Chapter 12 – Three Paths

  The first month of the year. Eleven months remained until Diyuan advanced.

  Another year had passed so another New Years festival was about. Mother had asked Diyuan to hang out with Ranxi again, this time to help cheer her up. Apparently, she had been down for the past few months, feeling a lack of progress towards her own cultivation breakthrough.

  She had no reason to be ashamed. From what Diyuan knew, it could take around one to two hundred years to go from level 5 Spiritweave to the Dharma great realm. Her lifespan limit should be around 300 years now, so it wasn’t like she should be in any rush.

  Unlike Diyuan, who had to wonder if his own time limit had been reduced to a few years.

  They had their fun, the days would pass, and the week ended with the city’s finale. Their city, Xifeng, had use a mid-grade talisman to conjure a giant hand, several times larger than a building, that waved throughout the city, raining down motes of light, where children would rush to catch into their hands, or romantic couples would kiss under. Others would use their own talismans or rune devices to shoot up lights at this time, which the motes reflected, causing a light show for people to awe at.

  Soon after, things went back to normal, though Ranxi still had the shadow of doubt appear on her face now and again.

  Diyuan intended to go back to the Records Hall, to see if he could find any hints as to how to fix his problem, but Mother caught him and made him sit down on the steps outside the building. With a brush in her hand, he figured he would be trapped for a while.

  “You’ve been locking yourself away at the Records Hall for a while now,” Mother said.

  He closed his eyes and let the sensation of her brushing soothe him. “I come back every week, don’t I?”

  He told her about how he looked up upper world information, their cultures and other stuff. He left out the quest to search for apotheosis information, not wanting to worry her until it became serious enough. Truthfully, he considered if he should or not. It was likely she would rally the family resources to dig through the documents to find any hint they could.

  But at the same time, he weighed how helpful that would be, the optics of it, and what Mother might feel during that time. She had lost one son, and perhaps there was an unfixable threat to her second son.

  At the very least, he would wait until level 9 Foundation came about.

  “I’ve also heard you’ve been part of the conferences that the elders have there. How did you manage that?” Mother rubbed his shoulders as she continued her brushing. Fortunately, no one was in the courtyard to see this.

  “Is that really a big deal? Even Grouchy Huizhong commented about it, telling me to ask them who they were. But they were all with their families for the festival, so I’ll do it once we all get back.”

  Mother hummed as he described the kinds of debates and seminars they held. One in particular had some interest to him. It was about tribulation thunder. When a cultivator at level 5 Spiritweave was ready to breakthrough, normally tribulation thunder would appear and accompany them, causing most to die to its lightning. For those that lived, they were stronger for it.

  “The debate was about if our lower world’s Dharma cultivators were weaker in general because we don’t have that lightning anymore,” Diyuan said.

  “Hmm…” Mother thought carefully, as though she was now participating in the debate herself. “Why do you think tribulation thunder gives strength at all?”

  “Obviously, the renegade artes,” Diyuan said immediately, repeating what he had said at the debate. “If someone calls their arte eternal, the heavens would strike them down. If they pass, the arte would be blessed with the properties of eternity—it would effectively last forever once used.”

  Mother put the brush down and started to massage his shoulders, rubbing her thumb against his muscles. “Let me repeat the story about the carp who swam, but wanted to fly.”

  Diyuan closed his eyes and let her words wash over him. This was one of the stories he had heard her tell him before, and also again to the neighborhood people who came to her class. It was a nice story; more so because how it felt whenever he heard it. A trance-like lull came over him as he listened.

  The story, to sum up, was about a carp who learned to fly in the air whenever it rained. It taught itself that the rain expanded the water, therefore allowing it to swim up. But whenever the rain stopped, it would fall into the water again. Since lightning accompanied the rain, the carp would be struck at times, but never deterred. Others tried to mimic it, but most would die to the lightning, not having the same conviction as the hero carp.

  One day, the rain stopped and never returned. All the fish returned to their everyday life, but not our hero carp. The hero carp came to understand stillness within movement, a balance. The rain was irrelevant, a fleeting connection to the sky. The true water was the calm in its heart, merging with the sky’s unseen currents. So the carp would break past the waters and soar into the sky. The first to lead the way could only do so with a heart forged in solitude and resoluteness, unyielding to the heavens’ storm; those that followed a proven path could only do so knowing it was possible, though their borrowed conviction may lack and break.

  Diyuan was listening, but realized this was only part of the story. Mother had always stopped here, but why should it stop? The depth of the world was continuous.

  “There is more to it,” Diyuan said, his own voice sounding distant to himself as he kept his eyes closed. He expanded and relived his experience in the Promise Land, where he received enlightenment by watching the flying fish there. There was an illusion of separation, where it broke through the wind, only to see the wind come back together again. There was unity, even in separation.

  “She’s breaking through! Lingzhi—get the children to safety! Shuiren—activate all formations to protect the buildings!”

