《Chain Warden》


 Prolouge: The meeting on the bridge.

    On a bridge in a metropolis city, deep at night, a young man sat on the railing of the bridge as he was gazing up at he sky. The boy had blonde hair, quite a medium, average build. He wasn¡¯t particularly buff or skinny, just average. His eyes were sapphire blue.


    He was wearing black jeans with black sneakers and a black T-shirt with a devil skull printed on the front and bone wings printed on the back. As he sat on the railing on the bridge, gazing at the sky, his eyes were distant.


    The people that passed by acted as if they hadn¡¯t seen him but the car drivers occasionally honked their horns at him. As the night rolled deeper and deeper into the night, the people that passed the bridge on foot or by car lessened and by 4 am, a person would pass by every few minutes. The boy hadn¡¯t moved at all from the railing as he kept looking at the distant stars.


    Suddenly, a middle aged man with a buff build appeared behind him. He didn¡¯t say anything as he stepped behind him and looked at what the young man was looking. As time passed, the middle aged man finally opened his mouth, ¡°Have you decided yet? Whether to jump or not?¡±


    The young man was startled as he turned to the man behind him. The boys blue eyes grew as wide as carriage wheels when he looked at the man¡¯s eyes. They were pitch black!


    The man gave off an indescribable ethereal, otherworldly feeling. The boy opened his mouth to say something but the middle aged man continued, still looking at the sky, ¡°Jack Lumi, age 16, your parents died in a car crash when you were 8. You managed to survive but developed a serious mental trauma and with no next of kin to take you in, you have bounced from one adoptive family to another for the past 7 years.¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    The man stopped for a second before continuing, ¡°You feel as though there is no meaning in this life, that you have no purpose, a place you belong.¡± The young man named Jack had an open mouth but he just couldn¡¯t find the words to say.


    It was true that for the past two weeks he had been coming to this bridge with the intent of jumping down. Just as the man had said, he just couldn¡¯t find the right place for himself. He felt extremely foreign all the time, no family, no one to relate to, no one to call a friend. The man then turned his eyes towards Jack and smiled.


    He extended a hand to him and said, ¡°How about I give you a family and a purpose? Come with me and join the Nether Prison.¡± Jack was startled but something inside told him that this had been what he had been looking for. The adoptive families had done their best to give him a family but this man in front of him¡­


    For some reason, he felt that he could truly give him the family and a purpose in life he had been searching for. He started stretching out his hand but he hesitated. The man didn¡¯t seem to be bothered by it but rather a small nod escaped his motions.


    But after a bit of hesitation, Jack grasped the hand and he immediately felt a mysterious feeling well up inside him. He felt as though he was bursting with power but then, a splitting headache appeared.


    It immediately started growing stronger and when he couldn¡¯t endure it any more, he fainted.

 Chapter 1: The Plane [Part 1]

    When Jack came to again, he was laying down on a bed in a dimly lit room. The room didn¡¯t have much more than a simple bed, prayer mat in the corner and a desk with a bookshelf. The room looked to be carved from a cave as the walls were rough.


    When Jack sat up, he could feel something different. His body was light and seemed to be filled with a mysterious power. His hearing was several times better than before and he could hear distant murmurs through the walls. It took him a while to adjust his eyes as well, his eyesight was beyond good. The door to the room was at the opposite side of the room from the bed but Jack could see every splinter individually from the spot he was sitting at. ¡°What the hell...¡±


    As he murmured that to himself, the door suddenly opened and the familiar middle aged man walked in with two other people. They were all wearing the same clothes, black jeans with a black shirt and jacket that had a letter embroidered on the left breast pocket.


    On the middle aged man¡¯s jacket, the letter was W the other two had a C embroidered on the jacket. On the back, there was simply a red tower with chains wrapping around it. The middle aged man smiled to Jack and said, ¡°You are up, that was faster than I was expecting.¡±


    Jack looked at the man in vigilance, for some reason, he could feel awe and absolute power radiate from the man. He could feel that he was no match for him, no matter how he tried. Jack nodded his head cautiously and the man let out a laugh. He then waved his hand and Jack rose up from the bed and levitated in front of the man. Jack was extremely alarmed but he felt as though he couldn¡¯t move a muscle, all he could do was levitate there, a few inches off the ground.


