BANG!
The Formation Array broke like it hadn't even existed. The new person that had just appeared between Stella and Gravis was so powerful that nothing was seemingly able to stop her.
SSHHH!
The fire vanished, and white light fell on both Gravis and Stella. In nearly an instant, their bodies recovered.
The black color vanished from Stella's body as Gravis felt his entire body regrow with incredible speed. In less than a second, both of them were healthy again.
Gravis looked at the new arrival with furrowed brows.
It was a middle-aged woman with red hair, just like Stella and her brother. On her back, she carried a red and black bow that radiated an unreal amount of power.
However, her clothes were very simple. She only wore white pants and a white blouse.
"Teacher!" Stella's brother shouted with exhilaration and happiness. Finally, his teacher had arrived!
Gravis looked at the new arrival and noticed that he couldn't feel her power. This meant that she was, at least, a very powerful Immortal King, maybe even an Immortal Emperor.
Stella could hardly believe that she was still alive. Then, she noticed her teacher.
For a moment, she felt relieved and happy, but then, frustration took over.
'I would have died.'
'I would have died!' she thought with frustration and tragedy. 'Am I truly not destined to become powerful?'
The woman looked at Stella with a peaceful smile and pulled Stella into a warm embrace. "I'm sorry," she said.
"What?" Stella asked in shock. "Why are you sorry? I should be the sorry one! I was too weak!"
Her emotions were riled up by everything that had happened. Being close to death was something different from knowing that one would die. Stella had not been able to rely on her own power to survive. Someone else had to get involved in order to save her.
What about her pure path to power?
Someone else had gotten involved in her tempering. How could she reach supreme power now? She wanted to see the next world above everything else, but if she couldn't even defend herself in this world, how would she ever be able to reach the next one?
Stella's brother looked at Stella with heartache. By calling their teacher, he had put Stella's path to power into jeopardy. However, if he hadn't called their teacher, Stella would be dead right now.
Nevertheless, Stella's path to power had been damaged by this interference. It was the weaker of the two evils, but it was still something horrible. Why had all of this happened? Why was his sister destined to have her path broken?
Then, he looked at Gravis, and his rage exploded.
It was him!
He was the reason!
If he hadn't arrived, everything would still be fine!
Gravis felt the violent emotions of Stella's brother and looked at him with narrowed eyes. Gravis would not lay down his life just like that.
"Liam, calm down," his teacher said.
Liam gritted his teeth. "Why should I!?" he shouted at his teacher as he turned to her. Then, he pointed at Gravis. "He destroyed sis' path!"
Gravis was still careful of Liam, but he wasn't really worried. Stella's teacher had also healed Gravis, which meant that she didn't see him as an enemy, for whatever reason. Gravis actually couldn't find any reason why this teacher of Stella would heal Gravis. By all intents and purposes, their teacher should hate Gravis.
Stella's teacher sighed. "Because it's not his fault."
Gravis' face morphed into a skeptical grimace while Liam looked with shock at his teacher. "Not his fault?" he asked. "It was his decision to come here! How can it not be his fault!?"
Stella only remained silent as she tried to come to terms with her current situation.
Their teacher slowly shook her head. "Because this was Stella's tribulation," she said.
Everyone immediately became shocked. Her tribulation?
"What?" Liam asked.
Stella looked at her teacher. "That's impossible," she said. "I am not 100 millennia old yet."
Their teacher sighed again. "I'm afraid you are," she said.
"How?" Stella asked in shock.
Their teacher stroked Stella's hair with love and smiled at her. "Do you remember when you and your brother went into seclusion to comprehend the Major Law of the Elements? Back then, I made time move faster for you. You thought that you have only spent 25,000 years in there, but you actually spent 30,000 years in seclusion."
Stella and Liam couldn't process what they were hearing. They had so many questions, but above all else, one question stood at the forefront.
"Why?" Stella asked.
"Because I didn't want you to sacrifice 50,000 years of your cultivation," she said
This confused Stella and Liam even more.
"You comprehended the Laws separately, but I only manipulated your time. Your brother comprehended the Laws 5,000 years faster than you."
