The boy’s name was Xing. Xing Wu, one of the Young Masters of the Xing clan, built and flourishing among the outer edges of Pangaea, just barely outside the reach of the Celestial Palace. And he had never faced a hardship in his life. Not like some had.

  In all twenty years of his life he’d had everything handed to him on a silver platter, and not just because he’d been born the son of a noble family. He was weak, physically, even if he was exceedingly talented in qi cultivation. Elixirs had been poured down his throat, medicinal pills and skilled doctors prescribing treatments to overcome his frail constitution; but nothing seemed to work. Spending too much time outside exhausted him. Too much exercise could make him sick for weeks at a time – even merely walking the gardens could be strenuous, if he was having a bad day.

  What a pity. The servants would whisper as he walked by. A fragile flower, gifted in cultivation, but unable to bloom.

  Must be a quirk of his body. Cultivating high enough should cure his ails. The doctors would say, shaking their heads.

  A fragment of bad karma. It must be, though I cannot see it. The one Karae his parents had tasked with looking at him had said.

  What a cruel punishment from the gods. The priests of the Church of the All-Heaven said, bowing their heads in prayer for him. To be born in a clan of warriors, yet unable to wield a sword. His parents weren’t sure that it was such a curse, though. They seemed happy enough to keep him out of the training grounds, and away from any harm.

  Xing Wu sighed to himself as he stared out of the large, pane-glass window, his legs crossed lotus-style as he sat atop a plush, red-velvet cushion. Stacks of books and scrolls surrounded him; as he was physically frail, he felt it prudent to hone his mind – he could serve the clan as a scholar, or something similar. With his talent in qi cultivation he could even become fairly powerful…but it felt…unfulfilling.

  He had everything he could ever want. Anything he could ask for he would get – booze, money, books, even women; though he had not partaken in that last one – such was the weight of his parents’ words. Such was the weight of his grandfather’s doting presence; the one true immortal of the Xing clan.

  It was nothing but stifling. Because what he wanted, even if he couldn't put it into words, no one could give him.

  Xing Wu met her on a small trip. His parents had arranged for him to travel the clan lands in preparation for an important guest as a result. It wasn’t necessary for him to travel to such a little village, not but a day’s travel by carriage from the main compound, but he had requested some time to travel beyond the walls – as a Heart-Level cultivator, even frail as he was, his magic was powerful enough to forestall any threats that might come near. Not that there were any spirit beasts in the area.

  Letting out a breath, Xing Wu stepped out of the carriage and observed the village. To call it a village though was a bit generous. Twelves houses of decent quality, each large enough to hold multiple generations of families, were built in a half-circle, terraces of rice stretching into the hills. Smoke rose from the houses, even as the elders and other peoples began to approach. Armored guards moved to assist Xing Wu as he carefully descended the steps of the carriage to the ground, his light purple robes flowing easily as he strode forward, slowly, but with purpose. He could not afford to show weakness, not even to these simple folk.

  He was of the Xing Clan. That meant strength.

  So he greeted the town’s leaders, talked cordially with them, even if they were deferential, and spoke of their crops and harvests and the weight of taxes upon them. And when he exited the village chief’s house – a compound to them, but little more than a shack to him – already feeling a bit woozy from the excitement, he saw her.

  She appeared simple. Her hair was brown. Her face dirty from working in the field. Her smock simple and plain, yet when their eyes met it was as if he had been blinded by the light of the sun. They were brown, but they shone with a pure white light only he could see – and his knees collapsed beneath him, coughs wracking his body as he doubled over, coughing blood.

  “Young Master Xing!” One of the guards shouted, rushing forward. He held up a hand to stop him, desperate to control himself as he continued to cough. Even in front of these simple folk, he had to show as much strength as possible, and to be aided by a guard in this moment would be a shame too many. A gentle hand laid itself upon his back, warmth flooding through his body, and his hacking immediately ceased, his lungs clear of pain. His gaze snapped upward, back to the woman, who watched him with a mixture of surprise and concern. It was not love he had felt, he didn’t think. So what in the world was that?

  His gaze sharpened as his qi moved, quickly peering into the girl’s cultivation…only to find she was as simple of a mortal as they came. Xing Wu straightened and wiped his mouth with a napkin he pulled from his robes, soothing his guards and the villagers with a few soft words.

