Xing Lei watched Alustriea hanging off Osilliaice, he was happy for her enthusiasm but at the same time he hoped she could realize the seriousness of being able to cultivate. Body tempering increased the vessel and made it more receptive to refining spiritual energy rather than hoping your natural born talent was enough to not be obliterated when the heavens challenged you. This however was a special situation. The majority of cultivators were fighters, monks and martial artists who trained their bodies through rigorous and relentless challenges against ones own power and the worlds.
Yet Alustriea was a mage.
While some cultivators focused on sutras and talismans or preferred crafting over battle, he truly had no clue how qi refinement would effect her spellcasting. He had never encountered such in his old life. Regardless if it was weapon techniques, crafting intent, sutras and talismans... all derived the energy to have power from the same source, it just required different methods to refine, implement and re-enforce. This would be entirely new ground for him and as he believed, cultivation in general.
As Alustriea pried herself off Osilliaice she came running back to Xing Lei's side who in turn, lifted the lengthy scroll to her, "Since you favor ice magic I decided on the [Exquisite Ice Phoenix] for you. A word of warning though my wife, I honestly have no idea how your being a mage will reflect in cultivation. I will do my best to guide you through the first rotation, if at any time you feel there is something wrong, or your body starts feeling too hot, warn us. This technique is one that focuses on yin cultivation, your affinity for ice should actually improve and you will be at your strongest beneath the moons light. Are you ready to begin?"
Alustriea silently listened practically vibrating as she knelt beside the kobold, she had wait forever for this chance. Her body was practically chomping at the bit to get into the next level, to once again experience cultivating and seeing the world through their eyes. Nodding softly, "I'm ready, tell me what to do."
Xing Lei rose and moved over to adjust her posture, unfurling the scroll before her. "You are about to break through your body tempering into the [Qi Fortification] stage, your body needs to undergo the physical tribulation where your mortal body is broken down and you step forth on the Immortal path. Read the scroll here and follow the words to the letter. I wish I could say this won't hurt, but while being a mortal tribulation and less intense than lightning tribulation, you are in essence destroying yourself for rebirth, for even warrior bodies like ours it is easy to lose focus and for complications to happen. You must stay focused, regardless what happens keep your goal firmly in your mind and heart."
Reaching out he stroked her wheat colored hair, looking into her emerald eyes, "To be perfectly honest I don't know how qi will react to your mystical energy. Nothing may happen. There may be a reaction. For that you will have to find a balance or risk losing one... or both."
Alustriea bit her lip as she listened to Xing Lei before looking down and studying the scroll, the start was easy enough to understand but when it started talking about metaphysical gates in her body she became somewhat confused. Studying the scroll she reached down touching her body as she focused on her health. The scrolls contents read much like a ritual book, only rather than drawing an external magical circle she was imprinting the circle into the very blood and bone that constituted her existence.
Biting her lip in thought she read the entire scroll, thankful for additional notes of her husband's own speculations. It would seem the central core of this 'ritual' was the dantian, a reservoir of energy that was most often located just behind the navel, qi was drawn from the world through a path in her body, refined in this passage then gathered in the metaphysical container. Frowning, she started to realize Xing Lei's concern. Meditation circulated mana, but now it would have to circulate qi too, and it seemed to 'flow' counter that of her magic.
Xing Lei stood up motioning to Osilliaice both lifted their hands and an invisible 'pressure' fell upon the room, Alustriea lifted her head looking between her husband and mate-sister, "What...?"
Xing Lei glanced over, "Focus Alustriea. We have used our spiritual pressure to seal the room, this will block sound and prying eyes for awhile but it is not infinite nor complete. You must break through, now."
As he turned back to his own task she looked at the scroll again nervously. This was uncharted territory, not only for herself, but also for him. She could feel the concern in his voice so she knew the trial ahead would not be easy. Exhaling slowly she closed her eyes and breathed slowly, slipping into that state of meditation that she normally assumed when she was recovering her mystical energy, only now as she opened herself to the ley lines of the world she felt a new energy rushing into her body like a wild stampede.
As she slowly exhaled, her breath became visible as a chilled stream of strange energy surged into her body. Her pale form shivered, unlike her ice spells this cold yin qi that rushed into her body was like being dropped into a frigid stream. A surprised gasp escaped her lips as she did as the scroll suggested, the cold qi pushing against the warm currents of mana making her body squirm. Unbeknownst to the elf, shimmering cracks began to spread out from under her hair, swiftly crossing her smooth skin as the lines began to trail over her body.
Osilliaice glanced over and clenched her jaws to keep from crying out. The physical manifestation of the body tempering tribulation was unique to each person. Her own had felt much like constipation, her body and felt greatly uncomfortable, it knew what it needed to do but something was blocking her. Thus Osilliaice had to crash through, forcing her body to do what should have been normal to find relief. Had Xing Lei knew his mate was comparing her mortal tribulation to that of a bowel movement, he'd have immediately spat blood and harshly scolded her.
