“Who would have thought we would reach the core refining realm on the same day? You finally caught up to me, Shiva.”

“I know! I can hardly believe it myself.”

Shiva ran around happily and took to the sky, unsteady though she was, exploring her new-found ability to fly. It was an experience unlike any other. To be able to defy the constant pull of the world at one’s whim was almost dreamlike.

That being said, she quickly came to the realisation that things were far from easy.

Not only did she have to practice how to manoeuvre in the air, but she also found that the energy drain was quite significant. Even maintaining a stable hover consumed her qi at an alarming rate. Not to mention the fact that she had just broken through and was currently far from her peak.

After she came back to the snowy ground, she laughed and played with her brother for a while. They hadn’t known such a carefree time for years.

Things felt like they were truly getting better.

“And it’s all thanks to y-”

Shiva furrowed her brows as she looked around. She couldn’t spot her new brother anywhere.

“Where did he go?”

“Who, Tianlan? He was standing right next to me a minute ago.”

The two were momentarily stunned, but as Rhava looked to spot next to him, he could faintly make out some fabric beneath the snow.

“Tianlan!”

Underneath the snow, Tianlan was lying there, seemingly unconscious.

“What happened?!”

Shiva helped Rhava to dig Tianlan out of the snow and Rhava took him on his back.

“First, we should get him somewhere warm.”

“Mm.”

***

Tianlan opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by the jagged walls of a cave. On the surface, he could see fluctuating orange light, and next to him, he could hear the crackling of a fire. Underneath his head, he felt something soft, and when he turned to look, he could see that it was silvery-white fur.

He strained himself to sit up, and as he did, the one behind him let out an excited shout.

“Brother!”

Before Tianlan had managed to fully get himself upright, he saw Shiva circle around him. Her eyes betrayed her concern for him.

He smiled at her, and after seeing that he was okay, she stepped forward and nudged him with her head as she let out the feelings she had kept bottled up.

“Of all the things you could have done, you decided to consume a beast core? Are you crazy? You shouldn’t have done something so reckless! No, you really must be tired of living!”

Her actions caused Tianlan to laugh.

“It’s not funny! And how can you just suddenly collapse without saying a word like that? What would we have done if you never woke up again?”

At this point, Rhava walked back in with some herbs floating around him.

“It seems things have gotten pretty lively in here. Good to see you up and about, Tianlan.”

He walked up to the fire and dropped the herbs into a ditch in the ground.

“I went and gathered some herbs from nearby environments. I’m not sure if they’ll be of use to you, but I figured it was worth a shot.”

Shiva stepped back and took a good look at Tianlan. She didn’t fail to notice some of the changes that had taken place with his body.

“Your eyes aren’t glowing like they used to... and your arms…”

“Don’t worry about that, Shiva. I can tell that my eyes aren’t harmed. They’re just in some kind of dormant state. As for my arms, they’ll heal in time.”

Shiva lowered her head, and just as Tianlan was about to ask what was wrong, she stepped forward once more and rubbed her head against his.

“Thank you, Tianlan.”

Tianlan smiled.

“Don’t mention it.”

After Shiva stepped back, Rhava rejoined the conversation.

“So, are you going to tell us what happened back there? How did you kill Vajra? I couldn’t even see you strike.”

Tianlan wanted to scratch his head, but it wasn’t worth the struggle.

“I’m actually not sure myself. I just used my eye technique as usual, but instead of slowing my opponent’s thoughts and movements like it usually does, it seemed to put him to a complete stop this time.”

Rhava opened his eyes wide.

“You have such a fearsome ability?”

Shiva nodded her head.

“He used it on me when we first met.”

Rhava shifted his gaze repeatedly between Tianlan’s awkward smile and Shiva’s oddly calm expression. He settled on Tianlan and asked the question that inevitably came up.

“Isn’t that a little unfair? You can kill someone just by looking at them?”

Tianlan’s smile grew more awkward.

“It’s not like I asked for these eyes. I was born with them. Only the Heavens know why they’re so, as Hei would call it, ‘broken’.”

***

Meanwhile, in a mysterious place of perpetual night, a glowing ball of something floated and looked around in amazement. Up in the sky, one could see the dazzling stars, and, unlike most constellations which were only vaguely similar to their common depictions, there was a cluster of stars which clearly formed the image of a beautiful woman.

The glowing ball looked around at the clearly visible rolling green hills and the long river of light that lead up to a gate too magnificent for words. That river of light was comprised of hundreds of thousands of glowing somethings. The banks were formed by armoured humanoid figures who seemed to be made of the same gentle light but had more distinct forms. Those armoured light figures shepherded the somethings to the gate.

The glowing ball watched as the river slowly flowed on. As it did, it started to recall some things. It wasn’t from here. It had just arrived. Before this, it was both a king and a slave, but it was a happy being. Its name… What was its name again?

“You must be… let’s see here… Vajra?”

Yes. Vajra. That was it.