    The man walked a circle around him and then put his finger on Jack forehead. Jack felt a stream of warm energy enter his head as the man nodded and his smile widened. When the energy disappeared from within Jack, he gently dropped to the ground as the man said with a smile, ¡°Those clothes suit you well.¡± It was only now that Jack looked down at his own clothes and saw that he was wearing the same kind of clothes as the three of them were. However, on his jacket there was a JW embroidered on his left breast pocket.


    The man gestured for Jack to sit down as he said, ¡°I will explain everything to you now and also, answer all the questions I can.¡± The other two people looked at each other with confusion as the stole glances from the middle aged man in front of them. Jack thought for a second before he sighed and did as he was told.


    From the little demonstration of the levitating trick, the middle aged man had shown Jack that he was in complete control here and if Jack decided to run, he wouldn¡¯t be able to get far. Jack then thought back for a second to the meeting on the bridge and smiled wryly. He himself had taken his hand and he himself had chosen this path. If he hadn¡¯t taken his hand, for some reason, he knew that he wouldn¡¯t be here.


    When Jack sat down, the man started, ¡°First things first, introductions are in order. My name is Men Shi. I was born in the same world as you but not in the ¡°world¡± you grew up in but in the previous civilization.¡± Jack tilted his head a bit, ¡°Same world, previous civilization? What the heck is he jabbering about?¡± as Jack thought that inside his head, the man explained, ¡°We were born in a ¡°Blessed World¡±, a world that will never have magic, Qi or anything. All humans will be and will always stay as mortals, no matter how much time passes. However, every so often, a couple quadrillion years, the world gets reset.¡±


    Jack blinked as he tried to process what the man said. Men Shi went into more detail as he explained. ¡°As a civilization grows, so does their thirst for knowledge and the more they advance in technology but there is a limit to that before they make a mistake and self destruct. When the previous civilization dies out, either by their own mistake or not, and the world prepares itself for the next civilization, that is called a ¡°Reset¡±. Understand?¡±


    Jack thought for a moment before weakly nodding his head and giving a brief summary, ¡°So, the civilization grows to the peak and then by either their own mistake or the ¡°world wanting it¡±, it starts declining and dies out. Some time passes and new intelligent species are born that start the same journey?¡± Men Shi looked at the two people that he had brought along with a hint of smugness as said, ¡°Yes, that is exactly it. Once a civilization grows to a certain point, now matter the cause, it will surely start declining and the world will slowly erase all of the traces of it¡¯s existence from the world. When a new civilization becomes sentient and start yearning for more knowledge, they start advancing in technology. They advance to the peak and then they will die out. And then the cycle continues.¡±


    Jack fell silent as he lowered his head and fell into thought. As he kept thinking, Men Shi¡¯s voice echoed out, asking the same question Jack had been asking himself, ¡°Why is it like that?¡± Jack looked up and nodded his head in all seriousness.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Men Shi gave a sad smile as he said, ¡°The ¡°Blessed Worlds¡± are the only worlds that can create Souls. All the other inhabitants of other worlds have always first been born in a ¡°Blessed World¡±, lived out their life, died and been born again in another world. To make sure that these worlds didn¡¯t also achieve immortality, every once in a while it is needed to reset the Worlds so that they can keep producing Souls for the other Worlds. If the ¡°Blessed Worlds¡± achieved immortality, then there would be no more Souls to inhabit the bodies of other worlds, making the other worlds die out.¡±


    Jack¡¯s head fell down as he murmured, ¡°So the ¡°Blessed Worlds¡± are just giant farms that produce the cattle, that are Souls, for the other worlds.¡± Men Shi stood up and let out a deep sigh as he said, ¡°You can think of it as like that.¡±


    Jack thought about it a bit more and then sighed deeply as well. He now understood the meaning behind Men Shi¡¯s sad smile from before. Both him and Jack had been born in a ¡°Blessed World¡± so the two of them had actually been born as the ¡°cattle¡±. Men Shi continued, ¡°The ¡°Blessed Worlds¡± are the foundation of out Plane. They produce the Souls needed for the inhabitants, then come the Minor Worlds, Major Worlds and the Nether Realm and Celestial Realm. While the ¡°Blessed Worlds¡± produce the inhabitants of our Plane, the other four realms produce the Protectors of our Realm.¡± Jack looked at Men Shi in puzzlement again.


