I watched the Lord pick up the book I’d handed him, as he flipped through the pages quickly. “This is not in a language we are aware of. Though one of them appears to be quite similar to the Azure-Jade script,” he said, before looking up at me.

I nodded. “It’s written in the languages from earth. It protects the information.”

The Lord glanced past me, at my reply, his eyes turning towards Yin. “Did you know of your grandfather’s origins?”

Yin froze, standing dumbly for a moment, before I saw her give a stiff nod.

“A different world. We had been aware that there had been souls drifting into our realms from somewhere beyond,” the Lord said, before looking down at the book. “Are there any others you know of? People from your world?”

“None so far, my lord,” I replied.

The Lord stood silently, yet I could feel his presence growing heavier and stronger by the minute. There was a palpable weight to the air around me, as the Lord inspected the tools and weapons in front of him.

“Tell us more, Lu Jie. What was your world like? Did it have demons that were conquered by these tools? What foe led to the creation of weapons that even mortals would be able to wield to such a degree?”

I smiled. “There were no demons in my world, my lord. Neither were there any spirit beasts, monsters, or cultivators for that matter. It is a world without magic, a world full of mortals, with nothing to threaten humanity.”

“Then… why did you create these weapons?” the Lord asked, perhaps looking surprised for the first time ever.

“To kill each other,” I replied, feeling a tense silence fill the chamber.

“In our world, with nothing left to conquer as civilisation grew, and humanity thrived, we turned against each other. Kingdoms fighting kingdoms for land, resources, power, grudges, religion, a difference in ideologies, any and all reasons you could think of. These weapons I presented… they look like toys compared to what modern earth had. We had weapons that would fill poisonous gasses in the air, which would drown men on land, as their lungs filled with liquid, killing them. We had missiles that could destroy enemies from across the sea, flying crafts that could drop nuclear bombs capable of wiping out cities in moments, leaving the land poisonous and uninhabitable forever,” I said, glancing around the room.

“That is… difficult for us to understand. Why would people fight each other to such an extent? There is infighting, and conflicts, but not to the extent you describe.”

“It’s a lot easier for conflict to arise among people that look a bit different, speak a different language, and come from different cultures and countries. With how uniform the empire is, it likely helps tie it together as one entity. Having the demons as an enemy likely helps keep the conflict focused outwards,” I said.

“Different countries you say. We are aware of the lands beyond the Azure-Jade empire, of distant traders. Though we cannot say we know much about these people,” the Lord said.

“This world is bigger, so its oceans are likely bigger too. I imagine that helps keeps continents isolated to some extent too. Weapons were a chase in my world, to try and rise above the other nations and gain control. Though in some ways, the creation of these weapons in the second world war in part led to the reduction of wars. Because if anyone ever decided to use nuclear warheads, the other country could retaliate with the same, and both countries would cease to exist and be wiped out. Humanity had become the biggest threat to its ongoing existence,” I said, with the last of my breath.

No one replied, or spoke for the next few breaths. Merely taking in everything I had said.

“Curious. We can understand what your world had, in some ways. The power of a divinity is to the extent that you have spoken of. The reason the jade-court prospers, and the ducal families remain unchallenged are the Divinities that preside from atop. They stand as the pinnacle of existence, capable of wiping out entire cities within moments. If one were ever to go astray, and attack, the other four would retaliate, resulting in mutual destruction. It is that knowledge that ties this empire at this core,” the Lord said.

I nodded, understanding the implications of the power balance the Lord spoke of.

“Yet, you wish to bring weapons of such power to our world? To present them in mortal hands?” the Lord asked, looking me in the eye.

“I doubt I can. These weapons were made from decades of studies, from far smarter people than me. Without their work to build on, I would struggle to replicate them. But no, my purpose isn’t to bring in nuclear weapons in this world. What I want to achieve is progress, and development, and to allow for this empire to survive the attacks from its enemies.”

“And you believe these weapons can do that?” the Lord asked.

“I do,” I replied, looking firmly back. “My world may have had wars, yes. But it also had technology, we had cars, airplanes, electricity, many technological advances that had begun developing. We found the cures of many diseases that plagues humanity before, we found technologies that could heal many people, that improved the lifestyle of the world as a whole when before that, for centuries, millennia even, humanity has lived in roughly the same manner. Empires rose and fell, yet the world went on in more or less the same way,” I said, before my eyes went towards the Old Man.

“When I first woke up with the world of my past life, I was shown kindness my Old Man here. And I had been cured of injuries with Alchemy that would’ve taken far more time to heal back at my home. At that moment, I had felt a spark, a future with the powers of this world, wielded in a manner that understood it’s mysteries, and society embarking on that path of progress. To begin that change, to kickstart that path is what my true motives are.”

The Old Man looked at me, his expression unreadable, as I spoke of the true beginning of my Path. I wondered if he was angry that I’d hid all this from him, whether he felt that I had merely made use of him. I couldn’t tell.

“I have heard your words, Lu Jie. Words with implications even we struggle to fathom. Perhaps it had been foolish of us to think we could simply make use of your knowledge without being pulled within your Path,” the Lord said, glancing back at me. “Before we make any decisions, we wish to see the strength of these weapons of yours.”

The lord tossed the Gu-nuke back at me, and I caught the weapon.

“Do… you mean here, my lord? Pardon me but… it will destroy this chamber,” I said.

“Not here,” the Lord said, before turning towards us. “Come with us. Do not resist.”

A tug pulled at me, but I didn’t resist. With a blink, I found myself in a massive chamber brimming with Qi, enough to almost be suffocating in its intensity. The walls were carved of stone and full of Qi, with talismans and wards layered endlessly upon them. I glanced around, and saw Yin staring wide eyed at having been teleported so abruptly alongside with us.

“This is a special chamber we have created, you can feel free to use your weapon here,” the Lord said.

“Please, step aside to a corner of the chamber, and create another ward over the center of the chamber,” I said.

Within moments, I felt the ward rise as everyone stepped to one corner of the chamber. Keenly aware of the power of the Gu-nuke, I moved to the corner with them, before taking a breath.

Taking the Gu-nuke, I sent a pulse of Qi, letting the trigger dissolve. A moment later, I tossed the weapon with all my strength across the chamber, and into the ward, before shouting. “Enforce the ward now!”

Qi pulsed, a fraction of a second before the Gu-Nuke exploded.

The flash was blinding, as the shockwave tore through the ward, pushing back on me. The stone floor rattled beneath my feet. The shielding wards cracked, as I stepped back, standing protectively in front of Yin.

I sensed the Lord stepping ahead, as another pulse of Qi cancelled the pulsing shockwaves rising from the weapon, nullifying them.

I opened my eyes, looking in front. A void existed where the weapon had detonated, the reaction of Qi and Gu having eaten through all the energy present in the atmosphere around it completely and igniting it.

The ground was charred, the stone covering the floor nearly gone, revealing the underlying formation that lay fractured.

I heard Yin intake her breath sharply, her eyes burning against my back. I turned to face the lord, who stood watching the destruction, contemplating. Silently, he glanced back to me.

“If we give you all the money, and resources we have. How many of these can you make?” he asked.

I pushed down my smile, looking at the Lord, before bowing my head.

“Enough for a small army.”