As the battle for Shi Bei rages on, I stand firm on the battlements and watch it all unfold while simultaneously waging a war with my own emotions.

Despite my light-hearted response to the whole, “I am your father,” thing, there’s no denying the fact that it’s left me with a whole host of uncomfortable emotions I’d really rather not deal with, but in the absence of anything else I can do, I’ve no choice but to face the facts. After transmigrating into the body of a twelve-year-old child, my first memory of this world is opening my eyes to find myself on stage at a slave auction, meaning I have more than a decade of life unaccounted for, provided I didn’t just spring into existence as a twelve-year-old child. Which you know, could’ve been possible, because… I dunno. Magic.

While I myself have never cared too much about my host body’s personal history, when my Half-Demon progenitor revealed his face, the surge of contempt and antipathy roiling within my chest was too raw and real to be ignored. I recognized his face even before he removed his helmet and knew that everything he said was more or less true, because if it wasn’t, I wouldn’t hate and fear him as much as I do. I still have no memories of who he is or what time we spent together, no specific events or abuses to conjure up as reason for my enmity, but those emotions are there all the same. There’s a bitter, seething constriction in my chest as thoughts of violence play out every time I picture his face, and despite my best efforts to stop thinking about him, my hands are still clenched in fury and lips twisted in a snarl from just knowing he still breathes. It’s taken every scrap of willpower I have to stand firm on the battlements instead of striding out into battle to bait him into attacking, but I still find myself eagerly hoping he’ll show himself again so I can plant my rifle in his face and render his cold, arrogant features into a bloody, unrecognizable pulp.

So suffice it to say that I have some hang-ups about my birth father that I was previously unaware of, and I am not pleased to know they exist.

That’s the worst of it, knowing he’s who he claims to be without question and hating him without understanding why. I just know it to be true even though I can’t remember his name or the name I supposedly cast away in favour of ‘Falling Rain’, which in and of itself was a mistake more than anything else. Don’t get me wrong, I kinda like the name I have now, even if it is a little unwieldy at times, and it’s a nice added bonus having an extra brother and grandfather in the family. Granted, they’re both hella surly and generally unpleasant to be around, but they’re good people and family is family after all. That’s the real kicker, because as much as I love my new family, I now have no choice but to accept the truth I’ve tried to deny for so long, that I was unwanted by my mother and father who cast me out to die like an unwanted pest. Much as I try to pretend like I don’t care, I do care because deep down, I am still affected by the memories and emotions of the person whose body I am inhabiting, a child who so desperately wanted his parents to love him. I am Rayne, Falling Rain, and Baledagh all at once, but I am also whoever I was before I transmigrated to this world. Even though I don’t remember a damn thing from before I opened my eyes on that slave auction stage, I am still affected by it all the same.

Maybe there’s still a sliver of the original soul still left behind, or maybe those memories aren’t memories, but leftover emotions ingrained into my soul. Who knows.

Worst of all? Now I get to wrestle with a mountain of sorrow and resentment as I mourn a mother whose face I can’t remember despite knowing she loathed me enough to sell me as a slave. This I also know to be true, because it pains me in a way that is all too real. This is the betrayal the Abbot was asking about, the traumatic event in my early childhood that led to my massive trust issues and the underlying reason why I never asked about my birth parents in this life despite my boundless curiosity. I knew it would be unpleasant, and now it has come time to deal with this truth I’ve been avoiding for so long.

My birth mother didn’t love me and cast me away because I was unable to fill the void in her heart left by the absence of her precious little light.

That would be Gerel, whose name literally means ‘light’ in the language of the People. I knew I didn’t like him the second I laid eyes on him, but I never really understood why until now. He’s my brother, the person I failed to live up to in my mother’s eyes, so it’s no wonder why I admire and yearn to surpass him. Not only is he everything I want to be, but more than that, he’s the person I was supposed to replace in my mother’s heart, a role I failed to live up to and a truth I feel so keenly it pains me in ways I cannot even describe. When that hateful bastard of a Half-Demon started telling us about her dismal fate, I told Gerel to ignore him because I knew he only wanted to see our pain, but that advice was also for me because I was ready to throw myself at our progenitor to rend him limb from limb for what he did to my mother, someone whose face I cannot even remember but still love all the same.

A good thing I didn’t move however, because in all likelihood I would’ve been the one rent from limb to limb, since it is now painfully clear that I am no match for a Peak Expert in single combat.

