PtM Book 14 - Chapter 34: The Cost of Freedom

Chapter 5/5 this week!

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One week after arriving in Signstone City, Cha Ming settled into a new routine. The piles of supposedly worthless signstone dust had been fully converted, and the inkborn were hard at work converting them into workable plates. Cha Ming considered looking for such opportunities again in the future, but he supposed necessity was the mother of invention. If not for his relationships and the situation, he would never have thought to do so in the first place.

Cha Ming naturally swept up the entire stock of other garbage-quality stone resources that had been excavated from the mine. He did not reassemble them right away but kept them for later. Cha Ming had more than enough signstone plates, and after a week of merciless instruction, the inkborn were able to perfectly create the framework for three new types of formation plates, namely component plates for the Azure Wind Formation, the Great Devouring Sands Formation, and the Black Fortress Shell Formation.

What followed was a mixture of hard work and leisure. He kept eight of his incarnations inside the Clear Sky World creating God-Slaying Talismans and cultivating to recover qi and spiritual energy. He only kept a single incarnation outside the Clear Sky World, and it enjoyed a relatively relaxed lifestyle.

In the mornings, Cha Ming and the inkborn made sure to attend practice. As a senior figure in the Runebound Clan and a favorite of Merenthal and Aaron Shacklebolt, Cha Ming was able to insert himself into practice without a problem. They even gave him a leadership position with none of the obligations.

This naturally frustrated Sedrannah to no end, but there was nothing she could do about it. Both the army’s leaders had agreed to this, and Cha Ming was actually quite good at leading practice. This was especially true for formation practice, and within a matter of weeks, he became the target of admiration of all the priests and priestesses of the Runebound Clan.

Sedrannah was incensed and refused to take something like this lying down. One evening, she issued a challenge to Cha Ming. At the time, Cha Ming was drinking tea with Bloodfur, who’d just returned from a mission.

Cha Ming naturally refused Sedrannah, and when she tried to push the issue, he hid behind Bloodfur, and the hooligan, understanding Cha Ming’s intentions, blasted her away with enough strength that she required three days of bedrest. Fusion-realm demons were not to be underestimated or insulted.

Bloodfur was naturally disciplined; they sent him on a dangerous mission alone, which was what they always did with him anyway.

Of course, the complete lack of punishment further infuriated Sedrannah. But Bloodfur was now out of the picture, so her apprehension faded, and she challenged Cha Ming once again.

To her great frustration, she issued the challenge just as Cha Ming was having tea with half of her priestesses and teaching them formations. Not just any formations, but high-priestess-level formations that would normally be drop-fed to only the most promising candidates for the position. She herself had apprenticed for more than a century before learning them, but Cha Ming was handing them out like candy!

This naturally begged the question: Who was he? How did he know these formations? Was he secretly Shakkanah’s inheritor? Sedrannah had to conclude that it was not Drezil who had her inheritance scroll, but Cha Ming.

Rather than embarrass herself in front of the other priestesses, she chose to bide her time. She carefully researched Cha Ming’s schedule, but somehow, he was always in important company or on important business. He naturally achieved this by having Merenthal spy on Sedrannah with his fusion-realm cultivation.

This worked for about a month, but she eventually caught on and became a lot more brazen with her approaches. That was when Cha Ming decided to use his excellent teleportation abilities to actively avoid her, making it impossible for her to catch more than a glimpse of him.

Of course, wanton teleportation was against the rules. Otherwise, he would have done so in the first place. This was as military encampment, after all, and in close proximity to a city. A teleportation portal opening up next to a person was one thing, but the slightest mistake and coincidental placement could cut a person in half.

Sedrannah reported his behavior to her superiors, Merenthal and Aaron Shacklebolt. They delayed for about a week before sending a warning to Cha Ming, informing him that unlicensed teleportation was forbidden, and he was to cease and desist.

Cha Ming naturally had an answer to this problem. He had anticipated it. He chose this moment to unveil a plan to Merenthal and received immediate approval. Over the next week, he was hard at work with Sedrannah’s priestesses, sometimes inside the city, but sometimes outside. It was an important military project and could not be interrupted for anyone.

