WarbyPicus
patreon
Sky Pride Vol. 3 Chapter 4- Strangers With Familiar Faces
🕑 Added 2025-06-26 14:00:13 +0000 UTCThe room was dead silent. Elder Rui was content to let them process his words. It had been a lot. Eventually, Tian stood, bowed with clasped hands and asked “Elder Rui, if I may be so bold as to ask, why the… why are we fighting this war? What exactly do the heretics want?”
He was slightly desperate to know at this point. The semi-regular motivational speeches were long on all the terrible things the heretics would do if they won, but the motives were never really explained beyond “This is how heretics are.” But it was the crux of everything. If they needed to win the future, they needed to know why they were losing now.
“Interesting.” Elder Rui gave Tian an appraising look. “You are quite right in your implication. The information has been deliberately suppressed. The elders didn’t lie, of course, because most orthodox cultivators don’t require much more explanation than ‘The murderous bastards are coming for us!’”
Tian nodded. That did seem like a reasonably comprehensive explanation.
“Strange how, despite orthodox sects seemingly having every logistical and strategic advantage worth mentioning, we are outnumbered and being outfought, isn’t it?”
Tian nodded again. Elder Rui’s face twisted into a sort-of smile.
“I can’t tell you. I don’t have permission, and I can’t blatantly ignore the Monastery’s orders. What I can tell you is that your trip will provide ample opportunity for you to figure it out yourselves. Unsatisfying, I know, but it’s the best you are going to get. Any other questions?”
Tian was sure everyone else had lots of questions, because he had them by the bucketful. But they all recognised the Elder’s tone, so they shook their heads.
“Good. Pack what you think you will need, but you will be traveling through friendly territory for most of this trip. You will have ample opportunity to resupply, and meals will be provided. You leave tomorrow. Assemble at the main gate immediately after breakfast. Dismissed.”
Hong and Tian made their way back to the barracks together. Packing would take no time at all, their goodbyes would. As would informing their superiors about why they wouldn’t be reporting for duty.
“Sister Hong… may I call you Sister Liren?”
She stumbled for a moment, but came up with an odd smile. “If I can call you Brother Zihao.”
“I would like it if you did. I have a shameful secret, Sister Liren.”
“Only one, Brother Zihao?”
“Only one relevant one. I don’t have the faintest idea what kind of new option I could offer the sect. I don’t even have an idea about how to get an idea.”
“Oh. Easily solved.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Wear your shame openly, and it is no longer a secret. All the guilt over hiding your incompetence will just float away.”
“Thank you, Sister Liren. I learn so much from my juniors. I assume you already know exactly what kind of sect-saving insight you will be presenting.”
“Some minor details are still being perfected, Junior Brother Zihao.” She looked demure. “So far I’m up to ‘Let me personally kick the intestines out of my ever-growing list of scumbags.’ But that’s not a sect-wide solution. I can’t be everywhere all at once.”
“Difficult. Do you think the monastery has a long distance disembowelment art that would compensate for that? Or maybe a puppet art or something?”
“Well, that’s why we are going on this trip.” Hong nodded sagely. “Solving the ‘how,’ not just finding the ‘what.’”
Tian nodded, looking serious and a touch serene.
“Did you have a load of people asking you nosy questions about your life recently?” He asked.
“Yes.” Her eyes got tight. Hong suddenly looked a lot less demure. “I didn’t hit any of them.”
“Me either. But they did help confirm something I already knew.”
She stopped and looked at him. Tian saw the same hell in her eyes that he knew were hidden in his.
“Yeah. It would be nice if we weren’t keeping pace with each other, Brother Zihao.”
They gathered at the gate after breakfast. The red sands and jagged rocks outside the base were well trodden by now. The ground was still torn up after the battle, but the desert was quickly erasing the evidence. Enormous tears in the ground were being filled by blown sand. The scorch marks and acid burns were already buried. The poisonous qi and inescapable rock dust remained, however.
