There was no doubt to cloud this Sovereign’s mind, no incredulity or disbelief at how all this came to be, only a quiet admission of the truth as he gazed upon the horde of Spectres set loose within his soul.

Bristling with rage and indignation both, he knew he needed to act before it was too late, but still he hemmed and hawed whilst scouring his mind for a solution he knew did not exist. The path forward was clear, the best course of action laid out before him, and yet this Sovereign could not bring himself to do what needed to be done. Today was a day of calamitous misfortune, but until merely moments ago, he wholeheartedly believed that he’d gained more than he lost in spite of all his troubles and setbacks. Though he’d fallen far short of his goal to overthrow the Emperor, he’d gleaned much from the process itself, whether it be discerning the most effective tactics to make use of and the pitfalls to avoid in the future, or securing new information which illuminated his Path and brought him to new and dazzling heights. Once his gains were analyzed and consolidated, he would return in triumphant glory to take vengeance upon the outer provinces before sweeping through the Eastern Province to challenge the Emperor himself and topple him from his throne.

All of which would have held true had this Sovereign not overreached and captured Falling Rain in Shi Bei. A miscalculation on his part, but one for which he could not be blamed considering the facts supported his decisions at the time. Having the boy in hand to question and study would most certainly prove beneficial, and not just for the answers he might provide or the unique quality of his soul which enabled portions of it to merge with another person’s soul without resistance, an act which ran counter to the long-proven inviolability of the soul. The boy was a treasure trove of information and resources, but his true value lay in the fact that he was personally responsible for undoing so many of this Sovereign’s best laid plans. Thus, taking him prisoner to exact vengeance would do much to relieve this Sovereign’s frustrations and right the wrongs that fate itself had wrought upon him.

Except the machinations of Heaven ran deeper than this Sovereign ever expected, and Falling Rain far more dangerous than anyone could have ever guessed.

A handful of minutes. That’s how much time had passed since their departure from Shi Bei. Not a long stretch of time by any measure, and yet the tally of damages was staggering to behold. This Sovereign’s foundation had been shaken, his confidence and determination brought low, his understanding of the Dao overturned and his Dharmic Icon ruined beyond repair. Setback after setback, yet this was far from the worst of it, for as the swarm of vengeful Spectres descended upon him, he could not fathom how this most ill-fated of outcomes was even remotely possible.

The debacle of Sanshu? A confluence of chance and calamity that resulted in a most disastrous union of Devourer and Predator, one he was still paying the price for, yet only unlikely rather than impossible. The exposure of the Canston Trading Group? An unfortunate coincidence brought about by Falling Rain’s grudge against Zhu Changzui’s merchant company, one which forced this Sovereign to uproot his carefully-laid production-line meant to supply him with Death Energy, Spectres, Demons, and corpses alike. This denial of resources and study materials set back his plans to invade Central until the process could be reinstated here in the West, a delay which the outer provinces time enough to build a massive wall using their recent rediscovery of liquid stone. An outcome no one could have foreseen, but still conceivable and acceptable, for a Wall was only as strong as its weakest point.

The gas explosion in Sinuji. The ‘failed’ assassination attempt of Shen ZhenWu. The Storm over JiangHu. The actual failure to assassinate Falling Rain. The fall of Pan Si Xing. The debacle still unfolding in Shi Bei. A series of unfortunate events, each one stretching the limits of plausibility more and more whilst staying within the boundaries of the probable, but in the last day alone, this Sovereign had borne witness to Falling Rain unveiling more miracles than he cared to count. Negating the Wrath of Heaven? An impossible accomplishment, or so this Sovereign would have claimed until he saw it first-hand, a solution so simple it was a wonder he hadn’t come up with it centuries ago. The massive tidal wave was more believable, not something this Sovereign would have deemed impossible, merely exceedingly difficult for even a Peak Expert at the pinnacle of their strength, much less a boy as young as Falling Rain, but still within acceptable limits. Then there was the boy’s brilliant usage of Dharmic Icons, a seemingly endless array of nonsensical images, performances, and poems that he’d carefully prepared beforehand for some indiscernible reason. Again, not beyond the realms of possibilities, as there were a handful of conceivable reasons why the boy possessed the prudence and foresight to make such preparations. The Orated attack of despair and dejection? In light of the boy’s troubled past, this Sovereign could see why Falling Rain would harbour so much darkness within him, and it would also explain much regarding his Path, one which was neither wholly Defiled nor Imperial in outlook, but far more complete than even that of the Imperial Clan. This explained why he was capable of so much more than his peers, his strength, comprehension, and abilities all bolstered by his broader perspective of the Dao, which combined with the benefits received from his union with the Elemental Spirit ultimately resulted in a firm grasp of Sword Intent, among other things.

