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Sky Pride Vol. 4 Chapter 30- Holding to Hope Too Long
🕑 Added 2025-10-24 14:00:12 +0000 UTCA little daoist stood in the yard behind an ordinary inn, in the ordinary town of Three Streams. It was called Three Streams because three streams met above the town before forming into a short river that fed into the Green River. Lots of soft rock in the area meant the Green River flowed through a deep valley, and twisting limestone caves pierced the land. The caves were so long and twisty, the locals called them Dragon Caves, and dreamed about what ancient wonders, or horrors, might have made them.
They would have new horrors to dream about after today.
A little daoist stood on the green grass, one hand bladed in front of his nose, rosary looped around his thumb. Each uttered symbol carried a truth beyond mortal understanding. A statement about the most minute piece of the world, enforced with vital energy of startling purity. Around him horrors shook and thrashed, reaching for him but falling apart before they could.
A little daoist stood on a battlefield, brave Sisters of the convent storming down to protect their juniors. Women with only one arm or leg, women missing a piece of their jaw, or covered in burns, infected with biting insects, burdened by demons physical and mental, returned to their homey Hell and gave the bandits a rich welcome. They had endured war, endured peace, endured dwindling life, but no force in creation would force them to endure this.
A little daoist stood all alone, calling to the world, calling to the vast unknowable, indefinable, unspeakable existence. Each sound was a name and a piece of that impossible immensity. The dao that can be spoken is not the true dao, but so what? Do you have to know everything to know anything? The world around him was full of cruelty and illusions, so he closed his eyes and spoke those truths he did know. He was not afraid. One of the truths he knew was that he was not alone.
What cause for fear was there, when his good sister stood before him?
Hong Liren was not a little daoist, nor did she ever refer to herself as such. Tian had asked about it- he had always understood that it was a nice little bit of humility, and therefore a useful bit of the performative politeness that was so important when mingling with humans.
“Nobody ever was kind to me when I begged. Nobody stuck their neck out for me when I was weak either, except my family and my sisters. And you. You be the humble, polite one. Fake it so hard the world believes it. The world can take me as I am, and if they find my speech too proud, they can speak to my spear. Nothing more humble and honest than a pointy stick. I’m Hong Liren, from sunrise to sunset, my name won’t change, nor will my nature.”
Rigid, unbending, unwilling to accommodate. Yang. Too yang. But fire brought both rage and joy, and the human compassion of a lamp in the dark.
Liren struck out with her spear- the monstrous heretic met her thrusts with thorn pierced arms and mocking laughter. Each thrust was met with lashing limbs, high, low; blows that should have broken bones were softened by suddenly flexible spines. Spines that turned rigid and sharp again when a reaching hand stabbed towards Liren’s heart.
Hard feet slammed into soft earth, tearing up the grass, scattering stones. High, low, high, low, furious focus and mad laughter, the two experts dueled, to the sound of shouting, screaming, and the insistent chanting of a little daoist.
Until something broke, and the illusions began vanishing.
“I see why someone put so much money on your heads. I thought it was just to hurt the boy’s father, but really, both of you are well worth my killing.” The disgusting woman smiled her eery smile. The writhing things coming up from the ground vanished. That was the good news. The bad news was the whistling cluster of shapes falling from high up. Tian didn’t know what they were. He just didn’t want to be here when they arrived.
“Oh, well, if it’s just money you are after, we can make a deal.” Hong sounded very reasonable. The mad woman seemed to freeze up for a moment hearing that.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Sure. My brother holds all our money. Hey Brother Tian!” The thorn covered woman glanced over at Tian. It was just a momentary glance. It was enough. Hong stabbed her in the head. The spear punched through the skull, and Hong kept pushing, shoving the evil cultivator’s body over and pinning her head to the dirt. Then spinning the spear head and raising it up and down like she was driving an auger.
“Evil witch! Die for me!”
“I… I don’t think she can get any more dead, Sister Liren. Sister, we have to go. Now.” Tian staggered over and patted her arm.
“Right. Yes. Damn them!”
“Sisters, can I ask you to look after the boy and the man under the boat? Some Martial Uncles or Aunts should be coming to pick them up soon. But the bandits are after us, and whatever that is,” Tian pointed at the howling cluster of things leaving white trails high up in the sky, “Doesn’t look like a problem your covenant should handle. Unless you have a protective array or something?”
