Reika found me at the roots of the Life-Giving Tree, smoothing out a stress fracture I had found in the fabric of reality. It wasn’t dangerous yet, but certain imbalances in the Realms’ structure would cause such things to continually worsen. Namely, size, and the lack of the Lunar Star. For the amount of energy and powerful beings in the Four Realms, the amount of physical space the Four Realms took up was...woefully inadequate. This much power in this little space was putting pressure onto the fabric of reality, threatening to pop it like a balloon filled with too much air. The creation of the Lunar Star was the first step in solving this issue. Most of the physical realm was stardust, the distance between the few solar systems that had been made and the size of Pangaea not actually taking up much space, relatively speaking. The Heaven Realm and Karmic Realms were much the same, being relatively empty, and just...small in size.

  This was one of the things my visions had revealed to me during my meditations, as well as observing the movements of gods and mortals alike. For regular, non-cultivator mortals, the size of the Realms was inconceivable. Their perspective was much smaller. For someone like Fang Xu it was different. Immediately after his ascension Pangaea probably seemed more planet-sized; still big, but manageable. He had only grown in power since, and that relative size had shrunk; I bet, if he put his mind to it, he could traverse all of Pangaea in a week. In the next few thousand years that timeframe was likely to shrink considerably. Shoot, the only reason he hadn't travelled to the Karmic or Heaven realms yet was, probably, because the technique to bypass the barrier between realms hadn't been invented yet. Otherwise I very much believed he would have gone to visit Keilan or Elvira in their palaces.

  Even worse were the gods. Many could travel across the entirety of the Realms in a fraction of the time. They didn't even realize how small everything was; it was like a fish, swimming in a fishbowl. This was all they knew! My old universe was far more spacious, and I hadn't paid much mind to it all until now, busy as I was creating mortals, dealing with the Shadow...soon it would be time to focus on this.

  “Mother, what are you doing?” Reika asked as I smoothed out the now-healed fracture, dusting my hands of literal stardust and pushing those thoughts out of my head. If I didn't start acting upon them soon the problems would only get worse, but I had some time to spend with my daughter.

  “Just fixing something I found on my way to see you,” I replied, turning around to smile at her. Kei stood beside her, tails flicking curiously as she peeked out from around her mother. She had a distinctly mischievous air about her, with paint smeared on her hands and arms, and she stuck her tongue out at me. “What are you doing way down here?”

  “Kei wanted to show me something,” Reika said in fond exasperation, ruffling her child’s hair, right between the ears. Kei giggled and ducked her head, dancing away with a little grin.

  “Ominous,” I said, earning myself another giggle from the mother-daughter pair. “Can I come see, too?”

  “Yeah!” Kei cheered. “Enough serious stuff! Let’s play!” Reika nodded, gazing at her daughter fondly as she leapt through the trees, bounding from treetop to treetop as she led the way across Pangaea, apparently deciding she didn’t want to teleport around. Reika opted for the much more dignified approach of flying through the skies, walking through the air as the ground distorted beneath us. Spirit beasts of all kinds darted about in the forest below, from monkeys and birds to snakes and larger creatures, such as deer or big cats. None seemed bothered by the presence of Kei or Reika, though quite a few glanced nervously in my direction – for no other reason than because I was still having trouble suppressing my power to the correct degree.

  It was decidedly peaceful here, despite all the talks of war and other such things. The air was fresh, there was a storm brewing to the right, bringing with it the scent of rain, and the sun was shining above. A wind rustled the leaves of the great Tree, creating a discordant melody that took years to hear the first few tunes of – such was the enormity of said leaves. It was nothing less than a glorious sight.

  “She’s a mess,” Reika said with a smile, watching as Kei swooped down from the trees to run across a stretch of open land, racing a few lightning-clad antelope as they thundered across the plains.

  “There is no denying that.” I agreed. “About as carefree as you can get, that one.”

  “I guess I am next on the docket for your wisdom?” Reika continued casually, forcing a snort of laughter out of me.

  “Out of all my children, Reika, you are easily the most self-assured.” I told her. “If you need my ‘wisdom,’ I am content in the knowledge that you will come to me for it – or the opposite, to knock some sense into me, if needed. No, I just wanted to come check up on you and Kei.”

  “Even over Alexander?” Reika asked doubtfully. I nodded.

