The people of Purewater Peak and Jiaguo City were abuzz with news of Empress Yoshika’s engagement. The fact that she was marrying a woman was largely overshadowed by people celebrating the end of the war and the auspicious news of a friendly union between the two empires. Qin scholars and elders were already finding ways to spin the union in their favor—arguing that since they were both women, it placed them as equals, and if Yoshika was Yue’s equal, and Yue was subordinate to the God-Emperor, then Yoshika was subordinate to the God-Emperor and Qin’s supremacy remained assured. As for the common folk, they were happy to take any excuse to throw a festival.
Informal celebrations were spreading fast, along with the news, but Yue had to go straight from planning one major event to another. The ceremony would not only mark her own marriage to Yoshika—something she was unexpectedly giddy about, given how resigned she’d once been about the prospect of any marriage—but also the peaceful union of the two main powers of the continent. It had to be suitably grand, yet also avoid favoring either side unduly. Something Qin and Jiaguo could both be proud of, without offering insult.
Naturally, that meant Yue’s greatest foes in all of this would be Qin’s elders, who were unparalleled experts at finding things with which to take offense. It also meant that her two greatest obstacles were her own ancestor, Long Xiaofan, and—well, her bride.
The three of them, Yue, Xiaofan, and Yoshika—in Lee Jia’s form, now that she wasn’t actively making a statement—sat together in her rooms, taking tea and discussing the ceremony arrangements. Quite a bit of it was going to be non-traditional, since there was absolutely no way to perfectly honor the customs of all three traditions. Picking which ones to follow and which to ignore was a headache all on its own, and one which would no doubt have stuffy elders griping no matter which way things went.
That was not the topic of their discussion, however.
“Honored Emissary Long Xiaofan, will you be staying to attend the ceremony? It may take some time to properly arrange things and choose a suitably auspicious date. Even the venue is a rather challenging issue, so you may be tied up here for some time...”
Xiaofan gulped down a cup of Yue’s best tea and poured herself another as she responded.
“I told you before, you are kin. Do not stand on formality with me. Please, think of me as your auntie.”
“Not grandmother?”
“No. That makes me feel old.”
Well, she was one of the most ancient beings in the entire world, but Xiaofan’s pupils narrowed down to dangerous vertical lines, challenging Yue to voice that thought.
“Ahem, Aunt Xiaofan, then.”
“Very good. I’ll remain as long as I please. My only obligations back home are to act on my brother’s behalf here, and there remains the matter of the boon I owe Empress Yoshika.”
Jia waved her hands urgently and shook her head.
“You can just call me Jia, in private. Like you said, we’re family now. Besides, you helped out so much at the summit, I can’t ask for more than that.”
Xiaofan’s eyes flashed as she frowned at Jia.
“That was entirely self-serving. Do you think I’m the sort of miser who would consider us even over such a trifle?”
“I mean...all I did was give you a meeting with Jianmo.”
“A notoriously fickle creature, older than even my brother and I, who has evaded the pursuit of every enemy of the Bloody Sovereign for aeons. Know your worth, girl—a simple boon to you may be a peerless treasure to others. Don’t take it for granted, or allow anyone else to.”
Yue nodded appreciatively. It was good to have someone else saying that to Yoshika for once.
“Well said, Aunt. In that case, what manner of reciprocation did you have in mind?”
Xiaofan pursed her lips and sighed.
“That remains to be seen. The summit may have been successful, but Shen Yu and Emperor Qin have yet to move. Even I cannot easily induce my brother to intervene in mortal matters, but should either of them act, it might be necessary.”
“Really? We do have a truce with Sovereign Shen, though that didn’t stop the great sects from declaring war on us.”
“Shen Yu can and will abuse any and every loophole in his agreements. He is by far the most unscrupulous of the Three Divine Lords—and that includes Sovereign Longyan, the demon lord.”
Jia grimaced painfully.
“He stole Jianmo’s core and tried to force our cooperation through some kind of illusory soul prison once. We were only able to bluff by threatening to call down a tribulation on ourselves if he didn’t release us and Jianmo. Then he returned Jianmo...but not their core.”
“That’s him alright. Longyan is vile, but straightforward. He bullies those weaker than him and won’t hesitate to cheat, steal, or murder his way into getting what he wants. Shen Yu will call you friend, then slide a knife between your ribs with a smile and wonder why you aren’t thanking him for it.”
Yue rolled her eyes.
“He fits right in here, then.”
Her sardonic tone faded slightly as she bit her thumbnail, considering the other elephant in the room.
“How likely do you think it is that the God-Emperor intervenes?”
Xiaofan leaned back and stared up at the ceiling, the jewelry on her horns jingling quietly as she considered the question.
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“It’s hard to say. He’s been rather aloof since his failed ascension, but I knew him as a fairly fastidious ruler. It’s hard to imagine he’ll ignore such an open infringement on his power.”
Jia and Yue both blinked, and she had to double check their privacy wards—adding another layer just to be safe as Jia cleared her throat awkwardly.
“Uh, what? Did you just say failed ascension?”
“Mm, perhaps that’s overstating it. It was as successful as could be expected, given this world’s constraints, but incomplete. I can say little more, as I don’t have all the details, but he is not entirely divine. Make no mistake, however, that still makes him far more dangerous than Shen Yu’s avatars or even my brother.”
“How can he still be present in a mortal world, even partially ascended? Even just me and Yan De clashing at full strength was enough to cause a spatial rift.”