There was a lot of head shaking.
“Then we are going to run. Sorry. And thank you.” Tian bowed. The crane flew in, landing next to Tian in a hurry. Tian gently caressed her head. “Sister Liren, sorry. But this is by far the best way.”
“I’m not that weak. Let’s go.” She shook the brains from her spear, and when the crane transformed into her giant size, Liren was the first to hop on her back.
A good rule was to assume anything flying towards you with hostile intent was at the heavenly person level. It wasn’t always true. Lots and lots of demonic birds at the earthly realm in the Wasteland. But this was the Broadsky Kingdom. Tian could feel a certain weight of attention on him. This wasn’t going to end well if a Heavenly Person made a move. Their best play was to fly as far and as fast as they could towards the nearest big city, and hope one of the mobilized seniors was there to intercept.
Brother Fu’s letter said there should be a sky barge with a couple of Heavenly People on their way towards him, moving down the Green River. So all he had to do was move up the river, and he would run into them. Simple. Hopefully.
“Censor, Little Treasure, tell anyone who asks that you are going to Mountain Gate City and are under the personal protection of Direct Disciple Fu. Okay? And if anyone has any questions about that, they are to ask him or report the question to Elder Rui, head of the Outer Court. Nobody else. Not one other person.” Tian spoke quickly from the back of the crane. “We will draw them away. We will see you soon, I promise.”
The Crane stretched out her broad white wings, and pressed down on the air as she leapt into the sky. Tian could never quite believe it when it happened. A bird’s wing pressed the air down and pushed its body up on nothing at all. Wasn’t that the maddest thing?
“Ah hell.” Liren muttered, yanking Tian’s attention back from the wonders of flying. “We left the boat behind. I hope they pack it. I got really fond of it.”
Tian blinked then chuckled, bending forward until he was resting his head on the bird next to where Liren was sitting. “Yeah. Me too.” Then he closed his eyes, and tried to breathe through the pain. He had done his best to go easy on his body. His best wasn’t good enough. All he could do now was get what rest he could.
“I wished I believed prayer helped. I’d pray for a rescue.”
Snow Grace Cranes were famous for their ability to fly for a long time without rest. They were not famous for their ability to fly quickly. The things coming behind them were catching up. They managed an hour’s flight, but Tian could now clearly see what was chasing them.
Nine of the identical bald bandits, and one tattooed woman. Also identical to the one killed by Liren.
“I’m going to say it- that’s not natural. But I don’t know what it is.” Tian muttered.
Hong shrugged. “Don’t know. But what I do know is they seem to be flying under their own power. Either they each have some overpowered flying device fueled by a stack of spirit crystals, or there is a Heavenly Person heretic in the mix.”
“You ever hear of a device that lets Earthly Realm cultivators fly?” Tian asked.
“Nope.”
“Me either. But I had hoped I was just ignorant.”
They fell back into silence. What was there to say? They were already doing all they could. The bandits got steadily closer. Tian idly wondered if he could nail another one with his darts, but decided against it. Petty tricks in front of a Heavenly Person were meaningless.
“Oh. It’s some kind of puppet art.” Hong suddenly spoke. “I was wondering why a heavenly person would set up an array and use those weird identical looking people for an assasination. It's a puppet art. These are some kind of modified humans. Maybe they are being controlled by the thorns or something? No idea.”
“Why use puppets at all? Why not kill us directly?” Tian asked.
“Because how often have we seen True Disciples launch counter-ambushes on Heavenly Realm heretics? It’s practically their favorite strategy. The heretics are evil, not idiots. They wouldn’t keep stepping into the same trap. Better to send puppets to test the water before making a move themselves. Notice that wherever the real heretic is, we can’t see them. Just the puppets.”
Tian grunted. “That might give us… a degree of opportunity. A potential gap we can exploit.”
“Maybe. I’m not going to bet on it, though.”
Tian sighed. He wouldn’t either. The crane nudged him and shared a memory, very slightly adjusting course.
