The morning sun shone brightly in a sky filled with fluffy white clouds. It was mid-morning, and I was getting ready to head out.
I put on a fresh set of clothes and my traveling cloak, ate a hearty breakfast of smoked meat and bread, and cleaned up my sleeping bag, food, and any clothes that I had drying in the backyard.
I was going to leave when I thought about my breakfast partner, Meteria. If she came back early or if I was late for whatever reason, she wouldn’t know why.
While I don’t think she would be worried or anything, it would be rude to disappear without giving her an explanation, especially since I’ve enjoyed her company these past few weeks. So, I wrote a little note to Meteria and stuck it on the table.
The note was there just in case she came back to check on me sooner than expected, but I was planning to be back before she was supposed to drop by again.
Satisfied with my little note, explaining that I was just out exploring for a bit, I exited the church and made my way to the main gate of the city. Actually, it might be the only gate in the city now that I think about it.
That feels like a safety hazard. Like, what if the city needs to evacuate because the dungeon overflows or something? The traffic jam would be insane.
Like right now. This line is like a mile long, and it's a normal day with no apocalypses happening. Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration, but my point stands. What are they gonna do when shit hits the fan?
Well, I guess they don’t need to worry about that if the adventurers do their jobs. There are a lot of them here, so I can’t imagine a scenario where that happens.
It is cliché, though. The whole ‘beast tide comes, and the protagonist needs to help or else the city gets wiped’ is a pretty common trope.
But this isn’t a Xianxia world, Leon.
Seriously, stop that brain. I shook my head and let outa small laugh at the thought. I already knew that, but my brain just decided to make up plotlines nonetheless.
Honestly, I’m just worrying about nothing at this point. It’s not like that’s gonna happen, and even if it did, there are literal gods in the city. I’m sure they would step in and make sure shit didn’t hit the fan.
My thoughts wandered to other made-up scenarios as I waited in line. Like finding a secret auction house, a sudden tournament for a rare material, or my necklace deciding to start talking.
All cliché, all ridiculous, all Xianxia. Hence, all of them are very unlikely to happen. But I should still be prepared and keep a lookout for them. Especially if I run across an injured person in the middle of the woods.
No, wait, that only happens when love interests meet the protagonist. I’m not a love interest, and I’m definitely not a xianxia protagonist. I'm not murdery or arrogant enough.
And I’m not a woman, so definitely not a love interest. Unless it’s a female protagonist, then I could be in trouble.
Then again, I’m not powerful, high in social status, or indifferent and cold. So, on second thought, I should be good. But just in case, I'd better steer clear of any arrogant and or murderous females.
Like the guard in front of me. She had clear black eyes and shiny black hair, and a very annoyed look on her face. She had two daggers on her waist and a pouch of something as well.
Honestly, she was prime protagonist material. Seriously, she looked like she was about to fight me right now.
“Wow, you look angry,” I muttered unconsciously when I saw her eye twitch.
“That’s because you've been standing there and spacing out for the past minute! You’re holding up the line. So either give me your papers or get out!” She shouted when she heard my mutter, which made me snap out of my thoughts and focus on the surroundings.
I had made it to the front of the line, the guard was in front of me, crossing her arms, and behind me was a long line of quietly angry people.
Whoops.
“Ah, I’m sorry! I wasn’t paying attention at all. What did you need to see again?” I asked and gave an awkward smile while ignoring the heat in my cheeks. Ah, embarrassment at getting called out while daydreaming. It’s like school all over again.
“I need your paperwork for being in the city. You know, the one you got when you first got into the city,” The guard said slowly with a strained voice.
“Oh, from when I went to the Guild, right?” I clarified, and she stiffly nodded her head.
I reached behind me, underneath my cloak, and mimed pulling out the paper from my pocket. I wasn’t going to show off my ring now that I knew it was rare. That was just asking for trouble.
“Here you go, miss,” I said with a shy smile and handed it over.
She snatched it out of my hand and grumbled under her breath before looking it over.
“What’s the reason for leaving the city?” She asked after glancing at the piece of paper for a moment.
