Chapter 6 – Heavens’ Laws

  The sun had dipped below the horizon, leaving a haze of light to finish the day. Everyone was on their way to return back. Grand Elder Huizhong instructed Ranxi to bring Diyuan to his healing center, where he would ensure “no incompetence would waste the gift that Patriarch Tianhou gave.”

  The groups mingled as they left, discussing the events or questioning the reason for the Royal Decree. It came to be known that it was Diyuan who had used the Royal Decree, via a mid-grade talisman from Grand Elder Yifan, but it wasn’t known why. Diyuan’s speed when he outpaced Gu Guoxiong brought some good laughs and pride, and most admitted they couldn’t follow just how fast he was. But the two most popular topics were Grand Elder Yifan’s death and rebirth, and what a domain was, as that wasn’t something known to the majority of people.

  In fact, even the Grand Elders weren’t too familiar with the topic of domains. The three of them stayed behind, along with Zheng Tianhou, ancestor and patriarch of the Zhengyi clan.

  The four of them had an unofficial meeting where Grand Elder Yifan went into detail regarding his phoenix rebirth, and what brought about the change. With this transformation, his mastery was complete and he could create a jade tablet arte inspired by it.

  Ancestor Tianhou then spoke to his discoveries regarding Gu Guoxiong’s domain and what it might mean for the future. He provided insight as to what he knew about it and how it related to the upper world. It was both strong in a way no cultivator could touch, but incredibly weak in that it would struggle to kill anything. Ancestor Tianhou suspected the domain could not become stronger than what it was now, but more research would be needed.

  The topic eventually shifted to Diyuan. No one yet knew what triggered everything, so they would need to wait until the young Yuhan boy woke up again. But then Ancestor Tianhou said something that caught them off guard.

  “I intend to give another Royal Decree to Yuhan Diyuan,” Ancestor Tianhou said.

  Grand Elder Huizhong cleared his throat with a cough. “It’s one thing to give the decree as a reward for preventing the Zhengyi clan from splitting six years ago, but Yuhan Diyuan did not do any such grand thing now that deserves another usage.”

  “It appears I’ve given everyone a misunderstanding,” Ancestor Tianhou said. “I have never given the Royal Decree as a reward to anyone—not to Yuhan Diyuan or otherwise.”

  The three Grand Elders shared a confused look with one another.

  “Was it not given as a result of keeping the Yuhan family within the Zhengyi clan? By executing his brother?” Grand Elder Huizhong asked.

  Ancestor Tianhou shook his head. “Something else happened at the hour of execution. I do not understand it fully myself. If a heavenly vision could be triggered, it might have happened then. If I am to admit my ignorance, this is something I came to overhear when I was yet a child. I believe Yuhan Diyuan went through an enlightenment where he is now a ‘Luminary.’”

  Grand Elder Huizhong thought for a moment. “I’ve no knowledge of this title.” And since he was the former hall master of the Hall of Eternal Records, Grand Elder Huizhong would be the person to know if they had scripture on the topic.

  “I expect not, considering that those who typically hold such a title were far older than me,” Ancestor Tianhou stated. “And yet, from what I recall, there is to be no age limitation for a Luminary person. Only that those who became Luminary did so after a significant event in their life, giving birth to an enlightenment.”

  They discussed the title some more, and what said “enlightenment” might mean for Diyuan, but Ancestor Tianhou only admitted that he felt the enlightenment due to his own cultivator prowess, and had assumed Dharma cultivators could feel it as well, though it seemed like they didn’t. Without the heavens testing them anymore, there was no heavenly vision that would accompany the event. Whatever the enlightenment itself was, Ancestor Tianhou suspected it now played a role into Yuhan Diyuan’s cultivation speed.

  Another thing that he said was how these Luminary beings were given the authority of unlimited access to Royal Decrees. That was something Tianhou had not decided to give as of yet.

  “I hope not,” Grand Elder Huizhong said. “He is but 16 years of age. That is a far cry from wise beings that could live beyond thousands and thousands of years. We’ve not even determined if the Royal Decree used today was of real value.”

  Ancestor Tianhou gave a light smile. “Oh? Then how about we do our own gambit, as that is the trend among the youth this era.”

  He laid out the rules of the gambit: when they learned why Yuhan Diyuan used the Royal Decree, they would determine if it was a worthy cause of such authority or if it was, indeed, the inexperience of a child. If even one Grand Elder did not agree with its use, then the child would not receive another Royal Decree.

  “And I will add additional incentives,” Ancestor Tianhou said. “If the gambit is set against Yuhan Diyuan, then the three of you can each pick one person. I will teach that person for the next century.” The three Grand Elders’ eyes lit up at the proposition. “Alternatively, if it goes in his favor, the three of you will assist in his growth.”

  Grand Elder Xunran nodded, liking the idea. “As a former fellow Fel holder myself, we can’t have him bring shame to the title. I don’t object. He’s promising as is already.”

  Grand Elder Huizhong sighed. “I can agree, but know that if his goal was to keep that speed ability of his out of the hands of the Gu clan, then I can already state that the use of a Royal Decree would not be worthy. Many Zhengyi members have done great deeds, but such an authoritative decree isn’t given so freely, let alone to a child. It is strange to me that this discussion is even happening.”

  “I do not fault you for those thoughts,” Ancestor Tianhou said. “I act in trust of the traditions of our ancients, though I do not see the full tapestry they had.”

  After a few other exchanges of words, they finally departed.

  ***

  As days passed, the news spread to all six Zhengyi cities. The first bit of news was that Zhengyi experienced a decisive victory, as always. For every one person that died on their side, three were killed on the opposite side. It was said that despite fighting 1 versus 10, Grand Elder Yifan apparently walked out unscathed. The rumor of his death and rebirth spread, saying that he had transformed into a ten-tail pigeon. Words about “domains” began to spread, but no one knew what it was, yet many talked about it as if they had firsthand knowledge.