The glowing ball, Vajra, turned to the direction the sound came from and saw one of those humanoid figures standing next to it. It looked female and had indistinct facial features. In its hands, it seemed to be holding something akin to a clipboard.

“Who are you?”

“We don’t really have names. But you can call me Arbiter if you want.”

“Where am I?”

“Why, the Heavens, of course.”

“The Heavens?”

“Well, technically, this is the River of Life, but it’s a part of the Heavens.”

“So… I died…”

“Yes, you did,” she said, in an oddly enthusiastic tone.

“What happens to me now?”

“That’s why I’m here. I’ll give you a quick assessment before sending you into the river where you’ll travel to the gate. There, you’ll go through a second assessment which will determine whether you’ll enter the cycle of rebirth or be granted access to the Heavens proper.”

“Can you give me some more information?”

“There’s a limit to what you’re allowed to know, so I’ll only tell you that depending on your accumulated karma, you’ll either be reborn in the world with no recollection of your past life or you’ll be offered a place in the Heavens. As for the rebirth path, you could find yourself in a better situation than you had in your last life, or a worse one, or things could be relatively similar. The Heavens, on the other hand, is a place for those who have truly made strides in bringing peace to the world. I wouldn’t get my hopes up of going there just yet if I were you. Since the dawn of this world until now, there have only been 723 spirits who have been granted entry.”

“… Seems harsh.”

“Maybe so, but you generally have an unlimited number of attempts.”

“I see.”

“Do you have any more questions?”

“Not really. And besides, it’s not like I can use the knowledge. I’m going to forget all of this, aren’t I.”

“You never know. Every now and then, we get the odd spirit who is able to recall a past life. And with the way the administrator has been doing things, I wouldn’t be surprised if we had a few more accidents. But it’s true that there hasn’t been anyone who has recalled the River of Life.”

“Then all I have to do is wait, right?”

“Right. Now, before I begin the preliminary assessment, do you have any feedback for us? How was your experience at life? Any complaints?”

“No, not re-”

Vajra thought back on his life, and, for the most part, he didn’t mind it too much. He had been in a fairly comfortable position at the end of the day. Sure, it would have been nice if his parents hadn’t been killed when he was younger, and having a little more freedom wasn’t something he would pass up, but the majority of his time was spent in relative peace.

That’s why he was about to tell her that he had no complaints, but then his final moments flashed through his mind. On a snow-capped mountain, he met his end under the cold glare of those blue lights.

He suddenly found himself frustrated and indignant.

“Those eyes! All he did was look at me and I died! How is that fair?”

“So, what I’m getting is that you find ocular techniques to be unbalanced?”

“They’re way too strong! How could I have died at the hands of a mere human if he didn’t have such an unfair ability?”

“I see. Well, for things like that, I can only send a query to the administrator. It’s up to her if things will change. Honestly, I wouldn’t expect much if I were you. Sometimes I get the feeling that she actually wants to introduce more chaos into the system rather than guiding it to peace.”

After saying that, the arbiter conjured a piece of paper and a quill. She placed the paper on her clipboard and wrote a note.

Eye techniques are too OP. Please nerf.

She then rolled up the sheet of paper and tied it with a ribbon before placing it on a table she conjured.

“Before I send it off, I’ll need to take a look at your tapestry to verify your complaint.”

She reached her hand out and reached into Vajra’s spherical form before retracting it, taking out a strange cloth which contained moving images of Vajra’s life from birth to death.

As she reached the end, she saw what Vajra was talking about. His opponent really did kill him just by looking at him.

After the scene came to an end, the tapestry lit up in azure flames, slowly burning from one end to the other.

The arbiter rolled the long tapestry into a scroll, then took the note she had written and used the burning tapestry to destroy the note as well.

“‘Please nerf the Eyes of the Heavens…’ Imagine.”

She laughed at herself and turned back to Vajra after the tapestry had completely burnt away.

“Well, it seems like you won’t be needing to join the river.”

Hearing those words, Vajra had a strong sense of foreboding.

“Why not?”

“You, my friend, messed up.”

“I messed up?”

“Big time.” She sighed. “It turns out that what you faced were the Eyes of the Heavens, and unfortunately, they have deemed you unsightly.”

“What does that mean?”

“Before we get to that,” she reached her hand into Vajra’s spherical form and extracted a small note. “This is the decree that came with your sentencing. Ahem. No matter how strong you think you are, and no matter what kind of backing you think you have, if you dare to harm a member of my Shao Clan, I’ll show you just how insignificant you truly are.”

She flipped the paper to its back and found nothing there.

“That’s all? Not really a decree, but whatever.”

“So, what happens to me now?”

“There’s only one option for those deemed unsightly by the Eyes of the Heavens,” she said while leaning forward, bringing her face right in front of Vajra’s spherical form.

“You disappear.”

She blew out a gentle stream of air and extinguished Vajra’s spirit as if he were nought but a candle flame.