  Yet even as he left, his mind kept going back to the light, and that woman.

  Xing Wu found himself constantly travelling back to that little village, his curiosity peaked. And most of the time he spent speaking with the woman. He wasn’t sure what drew him to her. Was it love? He wasn’t sure. But there was a surety about her that attracted him to her; she knew exactly who and what she was. Even if that was a simple village girl, tending to her herb garden and living outside of town. His parents, noticing his newfound interest in the girl, offered to make her a servant in their house.

  He couldn’t help but be relieved when she declined the offer, with his assurances that nothing ill would come of it. He would hate to remove her from her home – if he were to liken it to the poetry he’d read, it would be akin to removing a flower from its garden. Beautiful for a time, but would quickly wither. Though he wondered if that was truly the only reason, or if it was something else. Something more akin to what he felt; to try and force the servant position upon her would be contrary to her purpose. Her being.

  And bless her heart, she tried to help him whenever he felt ill during his visits.

  “What kind of man were you, to have earned such karma?” she would wonder, mixing a tonic for him, and he’d just laugh, unsure how to answer. And they would chat, play card games, and talk of little things. Him of stories and histories he had read. Her, of the lives of mortals, and of homes and the warmth of hearths. The topic made his heart yearn for…something. His home did not feel like a true home. The servants and such respected him, but there were none who treated him as a human. To the servants, he was someone far above them, both in status and cultivation.

  To his parents, he was something fragile. A flower kept in a vase, that might shatter if touched. They loved him in their own way, but…it drove him mad, the more he learned and thought about it. Yet what could he do? He was fragile. His body fought against him. And there was nowhere for him to go.

  “I finally found you.” The woman from the Celestial Palace said, smiling to herself. She was beautiful, with long blonde hair and large, white wings that marked her as an Avian. Xing Wu stared at her blankly, his hand lying on the crystal orb she had produced. It shone with a silver glow, reacting to something within him – not qi, but something else. His parents sat beside him, watching curiously, while his Immortal grandfather sat across from the woman; Allana, she called herself. She had come here to visit his grandfather, supposedly, and speak of the Celestial Palace's growing influence, alongside the potential fate of the Xing clan.

  Yet her words were heard by no one else in the room but Xing Wu.

  “What does this mean?” his grandfather asked, gesturing to the orb.

  “Oh, it’s a simple little test that measures one’s compatibility to another. Not on a qi level, but on a karmic and soul level. His talent is more than satisfactory, and the light from the orb shows his compatibility to be more than enough.” Alanna explained, folding her hands in her lap. Despite being in the presence of an immortal she showed no signs of intimidation; as expected of an envoy from the Celestial Palace. “With your blessing, I would propose an alliance.”

  “An alliance?” Xing Wu’s grandfather asked, raising one bushy, white eyebrow.

  “Through marriage. The Celestial Empress has yet to select a suitor, and with his talent, background, and compatibility, young Xing Wu here has the potential to become one of her consorts. Perhaps even become the Emperor if he plays his cards right, and manages to achieve immortality.” Alanna stated, never losing her smile. His grandfather stroked his beard in seeming thought, humming to himself as he began to question the woman on her intentions. But Xing Wu knew what was coming. This would be the one thing he would not have a choice in; there was no doubt in anyone’s minds that their clan would eventually be forced to join the Celestial Palace as they sought to unify all of Pangaea, in the name of the late first Emperor, Dei.

  Xing Wu becoming the consort of the current Empress would boost their status within the Palace immensely, perhaps even provide his own grandfather with resources that would boost his immortal cultivation. Xing Wu sat back as he listened to Alanna promise only the best doctors and resources to boost his constitution, all the while shooting excited, joyful glances his way. But all he was hearing was that he’d be exchanging one gilded cage for another. This time with more responsibilities attached.

  I finally found you. He wondered. What did that mean?

  The time of his departure was drawing near, and Xing Wu reminisced. Ever since his parents had agreed to Alanna’s terms, he had not been allowed to leave the clan compound. He’d hardly been allowed to leave his room – they couldn’t risk anything happening to him, not before the delegation from the Celestial Palace took him back to Manu Ti, their capital city and seat of the current Empress. His hands clenched into fists.