    He could understand the foundation part but the protector part was what was a bit of muddled to him. Men Shi then said, ¡°These four Realms practise Cultivation, the powerhouses of the Realms carry immense power that could destroy a ¡°Blessed World¡± with a nothing more than a snap of ones fingers. These Realms produce the people that deal with the outside threats.¡± Jack¡¯s eyes narrowed as he asked, ¡°Outside threats?¡± Men Shi nodded his head seriously, ¡°Just like there is life and a civilization in our Plane, there are other planes out there that have done the same. We aren¡¯t unique or special in the greater perspective. We are all like one cog in a giant mechanism of the existence.¡±


    As he said that, Men Shi¡¯s eyes grew distant as fell into more thought. Jack didn¡¯t say anything and a few moments passed in silence before Men Shi snapped back to reality and continued, ¡°Nether Prison is a very special Organization. It¡¯s sole purpose is to protect this Plane we call home from all the outside threats form other Planes. And this brings us to the topic of why you are here.¡±


    Jack looked at Men Shi in astonishment as he pointed a finger to himself, ¡°Me?¡±


    Men Shi nodded and explained, ¡°Although all the members of the Nether Prison are from the Four Great Realms that protect our Plane, the seat of Warden, the head of the organization, has and always will be occupied by someone from the ¡°Blessed World¡±. Just like me and the countless other Wardens before me, we all come from the ¡°Blessed Worlds¡±. My time as the Warden is coming to an end and I have to make sure I have a successor to take on my mantle and seat on one of the most powerful but also thorniest thrones in the Plane.¡±


    Jack looked at Men Shi with a dumbfounded expression. He opened his mouth to say something but before he could Men Shi continued, ¡°Nearly 10 Quadrillion years ago, I woke up in that bed after taking up the offer similar to yours. The lifespan of a Warden is still limited by Heavens and there is nothing one can do to combat that, so every 10 Quadrillion years, if the Warden has survived that long, he chooses a successor for himself or herself.¡±


    Jack just sat on the chair completely dumbfounded, just staring at the man with a blank look and an open mouth. Jack then asked, ¡°Why me?¡± Men Shi then started walking towards the door as he said, ¡°Come on, follow me.¡± Jack stood up and followed Men Shi from the small room to another room. This room was extremely spacious and in the centre of the room, in the air stood a giant spherical glass ball. Around the glass ball, in mid air, sat three old men in white garbs meditating.


    The room was filled with people dressed in the same clothes as the four of them were but with different letters embroidered on their jacket pockets.


    Jack took in the grand sight and Men Shi explained, ¡°Those three men are the ¡°Three Seers¡± of Nether Prison. Using the precious treasure, the glass ball in the sky, as a medium, they can peek into the future. As there are countless different ways for the future to play out, they use the help of the treasure to find the most likely one to happen. When someone tries to invade or someone from our Plane starts stirring major shit up, they let us know and we deploy the most optimal personal to deal with the situation.¡±


    Jack raised an eyebrow as he asked, ¡°Stirs shit up from our Plane?¡± Men Shi sighed as he shook his head, ¡°There have been countless invasion attempts. Some have been able to leave behind Legacy Sites that have brainwashed people from our Plane or they have left behind a Soul Fragment and taken over someone from our Plane. We can¡¯t be everywhere at once and we can¡¯t deal with everything completely clean all the time.¡±


    He then took a deep breath again, ¡°Some fish slip through our net and we have to deal with them at later times.¡± Jack sighed as he understood the reasoning and logic behind it now. Absolute defence was nothing more than an illusion. Jack looked at the glass ball in interest as he saw the occasional light sparks flicker through it and every time they did, one of the old men would either furrow their brows or turn serious.


    As Jack observed the ¡°Three Seers¡±, Men Shi¡¯s voice echoed out next to him, ¡°I asked them to use the precious treasure and work together to find the most suitable successor for me. After many days of searching thorough every possible future, they chose you.¡±

 Chapter 2: The Plane [Part 2]

    Jack turned towards Men Shi with round eyes. He muttered, ¡°Me?¡± Men Shi nodded his head as he stepped past Jack and started observing the crystal sphere.


