PtM Book 16 - Chapter 19: The Most Important Trait

4/4!

Some say time is the eternal grind wheel, the inevitable force that wears away at a cliffside until all that’s left is a sandy beach. With enough time, it’s possible to crumble mountains, drain oceans, and even fray the edges of reality.

It therefore stood to reason that with enough time, even the deepest of mental traumas might wear away into nothing. Ten years had passed, but to Cha Ming, it was nearly a century. Enough time to unlock a host of unhealthy memories and process them.

Cha Ming was much calmer now than he had been when he’d first entered the Heartforge Realm. Much of his emotions had now returned, and his savagery was now safely contained in a cordoned off area in his spiritual sea.

Time had also greatly benefited his cultivation. His divine body was greatly strengthened, and even his core had made great progress. Time in his inner universe, which the Clear Sky World was technically a part of, now passed at a ratio of 15:1 between the various mortal planes and the Clear Sky World, and 10:1 between the Clear Sky World and the Heartforge Realm.

Cha Ming’s divine energy had undergone countless refinements. It was much denser than before, and his reserves were much deeper. His control over laws and concepts and his domain had sharpened over the years, to the point that he was ready to make a breakthrough.

So break through he did.

A crack echoed throughout his body as his bindings came to life. The last of the sacred sand in his possession modified the existing markings and brought them to completion.

A chain reaction was set off inside his inner universe. The strongest of the mortal planes moved inwards as Cha Ming’s divinity compressed. New worlds rushed in from the void to fill in this empty space.

Millions of mortal planes that he could barely touch with his limited power came into being. They were as plentiful as grains of sand on a beach. There were so many that to most, they would be worthless – yet to Cha Ming they were the rarest treasure.

These worlds were filled with life. Or if they weren’t, they soon would be. Conversely, they were filled with death, because these were real worlds, with humans and demons and cultivators.

These additional mortal planes increased the pressure on the older, more powerful planes. Those who’d reached bottlenecks on these planes found themselves breaking through. The entire universe benefited, so Cha Ming himself also benefited.

New ley lines came into being. New resources were stripped form the void. These changes occurred rapidly and without warning.

The end result of this chain reaction was an increase in divinity at the core of Cha Ming’s inner universe, at the center of the Clear Sky World where Jade Moon Garden existed. It took the form of a small pool of concentrated golden blood that rapidly grew to the size of a small pond.

This pool was the sources of Cha Ming’s divinity. As long as it wasn’t empty, he could use it to reconstruct his body no matter how many times it was destroyed. Without it, his would body would perish, and his soul would be sent to the yellow river.

Cha Ming’s body broke apart and reconstructed itself repeatedly as these changes took place. Divinity was forced from his blood vessels into his muscles, strengthening them, and finally into the bindings on his skin, causing them to glow fiercely.

The bindings were the same as always, but different, because now that Cha Ming cultivated the Clear Rune Battle Arts, these patterns were being used to their full potential. His bindings were unique under heaven – they could not be found on any other Runebound clansman.

The infusion of divinity into his muscles greatly increased Cha Ming’s strength. His real body cultivation reached the peak of the muscle empowering realm. His cultivation technique was superior, however, and his body had been tempered extensively. His skin was therefore already showing signs of toughening up, a characteristic of shell-marking cultivators.

He waited a few days for the changes to settle down before consuming an alchemical pill called World Transformation Pill. It had cost him thirty thousand points but would help him greatly decrease the amount of time needed to stabilize his cultivation and consolidate his inner world.

Even with this pill, the process took three months. Empowering one’s muscles didn’t just require the reshaping of said muscles. Stronger muscles required larger, more powerful blood vessels and more concentrated divine blood. This in turn required stronger, more concentrated divine marrow.

Weak bones could not support such marrow, so his bones required strengthening as well, not to mention the fact that his body, now a step more powerful, would fail if his inner organs and qi pathways were insufficiently powerful.

It took three months for Cha Ming to stabilize and adjust his cultivation to an acceptable minimum threshold. His body was much stronger than before, would not destabilize or collapse, and could now be regrown on a whim. It was not a perfect body, and he would need to hone himself for many years before he could begin to make progress again.

He therefore spent another three months in the Clear Sky World to familiarize himself with his new body before proceeding to his next breakthrough.