  Mother’s voice shattered his reverie. He had just been talking about his experience when a sudden commotion hit him. He opened his eyes and saw that the courtyard was no longer empty; the neighbors that would sometimes come to Mother’s class were here, along with some of the Yuhan Elite, as if they were listening. Except now, everything was in chaos. Some of the Yuhan Elite swooped down, their runic wings out, grabbed multiple people with their energy and flew outside the Yuhan estate walls.

  Another Elite went and activated several formations, causing lines to light up all over the place. A barrier activated around the entire compound. Others ran outside, not sure what was happening.

  Then Diyuan saw the problem. To the side was his sister, Ranxi, except there was now a golden glow that surrounded her body. The ground beneath her had cracked.

  Mother forced him to his feet then pushed him towards the door, but paused for a moment before his sister.

  “Ranxi,” Mother’s voice was steady. “What thoughts did you have before you started breaking through?”

  Ranxi, eyes wide with anticipation and a little fear, gulped. “That’s what you’re asking, Ma? I’m glowing!”

  “Answer,” Mother commanded.

  Diyuan felt a pressure on him, like gravity was increasing the longer he stayed nearby. It was similar to what Lady Pagoda had applied to him for her final test. He activated the barrier of his Emperor’s Rule arte to counter the force. The heaviness on him lessened, allowing him to breathe easier.

  “Uh,” Ranxi said, her voice trembling as the wall behind her cracked. “When I was listening to Diyuan, I was thinking about how I wanted to protect him at all costs.” She smiled sheepishly, like she was embarrassed to admit it. “But then…I got angry at you and Pa, for what you were doing to him.”

  That took Diyuan out of the moment. Confused, he looked at his mother, who still had a protective hand on his back. Her face revealed nothing.

  Ranxi continued. “I thought myself like the Heaven and Earth, nurturing all. But even they allow conflict and death, don’t they?” Her voice became quieter, as if she was talking to herself. Her eyes closed. “The greatest spiritual plants cannot thrive in shelter. I saw it: bloom through wither. To protect, I must allow life’s storms to come. Even if we’re separated, we’ll unite again.”

  As if in response, the glow erupted into a beam, launching straight into the sky. Diyuan saw the cracked ground beneath her spread, the air distorting. Mother quickly looked to Diyuan, to check his condition, but a flicker of surprise appeared on her face as she saw him standing with ease. The weight he felt on him would not increase as long as his Emperor’s Rule arte had that barrier up.

  Ranxi’s hands stretched out to her sides. “Mine is the Path of the Fleeting Bloom.”

  Mother lifted Diyuan up with her power and leaped into the sky, causing his barrier to collapse as they travelled faster than the allowed speed for his arte. In that split defenseless second, he felt the pressure emitting from Ranxi and felt as if he got smashed by a hammer—air sucked out of him and the strength of his body failed. The two of them passed through the wall’s barrier without resistance, allowing him to regain his strength.

  As they landed, he saw a crowd gathering on the streets outside their wall. The golden beam had been a beacon to draw everyone’s attention. It was the sign of someone advancing to the Dharma great realm—minus the olden day tribulation thunder.

  The beam of light caused ripples in the sky, creating a strange illusionary body, almost invisible unless staring straight at it. This transparent body was a colossus version of Ranxi. It slowly disappeared, but the giant hands remained. They began to change, gaining a golden color. Both hands joined together in the sky, merging into the shape of a shield.

  Once it solidified, the floating shield dropped and hit the ground. A thunderous impact rumbled the streets where they stood. The sounds of a building shattering could be heard on the other side of the wall. Dust loomed above the Yuhan estate.

  “To answer your debate,” Mother spoke, as if the chaos was a footnote, “tribulation thunder is but a shadow’s test. It doesn’t make someone stronger. Strength lies in discovering your path, not the strikes. But not all in the Dharma realm find a path.” The dust began to settle and people in the distance would place their fist into their palm as congratulations to the Lady of the Yuhan family. She lifted a hand in gentle acknowledgement. Her posture stood her tall and regal as she continued to speak to him. “And it seems you’ve got a knack for preaching. You brought the Promise Land here to the people.”

  Diyuan nodded automatically. But then her words hit him. “The Promise Land?” His mind was warped by the revelation. “You’ve been to the third tier of the Reflections Pagoda? I thought I was the only one!”

  She looked over at him, an amused look in her eye. “Really now, your mother still shines brighter than you. You’ve got several more hundred years to grow before you can catch up to me.”

  Diyuan could only roll his eyes.

  He would find out later, after all the greetings and congratulations passed, that her grandfather had bribed a way for her to enter into the Reflections Pagoda when she was still at the Foundation realm hundreds of years ago. How she passed the second tier, with all those unfair trials, she would not tell him.

  Or rather, she did, but she pulled at his ear and simply said, “Every problem can be solved with a good ear tug.”