Tian took a proper look at his new companions. Sister Su… he never had learned her personal name, just her family name. She rolled along in a rattan wheelchair, looking indifferent about the inconvenience. There were handles in the back for pushing, but some inconsiderate sod had wrapped them in thorn vines. She moved the chair along by pushing on the oversized wheels.
Sister Su cropped her hair nearly down to the scalp, like every woman in the Sect. She had opted not to shave any pictures or patterns into it. Perhaps she felt that unadorned was optimal. Thin fingers but thick wrists, Tian noticed. He wondered how you had to train to develop like that. Her robes were tidy, but it was a routine sort of cleanliness, not making a show of looking her best. The intense look in her eyes had only deepened since he first met her.
She still gave him the feeling of a kindred spirit. He could smell it on her. The wasteland had damaged her in more ways than just the physical. Tian silently laughed at himself. For once, he was more vain than his sect siblings. He had put on his freshest, most creaseless robes and fixed his hair up just so. How often had his brothers preached the necessity of a good first impression? He wasn’t going to screw up something so obvious. Unlike Brother Wang.
Brother Wang clearly didn’t give a damn about first impressions. At all. His hair was in the sloppiest bun Tian had ever seen. His robes were tied properly, but the belt was flopping around haphazardly and it looked like he had slept in them. Worse, they were covered in dust, and dirt was caked onto his shoes and socks. Brother Wang technically met the uniform requirements of the sect, but only technically. If he had tried that look in West Town, one of the senior brothers would have ‘counseled’ him into a hole in the ground.
He was very clean personally, though. Tian could faintly smell scented soap. The longer Tian looked at him, the less things added up. He was fat. Comically fat for a cultivator. His face was moon-round and plump as a steamed bun. But his physique was solid. He stood with his feet planted shoulder width apart and his shoulders back, ready to meet the world eye to eye. His hands were thick and callused. That was another thing you didn’t often see on cultivators, even those who lived with weapons in their hands. His eyes were wide open. Not squinted with cunning or dull with sloth. There was a brain in that fat head, and while his eyes didn’t give away much, Tian could feel it working quickly to evaluate him.
Tian wondered what he saw. He wondered if Brother Wang was as broken by the war as the rest of them. He probably was. Why else would he be on this trip? And how else could he have wound up in the cells? Tian knew the violent impulses that sometimes descended on people damaged by the war. He felt them often enough. If it wasn’t for Brother Su’s good advice, Tian would have gotten to know the jail cells too.
He looked back over the red sands. He would be very content to never return.
They were carried up to Elder Feng’s sky barge on a floating cloud. It was a bit surreal stepping onto the soft, almost springy cloud, but it was remarkably comfortable underfoot. Nevertheless, Tian resolved to avoid them where possible in the future. It was a cloud. Something famous for lacking substance and being changeable. Not things he liked a thousand feet in the air.
Elder Redmane, in his opinion, was infinitely better. If you couldn’t trust a crane taller than most trees, who could you trust?
Tian wasn’t sure what to expect from a sky barge. For some reason, he thought it would be about the size of the riverboats that traveled up and down the river near West Town Temple. Summer Torrent, the enormous sky barge that carried the whole sect to war was an oversized model. The rest were supposedly pleasure craft for elder-level figures.
“I may have severely underestimated just how rich these Elders actually are. Either that, or Sky Barges are cheap as hell.” He thought.
Elder Feng’s sky barge was, in fact, a barge. One that was almost half the size of West Town Temple. Its base was flat and rectangular, made from some dark wood covered in formations and glowing spell lines. On top of the barge was an elegant three story manor, a garden with a gazebo, and a rather perfunctory pond. It all looked charming, in a “We are two thousand feet in the air, this is insane, INSANE!” kind of way.
The garden, he noticed, was very well maintained. The trees and plants were in roaring health. That was interesting in a suspicious sort of way. He drummed his fingers on his leg as the cloud stopped its loop around the barge and landed on a little receiving pad next to the garden. Then, to Tian’s sudden vertigo, the cloud spun into a dense plume of vapor and funneled into a jar near the edge of the barge. The passengers were left neatly stranded on the platform.