Something I’ve known all along, but still not a pleasant truth to face, especially in light of Dad’s high expectations. Forget the stupid Half-Demon progenitor whose name I refuse to ask for, because the only father in my life is Baatar, and it stings to know I’ve let him down. Not that he would ever say as much, or even care too much about it, and I can feel his love and pride emanating from somewhere nearby, but it still hurts to know I couldn’t live up to the hype after riding in on a massive tidal wave of Water Chi. Dad wanted me to show off my skills and raise morale for the soldiers of Shi Bei, but all I managed to do was compromise my sister’s safety and almost get both of us killed.

That’s why Dad and Naaran both quailed before Akanai’s gaze, because they’d overestimated my abilities and showed everyone that I’m not as strong as they thought. That’s not to say I’m weak either, as I’m strong enough to kill a Peak Expert, but not strong enough to go toe to toe in a fair fight. I’ve collected all the ingredients necessary to bake me into a Peak Expert, but I messed around with the recipe and came out as something… not better or worse exactly, just… different. In more helpful terms, I have all tools necessary to punch above my weight class, and even take a hit here and there if I need to, but the competence with which I use said tools is sorely lacking. For example, if I were a real Peak Expert, Mataram YuGan’s surprise attack wouldn’t have blown me off my feet. I know how to parry attacks with Deflection, mitigate impacts through Reverberation, and maintain my poise through Stability, but despite sensing the attack before it arrived, I was only able to Deflect YuGan’s attack, which was why Alsantset felt it necessary to come to my rescue in the first place.

This might sound like I’m being overly harsh on myself, but I set the bar pretty high when I made my big entrance on this battlefield, to say nothing of how I cut down a Divinity with a single blow. Me failing to even meet the basic standards of a Peak Expert is like finding out your role model thinks the earth is flat and that lizard people are in control of the government. Really takes away the shine of his or her accomplishments, and the shame and embarrassment are almost more than I can bear. Especially in light of everything else that’s happened in the last twenty-four hours, so rather than push my luck and go back into battle once more, I stand on the battlements and try to get a handle on my emotions.

Which goes about as well as it usually does, meaning not at all. Stewing in my discontent, I comfort myself by comforting my scared doggo in the vast emptiness of my Natal Palace, cuddling him close and patting his chest while leaving the bulk of the outside world to my Natal Souls. Peace and Tranquility are a sight to behold as they float around and defend me like sentient weapons, but even as cool as they are, they’re not all that effective against a guarded foe. Even the average Chosen has the power, speed, and coordination needed to knock my flying weapons out of the air, with the caveat being that they see them coming. More than once, my sword and shield have been sent hurtling away by Joe Chosen batting for the Defiled, and it takes a not insignificant amount of effort and willpower to rein them back in. Granted, it doesn’t really feel like I’m doing anything at all, what with my Natal Souls handling all the minutia, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t tire me out. I can feel my Chi flowing through my Spiritual system as my weapons fly about, guided by my senses both physical and Spiritual to hunt down any and all Concealed assailants converging around me.

Which I gotta admit, is pretty damned handy. Even if I fail to kill every last Wraith or Half-Demon, they’re forced to reveal themselves in order to defend against my flying weapons, leaving them easy prey for Dad, Naaran, and the rest of my hidden protectors waiting in the wings. Still doesn’t make up for the loss of face, given how I came in looking like I could call the winds and summon the rains but ended up not being able to carry my own weight in a battle between Peak Experts. I set expectations at an unfathomable height and let everyone watch as I failed to even reach the bar, which hurts me all the more because now I’ve made a short joke at my own expense.

Seriously, this might be the most infuriating part of all. Where is the justice in this world? Do genetics not matter anymore? Gerel, Naaran, and that stupid smug Half-Demon aren’t the tallest Warriors around, but no one would ever call them short, so why am I a pint-sized manlet instead of a towering hero on the battlefield? Stupid Gerel and his former baldness, looking oh so majestic with his long, flowing hair and shimmering black and silver Runic Armour, the very picture of a valiant Warrior as he trades blows with the Crimson Reaper in a furious exchange. That should be me, looking all awesome and inspiring like a hero out of fable, but noooo. I have to stand here trying not to pout because pouting makes me look like a petulant child.

But I can’t help it. I have to pout. I just remembered that my parents never loved me and it hurts more than I care to admit.