Training with Immortal White for the past six years was, hands down, the most harrowing experience Cha Ming had ever been through. The instructor had continuously used the threat of death and permanent dismemberment to push him to his limits and force his concepts and runes and knowledge to evolve.

Two years ago, he’d condensed false runes of Splitting and Combining. This concept embodied how liquids could easily come apart and become one again seamlessly. They were a natural result of all the painting he’d been doing.

Splitting was easy to do physically, but conceptually… it was far more difficult to grasp than Assembly for Cha Ming. He wasn’t sure why.

One year ago, Cha Ming’s qi had reached a limit it. It was much thicker than normal qi, but not solid. It had been impure, but now it was as pure as could be.

He took out all the immortal jades he’d collected thus far. He originally had six in his possession, and now, after ten years in the Heartforge Realm, he had the required sixteen.

He sent the energy in these immortal jades directly to the false runes in his dantian to push them towards completion.  The runes ravenously drank in the immortal energy and were only too happy to break through that invisible barrier.

Cha Ming had once asked Immortal White why he needed immortal energy for his runes. His answer had addressed Huxian’s concern about accidentally imploding from taking in such energy.

“It’s because the entire purpose of these runes is to better sense the associated laws,” Immortal White had told him. “Creation and destruction conflict, and so do your additional rune carvings. As a result, you require immortal treasures to accomplish this when others would require law-stitching treasures at most.”

“Immortal treasures? You’re saying my runes are immortal treasures?”

“If they are made from immortal energy, they are immortal treasures,” Immortal White had confirmed. “The reason you require exponential amounts of energy for them is because they each have their own domain and repel each other. You are not just forming two new immortal treasure runes but strengthening the other runes as well.”

Cha Ming could now see it as it happened. The clear runes broke through, becoming a pair of black and white runes, Splitting and Combining. The rest of the energy poured into the other runes to maintain the balance. In total, the power of thirty immortal jades was now evenly spread over four black runes and four white runes.

A spiritual maelstrom appeared around Cha Ming upon successfully forming the runes, and he began to drink in energy like crazy. He summoned a small mountain of high-grade transcendent jades to accelerate the process of filling out his half empty qi stores and flushing out his old qi and wash away the remaining impurities.

The process took months, even with the peak-rune-gathering Rune Consolidation Pill he’d purchased for 20,000 points. By the time he finished fine-tuning and adjusting his domain and abilities to an acceptable level, another half year had gone by.

Cha Ming emerged from the Clear Sky Realm looking unkept but otherwise healthy. Only a month and a half had passed in the Heartforge Realm. He was much calmer than he had been a decade ago, yet there was a fierceness in his bearing and a wildness in his eyes.

He was reserved, but not longer brittle. His Dao Heart was still broken but was in the process of piecing itself back together. It wasn’t perfect, and neither was his soul, but he was working on it.

This was mostly clearly seen in the make-up of his residence. Very few people had seen it – in fact, only Huxian had seen it other than himself. It was now several times larger than before, better stocked, and even comfortable. It was still spartan, not luxurious at all, but it was clean.

Even so, it was not fit for hosting guests, so Cha Ming made his way towards his neighbor, Huxian’s, residence. The fox was currently in the kitchen making breakfast.

“Toast or pancakes?” Huxian called out.

“Toast,” Cha Ming said. “With avocado.”

“No avocado, just these weird squishy blue things,” Huxian said.

“If they taste like avocado and have the same texture, I’ll take them,” Cha Ming said. “Also, mustard.”

“Wierdo,” Huxian said. “I see your breakthrough went all right,” Huxian said.

“It did, and I see that yours did as well,” Cha Ming said. Huxian’s cultivation was catching up to Cha Ming’s. His demonic body had reached the peak of the investiture realm, while his qi cultivation had reached the middle of rune gathering.

“I lined up a meeting, by the way,” Huxian said.

“Meeting?” Cha Ming asked.

“To plan out our trip,” Huxian said. “I’ve been told that twelve years is when the next phase of the Heartforge Trials begins. We need to heal you up as soon as possible, and that means going to the Tribulant Yin Demiplane again.”

Cha Ming shivered as he remembered their first experience. “Tell me when and where, and I’ll be there. Who did you settle on in the end?” They’d spoken many times on the subject but had never come to a decision.

“Wei Longshen and Xing Tianlong are dead ringers, in my opinion,” Huxian said. “If they agree to come, we’ll have a very easy time. The problem is the last member. Most of the people I know operate in duos or trios.”