An announcement was made shortly after the project’s completion. Daoist Clear Sky had generously volunteered to set up a short-scale teleportation network that would supplement the Starry Road System. The inkborn and the priestesses naturally received recognition for their hard work on the formation network, and they simultaneously received credit for the many formations they’d been cranking out during their free time, under Daoist Clear Sky’s excellent leadership.

From then on, Cha Ming was able to teleport without worry. He had a license, and the formations allowed him to teleport safely into each location without any issues or conflicts. He therefore became very selective with where he appeared; in almost every case, he would be surrounded by a large number of priestesses, whose skills in formation arts were rapidly growing.

Sedrannah, finally fed up with all the drama, challenged him directly. “You aren’t worthy of wielding these formations! You have neither the instruction nor the skill, and neither do you possess our Runebound Clan’s demonic blood!”

Cha Ming did not give in to her provocation. He continued sipping at the tea he’d been drinking, then calmly set his cup down. “I was instructed by Shakkanah of the Kerava Tribe, Sedrannah. Are you implying that Shakkanah’s instruction was lacking in some way?”

These words had a predictable effect. Almost all of the priestesses and the few mingled priests glared at Sedrannah. Nearly all of them had been graced with Shakkanah’s instruction at one point, and questioning her teaching credentials was the equivalent of questioning all their credentials.

He naturally addressed the other points. “You are free to question my skill, Sedrannah, but I’m afraid it’s not me who’ll be found lacking but you. Or have you not seen me instructing my fellow priests and priestesses over the past few weeks?

“Moreover, I find it rather odd that you haven’t been doing the same thing. I have been teaching them without title nor requiring praise, as is my duty. Seeing as you haven’t been doing so, I can only assume that either your skill is lacking, or you do not care to instruct your brethren. Well? Which is it?”

“You are not one of us,” Sedrannah hissed.

Cha Ming didn’t even need to retort. Instead, one of the higher-ranking investiture realm priestesses stood up for him. “If he’s not one of us, who is, Sedrannah? Majana bears our markings and knows our ways. He teaches us without requiring any reward or authority. He trains with us every morning and is very skilled. As for blood, what does blood matter? Are not his markings made from the flesh of our predecessors, the sands of their very lives? If they approve of him, what right do you have to reject him?”

Sedrannah finally couldn’t stand it anymore. She challenged Cha Ming once again, and this time there was no avoiding it. The traditional format was a three-part competition that tested each participant’s mastery over the Runebound Arts, formation arts, and their overall strength. Now that Cha Ming’s body cultivation had reached late muscle empowering, he had no problem crushing her in the latter two aspects, so she had no choice but to retreat with her tail between her legs.

There was peace for a time. Merenthal was much relieved at the blow to Sedrannah’s influence, and Cha Ming continued his routine of practicing in the morning, instructing the inkborn in the afternoon, and teaching the priestesses in the evenings. The strength of the Runebound Clan soared, and much of the spirit that had been quashed by Shakkanah’s death was rekindled. Even so, Cha Ming knew this was only temporary. For them to truly recover, Drezil had to face his demons.

In the evenings after he finished training the priestesses, Cha Ming painted. He worked in the same room that Drezil slaved away in, chipping away what remained of his carving’s shell. He continued painting God-Slaying Talismans for Merenthal in the Clear Sky World, generating much wealth, which he then used to improve his cultivation.

He spent money just as quickly as he made it, even dipping into his commission for future sales of God-Slaying Arrows and other Titan Clan products. The reason for this massive spending was because he’d discovered a way to increase his cultivation speed. He’d been reluctant to rely on pills for his cultivation, and inkwell jades didn’t do much, but Yu Wen had revealed on one of her many visits that to increase his cultivation rate, he needed to use high-grade inkwell jades.

Time passed by, week by week. The inkborn cranked out formation plates, the army practiced its drills and patrolled the eastern frontier, and Cha Ming painted talismans. It was monotonous, but it was a welcome monotony, broken up only by pleasant but sweet visits.

Before he knew it, three months had passed.

***

Cha Ming sat inside a cultivation chamber in the Clear Sky World. His incarnations were withdrawn to limit distractions and consolidate his spiritual force, and his mind was at peace.

