WarbyPicus
patreon
Sky Pride Vol. 5 Chapter 11- Dragon and Tiger Contending
🕑 Added 2025-12-22 15:00:17 +0000 UTC“Quite a special find. Well done, both of you. A spirit nurturing mountain, a wood-fire qi dragon and a metal-earth qi tiger, both properly raised and kept well balanced by the mountain. And each other, obviously.” Elder Duan stroked his long black mustache. Tian wasn’t particularly familiar with him, but he was apparently the one to ask about ancient qi spirits. There had been more experts on the subject in the Monastery before, but now, they just had to make do with whoever was left.
“Why are they growing so quickly?” Liren asked.
“It’s more like they are recovering their power. They were originally existences at the Heavenly Realm, quite possibly near the peak. The fact that they have survived so long is a testament to both the extraordinary quality of the sealing box and their fundamental power. It’s quite a good mountain too. Superb work, really showing the skill of a crafter moving with nature to create a wonder.”
Elder Duan’s hands kept twitching. He clearly wanted to pick up the mountain and fiddle with it, but the dragon and the tiger made that impractical.
“So we can’t refine them?” Tian asked.
“If by ‘refine’ you mean incorporate them into your bodies, you certainly can. You should! Though not the mountain, that’s a qi spirit nurturing tool, and quite precious. Don’t harm it.”
“We won’t, Elder. How do we incorporate them into our bodies? They seem pretty powerful.” Liren asked.
“Mmm? Not too bad at the moment, but yes, quite powerful. You would either need to let them return to full strength and use special arts to absorb them, or you could try to do it now. You would have to be in the Heavenly Realm if you waited, of course, and candidly, while we do have arts for merging qi spirits into one’s physique, they aren’t the best. It is a very stable option, however, and so long as you are confident about breaking through to the Heavenly Realm, it is what I would advise. We are immortals. We have a very great deal of time.” Elder Duan wryly smiled.
“On the other hand, no one can be truly confident about breaking through to the Heavenly realm, as a revelation can only be chanced upon, not sought. There are benefits to incorporating them into your bodies now. Your body cultivation would be pushed to an entirely new height, your qi would deepen and become far richer, insights into the operation of the world would become much easier for you… frankly, the benefits are so immense, they are hard to quantify.”
The Elder checked the excited flow of his words with a sudden jerk and a guilty expression. He raised his hands to try and calm the atmosphere.
“There are serious risks. The spirits are unstable, and still dragging in immense amounts of energy. There isn’t an art for incorporating them into you, not in this state. You would be relying on your body cultivation arts. Worst of all, us elders would be of limited use advising you. All of our knowledge about incorporating qi spirits is second hand from cultivators in other countries or learned from books. I don’t know of anyone presently alive in the Broadsky Kingdom who has done it.”
Tian and Hong shared a look. They both possessed extremely tyrannical cultivation arts, far beyond what they had seen others in the Sect using. It seemed… possible.
“Forgive me, Elder, but how could that work? My art takes the vital energy generated by my qi cultivation art and uses it to refine my body-” Tian spoke slowly but was cut off by Elder Duan waving his hand.
“Don’t tell me, I don’t want to know. All body cultivation arts have the same core principle, and it’s exactly what you are describing. Chaotic qi is refined into vital energy, then that vital energy is used to do exactly what vital energy does. It nourishes, strengthens, moistens, and refines the body, laying the foundations for the spirit to grow. The details of how that process works and what the final result looks like vary wildly.”
Tian and Hong nodded at that. Their arts were radically different, after all.
“But the core operating principle is the same. The qi spirits are, ultimately, qi. Already quite refined and filled with special properties that can nourish your bodies. While they appear alive, they are not sapient. Closer to trees than actual tigers and dragons, and closer to spring lightning than a tree. Their form and actions are closer to expressions of heavenly law than real animals.”
Tian and Hong shared another speculative look. “What side effects are there, Elder?”
“No idea, I’m a supervising Elder of the Wondrous Crafts Pavillion, or I was. I just came because I know more about qi spirits than most. We create them for some of our highest quality products. Artificial qi spirits are never as robust as the natural sort, but they are far more suited to being used as an item spirit. And you don’t have to rely on chance to acquire them, of course.”
The elder’s fingers twitched towards the spirit nurturing mountain.
Liren stifled a laugh. “Elder, how about this? If you help us absorb the qi spirits, you can take the mountain as your fee.”
The Elder shook his head ruefully. “Ah, if only I could. My little bit of help is not worth as much as the mountain is. Still, what a good, sensible child you are for offering. How that old miser Hong Hua had such a smart granddaughter, I don’t know.”
“You could borrow it for a decade or two?” Tian offered.