  Everyone learned that it was the young master of the Yuhan family who called forth the Royal Decree. Whether they should criticize him or not was something they waited for others to tell them. If pocket world allocation spots needed to be given up to other clans, then favorability towards Diyuan, and perhaps the Yuhan family as a whole, would drop significantly among the people. Any story about him outmaneuvering Gu Guoxiong was dismissed as outlandish as Grand Elder Yifan being reborn as a tri-colored bluejay—which was where some rumors went.

  Jia Yunya had finally fully recovered from her internal wounds. It took around two whole days. Which wasn’t all that bad, considering that she kept pushing her wounds to a worse state until she finally got away. Yunya learned about what had happened, heard the rumors, but she wasn’t able to meet her papa or Grandpa Yifan. In fact, she was informed that the Zhengyi clan would hold a council meeting where she was required to attend.

  In her downtime, she went to visit Diyuan, who was still unconscious. It wasn’t too far away, as they were both brought to “old Hui’s stitchery” as she had heard some people call it. She found the room Diyuan was staying at and stepped in.

  Inside, Diyuan was laying on the bed as if asleep, with only trousers on, and standing over him was Grand Elder Huizhong—eyes closed, palms together hovering above Diyuan’s bare chest. The Grand Elder had a bead of sweat coming down his temple.

  She didn’t know that Diyuan was still being treated, so she turned to leave.

  “Don’t be double minded,” Grand Elder Huizhong grunted. “If you’re going to interrupt me, then do a good job of it.” He didn’t open his eyes or even turn his head.

  Yunya paused. Was the elder asking her to stay or to leave? After a moment, she decided to step in and walk up next to Diyuan. He looked like he was having a peaceful rest; quiet, and not telling her what she was doing wrong. Yunya looked at his body, half expecting there to be scars and wounds everywhere, but there wasn’t. The only scar that existed was the one that was on his neck, which wasn’t there before. That was where Mugong’s fan had sliced through. She reached out to touch it.

  The Grand Elder huffed again, causing her to pull back. “Having a scar when he has Benediction Balm. I’d like to remove the tongue of anyone who dared to call him a genius.” Once again, he didn’t open his eyes or turn his head; he simply focused on whatever he was doing.

  Yunya should have kept quiet, but she remembered everything Diyuan did for her, and all the hits he took. “Except he is a genius. He fought against all those people by himself. Even someone in the Spiritweave realm. If he isn’t a genius, then no one is!”

  “Your world is small, girl,” the Grand Elder said. “This boy can simply walk faster than the other infants. Nothing worth praising.”

  “Yeah, but you couldn’t do what he did,” Yunya huffed.

  “I wouldn’t be stupid enough to get in that situation in the first place.”

  “That’s because you don’t know—” She stopped herself.

  Yunya, indignant, wanted to argue further, but couldn’t trust herself to keep silent on things that should be kept secret. She decided it wouldn’t be a good idea to stay in the room any longer before she did something she’d regret.

  “Stop,” the Grand Elder called as she was leaving. “The council room—they will ask you for the details. What will you tell them?”

  “What Diyuan told me say: not a word unless he’s with me,” Yunya said.

  After a moment of silence, Yunya determined he wasn’t going to say anything and turned to leave again, except he called out once again.

  “I will teach you what to say,” Grand Elder Huizhong said. “Memorize these words or have your own tongue removed for its uselessness.”

  After learning the words exactly as the Grand Elder intended, Yunya finally left him and made her way to the council room, which was located in the Palace Hall. She had never been there before herself despite traveling to the capital city of Zhengdao multiple times. It was a place of great important people she figured.

  A guide led her to the main council room where everyone was at. The heavy doors closed behind her. The chamber itself was wide and tall, where the ceiling embedded bright stones, arranged in a pattern that resembles the stars. Ornaments and decorations filled the room, showcasing its grandeur.

  At the far end, a raised dais held a single throne-like seat, which was empty now. The patriarch of the Zhengyi clan had decided to be absent in today’s meeting, it seemed like. Flanking the path to the dais were two rows of seven seats, carved and decorated, set with low tables beside them, holding tea cups and whatever else may fancy those that sat. The seats were reserved for those in power: the three Grand Elders, the six City Lords, the four Hall Masters, and the Trade Warden.

  But not all of the seats were filled. Two of the Grand Elder’s spots were empty. Grand Elder Huizhong was still working with Diyuan, and Grandpa Yifan was missing. There was another Grand Elder, whom she heard someone call Xunran, but otherwise she had no prior interaction with him.

  For the City Lord seats, all 6 were present. Of the Hall Master spots, only 1 was present—who looked a little similar to Diyuan if she was honest, just older. The Trade Warden was also present. Then, to Yunya’s surprise, there was someone else in the room. Standing behind the Trade Warden was a chubby man with a grizzly beard. He tapped on his big belly as a habit.

  “Papa!?” Yunya said in shock.

  Papa did his heartfelt laugh while rubbing his big belly. “Got me worried after not seeing you, Yunkins.” Though Papa spoke in a joyful manner, there was a hint of worry in his voice as well.

  “Let’s begin,” the Trade Warden said. “I hope we can glean more information to make a proper decision.”

  Yunya stood before the 9 council members and her father silently. She knew a little already on what the topic would be about. It was pre-determined that they would lose some allocation spots to the pocket worlds, but no official verdict had yet been determined on how many would be lost. So right now the City Lords began discussing what sort of pocket world shuffle they could do to prevent economic losses. They acted like she wasn’t there, determined to settle which of their private city-owned pocket worlds were off the table entirely. Once they got that settled, and needed an estimate loss to barter further, they turned to her.

