“We need to talk, child of Ren,” the Sacred Beast said.

Tian shrank back as she averted her gaze. She knew what her master wanted to talk about— it was the reason why both of them were here, in this mess. It was the reason why they were both trapped in the Seventh Heaven.

It was because of her.

The girl had been too afraid of losing her master. She was afraid of being alone. After her mother’s death, she had nothing left. In fact, she was going to lose her life, if she hadn’t been saved. It was both a metaphorical and literal saving. Her master had swept down from the Heavens and saved her from both loneliness and death.

It was a Sacred Beast. A white fox with three flowing tails. It could’ve ignored her. It didn’t need to save her. Yet, it did more than just that. It went beyond just saving Tian. It trained her. Taught her how to fight. Brought her closer to the Dao until she ascended into a Blossom.

Tian was forever grateful for what her master did for her. But she wasn’t prepared— she wasn’t ready to be left alone again. She didn’t think the Sacred Beast would leave as soon as she reached ascension. And that was her mistake.

Her fear of loneliness drove her to make an irrational decision. Somehow, Tian thought she could stop her master from returning to its home— from flying back to the Fifth Heaven. All she did was send them both tumbling into the Seventh Heaven. The Heaven of Phantasm.

A world where everything was false yet real at the same time.

It had been a nightmare to traverse through. One moment, Tian could be in comforting safety, and the next, she could be in perilous danger. Anything could happen here. When she had woken up in her ‘sect’, she genuinely believed in the illusions for a moment.

But then she saw the hollow eyes. She looked at the lifeless world. And she knew it was false. She tried to escape, however the Forsaken Souls wouldn’t let her. The only reason she managed to escape was thanks to her master.

The Sacred Beast had somehow found her. Even amidst the chaotic world of the Seventh Heaven, it had saved her just in time once again. There was an inkling feeling of fear creeping up on the girl that maybe— just maybe— this was another illusion. And that scared her… until she saw the way her master’s gaze bore into her.

It was a mix of anger and disappointment. A reprimanding look that made Tian fearful for a different reason. But more than being afraid, she felt ashamed in herself. She bowed her head, prostrating before the Sacred Beast.

“I apologize,” said the girl as she tightly closed her eyes. “It was my fault… I acted foolishly. I shouldn’t have.”

Her master didn’t immediately respond. It stood before her, its three tails gently swaying. The master and the student were in a forest clearing, just like when they first met. But the forest held eerily still. There was no chirping of birds, no buzzing of insects, no gust of wind. All was quiet, all was calm.

Finally, her master shook its head. “Rise, Tian. There is no reason for you to apologize.”

“What?” Tian blinked as she looked up at it. “But I messed up! I’m the reason we’re trapped here. I…” she trailed off.

“The mistakes of a student is the fault of a master,” the Sacred Beast said, bringing a paw forward and helping the girl to her feet. “I never should’ve left you as abruptly as I did. I should’ve done more to prepare you for my departure.”

“But that’s—” she tried to protest.

“You are young, child of Ren. You are only a girl. Even if I taught you how to fend for yourself, I did not teach you how to live alone. Nor did I teach your how to deal with grief.”

“Deal with grief?” Tian stared at her master, perplexed.

The Sacred Beast nodded. “Look around you, child of Ren. Gaze upon this world of illusions. There are no Spirits here. No Sacred Beasts. No man. No woman. No child. It is only you and I. Everything else is but the incarnation of ill desire or the ghost of broken dreams.”

The girl didn’t understand. The expression on her face said as much. Her master could tell, and it explained.

“The Vampires, the Forsaken Souls, and the other nightmares lurking in this place? They are all lost. They know not where they are. They have been forever cursed to roam these everchanging lands for they sought to fill a cup that can never be full. For they pursued a dream that can never be a reality.”

The Sacred Beast drew back, ushering Tian forward after it. It led her through the thicket of trees, somehow fading through the bushes and branches like they were not even there.

“You must understand, child of Ren,” it continued as the forest began to dissipate. “The dead can never come back to life. What’s lost can never be found.”

Tian fluttered her eyes as darkness swallowed her surroundings for but a moment. And when light returned, she was standing before a giant, gilded gate.

Her master finished, “And now, you have to find yourself, child of Ren.”