‘Okay, Leon, you got this. Don’t mention Lightning this time and you’ll be good,’ I thought, hyping myself up before opening my mouth.
“I am going to look for” ‘Lighting, no, not that!’ “…stuff,” I said lamely. I started strong, but my brain interrupted me and made me stumble. Still, I didn’t say lightning out loud, so that was a win.
“Stuff? What kind of stuff?” The guard asked with suspicion as I looked around and tried to think of an answer.
I threw a glance to the side and saw a florist, and had a brilliant idea.
“Herbs! I’m going to look for herbs,” I said loudly. They had sort of become obsolete since I had the monster stones for cultivation and potions for any serious injuries, but if I go out and collect them, then maybe I could sell them to some potion maker.
“Herbs? For potion making?” She asked, and I nodded. “It says here you’re a normal citizen. Did you recently join a potion familia then?”
“What? No, of course not. I’m just going out to collect a few herbs to sell to someone. Maybe use them in cooking. I’m not ble– I’m not an adventurer,” I explained, before a question came to me.
“If you don’t mind me asking, why does it matter if I was anyway? Also, is this new? ” I asked, curious. There wasn’t this long line going out when I first entered the city. Hell, I don’t think there even was a checkpoint going out of the city when I first got here.
Why the change?
“Look, I just need to make sure you're not a level two or anything. New decree from the gods and the Guild for the foreseeable future,” She explained, which made me tilt my head.
“It’s new then?” She nodded, and I continued, “Why did they make that rule then?”
“I don’t know why. I don’t need to know why, and neither do you. I just know that now I’m stuck here dealing with a bunch of civilians. Makes a ton of extra work for everyone involved,” She snapped at me before grumbling the last part under her breath.
“Sayru! Stop being so rude. He’s just curious,” A voice sounded out from behind the guard, Sayru, and made her stiffen up.
A woman with short blue hair and blue eyes appeared behind her. She wore a long blue trench coat over a short black dress, a pair of thigh-high socks, and leather boots with metal toe tips. She also had a sword on her side.
“I wasn’t being rude, Adi. I’m just trying to move the line alone,” Sayru grumbled under her breath.
“Sorry about that. The increased workload has got everyone stressed. Still, that’s no reason to be rude,” the blue-haired girl, Adi, directed the last sentence at Sayru, who looked away.
“No worries. I’m sorry you have to deal with the extra work, though. It’s never fun to have a bunch of extra work dumped on you.” I said sympathetically.
I meant it too, especially when no one tells you the reason for the extra work.
“Yeah, but that’s the job. I’m more confused than annoyed. I’m level three, and they have me watching over the checkpoint rather than dungeon diving. It’s rather worrying,” Adi said, which made me blink.
“You’re level three?” I asked, surprised. From what I knew, being level three put her above the vast majority of adventurers in the city. The fact that she was lowering herself to apologize to me was surprising to say the least.
“Yep. I just leveled up not that long ago,” She said with a smile. It was then that I took a closer look at her and noticed something.
The Qi that was bouncing off of her was farther away from her skin than I’ve seen it before. Meteria had the Qi bouncing as soon as it met her skin, while Airmid had about a centimeter or two above her skin where the Qi bounced.
Yet, Adi girl had double the space between her skin and where the Qi met some kind of invisible barrier and bounced. I looked at her shoulder and tried to measure the distance.
About three centimeters. I’m just gonna call it that, it might be a bit of, but it’s close enough. I’m glad that it worked out that those matched up, since it makes it easy for me to tell someone’s level.
I just can’t help but wonder why it lines up that nicely. If I knew how the falna worked, then maybe it would make sense, but until then, it’s a mystery.
“Hm, please don’t stare at me like that. It’s embarrassing,” She said, which made me snap back to reality.
“Sorry. I, uh, I thought you looked familiar. Must have been mistaken. Anyway, am I clear to go through?” I asked, trying to sweep my stare under the rug. I space out a lot, I’m realizing.
“Yes, here’s your paperwork back. Please stay safe out there. Especially if you’re going south. A monster den was recently spotted there. It will be cleared out in a day or so, but just in case, stay away from there,” She said, which made me smile at her concern.