“Petros,” Cha Ming said.

Huxian pursed his lips. “I don’t know, Cha Ming. He’s literally at the bottom of the rankings. Out of all those who’ve survived so far, that is.”

“But out of everyone in the Heartforge Realm, aside from you, obviously, he’s the one I trust most,” Cha Ming said. “Besides, I owe him. We owe him.”

“I get it,” Huxian said. “And I empathize. I really do. If this was completely our decision, I’d pick him in a heartbeat.”

“We’re picking Petros,” Cha Ming insisted.

“Whatever. Fine.” Huxian snapped his fingers, and the breakfast he’d just finished preparing teleported out the kitchen door and into the dining room. “I’ll invite. You convince. If you can’t, we’ll pick someone else. Deal?”

“Deal,” Cha Ming said.

“Great. Coffee’s ready, and so is your toast.” They then had a very relaxed breakfast while Huxian caught him up everything that had happened over the past one and a half months. Unsurprisingly, it involved two pretty demons and a lot of shenanigans.

***

Ten years wasn’t a long time to a Daoist or Demigod. The weakest of them could live a thousand years, while reaching the rune marking or muscle empowering realm would double that, the shell-marking or law-stitching realm would double that once again.

To demons, ten years meant even less, because their lifespans were ten times longer than a human’s, so to many, ten years was just long enough to nap, and to others, a century was much more appropriate.

Ten years had passed, but to Cha Ming, it was more like a century. About half that much time had passed for Huxian, and a little less than that for others at the table. Even so, the years had changed them.

Cha Ming, Huxian, Petros Sullivan, Wei Longshen, and Xing Tianlong were seated at Huxian’s dining room table. They eyed each other as they sipped their drink of choice – Coffee for Cha Ming and Huxian, something like paint thinner for Petros, and Crimson Lotus wine for Xing Tianlong and Wei Longshen, which they were drinking in tiny shot glasses.

It did not go unnoticed to Cha Ming that Wei Longshen poured for both he and Xing Tianlong in a clear show of subservience. Xing Tianlong also led their drinking pace.

“I must admit that I am quite surprised,” Xing Tianlong finally said. “After half a year of trying to find others to venture into the Tribulant Yin Demiplane with us, we happen to find another team of old acquaintances wanting to do the same.”

“I don’t see what’s surprising about it,” Cha Ming said. “Most of those in the Heartforge Realm have gone on multiple gathering missions.”

“But most cultivators avoid the Tribulant Yin Demiplane,” Xing Tianlong said. “Especially those in the angelic faction. Roughly half of those that have died in the Heartforge Realm’s demiplanes died in the Tribulant Yin Demiplane. It’s accumulated a bit of a reputation. Imagine my surprise when Lord Eight Directions pitched us, saying that you’d both gone there and survived a decade go. I’m not sure whether to call you reckless or lucky.”

“I resent that,” Huxian said. “We had a lot of escape skills, so we managed to get out. Although we did mostly stick to the safe zones.”

“Even so, the safe zones aren’t to be underestimated,” Xing Tianlong said. He looked over to Petros, who was nursing his drink but not really participating in the conversation. “Does your experience differ from ours?”

“No, that’s an accurate statement,” Petros said. “I’ve been there what? Ten times? Nine of those times I nearly died.”

Xing Tianlong let out a low whistle. “Ten times. That’s impressive survival skills. Alone, I presume?”

“How else?” Petros said.

“Indeed,” Xing Tianlong said. “Forgive my rudeness. It’s just that… no forget it. Long story short, Brother Clear Sky – if I can still call you that – it’s notoriously difficult to find a team going there, forget a team of…” he shot a look at Petros and hesitated, “… competent individuals. Most teams who head in there focus on escape and survival, and very few head into the deeper portions of the secret realm. If I’m understanding correctly, what you wish to do.”

Huxian drained his coffee mug then refilled it with a nearby pitcher. The contents of the pitcher was maintained using a specialized stasis field. The coffee was therefore hot enough to melt flesh off human bones. “Look, all of us have things we need inside that secret realm. If the five of us head in there, we stand a good chance at finding what we want and getting out alive.”

Xing Tianlong nodded slowly. “My Yin Lightning Dragon Spear requires tempering in a yin lightning pool, which can only be found in the regions of moderate or high danger in the Tribulant Yin Demiplane.”