And yet all of those improbable achievements combined were not enough to explain Falling Rain’s most recent accomplishments over these last few minutes. With the young Ancestral Hare’s assistance, he discovered how to create Life Energy whilst on the brink of Death. An impossible feat for any mortal, or so this Sovereign believed, for he had long since concluded that the creation of Life and Death Energy was beyond even the reach of a nascent immortal like himself. False Divinities the world around struggled to control the Energy of the Heavens, which was categorically inferior to the Energy of Life and Death, so how could anybody reasonably expect for Falling Rain, a boy of twenty-one who technically had yet to meet the standards of a Peak Expert, to master this unfathomable power superior even to the power of Creation and Destruction both? Yes, Weapon Intents utilized a portion of Death Energy, for what was a weapon if not a tool to inflict death, but this was hardly equivalent to harnessing raw Death Energy. To claim otherwise would be outlandish, no different from handing someone a painting of food and expecting their hunger would be sated. Yes, mortals were capable of touching upon the Dao of Life and Death respectively, but only a true Divine Being, a Deity in every sense of the word, could possibly wield power over life and death itself. A mortal can kill, a mortal can give birth, but that was not the same as manifesting the very essence of death and life out of thin air, a feat Falling Rain readily demonstrated when he brought a dog into existence with his Will alone.

An unremarkable dog at that, a wrinkly, floppy-eared mutt of a hound with the most ungainly posture this Sovereign had ever seen, currently sitting in the sand with tongue hanging out and hind legs splayed out at a graceless and unpleasant angle. A flabby belly protruded out from between his hind legs, and his brown-furred skin hung loosely from his skin, while his panting mouth opened to reveal a set of crocked, rounded teeth and a subtle underbite that did nothing to detract from the dog’s endearing appearance. To think, this was the result of the first mortal’s foray into Life and Death itself, the power of a god used to create this creature of lacking purpose and adorable aesthetics.

Yes, the boy was right, his dog was cute, but what was the purpose of creating it? At least its existence explained why Falling Rain split his soul into two equal parts, Natal Souls notwithstanding, but it raised all sorts of questions in and of itself. Where did the dog’s soul come from? Was this a case of two souls inhabiting one body? Possible, but the boy never once displayed any canine like habits, or at least nothing that could be attributed to this substandard embodiment of a beast. Could it be a case of extreme disassociation, wherein the boy believed he was a dog in a past life? If so, this raised even more questions given Falling Rain’s exceptional discipline and intelligence, qualities which again could not be seen in his dog.

This was without even getting into the specifics of how the boy produced this newfangled Spiritual Beast from out of thin air, without the use of any physical material to help matters along. Yes, it was theoretically possible to use the Energy of the Heavens to grow flesh and bone, but it was so much easier to use more readily available energies derived from food or other organic matter. That’s why the Transcendents required corpses to fuel their transformations, because even the Spectres were incapable of sustaining the complex and demanding process of turning the immaterial material, much less into the complex tissues and organs of a living, breathing body. Which was another point of contention, because how was this Sovereign supposed to accept that Falling Rain was also a master of canine anatomy? One could not Heal a human limb without a thorough understanding of the human body, and most Healers required close to a decade of study before being declared competent in their own right, which was the bare minimum. Yes, the discovery of Panacea greatly lessened the requirements, but it was too much of a leap in logic to expect Panacea to create an entire dog from nothing, especially one as unique as Falling Rain’s ‘Buddy’.

A most perplexing puzzle indeed, one far beyond anything this Sovereign had seen before, but he believed he would have his answers soon enough so long as he had the boy in hand. That was all the motivation he’d needed to put his curiosity aside and beat the boy into submission, especially after losing a foot to his glaive. Never in a million years would this Sovereign grow tired of the all too satisfying sensation of hammering his fists into the boy’s flesh, to feel his muscles give and bones break time and time again. A most stubborn and tenacious little savage, silent throughout the entire ordeal, but his silence would only make it that much sweeter when he finally gave voice to his suffering. The boy came so close to despair after realizing all his efforts were wasted creating a dog who refused to fight, a stupid, worthless Spiritual Beast who simply sat and watched while his creator was pummeled about. Beaten and broken, the boy endured until he could do naught but hang in this Sovereign’s grasp while fighting to draw breath, and it was only by the slimmest of margins that he survived to do just that, for throughout this all, the Spectres were urging this Sovereign to strip his most hated foe of all his flesh and dine upon his inner organs while he watched.

A result of the blow dealt to this Sovereign’s foundation by the boy’s Orated attack of despair, but the Razor’s Edge saw him through this tribulation unscathed. Mending this wound would be a long and arduous process, but once past the initial shock and surprise, this Sovereign was able to easily ignore the Spectres’ whispered lies and bind them to his soul and Dharmic Icon once more, the robes he spent so many centuries instilling with meaning and significance, both conscious and unconscious alike. Yet another setback, the price paid for greed and hubris, but with Falling Rain in hand, the time spent in recovery would be fruitful indeed for there would be answers aplenty to analyze and decipher, bringing this Sovereign to new heights upon his Path.