His inner world was much different, now that it had fused with the Clear Sky World, and Jade Moon Garden’s ascension had brought many changes. It was segregated, and many thousands of additional planes had been added to the now two-tier matrix.

The realm was thriving. It was also growing.

The trees Cha Ming had transplanted had all matured, and newer growths were poking out at the edges of the wilderness that occupied the rim of Jade Moon Garden. He had more than enough medicinal ingredients for his needs and was considering whether to sell the extra rather than let them continue growing but ultimately decided to wait and see.

Most of these trees, he’d planted. Some of them he hadn’t. Such was the nature of a transcendent realm. The abundant energy and environment were ideal for the growth of many mysterious spirit plants. So magically, out of nowhere, they did. It was a frightening concept.

The same happened with the demons. The dryads had grown stronger, and their bloodlines more refined. The rainbow fish were all initiation-realm demons now, and many other demon species had appeared to take advantage of the potent energies.

These changes naturally trickled down into the lower worlds. Creatures had begun cultivating. The beasts and elementals were just starting to establish their own groups and civilizations, and the many sapient species in the Clear Sky World were humanizing, shaping themselves in Cha Ming’s own image.

Over the past three months, Cha Ming had gained a new level of appreciation for the Concepts of Accumulation and Eruption. Though he had not yet solidified runes for the concepts, his control over them had increased by leaps and bounds. Creating talismans and formations was even easier now, as was absorbing high-grade energy from inkwell jades.

Accumulation was gentle yet forceful. Eruption violent and uncontrolled. One sought to tie energy down, while the other sought to release it as efficiently as possible.

Yin and yang. Two sides of the same coin. The more he saw these two sides and how they worked, the more he felt that they should be one united concept. The same applied to Assembly and Dismantling and Breaking and Mending.

Yet even with these fragments of enlightenment, it was difficult to achieve things in practice, so practice Cha Ming did, in between crafting his many God-Slaying Talismans.

For fire, he accumulated heat as thermal energy, shaping it into balls and even circular bonds that he could rupture at will. For water and air, he pressurized liquids and gases, which he then released in blasts.

Lightning was a more challenging element to work with. It was naturally unstable and uncontrollable. The only form he was able to control was his own body, and only in conjunction with Seventy-Two Transformations. He soon became proficient in adopting and shedding his lightning form, such that, should he be faced with a dangerous situation again, he would be able to maintain lightning form by using roughly one percent of his energy stores per second. More than that was wishful thinking.

Wood was next most difficult element. Cha Ming learned to control vital energy and increase his regeneration rate, and the rate at which he could heal others. The Concepts of Accumulation, Mending, and Assembly were complementary. The same applied to the Concepts of Eruption, Dismantling, and Breaking.

The trickiest facets of Accumulation and Eruption were metal and earth, as these elements were always given solid form.

Cha Ming got past this barrier using his past life’s experience. If wood represented biological energy, metal and earth represented chemical and material energy. Earth was simplest because it involved locking energy into matter and vice versa, but he was hesitant to experiment with it for obvious reason.

As such, he first looked to metal and discovered ways to manipulate the concept by accident. One day, he’d been creating a God-Slaying Talisman and wondered about its metallic components. These were very dangerous components and required extreme care when painting, and the reason for this was weak chemical stability.

Cha Ming began to ponder the state of stable metals, and he discovered that their instability had to do with their internal structure. By strengthening the structure, he could more easily creating bindings. Conversely, he could reverse this and therefore destabilize these components.

Three months was not long for a cultivator, but thirty months, which had passed within the Clear Sky World, was an extended period of time for anyone. Cha Ming accumulated a lot of experience with Accumulation and Eruption, and his energy stores were now full. The next step was naturally to try condensing false runes and entering the false middle-rune-gathering realm, but before this, he resolved to at least try one last application…

***

An explosion unlike any other shook Jade Moon Garden, startling every living thing inside it. Cha Ming pulled his scorched and damaged body out of crater at the top of the garden’s sole mountain.

“I’m all right,” he said to Yu Gen as he pulled himself out. “I’m alive.” He said it half to reassure Yu Gen and half to reassure himself.

