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Sky Pride Vol. 3 Chapter 1- Unrivaled Since Ancient Times
🕑 Added 2025-06-23 14:00:13 +0000 UTCThe Heavenly Realm cultivators were the first to run. They were closest to the gathering clouds on their flying swords or swarms of insects or lotus platforms. They could see the clouds crackling with malevolent red and purple lightning. They could feel the heavenly fury, feel the utter violence of the coming storm. So they ran. To reach the Heavenly Person Realm required a moment of revelation, a personal grasp of what it meant to be immortal. Not one of them, heretic or orthodox, believed immortals could survive what was coming.
The Earthly Realm Cultivators chased after them. They weren’t as sensitive to the qi of annihilation carried by the clouds above, but at that scale, it was really just a matter of degree. Everyone knew that if they stayed, they would die. No chance of fighting. No hope of resisting. Violent obliteration, universal and inescapable.
They ran side by side, heretic and orthodox, climbing over the wounded and the dying, the wounded trying to run on broken legs, crawling for the desert dragging their guts over the rough sands, scrambling over the ruins of the depot, climbing over each other and hacking aside anyone between them and escape. The terror pressed on them, reaching within them and drove them out into the wasteland. No one could withstand what was coming. Nobody tried.
Except three. An old man, and two children. Fu stared into the clouds and slowly spoke.
“I despaired, because immortality was denied to me. My heart grew so cold. So cold I could hardly stand it. I thought Hell would be a place of frozen fire that would feel just like my heart. Envy. Hatred. Watching those younger than me surpass me. Watching those I despised reach immortality.” A thin rain started. It felt stinging, somehow. As though it wasn’t just water. Withered hands spread out in the rain. Two bloody knives dropped from them.
“Then I learned to let go. I slept with dozens of women, hating myself a little more each time because I didn’t care about them. I just wanted children. A legacy in flesh, the immortality of mortals. But the heavens denied me that too. Then I learned to let go. How can hands holding knives lift up a child? I returned to the Temple and learned to let go of my self hate. My cruelty. My insane pride.”
Brother Fu looked at the gathering lightning. He was smiling even as tears mixed with rain on his withered cheeks.
“My accomplishments? What accomplishments? I achieved nothing. I let them go. My learning? I had learned nothing. I let it go. Those I saved, those I killed? Would they have lived or died without me? Of course they would have. Taking all in balance, I saved no one. I let it go. I let it all go. I returned to the teachings of the ancestors. I cultivated virtue and the art of effortless action. I moved with nature. Finding more and more within myself to let go. The only thing I hadn’t let go was my crimes. My need for absolution. I gave up so much, I thought that all that was left was my regret that I would leave no legacy. A life with nothing to show for it is a fitting end for an old monster. But the dao gave me everything.”
He looked down at Tian fondly. “It gave me a son. Someone who loved me, even knowing that I had lived as a demon. Someone who saw the horrors of the world, but could still be kind. What better immortality could there be? What better legacy could there be than this? Everything good about me will live on, and my wretchedness will follow me into the grave. I don’t need immortality. Who I am now is enough. This life was enough.”
Tian smiled, his own tears lost in the stinging rain. “That’s the first time you called me son. You really made me wait.”
“Nonsense. This was the exact right time to tell you. If you believe otherwise, you are lacking in cultivation.” Brother Fu sounded austere. His smile betrayed him.
“Father… we have to run.”
“There is no outrunning a heavenly tribulation, little Zihao. That aura of destruction is no bluff, and it is coming for me. Junior Hong, I don’t know what you are doing here, but if your sisters have run for it-”
“I just didn’t want to. It hasn’t been a good day, Senior Fu.” Sister Hong’s tired face slowly appeared as the rain washed away the blood. She and Tian had killed their way into the base, and she hadn’t been adverse to stabbing things jumping over them.
“Sees a tribulation cloud and thinks it’s an opportunity to vent her anger. Tsk, tsk. I always said that Skull Crusher Bai couldn’t be trusted to raise children properly.” Brother Fu shook his head. The clouds seemed to be coming together in a twist, looking saturated with lightning.
“I… haven’t seen my Senior Sister in a while. Do you know if…?”
Elder Fu shook his head. “I don’t know. She was running deep patrols the last I heard, but at our age, we don’t keep close track. She would be mad if I let anything happen to her precious little sister, so do me a favor and take this stubborn son of mine and run. I don’t know if you still have time to get clear, but so long as you get some distance, there is hope.”