To take my mind off my enigmatic past and plethora of personal issues, I turn my mind towards unravelling the mysteries of the Dao instead, and boy there are a lot of them. The more I learn about the Dao, the more questions I uncover, something that is neither new nor unexpected, but a concept that is truly hammered home now that I am skilled enough to perceive the intricacies of what constitutes a Peak Expert. Take Alsantset for example, who pushed past her limits to become comparable to a Peak Expert in offensive ability, a feat which I can envision and explain as many times as I want yet still never replicate through my own efforts. The what is easy, as she merged with her Domain to essentially Domain Plate her physical and mental self, which resulted in an Augmentation of her abilities. This allowed her to not only move faster and hit harder than ever before, but also react with inhuman reflexes and ingrained instinct born from countless hours spent Demonstrating the Forms. As for the how? No idea. Not a single clue. It makes sense, but also doesn’t make sense, and I have no idea why it works much less how to follow suit. Even though I can create a Domain Exo-Suit to help empower me in battle, it’s not the same as Domain Plating every fibre of my physical existence, which is just as complex as it sounds.

That isn’t to say it’s impossible either, as I suspect that I unintentionally pulled off this Domain Augmentation when I struck down Vyakhya, but as already stated before, that was a special case in which my opponent stood still and waited for me to hit him. Not exactly useable in a real fight, and won’t be until I can manage it effortlessly and call myself a Peak Expert. Even my sure-fire method of making Natal Souls handle all the heavy lifting failed me here, which makes sense once you think about it. Domain Augmentation requires you to Manifest your Domain within your body, mind, and I would assume soul as well, linking them all together to become more than just flesh, blood, and whatever else it is that powers your brain and soul, something I can hardly accomplish while divested from myself in the form of a Natal Soul and require Blobby’s help to achieve at no small cost. Prime Me needs to be the one doing the heavy lifting here, which is annoying because I’m also the one who needs to handle everything else like moving and breathing and what not.

Seriously, how do people even function most of the time? It’s a fascinating subject to delve into, all the seemingly autonomous processes we keep track of in the back of our heads, but now hardly seems like the time to get into it.

Thankfully, my inability to upgrade my Domain Exo-Suit into Domain Augmentation isn’t the worst thing in the world, as it’ll get easier with time and practice, but those are luxuries I cannot afford here and now in Shi Bei. This is merely scratching the surface of what I’ve learned in the last few minutes however, for more and more Peak Experts take to the battlefield giving me more examples to draw and learn from. I suspect Domain Augmentation is the bare minimum requirement alongside a display of mastery of the eight basic Chi Skills in order to call oneself a Peak Expert, though there still might be more to it that I am missing. Augmentation is fascinating too, because it’s clearly similar to Domain Plating and Manifestation, but a localized effect that doesn’t go beyond the limit of the Martial Warrior’s physical self, which is where most Peak Experts currently sit on the scale of comprehension. I, on the other hand, was able to Manifest my Domain into reality in two different ways. In Meng Sha, I Manifested my Domain to fortify the physical world and prevent the Demon Divinity’s Anathematic Energies from literally nuking the harbour and killing everyone inside it, a feat I accomplished by applying all eight basic Chi skills upon the fabric of reality itself. This is another form of Domain Plating, similar to creating Domain Armour, except this was a specific use case in which I ‘armoured’ reality to prevent the Energy of the Heavens from unmaking it. I’m sure there are other applications for this skill, but what I’m more interested in is the level of Domain Manifestation I pulled off with Blobby’s help.

At first glance, the two methods seem similar, but they work on different levels. Rather than meld with reality, Blobby and I manifested my Domain to push reality aside and create an area wherein my Authority superseded the authority of Heaven. In more practical terms, I essentially brought my Natal Palace out into the real world, a feat I first accomplished all the way back in Sinuji, during my ill-fated clash with Half-Demon Gen. I remember it like it happened just yesterday. There I was, memeing on the battlefield with a broken Core and laughing about the glory of Bobby B when I decided I’d had enough of Gen Shi’s bullshit. There was pain and agony aplenty, but first and foremost in my heart was rage, for I’d worked so hard and suffered so much to get where I was, but now, the Heavens wanted it all back. Without a Core, I would no longer be a Martial Warrior, for I no longer had a means to separate Chi from Heavenly Energy, years of effort just stolen away as the Spiritual System I built up became part and parcel of the Heavens once more.