  He wouldn’t be able to see the woman in the village again. He’d be surrounded by thousands and thousands of servants and doctors and people bowing and scraping to earn his approval…and he’d have to do the same, to survive what he could only imagine was a fierce political battleground. Including to some woman he’d never met, the most powerful woman in all of Pangaea. Which was fine, he supposed, arranged marriages weren’t uncommon and he’d half been expecting one for a while now, but…it was sitting with him wrong. Many things were, if he was being honest with himself. Was this it? Was this all he was meant for? To be doomed to be a frail-bodied consort? A flower in a vase?

  No, that wasn’t the right way to think about this. This was a noble path. It was a duty-bound path; he could see it, practically. The shadow of himself, heading to the Celestial Palace, becoming a noble, becoming immortal, working through politics and cultivation alike…it felt like a path he had tread before. And something within him began to rage against it.

  It happened just before he was about the leave; a mere hour beforehand, actually.

  He had taken one last walk around the outside of the compound, burning it into his memory. Not that at his cultivation level he’d ever be able to forget; but nostalgia compelled him. The journey to the Celestial Palace would supposedly only take a month or two thanks to the advanced flying carriage Alanna used, but he doubted he’d be able to see the compound again anytime in the next few centuries. A sigh escaped him as he stared up at an apple tree, its golden fruits, twisted in color thanks to overexposure to metal qi, glinting in the light of the realm sun.

  That was when it opened.

  A rift. A hole in reality, torn open with a hiss of air and a howl of wind. It was maybe the size of his head, and it poured out a foul miasma that burned his skin just to be near. His robes whipped in the fell wind that tore out of the hole, something with dark scales and darker claws skittering around the edges. His qi roiled at the sight, instincts screaming at him to jump away, back away – yet his legs stayed in place. Shouts of alarm echoed behind him. He could feel his Grandpa’s qi rise, right alongside Alanna’s – to his surprise, it absolutely dwarfed his grandfather’s.

  Even above him, he heard a new voice. A golden light shining down from above, warning him to back away from the hole, that it was not supposed to be messed with. It wondered why it was here, and proclaimed itself as his guardian.

  Yet still he stayed. Everything around him screamed for him to flee, yet he could sense darkness and danger within that hole. He saw it in how the ground before the crack in the air blackened and faded, and some part of him bid him stay. Do not flee. Do not run. Not one single step. That some irreplicable part of him would die if he backed down now.

  And this gave whatever lay within that rift enough time to reach out, snag him, and pull him out of the Physical Realm entirely, sealing the hole shut behind it.

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  Xing Wu fought for his life. Darkness surrounded him, shadows of all kinds pressing into his vision and mind with increasing frequency. Whatever had grabbed him had let him run free, distracted as it was by a bolt of golden light that had been hurled at it, and allowing him a chance to escape – for it was far too powerful for him, and whatever arrogance had bid his legs to stay firm had vanished. So he ran for his life, through the darkness and shadows.

  His constitution failed him more than once, blood spilling from his lips and consciousness wavering. The Qi here was dense, and dark, tainting his own qi whenever he tried to absorb it; so he didn’t. He kept his qi quiet and hid and recovered as best he could, but monsters continually found him, never giving him more than a moment's rest.

  Spiders of shadow leapt at him with fangs bared, poison dripping from their maws. Hounds of darkness harried his every step, keeping him from resting for too long. And true beings of living shadow clawed at his mind, trying to eat away at his sanity. Blasts of fire and light warded them off but only for so long; whenever he struck one down or evaded some, another was there to take its place.

  For months he ran about, winding through narrow corridors and open caverns, feeling his way through the darkness – and he’d never felt so alive. Injuries criss-crossed his body, his robes were tattered, and he hadn’t slept once since he’d arrived in this fresh hell. It was him, versus the world. No duties. Nothing to keep him constrained. Limited only by the strength of his own body, soul, and qi. Strength surge through him with each obstacle overcome. Each ascension trial, be it heavenly lightning or burning fire, that managed to find him in this hidden realm only served to temper his body and soul, driving the weakness he'd been plagued with since birth from his body.