There was clearly a lot going on that Tian wasn’t seeing. This was probably a good thing. What he was seeing was scary enough. And strange enough. They were greeted by two fellow disciples, one of whom he thought he recognized.
“Welcome, everyone.” The stranger clasped his hands and politely bowed. “This one is surnamed Pan. You can simply refer to me as Steward Pan, as I serve Elder Fenghua in that capacity here on the Windblown Manor. I am here to guide you to your quarters and to introduce the Manor to you before you meet with the Elder.”
They bowed politely back to Steward Pan, murmuring their appreciation. He was a dull looking man, Level Ten and reeking of contentment with his lot. Tian rather imagined he was quite dutiful. He had that sort of face.
“The Heretic, the Psychopath, The Grotesque and the Necrophiliac. What a fine collection of emissaries you all make.” The disciple standing next to Steward Pan spoke. She had a wide eyed fragility to her when her mouth was shut. When she opened her mouth, those eyes narrowed. Presumably to keep the spraying venom out.
Tian could feel the others tensing up. Hong directly summoned her spear, clearly not interested in verbal sparring.
“Sister Liren, please remind me- is this the nameless failure from our last expedition?” Tian’s voice was so mild it snapped every eye to him. He wasn’t quite sure what ‘boggling’ meant, but he had read the word once and thought their faces fit it.
“Well. Yes.” Hong nodded.
“I have a name, freak.” The wide eyed girl hissed. “And I didn’t fail.”
“Do you? You never said. I assumed you were hiding it after failing to pass the trial. Are you trying to avoid shaming your family? That’s very decent of you.” Tian’s question sounded utterly innocent. Worse, everyone could see he was completely sincere.
“I. You. You DARE!”
“I usually do, yes, but I don’t know what I am daring right now. Please, Shameful Failure, would you kindly enlighten this little daoist about what he is daring?” Tian clasped his hand together and slightly bowed his head.
He genuinely didn’t know. They could all tell. He really did not know. Or care.
“Dare you stake your life in a life and death bout, Necrophiliac?!”
“With you? Certainly. Though I really don’t know what you mean by necrophiliac.” Tian shrugged. She had two levels on him. It didn’t matter. After the last battle, he was certain the biggest hazard she would pose was her blood staining his nicest robe. He knew it like he knew which way was “down.” And if she wasn’t a rock thrower, he didn’t know who was.
“Do you deny what you said leaving the cavern? Before two Elders, no less?” She pounced, as though he had made some kind of error.
“Why would I deny that?” Tian blinked at her in confusion. “By the way, is there a special dueling ground or something? It would be very rude to damage the Elders’ garden. Though I suppose we could trouble Steward Pan for… maybe a large canvas tarp or something, lay it on the ground, and if you promise not to, you know, void yourself or bleed everywhere, and die with minimal thrashing, maybe we could manage something in the gazebo?”
“I’m afraid not, Junior Brother Tian. There is a stone table and some antique ceramic stools in the gazebo, and the gazebo itself is millenia old Blue Heart Phoebe wood. Quite valuable.” Steward Pan interjected.
“Oh, thank you, Steward.” Tian bowed in gratitude. “Well. No matter. We can do it on this platform. It seems easily scrubbed. I speak with some authority on the subject. I have even brought my own mop, bucket, soap and water. Come, Failure. I will make it as painless as possible. Then you can reincarnate as someone competent. Won’t that be nice?”
Comments
Conor Futro
You see what happens? You let the little daoist out of the temple and he turns straight up brutal.
Simple Squire
I totally agree! However! I am curious about how long it will take before Tian understands nuance and the things he is saying. I’m not sure how long the previous arc was, but at some point if the humor is still attributed to things like “he said it sincerely” or “not knowing what he was actually saying” etc, it’s an issue of him just being mentally slow. I totally understand he’s 13 or 14 and was raised in a trash heap, but I’m hoping that in this next arc he learns common sense or nuance or whatever you want to call it.