  When she had reached the fourth tier of the Reflections Pagoda, after obtaining her own enlightenment, she refused to advance on and instead went back to the Promise Land. It was the opposite choice that he had made, though that had made her all the more proud once he told her. He couldn’t understand why.

  When he asked, she simply said, “You are my little flying fishy.”

  He wanted to tell her about his experience in the pagoda, about the fifth tier, but she would stop him. She wanted her lack of knowledge of the final trial to remain a mystery.

  The overall events of today were strange, though. Despite Ranxi breaking through to the Dharma realm much sooner than normal cultivators, it was Diyuan who felt he had gained something.

  The first to fly had the most difficult road, but their convictions were the strongest. If Diyuan wanted to break through to the Spiritweave realm after achieving apotheosis, he needed to match the carp’s determination.

  ***

  The second month. Ten months remained until Diyuan advanced.

  Back at the Records Hall, it was time for the first elder’s conference of the year. The topic this time was a debate in regards to population control, applicable laws, and limiting childbearing to those who reached level 5 Spiritweave at minimum. It certainly wasn’t something Diyuan had thought about before.

  Once it came to an end, Diyuan recalled what Grouchy Grouch had told him to do, and so he spoke up and got the elders’ attention.

  “By the way,” Diyuan started, “Grand Elder Huizhong told me to ask my Senior Brothers who you were.”

  Venerate One—the honorific everyone settled on for this particular elder—smiled like he was in on a joke. “And who do you think we are?”

  “Well, you were the people who were using my scrying pool time,” Diyuan answered, adding a light humor to his tone.

  That got a chuckle out of several of them. But then they started to answer one by one who they were along with their titles. It was their titles that Diyuan knew.

  The Venerate One elder was the Hall Master of the Eternal Records itself.

  The Second Seat and the Third Seat—honorifics they’ve adopted as a continuation of Diyuan’s initial Senior Brother call—were also Hall Masters.

  The Hall Master of Spirit Forging and Hall Master of Consular Envoys. Spirit Forging oversaw the clan’s forging and refining capabilities, which included weapon forging, pill refinement, rune device creations, talisman production, and so on.

  Consular Envoys was the role for ambassador work; the external diplomacy to the other clans, and the diplomacy involving pocket worlds.

  That meant three of the four Hall Masters were in this room. The only Hall Master missing was the Core Guard, which was the role owned by Diyuan’s father.

  But the influence didn’t end there. The “Seats” continued on. A notable academic leader that oversaw the academic scene. A master in alchemy. A master in arrays. And another in rune devices. And the influence continued as they kept stating their name and their occupation or talent.

  They were the minds that kept the cities on top.

  Once they finished, they let the silence permeate the room, pride swelling as if they revealed a secret they long desired to let loose on him. It was kind of funny to see how eager they were for his reaction.

  Diyuan made sure to stand in a way to address them all, and saluted with a deep bow. “Heavenly Seniors, with so many titles and acclamations, I’m willing to take the scraps. If you are willing, I will take the Thirteenth Seat, and what none of you wanted: Hall Master of Youthful Dazzling Allure.”

  In the midst of their laughs, one stood up, the diplomat Hall Master, and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Are you calling us ugly now?” He shook Diyuan back and forth. “Well, that’s fine, a child of my legacy says the same. She’s only about four times your age—and single. The perfect age gap for marriage, wouldn’t you concur?”

  After the humor continued, another round of the elders’ debate started: who’s scion was best fit to marry Diyuan?

  Once things settled down, Diyuan asked if he could receive some advice on his alchemy, as he was only able to create a mid-grade tier one pill once and couldn’t duplicate his success. If he was going to be in the same room as the people who were essentially the neck of the Zhengyi clan, he should take advantage, as Grouchy Huizhong suggested.

  One thing led to another, and soon Diyuan found himself learning from the Fifth Seat, the alchemy master.

  ***

  The third month of the year. Nine months remained.

  Diyuan’s alchemy understanding was off from the get-go. He had assumed it was more akin to mathematics, where a precise input produced an exact output. At the same time, he also assumed following the alchemy recipe was comparable to cooking. Yet, both of these understandings were wrong.

  Alchemy was unpredictable and the processes were dynamic. The fire input required from the cultivator wouldn’t always be the same, where the outcomes could be influenced by subtle variables, such as something as strange as the alchemist’s emotional state. But even more than that, even a cloudy sky could impact the results.

  As he was taught by the great Fifth Seat Alchemy Master, he learned that cooking ingredients were “inert,” but in alchemy they were participants in the process. Math and recipes aim to remove randomness, whereas alchemy embraced it.

  There was a lot of nonsense in Grand Elder Huizhong’s journal with his alchemy notes that suddenly started to make sense. Who would have thought that herbs could have opinions? Diyuan still wasn’t at the level where he could comprehend what this was all about, but it put him in the right direction.

