Story 8 - Tribulation Troubles (Part 22.5 - Reactions and Battles) (Patreon)

Author’s Note:

The issue with first-person perspective is that it’s very weird to switch POVs. I rarely do it unless it’s a whole other story. But, it also means that epic battles feel less epic because you’re only focused on one perspective. In the Story 7 I got around this by having Lin use the split mind technique to keep track of almost everyone. I can’t do that for this story since there is already too much going on with Lin’s tribulation.

Royal Road readers kept asking for character reactions, so I decided to write a reaction chapter that also delves into what a few people are going through during the chaos happening in the sect. While I keep things fairly tame and comedic here some things might get a bit dark during some of these vignettes.

Even if you don’t want to read any of these, I highly recommend at least reading the Sect Leader’s point of view.

Note: I finished writing this only a short while ago. It’s gone through a quick grammar edit but not my usual ten hours of polishing. So the writing will be a little rough. Thank you for your understanding.

>>> Early Rise Swift Brush <<<

Early Rise Swift Brush jerked his head away from the jade slip that contained a beautifully written report only to stare with narrowed eyes towards the sixteenth mountain peak.

Tribulation energy was something that all cultivators became sensitive to after going through one once. Even though he was miles from this one, he could instinctively tell how powerful it was and how large the cloud had grown.

To put it lightly, it was massive. And the strength of it neared the Golden Core level!

The crazy thing was, the only person this tribulation could belong to was his Great Martial Aunt. But that didn’t make any sense.

Oh, no! Was this what she was talking about?

He... he should do something, right? At the very least, he should be there to witness it.

He stood from his desk and started toward the exit.

A sect enforcer stationed in the corner of the room suddenly vanished and reappeared in front of Early Rise.

“I apologize for the inconvenience, but the Sect Leader has requested that everyone remain here for your own protection. We’re currently dealing with some traitors and it could get messy.”

He clenched his jaw. “If you want me to stay here, then you need to have an enforcer go to our Great Martial Aunt’s side. She’s in the middle of her tribulation and requires the sect’s protection more than I do.”

“Calm down. I’ll ask that our headquarters send someone who is free.”

“Not someone free. Send someone who knows what they’re doing. A little Qi Condensation cultivator is going through a terribly powerful tribulation. She needs backup now!”

A slight smile appeared on her face. “I understand. Help will be sent to her. Just sit down and everything will be taken care of.”

While he returned to his seat, he knew that no more work would get finished today until he knew the genius who created the Dao of Paperwork was alright.

>>> Fairy Garlic <<<

Fairy Garlic threw her wok weapon at the tiger spiritual beast, knocking it out. When it landed, it slid on the stone tile floor of her outdoor courtyard, leaving patches of orange and black fur.

Brave Stick Bug, the beast tamer who used to come down to treat his beasts to her cooking, had attacked her earlier, almost killing her in front of her students. He’d then revealed himself as a secret demonic cultivator. But Garlic wasn't going to let him harm her kids.

He grinned and pointed toward his other spiritual beast. “Great Red Bear, I choose you!”

She crossed her arms under her chest and raised a brow. “Are you going to let your beasts do your dirty work?”

“A tamed beast is part of a cultivator’s power.”

She scowled at him. Her hands moved in a blur as she created several hand seals and rotated her cultivation base. “Scent of Shame!” Then she pointed towards the bear. A wind blasted the creature and enveloped it.

At first, the bear stopped and swatted at the invisible smell, then its face looked enthralled. It fell down causing the ground the shake. One of its legs twitched.

Brave Stick Bug swallowed. “That was a potent attack!”

“Of course it is. Immortal Chefs are stronger than you realize. For example, this technique creates the most intoxicating food scent you have ever smelled. It’s so strong that one whiff will take away an opponent’s will to get up. And for those who are not prepared for it, it can knock them out entirely.”

“And you’re telling me about it because I’ve already seen it, so it can’t affect me?”

“No. I’m telling you about it because you’ve eaten my cooking. So there is no way you’ll be able to escape from it.”

