Stifling a sigh of bitter regret, this Sovereign laid his ambitions to rest alongside his fallen Commander General, but not every trial and tribulation was meant to be overcome.

The foundation of civilization itself was built upon a bedrock of failure, a truth he understood well enough, but even a Sovereign as discerning as he was discouraged by so egregious a setback. Centuries of planning and preparation all gone to waste largely due to the efforts and actions of a single infuriating boy, one barely even two decades old and unpredictable to the extreme. Fury and hatred welled up from within, emotions this Sovereign had long since mastered, but what aggravated him the most was seeing the boy’s unmitigated delight. There he lay upon the battlements of Shi Bei, dazed and bloodied but unbroken as he celebrated an accomplishment in which he played the part of bait. A wounded fledgling, so defiant in his ignorance, a life so feeble and fragile it would take little more than a thought to end his wretched existence, except the cost of doing so was more than what this Sovereign was willing to bear.

Vague and precarious though it might be, maintaining the Treaty proved more boon than burden to this Sovereign’s end goal, for he was not yet strong enough to directly contend with the Emperor outright, to say nothing of the various monstrous existences hiding in the shadows of the Supreme Families. An admission of weakness which brought the Sovereign no shame or discontent, for the Imperial Clan had come into existence several millennia ago and had been building its strength ever since. The only reason they cared not to deal with this Sovereign outright was because they saw his efforts as an entertaining change of pace, for they’d been playing the same game on the same board with the same pieces for far too long and delighted in seeing something new. This and the fact that his new allies within the Clan saw to it that their rivals made no direct action against him, but this setback in Shi Bei might well turn his supporters against him. There were no eternal friends, only eternal interests, and the fact that this Sovereign was unable to ravage the outer provinces as promised meant his allies within the Supreme families were already re-evaluating his worth.

No matter though, for even if the Imperial Clan united against him, he was more than confident of evading death and capture so long as the Emperor himself did not deign to act. He wouldn’t, because to do so would present the Supreme Families with an unprecedented opportunity to overthrow him themselves, meaning this Sovereign was safe from reprisal so long as he kept his wits about him.

All this and more flashed through his mind in the blink of an eye as he readied his plans for the immediate and distant future both, laying out the steps he intended to take over the next century and beyond. Though the battle in Shi Bei itself was not yet lost, there was no longer anything or anyone of value worth salvaging from this ruinous disaster. Bai Qi had been the most promising sapling of the bunch, and while there were a handful of other seedlings who might one day ascend to Divinity, this Sovereign no longer possessed the desire to nurture them. What use was there in saving a handful of pawns when the whole board was about to be overturned? Better to save his efforts and start anew while his enemies dealt with the chaos and anarchy left behind in the ravaged Western Province.

There was still some small benefit to be had in this most disgraceful of defeats, one which would have wide-reaching consequences to be sure. These last two years had been especially enlightening, and this Sovereign had learned much from his trials and tribulations. It would take time to untangle the truths he’d uncovered, but of this, he was in no short supply, and the benefits gleaned would more than outweigh the cost of failure here today.

And yet, even knowing all this and more, this Sovereign was still sorely tempted to throw caution to the wind and eliminate Falling Rain here and now, and not solely due to the boy’s latent potential.

It all started in Sanshu, where this most promising young seedling foiled this Sovereign’s plot to annex the city in order to later destabilize the Northern Province. Had his plans gone to fruition, then the city would have emerged ‘victorious’ against Butcher Bay’s Yo Ling thanks to the efforts of this Sovereign’s puppet, affording the Golden Highlands Coalition the opportunity to deal a death blow to their competitors within the merchant council and seize control of the city for themselves. Alas, all this was not meant to be as the actions of a single fledgling Warrant Officer forced Yo Ling to accelerate his plans and rush headlong into a disastrous death and defeat, while laying bare the corruption within the Merchant Council itself and leaving the city in control of the once impotent Magistrate who proved far more formidable than expected.

A most frustrating setback all things considered, especially considering how Falling Rain should have fallen under this Sovereign’s sway. A pawn turned against him by an Elemental Spirit no less, entities of power and Balance that even the Imperial Clan didn’t entirely understand. Add to this the Cloud Divinity’s interference preventing the savage tribal foreigners from breaking through the Northern Wall, and this Sovereign was forced to abandon the province and seek ingress elsewhere. He was met with similar failure in the South, where even centuries of planning were not enough to eke out a foothold in that most united of provinces, for their custom of venerating Spiritual Beasts made it all but impossible for this Sovereign’s puppets to rise to any position of high standing. This left him no choice but to focus all his efforts on the West, an outcome which was far from ideal, but it was his strongest base of power thanks to the unshakable position of the Mataram Clan.

