Queen Mei treaded on the Dao of Tumultuous Tribulations. She originally stemmed from Mei, hence the two could be considered as one. It is an extremely rare instance in the world of immortal cultivation, yet it was commonplace in this universe. Amongst its useful advantages was the shared cultivation progress between the two people.
Out of everyone, those with Herrscher egos cultivated twice as fast. They reached the middle-stage of Void Refinement Realm earlier than others. Still, there are differences between the two.
For once, Queen Mei’s Tao Heart was firmer than Mei’s. She knew what she wanted from the start. Her clear-headedness is an extremely rare trait—something even her future self reflected now.
“Yes. I am looking for a fight.”
The future Queen Mei looked at her eyes.
“Others sought ways to circumvent the tribulation.” She paused momentarily before continuing, “I clashed with it.”
“..!”
The Dao of Tumultuous Tribulation stemmed from the Daos of Thunder, Causality, and Extremity. It is one of the most ambitious unique Daos that ever came to existence. Its core tenet is to take control of one’s tribulation…
Even if it was the three major hurdles at the Tribulation Transcendence Realm.
“...You died after that.”
“Mn. I didn’t survive that collision, and neither did she.”
The future Queen Mei’s reply caused silence to dominate the surroundings. Tumultuous Tribulation is a heaven-defying unique Dao that worked against those hurdles, but it is not invincible. It didn’t come off as a surprise that they died because of it.
“Our greatest gain was the insights regarding the three hurdles. In simplest terms, reality does not want anyone to advance to the True Immortal Realm.”
Rumble-!
Crackle-!
Bam-!
The scorched and barren land they stood on was instantly bombarded with countless lightning strikes. They did not just bear simple thunder, but also other Daos present within the myriad worlds. Some of them flickered as well, affecting the time of everything it struck.
Amidst this lightning curtain, the future Queen Mei remained unaffected. She did not put up any barrier. Her true body came in direct contact with them.
‘How crazy..!’
Queen Mei looked at the translucent film that surrounded her body. The lightning that touched it caused ripples to appear onto the film. It was then absorbed by her true body bit by bit, aiding in her cultivation. The film was her physical cultivation technique at work. It was a medium that lessened the destruction and intensity of the tribulations that came in contact with it.
The future Queen Mei, however, tanked everything with her bare body. She absorbed the purest and most destructive essence of the tribulation. The most shocking thing was that she was still perfectly fine!
The more her true body absorbed these tribulations, the greater her power became.
“Borrowing that dreaming girl’s words, why shouldn’t we dare to court death?”
“...You are crazy.”
Queen Mei had to say it twice to calm down the waves in his heart. To her surprise, she came up with an unexpected remark:
“Who else didn’t go crazy when Tian’s existence was erased?”
“...”
Rumble-!
BOOM-!
The space holding them shook intensely. It flickered nonstop as the lightning buffet intensified to levels even Queen Mei found difficulty defending from. The future Queen Mei simply did not care about the temporal suppression imposed onto them!
“Nobody else remembered him… nobody but us.” She held a sense of fixation and madness as she uttered these words. “How cruel was it to tear one’s savior apart and have his body become the foundation of a new world?”
Queen Mei sensed the rabid anger within her. It came so close to exploding, barely holding on due to reasons only the future Queen Mei knew. Silence ensued between the two for quite some time. Only the lightning strikes remained lively.
A sigh soon resounded.
“Only if I could take that crazy vampire’s step…”
Queen Mei suppressed her doubts and unease. She stared at the overwhelming lightning barrage. Golden blood spilled out of her mouth. The translucent film protecting her body slowly grew faint with every lightning strike. Her true body tanked the myriad Daos accompanying the lightning tribulation. Black scorch marks appeared on her milky-white skin as cracks appeared on her long red horns.
“I will tell you no more. Survive this calamity and you shall earn everything that remained of me—”
Of the future Mei that ceased to exist.
*****
“Petty tricks fool but the inexperienced eyes.”
Li Sushang took one glance at her surroundings before speaking out loud. Strong winds carried sand amongst them. Past memories resurfaced from her mind like a raging tide. This was the journey she took to attain Taixuan (lit. Grand Void), ultimately leading with her encounter with Rakshasa (Otto Apocalypse).
“Why don’t you come out? The courtesy for Jianghu (lit. Martial World) is not to sneak behind others’ backs.”
Swish-!
A large expanse of space became inviolable. Wherever the sword’s tip pointed, sand could not pass through. The space contained within rippled as Sushang’s visitor revealed herself. She looked at the woman who looked extremely similar to her. Her attire was different from Sushang's. She wore a golden outer coat layered atop her white inner robes. A black belt tied everything together at her waist. The long yellow ribbon swayed along her ponytail.
It was Sushang’s past attire when she hadn't discovered the truth about the Blade Mantra. Compared to her rather informal robes now, it didn’t show much of her skin. Ironically, she became more lively after she was unsealed; she was more demure in the past. Carrying the burden of her family’s extermination, she was left to master the ‘final step’ contained within the Blade Mantra. From the beginning, it has always been with her, explaining Sushang’s obsession with its improvements.
Everything made a full loop as her future self became demure. Her mind halted momentarily before letting out a sigh. The future Sushang saw this and did not comment immediately. Instead, her eyes shot towards Sushang’s.
The moment their gazes clashed, Sushang stood frozen. Everything in her senses turned to dust. Her true body experienced the five decays of heavenly man (lit. Immortal).
The physical decay degraded her bodily functions. Her senses ceased functioning, turning senile.
The mental decay turned one’s mind sluggish. Coherent thoughts could no longer be formed.
The magical power decay robbed her true body of its spiritual qi. She could no longer utilize the might of heaven and earth, falling further into the abyss.
The daoist heart decay assaulted the Tao Heart Sushang prided herself in. The small doubts throughout her life were infinitely magnified, turning small troubles into endless worries.
Finally, the decay of one’s Dao struck the essence of what made Sushang, “Li Sushang”. It was a calamity on the level of conceptual erasure, making the entire world forget she even existed!
The future Li Sushang stared at her present self whose eyes remained blank.
‘If you cannot even overcome this hurdle…’
She had just thought about those words when Li Sushang’s eyes returned to normal.
Cling-!
A bell’s chime resounded within the vast desert. Strong fluctuations came from her Tao Heart, crushing the power that made her fall to the five decays into dust. She faced her future version with eyes filled with conviction.
“You cannot stop someone from seeking the truth, Fellow Daoist.”