Then she pointed two fingers toward him and the attack that was swirling around the bear blasted into Brave Stick Bug’s face. His cheeks turned red, a massive grin spread across his face, and he fell onto his ass.

“Hehehe. I can’t let this defeat me. Hehehe.”

“Oh. I purposefully didn’t allow it to knock you out. You see, I remember you talking to my students. You were trying to coerce them into joining the demonic sect, weren’t you?”

“Hehehe. Of course!” He slapped a hand over his mouth, then an evil energy erupted from his body. He was getting ready to use his dantian as a bomb.

Fairy Garlic pulled out a hundred knives from her space, they floated in front of her, then she gestured forward and they zipped towards her opponent. The blades stabbed into the cultivator and continued high into the air, bringing him with them. When he reached a distance of about a thousand feet up, the demonic beast tamer turned into a firework.

The immortal chef then glanced over her little adorable students and gestured for them all to come out.

“Now, which of you were approached in private by that nasty bug of a man?”

A couple raised their hands, including Tangerine Flower, who had sweat on her forehead. Each of them wore similar terrified expressions.

“Relax. Nothing bad will happen to you. Just tell your teacher if that guy gave you anything or hurt you.”

They all shook their heads.

That was when Fairy Garlic sensed a massive Golden Core tribulation. No, oddly, it wasn’t quite at that stage.

“Who is the idiot going through a tribulation during this mess?” She spread her divine sense over to where it was happening and nearly fell on her face. “Great Martial Aunt Lin?!”

How was that supposed to be a Qi Condensation tribulation?! If she’d known that was what her student’s sister was worried about, she wouldn’t have pushed the little girl so hard.

Tangerine Flower started vibrating and evil energy gathered around her.

Garlic looked at her in horror. The young chef was being forced to explode her dantian because of a demonic enchantment. The surrounding children started running away.

“I-I’m sorry. I don’t want to do this.” She scowled. “This would never have happened if that stupid Little Spring—”

“So you turned to the demonic sect?!”

“I didn’t know that was what it was!”

Garlic had known that this girl had an inferiority complex when it came to Little Spring, but she thought it was just a normal problem that would resolve itself. For her to turn to demonic cultivation of all things to get a leg up on him...

“Tch.” Fairy Garlic pressed her hand to the Tangerine’s dantian and sent a blast of concentrated Qi into it. While this stopped the explosion, it also broke her core and ruined the girl’s chance of ever becoming an immortal chef.

Tangerine Flower coughed up several mouthfuls of black blood. Her face turned pale. But she survived.

“You’re lucky.”

“I know,” she whispered.

“You weren’t that contaminated with evil energy. It hadn't been more than a few days since you started, right?”

She bit her lip and nodded.

Garlic sighed. “You’ll never cook again. As of this moment, you’re no longer my student. But, as long as you never touch the demonic path again, you can still practice other forms of cultivation.”

Tangerine Flower sank to the ground as tears fell from her face uncontrollably. She wiped her face with her orange sleeve. “But cooking means everything to me.”

“If it really did, then you wouldn’t have turned to demonic energy to win, even if you didn’t know what it was.”

The girl winced.

“If you ever want to reincarnate, you’ll have to devote yourself to the righteous path from now on.”

One of her bests students was almost lost to the demonic path. Someone she genuinely loved teaching. And now she'd never be able to teach her again.

Garlic turned her back to her former student so she couldn't see how hard she worked to keep a straight face.

At least the girl was still alive.

>>> Clear Eyes Mad Tongue <<<

Clear Eyes Mad Tongue stepped on the back of a demonic cultivator he’d just taken down before he could explode his dantian near him.

“Just get somewhere safe,” Fairy Lin said.

“Great Aunt!” Clear Eyes felt touched. Here she was in a horrible situation, but she was still worried about him. He couldn’t let her face it by herself. They were all part of the Indomitable Will sect. A sect that stuck together. “I’ll come as soon as I can.”