A poor start to his plans to conquer the outer provinces, but he was too far gone to fall back. If this Sovereign were to do it all over again, he would have razed Sanshu to the ground and annexed Shen Mu instead, but how was he to know a single brat lacking hair on his chin would ruin all of his best laid plans? Sanshu was the far more valuable prize, the rice bowl of the North from which this Sovereign could destabilize the entire province and supply the West with much needed food and lumber, whereas Shen Mu was merely a gateway to the Northern Wall and therefore the second line of defense to overcome. When choosing a city to test the weapon crafted by the Canston Trading Group, Shen Mu had been the obvious choice, yet events since had proven that this Sovereign’s path to victory would have been laid bare had he chosen to obliterate Sanshu instead.

For then Falling Rain would have undoubtedly died in the ensuing chaos before ever familiarizing himself with his Elemental Spirit, and taking the outer provinces would have been as easy as plucking over-ripe apples from a branch.

There was still fortune to be found in disaster yet, as this Sovereign had found Insight and Inspiration in studying the boy’s most recent advancements, to say nothing of the ideas and innovations he championed as Legate of the Outer Provinces. The weapons of war alone would keep the Imperial Clan occupied for at least another century or two, for if left unchecked, the crossbows, catapults, and cannons would lead to rebellion and revolutions as the masses rose up in revolt against their overbearing overlords. To make matters worse, the rediscovery of poured stone meant building new fortresses was merely a matter of weeks, rather than years, which was the very reason why knowledge of it had been suppressed in the first place. Granted, widespread Runic Cannons would soon render traditional fortress walls moot and ineffective, which would further serve this Sovereign well in the years to come, for civil unrest and bloody insurrection were breeding grounds for Spectres and Demons alike. The so-called Defiled were of limited use, but gather enough droplets of water and a river would form, and the collective peasants of the Empire were an ocean of potential just waiting to be exploited.

Already, this Sovereign had the working outlines of countless tests to conduct and plans to set into motion, ones which would continue to destabilize the outer provinces and further his understanding of his most recent discoveries. No matter how dreary or tedious arranging the tests might be, the mere prospect of uncovering new information filled him with anticipation and longing, rare sensations to be savoured and relished given his extensive experience. The boy called him an eight-hundred-year-old monster, but this Sovereign’s lifespan was better measured in millennia than centuries, a secret known only to one other entity in existence and a secret he would keep for so long as he lived. This Sovereign had done more than bear witness to the rise of the Azure Empire, and he would have a hand in its fall as well, a dream which had been delayed thanks to Falling Rain’s insufferable interference, but not by long for reasons much the same.

No matter though. Two steps forward and one step back was still progress in the end, and this Sovereign was nothing if not patient. Eager too, for Falling Rain’s Path enabled him to carry out feats once previously believed to require the attainment of half-step Divinity at the bare minimum, meaning that the very foundation of the Dao as the Empire understood it was considerably flawed at best. Even the so-called Sword King Ryo Dae Jung had only just touched upon the secrets of Sword Intent, yet young Falling Rain had already successfully merged it within his Manifested Domain to strike down Surkithyr’s prized First Blade. Though admittedly a failure who had reached the pinnacle of his potential, the half-beast Junta had formed a bond with the Transcendent Spirit residing within his armour which brought him to the forefront of his peers in terms of defensive strength. Even a Peak Expert with the potential to reach Half-Step Divinity within a handful of years like Du Min Gyu had been unable to easily kill Junta, yet Falling Rain cut him down in an instant from three-hundred paces away, dealing a blow that neither half-beast nor Transcendent Spirit could sense or defend against.

So imagine what this Sovereign could do with only a hundred Falling Rains, true Cultivators of the Dao who wielded the power of a Divinity without the restrictions set upon them by the Heavens above. A goal which would be all too easy to accomplish if he had the boy in hand, for the boy’s soul possessed the unique ability to meld flawlessly with another’s and form a connection to the Dao itself. Bestowing Blessings was but the least of what one could accomplish with Falling Rain in hand, for his soul could guide this Sovereign steps along the Path to find the true pinnacle of mortal strength, and perhaps even carry him further beyond.

A result of bonding with an Elemental Spirit, or a rare quality of the boy himself? Difficult to say, but this Sovereign hungered for the truth.