And in my fury and desperation to keep what I still had, I rejected the world just as it rejected me and severed myself from the reality around me. There within my Domain was my realm and territory, a space which was mine and mine alone wherein I would rule supreme.

Overhead, the carved wooden roof of my pristine bedroom took shape to define the limits of my Authority, and I strode forth to do battle with my foe. No longer burdened by the weight of the world, I Honed my Domain and summoned power beyond anything I’d ever seen before, able to not only survive a point blank pillar of fire emerging from under my feet, but contest with the Half-Demon long enough for Taddy to gather his power and unleash a storm that would send the Defiled army fleeing for the hills. All this was only possible thanks to Blobby’s assistance and guidance, a fact which is true now as it was true back then, only this time, I think I understand why. In merging with Blobby, I am able to make use of his innate understanding of the physical and metaphysical world and meet the necessary requirements for Domain Manifestation. Not just for Domain Plating or Augmentation, which are lesser forms of Manifestation in and of themselves, but full-on, reality replacing, law overriding, Authority Seizing Manifestation, the sort of absolute power all Martial Warriors enjoy within their Natal Palaces, only out here in reality instead.

In short? The literal powers of a god made manifest, albeit in a localized, temporary, and severely limited manner.

I believe this sort of Domain Manifestation is what happens when Demons are birthed, and that the unsettling feeling most call the ‘Father’s Gaze’ is the result of thousands upon thousands of twisted Spectral Intents merging together into one. This also explains why we can’t injure Demons while they’re being birthed, because they’ve generated a pocket reality in which their Will reigns supreme. Unless your Will is powerful enough to crush theirs completely, there’s no contest once you move outside of Heaven’s reach and into the Demon’s own personal demesne.

Hence why I am able to do the same with Blobby’s help. He’s pretty much an anti-Spectre, so it stands to reason he can do whatever Spectres can, not merely elevating my innate understanding and familiarity of the Dao, but perhaps even enabling me to mould my physical body into a brand-new form, one which I likely will only have partial control over designing considering what I’ve seen from Demons. Luckily, his abilities are limited by the fact that I have never wholly given myself over to him, offering neither struggle nor surrender in the face of his desires. Even now, I can feel his hunger stirring from deep within, because merging with him earlier to deal with the obstructions preventing me from Healing Alsantset only served to whet his appetite like the aroma of a home cooked meal. I suspect it’s my life force he’s after, that and my physical existence maybe, as Blobby yearns to become more than just a metaphysical droplet, but with my Will restricting him, he was unable to do anything but watch as I transferred my life-force to Alsantset.

So now we have Domain Plating, which is using your Domain to create a separate and distinct surface in reality, as well as Domain Augmentation, which is wholly merging with your Domain to enhance your abilities. We also have Domain Manifestation which is bringing your Natal Palace out into reality, which I assume requires life-force in some way since I can only do so with the help of an Elemental Spirit that desires said life-force, even though I’m still not entirely sure that life force is a real thing. Shit’s complicated, and there’s still so much more I have yet to discover, a prospect which is both exciting and frustrating at the same time.

Old me would’ve kept agonizing about this problem and maybe derided myself for not being able to figure it all out, but new and improved me knows when to put something aside for later. I’ve already concluded that Domain Manifestation is possible to accomplish with Blobby’s assistance, so there’s no sense banging my head against the wall in an effort to figure out how to do it on my own. As for elevating my skills to match those of a Peak Expert, that will come with time and practice, meaning I can stop agonizing about my personal strength for now. I’ve yet to wholly test my earlier revelation regarding creating a Keystone that is not a Keystone inside my Core that is not a Core, but not only am I confident that I’m on the right track, I’ve also been benched by Akanai for the meantime and in no position to test my theories out. This means the best use of my time now is to observe what other Martial Warriors are doing to elevate my understanding of the Dao, and hopefully devise a method to help the Imperial Peak Experts defeat their foes besides hoping I get lucky with a flying sword or shield and catch the Enemy unawares.

That’s the key to an Imperial victory here in Shi Bei, winning at the highest level of strength under Divinity. At first, I considered enlisting my strongest allied Divinities to launch a coordinated strike against an Enemy Divinity in hopes of taking one off the board. So long as we don’t inadvertently nuke anyone, then it should be fair game, but I quickly realized that was not the way to go. Under threat of death, the Enemy Divinities aren’t going to give a shit about the Treaty, and it’s not like I can stand idly by and allow them to nuke Shi Bei, meaning that if I target a Divinity without good reason, the Enemy might well break the Treaty in full. Even if I can maintain reality in the face of thirty-odd Divinities duking it out, what’s to stop them from moving outside my sphere of influence and bringing their fight to the Citadels or even other provinces?