Success was so close to hand, and yet this Sovereign made no move to secure his prize just yet, for he was still struggling for control against the Spectres within his soul. This brief moment of distraction gave Falling Rain time enough to slip free of his mortal trappings and willingly step foot within this Sovereign’s Natal Palace. A most unexpected turn of events, one he celebrated as he bound the intruding soul in chains of Will and Intent, for here within his Natal Palace, this Sovereign’s Authority superseded all else. Here, Falling Rain was as helpless as any Spectre without the assistance of a shared goal, meaning it would be far easier to extract answers and soul matter now that he’d voluntarily placed himself upon the chopping block, helpless to do naught but bow before this Sovereign’s Authority.

Or that’s how events should have unfolded had the boy not defied Natural Law to overrule Heaven and this Sovereign’s Authority in one fell swoop. The boy even admitted as much as he severed this Sovereign’s bonds with little more than a thought and Manifested his Domain within another’s. “My Domain exists wherever my Sword can reach,” the boy had declared, and coupled with this Sovereign’s earlier evaluation regarding his Void Sword Intent, this made for a most chilling assertation indeed.

There was no sense deliberating about the future however, because while the boy possessed extraordinary potential, his current strength was already more than enough to threaten this Sovereign’s existence. A truth he’d denied for too long, believing himself superior to this savage runt in all ways, holding firm to the belief that this Sovereign’s victory was all but assured so long as Falling Rain was denied the time needed to grow into a threat. Alas, the facts showed that the boy was already a threat, one which continued to grow stronger with each passing exchange as he progressed by leaps and bounds since regaining consciousness in Meng Sha earlier today. As the dark cloud of screaming Spectres descended upon him, this Sovereign let loose a sigh of regret and self-deprecation as he reflected on how this came to pass.

All his studies since time immemorial had revealed to him the potential power the Spectres possessed, and it was this power he would use to overthrow the Emperor. At first, they played the role of his eyes and ears, enabling him to partake in the innermost thoughts and desires of the prey those Spectres touched upon. It wasn’t as clear and distinct as reading their thoughts, but it was enough to give this Sovereign a glimpse into his target’s psyche, to say nothing of the actual words and documents seen by the Spectres as they passed. Then he learned how to sever portions of his Transcendents’ souls to keep for himself, or more specifically, portions of their hosts’ souls, which in this Sovereign’s hands, enabled him to threaten his Transcendents with death and submission should they refuse to heed his commands. The Spectres were madness made manifest, itinerant shards of souls represented the sum total of his life’s achievements, the foundation upon which he built all his strength and control, and the means through which he would topple the dog Emperor from his throne.

But now, even this was denied him, for without his golden robes to bolster his Will and determination, he no longer possessed the ability to subdue them, nor the courage to ever try again.

Because if Falling Rain could intrude upon this Sovereign’s Natal Palace unimpeded and deal so grievous a blow to his Dharmic Icon, then who was to say the Emperor or someone else could not do the same? This information alone was enough to ruin this Sovereign, for never again would he have confidence enough to imprison any Spectres within his soul, for his safety could no longer be guaranteed. Even the mere thought of allowing them into his Natal Palace was enough to fill him with fear and apprehension aplenty, for he walked the Razor’s Edge, where even a single errant thought might well be enough to send him plummeting into Imbalance, so without absolute control over the Spectres, he no longer dared heed their whispers much less allow them access into his soul.

Meaning that from this day forward, the power of the Spectres would forever be denied him.

A single blow of Sword Intent was all it took to undo his life’s work. Not just the last eight-hundred years of planning, but his entire life, spanning back untold millennia to a time before the founding of the Azure Empire. These were the facts laid out before him, the undeniable truth which he could only accept. Incredulity turned to denial, which in turn spawned grief and resignation as this Sovereign struggled to come to grips with the truth. This tribal child had simply waltzed into his demesne, the inner sanctuary nestled within deepest recesses of his eternal soul, and rejected his Authority in favour of his own in a direct transgression against Natural Law. Wielding the power of his own Will and Authority, Falling Rain made a single move and shattered this Sovereign’s carefully crafted Dharmic Icon, ruining its significance so thoroughly that it could never be used again.