These were merely the most valuable aspects of Falling Rain, to say nothing of his many seemingly miraculous discoveries of which there were almost too many to name. Honed Emotional Aura which he used to distract and dishearten, awakening Transcendent Spirits within his Spiritual Weapons which allowed them to attack and defend of their own volition, harnessing the Energy of the Heavens to guide the masses to Core Creation, the boy stumbled across answers to questions this Sovereign had once touched upon in the distant past. The foundational knowledge required to solve those problems had yet to be unearthed, so there was no sense digging aimlessly in hopes of striking gold, yet Falling Rain had done just that. This Sovereign would have counted himself lucky to have stumbled across success in any one of these areas over the last millennia, yet Falling Rain had accomplished all this and more with only a decade of practice. Without the benefit of guidance from his so-called patron no less, for contrary to what most believed, this Sovereign knew that even the Imperial Clan did not possess the answers provided by Falling Rain’s Path, meaning his progress had nothing to do with his Imperial Peerage whatsoever. No, if the Supreme Families had made such progress in this Sovereign’s absence, then there would have been strife and chaos aplenty in the Eastern Province, but as far as he could tell from his own sources and the schemes played out by the prospective heirs to the throne, the Imperial Clan was still bitterly embroiled in the same political infighting he'd left behind several millennia ago.

A battle against progress and innovation of all things, for those in power disliked change or any departure from the norm. As the saying went, better a bird in hand than two in the bush, so why make the effort to progress and risk being left behind? Such greed, such ignorance, to censure any and all developments which the Imperial Clan could not control, because they thought it better to wallow in mediocrity rather than aim for greater heights and risk crashing back down to the world below. They cared not for the glory of Heaven because they feared losing what they had on the earth below, like frogs sitting in a bucket and pretending it was a well because they were too afraid to venture beyond the confines of their current comfortable position.

Not this Sovereign however, but working apart from the Imperial Clan came at great cost, and not just personal. Though the true secret of his origins was known only to one other living being in existence, his methods and abilities were proof enough that his Path was part and parcel of the Imperial Clan’s. Rather than embark upon a new, untested, and likely inferior Path to hide his origins, he instead embraced them by hiding the truth with an all too obvious lie to keep others from looking too deeply into his persona as Zhen Shi the Uniter. To the outer provinces, he was a madman nicknamed ‘True Corpse’ who indulged in all manner of atrocities, but to the Imperial Clan, his name all but identified him as a disgraced Scion living in exile. A most useful cover all things considered, given how the names of all banished exiles were struck from record to hide the shame of the Imperial Clan, but it was not without its drawbacks. Even though this Sovereign was beyond the petty infighting of the Supreme Families, the ‘exiled’ Zhen Shi could hardly behave in so overbearing a manner lest it raise questions as to which of the Supreme Families was backing him and how much support they were willing to offer. In truth, even though they all suspected that he was a pawn of this family or the other, this Sovereign had no real support from within the Imperial Clan. A fact one enterprising Imperial Scion discovered all too easily, leaving ‘Zhen Shi’ no choice but to make a show of fealty to his new ‘sponsor’ or throw away all pretenses and engage in a battle he was not yet ready to take.

A mummer’s farce is what it was, a show for the masses to make them truly believe the Imperial Clan was embroiled within this conflict, one which cost this Sovereign the lives of five Half-Step Divinity Wraiths. Killing Yang Jixing hardly required so valuable an asset, one not easily replaced, and to make matters worse, this Sovereign had been unable to even see them at their full strength, for they’d been given express orders not to kill Shen Zhen Wu lest the fury of the Grand Marshal and Liang Family both fall upon him. In return, all he received was his new patron’s ‘magnanimous’ gratitude and a promise of support in the future should he ever wish to return to the Clan. Not as an Imperial Scion, but as an Oath-Bound slave, for they coveted his secrets and trusted him not one whit. A dilemma for which this Sovereign had no one to blame but himself, because he was still too weak to stand entirely apart from the five families and Imperial Clan, and could only be drawn into their games once more.

A game this Sovereign understood how to play better than even the Grand Marshal and Prime Minister both. The Supreme Families feared his half-step Divinity Wraiths would bring about an imbalance in power, and so they unanimously agreed to remove them from the board, for ‘Zhen Shi’s’ army could hardly be given free reign to run roughshod over the outer provinces. Had his half-step Divinity Wraiths not been discovered, this Sovereign could have used them to kill every Living Legend dispatched against him and perhaps even a Divinity or two should they be caught unawares. The siege of Shi Bei would have played out quite differently if Chen Hongji, Situ Nian Zu, and Baatar succumbed to a Wraith’s blade soon after the first Imperial ship weighed anchor in a western harbour. Falling Rain might well have died too, though even now, this Sovereign was loathe to kill the boy outright, for his Path and actions represented a treasure trove of knowledge that would forever change the Dao as the Imperial Clan perceived it.

Which was why this Sovereign had risked it all by sending the Phantom to end the boy’s life and deny him from the Imperial Clan.