No, I cannot risk escalating this war any further, meaning I must bide my time for now. So I approached the problem from a different direction and arrived at the aforementioned conditions for victory. As Akanai pointed out herself, so long as I’m around, the Enemy Demons are stuck on corpse clean-up duty, which is disconcerting to watch happen as the bodies of friend and foe alike melt away into nothingness leaving only a bloodstain behind, but a far better alternative than having to contest with the power of a Demon legion. This leaves the Enemy with only their Chieftains, Chosen, and Half Demons to contest against Imperial Peak Experts, which as I already noted is a more even match than most would think. If we’re able to defeat their leaders in overwhelming fashion, this would leave Zhen Shi with one of two choices: either he breaks the Treaty and escalates this into a war of Divinities, or he orders a withdrawal and the Imperial cavalry can run the Enemy down as they retreat.

Or you know, he throws his Demons at me and I Devour them all, but I doubt he’ll be dumb enough to be so accommodating. That’s how I see things at least, which is why I’m so eager to dangle myself out as bait. I’m still standing here in plain sight, but Bai Qi is one of the greatest tacticians currently alive and none too eager to send his Peak Experts into the dragon’s den once more, not after losing so many Mataram Clan Half-Demons in their first ill-fated ambush against me. Instead, he’s doing the smart thing and leaving me untouched while spreading his Peak Experts all across Shi Bei, which has a two-fold effect. First, it limits my ability to affect the matches between Peak Experts, and secondly renders all my powerful guardians essentially useless, since they can hardly leave me to go fight elsewhere. So long as the Enemy keeps their distance from me, their Peak Experts should have plenty of time to react to any flying swords or shields I send their way, while my Spiritual Rifle requires line of sight to have any effect, and is actually quite easily blocked by Domain Plated defenses.

Probably because it’s just Chi or whatever. An actual iron bullet might be more effective, but I have always had terrible aim, so no point even trying.

Of course, Hongji and Liu Xuande are not just going to let Bai Qi have his way. Between their two brilliant minds, they’ve come up with a suitable distribution of strength that should enable our Peak Experts to support one another wherever necessary, and worst comes to worst I could always Cloud Step around to have more of an impact on the battlefield. That’s not in the cards just yet, as Akanai has made it clear that I am more valuable as a deterrent even if I don’t kill anyone for the rest of the battle, though I myself am tempted to Cloud-Step behind Enemy lines to go Demon hunting and restore my reserves of useable Heavenly Energy, because that shit is super useful.

It’s all good and well to harness the Energy of the Heavens by maintaining Balance. I neither struggle nor surrender to the metaphysical weight of its flow, but instead take advantage of it, harness and utilize it for my own purposes. This is my Dao, my Path to power, but as we’ve seen several times today, my ability to use said power is limited by my own understanding and perspective, among other things. Given a few seconds to prepare, I am capable of using the Energy of the Heavens to Hone my glaive and cleave clean through the Domain Plated defenses of a veritable Divinity, but only because I know how to Hone and swing my weapon in the first place. I can also Heal using a Keystone Fountain of Healing, maintain the integrity of reality in the face of a Divinity’s Destructive Intent, and a few other party tricks I picked up along the way, but that’s more or less the extent of my abilities. What I can’t do is use the raw Energy of the Heavens to replicate Mila’s Blessing of the Sun and blind all my foes as they approach, nor can I replicate Yan’s Blessing of Air to cut down hordes of Chosen before they even set foot on the battlements. I don’t know how to create Honed shards of Domain-Plated Claws like Alsantset, or utilize the Ethereal Palm like Hongji, or infuse musical notes with the power to stoke the flames of courage and determination in our allies like Luo-Luo, because I lack their unique perspectives of the Dao. Even though I can harness the raw Energies of the Heavens, I can only use it in ways I understand, ways that are compatible with my Dao, which, as the Abbot so loves to point out, is mostly limited to how to hit other people really, really, hard.

