It’s not dust at all, actually. Like butterflies, moths have tiny scales on their wings which dictate the color. They’re so small you can barely see them, but when they fly, some of the scales shed, which is why they seem to leave dust wherever they go. -From a lecture on the anatomical features of various spirit insects, by Er Shaming.

  Descending the stairs, the building seemed to grow colder with every passing moment. It wasn’t in the temperature, which stayed mostly the same, but in the feeling. I couldn’t help but worry that I’d just spoken with Reili for the last time, and even though she’d been dead for years, it felt as if the life were draining from the world she built. In the time it took to reach the courtyard below, I mourned her all over again.

  “Uncle?” Xinya tugged on my sleeve. “Can I ask you something?”

  I pat the little girl’s head. She worried over her own void lineage, I was sure of it. “Xinya, just because the void is in your blood doesn’t mean you have to accept it.”

  “But, Shi Reili said it would kill me if I didn’t.”

  “No, she said you’d have to overcome it.” I paused, trying to decide how to explain the fundamentals of a cultivation rank that was several Advancements beyond what the little girl was working with. “You are familiar with Iron, Silver, and Gold, yes? Iron enhances your meridians, Silver enhances your body, and Gold enhances the soul.” She nodded. “The Advancement beyond that is called Salt, but there’s actually a step in between Gold and Salt called Dissolution. Can you guess what that stage holds?”

  Though the question was directed at Xinya, I paused long enough for both her and Lin to consider it. They were both younger artists than me and could learn from the lecture. When neither answered, I continued on.

  “No one stays at Dissolution for long,” I explained. “You’ll never find a Dissolution artist in the wild unless they’re unbelievably stupid. Because, in order to reach Salt and enter the Refining Realm of cultivation, they must undo everything they’ve done and start from scratch. This is Dissolution.”

  “Why would they do that?” Xinya asked.

  I ruffled her hair. “A very good question. Consider this: when you make a meal, do you prepare all the ingredients beforehand?”

  “You are in no position to make culinary metaphors,” Lin answered, “but ideally, you would.”

  I ignored his jab at my cooking skills and continued my metaphor. “If you’re making a stew, do you cook the chicken on its own? Then each piece of the sauce in its own pan just to mix it together and serve it all at once?”

  “No, then the flavors wouldn’t mix,” Xinya said. Nobody else questioned her giving culinary advice, which I crinkled my nose at before deciding it wasn’t worth arguing over.

  “Consider the Forging Realm like your ingredient preparation. You prepare your meridians, you forge your body, you enhance your soul, but all of those must work in harmony in order to realize your Path. At Dissolution, a cultivator unravels everything, only to build it up together in harmony, so that all aspects of the self can be fully realized together. Once this is achieved, they become a Salt artist.

  “As part of that process, the body enters an extremely fluid state, and many cultivators take that opportunity to alter aspects of themselves that they wish to enhance. This is when most artists weave their Path into their blood to create blooded techniques, those techniques that define their Path and cannot be easily countered.”

  I let silence reign as we continued the walk. My companions considered the explanation I’d given, and I waited patiently for them to draw their conclusions.

  Xinya chewed on her knuckle in thought. Once we reached the edge of the Void Hearth she had considered it enough to continue. “You created Flash Forward and Flash Back,” she mused, “but Shi Reili created her communication technique. The one that lives on in her descendants.”

  “Correct.” I confirmed before glancing both ways across the open space between the Void Hearth and Eclipser Hall. Shouweiye was not near, so I urged our party forward.

  “So, if I were to make my own technique, then I’d be able to get rid of the void inside my blood?” she guessed.

  “Correct. It will not be easy, but it can be done. I recommend you both start considering what kind of technique you’d want to make. There is only one Dissolution stage, and it would be a shame if it were wasted.”

  Eclipser Hall was a beautiful place, even after all these years. Everyone needs a home, even monsters of the ancient world, something which the Darkened Moon was keenly aware of. Even at my darkest, I tried to keep my home intact around me.

  “Did you have something specific in mind when you were considering a replacement for the Forgotten Array Core?” Lin asked, eyeing the well-decorated hall.

  Moon qi hung over the building like a fog, lending an ethereal atmosphere to my abandoned home. Most of it managed to remain pure, even after all these years, but every so often a thread of voidlight would shimmer past us on its way to make some form of mischief.