    He looked at it for a moment before he started, his eyes fixed on the sphere, ¡°That treasure is our Planes most precious and important treasure. Through it, we can peer into the many futures and rid ourselves of troubles that have yet to come. The same way, we can find ourselves the people most suitable to deal with certain situations.¡±


    He then took a deep breath and turned around towards Jack, ¡°My time as a Warden was a fairly peaceful one but the time in store for the next Warden is a turbulent one. To ensure our survival, we need to have a strong Warden.¡± Jack looked down and asked, ¡°So you chose me? But¡­.¡±


    Just as Jack wanted to continue arguing, Men Shi raised his hand with a smile, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You are without a doubt the right choice for this. All you have to do is believe in yourself. Also, I have laid down ad much ground work as I could for you but it will still all be up to you.¡±


    Jack fell silent as he started thinking to himself. In all honesty, he just had a hard time accepting this. He was basically told to be responsible for the entire Plane. Besides that, he was just told that his time looking over the Plane was going to be riddled with one disaster after another.


    Jack looked at Men Shi with clouded eyes as he said weakly, ¡°Can I be alone for a bit? I need to think it all over. It is too much to take in all at once.¡± Men Shi nodded his head and said, ¡°Take all the time you need little friend.¡± He then gestured for someone to take him back. The man nodded and lead Jack away. When Jack left the room, Men Shi turned to look at the crystal sphere again. After a few minute of silence, one of the Seers said, ¡°Well, that was blunt.¡±


    Men Shi let out a weak laugh as he answered, ¡°There is no use in sugar coating it. Out of the millions of futures, only a dozen of them speak of a peaceful time. The rest are all riddled with wars. He would get himself killed if I kept this kind of vital information from him.¡± The old Seer sighed, ¡°I am not saying you acted wrong. In my opinion, you did the right thing.¡±


    He took a breath as he continued, ¡°He is someone who has to take command during the most turbulent times our Plane has ever seen. If he lacks the conviction to do that, he will fall. When he falls, the rest of us will go down with him.¡± Men Shi sighed again as he nodded his head with difficulty. Another one of the Seers opened his mouth, ¡°We are going to rely on the giant shield he is going to be, of course he has the right to know what he is going to be in for.¡±


    Men Shi gave a sad smile as he asked with a sigh again, ¡°How long do we have until the first Trial begins?¡± The third Seer then said, ¡°As of now, we have only around a million years until the first big Trial shows up. Until then, you better do your best to make him as prepared as a person can be.¡± Men Shi nodded his head and said, ¡°I will give him a few days to get himself accustomed to his situation, then I will start his training.¡± With that, the discussion between them had ended.


    When Jack left the room, he wasn¡¯t taken back to the room he woke up in but to a tranquil little courtyard. It had a small bond, a flowerbed, a lone willow tree and a few birds and small animals running around. In the far corner, there was a little pagoda with a small table and a few chairs. Jack took a seat and a few drinks and a few fruits and such were brought to the table. Jack didn¡¯t pay attention to them at all. He was in his own world as he went under the willow tree, sat down and closed his eyes.


    In his head, he went over all the information he had learned today. It was a lot to take in and he had a hard time adjusting to it. Until yesterday, he was nothing more than a trouble maker child that very few people wanted anything to do with. Now he was asked to take charge of the defence of an entire Plane. The lives of the entire Plane would lay on his shoulders and on the decisions he makes. Every decision he makes from now on may cost someone their life but at the same time save billions. Or vice versa, he can save one but it will cost the lives of billions. This kind of responsibility¡­.


    To say that he had no pressure was a lie. The pressure of it was enormous. No matter how he thought about it or from what angle he looked at it, he couldn¡¯t see how he had what it took to take up such an important position. He had low self esteem and his faith in himself was very low, so he couldn¡¯t see what others saw in him.


    In his mind, they had made a mistake. As Jack was lost in his negative thoughts, a young woman appeared next to him. She wore robes white as snow with a golden dragon emblem on it. The sleeves were adorned with exquisite golden patterns. She had pitch black, waist long hair, green eyes and her features were fairy like. She opened her mouth and a melodious voice escaped her mouth, ¡°You are doubting yourself, aren¡¯t you?¡± Jack opened his eyes and looked at the new arrival. Jack was taken aback by her beauty but for some reason, he wasn¡¯t enchanted by it.