“I have need of both yin spirits high quality yin qi,” Wei Longshen said. “To refine a treasure and to prepare for my breakthrough into the law-stitching realm.”

“I am looking for a life extinguishing spirit needle,” Cha Ming said. “They are known to appear in tribulant yin crystals, which are mostly worthless. The higher the danger zone, the more likely they are to appear.”

“And I need a pair of Yin-Yang Spirit Fish to complete the fusion between my law core and my demon core,” Huxian said. He looked to Petros. “What do you need again?”

“Points,” Petros said.

Xing Tianlong and Wei Longshen exchanged a meaningful look. “In principle, we’re support forming a team,” Xing Tianlong said. “Clear Sky is a strong melee fighter, and from what I’ve heard, he has a good all-purpose domain and is great at runes and formations. Lord Eight Directions is a spatial utility Dao Lord with an emperor level bloodline. Teams would bend over backward to draw him in.

“As for me, I excel at close-ranged attack and defense. I can switch over to short range if required. My Yang Phoenix Buckler is especially useful in navigating the heavy yin environment. Longshen is a soul piper, and probably the single most useful person to bring to this specific demiplane.” He then looked over to Petros. “I’m sorry, Clear Sky, Eight Directions, but its this man isn’t a good fit. We’ll be risking our lives in that secret realm. If he is the fifth member, we will reluctantly bow out.”

Cha Ming frowned, but Petros seemed to have been expecting this. He got up and moved to leave.

“Sit,” Cha Ming said.

“There’s no need,” Petros said. “If I am unwelcome, I won’t stay, and I definitely won’t justify or explain myself.”

“Please sit down, Petros,” Cha Ming said. “Let us speak as adults, and if it still doesn’t work out, Huxian and I can always find two other teammates.”

“Oh?” Xing Tianlong said. “Are you saying you rate Petros more highly than the both of us? Please, enlighten us on why that is?”

“It’s not a matter of skill, Tianlong,” Cha Ming said. “If we simply look at raw skills and rankings, he clearly isn’t a match.” He pointed to Xing Tianlong. “You are ranked in the top three hundred in the body trials, the top five hundred in the law trials, and the top five hundred in the soul trials. As for Longshen, while he’s only in the top thousand both of these trails, he’s in the top fifty in the soul trials. I am personally lagging compared to everyone. I was about five hundredth in the body trials before breaking through, and I wasn’t even in the top thousand for the law trials. I have no achievements to speak of in the soul trials.”

“But you’re somehow keeping up in the battle trials despite not being able to use soul burning abilities,” Xing Tianlong said. “That’s speaks to consistent battle prowess. And you have useful formation skills. As for Eight Directions, he’s decently ranked in all the trials, but even if his ranking was at the bottom, the team would still have a place for him.” He turned to Petros. “Give it to me straight. Why should we consider adding you to the team. What skills do you have that could be useful? I’ll give Cha Ming this much face: Make a case for your inclusion, and I will consider it.”

Once again, Cha Ming was not happy about Xing Tianlong trying to commandeer the meeting, but he kept silent and gave Petros a chance to answer the question.

“I am probably the longest ranged attacker in the entire Heartforge Realm,” Petros said. “I excel in single shot attacks and have unlimited variable element ammunition. Yang arrows to fight yin ghosts? No problem. Lightning or fire when its needed? Also easy.”

Xing Tianlong considered this. “It’s not a bad skillset in this group, I’ll admit. And you’re also known to have harvested more points than anyone else in gathering missions and have gone to most of the harvesting demiplanes multiple times. I also hear good things about you from my trainer. However…he shook his head. “Body trials, lowest rank. Law trials, lowest rank. Battle trials, lowest rank. The only place you excel in is the soul trials, and you’re in the top ten. I can respect that. But unlike Longshen, you’re not a soul specialist. You can’t lash out at an army of ghosts if they break through our protections.”

“I understand your concerns,” Petros said. “And I don’t feel strongly enough about the issue to force it. Since you’ve already decided, I’ll take my leave.”

“Just wait a moment Petros,” Cha Ming said. “I think I see the issue here. Tianlong – Petros has valuable ranged abilities, and his tracking, observation, and survival skills are quite good, and we lack them. But you seem to be mistaken about something –  that’s not why we called him here.”