  Those threads struck me as curious. Most of the time, Voidlight needed a host. Bad luck couldn’t just happen without someone to experience it, so how did those single threads even exist? And what creatures were they affecting? It was eerily quiet, with only the slightest breeze to rattle the few chimes that hung from the eaves.

  “There’s a lunar globe just outside my personal quarters that should work nicely,” I answered. “If that’s not there, then a dozen other things will be sufficient replacements.”

  An uneasiness filled me the more Voidlight threads darted through my vision on our way through the quiet courtyards. At one time, the pools were filled with lotuses, and the air was filled with the songs of crickets and other insects. Moon moths would spread their shimmering dust across the plants to create a view worthy of a painting. Without those sounds and sights, it was spooky, and I soon got the distinct sense that we were being watched.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Let’s get this done quickly,” I finished, ushering Xinya ahead of me.

  We kept to the shadows, lurking under the covered walkways between the buildings and the courtyards before scurrying across the gardens and bridges until we reached the deepest part of the palace. I eyed the sky. A suggestion of a shadow shifted in the darkness above us, and I quickly pushed Xinya through the silver and green door to the largest building before closing the door behind Lin.

  Leaving Xinya and Lin in the foyer, I jogged quickly through the maze-like corridors to my personal quarters. They were still locked tight, just as I’d left them, but a shimmering silver sigil glowed blue at my approach. With a soft click, the doors swung open to reveal a room filled with void smoke. I ignored the smoke, moving swiftly to the bed where Jinshi and I once slept and kneeling to pull a box from beneath it. It was filled with trinkets, various odds and ends I’d collected over the years and stored in case of an emergency. Ascendents didn’t have emergencies, but old habits from younger years died hard. Now, I was glad for my forethought. The gold within could prove useful for procuring treatments and advancement materials for Xinya.

  As I sifted through the box, however, my hand brushed against a silver and pearl crown. The qi within it surprised me, its moonlight pure as freshly fallen snow. I pulled it out gently, smiling fondly at the old accessory. It was the first crown I’d worn as the Lunar Prince, created during the last years of the Oni Prince’s rule in order to protect against qi techniques.

  Xinya might like this, I thought, pocketing the crown.

  With everything I needed, I cast one sad look around the room. So many memories were had here, but each one was bittersweet and filled with the longing of a bygone era. Perhaps it was time to let go of it all. What’s done was done, and the truth was that I always liked this room, this palace, and this city. Why let the heartache and fear ruin such a beautiful place? After all, I had and always will have, excellent taste.

  The last item I grabbed was the lunar globe which sat on a small table outside the door. Tucking it under my arm, I returned to Lin and Xinya.

  “Here, put this with the rest,” I said, holding out the globe.

  Lin examined it quickly. It was a perfect replica of the moon, attuned to its qi so that it would always show the true face, even after being sliced apart by the Sword Saint in our final battle. He hummed in admiration before slipping it into the satchel with the rest of our treasures, and the box of trinkets from my quarters.

  “Chiho, would you fix Xinya’s hair with this?” I asked, pressenting the crown. “It’ll protect her against external qi.” I didn’t add the part where I was worried that it would become painfully relevant the moment we stepped outside the safety of Eclipser Hall.

  The pin trilled and took the crown, quickly tucking the combed edge between the twists of her braid. Xinya immediately took a look in a nearby mirror, of which there were many, and admired the crown.

  “Consider it a gift to my niece,” I explained. “Since you’re truly of a royal bloodline from my sister, it’s only right that you be adorned appropriately.”

  In her pure joy, Xinya’s qi sparked. The crown reacted to her moonlight, resonating with her core and glowing softly.

  “It’s my favorite!” she exclaimed with delight. “It’s just like a princess’s crown!”

  Despite Xinya’s excitement, Lin did not miss the tension I carried in my shoulders, as evidenced by a curious look he gave me as soon as I turned my attention away from my young ward. In his eyes, I saw a question, and I answered with a nod towards the door. He understood.

  It was too quiet in the Void. The voices were present, but it was as if they were trying to be unnoticed and unheard. Shouweiye was lurking nearby, trying to remain unheard and unseen.

  “Once we leave, take Xinya and run back to the throne room,” I instructed.