SlaveToMyWhims
I agree fervently with the other readers saying that grandpa is being awfully quiet for no reason. You are supposed to hide the fact that he's an exposition delivery device for the most part (for now), and tough to work into conversations without distracting from the matter at hand. I can totally see how keeping him quiet when you want him quiet can be a toughie without having to contrive yet another reason for it. I'm not being an ass, I write too (though mostly for my own amusement), and I'm just thinking a bit meta about the topic. Not trying to call out anything. I'm having loads of fun reading this.
Christopher
The trash talk is an absolute master piece, I hope we get to read such savagery more often !
Grant Prater
Yeah it's getting to be a bit on the eye roll side though it's still funny
Grant Prater
What? Grandpa is evolving!
Rachel Christensen
I am getting a little stressed out about how quiet Grandpa is being.
Diarmuid McGinnity
Call it character growth
Arthur Ibanda
😂🔥
Gardor
Oh also, im not sure you pulled off "inadvertently saying insulting things cuz the character is uneducated" in this chapter. The things he said seemed too purposeful and specific, at least to me.
Duck_Giblets
I imagine grandpa is eating popcorn and laughing away.
Noah
I think it means they both understand each others pain, because they have both undergone terrible experiences. Liren was basically saying she wished Tian hadn’t had to suffer as much as she had. But I’m not 100% sure either.
Nicolas Gustafsson
My reading: Necrophiliac = Tian (obvious) Grotesque = Wang, only fat person in a society of cultivators Psychopath = Liren, based on her wild appearance after exiting the elemental cave Heretic = Su, by method of elimination I can see Wang and Su being swapped due to Su's missing legs and Wang's mouth
Gardor
Hey, I feel like Grandpa would have pertinent things to be saying for the last...I dunno, five or six chapters. Its been a while since he said something, which is odd cuz he communicates at the speed of thought inside the main character's brain. You probably shouldn't mute one of your most knowledgeable characters for no reason. Luckily, there's a built in mechanic to keep Grandpa quiet: have him say something that costs a lot of [whatever his currency is] before hand.
Gardor
“Me either. But they did help confirm something I already knew.” She stopped and looked at him. Tian saw the same hell in her eyes that he knew were hidden in his. “Yeah. It would be nice if we weren’t keeping pace with each other, Brother Zihao.” Sorry, I dont understand this reply. Or really remember what he confirmed, it was that people offering help unprompted can't be trusted? But why doesnt she want to be at an equal level with Tian?
Gerald Ransom Jr
She asked for it, poor girl,somebody get the bouquet ready.
Malcolm Haynes
I. Freaking. Love. Tian!
Adam
Alright this playing both sides of pinnacle obliviously literally-minded and subtle very clever banter artist is getting to be too much for me. There are many dualities that exist very well together but these 2 are anathema to each other. I can only see this existing in fantasy, and I don't mean book type fantasy, but idealized in peoples minds fantasy, in the realm of "I watch so many kung fu movies I now believe I am a kung fu master".
Codered999
He did grow up in a garbage dump, it's not surprising to see him master trash talking
pierre boucheron
"The Heretic, the Psychopath, The Grotesque and the Necrophiliac." The heretic would be Wang, I guess? But is Su the psychopath or is it Liren? The Grotesque could be Su's current infirmity or it could be Liren's very... er... Yang build?
de la Fouchardiere
Yes, but also he rarely gets insulted to his face, as well as sister Liren ?
C
Is Tian the kind of person who will just kill people over an insult?? She's rude, sure, but killing her in my opinion seems extreme. This could be evidence of how far Tians dao heart has been disturbed.
Guilherme Vasconcellos
I hope she doesnt live enough for the name to stick
Mmaze
Mostly it's the middle managers who realize they may be raising their replacements so they get petty as hell, and the Elders are distant and think this isn't worth their time, not even thinking about having to actually ensure loyalty from mere Earth level cultivators. There seems to be exactly one smart Elder on an organizational level, and he's busy kicking diplomatic ass right now.
Robin Richards
The cognitive dissonance is strong with this one.
