WarbyPicus
patreon
Sky Pride Vol. 4 Chapter 51- The Daoists Return to Simplicity
🕑 Added 2025-11-24 15:00:18 +0000 UTC“What the dog fornicating hell just happened?”
“Language.”
“No, Sister Liren, I think I used exactly the correct words. I am keeping my composure, my dignity, and using the appropriate etiquette for both the company I am in, and the situation at hand. Strictly speaking, it’s not even profanity. However, if this isn’t a moment for profanity, I really don’t know what is. I am morally and logically correct in my choice of words.”
“Tsk tsk. The young dragon Tian Zihao, reduced to barbarous language by a mere…”
“Go on. Really. Go on. A mere what? Tell me. I want to know.”
“Yeah, I have no idea what the dog fornicating hell just happened. Glad we lived though.” Hong shrugged, her eyes wide and wild, her lips pulled back into the fakest grin Tian had ever seen.
“I think ‘live’ is the minimum reasonable expectation.” Tian’s fingers looked like they were clenching an invisible throat. He wasn’t aware. “A year and a half. A YEAR AND A HALF our… dearly revered Grand Elder had us running around rather than just telling us something. He could have sent us a note if he didn’t want to visit. The number of times we both nearly died!”
“All so he could have an audience while he killed someone then committed suicide. If that’s what really happened. Although that does seem like, again, the bare minimum we could expect given the whole mass-murder on an unprecedented scale.” Hong was tapping her spear on the ground in a way that suggested she was visualizing stabbing. “Though I am sure that isn’t all that happened.”
“Here is a head scratcher for you- was it mass murder? If he mostly sat around and deliberately did nothing, can it be murder? Or do you have to act? Counter-argument, can a failure to act be murder? Do you have a responsibility to act?”
Liren nodded thoughtfully. “I don’t give a damn what the law says. The most powerful diviner in the nation, older than the nation, commanding the most powerful military force in the nation, who helped create the nation AND raise up thousands of cultivators, damn well does have a responsibility to his creation! I am not interested in entertaining any defense of that…”
There was a drifting silence.
“Can’t think of a strong enough swear?”
“No.”
“It’s a tough one. On a completely related point, where are we?”
“Dunno.” Hong shrugged. “On a mountain?”
Her guess was reasonable, given that on the other side of the road was three feet of grassy verge, then a not quite vertical drop several hundred feet down. You would have a lovely view as you fell. The mountain seemed to be lush with green bushes and sweet-smelling bamboo. Tian thought he could smell pine and cedar somewhere. Perhaps there was a forest beyond the drifting, faintly iridescent mists above.
Or below. There was a remarkable amount of mist, given the patches of achingly blue sky that slipped through now and again.
Tian took a deep breath. The air was humid, but not choking, cool, but not cold, there was a sweetness to it that refreshed body and mind. Wherever they were, it was a good place. Tian inhaled deeply, then started his cultivation running.
He coughed. He had managed to choke on fresh air.
“Brother?”
“The qi. It’s really dense here. Not quite at the level of the Six Turns Caverns, but higher than anywhere I’ve been outside of it. It feels less chaotic too. Purer, if that makes sense.”
Liren nodded slowly. She looked around again, her mouth slowly opening, her eyes widening. “I know where we are. Or… I have a really good guess. Ancient Crane Mountain. I think he delivered us to Ancient Crane Mountain.”
Tian shook his head. He expected to be here one day. This was a bit soon. He looked around. The road snaked upwards and downwards, quickly being lost in the folds of the mountain. A mountain that, from what he recalled, took even cultivators a week or more to circle on foot, and was so tall, the peak couldn’t be seen from the ground.
“Guess we find out what we can hunt and forage out here, because I don’t like our chances of finding anyone.” Tian laughed softly. “Maybe we just need to cross our fingers and pray some core disciple comes rushing out, furious that we are trespassing.”
They paused to admire the birds flying through the sky. Below them. Tian glanced over at the crane. She looked a little intimidated. Not ordinary birds, then.