  He shook his head. “And leave you to fight that thing alone? I don’t think so.”

  “Someone has to take care of Xinya.”

  “So have Chiho do it.” He crossed his arms.

  I didn’t have a good counter to that. Chiho was well used to caring for the young girl while my attention was otherwise occupied. That pin adored her.

  “Fine.” At my command, Chiho darted to Xinya and settled into her hair just behind the crown. “When we leave, stay beneath the eaves. I’ll try to lure it out of hiding, and we’ll take it down together.”

  “Better.” Lin uncrossed his arms and readied a handful of glowing seeds.

  I threw wide the doors, sprinting into the open courtyard. Meanwhile, Lin and Xinya remained under the covered roofs, ready for anything. We didn’t need to wait long.

  “Feast on the intruder!” Shouweiye shrieked through the Void moments before a single wingbeat pulsed through the courtyard air.

  Two jagged blades of moonlight erupted from the ground to meet Shouweiye as it descended on me. It beat its great wings, narrowly avoiding impaling itself on the blades. It shrieked in rage and frustration.

  “I will feast! Lesser Spirit! Wants my Gate! It’s mine! Mine! MINE!”

  “I don’t know of any gate!” I shouted, my voice echoing in my ears and in the Void around me.

  Shouweiye was not convinced. “It lies! The Lesser Spirit Lies! Will rip and tear and destroy!”

  It lunged again, this time heedless of the blades blocking its path. Black blood spilled on the grass which soon withered and died where it lay, but Shouweiye’s massive forelimbs shot forth. I rolled to the side to avoid being skewered on the massive limbs.

  A blade sliced through the air with a keening whistle followed quickly by another shriek from the massive spirit moth. Moon Rose gleamed in Lin’s hand, its blade doused in black blood that was slowly being consumed by vines of verdant wood qi entwining themselves around the blade. It was as if Moon Rose was made for Lin’s hand, his qi in perfect sync with the spirit of the blade.

  Shouweiye beat its wings again. I dove to the ground before I was knocked unwillingly off my feet. The threads of Voidlight that had previously gathered in the grass seemed to dance before my eyes as Shouweiye took off. Following their trajectory, I thought I caught a glimpse of a blue wing clinging to the underbrush, but it was gone a moment later.

  “Burn and die! Void will feast!”

  Shouweiye exploded in a cloud of black dust which descended upon the courtyard. The jade veins in Lin’s skin flared as the first particles settled upon him, and he hissed in pain. Even from here, I could see his skin sizzling with Void burns.

  “Get under cover!” I shouted.

  Xinya backed against the wall of Eclipser Hall’s main house, but it quickly became apparent that being underneath the covered walkways would not save any of us. The dust diffused through the air, spreading underneath the awnings and filling everyone’s lungs. With my void resilience, a tickle began to form in my throat, but Lin and Xinya were worse off.

  “Run! Get to the Star Sanctuary!” I shouted.

  However, just as I turned to flee, Shouweiye appeared out of nowhere. I twisted to the side, thanks to Flash Forward’s warning. A great spiked limb plunged into the ground where I’d been only a moment ago, but it reacted quickly, pinning me to the ground with its great bulk before I could escape.

  “Yes! Lesser Spirit cannot escape! Will feast on its qi!” Shouweiye said with glee. Its long tongue began to unfurl from within its horrible face. It probed towards me, trying to pull on my qi and consume it whole.

  A thread of Voidlight danced above Shouweiye’s head. From my angle, I could see the shaft of an arrow sticking out of its body from our last altercation, an arrow that I’d infused with Voidlight not that long ago.

  Was that what the threads were for? Shouweiye’s bad luck? I wondered in a brief moment of clarity. Threads of bad luck linking Shouweiye to the Voidlight moths. I wonder…

  I flared the light of my core, letting it pour through every inch of my skin and hair. Voidlight flashed brilliant blue, infusing the ambient moonlight with a bluish tint.

  “What? What is…AAaaaiiiieee!” Shouweiye shrieked in outrage as it was suddenly blinded by a thousand small blue moths fluttering from their hiding spots. They filled the air, spreading their own sparkling powder over the scene. Unable to see in the hurricane of tiny blue wings, Shouweiye reeled backwards, giving me the chance to flee.

  Which release schedule do you prefer?