“Staying alive is more important. I’m not out of options yet.”

She had to be lying to make him feel better.

He turned to his master’s master, Three Eyes Sun Blade, who was in the middle of fighting a giant white snake mystical beast who had transformed into a human.

All throughout the peak, sword masters fought tamed beasts that demonic energy had corrupted. A disciple detonated his dantian. Several buildings suddenly blew up with the traitor, sending a shock wave through the peak.

Would it really be fine if he left?

His own master just finished taking down a level 4 falcon spiritual beast with help from Spear Grand Master, Unwavering Thunderous Strike.

“Master! Our great martial aunt asked for help. She’s being attacked while in the middle of her tribulation!”

He scowled. “You want to leave right now?”

Very seriously, Clear Eyes nodded.

His master glanced off into the distance, then his eyes widened. “That’s not a Foundation Establishment tribulation,” he murmured. With a furrowed brow, he tossed him a protective talisman. “Go! You owe your martial aunt a lot.”

Suddenly, a young spear-wielding teen was thrown toward him. Clear Eyes caught the young teen with one hand. Spear that Weaves awkwardly waved at him.

The teenage sword cultivator turned to Unwavering Thunderous Strike, who casually blocked an attack from an incoming spiritual beast with a spear swipe. “Take my disciple with you. He also owes Martial Aunt Lin. I’d go myself, but I have to help protect the disciples here.”

A weight lifted off Clear Eyes’ chest. “Thank you Master, Spear Grand Master!”

Hopefully, they could make it in time to help.

>>> Junior Sect Leader Unyielding Firestorm <<<

“Great Martial Aunt Lin! This isn’t the best time!”

Earlier, Unyielding Firestorm, his friends, and his girlfriend had gone to turn in a special metal ore they’d picked up for a sect mission. Of course, before they could, the demonic cultivators retaliated in response to his master’s attack against the traitors. Now they were in a fight for their lives against several infiltrators who seemed to be specifically aiming for him.

After battling for a dozen minutes and barely keeping up, Justice Reaching Devine Blade distracted the Golden Core demonic cultivator with dynamic thrusts of his sword.

Unyielding Firestorm used that distraction to create a hand seal, causing a bright light to appear in front of him. With two fingers, he directed the energy to blast the Golden Core level traitor, who attacked him with a brush filled with evil energy. A powerful laser-like fire landed on the man’s head and he fell down.

Unyielding sighed with relief. That had been one hard fight, even with Justice distracting him.

“I know,” Fairy Lin said, frustration clear in her voice, “but I’m in the middle of my tribulation and being attacked by a bunch of demonic archers.”

He glanced in the only direction he felt a tribulation. That was his martial aunt’s?! Impossible. If she was going through that while being assaulted by demonic cultivators, her chances of survival were terrifyingly small. A chill ran down his spine because...

“... I’m on the other side of the sect...” He gestured to Jujube and Third Peach to wrap up their current fights with a Foundation Establishment traitor. They had to leave now to have any hope of saving her life. “I’m on my way, but I don’t know if I can reach you in time. Stay alive.”

“Always.”

He never forgot that he would not be here today without this Great Martial Aunt of his. It was time to repay some karma.

>>> Sect Leader Peerless Resolve <<<

Peerless Resolve stared into the dark eyes of Gracious Blue Luan, the Peak Master for Beast Tamer’s Peak. She had aged well, but her constant lemon-sucking expression had caused the lines around her eyes and mouth to become apparent.

He’d always wanted her to find some joy in life, but after so many years and tragedies, that was just wishful thinking.

Another tragedy was currently happening to his sect. This time it was one she caused.

They stood in midair, so high above the sect that they could even see the hint of the beautiful spiral mountain range. The wind barely made their clothes whip around, something that only happened to those beyond the force of nature.

“Why betray the sect for the demonic cultivators, of all people?!”

She laughed in disbelief. “Of course, it’s because I needed power to defeat you! Now, face my pseudo-law enhanced with demonic energy!”