  “So, little Jia,” the Trade Warden said with a smile. “Do tell us what happened inside the Administrator’s Archive pocket world.”

  Papa nodded encouragingly, still with that shadow of concern on his face. She had a feeling as to what was happening in the background: she played a role in the potential profit loss, and the Jia merchant guild was part of the Trade Warden’s jurisdiction. Her answer could impact not just her father’s livelihood, but the others working under their family. Bringing her father to this meeting was a threat, of sorts.

  Papa mouthed, hold the line!

  The words hit her like cold water. But not for the reason that her father might have thought. Yunya’s memory flashed to the pocket world, where she broke the locket that held her mama’s voice. She made her decision then and wasn’t about to take it back.

  Yunya cleared her throat. “In accordance with Section 14, Clause 9, the higher realm cultivator has authority over the lesser ranks in times of strife. Yuhan Diyuan has instructed my silence unless he next to me. I cannot speak on the matters of the pocket world until he is recovered.”

  The words had spilled out just like she memorized.

  Grand Elder Xunran smirked. “Well, I guess we all know what Huizhong would say if he was here. He still acts like a Hall Master at times. Quite annoying, really.”

  But the City Lords weren’t having it. They began arguing how the livelihood of many people would be impacted, worse so if they didn’t prepare sooner.

  The Trade Warden’s eyes narrowed. “Think twice, little Jia. Merchant guilds aren’t guaranteed their privileges if they don’t do their part.” He made a pointed look towards papa.

  Yunya bit the bottom of her lip. She could mention the pink heavenly jade tablet that she had, the council members were all top officials in the clan, right? But she also didn’t want to assume anything. And Diyuan wasn’t wrong when he originally showed concern about her merchant background; some merchants prioritize profits over loyalty quite readily. She looked at papa, but hardened her heart.

  “Even if you were to torture my family or me, I will not break the law,” Yunya said defiantly.

  “Yunkins!” Papa’s eyes went wide.

  The final person in the room, one of the Hall Masters who hadn’t spoken once yet and had simply rested his head on his fist, opened his eyes. Even his eyes looked like Diyuan’s.

  “It seems the Trade Warden is threatening non-cultivators,” that Hall Master said.

  “Lord Yuhan! When did I ever!” He huffed back.

  Now Yunya knew who he was, especially after the non-cultivators comment. Hall Master of the Core Guard. Diyuan’s father. They were the internal enforcers for all six Zhengyi cities with very special authority when it came to non-cultivators. If a cultivator harmed a non-cultivator, they were allowed to be executed on the spot.

  “To declare you would torture a merchant family while I am in the room, it seems the Trade Warden feels he has the greatest leverage in these uncertain times.” Diyuan’s father stood up and began walking towards her, or to the exit more like, so she began to step aside.

  “Now you wait a minute!” The Trade Warden stood up as well. “I will not be bullied like this. To so flippantly disregard the truth in front of the council, I could file a complaint—not to mention everyone here heard the truth themselves! This matter involves the daughter of the guild owned by the Jia family. This is my jurisdiction.”

  Diyuan’s father stopped and casually looked over his shoulder. “No, this matter involves my son, the pocket world guardian of the cultivator named Jia Yunya. And while the Hall Master of Eternal Records isn’t here now, the former Hall Master did express the law plainly enough through her. If I find you abusing your authority, such as retaliation against non-cultivators, an audit might be in order to see how else you may have abused your power.”

  “I have nothing to hide. And I will not be slandered like this!”

  Diyuan’s father walked towards the exit, not even bothering to look at Yunya. He looked more bored than anything else. “Audits are quite tiresome; they can take up to years to complete. How troublesome.” He paused at the door, then spoke privately to Yunya. [I have heard from my daughter Ranxi. You’ve saved my son’s life with your awareness. If you ever have need of the Yuhan family, come see us.] He then opened the door and left.

  Yunya could only blink in response. Considering everything Diyuan had went through for her, she didn’t feel like she deserved any gratitude.

  The meeting ended rather abruptly after that. The City Lords and the Trade Warden all left, though Yunya heard some of them talking about how Diyuan’s father rarely attending any of these meetings. Her own papa came up to her, anxious yet, but more relieved than before. He was now under the impression that the Trade Warden wasn’t going to make it hard for them anymore. Yunya decided to spend some time with her papa, at least until Diyuan woke up, as she didn’t know what her future would hold.

  ***

  Diyuan awoke. He was alone in the room, which he identified as a medical facility, considering some of the formation markings on the wall that could be activated to assist in healing. He could also smell some herbs that would sometimes be used when spirit energy wouldn’t work.

  He sat up and felt around his body; no wounds. He only had trousers on, as his old robe was all ripped and torn. On a table to the side had new folded robes, but for now he’ll meditate, feeling his core and the energy course through his body. The core determined the speed and pace of the entire circulation throughout the body. Some people might have a thick spirit energy circulation, where it’d flow slower; others might have thin and fast, or jagged currents. It all depended on what was best for their internal and external artes.

  Previously, Diyuan’s core was catered to his Benediction Balm internal arte. It meant that the more sophisticated artes would be easier for him, rather than raw power. Yet, his circulation was different now, but he struggled to pinpoint in what way.

  Whatever the case, he’ll figure it all out in due time. All in all, he was healed and was back.

  “First order of business…” Diyuan said to himself. He checked the contents of his storage ring and found exactly what he was looking for. He had two other storage rings inside: one that had belonged to the Celing guy he killed, whose name he didn’t bother to remember, and the other belonged to Gu Mugong. Diyuan took out Mugong’s old ring and checked the contents inside.