“You will have to do the finger crossing, of course.” Tian added.
“Me? Why me? You cross your fingers. They're all weird and noodly, you will be great at it.” Hong shoved the job back at him.
“You have three more fingers than me, and can’t bear to cross four of ‘em. Of all the wretchedly unfilial behavior…” The two started bickering and walking uphill. The crane, who was used to it, walked beside them. Tian could tell it was unsettled, and wanted to stay close.
The road was steep, and each step was draining. This was balanced by the sweet air, revitalizing their vital energy with every breath. Just living here made you healthier. Tian hopped a little, then did it again. Then a third time.
“Is it just me, or is the ground pulling on us harder than it should?”
Hong gave a little jump. Tian noticed she jumped a bit higher than he did. Presumably for the sake of childish competition. She clearly had a lot of growing up to do. “Huh. You’re right.”
“Must be all the earth qi in the mountain.” Tian nodded. This seemed to confirm his earlier theory about earth qi. He jumped again, just to check. By complete coincidence, he jumped a little higher than Liren. He landed with satisfaction at the experimental proof of his theory, and for no other reason.
“That makes sense.” She jumped again. He couldn’t help but notice she spent almost a second in the air. “I don’t have a better theory.”
Tian jumped. He was good at jumping. “Indeed.”
Liren jumped. The crane gave them both a gimlet stare from her brilliantly yellow eyes, and sat down in the grass. They were still jumping five minutes later when a small group came down the path. There were three women, and one rather large man. Broad of shoulder, profound of gut, with the round, innocent face of a born victim, even his bun bobbed in a way that suggested he would be easy to fool.
“See, I told you I recognized their vital energy. Brother Tian, Sister Hong, you two are a sight for sore eyes!”
Brother Wang, in all his flustered glory, bore down on them. “We were in the Five Elements Courtyard and then we got ripped through the air! Did you know that if you move fast enough, the air starts to glow around you? I swear I saw clouds burst apart as we punched through them. We must have looked like a dragon, brilliant gold and trailing a long streak behind us through the air.”
“I… did not know that.” Tian shook his head, then collected himself. “Forgive me! It is good to see you again, Martial Aunt Mei, Sister Su, Brother Wang. But I don’t believe I know your companion?” The words flowed, just the way he learned them, smoothing out all those messy human relations.
“Oh yes, where are my manners? This is Sister Ming Yu. She… defected. Along with Lil’ Mei.” Brother Wong coughed and looked away. Tian gave the woman a proper look. She was, in fact, wearing the multicolored and embroidered robes of the Five Elements Courtyard. Martial Aunt Mei was wearing a fancier version of the same outfit. Considerably fancier, he was fairly sure there were active formations in her clothes but how that worked, he had no idea.
“Defected?”
Ming Yu nodded vigorously. Tian quickly noticed a few oddities about her. The first was that she was wearing some kind of device over her eyes. He recognized glass, but the little circular disks held in place on her face with bits of flattened wire and bamboo were… novel. He could see tiny formations carved into them. Perhaps they were enchanted. The white jade pendant hanging from her waist certainly was, as were the brilliant green jade cuffs on her ears. Her robes looked like they were too big for her too, her sleeves were practically dragging, and her hem was muddy. Did she shrink? Tian felt an immediate sense of kinship.
“Yes, we simply couldn’t stay in the Courtyard any longer. No bonds of family or duty could compel me to endure…” Ming Yu gently shook her head and looked away, distraught. Her ‘look away’ happened to look in the direction of Brother Wang. Tian couldn’t help but feel his attention being pulled back to the jade ear cuffs she was wearing, and the pendant hanging from her waist. He had never seen anything quite like them before. The elements moved like swaying watergrass around them.
Could an array or an enchantment have its own dao? It would be the product of a dao, of course, and the crafter’s own conception. But could the thing itself have a dao? Because if everything was part of the dao, then any random rock or tree… no, every random rock and tree had its own dao. All of existence, by virtue of existing, was pursuing a path.
