Second Tribulation

*Things like sexism and racism are purely for worldbuilding and to make it more realistic. Thank you for your understanding.*

Qing Fang sat silently on the mossy grass of the underwater cave.

His huge body breathed lightly and calmly as his eyes were softly closed in cultivation, his open cat-like ears twitching with the air currents from time to time. His legs were crossed and his deadly claws lay gently in his lap as his back was straight and his head slightly tilted back.

The wooden crown wore itself around the thick and muscular neck of Qing Fang, passively agitating the surrounding Law fragments. As it had contact with Qing Fang's body, the Law of Blood fragments riled violently and clung to Qing Fang, seeking to enter his Dao Body.

The amount of Law of Blood fragments in his stomach was extremely vast, nearly ten times the amount that comprised his Dao Body. After all, the hundreds of cultivators that his dead slaves amassed for him were lying there in his gut unmoving. Qing Fang even stopped himself from digesting the blood as he hoped to use all of it in his cultivation!

Speaking of his slaves, all the others were dead except for Nu Li and Long. It seems that being bought by Qing Fang was truly the worst thing that could've happened to them. Qing Fang knew that Long lived yet, however, he didn't concern himself with the dragonman as he wasn't going to set out and recover him.

Going back to the city right now, when Qing Fang had ample resources, was pointless. The slave could die for all he cared.

Before Qing Fang would have taken six weeks to cultivate from middle Stage 2 all the way up to the second tribulation. However, now that he had the wooden crown, his cultivation speed had sped by fivefold! The effect was much greater than even a third-tier pill!

And so, Qing Fang approached the boundary for higher Stage 2 in a little under three days of seclusion! This speed was unheard of in the real world! Only fables and lofty tales of legendary cultivators could match this speed!

The glowing mass of Stage 2 Blood Laws that comprised Qing Fang's Dao Body in his image seemed to swell and compress on a minor scale! The continuous absorption fed the Dao Body and pushed it to become higher Stage 2!

A wade of steam escaped between Qing Fang's fangs as he ascended to higher Stage 2. He could feel the increase in power of his Law fragment manipulation and felt closer to the Dao. He missed this feeling; the feeling of seemingly having your head submerged in the waters of truth and power.

The more he cultivated, the more he realised the power and comprehension he held before he destroyed his cultivation.

Besides that, his body barely strengthened at all from the breakthrough to higher Stage 2.

Qing Fang revelled in the feeling, and another three days of constant cultivating passed again. He could feel his Stage 2 Laws expanding at their seams once again!

Reaching a breaking point from the constant growth and influx of fresh Blood Law fragments, the Stage 2 Dao Body expanded and compressed once again, signalling an increase in minor realms!

A thicker waft of scalding air was released from Qing Fang as he felt himself become peak Stage 2. It had only been just under six days of cultivation and he had torn through two minor realms like they meant nothing...

And this was without the use of pills! The natural cultivation treasure, the wooden crown, was composed of natural energy and Laws. It was completely pure and aided cultivation without drawbacks. Such is why natural treasures are so sought after.

Qing Fang had done three minor compressions of his Stage 2 Dao Body, resulting in him becoming peak Stage 2. It wouldn't be long before he welcomed the second tribulation! He did not fear it wouldn't come, for he had a natural treasure aiding him.

And thus, Qing Fang immersed himself in cultivation once more. He closed off his senses to everything, even the area around him. His mind was cast to the World of Laws, where he saw a sea of ownerless Laws being chipped away by his constant cultivation.

Threads of bloody red that had been refined by him flew in tiny rivers and flooded the Dao Body that steadily grew towards the realm of Quasi Stage 3. Qing Fang could feel his power increase right before his eyes and a bloated feeling started to overcome his Dao Body.

It seems the Stage 2 Blood Laws were reaching their limits! They had already been refined three times, which was the minor realm cultivation, and they couldn't be refined anymore! The Dao Body began to swell and grow thicker and thicker and stronger until Qing Fang would welcome the second tribulation!

And after under three days of more cultivation, totalling a little over eight days, Qing Fang could feel the tribulation descending!

His Dao Body was flooding outwards with Stage 2 Blood Laws and had reached the absolute limit of this major realm. Now, he could only ascend!

Qing Fang opened his eyes and cast his gaze to the sky, and saw the familiar colourless energy of Heaven amass overhead! It was menacing and sought to strike him down with a mighty blow as it gathered its power!

The energy was amassed for half a day until Qing Fang felt an immeasurably strong force fall down upon him! His physical body was completely unfazed by the second tribulation and sat there with a serene expression. The moss around him was crushed into a flat green as the solid rock sunk half a meter downwards under the force! It was a perfect circle three meters from Qing Fang!