  Over twenty million spirit stones. The amount Diyuan had in his own ring was only 100,000 spirit stones, which his sister Ranxi had said “that makes you rich rich rich.” She had said it as a jest, more so for the reason that he was still only 16 years old and had all that, when the common family might make 50,000 spirit stones a year and live off of it. Of course, the Yuhan family was rich themselves, relatively speaking, but an influx of twenty million was still game changing.

  There were other things in the ring. Some extra fans that Mugong would parade around. Nothing special about them, though Diyuan remembered what it felt like to be sliced by one, which showcased just how strong a level 1 Spiritweave cultivator was. Diyuan tossed them to the side and pulled out the next item: a flute. Also a regular item, perhaps something Mugong played in his downtime. He placed the instrument on a table to the side. The next item, a fictional novel it seemed like. A quick flip through revealed it was a romance novel from the perspective of the heroine. Interesting. And lastly, the next thing that caught his attention was a jade tablet.

  Diyuan tried to send his energy inside the tablet, but nothing happened. Odd. Even if the tablet was bound to someone else, the surface level information should still be revealed. After another try, he managed to learn it had one use left, after originally having a total of three, but then his connection cut off. After several more attempts, it still didn’t give him more information, so Diyuan put it back into the ring. As for the rings themselves, he would switch to using Mugong’s ring as his main one; turned out the space inside the Gu ring was even bigger than his.

  The items inside the Celing ring were nothing special, though a book on a formation was inside, specifically, this formation was named Mudpit Bog; it was the same formation that the Celing guy had used on Diyuan before he warped and killed him. Formations required dedicated study and time to reach proficiency, and that wasn’t something Diyuan intended to do anytime soon. He decided to get up and get changed so he placed his hand on the table to move.

  Crack!

  The table broke, causing Diyuan to stumble out of the bed. The flute that had been resting on top rolled on the ground towards the door, where Grand Elder Huizhong picked it up.

  “Hello, Grand Elder,” Diyuan said with his cheek on the ground, body sprawled about. The new pair of folded robes had flopped on top of him.

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  “Yes, a genius indeed,” Grand Elder Huizhong said in a monotone voice, continuing a conversation Diyuan wasn’t privy to.

  Diyuan got up and put the new robes on. Black with trims of white. It fitted quite well, too. Likely prepared by his sister. She was always good to him, despite leaving him with bruises whenever he walked by her. “Strange, I don’t know why that table broke.”

  “Also not very observant,” the Grand Elder added. “The jade tablet you took out earlier, were you able to see inside?”

  Diyuan was certain the Grand Elder wasn’t in the room when he was going through the stuff in the rings, but being a high-level cultivator meant many benefits went with it. “I couldn’t, but how did you know? Is there something wrong with me?”

  “Yes.” He looked down at the flute he was carrying. “The elixir that Patriarch Tianhou gave you is quite potent. It took you two weeks to absorb the rest of it, so now your body will need to adjust and relearn how to flow the energy properly again. In short, just assume you need to redo your level 2 Foundation activities.”

  Diyuan digested the information. So that was how he was still alive. Ancestor Tianhou had given him an elixir that could restore his shattered Foundation core. That might also explain why it felt slightly different. But needing two weeks to absorb an elixir? Hopefully it brought good benefits.

  As for redoing the level 2 Foundation activities, that was specific to breathing techniques and making the energy flow throughout the body. It would have been more difficult back when he was younger, as level 1 Foundation was all about absorbing the energy in the air. The flow to advancing to level 2 Foundation was thinner, so energy circulation was more of a pain.

  “Redoing my level 2,” Diyuan said, “it only took me two years last time, so I suppose I’d be much faster this go around.”

  Diyuan instinctively reacted as the flute was thrown his way, catching it just as it was about to hit his face.

  “And that was why your skills were so weak,” Grand Elder Huizhong said. “A genius they say. Except your Yuhan Stunlock Bind arte needs 5 minutes before another use, yes? And your neck has a new scar, yes? Do a proper job relearning how to breath, or else learn how to play the flute instead. At least then you might be competent.”

  Diyuan blinked. Were his skills that bad? It was hard to say. Grand Elder Huizhong might simply have his own unrealistic expectations, considering the Grand Elder’s energy control was probably among the best. Being one of the greatest healers tended to require that. And it wasn’t like Diyuan was behind his peers in the Yuhan family.

  But the Grand Elder didn’t elaborate further on the topic. He gave some information before leaving. A message had been sent out that Diyuan woke up, so the council would convene again to discuss matters. Except, from what he learned, none of the City Lords or Hall Masters were going to show up. Apparently, they had thought that whatever Diyuan experienced inside the pocket no longer mattered. He had gathered that they still didn’t know about the heavenly tablet, but their complete lack of interest bothered him.

  Diyuan made his way to the Palace Hall and walked up to the council doors, but he was stopped when Yunya called out to him from behind.

  She seemed as cheerful as ever, though when she saw the scar on his neck, a flicker of regret flashed on her face. He tried to get some information from her about what had happened these past two weeks, but she avoided the topic quickly enough. Diyuan suspected that the punishment for refusing to give up their rings after the illegal kill had been something rough.

  She did give him the gossip, though. Apparently, she heard that her “Grandpa” Yifan had transformed into a three-ton night feather bird. She hadn’t seen Old Man Yifan since they separated after they left the pocket world. It wasn’t long before she tried to hit Diyuan on the shoulder for a joking comment he made (“Don’t forget that I’m the candle fragrance and you’re the…”), which he dodged easily enough. It then became a game of tag where she was determined to at least touch the hem of his robe’s sleeves.

  That little immature game came to a quick end when the door opened without either of them touching it. They stepped inside the council room where all three Grand Elders sat, along with Ancestor Tianhou. The doors closed behind them, and the talisman that were set on each corner flared to life, though didn’t burn up and vanish. Permanent silencer talismans whenever the front doors closed.