RepossessedSoul
I really appreciate your ability to craft a character who so resoundingly gives zero fucks and consistently manages to astound people who thought they had a handle on how little of a fuck he had to give about certain things.
Steve Wright
The other thing I’m thinking is that Sister Nameless Failure seems far too used to relying on her family reputation. When you have spent the war cultivating in your garden, immediately throwing You Dare Insults(tm) at four frontline veterans who just washed the blood off, two of whom did better than you at the cavern, shows a certain lack of forethought.
Nick Richie
Sweet!
JTP
Tian has now joined the leaderboard for all time savage trash talk. This is on the level of Donut in the warlord chat from The Inevitable Ruin.
Kain
Yeah the cave incident slipped my mind so I thought he was the grotesque but I guess that’s Fatty? Or maybe that’s Su because of her injuries either way the other one is the heretic because I assume the psychopath is Hong.
BaguaBrady
Gotta say, for a sect whose Masters are trying to save themselves through promising juniors, they sure have a way of ensuring maximum resentment from said juniors
Clara
Looking forward to learning more about brother Wang, he seems like a very interesting character. (Joke chapter where he gives Tian a copy of Das Kapital)
Ben Nikel
"If you can't trust a crane taller than most forests, who can you trust?" TIAN ZIHAO YOU LITTLE PINEAPPLE, you can only say that because you are WAY too good at fighting your way out of things that swallow you whole. (But yes, Redmane is cool birb) Also, ooooo, them's fightin werdz.... I love the little aside with Pan about "No, please do not beat anyone to death in the gazebo." This truly is the kind of diplomacy that Tian is best at. <3
Thomas Lawless
That was an EXCELLENT face slapping.
Robin Richards
I'm not so sure. The Elder is surnamed Feng but when Failure was taken away from the caverns it was by the Lin family. I assume politics rather than family connections got her here.
Steve Wright
Sister Su sitting there like “no lies detected.”
Mikołaj
I have to admit it wasn't sure which of the insults were adressed to Tian.
ioajfidsnmfomds77
Heretic is fatty Wang because he questions his elders which is questioning the orthodoxy of the Monastery Psychpath is Hong, Hong is a straight up battle maniac Grotesque is the girl in the wheelchair. for the crime of being in a wheel chair Yeah failure sucks but Hong wasn't very nice when we met her either. Time for Tian fix the sect one beating at a time
Tadas
I wasn't clear on that bit either. My interpretation - they are both traumatized and "keeping pace with each other" refers to similar trauma.
João Vene
Alright, if Tian is the Necrophiliac, who are the Heretic, the Psychopath and the Grotesque? I guess Sister Liren is the most Psychopath (she's the only one that straight up pulled up a weapon on the Failure) Does that make Fatty Wang the Grotesque or the Heretic? I could see him the Grotesque because of his (lack of) personal higiene... except Tian saw he was actually clean, it's just his clothes that were fucked up. Is Sister Su the Grotesque because she's crippled? If so, the Failure sucks so much more
Kooooomakimi
Holy shit tian is a savage
ioajfidsnmfomds77
Fatty Wang is likely the heretic since he questions the elders and does not care about propriety
jack
From the context of the last chapter is Su the Heretic? Making Hong Liren the Psycho?
Clara
Can someone explain how their conclusion of “Yeah. It would be nice if we weren’t keeping pace with each other, Brother Zihao.” relates to nosy people bothering them?
João Vene
She's the Elder's kid isn't she
jack
I love Tian
Nicknick
Tian Zihao is a true man.
Steve Wright
Ice cold! “Won’t that be nice?”
Lola
I hope the name “Failure” sticks with that girl for the rest of her life, or however long it takes for her to get a better attitude. So, probably the rest of her life…
Ekko
Tian has become a master of politely cursing someone, till they split blood. It's one of the better developments he went through
Joel Magnuson
The best thing about Tian insults is the fact that he speaks with complete sincerity.
Diego Sánchez Ramírez
Thanks for the chapter. The real Arrogant Young Master slapping is verbal, not physical.
