Sky Pride Vol. 6 Chapter 9- How Heavy a Dream
Added 2026-02-26 15:00:16 +0000 UTCComments
How interesting, I feel very much like Tian now... it hadn't even occurred to me that was what she was afraid of. Taking advantage of someone else's nature, using it in that way.
LinkRue
2026-03-10 06:11:14 +0000 UTCI think the test was less about how you were affected than it was about showing how you would overcome. Hong saw how she could become an abuser and said "I would rather die. Tian, kill me." She confronted the idea and tried to plan for such a situation. Maladaptively in this case, but it shows earnest growth and firm resolve.
Noroh
2026-02-27 08:56:51 +0000 UTCThis tracks pretty well with Liren's development since she was introduced. I'd also say it's these two finally acting their age, with Liren terrified of what she could, in her mind, easily become. And Tian utterly dismissing the risk of it happening. My question after reading this chapter is how exactly did Liren pass the test if she was this badly affected.
Sol
2026-02-27 07:00:55 +0000 UTCSo yes, I agree with previous commentors who said that Liren's fear is unrealistic, Tian wouldn't let himself be treated that way. But a fear doesn't have to be realistic to be painful. I think Tian would simply choose to leave before things get that bad. But, that's a small comfort, as she said, she'd rather die that deal with the pain she'd feel if she drove him away. The root of this fear isn't just about hurting Tian, it's about how she'd feel if she destroyed their relationship. And the fear that her flaws will make that inevitable, unless she learns better control.
Zenopath (AEV)
2026-02-27 04:23:59 +0000 UTCAgreed, but think it's relevant that Liren's fear is unbalanced because she isn't accounting for Tian's actual behavior, but her flawed perception of them both - herself as unforgivable, and him as unnaturally forgiving. It's a fear with enough basis in reality to be come plausible, but only with her idealized version of him.
EvilLittleThing
2026-02-27 00:16:29 +0000 UTCThe number of people who think the problem with this chapter is ‘Tian can dodge’ or ‘just spar instead’ scares me. The point is that she’s afraid of becoming the person who *would* abuse Tian. And that Tian would *choose* to take it forever because he loves her. Just a general tip y’all, if somebody says ‘I’m afraid of this’, responding with ‘just don’t do that’ is not helpful or even really good faith. You’re not engaging with the fear, you’re engaging with the hypothetical
Jordan Leighton
2026-02-26 21:20:08 +0000 UTCBird soup sounds pretty good right about now. Chicken broth with rice? Fried wings? Perhaps dressed and baked? I wonder if living four thousands of years is considered part of an 'aging' process.
Zacharias Wallace
2026-02-26 19:57:41 +0000 UTCIt's definitely also physically hitting him. A hit on a training mat and a hit in the dining room are just two very different kinds of violence.
Dexter Sinister
2026-02-26 19:20:12 +0000 UTCTFTC. I am gonna go cry now, this is just such a damn good story
Wrenn
2026-02-26 19:17:41 +0000 UTCThis is such a good heart demon to give to Liren and something I did not expect. It's such a natural extension of Liren's fear of being unworthy of forgiveness and Tian giving it to her anyway.
zombie
2026-02-26 18:49:08 +0000 UTCIt’s really funny how many commentators confuse Liren‘s words. She is afraid of mistreating Tian and him forgiving her repeatedly because he loves her so much. It‘s not physically hitting him. Now we all know that Tian is no push over but Liren saw what she is capable of and willing to do. She fears herself
SUlex
2026-02-26 18:33:22 +0000 UTCLiren is conflating Tian's forgiveness of those he loves for tolerance. And really, it's not about him at all, but how she recognized something ugly in herself and is horrified by it.
EvilLittleThing
2026-02-26 17:48:58 +0000 UTCAbuse the strongest disciple in the outer court? You must think highly of yourself if you think you could, Liren.
SquiddlyWinks
2026-02-26 17:44:16 +0000 UTCThis has would you love me if I was a worm vibes. I have trouble imagining Tian being a willing punching bag like in Liren’s fears. He isn’t a helpless damsel who couldn’t get away from the abuse. Liren wouldn’t be able to hit him unless he allowed it. And he wouldn’t. So this whole ‘what if’ scenario falls apart
ioajfidsnmfomds77
2026-02-26 17:29:05 +0000 UTCThere's also the bit that Liren actually already has done similar things. She was introduced as a rock thrower, when they were in the desert she kicked his head into a wall during a spar. She changed and matured a lot since then, but all it would take is the bird bringing that up in the most visceral and unflinching way to fuck up Liren.
