"Heaven's Pillar, eh…" Shu He whispered to himself as he laid on his bed back in his stone room, he had just returned from his meeting with Wu Zhong, they had spoke about a lot of details, so he was going over everything in his head.
'To reach the 9th stage you must undergo tribulation, but to undergo tribulation you must have permission to use Heavens Pillar from the Iridescent Emperor himself'.
'It is impossible to invoke a tribulation elsewhere… why?'
This was the point he didn't really understand, a tribulation was something sent by the heavens, why would there be a restriction on where you can invoke one? Is there a good reason? Did the emperor himself block them? Is that possible?
His head ran crazy with theories, but they held no weight, Shu He barely understood how this country, this world and cultivation at the higher levels worked, for all he knew, the reason could become obvious as he progressed.
'But then, what about the other condition?'
He was shocked when he heard about it.
'Those that reach Mortal Rebirth must leave this world, their tribulation will open a gate which they must enter'.
In other words, this world wasn't the only one, but no matter how much he asked Wu Zhong couldn't tell him anything, whether that was because he wasn't allowed to tell him, or he truly knew nothing he didn't know.
He said there was a reason everyone that reached that stage left this world, and that was-
Their power would cause this world to become unstable to collapse.
But Shu He felt something was off, he couldn't put his finger on it, but he subconsciously felt like what he had heard wasn't right.
He sighed as he flopped on to his side, these questions would be burning in the back of his mind but for now he had to focus on the present.
He was now an Inner Disciple in name, key words are 'in name'.
He would be granted a portion of the benefits of an inner disciple but will only receive the rest after completing the mission assigned to him by the sect in 6 months' time.
The benefits he had were simply the ability to access some of the more advanced facilities, permission to purchase higher quality goods from the pagoda and 50 points per month, these would certainly help him prepare for the mission to come.
"I'm going to be busy these coming months…"
He closed his eyes, as a cultivator he doesn't need to sleep as much as before however he still finds it helps clear his mind, with what was to come he felt like he needed it.
However just as his eyelids shut –
*Knock* *Knock*
His eyelids shot open as he frowned.
'Who is it, at this hour?'
It was late in the evening, while time of day was basically irrelevant to a lot of cultivators they'd usually do their business at daybreak.
He reluctantly pulled himself out of bed and tapped the slate by the door causing it to scrape open.
"Yes?..." He asked, yet when he saw who was standing there he sobered up.
"Bai Shun? What are you doing here?".
Stood with his arms crossed and tapping his foot was the short black haired, blue eyed senior brother that he was very familiar with.
"So you're back, finally" Bai Shun breathed a sigh of relief.
"Huh? Were you waiting for me?" Shu He asked with confusion.
"I'll explain inside" He waltzed in without asking for permission, making Shu He stare blankly.
'He could have at least said excuse me…' He shook his head and followed him in, he reached the main chamber to see Bai Shun looking around frowning.
"Do you not have any furniture for multiple people?"
"No? It's my room not a meeting hall." Shu He shook his head.
Bai Shun sighed "Never mind then, come, sit." He said as sat on the stone floor in seiza.
Shu He sat opposite, his legs crossed.
Bai Shun frowned.
"What?" Shu He asked, wondering what he did wrong.
"Nothing… I guess I'm more used to formal meetings" Bai Shun shook his head "Anyway, first of all I want to apologise."
"For what?"
'Did you do something wrong?' Shu He thought with a clear question mark floating above his head.
"About the event with Jin Bao"
Shu He became clearly confused "Huh? What did you have to do with that?"
"I… said a few too many things about you to the sect master, I thought she'd step in and help if she realised the danger and your value but… she took it the other way." Bai Shun explained reluctantly.
"Ah!" Realisation struck Shu He.
"What?" Bai Shun almost jumped after his sudden reaction.
"I was wondering why the Sect Master was staring me down that day… almost like she was telling me I couldn't run; I'd never spoke to her much before that, so it made no sense… I see so that's why…" He put the pieces together in his mind as he nodded.
"Unfortunately… I'm sorry about that".
"It's fine, I'm still alive, rather I'm even better off since I was just promoted to an inner disciple" Shu He shrugged while reassuring him.
"I see… that's goo- WAIT, what did you just say?" Bai Shun asked, slamming the stone floor with his palms.
