Tribution? I’d read about them of course. When breaking through to certain higher Cultivation Realms, the Heavens would challehem, angry at their as towards immortality. There were many types, but most involved lightning, while some also involved creatures from other realms appearing to try and kill the Cultivator, or at least test their will. Are you sure?

  Daiyu shook her head, even as her damaged and frozen body was healing she was using her Spirit Water to attack, as well as tering the poison gas. Na’s shield bubbles were repelling it, but how long that would st was uain. It is merely a guess, but… the way this space is created and sealed… things e in, but not get out… Her mental voice was filled with static, fading, but I trated on the fading overp of her Silver Cord and my e, p iher, trying to feel it with Chirurgery, and suddenly her voiapped bato focus, even as amber letters bzed in my vision.

  Your Skill, Silver e has advanced from Rank 5 to Rank 6, breaking through the first bottleneck. e between your Material and Astral forms is strengthened, and the damage taken from haviher destroyed is less reflected oher. All abilities involving es and bonds you possess are further strengthened. You are better able to overp the Silver Cords of others who sent with your e, allowing you to fun as a bea, allowing spiritual data to flow betweeerial and the Astral. [Css: Imperious] [Type: Artifice]

  In addition, as I broke another bottleneck, I gained yet another Level in Prodigy Of The Lower Worlds, which made me smile wryly. I wonder if there’s an upgrade for mastering the Css at such a rapid pace? Maybe I’ll find out in a few Levels. The more important thing though was the surge of strength I felt as Silver e upgraded. It seemed the two biggest factors in one’s Statistics were firstly and most importantly the Chakra work, but after that, the Silver Cord or equivalent pyed a big role, and my power bloomed.

  I am willing to gamble he will not wish the space destroyed. Daiyu’s thoughts were clear to me now. Looking at her with my Eye, I could see her Rank of Lovers’ Link had risen, and rose again even as I watched. I could feel all of her, more clearly than ever, all her hopes, dreams, emotions…

  Don’t fet about me, bro! Aiko’s e als bato focus. If you’ve already ruined me, what’s it matter if it happens again? I mean, a girl only has one first…

  Aiko! I thought her name back at her loudly, showing my displeasure at her joke, but she merely replied to me with her mind, her spirit, not hesitating to fire arrows at the monk, her Golden Sisters bad attag him, though the monk called out the name of another Frozen Naraka, and a great fan made of translut ied, the gradients going from red to purple with each se. Feeling danger from that, I let out a warning shout. Mere moments had passed, thought unication nigh instantaneous, but the monk was also swift, and it took him little time to prepare his move.

  Just help those pair of foolish foxes, bro! My sis stopped her jokes, but her face was flushed, and a g her status surprised me. Daiyu and I came for a reason!

  “Insolence! Destroying the craft of a master of the Formation Arts is a sin, the karma heavy!” The monk swung his fan, and the wo golden statues were sliced in two, the shields of rated, spatial element surging purple, showing how it was dohis transdent monk is furious! Break!” Space fluctuated, and the remaining golden warriors lost their defensive shields, the barriers popping like soap bubbles. The ripples spread out, and my sis darted backwards, knowing without the prote the poisonous fog would quickly kill her painfully.

  Ihe monk surpasses me in every way, I am dust in front of him… but he is mistaken if he believes that the power he has stolen is his own. The Heavens have not yet judged him worthy, I am certain. Besides… g’e has granted me this Favour, and I shall use it, and one day it shall be mine, not hers. You will see it so, correct? Daiyu turned her head, giving me a brilliant smile, her dark eyes seeming deeper than ever, before she rushed to my sis, throwing out a volley of water bullets, which the fan deflected, fragments of ice chipping off.

  “Fetting me-me are you?” Shaeu unleashed light and wind together, creating a vivid fshbang effect. The monk, surprised by such a blow, was dazed for a merest fra of a sed, but Shaeu’s pinwheels sought his nece more, and blood bloomed. “That-that is three…” she crowed, as the monk swept his fan. One Pinwheel was severed, the spinning head careening forwards, but Shaeu was waiting for such. Wind surged, and the pinwheel spun backwards. The monk se with his Qi, but thought it no danger, and was surprised as it smmed into his arm, hidden sharp wires within spinning free, slig into his skin.

  “You dare?” the monk roared, and I moved, darting to Nebisuki, who was crawling towards Tamamo-no-Mae, who was dangling on the ground, half held up by the remaining s. Nebisuki’s flesh was corroding, and blood was fountaining from her severed stumps. I quickly pulled her up, and she looked at me, the light fading from her eyes.

