Akiko stands up and saunters over to me, placing her hand firmly on my shoulder as she gives it a squeeze, her face smiling down at me with pride. “Very well, my darling. Let us reconvene to the Qi gathering room and begin. Remember, even if you feel comfortable breaking through further after you have succeeded the tribulation, refrain from doing so until you speak with myself and spirit Ios. There are always more factors to consider than just Heaven’s response and your comprehension.”
I feel my face heat up a bit as she reminds me of the last tribulation where I nearly just skipped over and into the 2nd Realms. I huff as I turn my head to the side, “I know, thanks mom.” My devastating insult to which she surely can’t recover from elicits me a playful ruffle of my hair, making me squeak out in protest. However, as I turn around to give her a mighty pout, her face is already right in front of mine as she whispers in a sultry voice, “Do you want me to be your ‘mommy’, my dear~? Spirit Ios and I have discussed many things about Earth terminology and mannerisms, and I am quite eager to try this ‘role playing’ that she mentioned~.”
I shoot a glare filled with betrayal to the traitor – more specifically her drone – as I stammer out as my thighs clinch together from Akiko’s taunt, “I-Ios what the fuck?! Akiko is already too sexy, that’s not fair at all!!“
I simply hear a familiar high-pitched laugh come out from the flying butterfly before she responds, “Oh come on, you know it’ll be fun~. Seriously though you two, let’s keep this thing moving or you’re never leaving this room. Spend a year with your heads wrapped between each other’s legs, I swear.” Akiko gives a slight giggle at the talking down to, probably because she wouldn’t mind that at all anyway, before she leans over and gives me a little kiss on the cheek. I turn back to look at her, leaning up to return the favor pretty much on auto pilot before she smiles and takes my hand in hers and begins leading us out of my bedroom.
The trek back to the room where I started this cultivation journey is a quiet one, Akiko and Ios content to let the silence mark our passing of the hallway’s twists and turns. I do my best to just let the slowly building nervous and anxious energy roll off of me, not letting it take root but instead just accepting it and moving past it. It… works, somewhat. I still feel a little uneasy as we finally reach our destination, but not nearly as bad as I thought I would be. Between getting rid of Panic, coming at this trial much more prepared than last time, and learning more about cultivation in general, I actually feel like I have solid footing now. Sure, its still on slightly shaky legs, but I don’t hold that against me too much given that it hasn’t even been a month in this new world and I’m this far along already.
With one final squeeze of my hand for reassurance, bless her, Akiko opens up the sliding door to the waiting gathering of women. Samantha and Gerra look well put together – if still a bit exhausted – after their no doubt fantastical time last night while Jun Li looks to be ever the beacon of giddy joy, her tails wagging happily behind her as we enter the room to greet them. Akiko begins as she walks us over to each of them, giving them all hugs and kisses before she says to all of us, “Hello, my lovely girls~. We are gathered here today so that Amelia can take the next step in her cultivation paths, giving her our support for such an endeavor. I know the three of you were indisposed during her initial breakthrough into cultivation, but do not be alarmed when the strength of this upcoming bout will rival a 4th Realm tribulation.”
They all nod in eager acceptance before turning to me in varying looks of care, Jun Li again being the most animated about it as her eyes hold a hint of trepidation about my safety. That little show of her constant kindness sends makes my stomach and heart do a little flip, only further reinforcing the notion that I am indeed quite in love with her~. Akiko turns back to me after giving her little speech, wrapping me up in a firm hug as she lays her head down on top of mine, “I have full faith that you will succeed with dazzling results, my love. Be safe, be smart. Watch your stamina expenditure, and do not be afraid to use that connection to your system to procure something to restore yourself if the battle becomes pitched. While we cannot interfere without risking the Heaven’s ire, there are no rules or requirements forbidding you from accessing or using treasures during a tribulation.”
She holds me at arm’s length, looking me up and down once before a wide, loving smile comes across her perfect face, “We will all be right here waiting for you, rooting for your triumph and eager to share in the joy of victory with you. Now, go ‘knock it deceased~!'”