It should not have been possible, and yet, here this Sovereign stood, facing down the same Spectres he once ruled over as master and commander both. Fear and regret welled up from within as the Spectres converged upon him with fangs bared and claws brandished, his most familiar weapons now turned against him. A moment longer and they would crash headlong into him, shredding his eternal soul to pieces and feasting upon his life’s experiences before drinking deep of his memories and emotions in order to better turn him to their cause. Even with inescapable death or oblivion converging upon him however, he still clung fast to hope and sought to uncover a solution to all his woes, some miracle of the Heavens that would allow him to subdue the Spectres once more, some means to grant him control without being affected by their insidious influence, for he could not bear to throw away his life’s work. If he gave them up now, then he would never control them again, because then the seed of doubt planted by Falling Rain’s Orated attack would blossom and take root within this Sovereign’s soul, never to be removed again.

If only he’d killed the boy outright, slaughtered him where he stood in Shi Bei, Meng Sha, JiangHu, Sinuji, Nan Ping, or even as far back as Sanshu. So many missed opportunities to avoid this most distressing outcome, for without the Spectres, all of this Sovereign’s accrued knowledge was worthless. There would be no more charmed Defiled or loyal Wraiths, no more Transcendents to control, Ascended, Divinity, or otherwise. No more whispered temptations or crafted illusions to turn mortals and Divinities to his cause. No more Insight found in the depths of depravity. No more mass-produced Runic Armour or Spiritual Weapons crafted from mundane materials and powered by an infusion of Spectres. So what if this Sovereign had Falling Rain in hand? Without the Spectres, he was a man alone in his war against the dog Emperor, a single, solitary existence arrayed against the outer provinces and Imperial Clan both, so no matter how powerful this Sovereign might become, he was still merely one man, and two hands were incapable of blocking a million swords.

Alas, there was no cure for regret, no second chance to act, so with no other options left to him, this Sovereign steeled his Will and expelled the Spectres from his soul only moments before they consumed him. It was as simple as turning a hand for a man who kept to the Razor’s Edge for so many millennia, and yet it was simultaneously the most difficult thing this Sovereign had ever done. With this one, single act of rejection, he had forever closed off his Path, leaving him no choice but to start anew and find a new Path to the Peak, a new Dao to believe and draw strength from. Grief turned to anger as his eyes refocused in reality to find a Healed Falling Rain seated in the sands with his dog, no doubt expecting to see this Sovereign falter and fall, to give into the weight of emotion and succumb to the divided Will of the Spectres.

Instead, he charged forth to grab the boy by the throat and dragged him through the sands, all the while pummeling his face until the smug, self-satisfied smile slipped away to reveal a jagged mess of bloody and broken teeth once more. “Foolish worm,” this Sovereign screamed, his rage and fury threatening to consume him, but he held fast to the Razor’s Edge and allowed the escaped Spectres no purchase into his soul, nor would he allow them to draw close to be Devoured by Falling Rain. “You thought this Sovereign weak and timid like you? That this Sovereign would succumb to the weight of his Spectres? I have lived through countless lifetimes, have known adversity and suffering the likes of which you can only imagine, have eaten more salt than you have grains of rice –”

“That doesn’t make sense at all.” Interrupting this Sovereign mid-rant, the boy chuckled and said, “Of course you’ve eaten more salt. A pinch probably has more grains of salt than a bowl has grains of rice, so how difficult could – ”

Slamming the insolent child into the sands once more, this Sovereign beat him soundly until he felt the boy’s Domain Plated Defenses give way. The superlative Water Deflection remained, but even the measly one-percent of this Sovereign’s strength that made it through was enough to cause the boy grievous injuries, leaving him a mess of bloodied bruises and broken bones that he immediately set to Healing. Unfathomable is what it was, for any man to be so enduring, able to recover from anything short of death even whilst unconscious, and this Sovereign’s chest heaved and burned as he dug his fingers into the boy’s flesh and ripped out a tendon. The pain and shock woke him with a gasp, but this Sovereign was not satisfied with his suffering, for this pain was too fast and too abrupt to truly settle in. Unfortunately it would have to do, for without the Spectres chained fast to his soul, this Sovereign could no longer keep track of the Rabbit and Hare Divinities as they battled against an unleashed Gen and Goujian, much less Scry upon the happenings in Shi Bei. The loss of his near-omniscient awareness left him feeling lost and exposed, blinded by the too bright light and deafened by the resounding silence left in the wake of the Spectres enforced absence.

Which was why it took so long to realize that the Spectres were no longer assaulting him from all sides, and in fact nowhere to be found at all.

Panicked and confused, he reviewed his memories and studied the boy before letting loose with a sigh, for he confirmed that there was no way Falling Rain could’ve Devoured the Spectres. This Sovereign would’ve seen it, sensed it, and killed the boy immediately before he could do anything about it. He should kill him regardless, for there were too many mysteries about Falling Rain to leave anything to chance, but bereft of the Spectres, this Sovereign was unwilling to give up so promising a prize even if he was at a loss on how to control it. Of course, the mystery of the Spectres’ absence was still yet unsolved, but even as this Sovereign theorized that they’d fled to escape capture or Cleansing, he froze in place as he spotted the boy’s Spiritual Dog snapping at empty air and gobbling it down, only to open his jaws once again to reveal a gullet full of half-Cleansed Spectres.