  The alchemist who failed to adapt but correctly followed the written recipe would make low grade pills. There was a chance, perhaps by luck—due to the weather or something else—where the new alchemist could succeed in making a mid-grade pill. But to always correctly adapt to the ingredients would allow for a consistent high-grade pill to be refined every time. A high-grade pill could never be reached by luck.

  Learning that and feeling it were two different things. Diyuan was going to need a lot of practice. He kept running low on tier one pill ingredients, despite having plenty of the higher tier herbs from the Misty Lake Shop fiasco. Plenty more spirit stones would need to be thrown into this endeavor.

  But, as always, it was a good thing he’s rich.

  ***

  The fourth month. Eight months remained.

  Ranxi held a birthday celebration, the first since the celebration of Diyuan’s literal birth day. Birthdays weren’t celebrated on a yearly basis, unlike with non-cultivators. They were held during milestone events or specific age thresholds. In this case, it would be including the celebration of her reaching the Dharma great realm.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Seating arrangements were made where the honored guests would sit closer to the Yuhan patriarch’s seat—or where the Lady of the Yuhan family would be sitting, as the patriarch was absent. Diyuan had expected his father to come at least for this event, but it seemed like it wasn’t important enough for him. Which was well and fine; the less Diyuan ran across his father, the better.

  He hadn’t forgotten Ranxi’s off comment about her getting angry at both of their parents for what they were “doing” to him. He had not understood that.

  The Yuhan-Shi fourth branch sat at a higher position than the disgraced second branch. The fourth branch’s patriarch and his son, Triumphant Taoran, came to Diyuan personally and thanked him for several things, including things he had not done, such as financing the alchemy research that they were doing. Diyuan figured it was his father that had sent the funds; the act itself was the stamp of his approval on Diyuan’s actions when he rearranged the Misty Lake ownership.

  To Diyuan’s surprise, Fifth Seat Alchemy Master from the Records Hall conference had shown up and provided a rare golden ore, a luxurious gift that helped convert arte damage into spiritual energy; useful to forge into some armor or accessory piece. He then personally greeted Diyuan with a comment that they look forward to their next meeting. To everyone else, it was a conspicuous thing, raising Diyuan up in their own eyes.

  And then the Fifth Seat tried to set Diyuan up in marriage, asking Lady Rulong for approval. Mother would laugh, saying how Diyuan had only just started walking yesterday; he was much too young for marriage talks.

  Ranxi closed the celebration with a showcase of her Dharma arte. She invited everyone out to the courtyard, where the previous damages from her breakthrough were repaired—minus the cracked ground. Mother insisted it be preserved, a memory like her children’s first steps.

  “Blossoming Shield Heart,” Ranxi said. A golden energy swarmed in front of her hand. It shaped and solidified into a radiant shield, one that awed the lower-level cultivators, but a flicker of surprise appeared on all the Dharma cultivators that were there. There was something special about the shield they were seeing that Diyuan did not.

  The golden shield burst, scattering golden shards toward everyone. Diyuan flinched, then saw each shard unfurl into a blossoming flower. It hovered before him like it did for every other guest, inviting a touch. As the flower dissolved, a feeling of warmth and vitality washed over him. His fatigue and aches vanished.

  Ranxi tilted her chin skyward. “Behold, my impenetrable shield. Not even a peak Dharma master can shatter it.” She would later confess to Diyuan in secret that this same shield also couldn’t last longer than one second, but why say that when showing off? “The more important thing is the blossoming heart that everyone received. It’ll heal your wounds like the Yuhan’s Benediction Balm arte does, but now for free. It’ll also quicken your arte’s cycle time, bringing them back sooner. Overall, this arte of mine says this: I trust my allies to not need my shield, your victory is your own to win!”

  Her Blossoming Shield Heart was the “free” arte she got when she began walking her Path of the Fleeting Bloom. It was moments like these that made Diyuan wonder what his own path would be when he finally reached the Dharma great realm. Hopefully, his first arte would be something amazing as well.

  ***

  The fifth month. Seven months remained.

  Diyuan started to successfully refine mid-grade pills on a regular basis. He felt some pride swell as he got better. Grand Elder Huizhong’s journal helped him understand the temperament of each herb, but that started to give him an overwhelming sense of ignorance. It was hard enough to do this when he had guidance from two alchemists, but what was he supposed to do when he started refining tier two pills?

  Fifth Seat Alchemy Master gave the answer to his concern. Once Diyuan was capable of refining perfect tier one pills, he would be given the recipe for the tier one Nasal Nectar Pill. If that pill was refined with three lines, it would permanently provide a unique scent discernment ability to his body. This discernment could be applied to nearly all herbs of the higher tiers.

  In short, it was the graduation test for new alchemists. It would be a long graduation, since the ingredients were rather expensive. The expectation would be that the new alchemists would save up and continue to refine their tier one expertise until they could purchase everything. Most would even move on to tier two and sometimes tier three pills before they successfully made their first perfect tier one pill.