  Something Diyuan noticed was how Ancestor Tianhou’s presence seemed to fill the room. Every action he took, whether he examined his hands or looked to the side, the Grand Elders kept watch, ready to do his bidding. What was strange, though, was how Ancestor Tianhou’s long silken hair flowed even now, where no wind could possibly brush it. Even his robes flowed loosely, as if being touched by a breath of air. The same didn’t happen to the three Grand Elders, despite each of them being at level 5 Dharma.

  Diyuan and Yunya provided their greetings to the older generation, though Yunya was surprised to hear that the younger red-haired man was indeed Old Man Yifan, who had been reborn into something youthful, and now will be able to live beyond the 1,000-year limit—though still wouldn’t be as powerful as Ancestor Tianhou.

  But all that joyous talk came to an end once business speak began.

  “To business, then,” Grand Elder Huizhong started, “let’s talk about the fallout of what had transpired two weeks past.”

  But instead of actually saying anything, he simply motioned his head to the map on the side of the wall. Diyuan stepped towards it and noticed what the Grand Elder wanted him to see right away. The map itself was mostly black—burnt out to represent the destroyed world. Not that it was destroyed by fire; rather, it was destroyed by tribulation thunder.

  On the vast map, there was one spot that wasn’t black. It was one tenth of one percent of the world, where all known living beings remained. The final five clans. There were now new fresh black scorch parts that cut the livable space down by a mile all around.

  “The Tribulation Shroud took another mile?” Diyuan said aloud, realization hitting him. A lost mile to the lightning was a mile forever gone. And now with this mile, that marked the second time in the last decade that the Yuhan family was responsible for such a loss. Twenty-one miles in total; one from Diyuan, and 20 from his brother six years ago.

  Old Man Yifan, hands touching his new bushy red brows, nodded. “Indeed, lad. However, that is not the least of it. It grew a little excitable during the little spat in the western plains, and through that an unwilling soul was hit. A researcher of the Lianhua clan. Never cultivated a day in his life, no less. Missing and declared dead.”

  Diyuan’s brow furrowed. No matter who else died, whether it be someone in the Dharma realm or the Spiritweave realm, that didn’t matter. But there was one type of death that could not be allowed. “So, a non-cultivator died.”

  Grand Elder Huizhong finished. “Genius-boy, it isn’t a partial allocation spot that we’ve lost. It was all of them. Except for our own personal pocket worlds that are not shared, we are not to participate in any of the pocket worlds for four years.”

  Grand Elder Xunran—or Uncle Xunran now, per his request to Diyuan—piped up, seemingly unbothered by the bad news. “But it was supposed to be 10 years, instead of 4. A good win in my books for the team’s negotiation skills. The Gu clan got hit hard too, so don’t feel too bad.”

  The healer shot an evil glare at Uncle Xunran, but otherwise ignored him. “No, he should feel bad. There is nothing to be said that would turn around such a disaster. Let’s hear your explanation, Genius-boy.”

  The weight of Grand Elder Huizhong’s words pushed on him, but Diyuan simply turned back to the blackened map. The religion of the Zhengyi clan was straightforward. The clan’s name, Zhengyi, meant justice. However, it wasn’t all justice that they sought. It was only one justice.

  The heavens, before it had abandoned the world, had unspoken laws. It set that a common person should live only to 100 years. A cultivator, naturally, would circumvent that and live longer, going against the way of the heavens. As a result, the heavens would strike back.

  One way it did so was by launching tribulation thunder against someone breaking through to the higher great realms. The greater the cultivator’s sins, the stronger the tribulation. For the cultivators that survived, the heavens left them alone for a time. A silent pact.

  Another unspoken law had to do with keeping vows. If a cultivator, who was now becoming closer to a divine being, ended up breaking a vow they gave, their cultivation path would close, where they could not progress further. Even lesser vows, such as regular promises or agreements, could hinder progress by slowing it. That wasn’t to be confused with simple lies, which the heavens seemed to not have any restrictions for.

  But the law that the Zhengyi clan cared for the most was the ones involving “mortals,” a term most didn’t say anymore. Afterall, who was mortal and who was immortal? No one could ascend. No one could outlive death. Everyone was a mortal now, technically.

  Before the world was destroyed, great many cultivators ruled the lands and took mortals as slaves and forced harsh conditions on them. After all, cultivators viewed themselves as immortals, and everything else would be beneath them. The ancient Zhengyi did not commit such acts themselves, allowing their lands to be a refuge, but they also did not step out and protect the mortals who were under bondage elsewhere. It seemed that while everyone got used to that way of life, the heavens finally decided to act.

  Tribulation thunder came down like rain, striking and destroying everything. Cultivation level didn’t matter; everything would be destroyed after being struck. Even most of the Zhengyi lands were wiped out, until the thunder finally stopped marching forward. At the very center of the last remaining livable lands was the Zhengyi capital. As such, the religion spread that the heavens spared the Zhengyi due to their protection of mortals in the past, while still punishing them for not intervening in other lands.

  And now, thousands of years later, the lightning still continued to strike down regularly. The edge of the world, where no one could walk through, was known as the Tribulation Shroud. That shroud could only shrink closer to them, meaning that their demise may still be on the horizon. Conflicts with the other clans, like the one they just had with the Gu clan, would need to stop. Unity must happen.

  And everyone knew that it could only happen by force.

  And so, there was another heavenly law that was known, the one that Diyuan had kept in mind. A law that could only be applied to the most arrogant cultivator of them all. Cultivation was an act against the heavens in general, but not all acts were equal. One was considered more profane and conceited.

