I paced up and down Rijoko’s shrine, my footsteps echoing in the silence. I had trouble keeping my gaze from the spot where Mother had just been.

There were a lot of emotions waging war inside me, and I took deep breaths, trying to keep them in check. Grief was making steady headway and would probably win my internal war soon, but I didn’t allow it to. I shoved everything aside, to deal with later, and looked around the shrine.

The other people here had fled to the side chambers and were now peeking out, their faces pale and their eyes wide. I didn’t talk to them. I just didn’t have the energy to deal with them right now.

I didn’t know if the fight for the palace had concluded or was still ongoing. There weren’t that many people waiting outside, which gave me some hope that we hadn’t lost yet. Although they were all strong. Li, and several people who had to be in the seventh stage. There was no way we’d fight our way out. But they seemed agitated, from what I could tell by their auras. A few were pacing, and they might be arguing.

Well, they’d probably felt something of Mother’s ascension, at least. Li probably figured out what was happening.

I grimaced to myself. I just hoped my siblings were okay. Well, it’s a good thing that I don’t see them. They aren’t parading them in front of the shrine to get me to surrender. Hopefully, that means Al and An are safe.

I really wanted to go out and check, not just on them, but on the state of the fight, on Kariva and the others. But I was still stuck here. They clearly didn’t dare break in for fear of the Moon’s wrath, but I couldn’t just sit here. I had to do something.

But what could I do?

I sighed and glanced again at the other people who’d taken shelter in the shrine. No one above the sixth stage. They’d find out easily if we tried to tunnel out or something. I kept pacing, trying to keep my breathing even and calm.

Then I had an idea. I stopped, frowned thoughtfully, then shook my head at myself. It was a bit crazy, but it might just be what I needed.

This time, I could be pretty sure it was my own idea, not Rijoko’s. As I hurried about the room to prepare things, focusing intently on what I was going to do, I could swear I caught the echo of a chuckle across our connection.

“Be careful and keep back,” I said to the others. “Don’t interfere with what I’m going to do. Best if they don’t notice you at all.”

They bowed and acknowledged my command, so I turned back and headed for the door. I hesitated in front of it, then steeled my nerves.

“Li!” I called through the door. “I want to talk to you, privately. This is the only chance I’m going to give you.”

There was silence and the murmur of voices, too low for me to make out, then he answered. “I agree, Princess. Open the door so we can talk.”

“Send the others away and block sound.”

Then I stepped back and nodded to the priest from before, who swallowed heavily but opened the doors just a little. I raised a qi barrier behind me to block the sound of our conversation, and checked that Li was doing the same. The rest of them had retreated to the end of the corridor.

Li still had a hand on his cane and was looking calm and composed. He smiled. “Princess Inaris. I hope this means you realize how untenable your position is and are prepared to work with us.”

I shrugged. “I’ve got an offer for you, Li. One that can benefit us both. But first, do you realize what happened with Mother?”

He didn’t let any emotion show on his face. “She is gone, apparently.”

“Not just gone, ascended. I’m sure you could feel it, your qi senses are certainly good enough.”

He regarded me in silence for a moment, before he nodded slowly. “Yes. However, you do realize that the spirits and those like them play by certain rules. You will not be able to count on her fighting for you. In fact, she has left you far more vulnerable than before.”

I waved that off, glad that he didn’t know that Mother was in no condition to fight, anyway. “How old are you, Li?” I asked. “I would guess a thousand years, perhaps, or a little less. And you have just entered the early part of the eighth stage. That might give you a few years, but you have to see death looming around the corner. You will die soon, no matter which medicines you try.”

He frowned. “Do you have a point, girl?”

“My point is that you have essentially no hope of reaching the white stage. At least, under normal circumstances. But I could do for you what I did for Mother. I could help you ascend.”

His knuckles whitened on his cane. In his eyes, I could see that I had him. The desperation, the flicker of hope.

“How could I trust you, and what would be the price?”

I smiled. “You don’t have much of a choice. But Mother just ascended, which should be proof enough. I am, after all, the daughter of the Moon. And the price will not concern you much, given your situation. I want you to ensure that my side wins this fight.”

“How?” He didn’t sound very bothered by that.

“Betray your allies. Tell your disciples to stab them in the back, lead them where they can be easily struck down by the Imperial Guard. I don’t really care about the details, you’re more than capable of handling it.” I paused, then straightened up. “I do want assurances, of course. An oath on the Moon, before you come in. And in turn, I promise in Rijoko’s name that I will help your efforts to ascend to the white stage. Although, of course, whether you succeed will depend on you.”

He hesitated, considering it for almost a minute. Finally, he nodded. “I agree. I swear on the Moon’s name.”

“Good. I’ll be waiting.”

Li didn’t waste any time, but turned around and started talking into a communication device. I stepped back and closed the doors, for now.

The next few minutes, I paced up and down the shrine again. There was some movement outside, even more than before. Finally, all of the other people left, and Li approached the door again. I opened them just wide enough for him to enter.

He hesitated for a moment, then stepped inside. I took that as assurance that he’d fulfilled his side of the bargain. One didn’t just break an oath made on the Moon’s name and then stroll inside his temple.

He’d essentially just cut all ties with his allies, which meant I’d taken an important player out of the equation. I was confident that Kariva and Kiyanu could handle things from here. But now, I had an eighth-stager in the shrine to deal with.

“Good,” I said. “Take up a cultivating position, Li. We’re all out of cushions, unfortunately.”

He hesitated for a moment, then got into a lotus position on the floor, laying his cane by his side.

“If you don’t trust me, this is not going to work out,” I reminded him.

