Fortune Tribulation
Everything in the Holy Maiden's quarters here was just as Lin Qing'er described when she was asked for her preferences.
Now seated on the Holy Maiden throne, she looked more majestic and domineering in her white female robe.
Ye Chen took in everything in the room and had only one word: Luxury. Whether it's the Ten Thousand Year Old White Oak wood, or the White Tiger Crystal, or the Purple Bamboo, and Purple Spirit Crystal, they are treasures in the outside world.
Casual Cultivators, and some cultivation forces would shed blood for the sake of just one of them.
He actually has envy in his heart. Not for Lin Qing'er's status as the Holy Maiden, but for Jiang Hou's status. The other party became the Holy Son just three years after worshipping the Great Elder, enjoying resources he, Ye Chen, could only fight for.
But now that Lin Qing'er is also the Holy Maiden, and both of them are Personal Disciples of the Holy Lord, he does not lack resources so to say. 'But a man must aim higher no matter what glory he's achieved', he thought.
'Take in your envy. Be more focused on regaining your opportunity', just as he was lost in thought, Su Yaoren's voice sounded in his mind, like a basin of water, and waking up quickly.
'Yes, Master. I must definitely regain that opportunity after returning to the Holy Land', he promised.
'Good. Don't be too obsessed with status, it can destroy you by disturbing the firmness of your heart', Su Yaoren continued to instruct.
Ye Chen didn't immediately respond. Honestly, he has coveted the status of the Holy Son since he joined the Holy Land. However, since the Holy Land already has a Holy Son who is even more talented than himself, he can only rein in his own covetousness.
Still, he took the chance to challenge Jiang Hou in the previous Grand Competition as a show of interest, and in accordance with the Rules of the Holy Land. But things did not go according to plan.
So he replied to his Master after a few breaths, 'I will try my best not to be obsessed. I won't trouble the Master'.
Su Yaoren, who could see his disciple's reluctance, could only sigh and thought, 'I was like you back then, look where I am at now'.
"Brother Chen..Brother Chen? What are you thinking about?", asked Lin Qing'er curiously.
And Ye Chen came back to his senses, "I'm thinking about ways to obtain the world for you", he said.
Lin Qing'er blushed. Although she was already used to Ye Chen's straightforward confessions, there are others here after all. She glared at him and turned her face away.
Ye Chen also realised what he just did and became a little embarrassed too. But as a man, you have to be thick-skinned. So he said, "I'll be in the waiting room. Let's go to the Registry at dusk tomorrow to register our presence and purpose", and left.
"Ok Brother Chen. Good night", she said coldly and thought, 'He's obviously running away. Why is he so righteous telling me what I already know?' as she watched his retreating back.
After Ye Chen left, Lin Qing'er was left alone with the two maids, one tall and one short, so she asked them, "What are your names?"
The tall one replied, "I am called Chen Wuya"
While the short one replied, "My name is Wei Xiaoling"
"Good. From now on, call me Sister. Like I said, there is no need for formalities between us. Let us become the best sisters in the world", said Lin Qing'er.
And with that, she handed over a Storage Ring over to each of them. Storage Rings have grades too. They are the Low-grade, Intermediate, and Top Grade.
Normally, servants in the Cultivation forces would not have storage rings. But this is a Holy Land, so servants can be said to be at the same level as some Sect's or Clan's Outer Disciples.
Chen Wuya and Wei Xiaoling both have Low-grade storage rings, brown in colour, and whose inner-space is only the size of a small room. So, seeing the Silver coloured Storage Rings Lin Qing'er was handing over to them, knowing it's they are two Intermediate Storage Rings,
"Holy Mai…", Chen Wuya was about to say, but seeing Lin Qing'er's expression, she changed her words to,
"Sis..Sister, we can't accept this, right? They are too precious", she resisted with caution.
"What's precious? You just called me Sister, right? Then it's not wrong to give gifts to my newly acquired sisters, right?", Lin Qing'er defended.
