Fates Parallel (A Xianxia/Wuxia Inspired Cultivation Story)

The Sky Hall’s barrier did nothing to block the tribulation’s strike. Eunae hadn’t had time to retake control of the formations, and they weren’t designed for that in the first place—Heian’s improper use of the barriers was what had led to the damage they’d been repairing.

Nevertheless, Eunae was unscathed. Queen Eunhee had taken the brunt of it head-on, ‘protecting’ her niece from the purifying bolt of heavenly lightning.

Eui swore under her breath. Whether it was Do Hye, the Kumiho, or even some random unexpected third party, they’d been prepared to intercept any attempt at hijacking Eunae’s ascension for the purposes of reincarnation. What they hadn’t been expecting was for someone as powerful as the queen to throw themself in front of the tribulation—an act that most would consider tantamount to suicide.

“What the fuck have you done?!”

Queen Eunhee rose unsteadily to her feet, cinders flaking off of her as the heavenly storm above darkened and crackled with divine fury.

“I do believe that I’ve linked my dear niece’s fate to mine. The real question is how you are going to respond.”

“How about I start by tearing that big head off of your fucking shoulders?!”

She laughed at Eui’s threats.

“You could. I doubt I have the strength to stop you now—that blade of yours is more dangerous than I expected. But that will do nothing to abate heaven’s fury, and without me, poor Eunae will have to face it alone.”

Eunae’s mother, Minhee, dropped down next to Eui and put a hand on her shoulder, glaring daggers at the queen.

“As if that wasn’t your intent from the very beginning. You don’t intend to survive this, do you?”

A sinister smile slowly crept its way onto Eunhee’s face.

“I suppose that would depend on how one defines survival. Wouldn’t you agree, Yoshika?”

Eui’s eyes widened as she realized what the queen was saying.

“You’re talking about true immortality. You intend to resurrect yourself after death.”

“Not just myself. I told you didn’t I? Eunae will be more than royalty—we will both be reborn as the goddess whose glory our clan—indeed, our very nation was founded to restore! Alas, neither of our inner spirits are powerful enough to achieve such an apotheosis—at least, not alone.”

“You monster! Is that what you meant when you said you were counting on me? Holding Eunae hostage in order to force me to—”

A crack of thunder interrupted Eui, and Eunhee immediately teleported above Eunae to conjure several layers of warding circles above them. The twin bolts tore through the shields and slammed into her, knocking her back to the ground at Eunae’s side.

The excess energy was captured by the Sky Hall’s formations, and Heian dutifully funneled it into the gathering formation where it could be converted into Soulfire and fed directly to Eunae. That part of the plan, at least, was working perfectly.

For her part, Eunae had gone into a deep meditative trance to focus on her breakthrough. That was the best decision she could have made, as no matter what else happened, she’d never survive without reaching xiantian.

Eui whirled furiously on Minhee, standing next to her.

“Why the fuck didn’t you warn us that your sister is a complete psychopath?!”

Minhee winced, hesitating.

“I...didn’t realize the extent of it. I convinced myself that the way she egged on our younger sister was a misguided attempt at support. It was only after her ascension that Heiran became...difficult, and by then, no amount of interference by Eunhee or anyone else could have stopped her.”

“But you knew. You knew that she might try to interfere with Eunae’s ascension.”

“Not like this!”

Eui shook her head in disgust. They could fight about it later, but first they had to get Eunae through her tribulation alive. But how?

Eunhee seemed to be taking the brunt of the tribulation, but that was nothing but a stalling tactic. The queen was already on her last legs, and once she fell for good there would be nothing to protect Eunae from the rage of a tribulation powerful enough to kill one of the strongest xiantian cultivators alive.

By their nature, tribulations were meant to be faced alone. Attempting to shield another from a tribulation usually only made it worse, punishing both parties. The queen’s interception of the bolts was the only thing saving Eunae from certain doom, but each one she took only made the situation that much more dire.

It was obvious what Eunhee was after. The tribulation was certain to kill both Eunae and her aunt unless Eui intervened, but intervention would only make things worse. Unless, of course, Eui was Eunae.

That was Eunhee’s trap. The only way to save Eunae would be through joint-cultivation—facing the tribulation together as a single being. Even then, Queen Eunhee’s intervention meant that the raw power of the tribulation might be too much for them to face. Worse, xiantian ascension was a fundamental and irreversible moment of self-definition. To become xiantian was to sear the truth of one’s existence into the very fabric of reality. If Eui and Eunae faced her tribulation together as Yoshika, there would be no going back.

The queen had to know that. Which meant that what she was doing was more than just an attempt at apotheosis. She wasn’t trying to reach godhood—she was trying to steal it.

The Kumiho was beyond ancient. A former deity whose domain had always been one of manipulation and control. Eunae had gained control of her own fragment, but it was clear that the Queen’s fragment was by far the most dominant part of her personality. Eui wasn’t certain that she could control that power if the spirit manifested within her, but facing such a brutal tribulation without it was hopeless.

The sky erupted once more, but the queen could do little to defend either herself or Eunae anymore. As the lightning crashed down upon them, Eunae’s preparations took hold and dense layers of magical shielding snapped into place around them, each one shining with the pale green glow of Soulfire. The lightning was scattered and disrupted, but Eunae didn’t escape completely unharmed—a small trickle of blood leaked from the corner of her mouth.

