"Master Pef, I am prepared to face my Tribulation." Zhang Song spoke in a determined voice, then bowed towards me.

  Well, he had to try anyway, considering he was over 100 years old already, and death was getting close. Beside him, Old Man Xialong was also holding his Bagua box with a Saint Ascension pill, and he just bowed wordlessly.

  "Very well. Both of you have nothing to lose, and a thousands years to live after you become a Saint. Zhang, you go first." I allowed with a kind tone.

  Zhang Song sat down and threw away his outer robes, since they would get destroyed by Tribulation anyway. Then he murmured a prayer and ate his pill, then closed his eyes as black clouds gathered above.

  Three thin blue bolts fell from the sky in rapid succession, then the clouds dissipated while Zhang Song puked his guts out while bleeding from his ears. I just sighed inward. That was the most pathetic Tribulation I had ever seen, but considering the age and frail state of the cultivator, a stronger Tribulation would have incinerated him.

  "That looked quite easy..." Artisan Xialong muttered in a hopeful voice.

  "Can I go next?" another new recruit with a lucky Ascension Pill asked next.

  I glanced at my Grandpa, who shook his head. Probably wary of a Buddhist scheme, and quite rightly so.

  "Artisan Xialong, you are next. And spit out that healing pill. If I can see it, so can the Heavens above." I demanded in a colder tone. One might get forgiven for being late with cultivation, but cheating was punished far worse by the Heavens.

  The old man smiled sheepishly, then spat the healing pill and ate his own lucky Ascension Pill. "My old bones might break..." he commented in a wry tone, then got blown aside by an unexpected red lightning bolt falling from clear skies, even before the rest of the clouds gathered above.

  The old man tried to sit down again, and was shot by red lightning and thrown a dozen meters away. Then again, and again.

  By the fifth lightning bolt, I could see his inner organs clearly as his skin had shattered away like glass.

  The clouds above churned for a moment, almost like deliberating if to shoot again, then they vanished directly.

  "And that's why you shouldn't try to cheat. The Heaven has eyes." Grandpa proclaimed in a grave tone, while wrapping the crispy Saint with a Formation and hiding him from sight.

  'How bad is it?' I asked curious.

  'He would have died the next minute, if I wasn't here. Now, the silly Artisan will need a few months to heal. And a year to walk again.' Grandpa ghost said with a casual tone.

  "I should wait a few years..." the third guy who was too eager before spoke in a fearful voice.

  "You could Kenta, but the Tribulation will be much worse then. Courage doesn't mean an absence of fear, but the determination to push past fear and do the right thing." I said with a calm voice.

  I could see the hesitation in his eyes, slowly converting into courage. It took a minute, then the man nodded and sat down.

  "Zhang Song made it, and he was older than me. I won't be left behind." Kenta whispered to himself, then ate his pill.

  The clouds gathered once more, slower and perhaps more deliberate. Three blue bolts, then a red one at the end. Kenta was quite crispy on the outside, but still much better than the silly Artisan.

  Grandpa sighed and covered him with another Formation. "And thus, today the Tower has gained three more Saints. Let this be a lesson to all of you. The Divine Tribulation is a hundred times harder. Train more seriously!" he declared in a warning voice, then flew up and away like a floating ghost.

  Amelia sighed and took my hand with her ungloved hand. "I almost want to say it wasn't too bad, but the bolts are most likely customized for each person, right?" she asked in a doubtful voice.

  How would I know? Books and anime didn't quite present the reality of a cultivation world. The Heavens had absolute power and could fry someone into ash for unknown reasons.

  'Is there a connection with karma? Bad deeds beget a harsher Tribulation?' I wondered inward.

  'That would be reasonable, but no. It could be by design, since strong villains create stronger heroes. Nobody knows, in the end.' Grandpa answered with a careless tone.

  "All I know for sure, the strength of the foundation matters the most. And everyone in the Tower has used the Nether Crystal already. In that regard, nobody should fail the Saint Tribulation, unless they try to cheat." I said in a lighter voice, since I wasn't concerned at all about my own Tribulations. I had a perk for that.

  "I'm going to train some more." Amelia decided in a resolute voice, likely taking the advice of Grandpa Heavengaze to the heart. She ran off toward the Soul Array, then got thrown out a second later by the first Divine Demon.

  I shrugged and flew back inside the Tower, to train my Alchemy again. With my level 4 Soul, pills were much easier to make, and all my Houtian pills were already Perfect grade.

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  The Saint-grade cauldron helped as well, and if I was willing to use Nether Water for the Xiantian pills, I could also obtain Perfect grade pills. But that would be a shameful waste. Once I reached top-grade Saint pills, then I might consume some Nether Water to make them Perfect grade. Maybe. Even a small lake of Nether Water wouldn't last long if I used it constantly for pills.

  I lost myself in the process, refining herbs and cooking pills, then eating the failures to discover where I got it wrong. My Reaction God Body was amazing for this task, letting me gain experience much faster than other Alchemists.

  A hundred, two hundred, by the last batch of pills, I finally figured out how to make the pill paste perfectly distributed, by swirling it with a hundred telekinetic hands. Then, using my ghostly Asura hand, I compressed the paste into a sphere, and gently took it out. 'Perfect-grade Body Enhancement Pill, Xiantian Realm. Used to increase Body Cultivation without toxin buildup. Worth 15000 spirit stones.'

  My head swam from being too tired, and I sat down to rest. Grandpa appeared beside me, and examined the pill for a moment. "Took you long enough, Young Master. You're a Saint Realm Alchemist, right?" he asked rhetorically.