  “Even over Alexander. You know how long he takes to do things; he is a perfectionist to the highest degree. Love him to death, I do, but he is not without his doubts; such is his blessing, however. He will not make a move until he is quite certain about it.” I explained. The perfect example of this was how he had yet to create his people - he wanted to be certain they were done right, and introduced at the right time. Reika flushed a little at the praise, giving me a quick little side-hug that I returned. The flowers in her hair sparkled happily as she pulled away, refocusing on Kei.

  “…I think it still best to tell you,” she said slowly. “That I am of the same mind of my siblings. The Physical Realm needs protectors beyond what we have currently, though I do not intend to make them fighters. More of a...supporting force, if you will. The mortals actually gave me the idea for it – there’s a myth going about of a race of people who live atop the Tree; that it is a paradise up there, a place for gods and immortals. I will likely do something like that; the climate of the Tree’s canopy is too harsh for a standard race, and need something sturdier.”

  “Well if you would ever like my input, feel free to ask. But I know how much you love your secret projects,” I said, pointedly looking at Kei, who was now standing atop a mountain with snow coating her tails. Reika lightly slapped my shoulder, huffing in amusement; I laughed, and the conversation continued as we sped across Pangaea. We spoke of little things, of big things, and laughed at each other’s puns, right up until I realized where Kei was leading us.

  “Oh that sly little fox,” I grumbled, shaking my head and teleporting the rest of the way. Reika followed, appearing beside me above Dei’s city; Manu Ti, the city of cultivators.

  It was no ordinary city. Fang Xu’s formation expertise had helped them create something truly awe-inspiring; a flying island. The buildings of Manu Ti were clean and gleamed in the sun, wet from a recent rainstorm, people milling about on the large island that floated above a massive lake. Four great chains, covered in moss and shining with the light of formations, stretched in the cardinal directions to the shores of the lake, where they sunk into the earth and kept the city bound.

  Mortal towns and cities had already started to pop up around the bases of the chains, both for the protection they provided and to keep said chains safe from tampering. Cultivators themselves flew about through the air, the technique for flying having been recently discovered, or dashed up the sides of the miles-long chains, each link a mile thick. Thousands of people had gathered together to build this. Tens of millions and counting, now called it home, and be they Avian, Karae, Elemental, or Fae, all had a place here. Dei made sure of that, and Fang Xu kept the peace as the first Karmic Immortal.

  Sects from all over this quarter of Pangaea pledged their allegiance to Manu Ti; Dei had successfully created the first true nation, his reach extending far beyond his capability to travel thanks to Fang Xu and the rapidly expanding network of communication and teleportation formations. Those few warlords who claimed tiny pieces of land did not hold a candle compared to this.

  “I think I know what Kei is doing,” I said, watching her as she ran across the waters of the lake, completely invisible, and leapt up onto the flying island in a single great bound. “She’s going to make Dei jealous.” Said man was sitting in his office in the center of town, still the elected city lord despite not being the most powerful qi cultivator, sipping on a glass of whiskey and reading a report about shipping materials.

  “How?” Reika asked.

  “Dei hasn’t ascended to immortality yet. Come to think of it, neither has Celene. It’s only a matter of time for her, though, especially with Fang Xu’s help.” I replied. A cultivator of her caliber, having reached the throat chakra level of qi cultivation – I forget what the local term for that is, Soul Formation or something? I dunno – could live for thousands of years already…but that was not immortality.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  “Isn’t Kei already immortal? She’s my child.” Reika asked. Kei sprinted through the city, snagging a golden apple from a street stall that was never noticed to have gone missing, aiming for Dei’s office. “She’s not going to go through a trial of ascension, is she?”

  “There’s a trial for every type of immortal ascension, and technically speaking, while Kei is immortal, she isn’t a god.” I said simply. “Qi, fleshly body, mind, karmic, Dao…every kind. The exact number escapes me, but it only continues to increase. I suspect Kei is going to go through as many as possible, just to piss him off. And would you look at that? There she goes now.”

  Kei leapt through Dei’s open window, skidding across his desk and sending papers flying; the man spluttered, whiskey spilling all over his robes and lightning crackling about him as he reacted to what he saw as a sudden attack. He leapt to his feet, fists raised, then froze at seeing Kei, his expression morphing into one of annoyance.

  “Kei!” He barked. “You little shit, look at what you made me do! That was hundred-year-old fire whiskey!”

  “Hey, Dei,” Kei said, winking at him. “Watch this.”