A decision made against this Sovereign’s better judgement, and not solely because it ended in failure, but because in the short time since, he had already thought up a myriad of scenarios in which having the boy in hand would make his research so much easier. Alas, desire alone would not suffice for he lacked the strength to keep Falling Rain to himself, for the boy flew too high and shone too brightly. In a matter of hours, word of his exploits would reach the Emperor’s ears if they had not reached them already, for the Tian Family spies were everywhere and nothing if not his most loyal of subjects. Their obedience was born from necessity rather than actual devotion, for information was power and the Tian Family was by far the most powerful of all. The only reason the Emperor and the other four Families had yet to turn on the Tian Family was because they only ever traded in information and never acted upon it themselves, for even they dared not reach beyond their demesne. The Tian Family Patriarchs of every generation fancied themselves the puppet masters of the Imperial Clan, but they were little more than grovelling dogs seeking shelter behind the boots of their master, the Emperor himself.

And now, their little birds were racing back to the Eastern Province to bring word of Falling Rain’s most recent exploits, most notably his ability to negate Heaven’s Wrath and enable a Divinity to strike with full strength without destroying their immediate surroundings and rendering it uninhabitable for centuries to come.

This Sovereign had sent the Phantom to claim Falling Rain’s life in a moment of weakness. A desperate last act in hopes of killing the boy before his ability became widespread and rendered the Treaty null and void, for the fear of Heaven’s Wrath was the only thing keeping the Imperial Clan intact. Powerful though he might be, even the Emperor himself would be unable to keep the Supreme Families in check once their respective Divinities took to the field, for a being at the pinnacle of the mortal Path was capable of unleashing untold damage in the mere blink of an eye. So long as they cared not for the consequences, a single Divinity was more than enough to deal crippling damage to a Supreme Family, damage that would take decades, if not centuries to recover from. Then there were the ‘neutral’ Divinities to take into account, for though they lacked unity, they outnumbered the Divinities of the Empire by far, and might well splinter off into factions of their own to threaten the Emperor’s iron grip on the outer provinces.

Everything would soon change drastically for the worse once word of Falling Rain’s abilities spread, and to make matters worse, the boy had already taught his ability to the Old Wolf Calamity, an ancient Ancestral Beast with little to lose and strength enough to bring ruin to the entire Empire in a single night. Even this Sovereign would be reluctant to engage the Old Wolf in battle, to say nothing of the Cloud Divinity Taduk standing guard over Falling Rain, Healing the boy’s injuries while scanning the deserts of Shi Bei in search of this Sovereign’s location. Beneath the Medical Saint’s distracted, absent-minded façade lay a predator through and through, one who saw Falling Rain as his own flesh and blood and hungered for vengeance and retribution for what this Sovereign had done. There were five other Divinities standing alongside them, each one formidable enough in their own right, and while this Sovereign was more than capable of handling any one of them on their own, he lacked the confidence to escape unscathed should they ever join hands against him.

Burning rage and bitter indignation welled up from within, and this Sovereign took a moment to allow his emotions to wash over him. Oh how he yearned to strike the boy down, or better yet, mark his loved ones for death and laugh as his wives, parents, siblings, and comrades died one by one by one. That was the key to tormenting the boy, a truth this Sovereign learned firsthand after crafting a lifetime of nightmares for him within the landscape bordering the Void and Falling Rain’s Natal Palace. Even this Sovereign dared not claim to understand the facts as they were, for he only knew that dreams and nightmares transpired within a realm that transcended the boundaries of the mind and soul both, one in which he could exert influence upon the minds of mortals without trespassing upon their Domain.

And despite inflicting all manner of pain and suffering upon the boy within this nightmarish landscape, this Sovereign had been unable to break him. Instead, it was the death of his loved ones which broke Falling Rain in the end, and this Sovereign yearned to see the boy suffer in reality and break down once again. How sweet it would be to take his hand and force him to flay his father’s hide, or make him watch as his comrades took up blunt arms against one another and fought to a slow and arduous death. Though this Sovereign no longer craved the desires of flesh, he ached to see the boy’s rage and despair as he set all manner of brutes and beasts upon Falling Rain’s sister, mother, and wives, a show to be captured in memory and replayed time and time again within the boy’s mind. Once the boy’s loved ones were dead and gone, only then would this Sovereign press his blade to the boy’s flesh to show him the full breadth of ‘Zhen Shi’s’ abilities, ones which had been perfected over eight centuries of trial and error.

And when Falling Rain’s flesh could withstand no more, this Sovereign would claim his soul and store it within the golden robes of his Natal Palace, trapping it as he trapped the Spectres and tormented them without end.