“What happened?” Yu Gen asked. The rainbow fish could use a human form now. He looked like a young boy of thirteen who wore circular spectacles. His hair was rainbow-colored and shimmering, as were his painted fingernails. “Should I record this data for future experiments?”

“Just make a note,” Cha Ming croaked, staggering as he walked away from the scorched and ruined land. “Confirmed that earth-element energy accumulation indeed involves creating matter out of energy.” He coughed out a black, sooty substance. “Conversely, the Concept of Eruption has great difficulty in erupting material bonds, but when it does so, the energy released is disproportionate to the amount of energy utilized. Not advised for non-demons and Dao Gods. Potentially fatal.”

Essentially, Cha Ming had created a small-scale nuclear explosion. He had only done so for a few small specks of matter at point-blank range, but the energy released was no laughing matter.

“Noted,” Yu Gen said, penning the results down onto his clipboard. He disappeared, probably to continue his own experiments in his fully furnished lab in elsewhere in the Clear Sky World.

“Okay,” Cha Ming muttered to himself. “Note to self: Do not do that again anytime soon.”

He sat down to recover, and the Concepts of Mending, Assembly, and Accumulation worked their magic. He shivered as he remembered the intensity of the explosion. It wouldn’t have killed him, since he kept an incarnation at a distance, but it was the principle of the thing.

Once Cha Ming was fully recovered, he continued his meditation and entered a familiar space. It was the world of his carved core, which now had six runes, two black, two white, and two shadows circling around it.

Solidifying the last two runes completely was impossible without immortal energy. After much thinking, he postulated that a sufficiently dense energy source could be used in conjunction with the Concept of Accumulation to form a false rune.

There were no medicinal pills strong enough to aid him, and Cha Ming did not want to waste time researching a whole new branch of alchemy. He therefore settled for the crudest solution: top-grade inkwell jades.

He first crushed them apart using the Concept of Eruption to release their energy, then began to absorb the energy into both runes.

A tense battle ensued. The runes in question took on a solid shape with black-and-white coloring, and the coloring began to deepen. Cha Ming, encouraged by the results, took out the rest of the top-grade inkwell jades, essentially his entire fortune, and crushed them as well. There were eight of them in total, just as many immortal crystals as he’d need to advance.

In the end, he failed. Most of the energy from the eight top-grade inkwell jades was forcefully expelled since false runes would not allow him to store up additional energy and upgrade his qi stores. He captured some of the energy and was able to reclaim five top-grade inkwell jades.

“Another failure,” Cha Ming said, sighing with resignation. He’d expected the result, but when you dared to hope, you opened yourself up to disappointment. Such was life.

Not all his efforts were wasted. He’d confirmed his initial assumption that condensing false runes could be done with inkwell jades, as expensive as they were. The clear runes now floated alongside their black-and-white counterparts, increasing his control over the concepts and increasing his domain’s size to twenty kilometers.

While his qi cultivation was now stalled, the domain would at least increase his energy recovery rate. The false runes would have many applications. Accumulating and erupting in all five elements would now be far easier.

It was a failure, but it was not. Yin and yang. A duality. The concept of failure and success had overlap, he was sure of it. He took his time in recovering and basked in the tranquility that accompanied his new mental state.

As though sympathizing with the feeling, a slip of paper flew out from inside of Cha Ming’s spiritual sea. It was the talisman that had appeared by miracle, the Dao Origins Talisman. The talisman was clear with bright gold lettering, and it radiated the power of laws beyond his comprehension.

He inspected it, as he often did, pondering what it might do. Even now, he had no idea about its exact effects. The only thing he knew was that it would behave like the Core-Painting Talismans, but so much more.

That was the what. He knew he could choose the when, so that was left the who and the how,and most importantly, the why. Why had he obtained this talisman? Why him? Why now? Why here?

There were too many questions, and that worried him.

***

The fresh and familiar wind of the Clear Sky World whipped about Yu Wen’s hair as she breached the outer shell of Jade Moon Garden. She felt a mixture of familiarity and alienation as she gazed upon the garden, which had first been given to her by her heavenly father.