…

The Predator! “No!” he screamed, abandoning Falling Rain to kill the Spiritual Dog before it could act, but it darted away with a full-bodied sprint that left this Sovereign spitting out sand. Already well over a kilometre away, the dog glanced back with wide-eyed fear whilst circling about, unwilling to move too far from his master yet deathly afraid of this Sovereign’s presence. Huffing with rage and indignation, he let loose with a scream that shook the skies before setting off after the dog once more, but the beast was too skittish and wily to allow itself to be caught. It wasn’t that the dog was too fast, but not only was this Sovereign missing a foot, every time he drew close to the mutt, he would turn sharply and disappear from sight, hidden from eyes and Spiritual Senses alike for a fraction of a moment. Short and brief though this disappearing act might be, it was enough to see the dog safely away in a seemingly random direction, and this Sovereign was clueless on how to counter it. This wasn’t Concealment and Cloud-Stepping away, for the dog ran across the sands propelled by some invisible force that allowed him to twist and turn about without losing speed or momentum, one that also obscured his position in some unknown manner.

After running about for all of eight seconds and avoiding no less than a hundred and nine attempts to grab him, the dog even found confidence enough to stop and look back with tongue hanging out and tail a-wagging as if this were all some sort of game. The beast was still wary, but he was enjoying the chase, unwilling to fight but more than happy to run about the sands all day. This Sovereign had dismissed the dog as nothing more than a failure on Falling Rain’s part, but now he understood the full breadth of what had taken place. The dog was the Elemental Spirit of Water made manifest, though why it would take so scruffy a form was a mystery to be sure. Likely Falling Rain’s influence that, but how did he manage to confer thoughts and emotions to an inhuman Spiritual entity?

A wheezing laugh snapped this Sovereign out of his thoughts as he turned to see the boy sit upright, and only then did he realize the chase had brought them back. Still battered and wounded but mended enough to speak and too stupid to keep silent, Falling Rain spit out several broken teeth and spoke with a slurred lisp. “Yea, good luck catching Buddy when he doesn’t want to be caught,” he began, brimming with the pride and joy of a father boasting about his son. “Tag is his favourite game, so unless you have a… something edible in hand, he’ll run for as long as you chase him.” Just as this Sovereign was about to snap, the boy’s eyes proceeded to widen in shock and horror as he screamed, “Buddy no!”

Glancing at the dog on reflex, this Sovereign cursed his lacking perceptions, for there was a time when the Spectres would have informed him of everything occurring all around him. Now though, this dearth of information left him starving for more, and he didn’t even think to guard against the boy before turning away, a move which might well prove disastrous. The boy’s sword and shield were still missing and out of sight, and his glaive was close to hand, but even as this Sovereign sought to turn back to the boy, he saw something that stopped him in his tracks. This was no ruse, for the dog was indeed up to something, having moved away from where this Sovereign last saw him with tail no longer wagging. Instead, the beast stood guarded and vigilant as he turned away from the boy and this Sovereign both while keeping them within his line of sight. The beast’s cagey behaviour was easily explained, for he sought to slink off in search of safety and privacy to consume his prize, this Sovereign’s severed foot which the dog held clamped between his jaws.

“Bad Buddy!” the boy declared, and the dog flinched as if wounded, but growled and sped up in preparation of escape. “Drop it! That’s disgusting. Buddy?! Don’t you walk away from me. You put that foot down right now!”

The dog paid the boy no mind and continued to move away, but as this Sovereign was overwrought with fury and moved but a single step, the beast fled in a panic whilst gobbling down the errant extremity in the blink of an eye. He didn’t so much chew the foot as dissolve it within his mouth, the flesh, blood, and bones melting into a refined liquid similar to how Transcendents processed corpses, a sight which enraged this Sovereign to no end. Reattaching the foot would’ve taken seconds, if that, but regrowing it would require hours of quiet concentration, hours he could not afford to spare anytime in the near future. First the boy, and now the beast, this lack of respect would not stand, and he swore to make them pay for their grievous contempt even if it was the last thing he did.

Starting with the boy, of course, for he was still the more dangerous of the two, though an Elemental Spirit given form was also a formidable threat, albeit one that had yet to display any actual strength. Time was of the essence however, so this Sovereign Cloud-Stepped over to Falling Rain and closed his hand around the boy’s right arm. Tearing the limb clean out of its socket, he was rewarded with a sharp scream of agony that echoed through the desert sands, and this Sovereign savoured it like a fine, aged wine that left him yearning for more. Perhaps he would feed this limb to the dog in an effort to tame the beast as it trailed behind, a most fitting fate for the damnable brat who closed off this Sovereign’s Path. Thankfully, all roads lead to the Dao, so even if he had to start from the beginning all over again, he believed he would make his way back to the peak in no time at all.