Tian shook his head to drive away the silly thoughts. Then another silly thought intruded, and his head turned, as though on gimbals, towards Brother Wang. Who looked helpless and innocent.
“It’s not what you think.” The big man started waving his hands.
“It’s exactly what you think.” Sister Su corrected, her voice cool, but not unhappy. “It is good to see the two of you again. Although, Brother Tian, have you… you appear to be…” She groped for a useful cliche, then gave up. “You shrank. But you look better now. Somehow. Sister Hong did not shrink, but she also looks better. I am happy for you both.” Her voice was as deadpan as her expression.
Hong waved helplessly at the trio turned quartet. “How… why?”
“Well. You know.” Brother Wang rubbed the back of his neck. “She was being bullied terribly, so she just started hanging around our courtyard, and we all became good friends. When Sis’ Su and I started glowing and levitating, Lil’ Mei and Lil’ Ming said they wanted to come with us. That they would rather be with us on Ancient Crane Mountain than stay trapped in the Courtyard. Then they were wrapped up in the glow, and came with us.”
Tian looked over at Martial Aunt Mei, who wasn’t bothering to hide her snickering. “Weren’t you in the Ascending Phoenix Aerie, or whatever they called the region for direct disciples?”
“Oh yes. And this cutie was a mortal lock for joining me as soon as she broke through.” She smiled. Then giggled, because some habits are hard to change. “Boy, will her patrons and fiancees be surprised!”
“Fiancees? Plural?!” Hong didn’t quite shriek, but her voice definitely went up a couple of registers.
“It’s a dreadful story, Sister Hong. Horrible.” Brother Wang shook his head and spent twenty minutes recounting a tale of ancient families, of marital arrangements, cruel young masters and uncaring fathers, made worse by conniving mothers. There was tragedy, betrayal, more tragedy, more betrayal, and at the very end, a single place of peace and contentment. The courtyard of one hapless Brother Wang and the brilliant, beautiful Su and Mei.
Also, unrelated, Ming’s fiancees were now financially ruined, morally compromised, and their dao hearts cruelly wounded. Their parents jointly went to explore a cave grotto and weren't expected back for at least fifty years, and her patrons within the sect were always a little too generous with both their looks and comments, which is presumably how they found themselves in such an… unbecoming condition at a very public banquet. Too much wine, and entirely too comfortable making observations about people. It was therefore obviously not suitable for Ming Yu to stay in the Courtyard. Anyone could see that.
Strange coincidences, but nothing to do with Brother Wang. He was just struggling to get by, wishing he could spend every spirit stone like it was ten and sighing at the prices in the shops.
Tian and Hong shared a look, clasped their fist in their hands, bowed, offered their formal welcomes, then firmly strode away without looking back. The crane seemed to get over whatever was worrying her, because she flapped into the air as quickly as she could.
“Vow of chastity. Cave dwellings. We are on a mountain. I bet the caves already exist. We just need to pick out which ones we like.” Tian was firm on this.
“We will want something south facing for the light, near an outcrop where we can get a view of the dawn. So, the south-east face of the mountain would be a decent compromise. There should be a source of water and firewood nearby. Maybe some place for a garden, so we can grow vegetables."
“Oh, you know how to grow vegetables?” Tian asked.
“No, you are the herb boy, you will be growing them. I will be out hunting in the forest where we get firewood.” Hong waved her spear boldly.
“I pick herbs, not grow ‘em. I bet I’ve done more hunting than you, too. Though you are right about the location. I wonder if we should just destroy any roads or paths leading to our cave. It would make it harder to reach other places, but it would also make us harder to reach. Which would be nice. We just need to figure out how to make deadfalls and pit traps in the air, to discourage Heavenly visitors.”
The two carried on, not caring even slightly about the Heavenly Person collapsing with laughter behind them.
They wandered whatever trails seemed interesting, not really thinking about where they were going. It had been a thoroughly unpleasant couple of weeks, and they were happy to just be. They found each other’s company easy. When they wanted to talk, they talked. When they wanted to be quiet, they were quiet, and listened to the world. The wind spoke to them through the trees. The water whispered its secrets from mountain streams, the birds cried, the insects hummed, and the world turned without them. That seemed important. The world turned. They didn’t cause it. They couldn’t stop it. It just was. Days slipped past. They hardly noticed.