  "If you're being generous, maybe. I don't have much talent..." I complained in a teenager mood.

  "Eh. Practice makes perfect. You'll find pills are quite easy after a few billion years. My creator also dabbled in Alchemy, for a billion years or so. Sadly, he never managed to make a Perfect Immortal pill. But his other Artisan skills were much better." the old ghost disclosed with a wry tone.

  "Dabbled? For a billion years?" I exclaimed in mild outrage.

  "Things are a bit complicated at higher realms. Herbs need millions of years to grow, and beast cores from Immortal Beasts are even harder to find. Anyone can spend a million years practicing with low level pills, but after Soul Severing..." Grandpa mused in a distant tone.

  I considered his words for a minute. "Metals are not that rare then. And Arrays can be dismantled and reformed a million times if you have the components."

  "Not exactly, but yes. Formation Masters have a great advantage in higher realms. Then again, a Celestial pill would be worth a fortune too. Not that anyone ever made one." Grandpa said with a light voice.

  Was that a challenge? Most likely. A normal teenager would surely fall for it.

  "Grandpa, you are an amazing Spirit Artifact. But, your creator wasn't a people person. I bet he didn't even have a small harem, maybe not even a single wife. Right?" I guessed at random.

  "...He had someone...but. Not much luck in love. That's true." the old ghost sighed.

  Basically a nerd. I could see that.

  "I will make it up for him. If there's any lingering desires he had and never accomplished, let me know. When I am strong enough, not right now." I offered in a kind voice.

  Grandpa laughed, then nodded. "You're already doing a lot of what he would have wished to. Anyway, I thought about the Celestial Tear. Our little Feng with her special Dark Phoenix Body will have an eternal life with the Nirvana skill. It was quite a redundant gift, especially if she stays safe in the Tower until Divine Manifestation Realm."

  "And yet, the box needed her tears to open." I pointed out immediately.

  "Yes. These three men were fated to die, but now they are Saints. Lin Fei got a Devil Heart. A pattern emerges, if you consider all of this." Grandpa warned me, his voice turning cold.

  "Everything sits in Buddha's palm." I answered in a mild voice.

  Grandpa glanced at me in surprise, then nodded. "It would be best to stay inside until you Ascend, Young Master. I can see the karma strings in this Tower, but not outside. Give me that lotus."

  I took out the crystal lotus holding a captive Demon Prince inside. Grandpa covered it with a separation array then made it vanish. "This is a beacon, Young Master. For a demonic invasion." he concluded with a heavy voice.

  I blinked, realizing part of the trap now. The demonic prisoner must be of enough rank to warrant a rescue, even if it involved an inter-planar war.

  "They can always bring another beacon, if this plan fails." I said after a minute.

  "Of course, but it will take time. And with time, we can raise more Saints, and maybe Sword Saints. Worst case, we board a Divine spirit-ship and move to another world. You're all too young to face a demonic invasion..." Grandpa said with a sad voice.

  "You mean weak, not young. If I was a Divine Core Realm, my age wouldn't matter anymore." I muttered with a sad grin.

  The old ghost just smiled. "Perhaps, but cultivation is a long process. You are not a Dragon, Young Master."

  I scratched my head. It would have been nice to be born as a Divine Realm. By now I would have ascended at least two times and be at Divine Core.

  I sighed and took out the Divine Fox vial. Then drank it all. All or nothing.

  My stomach and Dantian burned like I drank magma, then mind-blinding pain radiated through my veins and meridians to my limbs and head. "Kinda hurts..." I groaned with clenched teeth.

  "And yet you're cogent enough to speak. Your special body is truly amazing, Young Master." Grandpa said with a curious tone.

  Level 7, then 8, then 9. I felt my strength double, and even my soul climbed to level 7 from a single vial of blood, half-empty already.

  "Should be enough for 32 corporals." I muttered a minute later, as I stood up still a bit wobbly.

  "Should be. But your target is a bit higher." Grandpa pointed out with a careless voice, then vanished.

  By the time I reached the Soul Array, my cultivation had stabilized, and half the pain was already gone. Good enough for combat, I guess. I jumped into the array, and rushed the first waves with a soul sword, finding the Divine Realm Demons quite easy to kill, even in melee.

  The wave with 16 Demons was a bit harder, but I was still energized by the Divine Blood and pain. Then 32 Demons appeared, bombarding me with soul shouts from all sides.

  I opened my left hand and took out a Desert Eagle pistol firing hollow-point soul bullets. Gun and sword, xianxia style.

  I could slice open the nearest Demons, and shoot those in the second line. It was much harder, but I managed somehow.

  Then, 64 Demons appeared, and I was a bit tired already. My soul armor began to crack and flake away, but I kept fighting and killing. 32 demons, 33, 35...Bang!

  I was thrown out, puking my guts out from soul depletion. My Soul Forging was already level 7, and still not enough.

  As I sat down to rest and replenish, a large red fox sat beside me and covered me with three fluffy tails.

  "You smell very nice, Master Pef. How many Demons?" she asked curious.

  "Only 32, for now. The next wave is a bit hard." I answered in a displeased voice.

  "I killed the first Demon too. Blew his head off." Meadows said in a proud voice.

  That...wasn't bad at all. How long did it take me to reach that point?

  "Those damn Buddhists are planning to cause a demonic invasion, Meadows. One Demon is not enough. We will need to kill thousands." I said in a tired voice.

  "...I can take two. Give me a week." Meadows answered with a determined voice.

  I laughed and rubbed her fluffy tails on my face. Yeah. I should double my strength too. Somehow.