But… if I had more useable Heavenly Energy, then I could share it with the Warriors of Shi Bei without any cost to my soul or life-force or whatever, and they too can utilize the Energy of the Heavens in their own unique way. With enough usable Heavenly Energy, I could empower my allies to defeat my enemies while I stand around looking handsome and dignified. Or surly and exhausted more like, but it doesn’t matter what I look like so long as we come out on top, which we definitely would if I had more useable Heavenly Energy at my disposal. Zhen Shi got all his panties in a twist because I was able to transcend the limits of the Martial Path without ascending to Divinity, but right now, I am sorely limited by my lacking experience, comprehension, and familiarity. You know who doesn’t have those same limits? Any one of the Peak Experts here in Shi Bei, so assuming I could supply them with usable Heavenly Energy, they should theoretically be able to surpass their limits as well to hit harder than a Peak Expert without succumbing to the pitfalls of Divinity, the same way I did in Meng Sha.

All of which is a pipe dream for now, since the Demons are keeping well-hidden and well out of reach as they consume corpses as quickly as these two armies can produce them. Much as I would love to stop this desecration from happening, there’s not much I can really do besides ignore it and focus on elevating my own personal understanding of the Dao.

The first match I am drawn to is the closest one, a gripping battle between my newfound older brother Gerel and the Mataram Brigadier who I only know as the Crimson Reaper. Despite being maybe half his opponent’s age, Gerel is doing more than holding his own in their exchange of glaive against spear, their movements so smooth and fast I doubt most soldiers can even follow it. Though it appears as if they’re evenly matched at first glance, I sense that Gerel has the upper hand, for hidden within his powerful, domineering, and almost berserk style of offense is a hint of soft tenderness that tempers his strength from within. Though it appears as if he is holding nothing back and giving this battle his all, he is wholly in control of his actions and not yet reaching beyond his abilities while his foe is clearly already going all out. Regardless of what Movements they use or cunning tricks they have in hand, Gerel should win this match maybe seven times out of ten, because he is able to hold back that tiny little bit which offers him so much more freedom and versatility to work with.

When you strike with all your might, you have no margin for error, but if you swing with ninety percent instead, you can exert 100% to alter course if need be. There’s more to it than that, but even this much is enough to show the difference between them, one that will only grow as their match stretches into hundreds, if not thousands of exchanges made.

They’re close enough that I could probably send a flying sword their way, but I doubt Gerel would be pleased to know that I’d helped. If anything, he’d probably shoot me an angry glare for ruining his chance to progress along the Martial Dao mid-combat, so I’ll leave a Natal Soul to monitor him for now and help only if necessary.

The next match to catch my attention is one between Situ Chi Gan, the aged guardian of the Situ Clan and Mataram Minzhe, the Whirling Dervish. Fascinating as it is to watch Chi Gan fend off a flurry of attacks with every wave of his sword, this is a battle too far beyond my meagre comprehension to benefit from. The same goes for Jeong Hyo-Lynn’s match against a Half-Demon Bristleboar, whose chitinous hide appears impervious to the Sword Saint’s triumvirate of weapons as she weaves in and out of combat to avoid his devastating flurry of twin hammer blows. Marshal Quyen Huong’s battle is much easier to understand as he holds multiple Peak Experts at bay using his massive, oversized halberd, a weapon maybe three and half times longer than he is tall which he wields like a conductor’s cane in one hand.

Grandpa Du, Exarch Gam, Lei Gong, OuYang Yuhuan, none of these matches and more spark any sort of Insight or Enlightenment, which is really what I’m after here and now. Each of those Warriors stand at the Peak of the Martial Path and arrived there through means entirely their own, so I would be better served studying someone who took a more orthodox route. One name immediately springs to mind and I turn my attention to Hongji, where I find him still deeply immersed in Insight even after four, long hours of fighting. With a wave of his arm, he delivers an Ethereal Backhand Pimp Slap that is nothing like the Palm of old, one which sweeps clear the battlements before him and knocks a Mataram Half-Demon off his feet. One of Hongji’s subordinates deals the fallen Defiled a lethal blow, for the good Commander has no time to spare as he fends off three more Peak Experts who’ve come to take his head.

