I wasn't the only one that had faced Heaven's tribulation. Storm had flown within my inner world, facing her own test. We had both evolved. The changes that I had undergone had been shared with Storm. My changes were internal, changes to my Dharmic body and astral world. Those with the ability to perceive would recognize that my power had increased significantly and that I now could be counted as one of the few that braved and survived stepping into the Qi Gathering Realm.

Storm's changes were more physical in form and function. She was no longer the freshly hatched chick she had been, uncertain and unsteady as she spread her wings leaning to fly. Her changes had been transformative, increasing her tier from one to two. She was stronger, faster, and larger than she had been. The effect of honing that my Dharmic body had undergone had been shared, and while I tempered on the Dharmic level, she completed her first metamorphosis on the physical.

As a resident in my inner world, she gained some benefits. As a bonded companion those benefits increased and as I gained in power and strength, she gained. A great part of the impurities that I had shed had come from her. We had battled fate together. Our tests were tailored to the individual but somehow shared across the companion bond.

She had been forced into her own unique form of tribulation, her screams of fury as she challenged the barrage of lightning that was inundating the microcosm or my inner world as much resolve as pain. The echoes of her cries of pain and anger had helped stabilize and define my inner world, while etching meridian channels that empowered her abilities to harness and control the lightning that would destroy us.

Her advancement, her elevation to tier-two was impressive considering she had just recently hatched. To go from a tier-one beast to tier-two in a matter of months could only be done as a companion animal. And only when the cultivator partnering with the companion was close to braving their tribulation. Her advancement and life were even more intricately tied with my own now. She could only gain a tier when I chanced a tribulation. My success was hers. It was why she considered me her sister.

I did not own her; she wasn't a pet.

She was the defender of my inner world. Uniquely suited because of her ability to embrace the Dharmic completely and manifest physically. She was able to exist and live fully in both worlds, and with this rank up, she could exist in both worlds simultaneously, the same as I did.

"Out," Storm said. Her first word filled with intent and desire. As a tier-two beast, she had some rudimentary ability to speak. Words that were still backed by the empathic sharing of emotions we had established when we bonded.

She was no longer content to remain safe within my inner world. She wanted out to explore, to fly, to feel the true wind beneath her wings. She wanted to hunt and prove her prowess on a field of battle of her choosing. And her new body made that desire possible.

I could have constrained her, forced her to remain within, but that was not something family members did. It wasn't a matter of acquiescing to her demand; it was a matter of acknowledging her free will. She had spoken, made her intentions known, and I had no right to deny her request.

A simple twist of Qi, a folding of inner and outer, was all it took to release her physical form. Her eyes glazed, her mind processing new stimuli as she got used to the feeling of being in two places at once, was all that was needed to acclimate to the changes. Even as I set her free, her Dharmic body remained flying the skies of my inner world.

I realigned my focus, increasing my perception so that I could appreciate the changes that she had gained. It was breathtaking watching while Storm's new body coalesced and formed for the first time.

She had grown. Before she had been about fifty pounds of muscle, sinew, and bone. She had barely managed to reach past my hip. Now she stood at shoulder height. Feathers faceted with blue and green jewel tones that refracted light in wondrous patterns. Her beak and claws had evolved, now formed from the same platinum as my spiritual root. A focused blast of perception was all I needed to realize that the changes to her beak and claws extended to her entire skeletal frame.

Before I could stop her, she flew. Her beating wings powerful. Her form sleek and beautiful. The cry of defiance and delight she released as she gained elevation echoed across the mountain. As she beat her wings and learned to read the wind, to understand that the updrafts and currents that she soared across were part of who she was.

She was large enough that I could ride her if I were traveling any distance, but that consideration was secondary. Her control over the elements we shared, the power behind her wings, the power of beak and talons made her a formidable hunter.

She was transformed. No longer a Roc. She was now a Lightning Roc. One that had survived her first molt and become adult under the auspices of Heaven's ministration.

As I watched her soar, her clarion calls continuing to echo, I was reminded that my abilities had undergone a substantial metamorphosis, as well. Now that I had gained the Qi Gathering Realm, my Dharmic body and Dharmic power were fully awakened and mine to command.

When fighting at the Body Refinement Realm, I cycled Qi and the elements I resonated with into the movements that allowed for attacks and defense. My Tessen and Bow acting as an intermediary, a focal point for me to channel. Each weapon serving to buttress my meridian channels and anchor the effect of each technique. My skills were potent because I had taken the time to create pathways and the nexus that I needed to combine the elements I controlled with my Qi.

Now that I had reached the Qi Gathering Realm, my Dharmic body could control those elements directly. I hadn't realized what that meant until I saw Storm flying and wanted to join her. That yearning, that unrealized dream of every person that watched a creature fly, that desire was answered without thought or direction. My new Dharmic body responded to that desire and summoned the winds, directing them to swirl around me faster and faster. A small localized tornado gave me lift and allowed me to ascend.

The wind came to my call as I flew for the first time. There was no need for platforms of air and ice for me to stand on. The element was mine to command now, and as I rose, I released the power of the storm. Wind, water, ice, fog, and lighting. All danced to my command.

The storm from the tribulation had faded, but the patterns of energy remained. And I borrowed those patterns to re-create that storm. A barrage of nature's fury joined me in my first flight and my dance of joy.

The ability to fly. It was the stuff dreams were made of. Not flight that required mechanical devices or riding a tamed beast, but the glorious exultation where you controlled how high you flew and where you went. This was more than levitation, more than standing precariously on a Qi construct. This was true flight.

And as I reveled in my freedom, the elements responding to my joy; the storm continued to build. My power, my will, my dreams unleashing a new lightning barrage as I joined Storm in screaming my happiness, our joy reverberating like thunder among the mountain top.

Our voices joined in concert, echoed by the clash of real thunder as the storm clouds boiled. And as the clouds opened, as the rain fell, we announced our elevation to the Sect. We had been tested and reborn. Storm had gained her freedom and a boost to power. And the Dharmic that I could barely touch as an apprentice Alchemist was now mine to control.