  And with that she promptly leapt out of the window again, light radiating off of her as she activated her qi immortal ascension trial. Clouds formed overhead, dark and ominous, the people of Manu Ti looking up worriedly as they felt the massive amounts of qi gathering there. For a brief moment light cracked through the clouds, shining down to form a golden bridge that stretched a mile across the empty sky, like a rainbow. The qi of the world shifted, swirling about it in a maelstrom as the trial attempted to make something difficult for Kei to complete. Lightning crackled from the gilded railings, fire descended from the skies to coat itself over Kei’s skin, and ice slicked the bridge itself, seeking to freeze one’s feet at every step.

  She just giggled at the sensations, skipping her way across the bridge while enduring roaring thunderbolts from heaven and the burning flames, ice doing little to cause her pause. Reika gripped my arm tightly in that first little bit, worry for her child overcoming her knowledge that Kei would be more than fine, but quickly relaxed when it became clear that was the case. Dei watched on with gritted teeth, seemingly more annoyed that she’d chosen to do this here, rather than her finishing the immortality trial.

  Kei hummed a little song to herself as she went, absorbing the qi of heaven and earth into her body as she reached the end of the bridge, her personal power only incrementally increasing. The bridge started to fade away and she looked down sadly, almost disappointed it was over…

  Then a new one appeared, as Kei activated her fleshly body ascension trial.

  The chains of Manu Ti rattled this time, winds howling in the skies and threatening to tear things apart – Fang Xu, accompanied by his wife, Celene, shot into the skies from their home, flying directly toward Kei. Gravity assaulted her this time, trying to weigh her down onto the bridge, pressing into her from all sides. A great wind blew against her, trying to force her back; she took this bridge with the same ease as the previous.

  “Kei!” Fang Xu shouted over the winds. She turned to look at the karmic immortal, smirking and hands on her hips. Fang Xu attempted to reach her, pushing himself through the winds, but the laws of the heavenly Dao rebuffed him – only Kei could completely this trial. “Stop! You’re disrupting the formations!” That gave Kei pause and she blinked, turning to look at the great chains of Manu Ti. True to Fang Xu’s words, the sheer amount of power being thrown about and absorbed by Kei in the Ascension Trial was causing the formations to flicker, threatening to plunge the city into the lake below.

  “Stupid girl,” Dei grumbled, turning away, even as I chuckled to myself.

  I wouldn’t have allowed that to happen, but it was good to let Kei see the consequences of her own actions sometimes.

  With a yelp Kei sprinted the rest of the way across the bridge, forcing the trial to end before leaping up into the sky, away from the city so she didn’t accidentally absorb too much of the ambient qi. Black pus leaked from a few of her pores, toxins and impurities that she had built up within herself thoroughly expunged then promptly burned away; her bones condensed, her blood ran purer…

  In a regular mortal, the effects would be more pronounced. Kei was absolutely cheating here, and the improvement was incremental at best. Slowly she fell back to the earth, aiming for Manu Ti while waving happily at myself and Reika. We waved back, invisible as we were to the mortals below, while I furrowed my brows.

  “Did she just want us to come watch her ascend?” Reika asked.

  “Must have.” I reasoned.

  “Why here though?” she pressed, shaking her head. “She could have done it atop the Tree. Why did she even have to go through immortal ascension?”

  “Those weren’t designed for her,” I said with a shrug. “Qi and fleshly body? Neither are a problem for Kei. The only reason she has not achieved what one might call godhood is because of this right here,” I laid a hand over my heart as I said this, for emphasis. “She needs to figure out her own Dao, her own divine domain, before she can properly ‘ascend.’ As for why here? I assume it has something to do with Celene and Dei. She’s grown quite fond of them over the past few centuries.” I said.

  She’d often come bug Dei while I had been meditating. I wasn’t sure why, but I figured it might be because he can see through her illusions.

  “You are awfully interested in this mortal,” Reika noted, not accusingly. I smiled as I turned away, Kei chattering away happily at Celene, Dei, and Fang Xu below – she’d wanted Reika to watch, but apparently didn’t want to talk about it afterwards. Kids.

  “He has potential.” I allowed. “Especially Fang Xu and Celene. Dei…I worry about him. There’s a fifty-fifty chance he won’t make it to Immortality. His chosen path is much more difficult than most, after all.”

  “Which path is that? I haven’t honestly been paying much attention to him in particular,” Reika asked, stretching a bit.

  “Kei’s path, of course. The path of the Dao,” I said. “Goodbye, Reika. I'll be going to visit Alexander, now, so I'll tell him you said hi. And remember to ask for help if you need it.” And with that, I teleported away.