  When a cultivator created a new arte, there were words they must not use. These words were known as the renegade terms: heavenly, divine, infinite, eternal, immortal, celestial… In essence, if a cultivator ever tried to name their newly created arte with one of these renegade terms, the heavens would strike them down—as if that word belonged to it alone. If the cultivator succeeded in resisting the heavens, that arte would become blessed beyond its original creation, taking on the essence of the word they claimed.

  And since the heavens had abandoned them, no new artes with renegade terms could be created.

  “Yun Yun.” Diyuan turned to her. “It’s time to show it.”

  Yunya made the pink jade tablet appear in her hands and held it forward.

  Old Man Yifan made it float towards him. “I take it that this is the reason why you slew the Gu lad.” Diyuan waited and watched for his reaction as he sensed the surface level information. After a few blinks, he simply lifted it up and let the next person take a look.

  Grand Elder Huizhong took it, scanned into it, and squinted his eyes slightly, then held it up.

  “So cryptic,” Uncle Xunran said. He turned to Ancestor Tianhou, “Don’t worry, Great Uncle, I will let you guess what it might be just by using my face—no words needed.” He took the pink tablet and scanned into it. His joking face vanished, eyes went wider, then nodded with a smirk. “Okay, now I am curious to hear everyone’s thoughts.”

  At last, it went to Ancestor Tianhou, who held it like it was any other jade tablet. “Heavenly Fairy Stance,” he said. “How strange that such an arte would appear in the lowest of pocket worlds.” Ancestor Tianhou continued and asked a few basic questions, such as who absorbed the arte and who else knew of it. Diyuan responded by saying that one of the Gu clansmen overheard them identify the heavenly arte, while everyone else was in the spirit stone room, so Diyuan had killed him. No one else knew of its existence. Ancestor Tianhou nodded, then asked what it did.

  Yunya responded, “The Heavenly Fairy Stance will let me use multiple internal artes at once, without restriction. There might be more to it, but I think I can’t see it because my cultivation level is low. But what I learned so far is that without the tablet, I can’t continue to cultivate the heavenly arte anymore.”

  Uncle Xunran face switched to thinking mode. He started to mutter to himself. “…Combining multiple internal artes? What about the ones that had a significant disadvantage to it? Could we circumvent it with another internal arte?”

  But he wasn’t the only one to begin thinking. Grand Elder Huizhong looked to the ceiling. “There are some useless internal artes which are dismissed off hand. These we may want to revisit and consider how they might apply to another internal arte.”

  Yunya spoke up, and she suggested the same combination that Diyuan had mentioned back in the pocket world. “The Yuhan healing arte and the Gu defensive arte can be combined to make an immortal body, right? We can maybe do things like that.”

  That reminded Diyuan of the jade tablet he had from Mugong’s ring, which he couldn’t see inside yet.

  “That investment is too short term,” Uncle Xunran waved his hand dismissively. “Internal artes can never be removed, so we want to use artes that have value even at level 5 Dharma. If its defense we care for, we have our own absolute defense artes. Last Bastion of Unyielding Will, if we can convince certain parties to give them up to us. But that has a limitation where you cannot move when its used. Now, if we find another arte that can remove that restriction…? That’ll be a true immortal body. More importantly…I think there are great ways to create the ultimate offensive technique…”

  The room went silent, but not from a sudden lack of interest. Diyuan saw the Grand Elders turn towards Ancestor Tianhou, who was looking at each of them individually. Their body language suggested they were having a private sound transmission conversation. It came to an end when they all looked at Diyuan.

  Ancestor Tianhou spoke. “Yuhan Diyuan, the true implications of this heavenly arte will still need to be explored. However, had this arte fallen into the wrong hands, or even if knowledge of this arte were to spread, it would risk disaster. For that, you have done well.”

  Diyuan felt his pride swell as he stood a little taller.

  “Jia Yunya,” Ancestor Tianhou turned to her, still weighing the pink jade tablet in his hand. “As you know, the clan does not look to Yuhan Diyuan favorably at the moment. Hearing me praise Yuhan Diyuan means he should be rewarded. What reward should I announce to the clan?”

  Yunya turned to Diyuan with a big smile on her face. She probably thought she could return all the favors now. But then her smile faltered. She looked like she knew what she wanted to say, which probably wasn’t good since she gave him an apologetic look.

  “Patriarch,” Yunya said as she performed a lotus salute, “I think Diyuan went through a lot for the sake of the Zhengyi clan, and I think he should be rewarded…but, I think…if we reward him now, after losing all those pocket worlds, everyone will be suspicious. Any reward should be done in secret only.”

  Ancestor Tianhou nodded, not saying if that was right or wrong, or even if it had been a test question, then looked at Diyuan. “Yuhan Diyuan, you will be given another Royal Decree, known only to us. In addition, these three elders will support your growth. However, to ensure this matter remains secret, we will announce a punishment for both of you to the clan. Seclusion.”

  Uncle Xunran got up and stretched his arms. “I’ll spread multiple rumors about how this all started, all having to deal with the emotions of a 16-year-old. You’ll look stupid for a bit, nephew. But now, more importantly…” Crack! The sound of thunder echoed throughout the room as Uncle Xunran appeared right next to Diyuan, with blue lightning trailing after him. He put his arm over Diyuan’s shoulders. “Let’s talk about that teleportation you did when you insulted Gu Guoxiong.”

  “You insulted who!?” Yunya said, aghast.

  So Diyuan explained his arte, Emperor’s Rule, to them. He mentioned how the “full power” version puts direct pressure on his core, and it was the reason his core shattered after constant use in the domain. He also described the slow version of the skill, where he could carve out a tunnel but it would collapse if he moved faster than a walking speed. And of course, he just remembered it was a double arte, so he brought up Mesmer’s Echo as well, which he admitted he didn’t understand how to use.