  “It seems that Uranai was mistaken…” She coughed, venomous essence spilling from her onto my armour. “…Unless I needed my fifth tail long… before this…” She g Tamamo-no-Mae, an inscrutable expression on her face. “Grandmreatest of us all. To meet such a fate… I feel sorry for you, despite everything.”

  “Don’t worry.” I pressed the Bezoar bato her trembling hand, and poured out my Spirit Water aher Healing into the surprised Yōkai. “You won’t die yet. Nor will she.” I Tamamo-no-Mae. “As for your missing tails…” My Eye fred, and I could see it had doremendous damage to her spiritual body, the essence of a Kitsune’s power being iails, and the backsh was terrible. “…it so happens Shaeu and I are quite the Chirurgeons. Hold out a little longer, and watch me fulfil my promise, okay? After all… you tributed to our coffers in exge for shares in our business, right? If you die, then that Fae Princess Ffionnan will just get everything. You don’t want that, do you?”

  As Nebisuki ughed disbelievingly, Shaeu, Daiyu and my sis were all distrag the monk, though they were on the defensive, and the whole space quaked, sparks scattering. Cracks spread across the ceiling, and the floor distorted. Runes winked out of existence, and the monk roared in rage. Ba the Material, I out all my earth element, tearing the Sessho-seki apart, and using Daiyu’s birthday present as a pce to store ks of the rock, as well as the destroyed and also intaation Ptes I found within. Not sure it ts as a birthday present, sed-hand jewellery, but having a few treasures within might be nice.

  My Eye was instrumental in figuring out what each Pte did, and while I wasn’t able to uand everything, or even the majority of the plicated artistry that went into the Ptes, I was able to work out whies to break, and whies to steal.

  “You wretched, impulsive fools! This old monk warned you!” He waved his fan, only for Shaeu to make a gesture with her hands towards me. I rushed towards Tamamo-no-Mae, but as I did so, I unleashed Foehn, only for Shaeu to call upon her Wiing Breath. The brilliant jade glow surged, and the monk snorted, Qi surging, his fan of ice scattering it, purple spatial elements fshing.

  “Too bad, you are not-not so calm, monk. I tell-tell you are a crafter, not-not a fighter!” The scattered Foehn that Shaeu cast struck the fan, and immediately began to devour the wind aspect of the elemental ice the fan was made of. It wasn’t strong enough, but as my own Foehn, guided by my aether, smmed into the fan as well, the tects of the Foehn Shaeu and I had discovered long ago bined. Fme fed on wind, and the icy fan colpsed, melting away, and droplets fell on the monk, searing through his robes.

  The expected eruption of anger did not e though. The monk called upon his hands of Qi, tearing off his robes and trying to remove the Foehn. Doing so was futile, however, as the boosted fmes g tenaciously. With an expression of bitter enlighte, the monk severed his own flesh, allowing the Foehn to fall away. “Amitabha. You are certainly worthy of some respect. I, the Saint of Swallowed Sorrows, being pushed so far… but it ends now. This surprised old monk will not allow his efforts to go to waste. Kunlun must pay. You forced me to this. Better you all perish here, than suffer the sequences of your as. Return to the Wheel of Reination and try again!” He smmed his palms together, his Qi hands multiplying and also g in prayer. “I did not defeat the famed Tamamo-no-Mae by being na?ve, I may be a specialist in the Six Noble Pursuits, but make no mistake, I am a Saint, and arian! I have spilled blood for lohan you brats have been living!”

  Ign him, trusting Shaeu to hold her own, at least for a while, I shattered the s holding Tamamo-no-Mae. The fox fell on her face, only for the monk ter something. The space around us began to distort, squeezing in towards me, only for a sudden explosion of ghostly blue lights to surround me, shattering the Qi. I expanded my vision, to see Nebisuki colpsing onto her back, tongue hanging out, her st strength spent on her foxfires. “Akio… grandmother…” she gasped, losing sciousness, only the glow of the Bezoar in her hands showing she was still alive.

  The mist has stopped… Daiyu observed, sharihoughts with me. Indeed, it seemed that with Tamamo-no-Mae disected, the poisonous karma toxin was no longer being geed. I believe we win this, so long as whatever Formatioivates here be managed…

  Oh, it be… I responded, pig up the limp Tamamo-no-Mae. Her ample chest pushed against me, only in rags, but I had no time for embarrassment now, and I was a different man to who I used to be. This is no time for that. The a fox was alive, though she gave ion. It was as if her mind was gone, or at least dormant.