Or so this Sovereign hoped, for even with Falling Rain in hand, what remained of his lacking confidence threatened to crumble away with the wind. Trials and tribulations abound, but he would face them as he always did, one step at a time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stupid dog. Stupid Zhen Shi. Stupid Heavens, and stupid me.

Why did I have to go and open my mouth? Why didn’t I keep quiet and Heal to full before poking the bear? Why didn’t I just let Buddy eat the stinky foot and watch Zhen Shi instead? Why am I even here? I’m so tired. Everything hurts. I’m still clinging to hope, but what more can I do? I’ve given it my all, and what do I have to show for it? Well, aside from the massive bodily trauma, my dog, so totes werf I guess, but seriously, where do I go from here?

The quiet part of my brain tells me that all my blood-loss has sent me into shock, even though I’ve been making Panacea non-stop since all this started. It’s possible that my blood sugar is dangerously low too, not to mention all the fat reserves I don’t have that were consumed by repeated bouts of Healing. Long story short, it’s all I can do to keep my eyes open as Zhen Shi Cloud-Steps across the desert, moving quickly yet stopping every now and then to make sure Buddy is still following. My sweet doggo is a cowardly beast, but loyal to the extreme, and even though he knows he can’t fight Zhen Shi, he’s following him through the desert and barking up a storm in demand that he give me back. Poor Buddy, he sounds so frantic and distraught, his booming barks turning into whining yips as we move ever westward across the province.

Every now and then, Zhen Shi takes the time to inflict some new injury upon me, whether it be to tear a tendon or break a bone, rip an ear off or pluck and eye out. It’s always something along those lines, and each pause sends fresh waves of agony coursing through me, but then it is over and done with. My calm compliance and lack of reaction only serves to further enrage my captor, but I suspect it’s also the only reason why Pong Pong has yet to act. His worries grow as Buddy inches ever closer to his quarry, lured into complacency like the dumb dog he is and kept back only due to Pong Pong’s warnings. Try as I might, I cannot convince the turtle to escape while he can, to take Buddy and flee east to safety, but the Divine Turtle simply ignores my warnings and radiates a sense of calm patience overlaid a foundation of endless anxiety.

“Don’t be scared,” the tiny turtle tells me, while worrying about every goddamn thing ever. That’s all there is, no reassurance, no explanation, just a simple statement to stop being so terrified and just be anxious instead. Not sure if that helps, and it’s not easy to accomplish either, but I can sort of see where he’s coming from, since there is nothing to be gained from fear. I call Pong Pong cowardly, but that’s not really true. He’s not afraid of anything, but he’s cautious about everything, because he knows the world is full of danger and there’s no safety to be found. This is the life he lived out in the Azure Sea, one of prolonged menace and insecurity followed by fleeting moments of calm and quiet, but never any actual safety. Never let your guard down, that is the law of the wilds, but conversely, this means you cannot let your fear control you, because it will only get in the way of survival.

A lesson I still have yet to learn, and one I fear I will struggle with for all my life, because unlike Pong Pong, I am a cowardly man who is afraid all the time. There’s nothing I can do to change this, but I can face my fears and overcome them for now, which means I need to stop and take a deep breath so I can start working on a plan.

Good air in.

Bad air out.

What are my options?

…

Fuck all, that’s what. I’m doomed. Good talk, me. Thanks, me. You’re doing terrible. You too. Way to go, us!

Buddy’s pitiable mewlings turn aggressive once more as he grows angry at Zhen Shi’s lack of compliance, but there’s nothing my sweet dog can do. Forget fighting Zhen Shi, I doubt Buddy could beat Mama Bun in a rough and tumble fight, because he is a sweet, lovable darling who’s never had to struggle for anything in his life. In contrast, Mama Bun is from the streets, a bad bitch who ain’t scared of nothin’ as evidenced by her calm and placid demeanour as she floats atop her invisible Manifested raft and enjoys the breeze bringing all manner of scents to her sensitive nose.

The raft. Huh. I didn’t have the time to think about it before, but how is Mama Bun’s raft keeping up? My Guided Weapons are a full half-second behind, and lagging even further with every passing moment, and while earlier, I would’ve been at a loss on how to explain this, my recently empowered Spiritual Senses enable me to really feel the flow of Chi and Heavenly Energy. With Peace, Tranquility, and Unity their movements are independent of my own and unable to keep up, but Mama Bun’s raft is clearly tethered to my physical body. When I go high, Mama Bun’s raft rises along with me, and when I go low, so too does she, as if her raft were connected to the back of my waist and floating atop a current flowing out from it. She’s even bobbing up and down like she’s actually on water, which leads me to believe that I’m Manifesting more than just the raft itself, but also the hypothetical current underneath it.