“I don’t know. But I suspect there must be some dire drawback, as it marked the beginning of his retreat into seclusion.”
Jianmo, still disguised in their sword form, vibrated slightly from where they leaned against the side of the couch before manifesting in their more rarely used half-sized androgynous form, hovering over the tea table and lounging like some sort of trickster spirit.
“You know, I’ve been meaning to talk about this, but I just keep forgetting in all the excitement. I’ve met the rambunctious little upstart just recently. He was there when that horny old man, Shen Yu, captured me. Eh, for certain definitions of ‘there.’”
Yue nearly spat out her tea. What?
“And you never thought to mention it?!”
“I never had the opportunity.”
“It’s been over five years!”
Jianmo crossed their arms and pouted, ‘rolling’ in the air to face away from her.
“I forgot, okay? I keep forgetting he’s actually a big deal to you people. I think I can guess how he’s keeping his presence suppressed enough not to tear the entire world in half with every step.”
“Yes? Go on, then—or do you plan to keep us waiting for the rest of the decade?”
“Hmph! Now I don’t want to tell you.”
Yue crossed her arms and stared flatly at the sword demon. As silly as Jianmo could be sometimes, they weren’t actually all that difficult to work with if you were willing to play their games.
“I implore you to reconsider.”
“Hmm, okay!”
Jianmo snickered at some private joke, then sat up in midair and floated around to the edge of the table so that they could address all three.
“I don’t actually know this for certain, so take it with a grain of salt, but I think Little Old Qin might be a loose immortal.”
“A what?”
Jia furrowed her brows, and Xiaofan’s expression grew dark as she explained it to them.
“It’s quite rare, especially in mortal realms. The most common route to true immortality among humans is to refine a sufficiently powerful nascent soul. That’s a spiritual manifestation of the self refined from divine essence. Aside from being able to manifest it within one’s domain as a spiritual projection without any loss of strength, the nascent soul can be a sort of contingency against death.”
Jianmo nodded sagely.
“Mhm. Like if a demonic core could grow legs and run away! Since a nascent soul is a perfect reflection of one’s actual soul, they can survive their own death and run away to resurrect themselves.”
“I don’t understand, are they rare or common?”
“Both! It’s common for people from divine realms to have them, and a lot of mortal realms end up converging on the same techniques—especially if some meddlers from the higher realm interfere.”
Xiaofan sighed and bowed apologetically.
“That is partially our fault—though the seal actually means this world has seen far less interference from the divine realm than most. Anyway, what’s rare is for a nascent soul without a host to remain that way indefinitely. That is what Jianmo means by ‘loose immortal.’”
That sounded strangely familiar to Yue. In the God-Emperor’s tenets of spiritual cultivation—a message found in awakening stones and many ancestral cultivation manuals—he advocated a ‘cleansing’ of the body and mind in pursuit of spiritual purity. With some extra context and a bit of reading between the lines, Yue could imagine that he was encouraging his followers to become loose immortals themselves.
She’s always thought it was just part of single-discipline cultivation. Whether one was a spiritualist, a mage, or a martial artist, the disciplines each tended to focus on strengthening one aspect at the cost of the others. This sounded like something much more profound.
“Why is it so rare? I assume there are disadvantages?”
Her ‘aunt’ nodded.
“Loose immortals are vulnerable. Destroying the nascent soul before it can restore its true body is one of the few ways to permanently end a true immortal. It’s rare because few who survive long enough to achieve such heights are willing to risk themselves so.”
“Unless, of course, they have no choice.”
“Yes. It may explain Emperor Qin’s long seclusion.”
Jianmo chuckled darkly.
“It would also explain why Shen Yu addressed him as ‘sovereign’ and how he was able to seal me so easily when even that trumped up lizard you call a brother couldn’t do it alone.”
Xiaofan glared balefully, but Jianmo ignored her as they continued explaining.
“See, being a loose immortal isn’t all downsides. Remember when she said that deities could project themselves without a loss of power? If I’m right, that’s him. He’s trapped here without being able to fully restore himself, but he still has all the powers of a deity.”
Jia swallowed nervously, glancing between the two ancient experts nervously.
“So then...he’s stronger than Yan De was?”
Xiaofan sighed.
“Stronger than any being in this world could ever be without making the same sacrifice. Though even loose immortals cannot walk mortal realms freely. He is not a full sovereign, and he can only exist in parts of the world that are already ‘his.’”
Yue chewed on her thumbnail nervously at that.
“Are we not already within his domain? Or is his influence more limited still?”
Jianmo gave her a sardonic grin.
“Oh, darling, I don’t hate that optimism but I’m afraid I was further south than this when he caught me. If I had to guess, his domain extends right up to that giant mountain you found me under.”
“In other words, right to our very doorstep. If he takes objection with us, he could appear anywhere at any moment and annihilate us as easily as breathing. The question, then, is why hasn’t he?”
Xiaofan shrugged.
“Caution, I suspect. He wouldn’t even engage Jianmo without Shen Yu’s support. His strength may be unmatched, but he’s not unassailable.”
Jia sighed and shook her head.
“That’s terrifying, but it doesn’t change anything. In fact, I want his help even more, and if he’s as cautious as you say, maybe he’ll see the merit in working together.”
Yoshika’s optimism was always inspiring, but the truth remained that they simply didn’t know the emperor. Perhaps, as they hoped, he would see reason, but Yue had grown up in the empire that man had built, and ‘reason’ was not the most highly espoused virtue among its people.
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