novelraw Chapter 239 - 238 - Dao Tribulation
Chapter 239 - 238 - Dao Tribulation
Several days had passed since Midnight arrived which drew some speculation but it was clear coming to Lind Frey was asking for help rather than pulling the elixir master into Midnight's orbit.
There was also the traffic that came later. Several flying artifacts and a Sky Realm all came to the Lotus Empire and the rumors spoke of it being at Lind Frey's request. The return of the elixir master and Forger had clearly been welcomed by all powers if they acknowledged his requests.
Inside the mansion, Lind was reviewing scrolls, jade slips, and listening to a group of men and women from across Sarth and the Sky Realm from Starfire House that specialized in healing.
All that he learned from his mother, Younger Twin, and others he met on his journey only affirmed his desire to make things to assist people. It was clear that was where he focused but it was not his specialty.
He only mimicked pill effects at first and combined them for efficiency but the Tempering, Cure, and Dantian Restoration elixirs were more his unique specialties he was known for across the world. While they clearly were potent elixirs no one else could make yet, Lind knew he had but dipped his toe into the healing field.
The people in the room with him, on the other hand, had decades and in some cases centuries with healing people. While hiding her identity, Lind reviewed the current obstacles in helping Midnight's daughter recover. He did not know her name but he held back asking as it would make her a person to him rather than a patient.
He needed to distance himself as Little Fey was a good example of pushing himself nearly too far to save her. He had not cared what price he had to pay, he simply smashed any obstacle and his harmony seemed to comply.
He had faced a punishment tribulation that destroyed his artifacts. In her case, he was restoring an injured person but in this case, it was changing what Heaven had given. He was not fool enough not to believe Heaven would have something to say if he meddled blindly.
"Intriguing. The difficulty of 6 elemental dantian did indeed save her life, Master Frey. If she even had 5 elements, her meridians would have been shredded completely along with her physical body." Lind frowned as the male Sky Realm simply reaffirmed his previous conclusions.
The senior was named simply Lan but he was recommended by Lady Estelle. Lind was about to speak when one of the Gold Tiers spoke up first.
"So glad you are here to tell us what we knew 4 days ago, senior Lan. Do you have any further wisdom to distill?" A deep frown crossed Lan's face but the pristine white robes spoke of the power behind the woman. Lind felt a vein flinch on his forehead but Elder Yi was a trusted resource.
The Maiden was known to even Lind but only by name. He had not heard how Elena was acerbic nor had little time for conversation. She had actually talked with him respectfully and enjoyed his questions when she first arrived but as more experts arrived, her temper flared.
"I am merely summarizing before giving an opinion, Elena. It helps to focus when speaking aloud." Lind could not completely argue against that but before a fight could begin he waved his arms to pull attention back to the room.
"I would appreciate anything that helps the patient, who does not have much time left. Please, senior Lan, tell me if you have an idea." A smug look crossed Lan's face but Elena only nodded at Lind and stepped back. The group saw that Lind controlled the conversation to get back on track.
"As I was saying, your analysis seemed irrefutable, but as for curing the poor girl, I am afraid it would require a Heaven Realm power." Many frowned at that conclusion but Lind did not dismiss it right off. He had not any possibility of getting such a level of help directly but he DID have something he could do.
"Go on." Lind's serious face told the others to back off and Lan looked surprised at him but happy to continue.
"Correcting a physique is not unknown in the Floating Isles but normally it is dealing with a sudden awakening when breaking through a major realm. Some bloodlines are restricted to the Sky or Heaven Realms but can be just as destructive when unprepared." Lind felt hope kindle but then Lan dashed it all.
"The only solution was a Heaven Grade 4 pill and at least a tier 8 Sky Realm healer." Lind quickly reviewed the information of what Midnight had tried. A Heaven grade pill was reachable for Midnight, but a tier 8 Sky Realm would not care at all.
The resources and powers in the Floating Isles largely did not worry about the lower world from what Lind had learned. He was an exception due to his elixir and Forging skills. Even in the Floating Isles, they were not very common.
"What does the pill do exactly?" Lind had never heard of such a pill, obviously but the grin on Lan made him frown. Silence was all that followed and he did not understand why.
The other healers were a mix of confusion, frustration, and the more powerful ones, annoyance.
"His clan makes it, Master Frey. They do not share it with anyone." Elena's voice confirmed what no one wanted to say. It was not unusual. Lind Frey was an oddity in how much he shared but few could replicate anything he created so it was not much of an issue.
"Your skills are rising, Little Frey. My clan would be interested in raising you once you reach the Floating Isles." Lan's condescending smile and attitude rubbed many in irritation but Lind stayed calm.
"Can you resolve my patient's issue?" Lind's words were calm and many admired his resolve to sacrifice for his patient. They were all unsurprised by Lan's response, however.
"Ha! She is a lost cause. Even if I was inclined to help her, our pill can do nothing for a defective dantian like that!" Lind frowned deeply and turned to Elena.