“Thank you. I’ll be careful. It was nice meeting you, Adi. Have a good day,” I said cheerfully before taking my paperwork and leaving through the gate.
The sun was high in the sky as I stepped onto the dirt road and passed the people who were trying to get into the city. They threw a curious glance at me before going back to waiting in the line.
I followed the road for a little while as I decided where I should go. I could just go back to the lake, but that was close enough to freak the gods out last time, so I should go farther this time.
Yeah, that’s probably for the best. With that thought in mind, I pulled out my map and tried to get a lay of the land. After staring at it for a few minutes, I found my target.
There was an abandoned fortress a little south of Orario that would serve as a good landmark. It was maybe a two-day walk, so it was far enough that the city shouldn’t be able to see, while not being too far that I would need to go on a long journey to get there.
It was by the road, so I had a straight path to get there, and there was a little village nearby too, so I had a place to sleep or get some food afterwards. I would just need to explore the area a bit to find a spot with a lot of Qi, but that shouldn’t take too long.
The only potential problem was that it was south. So it was in the direction of the monster den that Adi warned me about, but I wasn’t too worried about it.
It was a big area, so the odds that I would run into them were pretty low. And even if I did, dungeon monsters were supposed to be way tougher than surface monsters, so I was confident I could deal with them if it came down to it.
So, the plan was to follow the road to the fortress, step off and wander around until I found a good spot, break through, then go hit up the village for some food.
Seems like a solid plan. I grinned and rolled up my map before continuing on my way. I went faster than I usually would since I wanted to cut down travel time, but not fast enough to tire myself out.
Luckily, the road that led there was pretty well-maintained, so that made my walk easier. Hence, my time was mostly spent admiring the surroundings while my body just walked on autopilot.
The Qi still swirled around in a blend of colors that was breathtaking to look at. If I had a single bone of artistic talent in my body, I would try and paint it, but it would probably just look like a messy watercolor if I tried.
I still couldn’t believe that I could look at the scenery every time I woke up. And to think I was blind to this for the longest time. I know it’s been two months, yet I’m still not sick of the view.
I had a smile on my face, a spring in my step, and a slight hum of some song on my lips as the sun went down and I stopped to camp for the night.
I kinda regret leaving as late as I did, but there is always tomorrow, and I’d rather not walk in the dark without light. So, I stepped off the main road at dusk and got out my sleeping bag before making a fire and cooking some dinner.
After a hearty meal, I laid down and stared at the night sky, admiring the stars. They had kept me company when I first got transported here and when I traveled across the world. I wish I knew the constellations, but it was fun making up my own, too.
I tried to sleep, but my excitement and anticipation for tomorrow made it difficult to do so.
The first time I had broken through, I gained the ability to see the Qi’s color, and it completely changed how I look at things. Now, I can't help but wonder what will change for me with this breakthrough.
It made it almost impossible for me to sleep. It was like trying to sleep on Christmas Eve and trying to guess how many presents you got and what would be in those presents.
The kicker was that it was a pointless question at the end of the day. I would be finding out soon enough, and there was no way for me to guess. Hell, I don’t even remember what it was like when I broke through the first time.
The moment the first lightning bolt struck me, my mind blacked out, and I woke up with it already over. I had a vague recollection of seeing the world partially in color and thinking that I needed to make my new meridians, but other than everything else was hazy.
So, I’m going into this with a vague idea that the lightning is going to hit me again, and this time I need to force the Qi into my meridians, not use it to create new ones.
I had one shot at it. Otherwise, I would cripple everything and miss my chance to progress forever. Powerless.
And with that treacherous little thought, my excitement for tomorrow was replaced by worry and a creeping anxiety.
My nerves were getting to me as I thought of letting almost a year’s worth of work just go down the drain and leave me stranded with no power at all.
It was pressure, a weight that settled over me, constantly driving me forward. It wasn’t new, of course. I’ve been experiencing it for the whole time I’ve been in this world.
Just a constant thing pressing down on me, slowly grinding away my nerves. If I messed this up, anything at all really, then I was so fucked it wasn’t even funny.
