Demonic Tribulations - Chapter 1 preview (Patreon)

*Author's note - Thank you for your continued support. As always these are rough draft chapters that haven't been edited. There will be grammar and inconsistencies. Feel free to mention them but please remember these haven't been reviewed by an editor yet.

What Came Before

New Ascendant, Long Wu Ying is confronted by a dragon soon after achieving immortality and is drawn into the high heavens to be presented to the Jade Emperor, leaving behind his mortal life and his still-mortal companion. There, he learns that not all is right with the heavens, and is forced to await presentation to the Jade Emperor.

In the meantime, in the Middle Kingdom, his allies face troubles of their own. Yang Mu, his companion, must aid her parents in fighting off their enemies – heretical and dark sect cultivators who seek their destruction. Having lost her sister to their predations, Yang Mu journey’s from the edges of the Middle Kingdom into the central lands, gathering allies.

Fa Yuan, Wu Ying’s martial sister, is settling into her role as the Right Guardian; charged with the spies and contacts of the Verdant Green Water sect. However, Wu Ying’s sudden ascension has left behind a gap in their strength, and high stakes for his successors. Inheritors of his sword style, trained by his father, are put under immense pressure in the sect, pressure which se seeks to alleviate as best she can.

Meanwhile, Liu Tou He, the Purifying Flame of Heavens, has come across a massive breach in the heavenly realms leading to a demonic realm. Refugees from the realm journey through the Middle Kingdoms, leaving a trail of bloodshed and tears behind. He seeks to find them, and the origin of the breach, or else the world itself will break apart.

Having been introduced to the Emperor, Wu Ying is forced to wait in the Palace of Lesser Harmonies, his request to be released blocked. With a burning promise to aid Yang Mu ascend, Wu Ying chooses instead to flee the palace and search for a method to help his companion ascend to the heavens, leading Guardian Chu Xin Gang to follow after him.

Yang Mu, unknowing of Wu Ying’s plans, pushes ahead on her own goals. She organizes a tournament to lure out her parent’s enemies, utilizing the prize of the Twin Souls cultivation manual as bait. The allies she has gathered come with her, helping her establish a new town for the tournament, while she continues to progress her own cultivation.

Fa Yuan, on the other hand, manages to achieve some semblance of control for the new prodigy in the Verdant Green Waters sect, only to find herself lured away from the sect by her duties. Caught between the needs of her own cultivation, her own goals and the Sect’s, she is increasingly trapped. Only the reappearance of a cultivator – Wei Yin Xue – draws her attention, and she proceeds to meet and break him free to settle her own karmic debt to him.

Together, the pair journey into the heart of the Cai kingdom where they encounter an open portal to a demon realm. The transformed, half-demon Yin Xue flees into the realm rather than fight a powerful magistrate, only to find that the heart of the King of Cai that he has stolen and utilized is a trap, having contained a sliver of the King’s dao and will within.

Having learnt of the dire deeds of the Cai kingdom and having seen Yin Xue off, Fa Yuan can only flee, bearing dire news to the other kingdoms which are already engaged in wars of conquest and consolidation of their own.

Tou He, having found and disposed of the refugees, locates the portal to the demonic realm. Forcing another refugee group into the demonic realm, he enters the strange land as well, only for his path back to the Middle Kingdom to close.

There, he learns that a genocide is happening, as the demons seek to annihilate and sacrifice one another to allow the ascension of a single demon king. Vowing to stem the loss of life, Tou He finds himself in opposition to the General of the Twisted Lotus Eaters and, eventually, is forced to do battle with him and his army. Allied with breakaway elements of the army and the refugees, Tou He is able to win – but at great cost.

Wu Ying, having finally acquired immortal peaches from a dragon, flees to the mortal realm by traversing the depths of the void. There, he expands his understanding of the dao of space and time, pulling himself along the thread of connection to meet his companion.

Only to find her in dire straits, the trap she had created having exploded upon her and her own life put in danger. Wu Ying quickly deals with the nascent Soul cultivators, having outclassed them all; only to feed the immortal peaches to Yang Mu.