However, in the World of Laws, the Quasi Stage 3 Dao Body experienced the crushing force with much more difficulty! The Laws were threatened to be dispelled into nothingness as they bent and sank under the immense force! It seemed to be malformed and almost break at times, however, it sat there in the lotus position unwaveringly and weathered the tribulation!

The force bent the air into a blurry mess as the air around Qing Fang seemed to be void of Laws, them all being crushed under Heaven's might!

The tribulation seemed unending as Qing Fang sat under the crushing force for a few minutes until the dreading aura receded! Instead, it was replaced with a nurturing force and e calming energy that approved of Qing Fang.

The crushing force started to compress the Stage 2 Dao Body into something stronger! And from a mass of peak Stage 2 Blood Laws, a slither of Stage 3 Laws were born! They were thin and almost transparent, however, they had a glow and aura many times greater than before!

Black impurities streamed from Qing Fang's orifices as his body experienced the nurturing of Heaven's power.

'Ah. Stage 3 once again.' Qing Fang thought calmly as his Dao Body was nourished under Heaven's force. The bursting mass of Laws was compressed into a smaller mass of much stronger and more powerful Stage 3 Blood Laws!

The volume of his Dao Body was much thinner than before, but the richness of the Laws had increased many times over. They glowed with a piercing red hue that lit up even an empty space with their grandeur.

The force of Heaven suddenly receded as if it was never there when the last slither of Stage 2 Laws was compressed and transformed. The only sign that it had ever been there was the deep circular pit surrounding Qing Fang when the solid rock had crushed beneath the force of the tribulation!

Qing Fang could feel the new early Stage 3 Laws nourish his physical body and push it one step further! From middle Stage 5 strength, his body increased a minor realm to higher Stage 5! This was a huge leap in battle power!

The contours of Qing Fang's body were slightly more defined as his skin seemed thicker and tighter as the minor realm affected his physical body to an immense degree! After all, a minor realm when Stage 5 was a huge leap!

Qing Fang knew that if he could threaten that higher Stage 5 Explosion path cultivator when he had a middle Stage 5 body, he would beat the human into the ground and take his blood the next time they met. That human prayed that day would never come!

His claws shone with a darker and duller light as his bones got heavier and his muscles wrapped tighter over his skeleton. After this, Qing Fang weighed over six and a half tons! If not for him using quasi-flight as he walked across the ground, he would be sinking into solid earth as if it was quicksand!

Qing Fang seemed to glow with strength as he sat there in his pit caused by the second tribulation. He didn't move from his spot and continued cultivating as there were still huge masses of ownerless Laws within his stomach. He had only absorbed a mere fraction of them to reach Stage 3.

However, even though there was now nearly three times the amount that comprised even his Stage 3 Dao Body, Qing Fang knew he wouldn't be able to reach middle Stage 3 with this much. The gap between Stage 3 and Stage 4 was immense and the number of Laws required skyrocketed at this stage.

With the leftover ownerless Blood Laws, Qing Fang would've normally had to cultivate for a year to absorb them all and he still wouldn't be halfway to middle Stage 3. Even now that he had the wooden crown and that time was shortened to ten weeks, it was still a long time of constant seclusion!

And since Qing Fang had ten more weeks of seclusion ahead of him, he didn't delay and stifled his celebrations for breaking through, continuing to cultivate piously on the road to Stage 4. It was a road that he had never completed with his old cultivation, however, now he hoped to tear apart his old shackles like they were made of paper.

...

Nu Li saw his master ascend to Stage 3 but did not dare to disturb him as the blood-red eyes didn't even open and only continued to cultivate!

During this time, Nu Li had also tried to cultivate past his higher Stage 3 cultivation. However, he simply felt as though he was reaching the limits of his talent. Dragons gained their talent not by chance, but from their bloodline.

Nu Li's Fire Dragon bloodline was considered weak and wouldn't take him that far. Even less so as he wasn't a pureblood Dragon and had a diluted bloodline that was stained with human.

Nu Li felt like he could reach peak Stage 3 given fifteen years, however, that was all he could manage. Breaking through to Stage 4 was possible, but Nu Li was limited by his bloodline and would have almost expended his lifespan before he broke through.

His fantasies thought of how his master had expunged the ink from his blood only days ago. Nu Li's eyes shifted as he thought longingly. Maybe his master could purify his bloodline?

Nu Li shook his head. No, that was impossible. At least for now when his master's cultivation was so weak. But, at his rate, he would reach Stage 4 within a few years which was heaven-defying by average standards.

Though, Nu Li knew his master had usage of a natural cultivation treasure, that wooden crown. Nu Li thought of the fiery blue flower that stood just a few meters from him. That natural treasure could instantly purify his blood as well as push him to the limits of his talent, to the level of an Ancestral Fire Dragon!