"I want him gone, I do not care what she says, but blame me. I am done with him." Lind then whirled back to the scrolls and swept his crimson robes to let him sit. Shock flooded the crowd but Lan's face darkened as fire Qi began to coalesce into a lance.
Lind did not even acknowledge Lan which enraged the arrogant Sky Realm even more. No one could stop him in the pathetic backwater empire and he would not let the insult stand!
The lance flared and began to fly away from Lan but then water doused it entirely. Further, the aura of that water was far above a Sky Realm!
"HOW?!" Lan was from the powerful Yu Clan. He had met Heaven Realm experts but that aura was much more powerful.
"If you think I did not anticipate irate cultivators far more powerful than me being annoying, you are not very bright." Lind was sick of being weak but he was not a fool. There would be many Lans in his future that felt they were Gods of his fate. Thankfully, he had a kind master and a genius wife who was a quick study on how to apply defenses that would not invoke the wrath of Heaven after using them.
They still had severe limits and Delenn had to do the lionshare of the setup, but Annabelle had bridged the gap after that when setting them up. The only way to avoid the wrath of Heaven was how it had just been done.
Lind was a disciple and he had sworn to follow her instruction. In return, she would guide him and educate him in Forging. It was a loophole found eons ago according to Delenn. A master was allowed to protect their disciple.
Annabelle just had to imbue his blood expertly and the protections would work for the limited times the plate could withstand it. Lan had zero chance of even putting a scratch on Lind or anything near him.
"You are done here, but thank you. I at least know a method exists. That is a beginning." He meant it. Knowing she was not unique in such an issue and a resolution was found, meant there had to be a way.
"HA, YOU! You are just lucky! It was all just luck that a defective cultivator stumbled their way forward!" Lan's voice was near hysteric. Lind turned and felt an irritation he had not felt in a long time.
"Luck? I am an Innate Cultivator. I am literally fighting my own talent everyday to make sure it doesn't ruin my foundation. I have done that since the very first day I became a Soul Realm." Rage flooded his veins like never before. It was not simple frustration.
It was the dismissive attitude so many cultivators had for the weak. They stopped seeing those beneath them as people. Not even as objects, only as ants to be stepped on. They saw them as nothing.
Something snapped in Lind. He felt like he had been searching for his Dao. He had discussed cultivation until he was blue in the face but it was only to comprehend how to move forward, not about why he wanted to cultivate.
It felt like a stone had settled in him. The final piece and a flash of that room he heard his future self so many years ago entered his mind. He had the evidence right in front of him with his elixirs and Forging all along.
His best work was when helping people. It did not have to be healing, but guiding them forward to the best of his ability.
Lind could not see it but an emerald light suddenly lined his body. Lan and Elena felt their eyes go wide as they looked to the skies.
Pressure began to build above the mansion that made Qing and the rest emerge to look up. They saw it was centered over their mansion. None of them recognized it as it was not a tribulation like 4 of them had faced. What was that cloud?
Lind was in a trance.
He could feel his dantain surge with power like he had never felt before.
"I will always help those in need, I will stand by them with healing, knowledge, and my strength. I will never stop nor abandon them!" Lind's words acted like a trigger. Black clouds swooped down and pressure skyrocketed.
"That is not possible! He is only a tiny Iron Tier worm! How can he call that down?!" Lan looked like he was losing his mind. His once handsome face was twisted in rage and disbelief.
He dared not move because what was coming could end him forever. They all looked up and saw strange lightning gathering strength.
It was not the trial of ascension, but Heaven and Earth accepting the Dao of a cultivator.
Emerald lightning flared like the wrath of all the Heavens. Lind's eyes flared with emerald light as he looked up in acceptance as the first bolt fell.
Unlike the tribulations witnessed until then, this one did no damage but instead enhanced Lind from within. His dantain churned Qi far beyond its capacity and flowed throughout his body.
Lind seemed to become more profound in front of them as another bolt fell. No damage was done to a single stone but Lind seemed to become more enshrined by emerald light. A final bolt slammed into him and finally blood trickled from his lips, but hardly anything.
"A Dao Tribulation. The Heavens judged his Dao in the World Realm!" Several voices exclaimed and made Lan nearly cough up blood. An ant, a nothing that his father insisted on roping in, had just faced a Dao Tribulation that was more rare than anything in the cultivation world.
It meant that whatever path Lind Frey had chosen, Heaven and Earth acknowledged it. It then enriched their cultivation potential and pushed them to confront the good and the bad. If the cultivator stumbled at any point, their potential would end, but if they rode it out, they would be expected to become an Immortal!
A lowly World Realm, a 6 elemental, was acknowledged when he was not! Impossible!
Lind slowly opened his eyes as a fetid breath left his body. His once cluttered mind and heart were clear. He looked at the crowd of people and understood he had been going about things the wrong way. He did not need experts, he needed knowledge to inspire him. He needed a spark.
He needed to do things his own way going forward.