Hou Gun was a man who’s meager talents did not match the expectations placed upon him. Born from the emperor of a small nation and a woman from the most powerful sect on the Xaio Continent, Hou Gun had many expectations placed on him from birth. His mother had desired him to become a powerful cultivator who could raise this nation to become even more prominent than the Xia Dynasty. His father wanted him to become an even better emperor than he was.

That was why both of his parents were disappointed when they discovered that his talents did not match his lineage.

The strength Hou Gun had was not even his own. Much of his strength came from the alchemy pills he had consumed. Without those pills, nevermind the Asura Realm, he would not have even reached the Anima Realm.

Needless to say, his parents were disappointed.

Especially his mother.

His mother was the daughter of an elder from the Heavenly Sword Sect. While her father was not a very prominent elder, he still had more power in his pinky than the entire Shang Kingdom. Of course, his mother was also quite strong, though she had been forced to halt her cultivation at the Human Limit Realm. This had been a political move to prevent her from having more power than her husband. The purpose was to keep the peace in the Shang Kingdom.

When Hou Gun was younger, that woman had pushed him hard to become stronger. She had diligently trained him until his fingers bled and calluses formed on his palms, but no matter how hard he trained, it was never good enough. His mother stopped bothering with him once he turned sixteen and activated his dantian.

He had only broken through to the third subrealm of the Hunger Realm.

That was unacceptable for a member of royalty and the son of a woman with ties to the Heavenly Sword Sect. His mother’s disappointment when she saw his meager cultivation talent had led to her all but abandoning him. He had tried to gain her approval for a time by joining the Saintly Sword Sect, where she resided much of the time, but he eventually realized that nothing he did would matter anymore. She had decided he wasn’t worth the effort. Even his father had decided he wasn’t worth cultivating further.

It was while he was wallowing in despair that a new path had opened before him. He had been approached by Yi Fu of the Burning Flame Pavilion to overthrow his father. Hou Gun would never forget what that man said.

“Don’t you want to get back at the family who decided you were worthless? I can help you if you help us.”

The man’s words had been simple and without inflection, but they had ignited something inside of him. He would show his parents his worth. It no longer mattered if they thought good or ill of him. He didn’t care for their approval. He would take away what they had worked so hard for and force them to acknowledge him.

“Your father still isn’t dead yet?” asked Yi Fu.

“You already know the answer to that,” Hou Gun said. “The poison you lent me is slow acting. I imagine he’ll survive another half a year at least.”

Shao Yimu shrugged. “It couldn’t be helped. Emperor Hou Jun might not be the strongest cultivator around, but he’s not so weak that a normal poison would work, and if we had used a stronger poison, it would have been found out. I don’t want the Heavenly Sword Sect getting involved because they realized someone had poisoned their ally.”

“They’re already aware that someone poisoned Father. They just don’t know who,” said Hou Gun.

Shao Yimu stroked his jaw thoughtfully. “I am surprised the Heavenly Sword Sect hasn’t sent an alchemist to refine a pill to cure him then.”

“I’m sure they would if some of the ingredients needed to cure him weren’t nearly impossible to come by,” said Yi Fu.

Hou Gun knew very little about alchemy, but he did know the Nirvana Soothing Pill was needed to cure his father. It was only a tier 5 pill. However, while it might only be a mid-tier pill, the ingredients needed to refine it were rare to the point of nonexistence. At least one of those ingredients hadn’t been seen since the destruction of the Four Divine Sects.

Before the Three Celestial Sects had been formed, the Four Divine Sects had been the strongest in existence. Each sect worshiped one of the four guardian deities. The White Tiger Sect worshiped Byakko, the Black Turtle Sect worshiped Genbu, the Azure Dragon Sect worshiped Seiryu, and the Vermillion Bird Sect worshiped Suzaku. They had been the most powerful sects in the world, until their destruction.

Hou Gun personally hoped his father would live long enough to see his kingdom taken from him.

“It matters not whether he is alive so long as he remains out of the way,” said Yi Fu. “He is the only one who can request aid from the Heavenly Sword Sect. If he does send for help, it’s up in the air whether our secret method for preventing them from interfering will work.”

“I don’t suppose you’ll tell me what this secret method is,” said Hou Gun.

“That is not something you need to concern yourself with,” said Yi Fu.

“I thought you’d say that,” Hou Gun shrugged.

“You will need to keep your mother blind to what’s happening,” said Yi Fu. “She is the only one left who can call for the Heavenly Sword Sect to aid them. If our plans fall through, then it will be your job to silence her.”

“Don’t worry. My mom thinks so little of me that she doesn’t see me as a threat,” said Hou Gun. “Removing her will be easy… provided you can give me the means to do it.”

His mother was still a Human Limit Realm cultivator, even if she was only at the first subrealm, which meant he had no chance against her in a straightforward battle. He would only be able to beat her by using deceit.

“Do not worry. We will provide you with a fast-acting poison that you can slip into her drink when the time comes,” said Yi Fu. “It’s enough to kill even a peak Human Limit Realm cultivator.”

“That should do,” said Hou Gun with a shrug. “How long before we enact our plan?”

“We are still a ways out. We’re just waiting for the right opportunity to act,” Shao Yimu said. “And we would like to remove one particular threat before we can enact our plan.”

“There’s a threat to your plans? What is it?” asked Hou Gun.

“It’s the young cultivator named Jian Wu,” said Yi Fu with an imperious glare.

***

I am one with the universe.

Everything exists within the universe.

If everything exists within the universe, then I exist within everything.

For I am one with the universe.