However, that is not enough, for she must consume multiple such peaches and face the tribulation of the heavens, an act that she barely survives after accidentally angering the Jade Emperor himself by peeking behind the curtain of his power.

Together, the pair of new Ascendants are dragged back through the portals linking the mortal realm to the heavens; their punishment and fate unknown. But, together at last.

Chapter 1 – Jade Emperor

His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of the Thirty Six Heavens and All Realms Below, Heaven’s Author, Lord of Ten Thousand Millenia, Commander of the Armies of Heaven and Most Wise Judge of the Ten Thousand Hells Zhao Zheng sat on his throne, listlessly as the affairs of state swirled around him. He listened to the droning of the Ministers of his Three Departments. Each of the Ministers were arrayed before him with their own people in the departments splayed out behind in the great hall, such that there were dozens of such ministers in the room, all standing awaiting his word.

Once, he had allowed them to sit, to discuss matters with tables before them, and the imperial seals they held placed on the kneeling tables beside them. However, over a thousand years ago, he had chosen to make them stand. It made their reports shorter, the affairs of state go faster – or otherwise, these bureaucrats would drone on and on forever.

Now, they stood before him, in long bureaucrat robes of red and white, their heads covered by the diaochan guan[1], the headwear involving a headband from which swooping wings rose up on either side of the central curved structure, gilded with gold embroider on the edges and in the central section of the headband, markings of the particular magistrates position and post. Stood and had their feet ache, so that he could end these meetings faster rather than have them drag on forever.

He listened to the reports of the three ministers, the chancellor and the central secretariat and the department of state affairs and held back a deep sigh. The Central Secretariat was blathering on a change in the laws and how best to alter them for greater efficiency, but the Emperor knew that such changes would be argued over by the Department of State Affairs over implementation, and the Chancellery would have to review the implementation and advise him later.

In other words, changes would take decades if not centuries to implement, with improvements starting at the highest realms and slowly being implemented lower.

Zhao Zheng held back a deep sigh, raised a hand and cut-off the Minister’s blathering. In so doing, he understood that the matter would be pushed back for further consultation, that the Ministers and the committees would review the question further and raise the issue in a few months.

There were so many such matters. Recommendations on the alteration of crop rotations, alterations to the official city plans, changes in landscaping for the imperial palaces, the recommended soup and medical tinctures for pregnant immortals and dozens and dozens more.

“Your Imperial Majesty?” the question was raised by his Chancellor, his best friend and the individual most attuned to the Emperor’s own feelings.

“I recall a report, three months ago. About some disturbance in the Palace of Lesser Harmonies. Some matter to do with one of the Ascendants?” Zhao Zheng asked, curiously. He tried for languid and bored, but he knew he was fooling no one. Of all the topics brought before him, there were only two that garnered any trust interest in him anymore.

The first plans for the war with the demons, for when they chose to act against him again. It was about time, it had been a few thousand years since their last attempt to overthrow him. They would have recovered their numbers and strength by now, and so would test themselves against the heavenly forces.

The second point of interest for him was the rebels. Those were new – at least in the numbers that were appearing these days. Dangerous, though few among his Ministers were willing to raise the topic with him, for his displeasure at the increasing number was well documented. No one received accolades for bringing bad news, after all; and rebels – even defeated rebels – were all considered bad news.

In that sense, holding back the introduction of Ascendants to the heavenly realms had been a calculated move. Some might think it was purposely done, due to his lack of interest in the matter, and there was some truth to the matter. However, Zhao Zheng was not that foolish to neglect his duties for centuries.

No, introducing even more chaos bringers, even more Ascendants whose very nature was an affront to his rules and the order imposed upon the world was well considered. Yes, ascension was a pathway that the heavens had created; but heretics and dark set cultivators should not be part of his heavens. Even if they had their own hells, palaces and realms to journey towards; he would not countenance their arrival.

So many forgot that immortality could be achieved even by the dark sects. Some might even consider them more frequent successes than the orthodox, for they stole opportunities and chances and the luck of others to aid them. His tribulations struck even harder on them than the orthodox, dealing with the problem in the mortal realm long before they could rise up.

Or should have – except, of course, they had their own methods, their own people who would protect them and help others rise. For a price, of course, but when faced with the tiger, one did not forget to thank the spear wielder.