"Uh, I was promoted to inner disciple, in name only though."
Bai Shun leaned back, slapping his forehead "Why do I feel like my apology was wasted…?" before he leaned back in to position "Do you know how long it took me to become an inner disciple?"
"…A year?"
"5 years!" Bai Shun sighed "You're incredibly lucky… to become an inner disciple this early will help you a lot".
"Yeah, but I won't get all the benefits until 6 months later, I have to go on an assigned mission then".
"A mission?" Bai Shun held his thumb to his mouth as he thought "Do you want me to help you train again until then? I don't know what you'll be sent to do but to be safe it might be a good idea".
"Are you sure? It would help to have a consistent sparring partner, but aren't you busy with responsibilities as a core disciple?" Shu He expressed his concern.
"Heh, after running the Newcomer Tournament and getting on the Sect Master's good side my senior brothers and sisters are backing off a bit, so I have some room to breathe" Bai Shun said with a smirk.
"Ah" Shu He replied, unable to say anything else.
'Well, using someone else's influence is a valid tactic after all'.
"Anyway, now that that's out of the way, there was something else I wanted to speak about" Bai Shun spoke as he changed the subject "I said before, I'd tell you why Chao Shi is in closed cultivation after the tournament right?"
"Oh, right" Shu He suddenly sat up straight, he was certainly interested.
"…I'll tell you what he said, in his own words" Bai Shun closed his eyes like he was reimagining a scene in his memory.
"He said… I've waited too long, I became distracted, investing myself in her to distract myself, and because of that she died, because of my negligence, my softness, she is no longer with us; I cannot falter any longer, my path awaits, I must walk it now."
"…" Shu He paused; his tongue stuck in his mouth for a minute before he finally spoke "Does he blame himself for Yun Hua's death?"
"…I told him it wasn't his fault, that we couldn't have predicted what we didn't know, but…" Bai Shun's face became filled with self-loathing "I took those words back, how could I say that when I don't even believe that myself, I can't help but think what we could have done differently, if I had stayed back with her and let Chao Shi handle the rest on his own".
He shook his head "But the past is the past, so I decided to work even harder so next time, no matter what, I won't even have any regrets left even if I fail".
"Chao Shi is the same, except he's facing an even bigger obstacle than me." Bai Shun's fist gripped tightly.
"…If he's in closed door cultivation, is he attempting to assail the next stage?" Shu He asked, picking up the clues.
"That's right, he's currently undergoing the process of Seed Creation".
"!... So that's the level he's at!.." Shu He wasn't too surprised, in terms of Qi quality and quantity he was one of the highest he had witnessed, it made sense he was already at the 7th stage.
"But that's not all, he's attempting to reach the next stage of the Sword".
"Next stage… of the sword? What does that mean?"
"Chao Shi is what's known as a sword cultivator, that doesn't just mean he uses a sword or there would be many more known sword cultivators, it means he has attained Intent and merged it with his core flame".
Shu He frowned, suddenly there were more terms he was unfamiliar with.
"What's intent?".
Bai Shun paused and thought for a second.
"It's a physical manifestation of one's understanding of a Dao, however it is by no means easy to achieve, the amount of people in this sect that can use intent can be counted on one hand".
"So, can anything be an intent? Is it just weapons?"
"No, like I said it's a representation of the Dao, and the Dao is limitless, because of this the effects created by the intent differs greatly depending on the source".
"…Anyway, Chao Shi is attempting to break through to the next level of intent, he has been stuck for more than half a century unable to progress, that's why what he's doing now is reckless; He's pushing himself until he achieves it no matter what It takes."
"It's that dangerous?"
"Of course, when dealing with intent a false understanding can lead to catastrophic consequences."
"…"
"And that isn't even the end, he intends to assail the tribulation soon after, he already has permission to do so".
"What?! Isn't that too fast?!"
"I thought so too, but just like he said, "my path awaits, I must walk it now.", he doesn't want to falter again."
"…" Shu He went silent, he felt like he knew those words all too well at this point, just like him Chao Shi has realised he needs to move on.
"The reason I wanted to explain this to you was because he asked me to, and to give you a message".
"?... What is it?".
"He said that once he leaves his closed-door cultivation, he has something to give to you".