"But…" Wei Xiaoling was about to say when Lin Qing'er interrupted,
"That's all! You can only accept it if you consider me your sister", and threw the Rings at them.
An Intermediate Storage Ring has an inner space of two football fields, and is worth tens of thousands of Spirit Stones, a hundred times the price of a Low grade Storage Ring.
But what is a few tens of thousands of Spirit Stones in the eyes of "the Holy Maiden"?
As they watched Lin Qing'er rise from the throne and slip to the back of it, and sat down cross-legged on the futon, they knew they couldn't reject this 'gift' from their 'newly acquired sister'.
They can only accept their fate. And accepting would be the best decision they would make in their very long lives.
Each inspected her own Storage Ring and when they saw what was inside, their mouths became wide enough to fit a ball, and their eyes big enough to become independent planets. Such piles of treasures of Artefacts and Medicinal Pills and Spirit Stones is something they've never seen in their slightly over two decades of Cultivation life.
Then,
They cried, both painfully and joyfully. They are mourning the end of their pain, and celebrating the start of their joy.
"When you're done, cultivate for me. You still need to become strong enough so that we sisters can accompany each other for a lifetime", came Lin Qing'er's voice.
"Yes, sister", the two replied. In each of their storage rings, there is a section where Cultivation Futons are piled up like a mountain. And they are all Purple. 'This must be Sister's obsession'. A normal person won't think about cultivating all day long.
Of course, they would soon find out that, 'When you have a reason, everything else can be put aside to achieve your goal'. Each took out a Futon, sat cross-legged, and began practising.
On the other side, Ye Chen was also sitting on the Futon in the waiting room. But no matter what, he couldn't get himself to concentrate. All that's on his mind was the Purple Futon under him.
Su Yaoren inside the Jade Pendant was thinking, 'What's going on with this little guy's mind these past few days?'
He has forgotten an important point. When a person loses a big chunk of luck, his mind would be set on trivial things. He would not be able to concentrate on important matters.
Ye Chen stood up, went to the other side of the room, took out his personal Futon, which is Black, sat on it, and tried to focus again.
But he couldn't get his mind to concentrate. So he asked his Master after trying a few times more, 'Master, what is wrong with me? I can't concentrate no matter what. Trivial things kept flooding my mind without control. What is going on?'
Then, Su Yaoren was awakened, "Fortune Tribulation. What you are experiencing now is definitely Fortune Tribulation", he exclaimed. Then he appeared in mid-air.
Looking at his Master who appeared abruptly without a care of being exposed, Ye Chen knew this matter is not simple.
"What is Fortune Tribulation?", he asked.
But Su Yaoren was not about to answer him immediately. He formed seals with his hands, and the seals transformed into runes. The runes surrounded the two of them, then disappeared into the void.
Ye Chen noticed then that he has no perception of the outside world. Whether sound or rules of the world, or Spiritual Energy.
"Don't worry", said Su Yaoren after noticing Ye Chen's confusion. "I have just sealed the void. No one below the Great Emperor Realm can hear us or enter this space without my permission", he explained.
"Master, is my situation that serious?", Ye Chen asked.
"It's serious, but I have to protect myself and your secret too, right?", answered Su Yaoren, with a question of his own.
"Oh, that's right. I'm sorry for troubling you Master", he apologised.
"No troubles. Fortune Tribulation is a phenomenon that occurs just after a person, mortal or cultivator, misses a great opportunity, or loses a large part of his luck. The person would become distressed or burdened psychologically. If the person is a cultivator, his cultivation may deviate, and he would go mad, turning into a demon. Luck is ethereal, but it influences what transpired in the physical world. It is an oversight on my side to withhold such important information from you. I'm sorry.
Now, you have to do everything in your power to become powerful enough, defeat the Holy Son, and regain your lost opportunity. Only then can your Luck recover", Su Yaoren explained while admitting his mistake.
"What if I can't regain that lost opportunity?", Ye Chen asked
"...?"