  Xing Wu laughed as he battled with one of the giant spiders, using one of its severed limbs as a spear. A fire burned in his soul, and no amount of shadow could douse it.

  He wasn’t sure how long he spent in that hidden realm. Years, at least. Decades, easily. But he travelled far and wide within it. Beyond the realms of shadow to ones of fire, lightning, ice, and more, each with their own dangers. Each with their own intricacies. Not all had full animals within them, some being barren spots of ridiculously pure qi. Yet each spot helped him. He absorbed the elements into his body, chasing away some of the weakness that plagued his constitution…although, that, he figured, was not the source of his strength. He could feel it, almost. The closer he got to his own soul, the closer he got to his own desire, the stronger he became.

  He drew a character on the ground with a stick, his qi coating the wood so it could carve itself into stone.

  “Dao.” It was a word he had heard before, in the scrolls and books he’d read as a child. The closer he got to his own Dao, the stronger he became…almost as if the disconnect between soul and mind had been causing his physical weakness. Xing Wu flexed his arms as he stood, his purple robes long since having been discarded for furs he’d cut off of a particularly mean frost bear. His muscles bulged, shiny scars crisscrossing the flesh.

  He was a step away from being immortal, in both qi and body, by now. But he had yet to take that final step. Something instinctual held him back, kept him away from it; he had to do this right, or not at all. Or it would be worth nothing.

  So heavy were his thoughts he didn’t notice when the tunnel he had been in gave way to a large cave filled with flowers, a giant root stretching from one end of the wall to the other, with a woman dressed in black at the very end chained to the wall.

  “Once more you find your way to me. It took you long enough. And to think, I went to all that effort to open a hole in the hidden realm and lead you here, only for you to keep a lady waiting. Disrespectful.” The woman taunted, startling him out of his reverie. She had opened that hole…? Xing Wu swallowed thickly as he met the woman’s eyes, the evil smile that stretched across her face promising pain – and that was when her aura hit him. He fell to his knees, darkness and depression weighing themselves upon him, threatening to push him into the dirt and never let up. “Without your memories, I wonder how you will fare this time?” she cackled.

  You think yourself strong? His mind whispered. Your worth is only in your duty to your clan. Your value is only in your marriage to the Empress. You have responsibilities, and you are abandoning them.

  Xing Wu struggled. He raged. And, finally, he accepted those thoughts. Not wholly, but…enough to let him pull himself into a sitting position and take a breath. Those were his duties. Those were his responsibilities…and if he didn’t do them, what would happen? He had to sacrifice himself, for the betterment of others. Sacrifice his own happiness…

  His eyes opened as he slowly rose to his feet. The problem wasn’t that his only worth lay in those duties. It lay within his sense of duty, towards those who had raised him. The face of the woman from the village flashed through his mind. A home…he didn’t even know what that was anymore. He’d thrived in chaos. He’d arguably thrived in his clan, even if it felt like a cage. But…but. He wasn’t sure. He did know this, however.

  Having his doubts pulled so ruthlessly to the front of his mind only hardened his resolve. And he could no longer stay away from his duties, leaving them unresolved.

  “Thank you,” he said, bowing to the woman, limbs still trembling from the pressure. She scowled at him and turned her head away.

  “Begone. I don’t want to see you any longer. Damnable fool.” She cursed. He kept his head bowed as he backed out of the cave, the entryway sealing shut as he left. Only when he was certain he had escaped did he let out a breath. It was time to return. The only question was how to get out.

  It took him another few years to find a way out of the hidden realm, and he only found it by luck. A giggle. A gust of wind. A flash of a fox tail, and he emerged in an all-too-familiar location.

  Merely a few hours from his clan compound, and the little village he’d once frequented so often. Xing Wu felt his hands twitch. Even if he had changed so much, he could go straight to the clan. He could leave for the Celestial Palace…but instead he visited the village. He had questions. Something in his soul needed a question to be answered by someone he suspected was not as simple as he’d first imagined; only, she wasn’t there. Xing Wu frowned as he entered her empty cottage, seeming untouched for years. And, upon the kitchen table, was a message wrought in silver light.

  Come to the Celestial Palace if you want to see her again.

  Xing Wu saw red.