João Vene
2026-02-26 17:25:30 +0000 UTCThis chapters pretty heavy and all. But to be honest the moment I read the "leave the door open" part my first thought was atleast one of these ancient shut-ins is gonna be twitching hard resisting the urge to look their way and grab some period appropriate theater snacks. Lol
Abhi
2026-02-26 17:25:19 +0000 UTCTian came up with an incredible Yin response to her Yang fear. He accepted her fear and moved past to a place beyond it. A yang response might be agreeing to kill her or even just flowing around her strikes so she couldn’t hurt him. Both are confrontational standing against her even if he left it’s a yang avoiding response striking away from her. He instead kept to his position and redirected her fear into supporting that stance. Her heart demon is now a tempering tool for their dual cultivation.
Alexander Dupree
2026-02-26 17:08:38 +0000 UTCI don't think it's about the actual fight, but about the abuse
João Vene
2026-02-26 17:06:04 +0000 UTCFuck man. I don’t know what to say after that.
Alexander Dupree
2026-02-26 17:01:34 +0000 UTCNow that I think about it, that would explain why Tian's senior brother was so offended by his offer of compassion. He felt like Tian took the role of a parent, someone who is "supposed" to be eternally above you in the hierarchy. On the other hand, Tian was raised by his senior brothers, with the expectation that sooner or later they would be equals. Based on that, to him, compassion is a duty to your fellows, and respect earned by showing kindness, demonstrating skill, and sharing your wisdom. And even Fu, the only (physically present) person Tian sees as a parental figure, did not insist on having that role. Instead, Tian decided to call him father after recognizing what Fu did for him and meant to him. No wonder he has such a different view on filial behaviour.
HyperJoJo
2026-02-26 16:59:44 +0000 UTCOof, this one was hard to read as someone who experienced a less physical, but still devastating version of Liren's fear scenario. I appreciate the authorial sensitivity, even as Tian likely has issues fully comprehending what Liren's fear is about due to his own limited experiential vocab/understanding. Beyond the main subject though, it's chapters like these that make me love this story: very very few other stories (that I've read) with a deuteragonist, especially a female lead have any meaningful internal conflict / complex emotions that aren't solved quickly / genuine character growth. People enjoy seeing the heroic aspects of such characters, but the 3-dimensionality of them is often undercooked. Thank you Warby for sharing your vision of a romantic couple lead and for putting your art out there. Thank you everyone else for sharing this journey with me.
Lady Merlin
2026-02-26 16:48:15 +0000 UTCMakes perfect sense that she would be concerned about this. I always thought she leaned in this direction. Good character writing. This volume so far has be really good. Tians maturity is coming out more here too. You can really see the development.
Evan
2026-02-26 16:40:21 +0000 UTCheavy chapt. although(in a lighter vein)....with how flexible/fast he is, how would she land a hand on him UNLESS he let her. she'd MISS all the time, i mean the dude can bend in half BACKWARDS at a whim and with how they bother are right now, he is the faster one of the two.
Len
2026-02-26 16:30:17 +0000 UTCI think Liren and I have a very different understanding of what "forgiveness" is. For me the first example that comes to mind is how (imho) a parent should treat their child. No reasonable parent resents their child for all the times they pulled their hair, peed on them, broke stuff, and so on, they have forgiven all that. But still that doesn't mean they didn't make sure that the kid learned not to do that stuff anymore. Similarly, I think if Liren did mistreat Tian as she fears, he would forgive her, but there is no way he would let it become such a permanent problem, since that would be bad for both of them.
HyperJoJo
2026-02-26 16:25:26 +0000 UTCThis is almost exactly what I was expecting and is exactly in character for Liren's fears. Her feelings of guilt are core to her arc and have been lying in wait to hit them since the relationship first started. Or arguably, since she first made him hit his head in the cave all the way back in arc 2.
Robert Mullins
2026-02-26 16:17:52 +0000 UTCThe keys to me I think are that abuse isnt just about the abuser. It is a cage of chains from socialization facilitating a lack of consequences for maladaptive coping mechanisms, a lack of supporting community members for both perspective and better models, lack of education and instruction on emotions, worth, and healthy relationships, tied into broader networks of isolation and deprivation. A whole lot of things combine to allow abuse, and as a mild positive, some of those elements arent nearly as prelevant in the Sect as they may be elsewhere. There is a much better chance, especially since Liren observed a chance for harm and distinctly did not like such a chance for remediation and change to happen. It makes sense in some sense for her nightmare to be derived from their time in the Desert, as such was the point of them being the most disposable and unsupported in their lives. It isnt a clear eyed look at the totality of both of them, but it is something that Mourning Cry managed to lever into and reinforce as a pattern since Liren didnt and to some degree doesnt have a secure ideation of her relationships
Veridescent
2026-02-26 16:13:20 +0000 UTCTftc!