Alas, all this would forever remain a dream and dream alone, for this Sovereign was no longer able to bear the price of keeping the boy alive. Nor could he afford to kill him either, not after losing two of his most prized pieces, not unless this Sovereign was willing to act and place himself at risk. Even then, there was no guarantee of success, not with the Cloud Divinity standing watch over Falling Rain, to say nothing of Old Wolf Calamity and the frighteningly destructive Ancestral Rabbit. Still, making an attempt on the boy’s life would be as easy as turning a hand for this Sovereign so long as he was willing to pay the price, but that would entail wholly abandoning everything he’d accomplished in the last eight centuries since taking up the mantle of ‘Zhen Shi’. Though this battle and the war itself was lost, there was still much to be salvaged from the outer provinces themselves, and not just here in the West, but if he were to reveal himself and strike down the insolent whelp, then this Sovereign would have no choice but to flee and hide for decades, if not centuries, to escape the Cloud Divinity’s reprisal. Young though he might be, this Sovereign suspected the half-hare was capable of becoming a calamity unto himself, especially given his superb mastery of his Blessing and ability to summon the rain and winds as he pleased. Thus far, the Cloud Divinity had only used his Blessing to passively support the Imperial Army while hindering the Defiled in an effort to skirt the Treaty, but that was likely to change if Falling Rain were to die by this Sovereign’s hand.

And yet, even after tallying the costs and assessing the grave risks, this Sovereign was still sorely tempted to act, and would have if cold logic did not dictate otherwise. Such was his Path to Balance, to indulge emotion but act only on logic alone, the Razor’s Edge he kept to for as long as he’d lived, and he would not deviate from it now, not when he was so close to success and advancement. Though marred by repeated failures, this foray into the Western Province had proven most fruitful for this Sovereign and well worth the cost so long as he put his remaining resources to good use. Capturing Falling Rain was impossible, and killing him a waste, for the Supreme Families and Emperor would all want the boy for themselves, meaning there was no need for this Sovereign to take direct action. The Liang Family would undoubtedly want to monopolize Falling Rain and had already taken several steps to do so, including introducing him to his future wife who would more firmly bind him to the Family than a mere Imperial Servant. How unfortunate for them that their investment would bear no fruit, because Falling Rain was a prize too valuable to keep to themselves. The other four Supreme Families would never stand for it, nor would the Emperor himself, though this Sovereign suspected the Emperor and Liang Family both had other plans.

Because Falling Rain was a prize well-worth abandoning the Empire itself.

Yes, this Sovereign could already see the moves being played out on the board, as four Supreme Families joined hands with the Emperor to take down the Liangs, while the Grand Marshal gathered his best and brightest to ensure they escaped with Falling Rain in hand. So long as they were able to uncover the secrets of his strength, then the prospect of vengeance in the future would never be far from hand. From there, it would become a race against time, one in which this Sovereign wholly expected to emerge victorious, for even without the boy in hand, he already had a sizable lead on his opponents, one which would only grow larger once he took the next step here in Shi Bei.

All this and more passed through this Sovereign’s mind in less time than it took to blink an eye, thousands upon thousands of threads of thoughts weaving together to form a tapestry of intent. Planning out his next actions would be pivotal for success, so he laid out every step from within his Natal Palace while in union with his body, mind, and soul. This was a key moment for this Sovereign and his Path, one which surpassed even his most recent Ascension to false Divinity some eight centuries ago and his unification with a Transcendent five centuries after. Both of those steps had been a mistake, this Sovereign saw this now, but after a thorough study of Falling Rain’s Path and witnessing the birth of a Transcendent Divinity in Meng Sha, he had all the answers he needed to set himself back upon the correct Path. The resources too, for the siege of Shi Bei saw the greatest gathering of Defiled forces and no small number of Imperial soldiers too, with millions upon millions of them dying in the last fifteen days. There was an energy to death, one which stood opposite to the power of life, and this Sovereign’s Transcendents and Spectres had been gathering the death energies in Shi Bei, energies he would now make use of to take the next step.

Whether it be the energy of life or death, neither one was wholly understood by anyone under Heaven, but if this Sovereign declared himself to be the second foremost expert on such matters, then no one would dare claim themselves the first. Not even the specialists of the Di Family could match his experience, and they toiled day and night to turn corpses into fertilizer and grow the necessary Spiritual Crops needed to sustain the Martial Warriors of the Imperial Clan. It was this mastery with which this Sovereign used to bond his frail mortal flesh with the timeless physique of a Transcendent, a dark, chitinous scorpion shaped creature that was full of fury and hatred. A seemingly prudent move at the time, for his flesh had reached the end of its days and starting anew in a different shell would have been a tedious and time-consuming affair, one he could not afford with success so close at hand. Even after careful preparation, it was always disorienting to take over a new host, and he would require care and protection for more than a decade as he grew from infant to adulthood while dedicating time to lay the foundation required to become a Divinity once more. If only it was possible to skip ahead and take over a fully grown human adult, but souls were eternal existences and not so easily overcome even when impaired by a newborn’s mind and body supporting it. Young Gen was a prime example of just how delicate the matter would be, but he was also a seedling so promising this Sovereign had no option but to try and seize the boy’s body for himself. Falling Rain was even more promising, but despite luring his soul away from his mind and body and trapping it within this Sovereign’s Natal Palace, he’d been unable to keep the boy’s soul from escaping in the end, a conflict which could have ended in disaster if the boy had instead challenged this Sovereign for control of his Natal Throne. Though there was no doubt in his mind that he would have emerged victorious in the end, for a contest of Wills within his Domain was hardly fair for the challenger, but even then, victory would not have come without cost.