Now, it belonged to Cha Ming, and he had changed it beyond recognition. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

She’d been here many times over the past few months. Everything was bigger, and the ambient qi, the quality of the soil and the water, and even the quality of the air had changed.

A part of Yu Wen couldn’t help but purse her lips in displeasure. This was her place. Her secret refuge. And yet… she was not the same girl she’d been back then. Not anymore. Not since the garden.

She found Cha Ming meditating on a mountaintop, in the middle of a peach tree orchard infested with rapidly growing weeds. A large crater was still smoldering beside him, and she wondered what had transpired there, and why the mere residue lingering near the explosion frightened her.

Should I just say hello, or should I try being more original? Yu Wen wondered. A month had passed since her last visit. Cha Ming had grown more relaxed over the months, so he probably wouldn’t get too grumpy. Some pranking was in order.

Yu Wen’s cloaked tightened around her, and the mask on her face glowed with a powerful light. The treasures she used were all far stronger than they’d once been, and her cultivation had improved to the peak of middle rune carving. She could have already broken through to the next realm, but she wanted to hide the fact that she now possessed a large number of immortal crystals for as long as possible.

He tried a breakthrough recently,she concluded as she approached. Judging by the energy fluctuations, he’d almost succeeded. Alas, he needed immortal energy, which she could totally give him, assuming she was willing to answer some very uncomfortable questions.

So she didn’t, and her lithe figure snuck up on him, barely making a sound when she landed on the dry leaves and the crisp grass. She reached around him and placed her hands on his eyes. “Guess who?” she said.

No one answered.

Her face fell as she realized that she’d been tricked. “How did you find me?” she asked.

A voice echoed from the peach tree’s leaves, the grass on the ground, and the fertile earth. “No one enters my realm without my noticing,” it said. “Though I have to ask how you could possibly afford to upgrade your treasures to such a high level. Even Ninesky couldn’t help but stir with excitement.”

“A lady has her secrets,” Yu Wen said. She looked about and tried determining his location. She was supposed to surprise him, not the other way around. It was a stain on her honor, and only by finding him would she cleanse herself of it.

“You can’t trick the trickster,” the voice said, this time with a hint of mockery.

“I’ll find you yet,” Yu Wen said. She flicked her sleeve, and a wind blew through every individual leaf in the orchard. It flicked past every blade of grass, probing them and analyzing them. It dug into the nearest six feet of soil, but still didn’t manage to discover him.

“So close, yet so far,” the voice taunted.

“We’ll see how far I am when I burn this place down!” Yu Wen threatened.

A cough filled the orchard. “Fine. You win. One second.” To her surprise, the wooden “incarnation” stood up, and its barky flesh softened, becoming Cha Ming. His supposed fake body was actually his real body, just transformed. “I was hiding in plain sight. If you’d bothered to give me more than a once-over, you would have caught me.”

“You’ve been learning naughty things in my absence,” Yu Wen said. She sniffed and looked away.

Cha Ming shrugged helplessly. “It’s been so long, and you were trying to be sneaky... I couldn’t resist. But I’m glad you’re safe.”

Cha Ming summoned a table, chairs, and tea from thin air. Yu Wen sat down and began unpacking things. An impromptu picnic began, and not long after, they were fed, watered, well exercised, and snuggling together on a picnic blanket.

“It’s been a while,” Cha Ming said. “I tried to reach you, but it was no use.”

“I was playing hide-and-seek with two hatted gentlemen,” Yu Wen said. “They almost got me, but I won.” Seeing his confused expression, she clarified. “Locke and Trevonay. They’re alive, and they almost got me.”

“How did you manage to get out of that one?” Cha Ming asked. “And how did they even find you?”

“If a bunch of assassins could find me, why couldn’t they?” Yu Wen said with a pout. “Fortunately, they just chased me in passing and gave up soon after.”

A weight lifted off his chest. “Xiao Bai?”

“Visiting Huxian on the front lines,” Yu Wen said. “Things aren’t going well for him, by the way. He’s being very stubborn in not asking for your help, and Xiao Bai says you should try harder to convince him.”

“I tried,” Cha Ming said. “But he keeps refusing because he wants to keep me in his back pocket..”

“If you say so,” Yu Wen said. “Xiao Bai thinks he’s being unreasonable.”