  But Diyuan was rich, so he wasn’t going to waste all that time.

  Since Diyuan didn’t have spirit stone restrictions and his normal meditation time was cut to zero, due to the ongoing passive spiritual energy absorption, he was going to aim for that graduation before the year was out.

  Before the month was over, Diyuan became 20 years old. He would muse to himself that under normal circumstances, he would have been level 2 Spiritweave by now.

  ***

  Six months remained.

  Diyuan scoured the Records Hall and found a section that held past debates, where a volume would consist of the entire year’s conversations and outcomes. Seminars would include references to research records, in case any wanted to dispute the theory or findings.

  He went through the prior’s years volume and found it amusing that the honorifics of Senior and Junior were now being showcased for the first time. He was curious to see what other topics had come up and discovered that there was one about a specific person: Yuhan Diyuan. It was before he had joined them on a regular basis.

  Odd. He read through it. The information started out by claiming that they would use public information only, so that they could assume what they discussed could also be discussed by foreign clans. It had to do with the pocket world ban (which had its own offset discussion in a separate volume) and if the implications were true. It was a discussion asking if the key events were truly a result of an immature cultivator who did an illegal kill and refused to part with his ring.

  The debate had brought up that Diyuan now wielded a black cold steel sword, which should only be available through unique permission, such as the artisan’s writ with Patriarch Tianhou’s name. Coincidently enough, such a thing had been given to Grand Elder Xunran, per eye witnesses. There was some back and forth, where some sided that Uncle Xunran gave it to Diyuan as a reward for the gambit against Gu Guoxiong.

  The majority agreed that Yuhan Diyuan’s refusal to give up his ring after illegally killing Gu Lingxu was a ploy to prevent the loss of a treasure within the storage ring. Likely that the same-said treasure aided him in his gambit victory against Gu Guoxiong.

  Diyuan paused his reading for a moment. He was grateful all the attention had been on him. There wasn’t a single mention of Yunya the entire time. Future historians might even argue that she didn’t enter that pocket world with him in the first place; he spent a moment wondering how she was doing before turning to the next page.

  There was more, specific to the aftermath pieces. While the pocket worlds closed to the Zhengyi clan, the Lianhua and the Celing clan made agreements with the Zhengyi clan, where trade would soften during the ban, delivering some of the materials looted from the new allocation spots they had during this period. But in return, Zhengyi would need to temporarily pass over more allocation slots once the ban was lifted.

  The debate indicated that there had been a separate, fierce conversation on how the other three clans—Lianhua, Celing, and Honglie—would respond with the ban that hit both Zhengyi and the Gu clan. It seemed like Lianhua and Celing sided with Zhengyi for several reasons, but one of them being due to Yuhan Diyuan winning the gambit. Yuhan Diyuan appeared to have had good relations with the former Fel holder Zheng Xunran, and figured it was more beneficial to appeal to those who held the title of Fel.

  Diyuan finished reading that month’s debate and closed the volume. His single act against Gu Guoxiong had given them some economic reprieve, something he didn’t realize until now.

  It also made him realize something. When Yunya would finally make her appearance and set the closing stage, that didn’t necessarily mean it would be the Zhengyi clan versus everyone during the final war. Who’s to say that some wouldn’t join their side willingly?

  If the opportunity arose, Diyuan wanted to help pave the road where these potential clans would allow themselves to be absorbed into the Zhengyi clan.

  ***

  Five months remained.

  At long last, after years of seclusion, Old Man Yifan had returned.

  Or rather, the old man had apparently returned the month prior, but Diyuan only found out now when he received a message talisman from both Uncle Xunran and Grouchy Huizhong to meet with the three of them in the council room.

  Diyuan stood in the center of the nearly empty council room. All the empty chairs were there, for the City Lords and the Hall Masters and whatnot. But the focus now were the three Grand Elder seats.

  Despite it being a few years now, Old Man Yifan’s appearance still hadn’t settled in for Diyuan. The phoenix arte had made him younger. And, in an unsettling kind of way, it had made the old man handsome. The slicked back long crimson hair matched well with the sharp eyes of a younger man. His white and red layered robes were adorned with gold pieces that represented wings of a phoenix. Overall, Yifan looked like a cultivator who had stepped out from the ancient times. But no matter how he looked, he would always be Old Man Yifan to him.

  Even with all that, the twinkle of an old man’s eye reflected on the younger man’s face, the same twinkle that got Diyuan into quite a bit of trouble. “Lad, you’ve made some accomplishments these past few years. And it seems you’ve hit a snag as well. Apotheosis, hm?”

  Diyuan saluted respectfully to the three Grand Elders. Time sure had changed from when he was 16 years old. He couldn’t have known the sudden turn on his life when Old Man Yifan had asked him to guard Jia Yunya, the merchant’s daughter.