    Jack remained silent as the young woman continued, ¡°Let me clarify one thing that the Warden didn¡¯t: Although you will be in charge and responsible for the Plane, you will not be alone with it.¡± Jack still kept his silence as he listened. The woman continued, ¡°Just as it is your duty to protect the Plane, so is it ours. We will all stand behind you. If the decision is bad, we will advise you otherwise.


    If the decision is the best under the current circumstances, no one will object.¡± Jack opened his mouth for the first time and asked, ¡°Why me?¡± The girl gave a charming smile as she said, ¡°Because of your karmic merit.¡± Jack tilted his head in confusion hearing the answer.


    The girl giggled seeing the reaction and explained, ¡°We observed you for two and a half years before we made contact with you. During that time, we saw you help out hundreds of people and save them from suicide, depression or from another kind of bind.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Jack was taken aback from the revelation but before he could say anything, the girl continued, albeit a little more seriously, ¡°You talked seventy two people out of committing suicide and helping them fight their depression and helped all of them get their lives back on track or even better than before. Those are only the suicidal people you helped but indirectly you helped hundreds of others with little things that changed their lives.¡±


    The girl then flashed a brilliant smile to Jack as she concluded her story, ¡°In two and a half years, you have changed the lived of so many people for the better, either by helping them directly or indirectly you still accumulated karmic merit. That isn¡¯t even important to you now but rather the fact that you helped so many others in such a short span of time even with how your life had been. It shows you are of great moral character and of great will. You didn¡¯t give up on those that all others would have already given up on.¡±


    She then lowered her head as if in embarrassment as she mumbled, ¡°Those are only the people we know of, how many people you have truly helped without even meaning to¡­. Those numbers are in thousands if not in millions.¡± She then looked at Jack and said seriously, ¡°You have helped thousands without even meaning to, you just have that charisma and charm of a leader. You never abandoned anyone, no matter how lost of a cause they were. Who better to have as a Chief Commander during the most turbulent times of our Plane than you?¡±


    Jack lowered his head and stayed quiet. Jack then raised his head and looked at the girl seriously. The young girl was startled at the seriousness as Jack said coldly, ¡°I have no idea who you are or who you think I am. Those around me have only met one disaster after another and I have just given my best on helping them get through them. Every person there had a specific value to me, no matter how you sugar coat it, I only helped them for my own needs. Don¡¯t try and over glorify everything.¡± The young girls eyes opened wide as Jack stood up and gave her one more look before departing, ¡°Each of them had their purpose for me to help them, they fulfilled that purpose for me and became obsolete. I am no saint, only a demon.¡±


    After saying so, he walked towards the door where the man who brought him there was still waiting. The man heard what Jack had said and was staring at him in awe. The girl seemed to be dumbstruck from Jack¡¯s words as she hadn¡¯t moved or said anything. When Jack reached the man, he said coldly, ¡°Take me to Men Shi.¡± The man snapped out of his daze as he nodded his head and started leading the way. Before turning around, he gave the girl one last glance. ¡°This is the first time someone has dared to rebuke Her Highness like that¡­.¡±


    As he thought that to himself, he started leading the way to another room. Before entering the room, he knocked on the door and waited permission to enter. Jack was puzzled as this unadorned door seemed like any other. When the man got permission to enter, he only opened the door and gestured for Jack to enter. He himself didn¡¯t step half a step inside but when Jack had entered, he closed the door behind him. The room was full of bookshelves and in the middle of the room was only a desk and a chair.


    On the desk, there were meter high stacks of papers and from the noise, it seemed as though someone was hard at work behind the giant stack of papers. Jack waited for a few moments and soon Men Shi¡¯s familiar voice could be heard form behind the paper towers, ¡°I will talk with you in a minute, let me finish some of these things first.¡± Jack was taken a back as he sized the giant stacks up and down. He mumbled, ¡°This is going to take a bit longer than a moment.¡±


    As he had nothing better to do, he walked to the desk and took one of the papers in his hand. To his surprise he could understand the words written on them. He couldn¡¯t read these characters but somehow, as his eyes ran over the words, inside his head, he knew what each character and word meant. As he stared at the paper with wide eyes, turning it around and reading again, a merry laugh sounded from behind the stacks of papers, ¡°If you are wondering why you can understand the letters and words, then it is because I imprinted the language to your Soul. It is the universal language of the Plane so it will come in handy in various situations. That is also why you can understand what we are talking and you yourself are also talking in the universal language.¡±


