Yao Shen unleashed his domain— imposing his will over the natural law that governed Eliria, proclaiming that the surrounding territory fell under his dominion. Within his domain, Yao Shen was the sovereign— any foriegn entity that dared to encroach upon his territory would face suppression from the laws of Wind, Water and Shadow, restricting them from taking flight or tunneling through the ground unless they were able to escape its sphere of influence.

Or so it should have been.

For Yao Shen’s claim had just been contested.

The flames burning in the vicinity stilled in abeyance, before flooding towards Lei Weiyuan from every direction; acknowledging his authority over the laws of fire. The moment the flames entered LeI Weiyuan’s sphere of influence, they started roiling and shifting until they reshaped into a vague outline of a two-winged bird. With every passing second, the image grew clearer until a majestic bird of prey blossomed into sight, two of its hawkish eyes trained on Lei Weiyuan, while the third eye that rested upon its forehead remained solely focused on Yao Shen. Characterized by long, broad wings, a protruding, curved beak and razor sharp talons, the flaming bird was an imitation of the Sacred Bird, Marayan— a now-extinct spiritual beast that is still worshipped as one of the guardians of the Sacred Flame Palace.

Soon the sky was dotted with dozens of imitiations of the Sacred Bird, Yao Shen’s ghastly visage reflected in the birds’ third eye as they circled around him with a mighty flap of their wings— the motion so perfect, it was almost lifelike.

Yao Shen had chosen to respond with one of his patchwork domains, namely, the Domain of Illusory Shadows. The Minor Dao of Mist, a subset of the Major Dao of Water, engulfed the surrounding land with a curtain of heavy, churning grey mists that obfuscated sight— heading right for Patriarch Lei Weiyuan. The Minor Dao of Water, which referred to an elementary understanding of water manipulation, was employed to rapidly shape Water Qi into humanoid constructs that resembled the dimensions of Yao Shen’s physical body. The Minor Dao of Shadow formed the exterior of the water body, coating it in a thin layer of Shadow Qi and finally, Yao Shen’s Major Dao of Wind was unleashed. A moment later, each of the illusory clones dual-wielded two sharp wind blades that were empowered by a sizable portion of Yao Shen’s Wind Qi reserves.

The Domain of Illusory Shadows was one of the reasons why Yao Shen’s resourcefulness and ingenuity as a cultivator was respected, the original iteration utlizing four minor daos to create an effect that was greater than the sum of its parts. Mist obscured sight, serving as the foundation for the domain. Water comprised the clone’s interior, known for its regenerative abilities, while Shadow comprised the exterior, acknowledged for its ability to dampen divine sense. The resonance between mist and water meant that the clones could utilize the Mists to regenerate, while Wind, an element Yao Shen was most familiar with, was used to deliver the final blow.

However, the current iteration of his Domain was…. imbalanced. The three Minor Dao’s struggled to contain the sheer potency of the Major Dao of Wind and Yao Shen’s attempt to suppress or outright shatter Lei Weiyuan’s Sacred Bird Domain failed. This was the reason why the elders had not unleashed their domains in unison at the very outset of the battle— the weaker ones would simply shatter upon contact, while the rest would inadvertently clash with one another.

Each of Yao Shen’s illusory clones flickered to life as a thread of divine sense linked them to himself, splitting up and silently receding within the mists now that a direct confrontation was inevitable.

On one side lay the vulturous flaming birds, patiently waiting for an opportunity to strike. In juxtaposition, the roiling mists drew nearer to Lei Weiyuan with every passing breath— both the Patriarchs waging an invisible battle with an intention to suppress the other’s domains, but ultimately failing to gain an upper hand.

Lei Weiyuan chose to be the first to break the deadlock, pressured by Yao Shen’s encroachment. Since he had reshaped the divine birds from the aftermath of Yao Shen’s duel with the elders, his Fire Qi reserves had largely remained untouched.

Lei Weiyuan approached the limits of his abilities as he frenziedly invested his Fire Qi to elevate the flames of each Sacred Bird to a new realm, their silhouettes warping and destabilizing a few times before he managed to regain control. Now that he had made the decision to finally act, there was no hesitation— the Sacred Birds, which had been stealthily building up reserves of concentrated flame, reared their head in Yao Shen’s direction before unleashing a torrent of orange-red flames that ruthlessly tore holes in the cloud of grey mists, instantly vaporizing it upon contact.

The illusory clones had barely left a sound as they weaved through the mists like spectres, using the Major Dao of Wind in bursts to amplify their speed. However, the Sacred Bird’s flames were spread out enough that a quarter of the illusory clones were caught in the blast radius, attempting to buffet the fiery inferno with their wind blades— a valiant, but ultimately futile effort.

Yao Shen’s fury was reignited as he felt his connection with a quarter of his clones being severed, Lei Weiyuan exploiting the weakness in his domain to suppress and weaken his sphere of influence. His response was almost instantaneous, a harsh, whistling sound echoing out as the illusory clones rapidly consumed their reserves of Wind Qi before releasing two arcing wind blades in unison.