There was so much happening. And they couldn’t stop it. They just knew it was going on. Even Tian, for all his complaints of being too yin, felt the urgent need to do something, to make the bad things not happen, or not have happened, or something. Anything. But they couldn’t. Who knew better than them the scope of what was happening? Who knew more of the whys behind the whats?
One day, the crane landed on a rock in front of them and gave them a worried look. It shared a memory- of flying out, far, far from the mountain side and coming to a halt. Something gently turned her around. Every time she flew past a certain point, she found herself flying back towards the mountain again.
“A formation. The whole mountain is locked into a formation. Starsieve did say that, as far as the rest of the world would be concerned, the mountain would no longer exist.” Hong had stopped attaching honorifics to the Elder’s name. Tian couldn’t quite bring himself to match her, but he slipped up occasionally.
“He rounded up all the ‘good ones.’ All the reformers and the people with merit. What do you want to bet an awful lot of the Inner Court is on the other side of that barrier?”
“The Monastery proper too. Can’t convince me that they are all good people.” Hong nodded, looking blankly into a stream racing through the valley they were sitting in.
“Mmm.”
Nature filled the silence with its voice.
“My family is on the other side of the barrier. Why would Starsieve save them? They don’t have any particular merit. Just the opposite, really. Tens of millions of mortals will die, and my parents are already in a… dangerous place.”
Tian nodded. “The Long family is probably dead, though.”
Hong kept her eyes fixed on the river. “Maybe not. Remember what Starsieve said? The worst people will thrive in the chaos.”
“For a time.”
She silently laughed at that. “Brother Tian, all we have is now.”
Tian laughed with her. It was a teaching of the sect. “The past is a memory, and the future is a dream. We can only exist in the present moment. Only now are we free to choose.” He quoted an oft repeated lecture.
“I don’t feel like my choices have counted for much lately. Maybe it’s because I haven’t really been able to choose from things I actually wanted.” Hong dipped a handkerchief into the stream and wiped the back of her neck with it. “What are we going to do? Stuck on the mountain, I mean.”
“Sooner or later one of the Elders or Direct Disciples is going to start organizing things. It’s a big mountain, but given the range of a heavenly person’s senses, they should find everyone eventually. Somewhere on this mountain is the Monastery and apparently that is where all the really good stuff is. We should be sitting on a big pile of merits, if those still matter, so we can pick up whatever we want. Weapons, armor, cultivation resources, scriptures. Whatever. I’m going to practice the Dragon Suppressing Palms. We ignite the next sun for you. We both break into Level Eight in the next few months, or in my case, weeks, and we start grinding for Level Nine and the Heavenly Realm.”
Tian rattled it all off.
“And… then what?”
“Dunno.”
“Heh. Me either.”
“Sooner or later, the ward will come down, or someone will crack it. I have to say the thought that I am in a giant, invisible birdcage gives me an itchy feeling.” Tian rolled his shoulders, then stood. “I was joking about the vow of chastity thing, but not about the cave dwelling. Wanna see if we can find a good spot?”
“Sure.” She stood. “What are you going to do when you see Brother Fu?”
“I have no idea.” They started walking, following a trail leading roughly south-east. “What can I even say? What could he say to me? Does he even know what Starsieve did? What he really did, I mean? And…” Tian spread his hands looking at the missing fingers, then turned to Liren with a helpless expression. She could only shake her head and sigh.
They walked for two more days, moving towards the southeast side of the mountain. One ordinary day, they found a rocky outcrop wide enough for a camp site. It was good enough for the night. The two young immortals sat through the night, watching the stars. A little before dawn, they began their cultivation and let their spirits rise with the sun. They would find their cave soon enough, and they would make it a good place to live.
The road to the Dao was long and winding, but they were content, knowing they wouldn’t walk alone. Glowing purple and gold in the dawnlight, they couldn’t imagine wanting more.
