I turned to look at the Gu-wolf, watching it sit there and look back at me. This world was strange to him, new, but I had promised I would provide him a home.

But first, I needed a name.

“I’ll name you Ash,” I said, brushing the wolf’s fur. The giant creature rumbled, as if pleased, and I smiled.

“Now, I think I know a place you will like,” I said, standing up. “Zhang, keep an eye on the mine. Don’t let anyone enter.”

The boy nodded, walking back as he stood guard at the entrance.

Walking further into the cave, I had Ash and Su Lin follow behind me. The mines had changed since the last time I’d walked this far in, but the layout was still similar enough that I could find my way around. Eventually, I managed to reach the cavern where I had first met Sheldon.

The lake inside had dried, now devoid of all the water Qi Sheldon had provided it with. No plants or blood root could be found either, but even now, a little Gu remained in this place.

I saw Ash sniff the air, sensing the presence I felt.

“You can smell it, huh?” I asked with a smile, as I walked into the crater that once used to be a lake. Moving down the slope, I walked to the center, before pressing my palm against the ground. Closing my eyes, I let my senses expand.

The world spread out before me, as I let my spirit sink into the earth. Little motes of Gu flowed around me, drifting to my call, before soon, dark smoke rose from the earth, as Gu flowed freely, cracking the earth beneath.

“I… think I’m gonna watch from there,” Su Lin said, stepping back at the sight.

I didn’t reply, my attention fixated on the Gu as I called upon more and more of it. Eventually, the air was filled with the energy of death and miasma. Ash looked at me in silence, and I watched as his injuries began to visibly heal.

“We’ll be remodeling this place for you,” I said with a smile, before taking a seat at the center of the lake. Ash walked in closer, stepping around the source of Gu I had created in the earth, before he curled up behind me, like a giant furry sofa.

I smiled, before closing my eyes, and I began to meditate.

Letting my spirit expand, this time, I focused on the roots underneath the plant of my spirit. Slowly, I let the roots reach out into the earth around me, settling themselves within the Gu.

The Gu began to flow into me, filling my body and strengthening it. Yet, there was something missing. I opened my eyes as I realized I had no plants this far above the earth that could absorb Gu.

I frowned, looking down at the earth around me in thought. Ash stirred before me, putting his head next to mine, tilting it in question.

“Just a little stuck buddy. I’m not sure if I can grow demonic plants here, I have no seeds,” I said.

The wolf let out a low grumble that I felt vibrating my entire body. “Death is everywhere. Here too.”

“Sure, but…” I paused in my argument. Why did I need specific seeds to grow the plants? Spirit grass did not need any seeds. Just enough Qi for them to be able to grow.

Thinking for a moment, I closed my eyes again, as I began to cultivate. I let the roots in my spirit spread out once more, letting them sink into the earth. Deeper and deeper still my roots spread beneath me, as Gu began to gather upon them. The death of thousands rested in the earth, submerging it with Gu. Now, as the roots touched upon these pockets, they had a way to reach above, and so they did.

Little by little, and drop by drop, Gu began to gather. Small roots led to larger ones as a channel began to flow, rising upwards in a torrent. Death flowed around me, and through me, and I let it transform my body.

My Chi stirred, as I felt myself connected to the world around me. Each rock, each boulder, the walls around me, the little grains of sand. All of it was built upon the remains of so many that had died before us. It was everywhere, both above me, and below me, in the walls and even within my own body, there was death.

This too, was home. My home.

As the realization sunk into my spirit, I felt the roots of my plant expand. Gu spread all around me, and I felt something rising around the world. A spirit anchor was formed, and I opened my eyes to watch a sea of purple grass filling the cavern with demonic herbs.

I smiled, feeling the new anchor establish itself in my mind. Ash lay behind me, his body healing rapidly from his injuries as the plants grew all around. Even Su Lin stared wide-eyed with wonder at the sight.

But before I could reach out to the anchor, and tie it to Ash, something shifted.

I felt my anchors flaring, reacting to each other. My garden of Qi, my home, the one I had imbued with my own spirit roused, rustling through the earth.

The two anchors lit up brightly, and I felt a tie begin to pull them closer. I closed my eyes in meditation again, focusing on my spirit, yet the events almost felt beyond me, like forces of nature that I could not stop.

I felt the plant in my spirit stir. What had forever been a small sapling with leaves now began to rapidly flourish.

The two anchors reached towards each other, roots spreading through the earth. The air vibrated, the Gu around me flowing outwards, and the Qi from outside flowing inwards as the two began to mingle.

I felt my spirit expanding, not just around these two anchors, but over everything in between. The forest, the river, the lake, the fields, the villagers, the farmers and everything underneath it. When before it had just been spirit animals, now I felt a tie to every living creature under the heavens that walked upon this earth.

As my spirit joined with all of them, and theirs with mine, I felt something flow into me. I could not tell what this was, it did not feel like any energy I knew but also like all of them at the same time.

It flowed to me, and within my spirit, as the two anchors began to fuse. The tree in my spirit now grew taller and taller, pulling life and death both within its grasp.

Everything in this area, and all of Taizhou, shook. The Qi and Gu within the world collided, forming a new order, as Chi flooded the entire area. A delicate flow established itself within the two spirit anchors, as Gu and Qi flowed into one another, turning to Chi.

I felt the energy coursing through me, and flooding my core. The birth of something new and powerful. Somewhere that I could not tell, in almost a dream like vision, I saw a flower blossom. It was neither Qi, nor Gu, but Chi instead.

The Chi flower blossomed with a brilliant glow, as for the first time in centuries, the cycle of the world began to mend itself.

I felt something deep inside my soul shudder as my spirit grew.

There were no realms in my Path anymore. And once more, I simply found myself stepping across a line, as I broke through.