And why is this important? Honestly, I didn’t think it was. I just got lost in seeing how adorable my sweet bun-bun is, though I admit the lack of blood does have me feeling a little loopy. That being said however, these idle musings remind me of a weapon I have yet to use, that of the Blessing of Water.

Mostly because I have no fucking idea how to use it, but as I gaze upon Mama Bun floating along on her raft, there’s an underlying logic to it all which I somehow understand. Same as the invisible raft which only I can see, there is also water flowing along in a current to buoy the raft along. The current shifts to keep up, even moving Mama Bun out of the way whenever I attack or am attacked in kind, an ebb and flow dedicated to keeping her safe and afloat which I have been maintaining all this time. Not with the use of another Natal Soul, but through instinct and intuition alone, an intuitive understanding I previously attributed to the Warrior, and the Warrior alone.

But I am not some foreign invader, here to take over a natural soul. I am no Spectre or body snatcher, no man out of time or fish out of water. I am Rayne and Amigui both, a native of this world in this life as much as I am a denizen of the other world, with no distinction between the two. The same goes for my other aspects, like the memester personality that can’t take anything seriously, the die-hard science-minded idiot that refuses to believe in magic, and the Warrior who cares not for logic so long as something is useful. I am all these things and more, a frustrating tangle of contradictions that somehow all exist without conflict, because I am a very broken and complicated man.

And as Zhen Shi carries me away to certain doom, I indulge the one trait my myriad of personalities all share, the love of floof. Watching Mama Bun float along behind me, I swoon at the sight of her adorable snoot, while simultaneously realizing exactly why I Awakened to the Blessing of Water instead of something cool and useful like Fire or Lightning. I’ve touched upon it before, but the other three Primal Elements just don’t make any sense. Fire, Earth, and Air, totally normal and ordinary aspects that are present throughout the entire world, and life as we know it would not exist without them. With the addition of Water, I now understand that the four Primal Elements are not actually indicative of the elements themselves, but rather a subset of foundational forces upon which the entire universe is built upon, as I saw firsthand during Buddy’s nativity process, even if that was well beyond my meagre level of comprehension. Either way, I know that these fundamental forces are each associated with a basic Chi skill. Honing and Amplification for Fire, Reinforcement and Stability for Earth, Lightening and Guiding for Air, and Deflection and Resonance for Water.

Totally makes sense sorta, and I know all of this now, but at the time of my first and second Awakening, I didn’t know shit. I didn’t even know what a Blessing was, or what I could grasp from it, but I did have some smattering of memories from my past life which told me this four-element system sounds like complete bullshit. I mean, think about it from a scientific perspective. Elements. Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water, none of these things are actually elements. Earth? That’s a catch-all term for dirt, which is just an accumulation of particulates comprised of decomposed plant matter and ground up rocks, among other minerals and shit. Literal shit, mind you, like the stuff Taddy flings around in his herb garden, so how can ‘earth’ be an element, much less something I want to control? I ain’t no shit-bender, nuh-uh. Air’s the same way, a mixture of gases that make up the world’s atmosphere, with wind merely being the movement of air from low pressure to high. Air is comprised of elements, like Oxygen, Nitrogen, and other stuff, but Air itself is not an Element, so why would I want the power of gaseous elements? What good is that? I need the Blessing of Pressure to control gases, otherwise I might as well just fart and pray that either the stink kills all my enemies, or the sound renders them unable to fight because they’re too busy laughing their asses off. As for Fire? Bitch, that’s a reaction, not even a physical thing, but what happens when other physical things get too fucking hot and excited. Rub two sticks together, and behold, the power of fire, wooooooo.

So of course my ignorant self Awakened to the Blessing of Water. Sure, water itself isn’t an element per-se, but at least I can name the elements a molecule of water is comprised up of, namely Hydrogen and Oxygen. This isn’t to say that I Awakened to the Blessing of two Hydrogen and one Oxygen molecule when covalently bonded in a liquid form, but rather I chose the Blessing of Water because I am sad, sorry sack of shit who loves to be miserable and needs to follow his own internal logic no matter how stupid and twisted it might be.

Was. I was all those things, but not anymore. I love my life now, and would like to no longer be miserable, so it’s high time I learn to love myself, no matter how much of an asshole I might be.

This latest self-discovery is an enlightening one indeed, because now I know my subconscious mind refused to accept any other Element because I couldn’t make sense of it all. The thing is, now that I know the problem, I’m able to draw parallels to another obstacle I encountered along my Path, namely my inability to consciously Guide my Weapons. That all went away once I learned to ignore my neuroses and just let it happen. Flying sword go brrr, and with the sacrifice of three Natal Souls who have since become Weapons Spirits, I can control Peace, Tranquility, and Unity like my own two hands. I am the Weapon, the Weapon is me, but the same concept applies to my Blessing of Water.