Comments
Kev Gamm
I think Starsieve would agree with you. This cycle of Creation and Destruction, one held up by Merit, Fortune, and Power, inevitably invites the mass suffering of mortals. Starsieve and Black Iron both recognized this, I think, but saw the solution in different places. Black Iron saw it in usurpation of the heavenly throne, by stealing fortune, denying merit, and censuring the current order. Eventually the scales would tip in his favor enough to allow him to successfully seize the throne. Starsieve saw in it in a future generation free of adversary. Scorch the earth of all choking weeds to allow his selected crop to flourish. Black Iron was always going to be a problem, so he sacrificed the lives and good fortune of an entire nation to get rid of him. Then he sacrificed himself to revitalize the land and shield his chosen flock from the coming chaos.
LiteWvr
It's hard because in every sense they don't feel like 15 or even 20 year olds. They've been through too much and been taught by too many wise elders, so it's easy to forget they are still technically children. Also, to be fair basically every culture considers it normal for teenagers to date, court, or whatever they call it. Sex would be quite wrong but the romance could begin whenever tbh.
Kevin O'Malley
Can Tien grow tea?
Andrew Lechner
Not till they find Brother Fu
whistler
Is this a common thing? Lol
Noroh
Brother Wang better find the rest of the sect soon. Because unless Ming Yu is an alchemist or a doctor he's going to run out of medicine for his (now even more substantial) Yang depletion.
Sol
Fun chapter. I'm not really a xianxia fan, but this one is undeniably well written. Do gotta say, I hope the romance, if it occurs, is some ways off. I find the comments shipping these two former child soldier 15 year olds kind of odd, but to each their own.
Marcia McGinley
This feels like the end of the book but Warby's break starts on the 27th - so two more chapters? I'm hoping for Brother Fu arriving on the back of Brother Redmane.
Steve
The other sects exist and black iron is dead. By Starseive's calculations, the gorge is even more finished than the broadsky kingdom. There seems to be a reason the sect leaders can't act on their own but them just existing is probably still a pretty big advantage too.
Joshua Flowers
Time skip immenent?
Matthew Bernardin
The phrasing sounds just fine to me :D
Logrus
>I was joking about the vow of chastity thing, but not about the cave dwelling. Wanna see if we can find a good spot? PHRASING
Gardor
He was joking about the vow of chastity, was he?
kellanved
Aiii Starsieve, what an asshole. Tian got it right at the end in the previous chapter, just another old monster. Justifying everything with cycles of creation and destruction, but Tian is here to break that kind of bullshit. Sometime in the future though. Brother Wang is a legend.
Robert Mullins
After/As starsieve went kamikaze on the leader of the heretics in the wastes last chapter he teleported all the people he liked onto ancient crane mountain and kicked out all the ones he didn't before activating a formation that completely cut-off travel into and out of the formation. So now all the good people are stuck in a forced training arc and all the baddies are fighting amongst themselves for power and position in the vacuum left behind in both the wastes and the kingdom. The goal is likely to give the good people time to grow under the resources and protection of the mountain until things have calmed down and much of the in-fighting and chaos has ended.
Fuyge
Well to be fair the five elements court wasn’t even in the broad sky kingdom so them not being brought automatically does not mean other sects in the kingdom were not brought.
Pararably
I need an elder for I am a child in my understanding of the dao. What just happened? I understand but not enough to see mount tai.
Tim Gonsalves
Wonderful way to close out this arc. Tftc!
WierdWebLurker
He knows he will be sucked into Wang's polycule at some point. Between the natural charisma of the Fatty Wang character and the enclosed space of the mountain, it is inevitable.
William Johnson
Martial Aunt Mei is out here collecting all the waifus and husbandos! Tian and Hong the ascetic mountain couple is a strong vibe. Thanks for the chapter!
Raymond Mouton
Thanks for the chapter. Good one.