I giggle a bit at the messed-up phrase, but don’t have it in my heart to correct her as her tails begin wagging nearly as much as Jun Li’s were earlier. She’s simply just too cute and incredible to rain on her parade like that~, but maybe I can go over some more Earth lingo after this. I reach a bit on my tip toes to plant another quick kiss to her lips, blushing a bit at the reminder of an audience before I go to each of them and give them a hug. Gerra wraps her muscular, pink tail around my torso – just enough to feel – as we hold each other. “You’re going to do great, little bird~. I can’t wait to cook up a mighty meal in celebration. Listen to the Madam’s advice, no shame in doing what you need to do to survive, okay?”
Her southern twang drips off with her own little hint of worry, making me lean back and smile up to her in a nod, her pink triangular ears fluttering a little bit as she unwraps her tail and lets me move on to Samantha. I give her a full hug, one not tainted by alcohol or sweet treats this time, to which she chuckles and softly strokes my back a few times. We don’t share any words, but when we break apart she gives me a wink filled with confidence and a sly smirk. I blush a little at the cute display, shooting her back my own wink as I try my best not to cower away from her unspoken praise.
Finally, it’s Jun Li’s turn. I barely make it two steps away from Sam before I’m scooped up and pressed against her soft, giving body, her earthy and clean scent making my head swim in delight and the beginning stages of arousal as I’m buried between her wonderful mountains~. “Be safe, Miss Amelia! Like Gerra mentioned, listen to the Madam and your spirit’s advice, do whatever you must to survive. I have several healing pills at the ready in case the worst were to occur, but do not take that as me having no faith in your abilities. I know how dedicated and driven you are, and I have absolutely no doubt that you will overcome this trial with aplomb.”
I playfully tap her arm a couple times with my hand, trying to subtly give her a signal to let me breathe and respond if she wants that to be the case~. With a shy little, “A-ah, apologies…” she lets me free of my fleshy prison and sets me back down to terra firma. I laugh as I give her a more proper hug, answering her back, “I will make sure to follow their advice, Miss J, don’t worry~. Thank you for being prepared just in case, that actually does make me feel a lot better about this.” With one more squeeze around her torso, I step back and give her a wink as well, making the butterflies kick up in my stomach at the little dash of crimson that crosses across her cheeks as I do so.
With all of the well wishes out of the way, I turn back to look at the center of the room where the formation is already active and waiting. The ambient Qi in the room gathering and pooling there, nearly enough to actually see although I don’t know if that is due to my insane Wisdom score or just an effect of compressed Qi like that. I breathe out slowly, calming my heart and preparing my mind for what is to come as I walk with surety towards the center of the room.
I hold my hand out, Ios taking the hint and purchasing the body pill we talked about earlier for me, the little green candy pill dropping softly into my waiting palm as the 500 points gets deducted from my overall pool. I take out the pill that Jun Li gave me as well, rifling it out of my storage bag where I moved it to after getting my spear out, before throwing the bag to Akiko who catches it with deft precision. I give her one last smile, looking over her and the group of amazing women that follow her before I turn back and look up toward the ceiling.
I close my eyes, calming any thoughts or emotions still lingering in this calm before the storm. The subtle stillness reaching me quickly, and I feel that the moment is right. With rapid motion, I toss both pills into my mouth, using my Qi to move the releasing energy toward its intended locations, my channel for the spiritual pill, and my dantian, bones, skin, and muscles for the body pill. In the same instant, I force as much Qi as I can into the flow model, washing it in pure starlight as I channel the combined Qi gathering technique with precision. I give one last mental command before I make the last leap, my soul, spirit, and body screaming at me to finally let them loose and grow.
Do it, Ios.
You have purchased [Transcendent Vessel of Expanding Soul (Peak Transcendent Rank)] for 10,000 Points!
Lu#k has actIv@te&! This pVrc$as3 has b(e* upg!a%ed to [Eternal Divine Soul Creation Pill (Peak Divine Rank)] for n0 a)di7ion@l cHa^ge! Congratulations!