If only the boy’s soul had remained distracted for a little longer yet, because a soul was far less formidable without a mind and body bound to it…

Alas, there was no cure for regret, and no benefit to be found in second-guessing past decisions, so this Sovereign focused on the present and future instead. Today, here in Shi Bei, he would leave behind the trappings of mortal flesh and Transcendent graft to be reborn anew, but first he needed to gather the energy required to do so. The Transcendent Divinity in Meng Sha had drawn upon the raw Energies of the Heavens to reshape its physical form, one which melded body, mind, and soul into a singular sublime vessel that could only be described as perfection itself. Not perfection in beauty, but perfection in utility, flawed and limited only because it had been built upon a crumbling foundation of broken faith and wild emotion. That would not be the case here, for though this Sovereign’s decisions had been guided by desperation, his actions were based in cold logic alone, and he would not allow the Heavens to take charge in his Ascendance. This meant supplying the Energy needed himself, while also taking the necessary risk of forging ahead on this new Path before further study, because if he were to delay now, then it might well be centuries before a second opportunity presented itself, centuries he could ill-afford to wait. Better to risk a flawed approach and commit to fixing his errors in the future so he could seize the upper hand for now. This would be his only advantage once the Imperial Clan got a hold of Falling Rain, the head start this Sovereign would need to stay ahead of the Emperor and one day topple him from his throne.

A lofty goal to hold onto, one which might well be millennia away for now, but a journey of a thousand leagues begins with but a single step, and this Sovereign was ready to take his.

Tapping into the Spirits trapped within his golden robes, this Sovereign gauged the reserves of energy gathered by his puppets and hoped it was enough for his purposes. Without the ability to measure Energy in all its different forms, this Sovereign had been unable to determine just how much he would need to complete his transformation, nor was he able to accurately calculate how much his Spectres and Transcendents had gathered. What he possessed appeared to be enough considering it seemed like more than what was used in the Transcendent Divinity’s Ascension, but that had been a flawed transformation in the end, meaning this Sovereign might well require more. For this reason, he continued to watch and wait as news of Bai Qi’s death spread across all of Shi Bei, a grievous blow to the morale of even the most crazed tribal or devout Chosen. It was so alarming that even this Sovereign’s first Disciple saw fit to contact him, but rather than give YuKon permission to withdraw his Clan from the fray, he commanded his Disciple to have the Mataram clansmen fight to the last, for their deaths would only further his cause.

The same order was passed along to every Chieftain, Champion, and Chosen Officer still standing, as this Sovereign used his shackled Transcendents as intermediaries to avoid being discovered. His expectations were low to begin with, but even then, his ‘conquering’ army managed to disappoint him as vast swathes of his soldiers sought to flee the battlefield, setting off a concatenation of events that resulted in a full-blown rout. Not the worst outcome, but far from the best, and this Sovereign could only console himself with the fact that Falling Rain was a bloodthirsty young man who jumped at the opportunity to run his enemies down from behind. Credit where it was due, Chen Hongji’s cavalry forces were mounted and readied even before the order was given, for the brilliant tactician had seen the writing on the wall and knew well what to do with this knowledge. Horses streamed out from the gates alongside a multitude of other diverse mounts, mostly rhinos and roosequins with a smattering of elephants and cattle as well as the odd bird, lizard, or what have you sprinkled alongside them. The death toll already numbered in the millions and continued to climb as the Imperial cavalry ran roughshod over their fleeing foes, and this Sovereign allowed himself a moment to taste the heady bloodlust and vulgar carnality which grew thick in the air. More evidence of the link between life and death, for in the process of dealing death, humans and beasts alike were driven by their instincts to create life as well, to fornicate and procreate in order to sustain the necessary Balance required of them.

Everything came back to Balance, a verifiable truth which helped rein this Sovereign’s own desires back in. Though he’d long since divested himself of such urges, he would be lying if he claimed to not miss the indulgence. A flash of Insight accompanied this seemingly inconsequential acknowledgement, one which brought him even closer to the Truth, for an emotion unexpressed would remain rooted in body, mind, and soul, only to be expressed in another, possibly detrimental manner. Better to retain the ability to express such urges and indulge within reason, which changed much of what he had planned regarding his next step, so he took the time to reconfigure his Intent to better match his new vision.