"I comprehended the Major Law of the Elements faster than sis?" Liam asked in shock. "But sis is more powerful than me!"
Their teacher smiled at Liam. "Her Battle-Strength is higher than yours, but you have more talent in comprehending Laws."
Stella and Liam looked at each other, not knowing what they should feel right now.
"Everything revolved around your and your brother's tribulation," she said. "I had to separate the both of you in age. I know that you never talked about it, but I know how you feel, Stella."
"I know that you are afraid that Liam won't be able to beat his tribulation, which is why you already decided to become an Immortal King together with Liam in the next five thousand years," their teacher said.
Stella gritted her teeth.
Liam looked at his sister with confusion and a bit of hurt. "Is that true, sis?" he asked. "Do you honestly believe that I wouldn't be able to beat my second tribulation?"
Stella wanted to deny everything, but she decided that she had to be honest today. "I just don't want to lose you," she said quietly.
Liam felt his heart shake, and his emotions were riled up. Did his sister truly believe that he was so weak?
"She is right, Liam," their teacher said. "Your paths are different. Liam, I fear that you will not be able to survive your incoming tribulation in 5,000 years. You have seen that even your sister has failed. Don't throw your life away."
Their teacher turned back to Stella. "However, you had a 50/50 chance of succeeding in my mind, Stella," she said. "That was why I didn't tell you. I can't see you throwing away 50,000 years of cultivation just because you don't want to make your brother feel bad. I couldn't watch and decided to intervene. That's why I'm sorry, Stella."
PACK!
Stella shoved her teacher away from her in anger. "You betrayed me!" she shouted. "This was my decision!"
Their teacher sighed in hurt. "I know, and I don't expect you to forgive me. I only did what I thought was best for you and your brother."
"Sorry to interrupt," Gravis said evenly from the side with crossed arms. "But how is this a tribulation? Isn't she supposed to fight someone two levels above her?"
Liam was still angry at Gravis, and when he heard Gravis' words, his insides churned again. Meanwhile, Stella felt a mix of anger, frustration, and helplessness.
Their teacher looked at Gravis. "Stella was supposed to fight a Peak Immortal that can jump a level, but that would have nearly certainly resulted in her death. Longevity doesn't take power jumps between levels into account. This meant that her opponent would have been three levels more powerful than her, which would have killed her."
"Instead, I decided to lock her power and weaken her Battle-Strength under the guise of outside tempering. With this, she wouldn't have needed to battle someone that powerful. The Heavens are fair, and they will adjust the opponent to the Cultivator's power. With her powers locked, she will fight someone weaker."
"Fighting someone one level more powerful while weakened is easier than fighting someone three levels more powerful while on full strength. This gave her a higher chance of survival."
Gravis quickly did some calculations in his head. Gravis could kill someone at the Late Major Circulation Immortal Realm even if they could jump an entire level, maybe even two. This actually conformed to the tribulation scale.
Gravis narrowed his eyes. 'Was this your doing, Arc?' he asked himself as he glared at the sky.
'I'll talk later to him,' Gravis thought as he looked back at the teacher. 'There's something else that interests me more right now.'
"We would have both died in the fight, but you involved yourself," Gravis said. "If this is a tribulation, your interference would count as interfering with Heaven's business. So, my question is, what happens now?"
Liam and Stella both opened their eyes widely in shock.
Then, they looked at their teacher with horror.
Their teacher smiled bitterly. "You are an unpleasant person," she said to Gravis.
Gravis didn't react.
The teacher sighed again. "But you are right," she admitted. "I have interfered in Stella's tribulation. This means that I have accepted the burden of her tribulation."
"My tribulation would arrive shortly, but…" she said as she trailed off.
Then, she took her right hand out of her sleeve.
The atmosphere froze.
Her hand was starting to turn into dust.
"This would be the third tribulation for me, and as a Late Major Circulation Immortal Emperor, there are no fitting opponents left."
"Therefore, I will turn to dust before the sun has set," she said as she peacefully looked at the evening sun.