“Why did you then?” Xing Tianlong asked.

“Because ten years ago, on the Inkwell Plane, we were chasing after a fugitive,” Cha Ming said. “She went by the name Daoist Misty Sea.”

Wei Longshen stiffened at the mention. “You mean…”

“Yes,” Cha Ming said. “Her. Petros had been tracking her for some time, as he’d casually accepted a mission to track down a slippery thief. And yes, before you ask, she was the thief. In the end, she stole the wrong thing from the wrong goddess, and we needed to find her quickly before that goddess’s incarnation did. Petros out-tracked the Goddess of the Hunt.”

“I didn’t strictly –“

“Shut up Petros,” Cha Ming said. “Petros out-tracked the Goddess of the Hunt, Artemis, and we found ourselves fighting against the goddess’s avatar. It was me, Huxian, six of Huxian’s friends, and of course, Daoist Misty Sea and her demon companion. Against a goddess of Jezeriah’s pantheon. We were severely outmatched, and we were going to die.”

He took in a deep breath and calmed down before continuing. He hadn’t spoken of such things in over a century. “Petros knew the odds were stacked against us. He wasn’t hired to fight. He had an alibi, and his he’d ducked out, he would have been spared. But he didn’t. He still chose to side with us. Against a goddess of his own pantheon, who then proceeded to excommunicate him.

“He outshot her despite being weaker physically and with no domain. His abilities were crippled. Yet he still outshot her. He still fought. And he refused to apologise afterwards.

“I don’t want to take Petros because he’s the best, Tianlong, though I do believe that his skillset can compliment ours. And if Huxian and I work together, we can help him along in the offense department by crafting him some premium ammunition.

“I want Petros on my team because I know I can trust him with my life. I know I can trust him not to betray us, even if the odds look terrible. Because he’s been there. He had the chance to run, and he still remained.

“It’s the same with you, Longshen. We might have our differences due to a mutual romantic interest and the bitterness involved, but we have been through life threatening situations together. You have put your life on the line for me in the past, and I would trust you to do the same again.

“Because that’s what it comes down to. Trust. That is the most important basis for any partnership. I would rather go with a team of four if I couldn’t trust the fifth. And I’ll be honest, Tianlong, you might have helped me in the past, but you had ulterior motives. You helped me, and I remember that favor, and I trust Wei Longshen’s judgement. Since he trusts you, I’m willing to trust you. But out of all the people here, you’re the one I trust least.”

Xing Tianlong looked pensive for a moment before nodding. “Trust as a basis for cooperation. Interesting. You’re definitely not like those people from the clans or sects.”

“I’ve been fortunate enough to avoid them,” Cha Ming said. “So. Xing Tianlong. Tell me. Do you trust me?”

The prince looked at Cha Ming for a time before chuckling and picking up his small wine cup. He drained it without calling for a toast. “It’s been a long time since I, Xing Tianlong, have eaten a loss in an argument, so that was a cup in forfeit. Fine! Let us do as you say! We’ll take Petros along. But since he’s clearly lacking points, and preparing for this trip will take many of them, you will both have loan him that much. I think that’s fair, don’t you?”

Huxian had teleported to the kitchen a short while ago. He came out with cookies, fresh from the oven. They looked and tasted delicious. “So. Are we good?”

“We’re good,” Cha Ming said.

“Excellent,” Huxian said. “Now for the nitty gritty. This trip’s gonna be expensive. We’ll need to prepare, because I am not getting caught with my pants down again.”

“We should pack enough supplies for a year,” Petros said. “Not because I think we’ll spend a year holed up in there, but because it’s happened to someone before, and I don’t want to see anyone starving to death or dying from accidental exposure to yin energy.”

“I also need time to upgrade my void ship,” Huxian said. “I think ten months should be enough time.”

“Ten months should also be enough time for me to get used to my recent increase in strength,” Cha Ming said.

“Ten months it is,” Xing Tianlong said. “Unless you think otherwise, Longshen?”

“I’m ready to move out today, if necessary,” Wei Longshen said.

The five of them spent the next half day making a list and planning out their approach. They ate lunch and dinner together before Petros excused himself. Xing Tianlong did the same. Huxian found an excuse to go to the garage and get some work done – yes, he had a garage, and he called it that, despite half of it being a workshop that had nothing to do with fixing vehicles.