  “And what about the fire from the domain?” Uncle Xunran asked. “Did you simply dodge all of them using this technique?”

  “Yeah, it was easy enough since I could teleport through the fire. You know how after I finish teleporting, it pushes out air? It was like that in the domain, but it also pushed out the fire I travelled through. Like I was absorbing it.”

  There was a sudden shift in the room. The three Grand Elders looked to Ancestor Tianhou, whose gaze sharpened at the comment. He didn’t say anything, however, and motioned with his body to Old Man Yifan, suggesting they were having another private conversation.

  Old Man Yifan went to stroke his beard, only to realize the long beard he had was no longer there. A faint amusement flickered in his eyes when he caught himself. “Ahh…my dear Diyuan,” he began, “a suspicion has been stirring in my mind as you described this double arte. The secrets are yet veiled, but I presume this is no mere Foundation arte, as one might suspect. Unlike those artes dedicated to the Spiritweave or Dharma realm, this one had no prohibition and thus allowed you to take it for yourself.”

  He went on and described that certain artes that were passed down may sometimes not have any restrictions if the disciple of the new skill knew of its limitations. This meant that the arte may likely evolve into something more as Diyuan’s cultivation grows.

  A twinkle of delight entered Old Man Yifan’s eyes. “What I find most enchanting, I think, is how you dismantled the fires of Gu Guoxiong’s domain. You see, even after I embraced the radiant phoenix form, I sensed a curious duality in those flames. They were, in their essence, both absolute and yet thin—fragile as a whisper. It was a fire I could not bend to my own will despite my mastery, but also so delicate that even a young soul in the Foundation realm might resist the first hit of it. A curious paradox, then, that your arte could drink this flame and release it as you land. As for your tutored growth, my two peers will lead the way first.”

  Old Man Yifan explained that he needed time to become accustomed to his new body and had waited until now before entering a short-term isolation. However, his “short-term” meant a few years, so he would leave Diyuan’s growth to both Uncle Xunran and Grand Elder Huizhong first. They had all moved on from the discussion surrounding Emperor’s Rule, but Diyuan felt they knew more than they had let on, specifically around the topic of the domain fire.

  The council meeting ended shortly after that. Ancestor Tianhou had given back the heavenly tablet, since Yunya couldn’t continuing cultivating the arte without it. Diyuan was given his Wind’s Edge, his spirit artifact, which had been held by the Grand Elders until now. It was also to be tax free, a good gift indeed. But the “punishment” would begin, where neither Diyuan nor Yunya were able to return to their families while their punishment was in effect.

  And so, with that, Diyuan was brought to a solitary cave.

  ***

  Grand Elder Huizhong was the one who led Diyuan to the solitary cave, so he was up first to help Diyuan grow. The solitary cave led into a bigger room that looked sufficient enough to store items in a cool environment, but nothing was here now.

  The air was still and there was a scent of damp earth. Diyuan went to the center of the open space, where he was going to spend however long he needed doing just breathing and energy circulation exercises. He would still need to eat and sleep at least once a week yet, where his spirit energy would sustain him otherwise. According to the training plan that the three Grand Elders laid out for him, Grand Elder Huizhong would be up first, where his experienced hand would come around every week with grain pills, which would replace food during isolated training, and guidance to ensure Diyuan wasn’t messing anything up.

  And so, his retraining began. It was simple enough, just focusing circulating his energy throughout his body. He sat, day by day, doing nothing but meditating. The first week passed. Grand Elder Huizhong dropped by with the first batch of grain pills and water, something unsatisfactory but otherwise fulfilling the few needs of a cultivator’s body.

  “Slow progress,” Grand Elder Huizhong said. He did realize it had only been a week, right? “And while I think you should be self-sufficient in your own motivation, I will share some knowledge to keep you from slacking off. You still have that flute on you?” Diyuan brought it out and handed it over. “We’ll use your Yuhan family’s healing arte for this analogy. You see these holes in the flute? If we push one breath of air into it…”

  Grand Elder Huizhong explained the Benediction Balm healing arte using the flute. After conjuring one breath of air with a finger, he showed how the air went through the flute, escaping out through each hole, where the holes down the end had the least amount of air flow through it. As expected; it was a flute, after all.

  He taught that one breath was limited, and if each hole was a wound, Diyuan wouldn’t be able to healing all of them effectively. That wasn’t news to Diyuan as he figured that already. But with a lack of control, even before taking the upper world elixir, then the proper potency would drop off a good bit. The Grand Elder closed a few holes, but not all, and let a single breath of air flow through again, making a different musical note; but, more importantly, showed how much more air escaped through the final holes.

  “This is why you have a scar on your neck now,” Grand Elder Huizhong explained. “Had you had a proper mastery of your energy circulation, this would have been prevented. Since your control was weak and you were wounded in multiple places, the healing on the neck wound did not have maximum attention. That, at least, won’t be a problem anymore.”

  “How come?” Diyuan asked.

  “Once you gain proper control, unlike before, you will have more than just one breath of air to work with in each circulation. In short, you won’t need to close any of the flute’s hole, as each one will receive the full potency of your passive healing. That being said, under normal circumstances, that would have also drain your spiritual energy. You will soon learn how the Limitless Elixir lives up to its name.”

  More weeks would pass and the Grand Elder would show up and give random tidbits of advice. He explained how the greater level of control and power would directly impact other artes, such as Diyuan’s Stunlock Bind. Previously, Diyuan needed 5 minutes before being able to use it again; that played a key role in why Mugong wanted to wait before engaging in battle. Once Diyuan was done with the retraining, considering the effectiveness of full control, that should drop from 5 minutes to half a minute. That was a massive decrease of 90%.