A process which took longer than expected, but in reality, less than a handful of minutes had passed, and the battlefield of Shi Bei was looking sparse and ruined indeed. The bulk of this Sovereign’s forces were well on their way past the horizon, while the Imperial cavalry was already circling about to deal with the stragglers left behind, as well as those Defiled who were too crazed or stupid to flee. A resounding Imperial victory all things considered, and this Sovereign could only begrudgingly admit admiration for his foes. Not just the outlier and anomaly Falling Rain, but those who supported him as well, like Chen Hongji, Situ Nian Zu, Akanai, and so many others who shouldered the weight of the Heavens and bought the boy enough time to bring yet another miracle into existence.

But even as the Imperial Army raised their voices in celebration, this Sovereign’s lips parted in a smile as he committed to the next step. The Energies of the Heavens surged and kicked like a wild stallion unwilling to be mounted, but he had no use for it just yet as he tapped into the vast reserves of death energy held by his army of enslaved Spectres and the liquefied remains of millions upon millions of corpses gathered by his Transcendents. With their souls shackled within his Natal Palace acting as a conduit, he drew upon everything they’d collected in these past fifteen days and more to fuel his impending Ascension, one which would surpass the Ascension of a Transcendent Divinity and bring this Sovereign to the pinnacle of mortal strength. Better if he could solve the riddle of how to progress beyond mere mortality, but better this than nothing at all, and even this much was already in defiance of natural law. Time was a luxury he could ill-afford, but he acted with care and deliberation before proceeding with each and every action lest he slip up and incur Heaven’s retribution, for he knew not what form it would take and had no intention of discovering this firsthand. As he broke down his mortal flesh alongside the grafted Transcendent, he let loose a scream of agony unlike anything ever heard before, for this was a pain that went beyond the mere activation of nerves and delved into the workings of the soul itself. Body, mind, and soul came together as he wove the material and immaterial into one, doing away with everything he’d built upon a flawed foundation and reducing himself to something weaker than a babe and less than a basic commoner.

Then, and only then, did he bring down the barriers between his soul and the Void, and for the first time in untold millennia, this Sovereign knew fear as the Spectres poured into his Natal Palace to devour everything within his Domain.

They’d been waiting there all along, hungry and eager for a taste of his soul, for he had kept them in check for far too long. Where the Imperial Clan and outer provinces saw the Spectres as a plague upon humanity, this Sovereign saw the potential hiding within. Disincarnate shards of severed souls, poisoned by Imbalance of emotion, the Spectres were capable of driving weak-willed mortals to madness, but poison and medicine often differed only by dosage. Alongside this poison came a connection with the Heavens themselves, and this Sovereign had used that connection to forge ever forward along his Path in centuries past. Even though his initial premise had been flawed, not all his subsequent conclusions were erroneous and unusable, and it was this knowledge which brought him to the cusp of his next step. Balance in all things, but this Sovereign had long since noted that Balance was often kept in check by natural extremes. Just as a forest fire cleared out old growth to make room for the new, an excess of Imbalance could bring about a return to Balance. This was why the Defiled indulged in bouts of murderous debauchery, because they were driven to their limits by the Spectres plaguing them, disincarnate souls seeking Balance through the only Path left to them. Balance through Imbalance, life found in death, dominance discovered through submission, and true victory obtained from surrender.

Alas, few possessed the strength of will to remain true to themselves whilst approaching the limits of human emotion. None thus far in all of human history, in fact, save for this Sovereign himself, as he would soon prove to the world and to himself.

The deluge of death energy was accompanied by a torrent of negative emotion as countless Spectres crashed into his soul and sought to tear him apart for succor. There he sat upon his Natal Throne, clad in his flowing golden robes like an Emperor in truth as the waves of emotions crashed into his psyche and threatened to capsize him beneath their dark intents, but he held the course and emerged from each wave stronger and more determined than before. The waves hammered into him and washed away the impurities of his body, mind, and soul, for they were all linked as one and inseparable from the whole. Every blow hammered into him and moulded his existence into a singular mass of thoughts, experiences, and emotions, a blank canvas upon which he would paint perfection to mark his first step along his new Path.

Through extreme Imbalance, he found True Balance, with Insight and Inspiration aplenty as he reforged himself anew, struggling against causality and the innate order of the world every step of the way. The Heavens fought against him for they knew his efforts would bring him one step closer to True Divinity, and thus one step closer to overturning them with his might, but this Sovereign refused to relent when he was so close to success. There were laws in place meant to keep him from achieving his goals, ones meant to restrict and bind him alongside all other mortals, but these laws held no sway here within his Domain, where his Will reigned supreme. For this, the Heavens sought to unmake him and reclaim their authority over him, to sabotage his endeavours and crush him beneath their weight, but even as the world itself turned against him, he held firm to his Intent to transcend the limits of this world and prepare for his Ascension to the next.