“She found the sky barge! It’s over a waterfall on that tributary over there!” Tian didn’t quite yell. The crane did her best to speed up. It wasn’t much, but every little bit-
“Oh, now that’s no fun. I wanted to run you down slowly, really let you wallow in despair. Maybe see if I could get you to betray each other, that’s always good for a laugh. Ah well. Sometimes murder for hire is all work and no play.” The voice of the female bandit landed in their ears as though she were standing next to them. “Incidentally, it’s not a puppet art. It’s a parasite art. Just something to think about in Hell.”
A black hand the size of a storm cloud formed from the void and slapped the crane out of the sky. She tumbled through the air, Tian and Hong flying off her back. They started to separate, but in a desperate move, Tian threw out his rope dart and lashed it around Hong’s ankle, yanking her closer.
“YOU DARE!” A man’s voice roared, coming from far away.
“Not one of you bird brains comes up with anything original to say. Yes I dare. Who’s going to stop me? You?” The bald woman tilted her head to the side as she sent an enchanted cage to capture the Crane.
“Die for me!” The roar came with a slash of light from beyond where Tian could see.
“Not with that level of Saber Qi I won’t. Oh, that reminds me.” Tian saw one of the bald men turn and dive through the air, falling on them like a falcon after pigeons.
“Too slow!” The man’s voice boomed, a sharp arc of light ripping through the clear summer sky towards the bald man.
“Am I?” The bald man bulged. Then exploded. Thousands of long thorns spewed from the rags of flesh fluttering in the wind. Long, black, wickedly sharp, coming faster than a diving bird. Faster than the rain. Tian couldn’t even process what he was seeing. His brain locked up. He was helpless in the air, and death was coming. He couldn’t think!
Hong’s eyes had always been faster than his. She yanked the rope and pulled him close. She wrapped her arms around him, and with a twist of her body, put her back to the thorns.
He could feel them slam into her. Far, far too many of them slam into her.
“Sister? Sister?!”
The martial uncle would step in any second now. He would save them now. He could scoop them from the air with a single hand. He would save Sister Liren. He would!
Tian desperately clung to that hope as the ground grew closer. Then he fell into darkness, carrying the weight of his sister upon him.
Comments
Akkido
M O N S T E R
Colton Carey
Not technically illegal cliffhanger, glad to be reading late lol
Benjamin Collins
I'm so glad I'm just reading this chapter today
Vainirion
| |I || |_
FishFace
Dont they both have mystic heart saving mirrors? That they got from the treasure weighing magistrate for the ambush with martial uncle ku?
Zenopath (AEV)
I doubt either of them will die from this, but I think Liren will be deathly ill for a while, just long enough for Tian to realize how much he'd miss her if she doesn't recover. Maybe there will be a hospital bedside confession to a comatose Liren, only to have her wake up as he's crying over her. Or maybe that would be too cliche, but I can dream...
Gerald Ransom Jr
You Dare?!
Meredith
The title makes sense now. “Sky Pride”. … it is in the sky Warby shows his pride and leaves us in the air
Meredith
What if Liren dies but then comes back to life instead of fully crossing over? Or Liren reaches Heavenly Person realm because partway dying is actually the process of doing so?
Meredith
Lol
Meredith
OK I am calling it: Tian is going to do some dual cultivation with Hong Liren to eviscerate the parasite from his good younger Sister. His Senior Brothers will have even more reason to rejoice in several chapters!
Zenopath (AEV)
I would really like a bonus Saturday post, pls. Lol
Hugo Nuef
I swear, if Liren die, I will not forgive you!
Sean Shivers
There's something beautifully tragic about the depersonalization of the beginning. Tian is both so much More than himself AND so much Less as he's caught up in chanting the universe's truths. Is that what religion is supposed to feel like?
BelligerentGnu
Evil cliff is evil, you evil person.
Veridescent
Hm soup may count as dual cultivation.
Logrus
CRAZY PREDICTION TIME: The senior will declare they cannot save Liren. Tian is going make some Hong soup to save her, with Grandpa's instructions, this will have repercussions... like - Partially blowing Grandpa's cover - The Sect will now know Tian has otherworldly knowledge. Tian seeing a fully naked Liren... and beginning puberty in earnest. Liren finally fully understanding just how much Tian trusts and accepts her, as result of soup will be influenced by Tian's understanding/vision of who she is.