Available Shop Points: 26,400
Fuck!! Before I can even say anything, try to ask for help, I feel the foreign item deposit itself directly into my golden soul and begin screaming out in pain. Blindingly white-hot lances of fire arc through me, scorching my nerves and essence as I double over, the instant and rapidly building weight of energy and power blasting tears from my eyes as I wail and scream from my now raw throat. I don’t even know how I keep a hold of the spear, but my mind begins to go into shock from the never-ending stab of pain that washes through me like repeated tidal waves, threatening to subsume my consciousness with each lap and prick that burns me.
‘Amelia!!’ I faintly hear in between my pitiful and agonized cries of torment, Ios’ tone urgent and desperate as she says, ‘You need to breakthrough!! NOW! Your soul can’t handle that pill’s energies as it is! Hurry!!’
Thankfully, her mental shouting brings back enough clarity between the ever growing pressure building up inside of me, the deluge of painful thorns ripping and tearing their way through my entire being. I scream out, this time in effort as I rise back up to standing, breathing like I just got done running a marathon back in college. I close my eyes, the discordant echo of my shouting cry of pain bouncing around the room to the no doubt terrified women just on the other side of the formation, as I focus and finally break the bottlenecks for each path.
Like a pressure valve being released, the typhoon of power waging its brutal war inside of me implodes, my soul greedily sucking up all of the new energy as the world around us rumbles in angry protest. I look up, finally getting some semblance of control back on my weary and aching body to feel 27 prismatic bolts of lightning waiting just above the roof of the estate. I grimace at the sight, it seems Ios was spot on in her assessment unfortunately, and now I’m already feeling half dead from the fucking Empress triggering Luck!! Oh, we are having words about that later!!
I curse as the first bolt shoots to me faster than a bullet, before my eyes go wide at what I see. It’s… slow. So slow. I even have time to prepare and get the perfect angle on a strike, stabbing my winged spear forward in a flawless thrust that shatters the bolt completely with barely any effort.
Damage dealt 27,984!
I can’t help but laugh. All of this worry, this sudden traumatic pain that I’ll never forget for the rest of my life, for this?! The Heaven’s roar in defiance, launching the next prismatic shard of electricity to me in renewed hate and anger at being mocked, and this one does actually come by quick enough to make me start reconsidering things. Still… It’s too slow~.
I swing the tip of the spear in a wide arc, bisecting the bolt perfectly in half before it dissipates into rainbow particles that are greedily sucked in by my gathering technique, feeding the efforts of all three pills in tandem as I look back to the sky in challenge.
Damage dealt 24,861!
As I’m waiting, expecting more rounds at the batting cage, the remaining 25 spears of violence do something that makes the entire room gasp in shock, myself included. They combine into one, like how Panic melded its black tendrils together before it hurt Sandra, but instead of just becoming one fuck off huge bolt, they begin to take the shape of a person. The rapidly shifting and phasing in color humanoid shape lightly falls to the ground, leaving the ceiling undamaged as it warps through it before its feet touch down.
My eyes go even wider at what begins to take shape, as the humanoid lightning forms a familiar looking spear in one hand. Nearly identical to the one I’m using. Long, wavy hair begins to take shape from the top of the silhouettes head, the color constantly shifting from radiant gold to sparkling rainbow, but its nonetheless the same pattern and weave of my own hair, something I know instantly from having spent all the time inspecting it in mirrors since I landed here. With a tangible billow of power that makes me raise my arm up slightly to block the wind, the Heavenly doppelganger raises its head slowly, and I am looking directly into the heart shaped face of myself, the only facial feature on the creature being two burning white coals where my eyes would be.
With an inhuman roar, the clone charges straight toward me, spear leveled and aimed to my stomach for some reason. I can’t ponder long, as the sudden display of speed takes me off guard, making me barely able to reset into a defensive stance and just nearly block the incoming strike. With a loud *CLANG* that once more sends shockwaves through the room, the clone begins assaulting relentlessly, the flash of golden metal striking out and being battered aside by the silver gleam of my own weapon.
I finally get my footing back underneath me, using a blocked thrust that once more seems to be centered on my navel with a downward flick of my spear, opening up an opportunity for me to lash out to the clone with a side kick to the torso. The impact sends the abomination flying and smacking against the walls of the formation, the construct visibly straining under the weight of either the force of the impact, or the creature in general. Probably both.
Damage dealt 29,423!