And the universe is me.

All things within the universe exist within their own space.

Wu Jian’s brow was furrowed and had been that way ever since he started cultivating inside of the pool filled with Sacred Tears. He had been absorbing the chi just like everyone else, and he had felt his cultivation stir, but that was it. His cultivation hadn’t grown no matter how much chi he took in.

I am one with the universe.

Everything exists within the universe.

If everything exists within the universe, then I exist within everything.

For I am one with the universe.

And the universe is me.

All things within the universe exist within their own space.

Up to this point, his cultivation had been relatively smooth. Sure, there had been a few bumps in the road, but so long as he cultivated diligently and had help from alchemy and natural treasures, he was able to quickly ascend all the way to the Asura Realm. Why had his cultivation suddenly stopped? Why could he not seem to break into the Human Limit Realm?

I feel like there’s a landslide blocking my path…

Perhaps it was because he had so many worries right now. So much was going on, and he was admittedly preoccupied with other matters. Just because the tournament had ended didn’t mean his worries had.

They still had to cure Hou Jingshu’s father. There was also the matter with Ye Chun and the Burning Hand Sect that Hua Xue had brought to him. Something strange was happening within the sect, but he didn’t know what. Hua Xue had promised to look into this matter for them in exchange for help with finding someone who could refine the pill she needed.

She wants us to find someone who can refine tier 9 alchemy pills. I have no idea how we’re even going to accomplish that.

Hua Xue hadn’t placed a time limit on their end of the agreement, but he still didn’t know how they would find an alchemist willing to help them. Barring Zhou Lihua becoming a Platinum Ranked alchemist, he didn’t think there was any hope.

Wu Jian sighed as he opened his eyes, looked around, and noticed that all of the Sacred Tears in his area had turned crystal clear. He had absorbed everything. He glanced at the others. Mei Xilan had also absorbed all of the Sacred Tears in her area, but Hou Jingshu, Jia Xinyue, and Xian Fei were still cultivating.

Realizing that any further cultivation was pointless while unable to focus like this, Wu Jian stood up and left the lake. He sat down on the edge and dried himself off with a towel he had summoned. Yōuměi noticed him immediately and came over.

“Master! This place is so boooooring! I don’t wanna be here anymore!”

He sighed and smiled wryly. “You should have thought of that before deciding to follow me.”

“But I thought there’d be something interesting here!” Yōuměi complained.

“That’s your fault. Now, come here.”

Wu Jian patted his lap, and Yōuměi obediently placed her head on his lap, so he could stroke her fur.

“Heh heh. Being pet by you always feels sooo nice.”

He didn’t know how to feel about Yōuměi’s newfound vocal talents. It was odd watching the way her mouth moved when she formed words, but beyond that, some of the things she said just made him feel uncomfortable. It didn’t help that she sounded like a child. Being told by a child that she liked it when you pet her was weird. Being told that same thing by a gigantic cat with the voice of a child was even weirder.

“I see you’ve absorbed all the chi in the lake. You’re much stronger now than you were before,” said Mei Xilan. He didn’t know when she had walked up to him, but he didn’t respond with surprise, merely turned his head to eye her.

“Thank you… but I still couldn’t break through,” he muttered.

“You are disappointed in yourself, but you shouldn’t be. It doesn’t matter if you’re still in the Asura Realm. I doubt you’d lose to someone right now even if they were at the peak of the Human Limit Realm,” she declared.

“You think so?”

“Yes. Your chi has grown immensely more powerful than it had before. I’m actually a little surprised you haven’t broken through when you’ve got so much power stored inside of you.”

“Yeah? Well, you’re not the only one,” said Wu Jian. He watched Yōuměi’s ear twitch as he rubbed it. He was stroking the inside of her ear, which he knew she liked. The girl was purring as she nuzzled his lap.

“Your cultivation method must be incredibly unique and require specific pre-requisites to break through,” Mei Xilan theorized.

“It is,” he confessed.

“I noticed that you are able to manipulate the Dao of Space,” she continued.

“I can.”

“… You realize most cultivators cannot manipulate space until they reach the Deva Realm, do you not?”

“I didn’t actually know that, no,” he admitted, shrugging.

Wu Jian’s cultivation method centered around comprehending the Dao of Space, and he had been doing that ever since he first activated his dantian. Perhaps that was why he didn’t see what was so weird about it.

“Time, Space, Dimension… these three Dao form a trifecta known as the Heavenly Way. Head Elder Hua Xue told me that only someone who has exceeded human limits--in other words, someone who has broken into the Deva Realm--may begin to comprehend them.” She paused for a moment. “Even then, she said that no one on this planet will ever come close to truly understanding these three dao.”

“Hmmm. Your head elder is a mysterious woman indeed,” Wu Jian murmured.

“She is very knowledgeable, even more so than my master,” Mei Xilan said.

“I suppose… I will ask her if she has any advice when I see her next,” Wu Jian decided after giving it a moment’s thought.

Mei Xilan shrugged but offered nothing more. At that moment, Hou Jingshu finished absorbing all the chi surrounding her. She stood up, spotted them, and made her way over.

Wu Jian ignored the stink-eye she sent Mei Xilan and smiled. “All done? How do you feel?”

“Not bad,” Hou Jingshu replied, turning back to him. “I didn’t break through, but I’m on the cusp. I think one good battle is all I’ll need to pulverize my bottleneck. You…” she frowned and studied him more closely. “Your cultivation didn’t grow very much, did it?”

“That’s all you have to say?!” Wu Jian shouted. He was so glad the mask covered his red face.