Brother Fu looked up at the tribulation clouds. “I only read about these. And even the books I read were written by people who had only heard of them.” The lighting crackled and snarled. The sound rolled through the wasteland, bouncing between the buildings into a cascade of noise that obliterated thought as completely as the lightning would obliterate all life.
“I am so grateful that the two of you are here, but you need to run. Now. You just learned all sorts of things about the elements. Here is an opportunity to study a literal heavenly dao. To capture even the tiniest fragment of Tribulation Lighting in your own arts? Heavenly Person Experts would be sick with envy.”
“But why? Why?! It’s not fair!” Tian burst. He couldn’t take Brother Fu acting casually anymore.
“Because the Heavens have set their bounds. The hierarchy can be challenged, but not overturned. The Earthly shall not cut down the Heavenly, and the Mortal shall not slay the Immortal.”
“I served tea to a Saintess who was a skeleton! I watched an ugly turtle fight a pointy rock and learned more about your martial arts! I found the fire in me, and I lit a lamp in my heart. I have so much to tell you about, Father. I have so much to show you. I grew. I learned. I tried my best every day. Don’t stay here! Run. Fight! Let me fight with you!”
Brother Fu laughed. He sounded happy, free. “Amazing! What a crazy thing! Tea to a skeleton, really?”
Tian nodded convulsively.
“Good! Good! That’s the kind of civilized wildness I like to see in my son! But this isn’t something we can settle down with a good tea session.” The clouds convulsed. The red lightning gathered, deepening in color and becoming brighter and brighter.
“Ah. Too late. Zihao, please. At the very least, step back. Junior Hong, look after your brother. He cares too deeply about people, and I worry someone will take advantage.”
“I will. I always do.” Hong’s voice sounded muffled. Had she been protecting him? More than what her grandmother’s network was doing? He had never noticed. And right now, he really didn’t care.
“Father!”
“Be a dutiful son. Step back. And watch how your Father faces the world without fear.”
“It’s not the damn world! It’s not the damn dao! Think about what you have been teaching me! Cultivation is in accordance with nature and the dao. So if your martial arts, which is all about working with the dao, can let a mortal kill an immortal, than that’s the fucking dao! And WHAT PART OF THAT DOG-FUCKING HELL-CLOUD LOOKS HEAVENLY TO YOU, OLD MAN?!”
“TIAN ZIHAO! How dare you use such disgraceful language!”
“SHUT UP AND FIGHT!” Tian screamed.
The lighting reached down, like a lazy red dragon extending a single claw to pierce an old rabbit. Brother Fu had been distracted, focused on scolding Tian. His reaction was instinctive. The lighting struck, but a withered arm was moving before it even reached him. A soft palm reached out, and guided the lightning to the ground.
There was an explosion, and a shape flipped through the rain. When the steam cleared, Brother Fu was standing, looking at his blackened arm in shock.
“That… shouldn’t be possible. Or so I believe, anyway. Heavenly Tribulation is supposed to be the Dao’s wrath made manifest. Inescapable, the embodiment of destruction. Its slightest touch brings obliteration. It destroyed the ground but barely touched me. This…”
Tian and Hong had been knocked flat. The blast of the explosion and the remnants of the lighting were enough to paralyze them and leave them spasming on the ground.
“It’s either not truly Heavenly Tribulation, or there is a problem with the Heavens. What a strange, impossible thing.” Brother Fu’s voice was full of wonder. “But it looks like tribulation lightning in nearly every way the books describe.”
Two lightning claws reached down for him, the color becoming darker, the lightning lines more jagged. This time Brother Fu was ready, and with a curious expression, he let his body flow. Not fighting the lightning, just riding it out. Letting the lighting slide right past him.
“Impossible. Quite impossible. I shouldn’t be able to do this with real lightning, let alone whatever this is. I truly know nothing.”
Three claws slashed down. Buildings were ripped apart. The ward over the hospital burst like a bubble, and the roof caved in. Fires broke out across the broken buildings and ruined warehouses of the depot. Brother Fu seemed unharmed.
“I move with the Dao, and the Dao is within me. I no longer contend with others, yet I am punished for my arrogance. I live frugally, yet it seems I want too much. This is… unjust. Without compassion or understanding. This is not the true dao.” Brother Fu’s voice was slow, steady.
Four claws raked down, the red turned nearly black, the jagged lines looking more like wisps of fire. For the first time, Brother Fu frowned. He reached up, like he was welcoming the lightning, then let his body shift with it. The explosion ripped through the base once more, but this time away from the hospital.