I am the Water, the Water is me.

Chi, Heavenly Energy, Chi Tea, Water Chi, the simple made complex, because it’s all energy in the end, yet this is not all there is to my strength. In order to rouse myself from my latest coma, I opened myself to the Void and proceeded along the next step of my Path. Others might claim I Shattered the Void, and in a way, I did, but I consciously refused to follow through and bathe myself in the powers of Creation and Destruction both. Had I done so, I would have been able to wholly Refine my body, mind, and soul to merge the physical and metaphysical both, but I stopped just short of this pivotal milestone because I wholeheartedly believed it was not the right solution to a problem I still don’t entirely understand. What’s more, I had no need to take this erroneous step, so why would I? A false Divinity is powerful yes, but still false all the same, and I’m the kind of person who doesn’t like to do things by half-measures.

That being said, whilst I have yet to wholly Refine my body, I still possess power comparable to a false Divinity, for I am infinitely close to their level without actually arriving at it. I am far less durable, but in terms of damage, I can dish it out better than most, a tried-and-true glass cannon to the end. Why is this important? It isn’t, save to highlight the fact that I am not weak. Far from it, I am strong as fuck, the only person under Divinity capable of killing one with ease, for my Sword Force is formidable indeed. More to the point, much like any Divinity, I am capable of subconsciously and unconsciously utilizing the raw Energy of the Heavens. Technically, everyone is capable of this, else regular adults wouldn’t be regrowing their teeth all the time, but the Heavens are far more willing to bend to my whims, though not quite as willing as when it comes to a Divinity.

I didn’t want to put Mama Bun down to fight, but I knew I needed to if I wanted to stay alive, and the Heavens set out to accommodate me. My Domain Materialized without interference from Natural Law, and now my sweet bunny is bobbing along behind me atop an invisible raft sailing upon invisible currents, all because I unwittingly made it happen.

So imagine what I could do if I really set my mind and Will to it.

Closing my eyes, I draw in another breath and ignore the pains of my battered body. What greets me is not the darkness of the Void, the endless nothingness that exists alongside reality, but merely the darkness behind my eyelids as I focus on my Spiritual Senses at the expense of all else. My Domain billows out, surrounding and engulfing me in its protective embrace, while avoiding Zhen Shi and his Domain to keep him unawares. Some working of Concealment and several other forces I cannot identify, something I learned from watching Buddy lead Zhen Shi on a merry chase, but the specifics are not important right now, only the outcome. Slowly, but surely, I connect with the invisible current carrying Mama Bun’s raft along, and I expand it all around me. Here and now, as my body is being carried away in Zhen Shi’s steely grasp, my soul floats within my Natal Sea, the same body of water I brought Buddy, Ping Ping, Pong Pong, Mama Bun, and Lin-Lin to play in so many nights over the last few months.

For though the Void was Shattered, my Natal Palace still remains, there, but not there, here, but not here. I am the Sea, the Sea is Me.

Slowly but surely, my Natal Sea materializes around my physical body, the immaterial made material. Putting to use everything I’ve learned in my twenty-odd years in this world and the indeterminate amount of time from my past life, I slowly but surely build up my strength for one decisive attack, Amplifying and Resonating the force flowing through my left arm and allowing it to grow exponentially until I can no longer Conceal it.

But by the time Zhen Shi notices, he barely has time to widen his eyes in alarm as I hammer home the mother of all Mountain Collapsing Strikes directly into his liver.

The Movement comes so naturally, Amplified, Stabilized, Resonated, and more. The Energy of the Heavens flows through my Spiritual System and out my fist just as it connects with my foe, erupting in an explosive blow that sends him flying away. An invisible, Materialized current of Water Chi surges forth to seize my detached arm, ripping it out of Zhen Shi’s grasp as his expression goes ugly with agony and hatred both. Calmly affixing the loose arm to the socket it was torn from, I set to Healing even as I retreat upon a current of water towards my doggo who I sweep up along the way, because though I am willing to fight to the death, discretion is the better part of valour.

I’ve been lucky enough to survive this long, so there is no sense in tempting fate, but as Zhen Shi roars in fury and takes up the pursuit, there is no fear in my heart, no dismay to be felt, only a quiet calm and simmering rage that yearns to pay him back in kind as I familiarize myself with the currents of my Natal Sea. Sure, the first three rounds didn’t go my way, but it doesn’t matter. This isn’t a best of five, seven, nine, or any number at all, but rather a fight to the last man standing, and I intend for the winner to be me. Zhen Shi thinks he can capture me, but I am a man who does not know how to quit, because so long as I still draw breath, there is hope in me yet.

Chapter Meme 1

Chapter Meme 2

Chapter Meme 3