In the end, Cha Ming and Wei Longshen were drinking tea on the balcony atop the residence. The air was fresh on the jade mountain, and in the distance, they could see the ochre mountain in all its evil splendor. The space between the two mountains was turbulent and chaotic, and it was said that the best training soul training environment was right where their auras overlapped.

“This is good tea,” Wei Longshen said. “Strange, how it’s blue.”

“It’s got alchemical additives and stuff,” Cha Ming said. “The leaves are also roasted with something called heartflames, which are unique to certain members of the Iridescent Clan.”

“Right. The demons you left with,” Wei Longshen said, nodding. “How are they? Did they treat you well?”

“As well as family,” Cha Ming said. “Though I’m not sure if Mendin was the right place for them to go. There was war and whatnot. Hundreds of thousands of them got killed.”

“Believe it or not, the demons of the Crimson Lotus Empire have it pretty good,” Wei Longshen said. “We have entire vassal demon kingdoms, actually, including those of the five clans. There’s twelve of them, in all. It’s just that imperial politics can be complicated, and they don’t play the game very well. Many scattered clansmen are forgotten, especially in low-energy areas like the Burning Lake Prefecture.”

“I hear you’re a minister now,” Cha Ming said. “Congratulations.”

“I was only a minister for a few months before the Heartforge Realm opened,” Wei Longshen said. “But look at you. I imagine you were someone important in Verdant Crossroads. You always are, wherever you go, it seems.”

Cha Ming sighed deeply. “Life has a way of ruining nice things, doesn’t it, Longshen?”

“Definitely,” Wei Longshen agreed. They both took a sip from their tea and waited for its calming effects to set in. “What happened? After you left the Burning Lake Prefecture? If you don’t mind sharing?”

Cha Ming realized that despite spending a decade in the Heartforge Realm, he’d never had a heart to heart with the man. Back then, he’d been angry for his failure to protect Yu Wen, and infected with the Savage Deity Seed. But now…

He began to tell Wei Longshen the rest of the story, starting from their departure from the Burning Lake Prefecture. He retold their harrowing escape through the Starry Road, Yu Wen’s early disappearance, and his peaceful years in Verdant Crossroads.

He spoke of cultivation, of runes, and his adventure in Kerava. He skimmed over some of the more emotional details, but for the most part, he gave an honest retelling.

Then came the war in Verdant Crossroads, and the giant confluence of events that had led to their survival, and the ultimate revival of the Monkey King. Millions had died, and he was at least partially responsible for hundreds of thousands of them.

Finally, he spoke of Yu Wen’s death.

“I owe her so much…” Cha Ming said, draining his cup of calming tea and quickly pouring himself another. It was all he could do to keep himself together. “She did so much for me, and loved me so deeply, but in the end, I couldn’t save her. Can you understand how that feels?”

Wei Longshen made a face. “I can only imagine. This sort of thing… well. You hear about it in stories. In storybooks. Tragedy is everywhere, but most people avoid the bulk of it. Even cultivators.

“And here I am now, barely keeping it together,” Cha Ming said. “In fact, I’ll need to buy the best soul protection artifact I can get my hands on before we head into the Tribulant Yin Demiplane, and even then I’ll need to be careful.”

“Perhaps I could help you in some way?” Wei Longshen said. “I am a soul piper. We have certain soul bolstering abilities.”

“I’m afraid I’ll have to rely on myself for this,” Cha Ming said. “Not because I don’t welcome the help but because the last time someone tried a soul bolstering ability on me it backfired. Thank you for the offer though.”

They continued to drink tea in silence for a time and were only interrupted by a large crash and angry shouting when one of Huxian’s vintage void vehicles accidentally fell off its supports. Their friendly neighborhood Paper Tiger, Baleful Vision, rushed over to help him, so there was no need for them to leave their seats.

“It’s not your fault, Clear Sky,” Wei Longshen finally said. He drained his cup and stood up. “But I can see why you would feel that it is. Sometimes… bad things just happen. They happen for no reason. The cause and effects involved are so far removed that no sane judge would ever convict. Or at least that’s what my father said to me once. And he was a trial judge for the better part of three centuries. Take that as you will.”

Cha Ming said nothing as he continued drinking on the balcony, and eventually, Wei Longshen left. Soon, it there was only the sleeping Ninesky left to keep him company.