Tian and Hong were six parts dead. They couldn’t save themselves one tiny bit. But they heard every word clearly. There was a charm to them. And though they were twitching on the ground, they could still make out Brother Fu’s form. Reserved, but with a straight back. Penniless and unashamed. Humble below the heavens… so long as they were the heavens.
“The True Dao is the Dao that cannot be spoken, for it is too vast, too wonderful for mere words. The true Dao…” The clouds convulsed. A single point of light gathered, sun bright, but the blackened crimson of drying blood. Five claws reached out, no longer reminding one of a dragon, but seeming like a dragon’s foot in truth.
“No.” Brother Fu’s voice changed. The charm was heavier, resonant. Something so ancient and so true, the weight of it shook the air and the stones and the hearts of every being that heard it. “Reaching the ultimate of emptiness, deeply guarding stillness, the things of this world arise together, and that is how I watch them return.”
The foot of the dragon pressed down and Brother Fu welcomed it. No technique, no exquisite arts, he reached his tiny mortal hand upwards and met God’s fury descending. The dragon pressed down on him, trying to crush him into the earth. Reducing the old man into another stain on the wasteland, never to reach the heavens.
Brother Fu let the force crush down, not resisting. He flowed with it, like water down a mountainside, And then he used that force and fury to turn. His hand lifted up once again. “There is no immortality beyond the Dao! And I move with the Dao!”
The lighting rose from the earth, and shattered the heavens.
Comments
Conor Futro
Brother Fu goes so hard.
Jorge salazar
How could you have me bawling one moment and then giggling maniacally the next. This is also the Dao…
Cally JJ
Thanks for writing this, I had completely forgotten the mad god existed
BurnNote
This is just so good. It's just fantastic. Just delicious. I love how the big revelation here doesn't go to Tian, but his Father. I love how this really cements Brother Fu as a total badass (in a scholarly gentleman *and* kickassery way). Defying and defeating the mad god might be Tian's destiney.... but who said that would be at the end of a knife? That seems like the kind of attitude the mad god is getting defied for in the first place. It's so, so much more fitting that he does it by inspiring others. And of course, it's not merely Tian granting his specialness to others, he's received it as much from Fu as he's given it. And so Fu and the Brothers teach Tian, who inspires Fu, who with his revelation, defiance and success in defiances inspires everyone around (in the next chapter). And of course, Brother Fu and Elder Rui have already been fighting the ways of the mad god in how they're doing things, and it was working already. Tian isn't truly doing something new, he's just the spark that sets off the accumulated potential. And it's so much more fitting, because the state of the world isn't determined by individuals, but by systems. The mad god might be an important part, but the real enemy is the system that is and upholds the cruel status quo. And that can only be changed by the work of many, by the networks Rui has been building, and who Fu has offered a new chance and new possibilities. (The last part with systemic issues and such draws from comparing the story to Slumrat. It's pretty clearly in this story too, but so far only the problem has really been fleshed out, but I would guess that's where it's going) Anyway, I just wanted to post that I adore this. It manages to tie together so many aspects into a cohesive whole. Fu's character arc, the philosophy, the struggle around fairness and justice, and kicking ass. It all comes together here, and that just so bloody impressive. (Please don't put the first half in Vol2 and the second in Vol3. Please). It's been a while since I felt the need to gush about a work of literature like this, but it's genuinely fantastic. P.S: the rain washing the blood from Hong's face to make it visible again is such a beautiful, poignant line. Chef's Kiss.
quippy
YESSS! Great work!@
CalamityFerret
The Dao of Uno Reverse Card
_mori
And some getting the courage to take a step. I don’t believe brother Fu only now spawned the thought that he would be able to slay a heavenly person. Had to have been something that he’d have realized a while back. Heck, maybe he’s battled heavenly persons from the sect already, or even his own master, Elder Liu. He just wouldn’t have killed any because he’d known the consequence. But apparently the ‘consequence’ is a fabrication of Big Heaven, not the Dao itself. A deterrent. > Why make your own breakthrough opportunity when the heavens are just handing them out for free? You haven’t gotten yours yet? You must’ve done something wrong, because they’re free. I feel like we’re all making speculations that this is his breakthrough, even though we haven’t seen what comes next. But if this is one of those ‘proving the Dao’ type breakthroughs (not killing a heavenly person but overcoming a tribulation), I’d like to know if there’s other less fatal ways of triggering a tribulation. Maybe just cursing out the heavens?
_mori
How so?