  “It is useless. She was stripped of all her karma, leaving nothi. All that remains is her hollow shell and a few fragments of life. But in the end, it is for the best. With her sins, the Wheel of Reination will not be kind to her. Paying before death is simply a blessing for her. Though hollow vessels always be filled anew.” the monk decred boldly. He was still attag with his Qi hands, and the walls were sprouting icy hands and faces, but with the diminishing poisohreat was also dimihough again that worried me. Where’s the iable death? I holy don’t see it…

  “Not for you to decide, old man.” I shook my head. “Especially when it’s so self-serving. All you did was harvest her, like some crop. And you betrayed those that aided you.” I o the corpses of the Yōkai and mortals who y broken and corroded. “But who am I to judge? I’ve killed, and I’ve decided who should live and who should die. So if you let us take her away, then we call this even. You want revenge on Kunlun, well, that’s your business. We won’t interfere.”

  The Saint of Swallowed Sorrows seemed perplexed by that. “You would end this battle now?”

  “Of course. I value the lives of my rades far more than ending yours. While we are at odds over Tamamo-no-Mae, you’ve had what you wanted from her, and yes, we damaged your Formation here, but we were fighting for our lives.”

  Daiyu agreed. “It has been an honour meeting a wise senior, one who has climbed to the pinnacle, Sainthood. If we met ier circumstances, I would have greatly desired to learn your wisdom. Do not let yht go out here, senior.”

  My sis couldn’t follow the ese, so I filled her in with her link to me, and then transted her response. “A monk should be able to let go es, right? Aren’t you afraid of bad karma yourself?”

  “What I fear?” The monk ughed. “You ot fathom what I fear. But your words have a certain wisdom to them. However…” He looked up at the cracked ceiling of this separate dungeon space, then down at Tamamo-no-Mae in my arms. “…preparations have been made. O gamble. I was not prepared, but to face what I have deyed so long…” He looked at Daiyu then, shaking his head. “Let this seniive you o piece of wisdom. This world disected from the Heavenly Realm many, many years ago. And in that was both trial and opportunity. Those cowards from Kunlun stole what they could, keeping it for themselves, and others likely made simir choices. Bereft of the Qi of Heaven ah to Cultivate, even those whose spirits reached Nascy would wither and die, uo reach the Sainted realm and free themselves of physical limitations. I was not alohers perished, but I… I am a phrough guile, I aplished what greater Cultivators with all their vaunted might could not.” He glowed with pride, especially as Daiyu hung on his every word, like a good student. This is good, buy me just a little more time…

  “You must hone your body, your Qi, your skills, but never he Six Noble Pursuits. For they are the foundation of true Cultivation. A on fed by a master Smith give one wings. A Talisman, used properly, turide of any battle. Refining create medies and pills that produce miracles. Taming…” he snorted, eyeing the fallen Kitsune, as well as Shaeu. “…putting such worthless spirits to use has many possibilities.”

  “How-how rude. I am no mere spirit, I am as much a person as you are.” Shaeu scoffed, but she too was listening to the lecture, while ready to strike at any moment.

  “Divination… those that know the path of the future are able to mould it to their will. And stly… Formations… used properly, they make the battlefield one you ot lose in. They even trick the Heavens themselves, though my skills pale before the heights. But in a barren world, so far from them… yes, here I made my , and broke through the limits Kunlun shackled me with. And I kept Tamamo-no-Mae alive. For she still had a use. If you did not e here, provide me fresh karma, then I would have had to use her one final time. But since you did…”

  He activated his Qi, and the space surged with violet energies. A great runiation lit up, no, two paired formations, and a subordinate child formation, whiobody but I could see, as it was oerial, the Sessho-seki standing at the tre of it. The va-strewn ground boiled, and for a moment the ether density matched the deepest lower Astral, stored Qi gathered over many hundreds of years blooming. Quickly…

  My Eye was w overtime, seeing into the Sessho-seki, searg for a Formation. Ba the dungeon in the Boundary, the Saint finished his speech triumphantly. “…you all shall take the trial, the approbation of the Heavens in my stead. Karmifusion Formation, Stage One. Bnk Ste.”

  The monk was lit up with light, his Qi sucked out of him, leaving him empty.

  Daiyu unched an attack, and Shaeu, her hidden cards prepared, tried to interrupt the ws, but hands of Qi that had already bee up blocked the torrent of attacks effortlessly. My sis had no more luck, her arrows scattering off his defences, and Na was c, uo mount an attack, while Nebisuki was unscious.