  After hearing that, Diyuan continued to meditate, truly motivated now. His own peers at the Yuhan estates needed a few minutes to recharge Stunlock Bind, which would drop to a shorter recharge timeframe once they hit the Spiritweave realm. This new level of difference was rather dramatic, really showcasing how great the upper world elixirs were.

  The meditation continued. The energy would feed him, energize him, and build his muscles. He could feel it flow: sometimes it would feel weak like a thread, other times like an unstoppable stream of water. When the energy passed through his core, it gained a new warmth, cycling through it all again.

  There was something else Diyuan noticed about the effects of the Limitless Elixir. For spiritual energy circulation, it could be categorized as simply used energy and unused energy. Once an arte was activated, it used a portion of the spiritual energy that was circulating, putting it into a “used” state, where it couldn’t be used again by external artes until it went through the core. Used energy could be used for other things, such as the passive healing or the basic cultivation movements and strengths, but the capabilities of those things would wane overtime, slowly reducing the cultivator’s power. If used enough, it might still remain in an “unused” state even after going through the core once.

  Where the Limitless Elixir got its name was how the recharging mechanics changed. The new spiritual energy flow was special in that it continued to carry the warmth of the core, energizing and recharging the used spiritual energy passively outside the core. And from Diyuan’s testing, it recharged faster than his healing arte could use.

  In short, it effectively kept his circulation in a permanent “unused” state. The only limitation he had now was the recharge rate of the artes themselves.

  As the Grand Elder had said, the Limitless Elixir truly lived up to its name.

  Weeks would come and go. Grand Elder Huizhong always had something to say and always criticized, but his guidance did help Diyuan skip a lot of trial-and-error progress. It was interesting how malleable the flow was now. Before, the faster the flow, the harder it was to control. If the flow couldn’t be controlled, it could result in long term internal wounds if it persisted, preventing a cultivator from raising their levels further. But with Diyuan’s energy flow now, it seemed like that loss of control didn’t happen.

  More weeks came and went. He sometimes felt he was skipping weeks of work whenever the Grand Elder pointed out where his flow was “incorrect.” Paying attention to such minute details was something an experienced healer needed to do on a regular basis. In those weak areas that had been pointed out, Diyuan altered the flow in the way the Grand Elder suggested. He was also called a fool by the Grand Elder for assuming that just making the flow go as fast as possible was the answer to everything. Some artes needed certain areas to be slowed, to be built up like a dam of water, in order to unleash a burst of power.

  Every now and then he would open his eyes and see the flute on the ground before him. He started to see why the Grand Elder criticized his previous energy circulation and control. But the problem was that kids were generally between the ages of 7 to 11 when they began their energy circulation. Deep comprehension didn’t come to mind then, and not everyone could have the greatest healer telling them where they lacked. Once the flow was set a certain way, it wasn’t something that could be easily altered. Hence why it’s part of the “foundation.”

  Weeks became months. As the months continued, Diyuan became 17 years old. Grand Elder Huizhong brought real food the same week of his birthday, then acted like Diyuan was stealing it from someone more deserving. He then also started nagging about Ranxi, Diyuan’s sister, for whatever reason. Diyuan suspected that it was Ranxi who forced the Grand Elder to bring the real food.

  More time passed. The Grand Elder’s criticisms started to change. He would show up and then create an energy force to hit Diyuan in the head. The grouch criticized how Diyuan’s energy flow would stumble from such a weak hit, and that he shouldn’t take so many breaks throughout the week—which Diyuan didn’t do. That simply told him that he was nearly at the level that the Grand Elder would approve of, not that the Grand Elder would ever admit it. But that didn’t mean he was done yet. He continued meditating some more.

  A rumbling of power started to dwell within Diyuan. He was getting antsy to test it, to see how it would compare to his old self. His actual swordplay skills haven’t changed at all, but he could feel that he’d be able to use different bursts of power.

  He practiced with Stunlock Bind during some downtime. It was an arte that allowed him to temporarily stun his opponent through contact. When Diyuan had activated the arte in the past, it had felt like a needle was prickling the spot in question, ready to transfer on contact. He could have set it up so that it spread throughout his entire body, so whoever touched him would get stunned, but that method also weakened the stun time. But now? After he was coming close to completing his mediation, it was no longer a pinprick needle feeling, but a weight that pressed on his skin.

  Spreading the stun to his entire body no longer weakened the effect.

  Shame that it could only stun one person at the most. But at least the current exhaustion period to use the arte again was around 50 seconds. It wasn’t as short as the 30 seconds that Grand Elder Huizhong had predicted, which just meant he had more practice to do.

  Then, Grand Elder Huizhong came one last time and declared that the closed-door seclusion would now need to change. Diyuan followed him out of the cave and stepped on the fresh snow on the ground. The cold hit his face, a welcome fresh scent from the almost yearlong isolation. The new year had come.

  “As you know,” Grand Elder Huizhong said, “we often have children spar when they are level 2 Foundation. Combat is a good way to forge your energy circulation into something stable. Xunran will take over from here.”

  Diyuan did a fist-in-palm salute. “Thank you for all your work, Grand Elder Huizhong!” He then went to pat the healer on the back—with his Stunlock Bind activated. It was testing time.

  The Grand Elder looked at him in disgust. “I hope you didn’t really think your Foundation cultivation could affect someone in the Dharma realm, no less a peak Dharma cultivator.” With a flurry of moves, he poked Diyuan in several places, pinpointing some of his pressure points. Diyuan was frozen in place, hand still in the air from his action to pat the Grand Elder. “Go find Xunran once you’ve tired of the scenery.”

  The Grand Elder left, leaving Diyuan frozen still. Half an inch of snow would pile on top of him before he was able to move again.