_mori
M-F. One chapter a day. Warby’s pretty consistent from what I know, and always seems to prepare a backlog
CreditAssignment
That was lovely and that was the true ending to book 2! I feel like the father/son is the culmination of everything at the monastery. The next book can be about growing up or leaving your family (Or if you want to make me cry, Tian, losing his father.)
Caleb
How often are chapters posted?
Christopher
The “heavens” in this case are the mad god, and cultivators have been confusing it with the heavenly dao, or the mad god has subverted them somehow for its own ends.
William
Sees a tribulations cloud thinks it's a cinnamon roll.
Jason Chang
Agree, this is a much more fitting ending to a book. A cliffhanger all the same, but at the end of the climax, not right before it.
Robin Ramme
Shazam!
Kotawa Ma
I always thought heavenly tribulations were one of the weirdest concepts in xianxia.
Gabriel
I feel very cringe for believing and saying this but, it was an extremely beautiful chapter.
gray matter
The ramifications of Brother Fu surviving here should be pretty huge through out the world if it gets out. A lot of heart demons being made and old monsters questioning the things they know.or thought they knew.
Dylan
Chills, great work!
Gardor
Also, I really thought the fight for the depot / fu's tribulation would take more than like, three chapters to get resolved. I'm not quite sure how this impacts all my whining about where to end the book, but I know it does.
Gardor
"Because the Heavens have set their bounds. The hierarchy can be challenged, but not overturned. The Earthly shall not cut down the Heavenly, and the Mortal shall not slay the Immortal." Did Fu not advance? This heavenly temper tantrum is about him killing someone a tier above him, and ONLY about that? This happens if a prodigy wins against someone above his realm, every time? But not when the MC does it, cuz...the heavens are real understanding of extenuating circumstances, apparently.
Gerald Ransom Jr
Tian told him, that👏🏼an’t👏🏼yo👏🏼dao👏🏼cloud👏🏼
Codered999
The end of the chapter is literally him surviving with a charred arm and a metaphorical middle finger at the heavens.
Pineapple
what a gigachad
Codered999
The chapter literally ended on him overcoming the tribulation with a fuck you, you aren't my Dao
Andrew Timm
100% when you publish it THIS SHOULD END BOOK 2!
Pinpenny the great lithian
Assuming Brother Fu isn't able to overcome the Tribulation himself (which I'm crossing my fingers and really hopping he does), I hope gramps is able to help him in some way or the other
Pinpenny the great lithian
For those who had eyes that could see Mt. Tai, brother Fu was always the hero.
Chong Go
Dude!?! Cliffhanger! (Lol. Awwesome chapter!)
Duncan Lester
I thought the bonus was earlier, when Tian got the Idol thing from the Heavenly corpse
Clara
Seems like a different universe, the fundamentals of how the metaphysics work are very different
_mori
I have a question, not necessarily rated to the events of the chapter. Is this novel based in the same universe as Slumrat Rising? If yes, then does Earthly person equate to the first realm in SrR? I get the feeling that Truth would’ve had everyone here for breakfast though, but he’s always been special.
BaguaBrady
So, I take it the bonus alt PoV happened after this, which strongly suggests that brother Fu doesn't make it through, or at least that Tian has some other cause for the hatred in his eyes to go full out.
_mori
I wonder if this will be a small revolution for cultivation in their world. There’s probably other old monster earthly persons at the same bottleneck out there. Even if Fu is the only protagonist’s dad, a few of the others may well be able to kill a heavenly person and transcend via tribulation (if that’s what’s actually happening here with Fu). But chances are usually bottom of the barrel low with tribulations though, and this novel doesn’t give me the impression that forced breakthroughs will be forgiving
Matt
I even though you're not taking a week off, this feels like a worse cliffhanger and longer wait! Lol Amazing chapter got a little teary eyed.
JaceNight
Thats the case in most xianxia, however I think here is not the true dao or heavens, its the mad god whos placed his own rules on the world so its a fake tribulation. More a punishment for breaking the rules.
Jordan
I thought tribulation lightning was what forged heavenly realm persons. If you survived you advanced, if you died it was heavens will. I can't remember if it was this series or another that says cultivation is to fight against the heavens for immortality.
Hammy
Fully agree. This is the chapter to end a book on. Top class.
Tim Gonsalves
Bold to wait until book 2 to focus on the hero of the story. TFTC!
_mori
Right? We’ve even been getting hints. Basically the same background as the mc, only without the ghost in a ring.