Whether by curse or miracle, Eunae’s defenses had also shielded her aunt, and combined with Eunhee’s own personal defenses just enough for the queen to survive the third bolt.

As she lay bleeding next to her niece, the queen turned her piercing blue gaze on Eui, her eyes full of vitality despite her failing body.

“Make your choice, Empress. Time is running out.”

Eui groaned in frustration.

“Damn it!”

She ran to Eunae’s side, dropping to her knees in front of her friend and gripping her hands tightly.

“Eunae, I’m so sorry! I thought we’d prepared for everything, but she caught us out anyway. I don’t want to let her win, but I can’t think of any other way.”

The princess smiled sadly and shook her head.

“Don’t. Just leave me. I was prepared for this.”

“No! Don’t say that, please!”

“It’s fine, really. I don’t have any regrets. I’m sure Haeun will make an excellent queen, and that Yun and Rika will make each other as happy as they’ve made me. Just tell them that I love them.”

The sky rumbled overhead. Eui couldn’t force Eunae to let her help—it didn’t work that way—but she could feel how scared Eunae really was.

“Damn it, Eunae! This isn’t the time to be putting on airs! We can get through this together, I promise. Just trust me!”

Eunae squeezed Eui’s hands and smiled.

“I do. You know I do. But I don’t trust myself. It’s not just that it’s what she wants, it’s the fact that I want it too. I want it more than I can even express. I always have, since the moment I first saw what you and Jia had together.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“Who’s to say that desire is really my own? How do I know it’s not some part of the Kumiho deep down within me, seeing her path to reincarnation? What you have is so beautiful, Yoshika, and I would never be able to forgive myself for corrupting it so selfishly.”

Eui shook her head.

“You could never do that. You’re allowed to want things, Eunae. How many times do we have to tell you not to deny the things that bring you happiness just because you don’t think you deserve it?”

Eunhee chuckled and coughed, turning her head to look at them from the ground nearby.

“You should listen to your—”

Eui beheaded her without even looking. Frustratingly, while it shut her up, her aura didn’t feel any weaker—she was still alive.

“Forget about her. Forget about your ancestor. There’s no Jiaguo or Goryeo right now. No empires or nations, no queens or princesses. I need you to tell me, not as a princess of Goryeo, not as a vessel of the Kumiho, but as Eunae—from the heart, what do you want?”

Eunae trembled weakly as the storm thundered above, threatening to end it all at any moment. Her breath hitched and tears streamed down her face as she met Eui’s eyes.

“Please help me!”

Twin bolts of heavenly lightning lanced down towards them, and Yoshika stood as one to face them. She couldn’t afford to hold anything back, calling all of her aspects together from across the world to defend herself. Jia, Eui, Kaede, and Meili appeared in a circle around Eunae. They raised their arms together and channeled everything they had into a layered shield of Lightning, Destruction, Gravity, Warmth, and Soulfire. Eui weakened the bolt while Jia absorbed its power, Kaede and Meili protected them from the force of the blast and the scorching heat, while Eunae’s Soulfire held fast against the purifying essence that tried to invade their soul.

Eunhee, unable to defend herself, was finally struck dead by the tribulation, her aura beginning to fade as her body crumbled to ash. Eunae’s phantom tails struck out to pierce her fading soul before it could vanish. Even with her aunt gone, the tribulation wouldn’t be any weaker, and though she knew it was playing into her hand, Yoshika could only pray that her contingencies would work as she took control of what remained.

She was going to need every ounce of that power. Heian had been struck ten times just for being a spirit. The tribulation that Yoshika now faced had been strengthened by Eunhee’s interruption, no doubt by her intent to resurrect the Kumiho, and though Eunae joining Yoshika didn’t constitute an interruption, she doubted that Shen Yu’s alterations would be kind to true immortals. On top of all that, with Eunhee dead, Yoshika would have to take her share of the tribulation as well.

The storm thundered once more, heralding the next assault, and as Yoshika steeled herself to face it, a sinister presence gripped her soul.

“So, the usurper shows her true colors at last.”

Within her soul realm, the Kumiho took form as a living concentration of Soulfire essence with the face and body of Queen Eunhee, and nine ghostly tails of pale-green flame. Yoshika’s true form stood between her and the core, her form changed once again by Eunae’s soul. Beyond a few subtle changes to the shape of her body, Yoshika’s prehensile rat-like tail had been joined by two white-furred cat tails, two calligraphy-brush fox tails, and four phantom Soulfire tails of her own.

“You’re one to talk. We’re in the middle of a breakthrough and you’re here trying to steal our core.”

“Tsk, nonsense, little thief. Your core is useless to me, except as a snack. Now that I have the means to make my own, I can finally abandon this cowardly partial manifestation and return at last to my rightful glory. No—I’m here for that.”

The Kumiho pointed past Yoshika, lifting her finger up above the glossy purple sphere hovering over the humble stove, to the glowing red teardrop above it. The Sovereign’s Tear.

“You were a fool to try to control me. I am the essence of Control itself, and to end this little game of ours, I will show you how seizing power is done properly.”

Yoshika braced herself internally and externally for the battles she was about to face.

“Just try it, bitch!”