Motion amongst the group. The Great Commander, highest of the Ministers in the State Department was the first to speak.

“I do recall the Ascendant and incident in question. The Great Chancellor was kind enough to lend us the use of the Guardian that allowed the Ascendant to escape after they were confined to the Palace to track them down. However, the Guardian and Ascendant continue to be at large,” the Great Commander then bowed low. “If His Imperial Majesty commands, I will ensure that more appropriate individuals from the Ministry of Justice is sent to locate and deal with the Ascendant.”

Unsaid was the ‘as should have been done from the start’, but the Jade Emperor could see it implied in the way the man stood, the way he smiled and in his aura. The Great Commander might even be correct, though his people would likely have killed the Ascendent immediately for the temerity of defying him, never mind the extent of his actual rule-breaking. At times, the Jade Emperor thought that the Ministry of Justice was more focused on meting out justice, any justice rather than the proper type. Certainly not justice tempered with mercy.

“A small correction to my esteemed colleague,” the Great Chancellor stepped forward, bowed. “If His Imperial Majesty will permit the correction” A languid wave of the hand indicated the Grand Chancellor could continue speaking, “Guardian Chu has contacted me just a day ago to indicate that the Ascendent is in custody. He and his beloved.”

“His beloved?” the Jade Empress, usually did not take partake in the court. She had her orchards to involve herself in, her teas and drinks and her own matters to attend to. The care of the court and the social welfare of the kingdoms were her work, but the implementation of the laws and orders were of less interest to her.

“Yes, Your Imperial Highness,” another deep bow in greeting before the Great Chancellor continued, the resplendent golden robes he wore glinting with each moment. True gold silk, crafted from certain gold-infused leaf eating silk worms. One of the rarest silks available, but pure and beautiful and able to take on immortal enchantments with ease. “It seems the fugitive chose to escape to the Middle Kingdom and provide his beloved a cultivation aid to ascend.”

“Cultivation aid?” the Jade Emperor stirred, surprised. “How did he acquire one so easily? Do we have to undertake another audit of all such items?”

“No need, Your Imperial Highness. It was mentioned that the woman was fed an imperial peach.”

The Jade Emperor turned to glower at the Jade Empress, “I thought we had accounted for all immortal peaches?”

“We have.”

“It was not one from the imperial orchards.”

“Fu Lin.” Zhao Zheng’s aura flared. The energy unleashed in that moment of inattention was enough to cause the weakest of the ministers to flinch. He reined in his irritation in moments, though he mentally noted those who had reacted. He would be surprised if they managed to last long enough to make the next monthly meeting, for such weakness would not be tolerated. Not by his Great Ministers, not by their peers. Though that survived the winnowing would bare all the more watching.

“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty. The note I received was light on details, but we are investigating the matter now.”

A chin rose, and the Grand Commander’s voice grew cool. “The Great Chancellor means, of course, that he will have the Guardian forward such information to the Ministry of Justice from which we will undertake the investigation. The fugitive is, after all, under our purview.”

“The fugitive escaped the Lesser Harmonies Palace, which by long standing tradition, the Chancelleries. In addition, all matters dealing with the imperial peaches are under our control.”

Before the tedious argument could continue, Zhao Zheng was surprised as his consort raised her hand again, interrupting the conversation.

“All matters dealing with the imperial peaches – both original and those entrusted to me in my garden – are under my purview,” the Jade Empress, Xi Wang Mu[2], cut in. “As such, I shall wish to speak with this Ascendent, his beloved and this Guardian when they arrive.”

There was a stilted silence when she had finished speaking. However, as his consort and a power of her own, none dared contradict her except the Emperor himself. And he was more amused than interested, happy to let her take over this task.

As she said, this was her purview. She could handle the politics of judgment and punishment and there certainly would be much.

[1] Mink’s Tail and Cicada Wing Crown, worn by the emperor’s servants and government officials from the Tang-Ming dynasty.

[2] Really, Xi Wang Mu can literally be translated as Queen Mother of the West or Grandmother of the West; and isn’t technically her name but the title most people call her by. For the purpose of the book, we’ll just use it as her name.