “You say you’re from another world, but you know too many things about this one.”

Okay, I may have made that mistake.

He added his middle digit. “You’re the furthest thing from a diviner, but you knew that those two back there would make each other miserable, so you prevented it.”

Well, it was between that or letting the whole sect suffer.

A third finger raised. “When the sect leader needed a spiritual plant for his antidote, you knew exactly where it was and that Junior Sect Leader Unyielding Firestorm would be there. Though, I admit that you had me fooled, that you were just looking for the sect members on a whim.”

How the fuck had this brat gotten so smart?

His pinky shot up, joining the others. “You know, advanced techniques that are nothing like what other alchemists and smiths are using.”

I was very impressed. He had good eyes. As expected of my junior martial brother.

“Your soul is from the future!”

A wind blew by, shifting the leaves of the courtyard.

“And sometime in the future, I get you killed while you’re in the middle of a tribulation.”

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Author’s Note: Thank you all for reading! You are the best readers a writer could ask for!

It feels so good to get this chapter out. This chapter and the next several were all what I was building towards with this story. Lin isn’t a character who likes to reflect on herself that much. She’s too busy thinking ahead and constantly moving forward. So, to get her to admit to others that she is actually terrified, that something she’s going to go through could kill her even with all of her preparations, took some work. And many people poke at her sometimes-over-inflated self-confidence (which is part of her character that I love).

Little Spring also finally confronted Lin over the suspicions that had been building in him for the past two years.

Also, I’ve been starting to work on images for a Character Index. For those interested in seeing them before I post it up here, I’ve been adding them to the Patreon exclusive discord channel as I create them.

For example, here is the Junior Sect Leader:

And Sword Master Salamander: