"What should I call myself?" the old man asked. "I hear people have titles and Daoist names. I want one for myself."
The white flying vessel cruised along the sky at a steady pace, making its way to the northern region of the Black and White Continent where the Black Mountains separated the landmass in two.
Those mountains were a barrier for clouds moving on either side, so the central regions of those mountains were quite deserted with little wildlife in them. As a result, they had been repurposed by the White Tigers to become their location where they took care of their tribulations.
It was quite far away from the White Tigerās palace, nearly 5 days away at their current speed, so they had first teleported to a city close by and were now on their way to reaching the location in no more than 3 hours.
The White Tiger that accompanied them, Bai Mingwen, was a fourth-generation White Tiger. At least, that was how he had introduced himself, but Alex didnāt quite yet know how the generations were divided.
He would have to ask Bai Jingshen to find out about that.
"What name do you want for yourself?" Alex asked the old man. "Have you come up with one?"
"Not really, but I do want something that has to do with who I am, or who I was," the old man said.
"You donāt have to have a new name, just so you know," Alex said. "Most people use a Daoist name because they want to keep their names and associations a secret. But I donāt think you have anything to hide."
"No," the old man said. "Iām starting a new life, so I want a new name. Iām excited enough about the ideas as is. What do you think about āGiftmasterā? Thatās what they called me back there."
Alex didnāt have to answer. His facial expressions were enough.
"Okay..." the old man said, realizing the suggestion had been shut down. "I do want something to do with Hell. Hell... Hellman. Hellborn. Hellspawn."
"No, not Hellspawn," Alex said quickly.
"Thatās the War Godās name," Bladedance explained. "You canāt use it. Also, you might want to stay away from the word Hell. You donāt want people knowing thatās where you came from."
"Oh... okay," the old man said and continued thinking again. He gave a couple more suggestions.
Grandnight. Arraymaster. Desertborn. Etc.
None were particularly good in Alexās eyes. Desertborn was the closest thing to being usable, but the old man wanted something more than just usable. He wanted something good.
"What about something that has to do with what youāre good at," Alex explained. "Something about your ability as a battle master or your ability to make runes."
"Hmm..." the old man thought. "Formation... no, it doesnāt work. Runemaster? That sounds better. Battle..."
"Sage," Alex said. "Thatās great actually, and might even work for you, given your talent. Battlesage."
"Battlesage..." the old man mulled over the words. He slowly nodded. "Yes, thatās a good name. I think Iāll take that."
"Really?" Alex asked. "You have to make such decisions carefully."
"No, Iām sure. From today on, Iām Battlesage," Battlesage said.
Bladedance chuckled. "Congratulations on your Daoist name. Iām sure many will hear of it soon enough."
"I hope so," Battlesage said.
They arrived at the deserted landscape not long after and Bai Mingwen walked up to them. "We will soon arrive at the location. Please prepare for your tribulations."
"Okay," Bladedance said. "You should go do it first. Iāll follow afterward."
Battlesage looked confused. "Why not together? Thereās plenty of space."
"Because doing so together at such a short distance might count as interfering with each other, and a stray lightning may fall on either of us. I would be fine if that happened, but if any of my tribulation lightning were to fall onto you, you would most certainly die."
"Oh..." Battlesage felt his spine grow cold at the idea. He couldnāt stop a lightning meant for a god.
"I could go before you, but I have at least 6 tribulations to go through, so that might cause your tribulations some issues afterward. Better if you go before me."
"Okay," Battlesage said. He had no reason to refuse the idea.
Alex thought for a bit, considering how strong those 6 tribulations would have to be. "You only have to fight off 9 lightning bolts each tribulation, right master?" he asked. "You donāt have to deal with the Dao lightning."
"Dao lightning is only for when breaking through to the next major realm," Bladedance explained. "I wonāt have to go through those for now."
Alex nodded. "Then, would this be easy for you or not?" he asked. "From what I remember my alchemy master telling me, Heaven punishes those that try to avoid their Immortal tribulations by escaping the world. But of course, in your case, you didnāt avoid it, so would it still be weak?"
Bladedance looked toward the sky. "I donāt believe it will be stronger than normal. There wonāt be any punishment for me, because as you said, Hell still has Heaven. So, at the very least, it is aware I wasnāt trying to run away," she said. "But at the same time, it isnāt necessarily going to be easy either. Given how many tribulations Iāve been through, this one is going to be pretty strong."
Alex was quickly lost in some thought. There was something that irked him. "Have you called on more tribulations than needed, Master?" he asked. "I hear people do that."
"Of course I have," she said. "I had to."
"Is there a reason why?" Alex asked. "Wouldnāt it be simpler to just wait out the tribulations?"
"For someone with a lower cultivation base? Yes. That makes sense. But once you enter the Divine realm, and especially the latter realms within it, you have to go through the tribulations whether you want to or not."
Alex frowned. "Why, master?"
Bladedance shrugged. "Because the plentiful Qi left behind after a tribulation is successful is perhaps the easiest way to gather Divine and Celestial Qi to improve your cultivation base at that point."