The space surrounding Gracious Blue Luan warped. An illusory figure of an evil, flaming bird of prey appeared behind her. The natural laws bent, causing the law of fire in that area to bend and change temporarily. For a mile in every direction, the air caught fire with azure flames. They closed in on Peerless Resolve as if concentrating their power into one point.

Peerless Resolved coughed up a half mouthful of blood, then wiped his bottom lip with his thumb. “Your flames are weak.”

“What do you know?!”

“Little Luan. I’m not the one who killed your husband and children. And the sect isn’t responsible for it either. Your misplaced hatred will destroy the lives of many innocent disciples.”

Her face contorted and she once again spread the azure flame pseudo-law throughout the sky and contracted it to a point on top of the Sect Leader’s glabella. This time, the Blue Luan Illusory image flew out from behind her, screamed, and barreled into the man as he reached out with his own pure fire pseudo-law to block the attack.

::Nephew! I could use some help.::

Unfortunately, a call from his martial aunt distracted him, and he coughed up two mouthfuls of blood when he failed.

::Aunt Lin! You’re back?!::

::You didn’t know?::

Of course not! He’d planned this strike on the traitors and infiltrators for when she’d be gone. He would have mentioned something to her if she had told him.

::This isn’t a good time! I’m in a fight.::

His divine sense spread through the sect. He saw the chaos happening all over as the demonic cultivators his teams hadn’t found were revealing themselves to do as much damage to the buildings as disciples as possible.

::If you can, get somewhere safe. We enacted our plan to take out the demonic sects’ infiltrators, but there were far more than we suspected.::

Hold on! Why was there a Foundation Establishment Cultivator going through their tribulation at a time like this? Were they insane?!

He focused his divine sense down. No, this cloud wasn’t at the power of Golden Core yet. However, the cloud was larger than any Golden Core tribulation he’d seen. Oh, no. This was his aunt’s!

No wonder she had over-prepared!

And there looked to be several dozen demonic archers attacking her from a distance. It was like they’d lied in wait to trap her and take her down.

He glared at Gracious Blue Luan.

He had been planning to get more information out of her, but he supposed it would be better to end this fast.

“Your flames enhanced by evil energy may be strong. But they’re still mere copies of an ascendant beast’s pseudo-law flames. However, mine come from the concept of fire. Of energy itself.”

She scoffed. “We all know you haven’t had time to contemplate your pseudo-laws. Meanwhile, I have worked tirelessly on my own blue luan flames.”

That... was true. Though recently he had had more free time to study them thanks to his aunt, he still hadn’t had a breakthrough. Perhaps this fight would give him the inspiration he needed to push the understanding of his pseudo-law to the peak. That said, the source of his flames was far more pure and powerful than hers. And that meant, even at his low understanding of them, they could be more impressive.

He gathered his fire onto the tip of his finger. It was pure white. A ball of light shined behind him like the sun in the sky and he sent a blast of flames toward her.

An incredibly fast bird shot out from an immortal cave in Beast Tamer’s Peak. The creature was the size of a palace but had the speed of a comet.

“Master!” It screeched. The massive spiritual falcon barreled into Peerless Resolve before he could dodge. It sent him flying, then it soared after him with its beak open wide, ready to bite his arm off.

While he knew tamers never fought alone, he’d thought her tamed beasts would be too busy dealing with the other Nascent Soul and Immortal Bone Creation experts!

After coughing up another two mouthfuls of blood, he shot a glare at the peaks below. What were his elders doing?!

Then he used a single finger to crack the beak of the beast and force it away from him.

This fight was going to last longer than he wanted. He’d have to rely on his other sect disciples to save his martial aunt.

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

I hope you enjoyed these. Let me know if you think this would be better as part 21.5 instead and I’ll switch it. I’m too tired to figure it out myself.

Also, let me know if there is a reaction from someone you wanted to see and maybe I’ll add it. Though at around 2800 words, this is the size of a chapter already, so maybe this is enough.

Part 23 will be posted in another few hours once I've finished the audio edits.