The elder brightened up. “Perfect! Let’s do that. I’ll even prod Old Nui to stand by for medical support. It should be fine to do anywhere, but we might as well be doubly safe and do it in the hospital.”
That, Tian reckoned, was the most sensible thing he had heard in ages. The elders were sincere, in his experience, but not always reliable. “Old Nui” was very likely to be Chief of Internal Medicine Nui, an exalted existence Tian had never met, and whose name was mentioned only rarely and with reverence by the Heavenly Realm doctors who were training him.
It all should have been quite straightforward- simply grasp the qi spirit, run the Hell Suppressing Sutra, and be ready to counter whatever difficulties appeared. It was, in fact, quite straightforward. Except that Tian had neglected a few crucial facts about his present condition. Namely, his political condition.
The top two disciples below the age of one hundred in the Earthly Realm, already widely considered mortal locks for core disciple status and very nearly as certain to be direct disciples, were going to merge with powerful qi spirits. A genuine article fortuitous encounter, but fortune and danger went hand in hand. Clearly, no degree of preparation would be excessive. And while everyone doing the preparing was in the Heavenly Realm, they too had been Outer Court disciples, once.
Tian was horrified to learn the Inner Court, and even the Elders, were no less gossipy than the Level Tens, and after centuries of relying on themselves for amusement, no less bored. This was something new. A wonderful, exciting, challenging, project.
If it wasn’t for the time pressure of the constantly strengthening spirits, Tian was convinced they would still be building the perfect refining chamber a year from now.
As time was a factor, and the spirits were only getting harder and harder to refine, two senior crafters, an array master, two doctors skilled in the art of Air and Water, the rumored Medicine Elder Nui and Elder Duan, under the polite yet firm supervision of Direct Disciples Fu and Bai, were forced to restrain themselves with a converted hospital room. The hospital wasn’t particularly large, but it was extraordinarily well equipped. The absorption process would be as safe as possible.
“Just to confirm, Disciple Hong, you are taking the Tiger spirit, and Disciple Tian is taking the dragon?” Elder Duan asked. “Good. Yin for yin, yang for yang. You will refine the spirits as though it was merely a denser blob of qi, but expect unusual transformations during the process. Prioritize stability as you operate your body cultivation arts. Ready on the array?”
“All set.” One of the attending seniors nodded.
“Alright. Raise the array, and then the two of you should just open the box, grab the spirit you are after and start cultivating.” Elder Duan nodded sharply and stepped back. Pink-gold light rose from the precious ink painted around Tian and Hong, the spell seals and obscure symbols slowly waking and bringing dawn light into the hospital.
Tian and Hong shared a smile, then reached out together and opened the translucent box. Dragon and tiger continued their fight over the miniature mountain, no larger but definitely more solid and vivid looking. The two young immortals didn’t hesitate, and reached out quickly. The Hell Suppressing Sutra was running steadily, though at half power without a strong source of yin or curse energy. No matter. The dragon was the purest expression of yang. And even better, according to the elder, it was wood aspected.
Truly a fateful encounter. Liren caught his eye as her hand closed around the tiger of metal and earth yin. He could tell she was thinking the exact same thing.
Tian lifted the dragon through his mouth. There was a moment that tasted like a lightning storm and the smell of spring. Exuberance. Joy. Sheer, unmitigated joy. Laughing madly. He could feel his body shaking and thrashing with the wild, keening laughter. Smiling so wide, he thought he felt the corners of his mouth tearing, and it felt like something was tearing near his heart and he was laughing, laughing, laughing as Liren screamed like something dying beside him.
Tian lost track of things. He felt cold. He had been burning a moment ago, he was sure of it, but now he was shivering. He had never been so cold. He thought he could feel his marrow freeze.
Something was forced down his throat. He swallowed convulsively, and his body started warming up. Something else this time, a liquid. Needles were inserted. One, then ten, then fifty. Something was pressed on his forehead.
His fingers numbed. For some reason, he imagined them turning blue. For some reason, he imagined his remaining fingers withering and rotting away. Drifting into oblivion. He could feel his consciousness drifting away on the still waters of oblivion with his fingers and toes and memories of warmth.
Tian breathed through it, focusing his dwindling will on cycling Advent of Spring. He was used to dealing with extreme yin. This was just another time. He wouldn’t fall unconscious. He would put all his focus on cultivation, and that would be enough.
It took twelve hours for his condition to finally stabilize. When he recovered enough of his consciousness, he was able to finally see an exhausted Brother Fu sitting by the bedside.
“You are awake.”
Tian nodded, then lifted his hands up. They seemed too heavy. Fortunately, he had all the fingers he remembered. They flexed and wiggled at his command.
“I thought I lost them. Again. I’m sure I felt them freezing off, if that’s even possible.” Tian shivered.
“It is. Are you cold?”