  His path was a warpath. Trees trembled before him as he charged through the lands, flying over cities, ignoring the ruckus he caused as he hurled himself through the skies, chasing the dream of a woman. It didn’t matter if what he felt for her was love or not; his attention to her had caused her to be kidnapped by the Celestial Palace, and by Alanna. Who were they to take an innocent woman? His fury grew, and then the city of Manu Ti came into view.

  Twenty islands flew over a truly massive lake, its waters gleaming in the light of the Realm Sun. Great iron chains anchored the floating islands to the shoreline, each easily as wide as a mountain; while cultivators of all kinds flew about or moved in the myriad cities below or on the islands themselves. The auras of innumerable immortals rose at his presence; clearly hostile as it was, battle-intent soaring into the sky. Xing Wu found he did not care. His teeth were bared as the first hurtled at him; a Karae, not yet an immortal, who was struck down with a backhand. The ease with which he countered the being surprised even him.

  Ten Immortals started to surge out of the city, only to be quieted by a towering pillar of light that rose from the center palace. The true Celestial Palace. Xing Wu clenched his hands into fists, his cultivation bubbling, surging, roaring to be let free. To activate the immortality ascension trial and give himself the power to challenge this person, the Empress who was the source of that light. Yet he knew that mere qi or fleshly cultivation wouldn’t be enough to challenge her. He needed something else. Something undefeatable.

  He stepped forward, and a bridge of glass appeared before him. There was no gust of qi. No surge of wind. No great bell of power – simply, a bridge of glass. His first step upon it was easy.

  His second was not.

  Who are you? The bridge demanded. Xing Wu did not have an answer. What do you stand for? It asked. He did not have an answer for that, either. Yet still he walked; through the doubt, through the questions, through the increasing pressure that threatened to send him tumbling from the bridge of glass; he walked. Because to stop would be to admit defeat. And he was anything but beaten.

  I am who I am. He answered. I stand for what I believe in. And what I believe in, is me. In a world filled with uncontrolled variables, I alone am the thing I can control. Each step became stronger, and with it, came memories. Of being a fisherman. Of being a slave, then a scholar, unable to discern the truth of things. Of being a leader and ruler, burdened by responsibility…they were all him. Yet none of them were. He was Xing Wu. The return of his memories of all his past lives did nothing to change that. It was no grand revelation. No great change in heart. Simply the unveiling of his past, a thing he already knew.

  He was who he was. And who he was, was in the now, not the past.

  And the moment his foot hit the end of the bridge, he finally had a true answer for what had been plaguing him his entire life.

  A silent question, he hadn't even known was being asked.

  Xing Wu let out a breath and looked heavenward, a wry smile gracing his lips. "I hate you." He said, not unkindly, then turned his attention back down to the mortal world. His senses were expanding, visions of the spiritual gradually increasing...and he could sense the woman he'd come chasing after, somewhere far below, living in a little village near one of the great chains. She was safe. There were no guards around her, and while he'd have to go check up on her, there was another matter to deal with first.

  Alanna stood before him in the sky, flanked by guards in gleaming golden armor. Her white robes fell about her like a pool, and a crown of gold rested atop her finely done hair. He recognized her, memories still flooding back to him.

  "Alanna. How did you find me?" He asked, images of a little avian girl trailing after him overlapping the visage of the noble ruler before him. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes, but he felt no pity for her. She...had done well, hadn't she?

  "I knew you'd come back." She said, voice cracking. Xing Wu paused, memories still returning. He had questions. But first and foremost -

  "Marriage, Alanna? Really?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her. She had the decency to blush in embarrassment, breaking the mask of the noble rule for just a moment. He continued. "Why did you kidnap the girl?"

  "It was the easiest way to get your parents to allow you to come here. And we did not kidnap her. She came to live here of her own accord, and I left a note." She explained. Xing Wu huffed and crossed his arms, noticing for the first time in a while that he was still dressed in furs. Silently he looked over his shoulder, to see that the glass bridge of immortality was still there, hanging silently in the sky. Wasn't that supposed to disappear? He frowned. There was still something he was missing. One final piece to the puzzle as to why he'd been given this life as his final life; and wasn't that a trip, to be remembering all his past lives. He turned back to Alanna, who was watching him expectantly.

  "Lead the way."