  “A minor thing, Old Man Yifan. Hardly worth thinking about. If my core explodes and levels a city or two, I’m sure it’ll sort itself out.” Diyuan’s words were cheery and relaxed. If they had called him, they probably had a theory to his solution.

  Old Man Yifan chuckled. “Explode and level a city, you say? I do hope we can choose which one.” He leaned back, his hands automatically going to his eyebrows and stroking them.

  The banter continued. Diyuan would then brag about his up-and-coming alchemy skills, calling himself the next greatest alchemist since the invention of the cauldron. Grouchy Huizhong had a thing or two to say about that. Uncle Xunran would come to Diyuan’s defense, claiming he would feel safer using Diyuan’s pills rather than the healer who just might be testing their pills on unsuspecting subjects.

  But then it was time for the real discussion.

  “You have the lucky choice of three,” Old Man Yifan said. “A crossroad of three options, both a blessing and a burden, that could potentially solve your solution. All three as distinct as the starry sky. I shall go first.” With a swish of his sleeves, he made a jade tablet appear in his hand, this one with a hint of red. “Behold, an arte of my own devising, which I have rather fondly named Phoenix Fallen Flight. A touch poetic, perhaps, but I’ve a weakness for names that sing.”

  “Named it yourself? Did you make this arte?” Diyuan asked. That skill would be distinguished in any household and would typically be passed on to the scion of their lineage. More so if the ancestor of such an arte discovered and created it themselves, rather than finding it in a pocket world.

  Old Man Yifan nodded. “When one has walked the boundary between life and death willingly so many a time, they do gain special insights to Life and Death.” He turned the jade tablet in its hand, studying it as though it wasn’t his. “Long ago, I pondered a question that crossed the minds of sages and fools alike: what is the nature of immortality? If the heavens own life and death, might they not permit a soul to step beyond that weave? To be reborn, not by chance, but by choice?”

  The twinkle of his eye grew brighter as he leaned in and whispered. “And with the heavens silent, have we simply sat idly by? Why, we take up their mantle on our own, don’t we?”

  Diyuan looked curiously at the tablet. It seemed that Old Man Yifan intended to give it to Diyuan as one of the three solutions. “So, what does it do? This Fiery Five Phoenix Flame Fickle Forte?”

  Old Man Yifan leaned back against his chair again, his smile widening. He held out the jade tablet, offering the gift. “The Phoenix Fallen Flight is a pact, lad. Should the bearer of the arte choose to lay down their life, willingly, I must press, the arte’s full potential awakens. We act in place of the heavens, to permit the rebirth. The soul is cradled in flame, and it rises anew. And, I might add, with a rather striking head of crimson hair. A happy accident, I think.”

  Diyuan’s feet began moving on their own. Who wouldn’t want such an arte? If his life was timed to end as a result of the spiritual energy influx, then wouldn’t his explosive death and rebirth create a new Foundation core?

  He paused mid step.

  But wait, which core would it recreate? The original one? Or the one that was formed from the Limitless Elixir?

  And it wasn’t only that. If he willingly died before his core explosion, and the rebirth brought him back to life, wouldn’t his Limitless Elixir core create that same spiraling energy flux once again? He would be back to the same problem he had now.

  Diyuan brought up his thoughts and concerns as he took a step back.

  Old Man Yifan pulled back the tablet and clasped his hands together around it. “A fascinating thought process. One I cannot say I know the conclusion.”

  “What did I say?” Uncle Xunran spoke up. “I told you he wouldn’t snatch it right away. He’s like one of my Watchers: he’ll think twice before snatching a treasure. Though my men will take it all the same, even with the second thought. Treasures are tempting like that.”

  Old Man Yifan gave Uncle Xunran a playful expression. “Quite right you are. Why, I recall a time when I myself was lured by a particularly shiny bauble… But I do think Huizhong’s stare accuses me of wasting time.” He turned back to Diyuan. “The choice will be somewhat yours to ponder. One of three paths. As for your other options…”

  Uncle Xunran was up next.

  He first went into detail with something seemingly irrelevant. He explained how sometimes spiritual plants or demonic beasts would absorb the essence of the area around them. As an example, an herb that can survive in a volcano environment may be more inclined to the element of fire, rather than ice.

  “And so we just need to find something that can remove your spiritual energy, or at least reduce it to a degree where you can forcefully create the Spiritweave core on your own,” Uncle Xunran said. “In fact, these next two options do something like that. Mine is the more adventurous one.” He held up a finger. “Lightning.”

  Diyuan tilted his head in confusion.

  “You’ve said it before, the Lady Pagoda called the Tribulation Shroud your prison,” Uncle Xunran said. “I’ve spoken at some length with Yifan and he agrees with my assessment about your Emperor’s Rule arte. During Gu Guoxiong’s domain, you’ve been able to pass through the fire that swept about, something that no other could do. It is likely that your arte may challenge what we consider the unchallengeable. But what means is that it may be able to pass through the Tribulation Shroud, leaving you unharmed.”