“Yes, Father.” Tian felt very calm. Maybe it was all the cultivation, but he really didn’t feel like anything that happened warranted a strong reaction.
“We will need to increase the dosage on your medicine. Your body…” Brother Fu shook his head. “Liren is having a… similar reaction to what happened to you. We are still trying to figure out what happened. In her case… if you are ever cooking oil in a wok and it catches fire, don’t pour water on it.”
“No?”
“No. It explodes, then your house burns down.”
Tian nodded. “I won’t do it, then. But how is Liren?”
“Oh, Zihao!” Brother Fu shook his head. “Better than you, but not by much. Maybe it would be better so say she’s damaged differently. Rest. You will be staying here for a week. I’ll bring you some books. Maybe some plants for the room.
Tian thought he ought to smile, but for some reason he couldn’t quite grasp the emotion. “That would be nice, thank you father.”
“Do you need another blanket?”
“Mmm… I think I’m alright for now.”
Tian didn’t notice that fog condensed with his breath. His father noticed, and a despairing part of him felt it was fitting. Tian’s hair had turned a snowy white.
Comments
MrHrulgin
How many years of seeing the same basic stories play out would it take before you were starving for anything truly novel?
Gerald Ransom Jr
3 hours and 53 minutes left
Khanalas
He probably meant yin and yang as in the nature of the sexes
Endgame
If the dragon is Yang energy and tian takes the dragon, isn't he yin? Even the doctor says " good yin to yin and yang to yang" So either that's what was supposed to happen of author messed somewhere
Gerald Ransom Jr
I think I get it? They should have taken opposite spirit animals yeah?
maou99sama
But they did didn’t they, the dragon was fire and wood both yang aligned elements and the tiger was earth and metal both yin aligned elements.
Notcreepycreeper
Obviously setting them up for dual cultivation. But they both acknowledged they are unbalanced, so I'm surprised Tian didn't take the yang and Liran the yin
ioajfidsnmfomds77
White hair. Further evidence that Tian is the eldest. All in accordance with the Dao
SquiddlyWinks
Oops
Hakurei06
I feel like there's a metaphor somewhere regarding their spiritual alignments not matching their physical body
EvilLittleThing
He probably got shorter again, so maybe she can carry him in a Baby Björn
Veridescent
One would hope it would be a different pattern to the usual "women gets weaker" version in such a case. Something to work on at least in method
Gerald Ransom Jr
Trying to make a Tian Zhiao on where winds meet rn I love this book
$4.99
I would love if his hair stayed white. I think it would reflect Hong's fiery red even more than black did
zero
might have to dye my hair white smh
Thomas Lawless
Geez. It's like the elders are a bunch of terminally bored 5 year olds and tian and Liren are a Lego set dropped in front of them.
Jonathan
They totally need to be together and dual cultivate! That would help balance them out. I guess it's just getting them stable and sane enough to work together.
Veridescent
I mean Jade Beauty of the Heavens Zihao obviously must have a extreme Yin body. Its the trope so that people can try to get close to him while he is cold
Andrew Goebel
I certainly didn't learn that lesson. That's a good catch.
Raymond Mouton
Thanks for the Chapter.
Leonardo Ezequiel Ortis Yñiguez
Day 1 asking for extra chapters as christmas present
Michael Grable
So extreme yang have way to yin. So im assuming liren had the reverse and is not a ball of unhindered energy. They need to dual cultivate man, they gonna die at this rate
kapo
Now the question is: Is his hair always going to be white, is it going to turn back once he balances things out, or will we get one of those “it turns white when he overuses his qi” or “when he uses a specific power” type of deals? Either way, this is one of my favorite tropes and I’m not upset.
kapo
I have noticed that for all this sect is corrupt af, they have pretty solid rules about what not to do with their juniors that at least seem to be followed. granted, they haven’t interacted too much with the really coercive ones as far as I recall, so I’m not sure how much they would follow the whole “not stealing fortuitous encounters” rule, but at least the elders they’ve met so far have treated it like an absolute rule.
Noroh
No, it's like the elemental caverns all over again. An excess of Fire is mania I believe and an excess of metal is grief.
Johan Persson
Is it too much to ask for 25 extra chapters as a christmas present?!
Alexandra
Me punching the air right now in impatience for the next chapter
zombie
Tian was already a criminally hot brooding anime boy, but now he has white hair? It's over for us, his hotness will destroy sects if not kingdoms.
LUXRUS
Yang is dragon, man is dragon. I guess a tiger is yin? I assumed it would be yang, but it makes sense.
Tabac Iberez
Just drape Tien over Liren's shoulders like a blanket so they can balance each other out. He's now training weight and temperature control at the same time!