Now that she was no longer hiding what had been bothering her, Cha Ming eased into asking her about it. Yu Wen wasn’t the type to be could pushed and prodded. He needed to gently know everything was okay, and let her know he was there to listen. “What do you feel comfortable sharing?” he eventually asked. It was a nice balance of not too pushy but also concern for her well-being.

“It was just a lot of running,” Yu Wen huffed. “For some reason, no one died—they didn’t try to kill me, and they didn’t harass my staff either. I still lost my shops, though, since they took everything and said it was interest.” She sighed. “I’d feel more upset if it wasn’t for the fact that I technically stole from them first.”

“That wasn’t a legitimate contract,” Cha Ming pointed out.

Yu Wen shrugged. “It doesn’t matter, in the end, does it? What about you? Has anything else happened, aside from the ridiculous change in your realm treasure and inner world? I noticed you trying to break through just now.”

Cha Ming chuckled self-deprecatingly. “I failed. Predictably. But I had to try. That aside, I’ve been making money as an arms dealer. I am now officially in no position to criticize you for your side business or tax evasion.”

Oh, what little you know, Yu Wen thought, but didn’t voice her opinion.

“The Titan Clan has optimized their production line for God-Slaying Arrows, and can now mass produce them,” Cha Ming continued. “Which means that I am now arms dealing on the scale of small countries. I’ve also been meddling in demon clan politics, pranking wannabe high priestesses, and reforming entire Daoist sects.”

“I noticed a statue on my way in,” Yu Wen said. “Was that what Drezil was working on? The stone it’s made from… it’s very interesting.”

“He thinks a miracle will happen once he finishes carving it, and I’ve been trying to buy him time,” Cha Ming said. “I think it’s about time I leave, though. I can’t stay forever. That aside…” He sighed. “I suppose it’s only right I tell you since you’re partially responsible.”

Yu Wen gave him a strange look. “What?”

“It’s the talismans,” Cha Ming said. “The white ones we made.”

“What about them?” Yu Wen asked with renewed interest.

“We seem to have inadvertently created an alternative cultivation system,” Cha Ming said.

“Yes, we discussed these Painted Daoists before,” Yu Wen said. “Are they trouble already?”

“They can grow,” Cha Ming said.

Yu Wen did a double take. “What?”

“You heard me,” Cha Ming said.

Yu Wen’s eyes narrowed. “Elaborate.”

“They’re basically like what we talked about, but they can cultivate,” Cha Ming said. “They can level up. Get stronger. Like rankers.”

Yu Wen blinked. “Holy hell in a handbasket.”

“Exactly.”

Yu Wen felt a headache coming in. He probably doesn’t realize how big of a deal this is either, since Sun Wukong isn’t hanging around to tell him. She remained silent for a while, conversing with Xiao Bai, who basically lost her mind.

She took a deep breath. “Xiao Bai informs me that what you’ve done should be impossible.”

“You told me that earlier,” Cha Ming said.

“No, the original Painted Daoists were impossible,” Yu Wen said. “This is super impossible.”

“But I clearly did it,” Cha Ming said.

“Yes,” Yu Wen said. “You did.” She thought for am moment before continuing. “Maybe you’ll understand my concerns if I share another piece of information. You know about Jezeriah and Harid Dej, right?”

“Those are the two ranker goddesses, yes,” Cha Ming said.

“It’s people on their level who can do something like this,” Yu Wen said. “And I realize I already told you that. But you need to understand that they are immortal empresses. They are to normal immortals and gods what law-stitching-realm cultivators are to rune-carving cultivators.” She bit her lip. “I’m not sure why you were able to do it. Perhaps it’s because my soul-bound treasure’s ability is immortal ranked. According to Xiao Bai, it’s theoretically possible for a lesser god to do something like this, it’s just that they lack the strength, and the reason for that is that doing something like this involves tampering with the realm’s Dao origins.”

Cha Ming shivered and he remembered the name. The clear talisman in his spiritual sea was named the Dao Origins Talisman.