  Even after a thousand years, Dei still wasn’t sure what to think of Kei. The mischievous fox-girl was different than any other being he’d know, but both Fang Xu and Celene seemed fond of her, so he tolerated her presence. Still, as he watched her play in the meadow with Fang Xu and Celene’s children, he couldn’t help but find her…endearing. Despite nearly sending Manu Ti crashing into the lake below with her stupid antics.

  Yet despite all her faults she had the Light about her. Her antics largely brought smiles, playing the clown and the fool because she enjoyed seeing people laugh, just as she loved to laugh. Many times said fooling around came when someone (himself, mostly) was grumpy, and enough prodding brought them out of their funk and into a smile, her enthusiasm relentless. There was nothing to be wary about personality wise. Dei wasn’t sure what to think about her because she was so different from him. And she knew the green-eyed Man and Woman, whom he had not seen in too long.

  “Tell me, Dei,” Fang Xu said from beside him. He had his wife, Celene, wrapped up in a hug, his chin resting atop her head, as they leaned back against one of the many poplar trees that lined the park. The joyful screeches of their children rang through the air and Dei found himself thankful that Immortals like Fang Xu, and soon to be Celene, had trouble conceiving. Five children was enough – even if they were spread out over the course of the past thousand years. “Have you…found anyone yet?” Fang Xu finished his thought and Dei furrowed his brows.

  “What my idiot husband means to say is if you’ve managed to get yourself a date.” Celene clarified, and Dei groaned.

  “Not you too,” he grumbled, folding his hands into the sleeves of his robe. “This is one of the few times I get a break. Don’t ruin it with talk of heirs.” Fang Xu and Celene chuckled and fell silent, the trio watching Kei play with the kids for a long, long time. Finally, unable to bear the silence, Celene spoke once more.

  “Have you thought about trying your ascension trial yet?” she asked. Dei scowled and shook his head, glancing over at the couple. Neither were watching him, gazes fixated on their kids and Kei. Never before had he seen Celene look so happy, tucked up close to her husband – who was a true gentle giant. Despite his broad shoulders, flaming red hair, and relatively stern features, the man hardly ever raised his voice in anger, let alone fought.

  That fight against what Fang Xu called dark angels was the only time Dei had seen him raise his weapon, actually. His hands were meant for creating, not destroying, and he’d become an immortal for it, dim golden light radiating from him as proof of his ascension.

  Dei looked down at his own hands, and couldn’t help but feel them stained in blood. He’d built a legacy for his people. Guided them through rough and troubled times, built this city, and continued to do his best to rule them fairly. But he’d had to kill, and fight, and struggle to get here – he was the leader, a great and powerful being who had to always know what he was doing, even when he didn’t. And he couldn’t stop. Not yet.

  There was still something out there, building in the distance. He could feel it in his bones. The worst was yet to come. All he wanted to do was rest, but he had to stand tall, and firm, and proud, and pretend to be something great and mighty…

  He’d had these self-doubts ever since he’d touched the divine soul. It had killed his ego, the arrogance that led him as far as it had, even if he didn’t show it outwardly. Yes, he had done all this, but was it enough? Would it be enough?

  “Dei?” Celene asked, and he blinked, realizing he’d been silent for far too long. She and Fang Xu looked at him worriedly and he flashed them a small smile.

  “Sorry, got lost in thought there,” he said, pushing himself off of the tree he’d been leaning against. “I’ve got to get back to work, though. The city won’t run itself.” Fang Xu said something but he ignored him, turning and working his way through the trees. This little park was beautiful, if he would stop and look at it. Flowers from all over Pangaea grew in ordered rows, trees of different kinds growing strong and tall, mosses and ferns coating the floor to give everything a lush, green look.

  He hadn’t talked to the divine soul in a long time, he realized. But he found he didn’t need to. Despite it killing his arrogance and ego, he still had everything he was. He still had the experience of over a thousand years of putting one foot in front of the other, always moving forward. And as he looked inward at his own soul, he realized he knew what this feeling was. He knew what was coming, this tension in the air.

  War.

  Dei let out a breath, vaguely aware of Kei following him, attempting to trick him with illusions. They had never worked, and they never would. And though what he thought next was a little bit too serious a thought for something as innocuous as Kei’s pranks, it was still one he had. She would not dissuade him from his path. Nothing would.

  And he would prepare for war if he must. To protect those that stand behind him. To protect those who stand below him. To aid those who look down from above.

  That is who he was.