  I’m the one who do it… Prominence Dawn had been prepared, and I had used light element to try and mask the brilliant glow, though I suspected that the monk could see through that easily enough with his Qi Perception, but he didn’t take it seriously. Which might be a mistake…

  “This would never have worked in the era of Kunlun, but… Karmifusion Formation, Stage Two. Sed Self!” The Formations bzed with violet light, and stored, different Qi poured into the monk, increasing his power, while his drained Qi was drawn into the Formation. “Those that cheat the Heavens never e to good ends, and my strength will never match a true Saint, but… so long as I have the will and the patience, I will have my revenge! Karmifusion Formation, Stage Three, Destiny Adjudication!”

  A brilliant light surged, his stored Qi radiating out, along with a signifit amount of spatial element. At that moment, Shaeu, Daiyu and my sis retreated behind me, and I unleashed Prominence Dawn, fuelled by my remaining Foehn. The monk smiled slightly, as if my efforts were useless, but at that moment my Material form finally retrieved what I was looking for.

  Spatial Expansion And trol Formatioem Css: Imperious] [Item Type: Artifice]

  A Formation pte, one of many bio create a Legendary Formation that spins together a number of different, plimentary runiations, a bour of many long years and immense dedication and Qi, that touches the Laws of Space, Id the Dao of Karmic Retribution. Eapo works as part of a greater whole, and this pte draws on the insuffit aether of the fragile Boundary, verting it to usable Qi and expanding the space within the Sessho-seki to aodate the other Formations.

  Got you. Even as this was happening, the volos erupted fiercely, blowing ash high into the atmosphere, the ground trembling. Lightning began to flicker in the clouds, but not the usual static discharges caused by ash particles rubbing together. No, this was different, and very ominous. The ether density was rapidly sg up, and the sky itself seemed riven with cracks into deep violet darkness…

  Within the Sessho-seki, the monk ughed. “It begins… the Sessho-seki, this prison and sanctuary, will momentarily colpse. I inteo pass on the karmic fate to the draiamamo-no-Mae, a fitting punishment for her many crimes, or if that failed, wait for a foolish visitor to this rock who is suitable. I have great patience, but now…” he smiled at us. Here it es. If my death is almost certain, it ’t be anything but this. What would be different after the Quest, other than me being strohat’s the clue to surviving this…

  “Karmifusion Final Stage, Destiny Transference!” he roared, and the space shook, the Formation arrays shuddering. The rock began to crack, fissuring irregurly, and a faint, almost beautiful series of singing voices could be heard. The monk ughed. “I see, I see. The Earthly world I have not seen in so long must be drifting closer to the Heavens once more. I guessed as much when I saw you with power not your own…” He my wary sis and Daiyu. “…but to think the Heavenly Tribution of Purifying Lightning has drawn some of them…”

  “Prepare to get out. Shaeu, carry Nebisuki…” I shouted, simultaneously pulling the Formatioo Daiyu’s ring, while unleashing the fires of Prominence Dawn. The monk snorted, space twisting around him, proteg him, although Foehn quickly ate away at his defences, just as it had against the golden-eyed devourer. But I wasn’t aiming at him, but all in my sight.

  Akio, do you need help? Daiyu’s thoughts rang out but I bade her ready herself to return to the Material. The Destiny Transference was surging, the Qi and the imprint it carried surging, but the monk suddenly frowned, his expression grave.

  “How… at the very st…” His Formations shattered, the Sessho-Seki, without the push of the Spatial Expansion Formation, breaking down, the space itself colpsing prematurely. “But I still trol the Karmifusion Formation. What I make is not so easily broken!” He roared, all of his Qi and hoarded strength boiling out. It left him vulnerable, and the Prominence Dawn of Radiance, taining my Foehn, seared his flesh down to the bone, burning his insides. Above, ierial, the lightning fred down, and I khis was the moment.

  “Prominence… Dusk!” I cried out, and the ring of brilliant light fringed with darkness ied, dark to light, Yin to Yang, as it were. The greedy halo of darkness pulled in the Qi, the karma the old monk was trying to io us all. Then space shattered, and the brilliant, indest golden lightning surged through the shattered Boundary, space crumbling away, and the monk roared in panic, but mog ughter aiful singing could be heard over the sudden blinding fsh as my Prominence Dusk drew the lightning my way.

  “No, no, at the st hurdle… it is Kunlun all ain…” The wounded monk was uo shed his burden in time, the colpsing space revealing his location to the distant, unreachable Heavens, and he was struck by the first bolt. Unfortunately, several bolts forked my way, striking me and the ailed fox in my arms, and the agonising surge of energy bsted out, blinding me, robbing me of my senses. I guess this is it. The moment… is it death, and failure and the loss of everything, or victory snatched from the jaws of defeat?

  ShipTeaser