Tom C
From the wording (use of the word ultimate) sounds to me like Big Dog Fu is using Tai Ji Quan at its highest form. Redirecting power and flowing like water. Fire a bolt of lightning at him? see him redirect it back at the heavens. This is so epic!
karmaslap
This really should be the end of the book here
Tom C
No I think he ascended to heavenly realm upon killing the heavenly realm person - last chapter it was mentioned it should be a “moment of celebration”, but cos he has broken the natural order he summoned the trib lightning
Leonard Marchant
😮
_mori
Tian snapped them more like. Bother Fu was just gonna let it happen it seems like. It’d been funny/sad if everyone who’s ever been in the same situation just ducking gave up because the cloud looked very angry.
Tom C
At the end of the last chapter Daddy Fu defeated a heavenly person realm person, and this is in defiance of the order of the heavens. As such, tribulation lightning has arrived to strike him down for his impertinence. Unfortunately for the heavens, Mad Dog Fu is a master and has become super aligned with the Dao!
Tom C
*Chefs kiss* Epic chapter! We are BACK! TFTC!
_mori
Maybe oldie cultivators just get it wrong? You aren’t meant to succumb to the tribulation but overcome it? It’s just not easily done? The way these things go in most stories (that I’ve read anyways) is that tribulations are difficult for the intended target, but downright hostile to anyone who isn’t an actual participant. Maybe that’s why there’s so little knowledge about them. Prevalent knowledge says they’re a punishment so most able to trigger don’t try, and the ‘punishment’ erases witnesses by design.
jack
Too short 😢. Great chapter glad we are back
Damian Btooks
What the f is happening. I soo lost right now
Garrett Therkorn
Mad Dog Fu rolling up with a Heavenly Dao as an Earthly Realm Cultivator is going to be a truly interesting experience for his higher-ups.
_mori
What is this?
_mori
If Fu survives this, low level heavenly persons are gonna treat him like the boogey man lmao.
_mori
Excited for the next chapter.
_mori
So glad brother Fu wasn’t dealt a flag. And Tian is gonna live out the ‘OP parent that appears weak’ trope, but with a twist. I do wonder if this is Fu’s breakthrough or just a tribulation. Alternate path? I’d been wondering a lot about the cultivation system. His grand dad doesn’t seem to have the same base understanding regarding what cultivation or the Dao is as those in the sect. He’s obviously much more advanced, but just isn’t a ‘daoist’ in the same way these guys are? At least it doesn’t look that way, not with how he criticizes their entire philosophy (he’s had a few words about the 5 elements stuff iirc), and he’s more about a mad god as opposed to an unjust heaven. Long-winded point is: I doubt grandpa’s cultivation society leave breakthroughs up to chance as it appears here. And if they actually do to an extent, I doubt he plans to let Tian go that route considering his luck.
LUXRUS
Who can be turbid, yet settling slowly clear? Who can be at rest, yet moving slowly come to life? One who protects this dao does not wish to become full. It is precisely because he is not full that he can be tattered yet new made. 16. Reaching the ultimate of emptiness, deeply guarding stillness, the things of the world arise together; thereby do I watch their return. The things of the world burst out everywhere, and each returns to its own root.
Steve Wright
Hell yeah! I shouted and then had to explain to my wife. “The Dao that can tribulate me is not the real Dao.” -Brother Fu.
Deathly_God
Feeling cute today. Might delete (the heavens) later. Teehee
TeDureShi
What cute chapter. Father and Son for the win
C
Yes! This is good. Brother Fu took his death flags and snapped them over his knee.
Noah James
First day back with a bang! Officially goated
Sam
I'm guessing it didn't happen to Tian because he just finished off Gobek after he was already struck down by another Heavenly Person. Gobek had already suffered a lethal blow. In contrast, Fu defeated a Heavenly Person at their full strength, by himself, without any assistance.
_mori
Awesome.
ByZoke
You had me in the first half , i really thought it was finished for father fu
antpocas
Why didn't this happen to Tian after he killed Daoist Gobek? The text says the tribulation is in response to Fu having killed the heavenly person daoist and not for ascending, so I'm a bit puzzled here.
Tessellae
Amazing that Mad Dog Fu has been the protagonist this whole time
Clara
Tsk, Skull Crusher Bai is not gonna be happy about being left behind
Sam
Fu just smote the heavens. Holy sh*t.
Rischirobi
Thanks for the chapter
Rischirobi
Dammmm
austin kutz
Did Old Fu just judo throw tribulation lighting back at the heavens?
Talespinner Lore
Man just Iroh'd the Heavens! Noice.
JTP
What a way to start things off! More, give me more, give me more!