Logrus
....There is at least some chance that Tian will end up having to perform some kind of procedure with the Demon extracting art that will, in essence, BE dual cultivation, tying them together forever. ...and I'm totally here for it. LET THE SHIP SAIL!
Morog T Tiny
I gotta say, when warby cliffs... Warby Ciffs. Looking off the edge of this one and the bottom is so far down... thank you for the chapter.
Louis Nel
Is it still a cliffhanger if they've already hit the ground?
Rnd per
He dares too!
Kain
Now that would be a twist
Tom C
Cliffs for DAYS! I hope Liren survives this. Otherwise I’ll be upset but, we don’t know how the afterlife works in this world so maybe Tian will get angry and ascend to a super high level and then descend into the underworld to get his Liren back! TFTC
Noroh
You know, I think Liren and the Crane are actually okay. I think the one at most risk here is Tian not them. This whole journey was about Tian's Dao heart, which was cracking due to him blaming himself for bad things happening to those he loves. I hope Tian is okay.
Duck_Giblets
No more tian. It's little treasure from here on out
Duck_Giblets
So this story may focus on little treasure going forward as both tian and liren die
Duck_Giblets
Birb be protected in the cage
Duck_Giblets
Yes he will
Deathly_God
"See you all in a month. Maybe more, I need a vacation after editing!"
Vainirion
Warby, my bruh. It’s Friday.
Mar
It’s souping time
Fayhem
That cliff is DIABOLICAL
David Bailey
I mean, Tian literally underwent his own Heavenly Tribulation already, and Hong repelled it for his sake. These are not Earthly Realm children, even if they haven't crossed that level yet.
Endgame
Your not going to make us wait the whole weekend, are you?
Mithestral
I'm not joking, if Liren dies here i'm cancelling my subscription
Raymond Mouton
Thanks for the chapter.
Robert Mullins
Maybe they'll both go in the soup and Tian can leech off some of their excess Yang. Usually that kind of thing is reserved for dual cultivating but sharing a place in the cookpot is arguably just as intimate if not in the same way.
Brian P.
“And that’s the end of book 4, everybody!”
Travis Thilges
Tians unwavering trust in his Brothers and Sisters almost brought a tear to my eye.
Nicknick
Doing this on a Friday. Warby has truly turned his back on the orthodox dao of writing.
Robert Mullins
The Dao that can be written is not the true Dao. The Cliff that can be read is not the true Cliff.
Brian P.
They both have heart shields that will stop them from dying to a heavenly person level 3 attack. They got them before getting told of the caverns.
Codered999
They have the parasitic wood too now to feed into the flames.
True_Jolly_Roger
It will be cool. Especially how he will find absolutely legit and justified reasons based on Dao laws of his world to do full purge.
True_Jolly_Roger
He should make a soup of her for his own cultivation. Alas, he is too nice for this
Zaeron
It's disjointed on purpose. The goal is to try to make you feel a tiny bit the way people hearing Tian chant might feel, I think. Disconnected and not fully understanding but also having flashes of insight into a place or thing you don't see clearly. Basically it's SUPPOSED to feel like you kind of tripped over your own feet or something.
True_Jolly_Roger
The Dao of Cliffhanger presented on Friday is not a real Dao.
Robert Mullins
They've got the spring water, the oranges, and the tallow paste, will they need anything else for Hong soup?
True_Jolly_Roger
It’s sad, indeed. Her death can be great turning point in Tian’s development
True_Jolly_Roger
Imagine how amazing will be her death or unrecoverable injury for Tian’s growth as a stepping stone!
Alexander Dupree
It’s not a cliff if she’s actually dead btw so Author has an out 💀
CloudyBall
I think Warby has grown his Cliffhanger Dao to the heavenly realm. There is no other explanation. You wicked thing, you'll make us wait a whole weekened after this?!
Hammy
Bird better not be captured! Liren be fine she has main character powers and will turn the parasite into a benefit.