The first time I woke up in that village, the pressure that some crazy cultivator was going to come and kill me drove me to start cultivating.
That, followed by the crushing reality that the biggest threat to my survival at that point wasn’t other people. It was dying of dehydration, starvation, and exposure since I was in an abandoned brunt village with no one else in sight.
So I ignored it and got down to business. I pushed away the thought of my friends and family and focused on eating the next day.
From there, everything was just nonstop action on my part. The only downtime I had was when I was with Ouka’s family, and even then, it was ruined by my paranoia that someone was going to find me and kill me for the manual.
Just moving forward and forward and forward. Marching on and on in a constant rush, and somehow, it never fully hit me until right now just how anxious I am about the whole thing.
I let out a quiet laugh at the thought. Not because it was particularly funny, but more laughing at myself as I realized something.
It’s never going to end. Because that’s what cultivation, what gaining power, what surviving is all about.
I’m always going to be facing something that needs to be done correctly or else everything goes to shit. I’m always going to be facing the unknown and unfamiliar. It is always going to be me, alone in the woods, looking at the stars, trying to contemplate my next move.
This moment just happened to be the first moment in a while when I stopped long enough to let everything catch up with me. The last time was when I first came to this world and broke down crying.
I don’t want to cry this time. I refused to let my nose sour and tears flow, not again. But it was hard. Everything was just so hard to do.
The stars twinkled in comfort as I slowly wiped my eyes and nose. They helped a bit. Just not enough.
It was always going to be this way. I’m always going to be alone, always close to fucking everything up, always plowing ahead with no rest. That’s what this world is going to be for me for the foreseeable future.
I bit my lip but didn’t let my body do anything else. That could wait until later– the anxiety, the loneliness, the stress. Everything could wait until later. For now, I have a tribulation to pass, and I don’t plan to mess it up.
With that thought, I cleared my head and counted the stars to keep my mind off things. Slowly, I drifted off to sleep.
The next day, I woke up and did a few morning stretches before eating some food. I wasn’t particularly energetic, but I wasn’t tired either. Surprising considering how long I stayed up last night.
I packed up my little camp before heading off to my destination. I confiued to admire the scenery as I walked, letting my mind stay blank to avoid dwelling on any thoughts I had last night.
I kept track of the birds, smiled at any squirrels that ran across the road, and tried to maintain a positive attitude by immersing myself in nature and its colors.
Eventually, after another day of walking, I stopped and made camp. I had a good meal and decided to meditate to get rid of any lingering thoughts I had about the night before.
I didn’t draw in any more Qi. If I did, then I would trigger the tribulation, and I was still too close to the city for that. Nope, this wasn’t cultivating. It was just to get my mind clear and my emotions in check.
I imagined each breath in collected my thoughts, and each one out let them exit. On and on I went until my mind was completely blank, and no thoughts came to the surface.
Then I let one slip through. I had to succeed tomorrow. No, I was going to succeed tomorrow. There was no other outcome, no other possibility.
By this time tomorrow, I will be in the Qi gathering stage. The source of thɪs content is NovєlFіre.net
Simple as that.
With that thought echoing in my head, I closed my eyes and went to sleep. This time, no thoughts or dreams kept me awake.
When I awoke, I was refreshed and energized. I did a few stretches and warm-up moves before eating a nice breakfast and cleaning up my campsite again.
After I did that, I stepped back onto the road and continued on my way. The morning air was warm and damp, as the sun climbed higher and higher into the sky.
My walk was calm and peaceful. I smiled as I looked at everything and saw the colors of Qi twirling through everything, but I didn’t have any excitement or nervousness. I simply admired the surroundings and kept an eye on the horizon for the fortress.
Sure enough, after a few hours of walking, I saw the fortress silhouette in the distance. There was a fork in the road that led right to it, but I didn’t follow it.
Instead, I stepped off the road and walked into the plains surrounding the area. The fortress itself was never the goal after all. Now, it was time to find a good stop to do this in.
A quick look around told me that this was going to be harder than I thought. The plains didn’t seem to have Qi gathered in one place like the forest or cave did. Instead, the Qi was spread out rather evenly.