  Diyuan absorbed the information. Lady Pagoda had mentioned that he had the ability to break free if he decided to do so. Was it as simple as teleporting through? Whenever he teleported, air would push out where he landed—or fire, in the case of the domain’s explosions. Could he pass through the lightning as well?

  Which brought the conversation back to the essence of the Tribulation Shroud.

  “Tribulation Shroud rips away the cultivation when it hits someone, either disintegrating them, lowering their level significantly, or destroying their cultivation all together,” Uncle Xunran said. “It may be possible that it could leave behind its essence where it had struck true—beyond the Tribulation Shroud. If an electrified tree branch existed out there? Maybe it would have the ability to remove or dismantle spiritual energy in some way. If you see a demonic beast? Try to see what its eyeballs taste like. But of course, there’s no guarantee such a thing even exists.”

  Diyuan nodded. Of the three paths before him, he already thought this one might have the chance of the least success, considering that Uncle Xunran also explained that after visiting each side of the Shroud, he could not see its depth. Even if Diyuan did used his Emperor’s Rule to its upmost use, there was no guarantee that there was even an opposite side to the Shroud. For all they knew, the Shroud could be covering the entire world, not just a small portion surrounding them.

  And so, the third option came from Grouchy Huizhong.

  “The Void Grass,” he offered. “When plucked, it will remove all spiritual energy in the area, and remove the ability to use artes out in the open. If you can collapse the energy vortex within, by time spiritual energy rushes back it, the new flood will force the collapsed vortex to condense. That should create the Spiritweave core, allowing you to disable the lodestone effect of your Foundation core.” Grand Elder Huizhong nodded once. “Something similar has successfully happened in the past, so even someone with your genius-boy mind can mimic it; if you find it, that is.”

  But the look on the other two Grand Elder’s faces was telling Diyuan that it was only half the story.

  “And where can I find this Void Grass?” Diyuan asked.

  With a swish of his sleeve, Grand Elder Huizhong made a map appeared in the air, hovering in place. It revealed the local land, rather than the scorched world. Grand Elder Huizhong stood and leaned over it, pointing at a specific spot in-between the Zhengyi clan and the Lianhua clan.

  “The Carcass Grotto pocket world,” he said with his serious tone. “It is ranked among one of the most difficult of all pocket worlds. There is no level prohibition, but only Dharma cultivators enter. There is a poisonous miasma that fills the air, which will temporarily lower the cultivation level the longer one baths in it. The portal will last for one week, but anyone still inside on the seventh day will die. The Dharma cultivator will temporarily drop to Spiritweave, then Foundation, then they will die if they do not leave.”

  Diyuan tilted his head in confusion. “Okay, but then what about me? If this grass removes spiritual energy once plucked, don’t I need to be there in person to experience its effects? At the Foundation level, I would simply die to the poison.”

  It was Old Man Yifan who responded by holding up his red tinted jade tablet again. He looked upon it like it was an ancient secret, now ready to be fully unveiled. “And so we circle back to the Phoenix Fallen Flight. It is a double arte, you see. The second arte I have named thus: Pungent Poison Purifier. Another name I do fancy, if I say so myself. I take it I don’t need to state how it subtly burns away poisons? If I enter the Carcass Grotto with you, we both shall be immune; a touch less perilous than one might expect from a dangerous pocket world. I’d still advise caution, as the demonic beasts within are not affected by the miasma.”

  Diyuan nodded. That was it then, the solution was found. If he was going to be honest, part of him was a little disappointed. He had wanted to be forced to go through the Tribulation Shroud. Lady Pagoda had some expectations for him in that regard.

  With some additional discussion, Diyuan learned a few more things about this Carcass Grotto world. There was a total allowance of 40 people, or 8 per clan. Or, in this case, the allocation for the Zhengyi clan would be reduced to 3 as the other 5 spots were given to the Lianhua clan per the trade agreement. It would open on the same month that the pocket world ban was to be lifted: the second month of the new year.

  It was hard to not liken this to heavens’ providence.

  The plan was sound. But something caught Diyuan’s eye. Old Man Yifan gave a quick look at Grouchy Huizhong; it was a look that said more than everything spoken in the council room today. Part of Diyuan’s heart gave way when he looked at Grouchy Huizhong.

  “What?” The grouch grunted, eyes stern and unapologetic as they always were.

  Diyuan inhaled and felt the air fill his lungs. “I won’t take the artes,” he said. “Find someone else to take them.”

  Because the original purpose of the arte was something else, Diyuan figured. Old Man Yifan had planned to give it to his fellow Grand Elder before learning about Diyuan’s situation. Its purpose would be to extend Grand Elder Huizhong’s life, whose lifespan would soon be up.

  “Hmph!” Grouchy Huizhong reached out his hand towards the tablet and let his power pull it out of Old Man Yifan’s hands. He caught it and looked at it with a sneer. “Obviously this should have been mine from the start, as that was Yifan’s intentions. Such an arte would be a waste on a genius-boy like you.”