Bud Terry
Wonder whats gonna happen to the qi density while they are sealed. If the seal allows qi in but not out the mountain should become an even greater place to cultivate. Downside if the levels start to become dangerous the only way to survive would be to advance at the same rate it becomes dangeous
J
Kind of worried for all the good people they met in other sects; given Mei and Ming were only brought because they happened to be in the right place and the right time and said they wanted to come. Makes me think it only automatically(?) grabbed Crane Monastery people with good behavior/merit. I don't remember the names of everyone, but Tian and Liren met a decent number of good people in other sects during their trip. Hopefully they'll be OK.
BaguaBrady
Gotta say, this is the strangest version of xianxia rapture I've ever read, but I'm here for it
RoiDesAulnes
Starsieve thinks a quick death is better than an agonizing one, so that mf basically start the equivalent of a nuclear war for quickening the fall of the sect. You cannot accuse the lad of being sane.
Chris Fey
Grandpa out there trying to figure out how long until he’s earned enough to talk again, and whether correcting them on gravity is worth it.
BaguaBrady
At the least he seems to have killed the "dragon" that was gorging on the stolen merit. I don't imagine those kids got a great ending regardless, though.
Johan Persson
Can't wait to see this new world and the horrors it brings.
Tommy
In a hundred or so years tian leaves closed door cultivation to discover there is a tournament being held. Thinking it is fighting, he goes along. Only to discover that his outer court practice of slyly sharing food has been elevated to a competitive sport! 😂
Veridescent
Truly Wang is the other angle of the protaganist trifecta. Good for his poly group, I hope they are able to be kitchen table poly. I assume the mountain due to accumulation has a easier time allowing one to notice patterns. Like innately the factor of everything being part of the dao links to effortlesness, flowing with the dao, the logic of filiality and why giving back should exist, Starsieves actions, formations and courts for herbs, cultivation techniques, etc etc. All things have patterns and paths and all allowing and working with that allows powerful accumulation and effortless action. Even relates to the issue of social strucrure for mortal air, as if all are part of the dao all may be learned from. Merit is simply a pedalogical label allowed by a thing that has made others subordinate to its loop of accumulation. Even the focus on the now and methods of breaking formations. As seen with that special armor if you can weave the elements together it may be hard to sense or disrupt but if you can magnify one element you could disrupt the balance. Which you need to be keenly aware of the haeccitty of that thing as it flows to subvert or change it.
Aaron Archer
What's distressing is that Black Iron is having a relatively similar thing happen to them. Except it is just a big power vacuum causing who knows what to happen to the heretical cultivators.
Gavin Olsen
I really hope all of West town is in there
Kain
And explicitly say that the vow of chastity was a joke. Our boy might finally be getting a bit of yang in him.
Robert Mullins
Tragically, It seems his Chronic Yang Depletion is worsening over time.
Kain
“I was joking about the vow of chastity thing, but not about the cave dwelling” oh were you Tian and who exactly would you not be chaste with here on this mountain sealed off from the rest of the world?
Noah James
Thanks for the chapter? Thanks for the whole damn book! Enjoy your break Warby, we’ll be here when you get back.
dkpfrog
Tftc!
JackassofAllTrades
I certainly hope whatever Starsieve did earlier helped all those kids still on the spikes, if not I guess it's out everyone's hands until the barrier comes down.
GreenB
Lollol, brother Wang is a generic Xiaxia protagonist for sure.
austin kutz
The primary effect seems to be keeping them safe and unrelated to the current struggles. Can't even get theoretical negative karma from failing to act when you can't act at all
Robert Mullins
Tian and Hong: Wang's love life is too absurd. lets avoid ever getting caught up in somethimg like that. Also Tian and Hong: Lets move in together and start a life together in our own private (mountain?)-side.
WickedlyDesigned
The way they walked away...
David Bailey
Their passivity seems like a secondary effect of the formation, maybe?
Tommy
“Counter-argument, can a failure to act be murder? Do you have a responsibility to act?” Tian is so close! ‘With great power comes great responsibility’… Spider-Man cultivator arc incoming 😂 TFTC!
JTP
These two are just the best! Let's swear off romance, and live together isolated from others.