That made it hard for me to find a good spot. I wandered around for a couple more hours before I finally found a place that would work. Or, it was as good as I was going to get.
There was a spot that had more flowers than the other bits, and the Qi there was denser than the surroundings. It wasn’t much, but it was good enough.
Also, it would be nice to sit down in a flower bed while I did this. They smelled nice, what else was there to say?
Satisfied with my selection, I sat down in lotus position and closed my eyes. The familiar rhythm of my breathing slowly drowned out the buzz of insects as I focused on my Qi.
Each breath brought in more Qi as every part of me got fuller and fuller. Soon, the Qi was pressurized and pushing on my meridians.
Like last time, it lacked the strength to enter them. All it did was press against them like a kid looking through the window of a candy shop.
Now it was time to give them a little push.
Crack!
Boom!
“Right on schedule,” I thought with a grin as I opened my eyes. The clear blue sky had clouded over, the wind whipped up the flowers, and slowly, rain began to fall.
I looked up and saw the multi-color lightning flash through the sky as it gathered above me. Similar to last time, only now I saw just how the Qi was affected.
Every color, from brown to green to white, raced from the ground and up into the sky. They twirled around each other as they went up, excitedly racing each other before they made it into the clouds and combined with the lightning.
The Qi came from far and wide to join in, and what I can only describe as a tornado of colors formed with me in the center. Everything else was blocked, and all that was left was me and my little area of flowers.
I let out a laugh in disbelief when I realized why this was happening. The Qi helped form the lightning, which is why it needed to be in a Qi-rich area. Otherwise, there was a risk that the lightning wouldn’t properly form, and there wouldn’t be enough power to use to break through.
I sat in awe as the color tornado grew stronger and stronger around me. The lighting above grew as thick as my torso before it finally stopped. The tornado still raged around me, the wind still blew, and the rain still fell, but the lightning stopped moving.
It hung in the sky, like someone had taken a picture of it, defying all reason to just stay still. It was waiting, I realized. For me.
“I’m ready,” I said as I slowly raised my hands. The rain landed gently on my palm, slowly pooling and running down my arm. I sat still, waiting like it had waited for me.
Crack!
BOOM!
The lightning raced down and crashed into me. It didn’t come alone, though. With it came all the golden Qi from the surroundings.
The Qi formed a spiral around the lighting as it struck me. It raced up and down my body, drawing in all the golden Qi from me to add to the spiral following it.
The lighting would bring in Qi from the surroundings and play with it before letting the Qi go out, and then bringing in new Qi. The Qi screamed in excitement as they cried to be next, for they had just found the best playground.
It ran in and out of my body, playing tag and rotating the Qi in and out, and I felt sad. It was leaving me out. I didn’t want to be left out.
I tried to bring my own golden Qi to play, but it wouldn’t leave my body. It was too scared since it didn’t have a place to come back to.
So I asked the lightning how it was doing it. How was it playing with the Qi, weaving it inside and out?
The lightning paused and looked at me, stunned. ‘You’re not going to make me stop playing,’ it asked.
‘No, I want to play with you, but I can’t bring my Qi out like you can. Can you teach me?’ I cried, feeling left out. It looked like fun, why can’t I play too?
‘Of course, you can play! Look, you just need to do this,’ The lightning cried with joy before diving back into me.
I followed it quickly with my Qi when I saw it came to the one place in my body that didn’t have Qi. My meridians.
‘It wouldn’t play outside since it hasn’t explored everything inside. You need to do that before coming outside, silly!’ The lightning giggled at me, and I pouted.
‘I’m no silly! I just can’t get in there! The door’s locked,’ I explained, and poked my meridians with my Qi. It couldn’t go in.
‘Oh no! Don’t worry! I’ll help. Ready, push!’ the lightning screamed as it crashed into the door.
I followed shortly afterwards and slammed my Qi into it. Suddenly, with a little pop, the door opened and the Qi rushed in.
It was only one door, I realized with despair. I had only let the golden Qi go in. What about the other colors?!