The Sacred Birds immediately split off in an attempt to evade the volley of wind blades heading for them, but Lei Weiyuan had not expected Yao Shen’s counter to be so swift. The wind blades blurred forward at a blistering pace, instantaneously bisecting a third of the Sacred Birds in half before the residual winds scattered the remaining flames.

Lei Weiyuan’s expression turned grim as he felt his sphere of influence weaken, but his initial objective had been met. Yao Shen repeatedly attempted to reform the curtain of mists that concealed his illusory clones, but ultimately the Minor Dao of Mist had no way of resisting the might of the Major Dao of Fire— the ambient temperature had been raised to a point where his mist cloud was forced to continously shrink.

A majority of Yao Shen’s illusory clones were now exposed, and it was not an opportunity Lei Weiyuan could afford to miss.

The Sacred Birds flapped their wings before breaking out into a dive, careening towards the illusory clones from different angles— reaching the pinnacle of their speed as they headed toward the ground like a flaming meteor. Mists instantly vaporized upon coming into contact with the Sacred Birds, leaving a trail of flames in their wake as they came crashing down.

A few of the Sacred Birds opted for speed over qi-empowered attacks, attempting to claw the illusory clones’ head off, only to be parried by wind blades. Some waited to cover the distance, before discharging a gout of flames at close range. The illusory clones either evaded, or chose to directly confront the flames— some succeeding in their attempt to buffet the winds until they directly managed to strike the Sacred Bird, while a few misjudged the timing and perished.

Dozens of battles were fought simultaneously, Lei Weiyuan’s fist clenched as he bore the strain of orchestrating a multitude of skirmishes at once. On the other hand, Yao Shen was completely relaxed as he manipulated his illusory clones to scatter one Sacred Bird after the other with almost mechanical precision, barely feeling the strain of controlling them in his soul form.

A few minutes later, over a third of Yao Shen’s clones remained standing, while Lei Weiyuan was down to a mere pittance of four Sacred Birds. He panted heavily as his gaze fell upon the small cloud of mists that still remained, Yao Shen still not having chosen to show himself. His fire qi reserves were on the verge of exhaustion, his divine sense almost entirely spent, a solemn expression on his face as he analysed the situation. The aftermath of their battle had left the landscape ablaze, deep incisions carved into the face of the earth by awry wind blades.

Among the myriad reasons for Lei Weiyuan’s defeat, one of them had been the versatility of Yao Shen’s domain, brought along by the humanoid form he had chosen to adopt for his clones. Yet, there was a reason why Lei Weiyuan had modelled his domain after the guardian beast of his sect— a very important, and fundamental reason.

A Domain was the imposition of one’s will over the natural law of Eliria, yet there was no necessity upon the form or method one utilized to impose their will. Lei Weiyuan, as a cultivator brought up in the Sacred Flame Palace, had been taught of the Legend of Marayan from a very young age. The fabled spiritual beast once reknowned as the emperor of all flames had not been seen upon the continent of Ionea for centuries, but the disciples of the Sacred Flame Palace believed that Marayan would return if their sect was ever reduced to the verge of destruction. For there was a very specific aspect of Marayan’s fable that gave credence to this belief…..

Lei Weiyuan’s eyes shone with an intense glint that bordered upon the verge of madness, as he boldly proclaimed five words that left even Yao Shen shocked.

“Domain: Sacred Bird Marayan, Rebirth.”

For a moment, it felt as if time itself had been reversed— two streaks of blood leaked from Lei Weiyuan’s eyes, his expression rapidly paling as he stretched his control, his dominion, over the fire element beyond what should have been possible. The flames scattered in the surrounding landscape immediately responded to his call, a rapidly ballooning sphere of flames forming above him that started to shape itself into a two winged, three eyed bird that eclipsed even Yao Shen’s soul form— easily three times the size.

Perhaps Lei Weiyuan’s faith would never be rewarded, but his belief certainly was.

The thirty foot tall flaming bird caused the observing Sacred Flame Palace Elder’s breath to seize, their attention mesmerized as they gaped at the awe-inspiring sight— for a moment, it was as if they were transported in time to the pinnacle of the Sacred Flame Palace’s existence.

Then the dream ended.

A sigh echoed out behind Lei Weiyuan, as Yao Shen, dressed in satin-white robes, held the tip of his sword at his throat. The cloud of mists that Lei Weiyuan believed Yao Shen to be hiding within scattered, revealing another one of his illusory clones.

“Admirably fought, Brother Lei. But this fight is over,” Yao Shen’s tone was one of solemn respect, as he gazed at the almost fully formed Sacred Bird one last time, before he contested Lei Weiyuan’s control with his own understanding of the laws of fire. The flaming bird rapidly warped, before losing its form entirely— one half of the sacred bird forcibly torn away using Yao Shen’s Major Dao of Fire.

Lei Weiyuan stood in silence as the flames rained down around him, his hands trembling from over-exterting his abilities before he let out a weary sigh.

“We yield. The duel is yours,” The words were announced loudly despite Lei Weiyuan’s exhaustion, and for a moment even Yao Shen couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

The duel was over.

He….. had won.