And when all was said and done, only a handful of seconds had passed, but as this Sovereign opened his new eyes to gaze upon the smooth, pale flesh of its unmarred body, he let loose with a laugh that rang all across Shi Bei and far across the desert sands. This body was perfection itself, not just in appearance, but in function as well, a finely-tuned construct powerful enough to contend with a Divinity through pure muscle alone. Beauty was subjective, but this body was without flaw and its features fully symmetric, resulting in an appearance that many would find attractive. At first glance, most would find it difficult to determine if this form was male or female by appearance, for his bald head and androgenous features were appealing to both genders. Earlier, he’d noted that one must indulge in order to be truly free of temptation, which was why he revised his plans to do away with his sexual organ and was even tempted to create a body with characteristics of both genders. Only then could he experience all the pleasures that life had to offer, but he’d been unable to work out how this could have been viably accomplished, so such modifications would have to wait until he possessed a better grasp of the Dao.

An indulgence for a different day however, a thought which this Sovereign placed aside as he rose through the sands and emerged within the city itself. His arrival did not go unnoticed, and he took great pleasure in the reactions of all who gazed upon perfection itself, with most showing signs of revulsion and captivation both as their feeble minds struggled to comprehend what they saw before them. It was not lust or affection which drew their eyes to him so, but the unconscious acceptance of this Sovereign’s superiority in all ways. Though still falling far short of a true Divinity, this Sovereign would soon ascend beyond the limits of a mere mortal, and thus, was best described as a nascent immortal, the very first of his kind in all history.

And as this Sovereign laid eyes upon his most hated foe, he considered his newfangled strength and re-calculated the odds in record time to discover that perhaps securing Falling Rain in hand would not be so impossible a feat. As an Immortal, he not only had access to the raw Energy of the Heavens as a Divinity would, but he also discovered that there was even more to the world than he previously understood, a higher power that went beyond even the Energy of the Heavens. This was Immortal Energy, something this Sovereign could only just barely perceive and lacked the ability to control, yet knowing it was there was more than enough. A vast reservoir of untouched potential, that’s what this Immortal Energy represented, the same energies which Falling Rain used to turn shards of his severed soul into an elixir for others.

An ability this Sovereign could eventually replicate, but why pay the cost when it could use Falling Rain’s soul instead? Even better if he could secure the boy’s soul in hand and leave the body and mind behind, leading others to believe the boy hale and healthy while this Sovereign unearthed his secrets in safety. An opportunity made possible because of the boy’s division of his soul, for this Sovereign could sense a second spirit inhabiting the boy’s Natal Palace, a Natal Soul possessing power enough to rival the boy’s eternal soul. This division left the boy weakened and vulnerable, for the body and mind were anchored to both souls and liable to release one in order to save the other, meaning this Sovereign could easily snatch up the true soul and leave behind an empty vessel to be occupied by the Natal Soul. Why, it might even thank this Sovereign for making freedom possible, though that might well change once it fell into the hands of the Imperial Clan, but this Sovereign will have already escaped with the true prize in hand.

From there, the possibilities were endless, for no Treaty could constrain an Immortal, and in time, this Sovereign was confident of bringing even the Emperor himself to his knees. It would only be a matter of centuries, or perhaps even decades given how much improved this Sovereign’s mind and soul had become, for once the boy’s secrets were extracted and deciphered, the Path forward would be made clear. The decision made, this Sovereign reached out to take Falling Rain’s soul in hand, only to draw back on instinct to catch a sword in mid-flight. Mere millimetres more and it would have driven itself into this Sovereign’s eye and brain, areas of weakness even this Immortal body could not avoid.

How curious. Did the boy pinpoint these weaknesses based on logic and facts, or was it merely habit which drew him to attack in such a manner?

No matter. Following on the heels of the boy’s attack was none other than the Old Wolf Calamity himself, and this Sovereign was eager to see how this newfangled body would hold up. So what if one of them lost control and brought Heaven’s Wrath down upon them? Much like the Old Wolf, this Sovereign no longer had anything to lose, and so much to gain from a conflict now that its forces were scattered to the winds. After today, this Sovereign would no longer be constrained by the red dust of the mortal world, for his sights were set far beyond.

Life and Death were only the beginning, and this Sovereign was eager to see what came next, just as soon as the Imperial Divinities in Shi Bei were dealt with and Falling Rain secured in hand.

Chapter Meme