Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 784 - 783 - Sliver Tribulation

The boiling black clouds seemed to still cover the world but even those far from the cultivation path felt a serenity fly on the winds.

Those that knew what was going on were relieved as it meant Lind Frey had passed another round, but the man himself knew better.

He had discovered roughly what was going on.

The first 6 rounds of a normal cultivation had been the pleasant celebratory creation of his sliver.  Now, he had overcome the life and death trial of his Divine Progenitor path, but it was not over.

Heaven was happy he had advanced but could not be biased as his sliver was new and very powerful.

Thus, he had to face the 7th round which in his case would be all the elements of his sliver!

Very little was now about the last 3 rounds of tribulations due to how rarely a cultivator could reach them but as Lind sat beneath the boiling clouds, he got a feeling.

Heaven tests a cultivator in the first 6 rounds for quality and comprehension of their Laws.  If they could not overcome more than that, the tribulation ended with them barely crossing the finish line or dying.

Lind realized the more complex Laws were incorporated into a sun, the farther a cultivator could go but 6 elementals likely would always face at least the 7th round every time if they were ready.

He returned back to the off white area of the desert as the tribulation was gathering more power than he had ever felt before.  It was not just the natural 6 of course but all 18 once more.

He narrowed his eyes as each lightning bolt seemed to dance around each other before he realized what was going on.  Just as he had understood how to create the 6 sides of his sliver with corresponding 3 elements, the lightning was doing the same.

His dragon form would not be helpful as he had yet to truly refine it.

He shrunk and found his robes were in tatters since he had not controlled the transformation.  He winced as Lysanna and Annabelle would tear him a new one since they had helped make those robes.

"No time to change either."  He looked up as the pressure began to build directly over his head.  The bolts were not small at all and were only getting bigger as all 3 types blended together.

Fire and light were the first to integrate which was no surprise to him at all.

Lightning off all 3 types had the same basic elements at their heart of fire and light.  He thought they would strike but instead the simply became faster flashing bolts as the other 4 formed and he understood he was getting a mean round 7.

It seemed he was going to get it all at once but would it be a single blast or 9 rounds of it?

He did not have long to wait as all 6 bolts finally formed in a ring and it slammed directly on top of his head.  It was not lightning anymore but pure Qi!

It also bypassed all his defenses like they were not even there!  It went straight for his Sliver!

It was clear his actual sliver would be tested and the pain was immense!  His emerald harmony lit up at the core of it to fight back.  He put all he had into using it as well as the wave of pure Qi washed over him.

He was actually doing all right when he felt a new wave of power build.

"Ah, traditional way it is!"  He smirked as power flew in across the black clouds above him.  The next wave slammed into him even stronger than before to start the whole cycle over again!

⬧⬧⬧⬧

Cyntilla was sitting on a balcony on Qing's orders to relax as her belly had swollen to the point she could not train at all anymore.  It had been a rather sunny day not long ago but for the last month solid it had been roiling black clouds.

It was a tribulation and at times terrifying lightning lanced across the sky.  Some of it was demonic, some natural, and some Celestial from what Lind had taught her.

"You said it would be big, husband, but even this is impossible to believe."  Many historians and archivists had been trying to find any precedent but of course there was none.

Any such insane tribulation would have long since been a legendary standard others tried to live up to.

She worried at the part where it felt horrifyingly powerful but it had passed and continued so she knew he lived.  One annoying thing was all jade stone communication had stopped functioning.

No one was sure why but the greatest likelihood was the Qi raging above.  It was simply too damned powerful and the more it drew to it, the less there was for the background of the world during that buildup.

Put simply, Qi that was usually free to be used in the air was very thin at the moment.

What was odd was that just after all the lightning vanished, it came rushing back in a higher quantity and quality than before!

Not even Cyntilla brainstorming with the others could figure it out.  It was like something was refining the Qi of the entirety of the Heaven Realm Lands as far as they could confirm.

There was no way it should be part of a single cultivator's tribulation but there it was.

"Here you are."  A surprising voice came from the shadows before Syrilla appeared.  She was now a lovely young demoness but much more voluptuous compared to her.  Cyntilla blamed Lind for that.

Still, she was just as good as Cyntilla was at her age with 2 short swords.  The major difference, however, was her power was much higher.  It was the same for all the children.

Every single one, in some capacity, was far more powerful than their parents with 1 exception.

Lind was head and shoulders above them in production quality.  None of them had inherited his gift it seemed.

It was damned odd too.  It was almost like each child was an improvement on their mother's gifts in some way.

Syrilla was the same pale shade of lavender as her mother but her eyes were much kinder than Cynitlla's.

Her hair was now cut short and streaked with cobalt and the deepest black since she reached the Heaven Realm.

"I am relaxing as ordered.  You do not need to check on me."  Syrilla's eyes narrowed at her mother but then slowly nodded.  She set her swords aside and sat next to her by the small table with a tea set on it.

They both sipped at the tea but Syrilla flinched at how bitter it was.  Her mother's tastes were always odd.

"Will Father be ok, it is taking so long."  Cyntilla cracked a smile.  Syrilla was probably the least expressive in public but in private with her, she was a worry wart.

"Immortal tribulations usually take awhile but for a Sliver Tier, this is excessive.  I heard Shard Tier tribulations can take months."  They both simply watched the black clouds but Cyntilla had kept track.

It had been 8 times.  Eight times the power had gathered and now it was doing it again.  The feeling of Qi had almost become non-existent.

Just what was Lind going through?

"I remember you all telling us about tribulations but I never recall Father talking about his."  Cyntilla sighed.  There was no point really.

None of them were 6 elementals but he never spared a scrap of knowledge to help them advance at an alarming pace.

"We can have him tell them when he gets back, but they will not be of much help to you."  Syrilla frowned at her response.

"Why would we need anymore help?  We just want to–"  Her words were cut off as a pressure finally began to build in the sky above.

It was the last part of the current tribulation.

Compared to all that came before, it was like the clouds were replaced with lightning!

It was not just them, but even the ancient Immortals barely clinging on to life felt true terror.  A handful were barely in the Shard Tier but they knew at that moment they barely qualified to be called Immortals in front of such power.

Any being that could survive such a tribulation would be a true monster.

"W-was Father always this powerful?"  Cyntilla honestly could not answer.  At times he was so helpless and had to crawl every inch forward he could in his cultivation but at other times it was like he was an unstoppable wave.

"It is not a question about power with him.  He simply is walking a path no one else has before.  I think we are seeing what our ancestors once had to overcome to create the Dao we all walk."  It was not like her to be philosophical but all the lessons and discussions pointed to many lost secrets in cultivation.

Lind had theorized that perhaps 6 elementals had once had a path forward and it was just lost or simply too complex to keep alive with how rarely they were born.  It was also possible that many such pieces of knowledge and comprehension died with cultivators in their tribulations.

It was only now, when faced with his Immortal Tribulation that she really understood how Heaven and Earth challenged them.  A well beaten path has well understood tests but a new path must face the full might to see what can survive.

All the dangers must be braved and all the pitfalls overcome.  Lind was doing that right now.  He was blazing the trail no one had walked and his tribulation was proof of it.

"Be safe, my husband.  You will not disappoint me by leaving me now."  She sent out her well wishes and held her daughter's hand.  The lightning zoomed across the sky and took the clouds with it.

Either way, the end was near.