G&S Gaming
2026-02-26 16:10:36 +0000 UTCLol I was expecting something worse. Hard to get behind I can see myself easily beating but it hurts cuz I love you, but if I do it, kill me…. Meh
Seldom
2026-02-26 16:06:37 +0000 UTCIt's a bit like telling a depressed person to just cheer up or an anxious person to stop being nervous. Liren is responsible for her own actions of course, I don't mean to excuse her from responsibility; but the reason she fears this becoming a reality is because of her heart demon. She's very angry because of a whole slew of past trauma and if she doesn't learn to deal with these feelings in a healthy way she'll end up finding unhealthy outlets. Hurting the people closest to her and destorying her own life. Mourning Cry was very cruel about how she did it but Liren really did need this wake up call. A warning to deal with her heart demon now before it festers and becomes a real problem.
JackassofAllTrades
2026-02-26 15:58:41 +0000 UTCTian is a bit biased. Liren actually has a pretty explosive temper - for everyone who isn't Tian. He inoculated her with his nonsense early. Liren's nightmare of entering a classic abuse spiral with Tian is horrific, but also biased by how gentle he is with her compared to everyone else (Lin doesn't even need to ask to be killed, and he volunteers). It's clearly unreasonable in a number of ways. First, it's difficult to imagine him allowing himself to be beaten, repeatedly. He's really good at dodging, and it wouldn't even occur to him to stand still and allow himself to be injured. Plus, he's already foisted the money transactions onto Liren so that he can more easily walk the Way of the Brokie. She's seeing something ugly in herself and not fully acknowledging Tian's personality, other than "he's forgiving, so he will tolerate the intolerable from me". I think this nightmare of Liren's comes from the desert, when she demanded a spar and cracked his head against the cave wall. She was horrified by herself, and realized she'd just wanted to hurt someone, didn't matter who, to vent frustration over being bait for an ambush, and how the inner disciple left them to die. At the time, Tian knew she was being strange, and that she was shocked and ashamed by her own behavior, but he was also concussed and they had a different relationship then, so just let it go.
EvilLittleThing
2026-02-26 15:57:13 +0000 UTCAh a reasonable fear but also Tian is right now you know what not to do. But I get it feels a lot like intrusive OCD esq thoughts. I have experienced that a bit and that visceral fear of acting on intrusive thoughts makes sense. I met a dude who had it so bad he was convinced he was a danger to people and didn’t leave his house for six years. He had never even been in a fight so it’s not totally rational. I really like this.
Baconwargod
2026-02-26 15:56:07 +0000 UTCAh the trap Jun spoke of is seen in another light. Reverberations forming a pattern of a cage against other possibilities. Of course the crux is there, recognizing the harm, the only next step is to take the hit to explore other ways, to strip such from identity no matter the pain. Some cant do it, I feel as a cultivator Liren could. What after is pain but not the toll for a eternity of growing to be more than you were? Amusingly enough Cultivators work well for eternal crab jokes even in bittersweet context
Veridescent
2026-02-26 15:55:26 +0000 UTCBeen there in potentially Lirens shoes, not cool, can not recommend
Aoth the Arcane
2026-02-26 15:42:14 +0000 UTCOne of the few times I would have preferred a trigger warning. Was definitely not in the headspace to have descriptions of partner violence, no matter how well-written. A heavy but exceptional chapter.
Rhuiedian
2026-02-26 15:30:55 +0000 UTCBruh just don’t beat him 😭
Sinfinite
2026-02-26 15:23:08 +0000 UTCThat's irrelevant to what she is talking about. Sparring is sparring and abuse is abuse, they have nothing to do with each other.
Robert Mullins
2026-02-26 15:23:01 +0000 UTCDont they spar? Theyre martial artists.
Gardor
2026-02-26 15:20:18 +0000 UTCLiren: you can't say no to me and you always forgive me, so you have to kill me Tian: No. Liren: *surprised pikachu face*
Kotawa Ma
2026-02-26 15:20:11 +0000 UTCOof heavy stuff
Peter Simmons
2026-02-26 15:15:12 +0000 UTCWell that was unexpected. That little bird is truly cruel.
JTP
2026-02-26 15:11:59 +0000 UTCThe Lark was right, he is a romantic soul lol
Noroh
2026-02-26 15:08:38 +0000 UTCThanks for the chapter
Chrysos au
2026-02-26 15:07:59 +0000 UTC