For Alustriea, her tribulation was making her body sweat. Her insides weren't hot but nor was she cold, she felt trapped between two extreme temperatures that each wanted her sole attention. The leyline running beneath the street was sending a cascade of magical, nourishing energy up through her legs, while the world energy sent a cascade of icy, rain like energy through her forehead and down to collide with her mana. The two forces were in civil war between each other inside Alustriea making her want to scream, yet instead, unknown to herself, her nose started to bleed in her mute silence.
It did not go unnoticed by Xing Lei who watched silently. A cultivators fate was ultimately their own, tribulations were personal affairs, they had to be approached with utmost reverence and care lest the heavens struck you down... which made him realize recently he had rushed his own. Well maybe there were exceptions... but he doubted Alustriea would be one of those. Facing the tribulations was usually a culmination of your training, it was the final test to see if you were ready to move to bigger strengths and greater tasks.
Early tribulations were not too bad. [Qi Fortification] to [Spirit Foundation] was fairly easy, select few cultivators stumbled there unless they were of horrendous talent or complete wastrel with crippled meridians. [Spirit Foundation] to [Spirit Palace] was similarly not excessive in difficulty. It was [Spirit Palace] to [Core Formation] that ones tests became truly life threatening, but it was also at the third to fourth level tribulation that the chaff was separated from the wheat.
No one without talent formed a Core. It just wasn't possible to stumble into the power. You either had the ability or your talent stayed within its Palace forever. Looking to Alustriea, if this worked, he could see her reaching [Spirit Palace] but not beyond it. Not that the technique he provided her couldn't reach higher stages, rather he doubted that Alustriea would be strong enough to shatter her Palace and condense the Core.
Looking past Alustriea his eyes settled on his mate. She would go farther. [Condensed Core] and [Core Shattered] were both within her reach. The second major tribulation would be Osilliaice's questionable limit, it would ultimately decided if she became an [Earth Immortal] and further [Heavens Immortal]. Hopefully she would join him at [True Immortal].. of course that's assuming he survived the ninth level tribulation that originally killed him, being at the cusp of ninth stage and being in it were drastically different things, that final tribulation was where immortals finally broke free of earthly concerns. The apex.
In his old life he had become a [Half Step-True Immortal], but those who reached the apex faced a second tribulation that ultimately sat them at the peak of the cultivation world. It was this very tribulation that had restarted his life... as it had tossed so many back to the cycle over the countless millenia. The strength of a [True Immortal] was beyond what reality could endure, thus every century the Heavens sought to remove that power. Not only to ensure it's own survival but to reconfirm that you deserved that power.
A century to most cultivators was a blink of an eye, yet select few stayed at the apex past that generation gap. Always had the Heavens 'tidied up' those that became lax in holding the power of existence at their finger tips. As he himself had learned... a slight lapse and there was no one to blame but yourself. Glancing to Alustriea he shook his head, she would never see it, not unless she managed to pull a miracle from the Heavens who guarded such opportunities jealously.
From the looks of things, Alustriea was about to shatter her mortal coil, ready to become an entity of spirit cultivation, still, as Xing Lei watched his eyes narrowed. Lifting his gaze from Alustriea he saw a shadow rising behind her, intangible, hazy yet by the same time through his spirit pressure he sensed a presence. Snarling his spear was in his hand and he leapt over the kneeling Alustriea, shivering as he felt the air around her body was freezing cold, seems she took to this technique as easy as a salmon danced up a stream.
Focusing he thrust out, his Spear driving through the shadow, blasting it back to pin the presence to a wall. The shadowy haze seemed to melt downwards slowly revealing the angry red eyes of a gorgeous dark elf... yet not a dark elf. While she was of elven build and had long pointed ears, she also had a pair of curling horns erupting from her forehead. Her eyes weren't just red of pupil but solid crimson orbs that seemed to burn in her eye sockets. Dark lips were parted in a grimace as a forked tongue darted out.
Xing Lei looked into those eyes ignoring the full breasts that nestled his spear between ample cleavage. The strike should have pierced the heart of any mortal, but this was no mortal... heart? Loss, Goddess of Misery had no need of such a thing! She stared at Xing Lei in rage, hissing and snarling in his rather undisturbed face.
"Hello Loss, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. You're not getting your talons in my wife this time." Xing Lei's voice was steady as his yellow eyes met those blazing eyes. Her hatred focused on him as her talon like ebony fingers reached out to grab his throat, if he felt her grip he never showed discomfort. Rather what WAS causing him discomfort was the tip of his tail in close proximity to Alustriea. The technique focused the yin in the practitioner to great heights, this meant they almost naturally emitted a cold aura.
Normal frost wouldn't bother a cultivator. Running naked through the coldest blizzard of an icy tundra nor the melting heat of a lava bath would not really bother a cultivator. That aura however was infused with qi, it sliced through spiritual defenses as a knife through butter. He would need to focus his pressure to ward away the cold invading his tail, but right now it was focused on Loss, if he switched targets the vile Goddess would certainly have her way...