João Vene
Re-reading this bit: "Smiling so wide, he thought he felt the corners of his mouth tearing, and it felt like something was tearing near his heart and he was laughing, laughing, laughing as Liren screamed like something dying beside him." Did he actually damage his middle dantian? The crimson palace thing, Liren keeps her fancy spear inside hers?
Zenopath (AEV)
I noticed this too, later on they mention that the dragon is yang though, so what they actually took was yang for yin, yin for yang. So either the elder simply told them to grab the spirit by gender, as you say, or Warby goofed.
ranoche
Elder duan not scamming his juniors. A virtuous man or one who just wants to avoid getting the belt from tians dad
Sean Shivers
"contrive" feels like the wrong word. They're imbalanced. They've been imbalanced. They'll continue to be unbalanced. A single simple session isn't gonna fix that.
Zenopath (AEV)
I think this sentence is a mistake: “Good. Yin for yin, yang for yang..." Because later on they say: "The dragon was the purest expression of yang." So in actuality, Tian, the overly yin-aspected one, grabbed the yang spirit dragon, and Liren grabbed the yin spirit tiger. But the elder seemed to imply the reverse? Shouldn't the elder have said: "Yin for yang, yang for yin,"?
Hakurei06
I was gonna say Yuki-otoko, but those are a different thing entirely. More like a yeti or bigfoot. Not tian-like at all.
JackassofAllTrades
Feel like Warby is contriving the need for a dual cultivation scene again, even if it's a sfw dual cultivation method
Hakurei06
it's odd that the elder says that they chose "yin for yin and yang for yang", but a yin-aligned Tian chose a yang-aligned dragon? And Hong took a yin aligned tiger. The choice of spirit being confirmed (and endorsed) by the elder. The actual reaction seems counter-intuitive, as rather than balancing out they, or at least Tian, seem to have leaned harder into imbalance, but for hong the oil fire metaphor is actually pretty apt. Edit: Ah, the elder's wording could be explained if he didn't know their actual yin-yang alignments and assumed the conventional ones based on physical sex. In which case Tian and Hong fucked up.
Summer Coff
Damn it, Tian, don't you remember the lesson you learned in that bird's belly? An excess of yang leads to the generation of yin.
Markus Müller
Sometimes keeping your cultivation methods and fortunate encounters hidden does backfire. With full knowledge of their backgrounds their elders would have been more cautious.
Akkido
From extreme Yang comes Yin. Sorry, Tian.
Robert Mullins
We're reaching levels of femboy energy that theoretically shouldn't be possible.
Liam Zay
What do you mean? Tian got the yang dragon and Liren got the yin tiger; that should help right?
Vainirion
Yuki-Onna skin unlocked.
JackassofAllTrades
I think the "him" here refers to Tian, not the Elder
Robert Mullins
I'm worried for Tian's purity if he meets Liren under these conditions.
Robert Mullins
Looks like their bodies reacted opposite of what they expected with Tian going even harder into yin and Liren Yang. Before long they'll need ropes to tie Liren down or she'll float away with Yang Lightness. I wonder if their changes from the sutra caused this?
Ano Ano
My thought as well. We just had a conversation where they were like, we're too unbalanced and it's a bummer. Then they double down on the unbalancing here? And every elder fully agrees?
Stewie
"the Heavenly Realm doctors who were training him." Should this be training with him?
Gardor
Check another box on the "mc tropes done creatively" list.
Veridescent
Heh internal medicine....actually makes a ton of logical sense to be revered in context? Best person to tell of variability in biology and know eclectic case studies. Also I am happy moisturizatipn was included in the body refinement, a subtle but important detail to avoid everyone being dry as dust but harder than steel.
TeDureShi
I would have thought the would have done yang-yin since they already a bit unbalanced. I feel like the all the way unbalanced now
Kain
Are you referring to his hands seeming “too heavy” when he wakes up? Cuase I don’t think that has to do with him being any more yang more like he’s so Yin and Frostbiten his arms don’t want to move. At least from my reading.
Joshua Gunty
I thought for sure they'd swap at the last moment. I don't think this is gonna help their imbalances lol
Kain
So they didn’t go with “yin for yin yang for yang” they each went for their opposite and their tyrannical body refinement arts reacted by going into overdrive in the other direction. Tians emotions get chilled out and his hair turns white poor Lierns probably pent up in the extreme if she’s also confined somewhere.
Ekko
...our Heroic Couple should help eachother out through Dual-Cultivation or Pseudo-Dual-Cultivation. Both have what the other needs once again it seems
Andrew Lechner
Huh, Tian is getting even prettier. Though the fact his body actually weighs something again shows the Yang injection worked. So this should resolve the hormone issues.
João Vene
White hair? His transition to pretty boy is complete
axel jensen
It's like being doted on by grandparents but multiplied 100 times.
JTP
Damn warby, starting off the week with a bang!