His master didn't even have a use for it, but Nu Li understood that he would likely never receive it. Once they left this cave, he would likely never set eyes on it again!

Tired of his depressing thoughts, Nu Li stood up and left his master a message on the ground stating that he was going to explore.

He jumped into the pool in the centre of the cave and swam downwards for a few seconds before rejoining the main body of the lake.

The Marsh Squids seemed to have repopulated the area and the Stage 5 had even come back. However, it was no issue for Nu Li to avoid them as he left. It was only coming back that would pose a problem. Though his master would surely help like last time, right?

Nu Li hoped he would.

Nu Li surfaced from the murky water and struggled to stand evenly on the incredibly marshy ground. Since he was right next to the lake also, he was practically still submerged in water even though he stood away from the lake.

Looking to his right Nu Li gazed to the west where the city lay. He wouldn't want to venture back that way as there was nothing noteworthy in between here and the city. After all, this lake was the first good thing he had come across when his master told him to search the marshes back then.

And so, Nu Li headed east and deeper into the marshes.

That Stage 5 Marsh Squid was a rarity and only existed this shallow because of the special natural Laws that flooded the place. In the other parts of the marsh at this level, only weak Stage 3 cultivation beasts could be found, nothing more.

The lake was about twenty-five kilometres from the east city wall and Nu Li travelled down the marshes for another ten kilometres. The terrain was extremely unforgiving, though some trees started to appear this deep into the marshes. They were tall and had wide branches that some animals made a nest from. Though, Nu Li found that only the strongest beasts could claim a spot in the trees.

The marshes seemed to carve themselves down the entire ravine that was the Cage of Beasts. Nu Li could see no end before him and he wondered how deep it went before some terrifying beasts appeared...

The small cracks in the rock ceiling up above vanished this deep and the marshes could be said to be a downward and absolutely massive cave tunnel. The marshes only got wetter as the pockets of water within them got deeper and deeper until Nu Li couldn't even see the bottom with his Stage 3 eyes. It was a shroud of black that housed a shimmering shadow every now and then.

Thirty-five kilometres away from the city, Nu Li saw that the strongest beasts were now peak Stage 3 and only growing the deeper he went. It made him truly afraid to continue going. He didn't want to find out how deep the marshes went and how strong the monsters at the bottom were...

However, what he didn't know was that the strongest beast that had its nest at the bottom of the marshes was currently above the Cage of Beasts, its beastly yellow eyes staring down scarily.

Nu Li was about to turn back when he suddenly saw movement on the top branch of the furthest tree in his vision. His wary draconic eyes looked over to see a feline beast about four meters long stretching lazily on the branch, its retractable cat-like claws leaving fine cuts in the wood.

Even though it looked to be extremely young, practically newborn, the beast still had an early Stage 4 cultivation and could tear Nu Li's guts out without hesitation. Luckily, Nu Li didn't think the beast saw him as he started to turn and retreat back west.

However, from the corner of his eye, Nu Li saw the large cat suddenly fall into a black most that fell into nothingness...

The beast seemed to disappear right before his eyes!

A feeling of dread overcame him as he turned to retreat even faster, however, his large body was pressed down into the mud roughly from a floating paw that seemed to materialise out of a misty shadow!

Nu Li couldn't muster the strength to scream as the cat that stood one and a half meters tall pressed him to the floor effortlessly. Four piercingly sharp claws suddenly extended and sunk into his scales as if they were butter...

But, for some reason, instead of tearing his back out and eating his organs from behind, the claw was followed by a large tongue that was like sandpaper that licked the back of Nu Li's head! Nu Li didn't know what to think as confusion took him before he realised.

'So it truly is a newborn...' The Stage 4 cat seemed to be newly born and did not know much about hunting or killing yet. Although its claws tugged at Nu Li's scales and effortlessly ripped them apart, the baby cat was just playing with something it had never seen or smelt before...

The cat bounded up and down over the ground twenty meters into the air and phased in and out of an invisible shadowy form as it circled the incapacitated Nu Li with playful yellow eyes and slit pupils within.

Nu Li got up slowly and carefully as he tried to appease the wild baby that could kill him if it played too roughly. He kept his head down and didn't make eye contact, hopefully not sending any signals to the unpredictable thing.

It disappeared into fleeting shadows and jumped out of thin air right next to Nu Li, bumping him with its head lightly and sending him flying dozens of meters! His body rolled pathetically on the ground and tore up the marshes before it rested, covered in stinking mud.

Nu Li didn't dare to move and kept still, hoping the thing would get bored of him. And after five excruciating minutes, it seemed to finally leave as it had dematerialised and hadn't emerged for a while...

Nu Li took that chance to run back to his master at his fastest speeds!

However, between shadows, an illusory pair of baby yellow eyes stared interestedly as it began to follow...

*3,063/3,000 words*