At the same time, I reminded myself that while he might be able to kill me, it would be suicidal for him to try. I had to keep my composure.

“I do trust your word.” After seeing me raised eyebrow, he added in a begrudging tone, “Your Highness.”

I nodded and clasped my hands behind my back, standing straighter. “Great. Now, release your veil, start breathing deeply and focusing on your qi. I’ll explain a few things.”

While he started to enter a meditative state, I repeated what I’d told Mother about qi and the wider multiverse, although I didn’t mention soul journeys or special abilities. That didn’t give me much to actually say, of course. I took a good look at his aura in the meanwhile, and couldn’t find any sign of anything similar to a soul journey, or a special ability.

Of course, that didn’t mean that he didn’t have some hidden surprises. I wasn’t that good at reading people’s auras. He seemed like what I imagined a typical air cultivator in the eighth stage would be like, but he probably did have some ‘trump cards’ up his sleeves. Not that they were likely to help him here.

I paused and just watched him for a while, before I kept talking. “Keep listening to me. Take deep breaths. Let qi flow through your body on its natural paths, and watch what it does.”

I kept watching as Li sank deeper into his meditation, although not as deep as Mother. This time, Rijoko didn’t help me, not that I’d expected him to. It didn’t matter much, anyway.

“Now, what you need to do is leave your body behind, and let your mind and spirit move on,” I said. I started walking, putting a bit more distance between us. “That includes your core and vessels. Focus on what’s beyond this world. Push your qi out and keep it under control around you.”

He started the process, and I couldn’t help but smile. He clearly had trouble with it, more than Mother. Of course, he was only in the early part of the eighth stage and didn’t have her experiences.

“Now,” I said as I began to take up a stone cutting tool from the bench I’d laid it on. “You eventually need to sever yourself, but that’s something you’ll need to get to, yourself. And I have to tell you, your chances aren’t very good. I’d wish you good luck, but that would be a lie.”

He flinched and I could sense his focus falter. “What? You swore an oath to help me!”

I started walking around him, cutting a circle into the stone around him. “I promised to help your efforts to ascend, I didn’t say I would do everything I could to make sure you succeeded. I did help you quite a lot. Now, my last piece of advice is to keep going. You’re too far to back out, and honestly, this is still your best chance if you ever want to attain immortality.”

I focused on the floor and kept carving runes, constructing formation arrays. I was glad of my perfect memory and improved body, which kept my hand perfectly steady. The containment circle was taking shape quickly.

“Of course, that doesn’t mean much. I think I’ve raised your chances from extremely low to very low. Still, the prospect of immortality is worth it to you, isn’t it?”

I finished a complicated rune and took a deep breath. The qi in this place was gathered densely, perhaps from Mother’s ascension. It certainly hadn’t been quite that strong before. I cultivated a little while I worked, to shore up my reserves and use it to finish quickly. It felt almost effortless, I barely had to pull before a large tide of qi would flow into my body.

I paused and concentrated on my dantian and channels. It felt like I was nearing a breakthrough. It should be far too soon, but my cultivation had never been normal.

A groan from Li brought my attention back to him. He still had his eyes closed, and didn’t appear to be aware of it. Veins stood out on his skin, and he was sweating heavily. I could tell his control over his qi was tenuous. He didn’t quite succeed in pushing it away, but it was clearly slipping beyond his control.

I grinned, then glanced at my finished formation. In truth, I had no idea if it would work, or make any difference at all. But things were going well so far.

“Moon, hear my call, and turn your gaze to this temple,” I intoned. I knew his attention was already here, but a bit of ritual seemed called for.

Li groaned again. His eyes opened, and he glared at me, storms raging behind his eyelids.

“This is your own stupid fault, but thanks for that,” I said, then cleared my throat and started walking in the circle around him. “Father, hear your daughter’s call, and behold my offering.”

I paused where I’d started, waiting for the right moment. Li’s qi was fluctuating wildly now, and streams of it were starting to escape from around him, with quickly increasing strength. He started to bleed from his nose, eyes and ears.

I tossed some of the temple’s incense on my enemy. “Rijoko, take what has been prepared for you, and accept my sacrifice.”

As if on cue, Li started burning up. His body burst into flames, and qi erupted outward. Most of it was held by my containment circle.

I backed away, shielding my eyes and curling my qi senses inward, but tried to get a sense of what was happening. Most of the qi in the detonation was contained, being funneled upwards and away. Rijoko taking what was now his.

That was a relief. All of that qi getting loose uncontrolled might do catastrophic damage to its surroundings. Well, Li should have thought twice before attempting ascension inside a temple to a Greater Spirit.

But not all of the qi was being taken. More flew out of Li’s burning remains and the containment circle, escaping into the air around it. It felt like Rijoko was taking control, perhaps attenuating it, but some was slamming into me. I staggered back a step, then scrambled my focus and started breathing it in, cultivating.

It was a lot. Even with me actively sucking in as much as I could and circling it through my body, it felt like I’d been dumped into hot water. I didn’t know if Rijoko was funneling qi to me as a reward, and right now, I didn’t have the attention to spare for that question.

My legs folded underneath me, and I assumed a cultivating position, deepening my focus. I could feel the raging torrent of qi blasting against the walls of my core as I steered it through my channels, tried to keep it under control.

Then I gathered it, weathering the stab of pain as my core burst and expanded, and I wrestled the qi through my body again, letting parts of it bleed off into my meridians and the rest of my body before I gathered it in my core once more.

The world disappeared around me as my awareness shrank to the qi inside me, guiding it through the process, even the stabs of pain fading into the background.