An Ethereal Fist shoots out and slams home into the first Half-Demon, cracking his armour and sending him flying off the battlements. Following up his punch with another wave of his hand, Hongji delivers what appears to be another Ethereal Palm only for his foes to brace themselves to resist it. The cunning tactician knows better than to use the same move twice however, which is why this seemingly broad Palm is actually a concentrated Slap instead, one which hammers into his closest foe. Blood and teeth spray out in all directions as the unfortunate Half-Demon spins in place, but he won’t suffer the pain of regrowing teeth as the slap was so powerful and directed that it snapped his neck. Still waiting for a palm that will never come, the third Half-Demon doesn’t even have time to scream as Hongji’s Ethereal Finger plunges into his eye and exits out the back of his skull, spewing brain-matter across the concrete battlements that is soon absorbed as well.

Four Peak Experts killed in less time than it takes to blink. Should he survive today, this singular exchange proves Chen Hongji is more than deserving of the title ‘Living Legend of the Empire’, and I intend to see that he receives his due consideration.

Seeing these Ethereal attacks makes the pieces fall into place in my mind, for I see in them the sheer versatility of the eight basic Chi Skills. Not just in how they’re used individually, but also how they’re combined in various ways. I’ve already accepted that the four Primal Blessings each represents a subset of the myriad of unique forces in the universe, ones that are intrinsically linked with the eight basic Chi Skills, but now, Hongji has shown that you don’t need a Blessing or Talent to meld those Chi skills together. Seems like a fairly obvious statement, given how everyone and their mother knows how to use Reinforcement and Amplification to magnify the power of their attacks, but that’s merely using the two skills in tandem, or one overlaid the other. What I’m talking is more than that, not just a combination of two skills but a merger of them to create a new skill that is greater than the sum of its parts, something which is far more difficult and complex than it sounds.

And yet, the results are well worth the effort. Just look at Hongji’s Ethereal Palm, which is more than just Domain Plating, but also a combination of Reinforcement, Deflection, and Guiding to unleash a physical attack using Chi. Add in a dash of Amplification on impact and he has his Palm, but a piercing Ethereal Finger requires no small amount of Honing added to the mix, while an Ethereal Fist requires Stability to bind all the forces tighter together, and a Slap requires Reverberation on top of that as well to differentiate it from the solid force of the Fist and pushing force of the Palm. Hongji doesn’t just layer these skills overtop his plated Domain either, but merges them within it, creating a unique combination of skills that forms a completely new force which is wholly unlike any of the base forces it is comprised of. Palm Force, Fist Force… Finger Force? Ew. Slap Force? Ha.

Okay, the naming scheme needs work, I admit that much. Even though the Abbot would say I am taking the simple and making it complex, I can’t help but feel as if each of those new and unique forces deserves their own name, because they’re clearly different. Yes, at the base level, it’s just using a combination of the eight Chi skills in different varying mixes, but names have meaning. Cake and bread use the same basic ingredients, but they’re still different enough to deserve distinction. In this same vein, this opens up the possibilities to a myriad of different forces in the world, like Sword Force, Sabre Force, Spear Force, Hammer Force, and more, for there are an infinite myriad of Dao’s in the world and each one is unique in its own way. A sword is different from a sabre, no one would argue this, the same way everyone understands that a thrust from a spear is very different from getting stabbed by a knife. What’s more, even though I say that these forces are a melding of the basic forces, it's not so simple to accomplish using Chi skills alone. Similar to how two Martial Warriors will find it difficult to merge their strengths together due to differences in style, mindset, and ability, merging two Chi skills together is like trying to put together a puzzle wherein the pieces are constantly changing in shape and orientation like… like…

Like electrons in a chemical compound. Sort of? Kinda? Maybe?

“Boy.” Jolted out of my thoughts by Akanai’s Sending, it takes me a moment to decipher the rest of her message in a way that makes sense to my distracted brain. “If you wait any longer to act, we might well lose the city and battle altogether.” It’s cute that she thinks I can do something to change the outcome without breaking the Treaty, but then it occurs to me that she’s much smarter than I am and probably knows something I’ve overlooked. Once again exhibiting her mind-reading skills, Akanai’s tone tells me she’s rolling her eyes as she Sends, “Your Aura boy. Hone it to distract the Enemy Peak Experts. Start with the Mataram Patriarch who is about to skewer Han BoHai.”

…

……

Seriously?

All this time, I’ve been wracking my brain for ways to help out, and I just jumped straight to “Devour Demons and hand out Heavenly Energy like presents on Christmas” without even considering Honed Aura?

God damnit. I hope everyone is wrong and there really is a cure for stupidity, because I sure as hell could use one.

Chapter Meme 1

Chapter Meme 2

Chapter Meme 3