Panicked, I turned to the lightning, but they had already gone home. The golden Qi laughed and played as they danced in and out of my body, but the rest of the colors still were too scared and sad as they watched it.
“Can I have more, please?! I want to play more!” I shouted to the lightning in the sky, and a new bolt came down. This one brought the red Qi to play.
It came down and I asked it for help.
‘You really want to play with us?! Like really, really? With everyone?’ It cried with delight, and I nearly jumped up in excitement.
“Of course I do! You’re all so pretty and fun! Why wouldn’t I?” I screamed with a smile, only to get a laugh back.
‘Then I’ll help you! Make sure you play with us a lot, okay?’ It giggled and went to help me slam down the red door.
‘Of course!’ I shouted as I ran after it and crashed into the door. It gave way, and the red Qi started dancing and laughing with everyone else.
I followed along, giggling with glee as I did until the red lightning went back home. I was sad for a moment, but then the brown lightning came!
From there, I met all the colors and played with them a ton!
They were all shocked that I was trying to play with them and not stopping them. I was confused why they would think that, but they still played with me in the end, so it was all good!
Eventually, all my color Qi had broken down the doors and weaved in and out of me, leaving the final big door that still needed to be broken down. I worried for a moment since I wasn’t sure if I could do it alone, but then a lightning bolt came down to help!
It didn’t have any color that I could see, and it was a lot calmer than the other ones, too. I asked it if it wanted to play too, but it just stayed silent for a moment.
I thought it wanted to think about it, so I waited and played with my Qi colors. I don’t know how long it took before the last lightning bolt spoke, but it must have been like, a hundred years!
‘Why do you play with them? Would it not be better for you to stop them?’ It finally asked.
‘What, why would I do that? That would be mean!’ I said strongly, a little annoyed that they keep asking me the same thing.
‘But you… I don’t understand,’ it said, confused, which made me confused. Why was it confused?
“If I play with them, then they show me pretty things! They want to play, and I want to have fun with them. Keeping them from playing is going against what they want, and that would make me a jerk,” I said to the lightning, trying to express how I feel.
‘Also, they taught me how to play and helped me break the doors down. It would make me like a super jerk to not play with them after that. Like, the biggest, superest, meanest jerk of them all,’ I explained with emotion, since words didn’t do a good enough job.
The lighting stayed silent for a long time after that. I kept trying to break down the big, stupid door that was left. The color Qi danced around it and tried to help, but I wasn’t sure if I could do it.
Oh, no! Was I not going to be able to let the other Qi play?! That was terrible. I have to keep trying!
‘I see. I see…that’s hahaha,’ the lightning started to say something, only to break down laughing at the end. I looked at it and saw that it still wasn’t playing, so I don’t know how it’s having fun, but as long as it is having then, that’s the important thing.
‘Would you like help?’ it asked after what felt like, I don’t know, a thousand years. But I didn’t care how long it took.
I turned to is excitedly and nodded frantically. I would! I would!
With one final laugh, the lighting slammed into the door, and I followed after. And unlike the last thousand times I tried it, this time the door broke!
The remainder of my Qi rushed into my meridians before going and playing with the color Qi. I laughed and asked the lightning bolt if it wanted to play, too.
‘No, I need to leave now. But maybe next time. Never change, Leon,’ It answered before leaving.
I waved it goodbye and suddenly felt sleepy. Like, I could sleep for a hundred years. I must have used too much energy playing.
I flopped backwards and laughed as the flowers tickled the back of my neck. I stared up at the clouds as they slowly disappeared, and I slowly closed my eyes.
Yep, I can’t wait until next time either!
======================================================
Honey, wake up, it’s time for your tribulation fever dream again!
In all seriousness, I really like how the tribulation scene turned out. It’s a joy to write and made me smile.
Now Leon has gained new powers and officially broken through to Qi gathering. Yay Leon.
If only he thought about his location a bit more. If there are monsters down south, and adventurers are going to kill the monsters, I wonder where the adventurers are going?
Well, I’m sure Leon will figure it out soon. For now, let him sleep in a bed of flowers.
Anyway, let me know what y’all think, and as always–
Until next time, friends!