TeDureShi
Knew it was going to be a loss this time smh
FuriousDee
When reading the previous chapter then this one the beginning felt a little disconcerting. I had absolutely no interest in reading about why the town had its name in the middle of the fight. It picked up again quickly when we got back to Hong and describing her as not little did help illustrate that she had put herself between him and danger.
ioajfidsnmfomds77
This is my cliffhanger. There are many like it but this one is mine. My cliffhanger is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life Assume wrote the rest of the rifleman’s creed swapped to cliffhanger here
Codered999
Time for Liren to become soup and be remade stronger from the remains. Tian can even try to help guide her through the process, plus she has more than enough willpower to undergo the soupification process and be reborn from the broth.
Lurker
If anything happens to Liren I have a bad feeling little Tian will have no issue in ensuring “everyone” in Black Gorge dies. He is already ruthless when he feels like it, I can’t imagine how he would react then
Codered999
Time to make Liren soup to save her life
atmosphericturtle
Thank you for the chapter… and that BRUTAL cliffhanger 😤 I wonder if Tian lose it again? Not much he can do against a heavenly person though. 🥲
Matt DiMeo
Hong Liren has enough main character energy to cultivate a parasite attack into a fortuitous encounter.
Robert Mullins
Both tian and Liren got life saving items before the caverns in book 2 that haven't been seen since.
Robert Mullins
To me it's a 100% chance because no way would I keep reading if she actually died. Her and Tian together and playing off each other is like 80% of my enjoyment of the series.
João Vene
So Liren still has some life saving talisman or something, right? She had the Heavenly Person sword strike talisman that she used in the last tribulation, she has to have one for saving her life, right?
Kain
Ooo which way will Warby go? If it was any other author I would 100% discount her dying but I give Warby at least a 30% chance of killing her off, at least temporarily this is a xanxia after all, and a 10% of actually stone cold dead never coming back. That said most likely outcome is some good old Main Character moments from our boy and his dad/grandpa. And I’m happy with any of them.
Robert Mullins
Ha. Would be interesting if something like that is what finally convinces her of his childhood stories.
BaguaBrady
Demon Pulling Art to fight the possession technique? Burning through his vital energy to fight a pitched battle in his sister's meridians?
Zaeron
I thought it had been a little too long since anything truly bad happened :(
Joshua Flowers
Whether Hong lives or dies. There will be no more Heretics for a very long time. Tian is now back in the desert, woe be to his foes
Russel Mills
Time to make Hong soup to save her.
DT
Lord Warby noticed our complaints about cliffhangers. So he thus had our protagonists in the sky before yeeting them before a cliff. All is dao.
Zenopath (AEV)
Ouch. Really wish it wasn't Friday, going to be long wait till Monday.
AnthraxRipple
I can't believe you've done this.
Teach
Eww that’s his sister, this is not wincest
bluwmonkey
Man what a mean cliffhanger going to be a long weekend
Teach
How dare you, Hong is the protagonist
Teach
No they didn’t. Smart. I think little treasure is cooked though. Can’t imagine that she’ll only have the one set of puppets
Markus Müller
Cliffhangers on a Friday are heretic.
Teach
I did not like this cliffhanger.
Liam Zay
Is the boat being left behind supposed symbolic of our favorite ship sinking? 😔 I hope Hong Liren is ok
LUXRUS
You are evil
Alexander Dupree
No more Liren 😰
Matt DiMeo
you just need to sign up for secret super-patreon where he keeps all the good stuff. Obviously you need a special invitation.
Robert Mullins
Did they ever use the life preservation items they got as a reward before going to the 5 elements caverns? Time to see how good that body art and southern mountain physique really are. We know she has a regeneration power.
dkpfrog
Tftc!
JAMAJ
Nooooooooooo
Tadas
This cliffhanger on Friday has revealed Warby's heretical nature and severe lack of merit and virtue!
Abhi
I would say that's a heck of a cliff hanger but they fell from way higher than a cliff.
True_Jolly_Roger
Nice, killing secondary characters is a good thing
Mike lee
Brutal cliffhanger
Robert Mullins
Cruel chapter to drop on a Friday.
Aadi Narayan
I love Hong Liren so much, thank you for the chapter. I want them to be happy so bad!
Cameron Bacon
Ok that cliffhanger on a Friday is actually evil
Flipflop
Quite frankly Hong Liren is not allowed to die, and as such I will believe that nothing bad will come of this cliffhanger.
Tessellae
What a great place to finish the week.
Evitox
🥲
Stewie
Another cliff hanger, it'll be a long weekend