  The Celestial Palace had grown, but Xing Wu still found himself familiar with the halls Alanna led him through. By design, he suspected, as each step brought with it a fresh wave of memories. Having dinner here or there, with various cultivators. Arguing politics in a conference room. Fang Xu and Celene...

  The Xu clan. He could see their mark all over the halls of the palace, and see his friends faces in a few of the guards - their descendants, he assumed. But, to his surprise, Xing Wu didn't feel any connection to them. Back when he was Dei, he'd felt it his duty to protect everyone here, everything he'd built...But they were doing alright. The walls were adorned with finery. The people - even most those outside the Palace - were healthy and, if not happy, at least safe. The guards seemed well trained and professional, and Alanna had truly blossomed into her own as a ruler. Though her actions were not without conflict or doubt, he could confidently say she had done far better than he would have.

  "You're smiling." She said, having stopped in front of two large double-doors, turning around to beam at him. Xing Wu reached up and touched his face.

  "Am I?" Alanna did not directly reply; instead, she swung open the doors to reveal what had once been his office. It was just the same as in his memories save for one difference. His old spear had been placed upon his desk. He recognized it; it wasn't just a replica, either. He walked over and grabbed it. It felt heavy. Like it didn't fit his hand anymore. And the weight of the bridge once again pressed itself upon his mind - Xing Wu looked out the great glass window behind his desk to see it floating out there, still gleaming in the sunlight.

  "We managed to gather all the shattered and missing pieces, with the aid of some powerful spiritual beings. Reforging it took millennia." Alanna explained. He turned around to face her, only to find her kneeling before him, holding up a crown. Her crown. "You have returned, My Lord. This is rightfully yours." And suddenly it all began to click into place. What this life had been about. What he had been missing. Xing Wu reached forward and grabbed the crown from her outstretched hands.

  "I named you my successor, did I not? Alanna." he said, placing it back upon her head. It felt freeing. Chains that bound him shattering completely; a weight off of his shoulders. She looked up at him quizzically, and he knew he was smiling. "I am not Dei, Alanna, nor will I ever be again. The memories are returning, but I am no longer the man you remember. I closed that path with my own hand, and walk a new one by my own as well. You are the Empress, and it is I who should be bowing." This seemed to alarm Alanna as she shot to her feet, the guards behind her shifting uncomfortably. Xing Wu's smile grew wider. "But I will not. Not yet. I know not which path I truly walk now, nor where it will lead in the future. But I do know this," he began, gripping his spear and turning to face the window. The bridge still gleamed outside. And he spoke once more; but this was no longer directed at Alanna.

  "It will be no other path but my own."

  And he hurled his spear with all his might, his very soul roaring out in glee. The bridge shattered as the spear pierced it, power flooding through Xing Wu as shards of glass erupted into nothingness, following the thrown spear into the sky above, where it continued to gleam a pure, white light. And he laughed. A great, freeing laugh that spoke of all he had endured, and the simple lesson he had been taught. And a goal entered his mind, one that had been chasing him all the way through his lives.

  Fang Xu and Celene had left to go become gods. He would beat them there. After all, he'd made a promise to punch someone.

  It was only a few days later when Xing Wu darkened the woman's doorstep one last time. His gleaming spear still shone in the sky above, only visible when night had fallen and the Lunar Star had risen. And she was waiting for him.

  "Thank you," he said, the moment she opened the door, eyes wide. "For helping me through my lives. I do not believe we have been properly introduced. My name is Xing Wu." The woman smiled. It was a beautiful smile, and did something funny to his heart. He didn't know if this was love, or gratitude, but he wanted to find out. He owed it to her to at least pay a visit, for all she had done for him; even if her presence had been but a fleeting moment to her immortal life.

  The woman smiled.

  "Inesa. My name is Inesa."

  Pride swelled my heart as I looked at the spear floating in space, gleaming with a pure white light and carrying with it the full weight of Xing Wu's fully realized Dao. It was still growing. It would still grow for as long as he lived. With careful fingers I reached out and grabbed it; Xing Wu's cry of defiance, that he would follow no other path but his own, including mine, resonating within my ears the moment I did.

  It dared me to try and tame it, change it.

  I pinned it in the night sky, for the entire Realms to see. And I welcomed Xing Wu, the first Dao Progenitor.