“Huh,” Cha Ming said. “This is… concerning. I don’t remember tampering with these Dao origins, though, so I can only assume cultivation found a way. Also, it’s done. There are now Rune Painted Daoists that are at least at the late-rune-painting stage now. So that means that the main question is not whether to begin, but whether to continue. Technically, no one else can make those talismans. It can’t spiral out of control.”

Yu Wen smiled. “Have you considered something else? Is it inheritable? Are they more likely to produce cultivating children?”

Cha Ming raised a finger, then put it down.

“Believe it or not, I’m not a risk averse person. I’m very supportive of taking risks, in fact. Even so, my suggestion is to wash your hands of this.”

“But they need this,” Cha Ming said.

“Everyone needs everything,” Yu Wen countered.

“There’s that,” Cha Ming admitted. “At the same time, I wonder what the limits are. Will they only ever be rune-painting cultivators or is there an ink-gathering phase? What about a law-stitching equivalent?”

In Yu Wen’s opinion, whether they could achieve immortality was a far bigger concern, since this would affect the stability of the higher realms and potentially upset Yama. Her story about Time and how Yama had killed her to make the Yellow River wasn’t just for entertainment—it was also a warning.

But she didn’t voice this concern and focused on the more immediate threat. “I wonder what Jezeriah and Harid Dej will do about this.”

“How could they know?” Cha Ming asked.

“How could they not know?” Yu Wen said. “They’re goddesses with a foot in our realm, Cha Ming. Anything that affects their interests will set off alarms like you wouldn’t believe.”

“I didn’t realize,” Cha Ming said. He eyed Yu Wen suspiciously. “More of Xiao Bai’s insights?”

“Of course!” Yu Wen said. “She’s surprisingly well-read.”

Cha Ming was not convinced. More and more, he wondered if she had really forgotten her past life. “If they know, they know. That’s all there is to it, then. If the cat’s out of the bag, then you can’t put it back.” There was truth to that.

They spent a bit more time on the picnic blanket but soon got bored. Today, they decided to explore the Clear Sky World to see how much it had changed. Five years had passed inside the realm since they’d had a good walkaround. They’d done it on purpose, since the more wild growth there was before they did so, the better.

They started by walking through familiar but much-changed routes. The energy density was extremely beneficial for plant life, so everything was changing.

This was not limited to the inky-black water but also the way natural energy interacted with its surroundings. All sorts of phenomena popped up where energy accumulated. Some changes were simple, like water flowing upward instead of downward. Winds failed to follow normal patterns and could easily result in upward and downward drafts in addition to the normal eight directions.

They found a spring where ice and fire coexisted. In one small portion of the realm, frozen water flowed. They even found a field of icy flowers and living flames, with grass that was made of metal.

Rediscovering this once-familiar world tickled the back of Yu Wen’s mind. Memories came and went, and they laughed as they did things like poke at strange mounds of glowing energy, only to see them erupt in swarms of blue-and-gold butterflies.

There were many picture-worthy moments, and with every snap of the Space-Time Camera, Yu Wen’s heart loosened. The tension that had accumulated over the past few months faded.

Just in time for another job,Yu Wen thought miserably. But that was a thought for another time. For now, she could relax and enjoy the view. And what a view it was.

They’d reached the edge of Jade Moon Garden, a sharp cliff that dropped into white, foggy emptiness. Cha Ming summoned a stone bench beside the void, where they sat and watched the stars as they rose.

Since the sky was white, the stars were black and empty. Their constellations could not be found anywhere else.

She had a dream that night. A dream where she was surrounded by friends. A dream where she did not run away. In this dream, danger did not chase after her. She stayed in the safety of Jade Moon Garden and never left.

But that was dream, she knew, a reality she could never accept. There was a cost to freedom, and that cost was change.

***

That night, Cha Ming dreamed of a golden world. It was prosperous and ever bountiful. Its citizens wanted for nothing and knew no fear. The world was a special one. While it existed, the righteous prospered, and all its allies were blessed with endless fortune.

Yet as the righteous thrived and the sinful wilted, seeds of corruption sprouted. War erupted, and countless suffered, and in the end, the world vanished… Only to appear once again.

The world was no longer golden. It was a dark and unwelcoming place. While it existed, the sinful prospered and the righteous wilted.

Until the cycle began again.