  And with that, he began to walk towards the exit. The original recipient for the arte had been Grouchy Huizhong. It should go to him. It would buy the Grand Elder several hundred more years to life, and that would keep the Zhengyi clan stronger for—

  Wham!

  A slam of pain hit Diyuan in the stomach. Just as Grand Elder Huizhong was passing by, he thrust the jade tablet into his stomach, causing Diyuan to grab hold of it. As he did so, he noticed something right away.

  The double arte tablet would bind on the first person who touched it; Grouchy Huizhong’s hands never laid a finger on it—it was hovering just over it, to give the illusion that he took hold.

  “If you thought I would say that, you don’t know a thing about me,” Grand Elder Huizhong said softly as he stood tall. “The longer I live, the longer I am forced to see people praise you for being a prodigy. What a punishment that would be.”

  Then, for the first time since Diyuan knew him, he saw Venerate Grouch Huizhong smile.

  The weight of everything pressed onto Diyuan’s shoulders.

  What would Diyuan do? It was already too late; the jade tablet had bound to him. Old Man Yifan would go on to explain that he wasn’t able to create the tablet to have more freedom without spending another few hundred years condensing it. And he couldn’t form a second one without waiting for ten thousand years first.

  To have such trust by the three Grand Elders moved Diyuan. He wanted to return the favor in any way he could. But at his cultivation level, his options were limited.

  Yet, they weren’t non-existent.

  He recalled the volume he had read earlier, where it discussed his gambit against Gu Guoxiong and how that may have played a role in some of the trade agreements during the pocket world ban period.

  What if he did something like that again?

  An idea formed in his mind. Returning to an older thought, if a final war was going to happen once Yunya was ready, it didn’t need to be Zhengyi versus everyone. If he could strengthen that idea amongst the other clans, what would be the best way to do it?

  A show of power. Retaliation.

  “I have an idea.” Diyuan’s eyes lit up as the ideas began to flow. He walked up to Venerate Grouch’s map that was still hovering in the air. “You know how it’s 8 people per clan to enter the Carcass Grotto? What if we played into that? My Nether Mark is still outstanding, last I checked.”

  The three Grand Elders looked at him in confusion. They listened as Diyuan began to divulge his plan, pointing at the individual cities of the other four clans. He went into what he had learned from the volume at the Records Hall and how this plan may help the Zhengyi clan in the future.

  Venerate Grouch Huizhong was the first to push back on the idea.

  “A single Dharma cultivator could suppress you with their pressure alone,” the grouch said. “And now you want to face off against multiple of them?”

  But Diyuan closed his eyes and waived his hand dismissively. “Oh, please. That isn’t so bad. There isn’t anyone that could force me to kneel.”

  In response, the grouch immediately applied a wave of power to force Diyuan down. Diyuan, eyes still closed, kept talking.

  “My heart might flutter if there were three Dharma cultivators that teamed up. But I’m the guy who went against Gu Guoxiong; what can’t I do?”

  The other two Grand Elders applied their own pressure now, accepting his taunt, though more curious themselves than anything. But it didn’t matter. Diyuan was using his Emperor’s Rule to resist any pressure that might go against him.

  Diyuan stretched and walked around inside their combined pressure field, which was warping the air around him. “Do you guys feel something in the air?” He asked, one eye peeking open to look at them.

  Old Man Yifan chuckled. “It seems you have a few tricks up your sleeves. Do tell, as this might give us a boost of confidence.”

  Of course, they would want to know how he resisted despite being a Foundation cultivator. If Diyuan wanted his plan to work, he needed all three of them to know that he can handle himself. So he told them and explained how he would challenge the Dharma cultivators that would come after he placed the bait.

  Uncle Xunran still expressed doubt. Not that he didn’t like it, he even offered to help make his plan as offensive as possible, but the logistics behind it were difficult to put together.

  “After all,” Uncle Xunran went on to say, “if you wanted to do this, especially as flashy as you’re thinking, you’ll need to find masters of array formations, talismans, and rune devices. You’re basically asking them to all work together to create something that hasn’t existed before. I don’t know if you can contract separate groups to work together on such a short time period.”

  Diyuan and the Venerate Grouch looked at each other, a knowing smile coming upon both of them.

  “As it turns out,” Diyuan grinned, “I’ve become a wonderful Junior to just the people.”

  There were concerns, mostly from Old Man Yifan who wanted to see Diyuan’s skills first, but they otherwise tentatively agreed to his plan. It certainly helped that Diyuan’s response to the majority of the other criticisms was simply: this is what a cultivator would do. What he was suggesting wasn’t as crazy a thought as going against the heavens. This upcoming New Years celebration was going to be one that would be remembered for the ages.

  This time, when everyone was out celebrating, their activities would be interrupted by Diyuan’s invitation to the world.