With enough room to actually breathe, I decide to not fuck around anymore, knowing how many close calls I just had with that brief exchange. With force and conviction, I yell out toward this fucked up thing: “[Unending Flow of the River]! [Moonlight Body Strengthening]!”
I activate [Steady Breathing] as well, just to buy me more time, as the clone stands up from the ground in a disjointed and disgusting way, limbs twisting and turning to achieve the result instead of a more human method. Like just sitting up, the little overdramatic freak. I don’t wait for it to recover as I dash forward, red hair whipping violently behind me as my DEX is toppling past 500k once more before I shift the silvery energy of the body technique to my arms, thrusting the spear forward in an attempt to pierce the creature’s head.
With a frightening speed and intelligence, the clone shifts its head just enough to turn the lethal blow into a glancing scar across its face, my eyes going wide as I see it rear back and begin to thrust its own version of my spear again toward my center. Luckily, my reaction times are insane right now and I’m able to reach out and arrests the weapons movement as I fling my hand down to the shaft, just before the spear tip. The contact makes me hiss, the energy coursing through the facsimile of the clone burning my skin but not enough to damage me with the body skill going on.
Damage dealt 10,327!
I pull back the dual spear and this time am able to land a decisive hit on this imposter. With an angry yell, I sink the silvery tip of the metal deep into the chest of the clone, my Berserker lust lighting in flame as it screams out in agony while the system reads out the damage.
Damage dealt 26,648!
A feral grin splits across my face; however, it is quickly dashed as I’m caught off guard when the spear that I’m holding at bay dematerializes and then reappears as a prismatic lightning bolt right next to my stomach. My eyes widen in alarm as I try and back away from the clone, trying to get distance so I can deflect this new attack, but the beings’ hands lash out to me and grip my arms, burning my skin once more as the bolt shoots point blank into me. I have just enough time to shift the silvery sheen of the body skill to Constitution before I scream in pain, the numbing and burning sensation ripping across my midriff before I kick the clone center mass once more, its body thudding loudly against the barrier as it finally releases my singed arms.
8,967 damage taken!
Health Pool: 94,927 / 103,894
Damage dealt 22,365!
Shit, that fucking hurt! And that was with the body technique active! I take the brief pause in combat to back up some, vaulting about 20 feet away from the slowly standing menace as I quickly check my internals to make sure nothing got damaged. I’m getting more and more concerned about why the hell Heaven is specifically targeting my stomach…
Thanks to my Wisdom stat, it only takes a millisecond to do a quick peer inside my model and soul space, and I confirm that everything seems to be present and correct. Well, aside from the torrents of Qi being molded and shaped in various ways and forms from the pills’ efforts. Something nags at my mind, like I’m missing something important… I zoom out and check on the connection between myself and Sandra, just on the off chance that this feeling of dread isn’t related to her safety, but what I see makes my blood turn ice cold, freezing the Qi in place like a moment caught in a picture.
The soul space directly around the prismatic bridge has a small tear in it, right where the tribulation bolt hit me just now. It’s been aiming for the connection this whole time.
The entire soul scape floods in a bloody and violent red, my animalistic scream shaking and sundering the void around me in ripples of raw power as I return to the present, the same feral cry coursing out of my lips in an overlapping tone of my normal voice and the regal decree of a monarch as the wind whips in small tornadoes around the room. “YOU MOTHER FUCKER!” I scream out in a blinding hot rage, my augmented voice alone causing reality to fissure and break in small cracks of nothingness, “YOU DARE TRY TO HURT SANDRA?! TO WOUND OUR BOND!?!“
My voice warps and distorts further in pure hate, as seemingly endless loud, heavy *GONG*’s sound out chaotically around the entire room – and the Village itself, unbeknownst to me – their pattern indescribable but violent and ear splitting as I scream with more fury than I have ever known, throwing the clone and everyone else in the room to the walls as the formation shatters with the sound of broken glass. The Empress envelops me, feeding my unbridled anger further and further as the pointed crown lands on my head, my skin turning void black and surrounded by the white and silver energies of soul and moon.
“YOU ARE COURTING DEATH! [Soul Empress’ Domination]!!”