    Jack put down the paper and went over what Men Shi had just said. Suddenly, Men Shi¡¯s words sounded out again, ¡°You see the prayer mat in the corner?¡± As the words reached Jack¡¯s ears, he turned around and saw a prayer mat in the corner. When his eyes fell on it, Men Shi¡¯s voice sounded out again, ¡°Sit down, close your eyes, steady your breathing and focus on the characters. Try to write and draw them in your mind.¡± Jack sighed at the unusual instructions but he still went and sat down on the prayer mat. When he sat down, he didn¡¯t feel any different but when he closed his eyes, he felt his breathing calm down and he felt himself slip into a weird state of both clarity and being muddled.


    He was startled and just as he wanted to jump up, Men Shi¡¯s voice echoed out in his head, ¡°Focus on the characters and words you saw on the paper. Try to write and draw them in your mind.¡± Jack closed his eyes again and started doing as Men Shi had told. Very soon, he had perfectly written and drawn each of the characters and words on the paper in his mind.


    Then other letters and words started appearing in his mind and he kept doing it. Every time he wrote the letter or word in his mind, the meaning was imprinted in his mind and he learned to use them without needing rely on the imprint Men Shi had left for him to communicate. When Jack had quieted down, Men Shi¡¯s eyes opened wide as his hand stopped writing. He focused intently on Jack and mumbled to himself with a smile, ¡°To enter a complete meditative state for the first time so quickly but¡­ This seems a bit different.¡±


    He observed Jack a bit more and then continued with his paperwork. As he kept doing his paperwork, every so often he directed his attention to Jack and looked at how he was doing. His mouth was moving a bit as if he was trying to say the words and sometimes his brows furrowed a bit but soon relaxed. Men Shi nodded his head and kept doing his paperwork. After what seemed like hours had passed, Jack opened his eyes. His head was now filled with a completely new language. He picked up a spare pen and paper from in front of him, that had been put there by Men Shi, and started writing all the letters and words he had now learned.


    When he was finished, he picked up the paper and smiled at the perfect job he had done. At some point in time, Men Shi had stood up and next to Jack. He quietly watched on as he kept being more and more astonished.


    When Jack had finished and was admiring his work, Men Shi¡¯s astonished voice sounded out, ¡°You truly are a genius. It only took you nine hours to learn an entire language from an Imprint¡­. It took me four and a half days to reach the same stage as you and I was considered fas amongst the Wardens...¡±

 Chapter 3: The Core [Part 1]

    Jack couldn¡¯t even say anything before Men Shi said, ¡°Come on, follow me.¡± Jack raised his hand in protest but seeing how he was ignored, only sighed in response. He then rose to his feet and followed behind Men Shi. They exited the room and Men Shi didn¡¯t say a word any more but rather had this serious look on his face as he led the way through the winding corridors.


    Finally, they arrived at a door that was guarded by two men. The door was like any other but something was different, the door was open. The two at the door cupped their hands in salute towards Men Shi and Men Shi just nodded to them as he led the way. He walked in through the open door but Jack hesitated. For some reason, he felt immense danger from this room. He couldn¡¯t see anything wrong or anything different but he had this subconscious feeling of danger towards the room.


    Seeing Jack halt like that, Men Shi smiled as he said, ¡°So you feel it, huh?¡± Men Shi then beckoned his hand and Jack lifted from the ground and floated behind him. When Jack entered through the doorway, the word changed. He was now in a purgatory world and in front of him, there were seven huge towers arranged in a circle with an eight tower standing in the middle of the circle. The ground was covered in complex and intricate glowing lines and all the lines started from one of the seven towers and ended in the eight tower. Jack¡¯s eyes opened wide as he looked around in astonishment. Men Shi didn¡¯t say anything but led the way to the tower in the middle of the circle.


    On the way there, Jack could hear some screams and what he believed to be curse words coming from the towers from the circle around them. When they arrived at the tower in the middle, Men Shi flashed some sort of badge and a door appeared on the tower wall. Without saying anything, he entered the tower and after navigating a bit in the hallways, entered a giant room that seemed to span the entire floor. The ground was covered in complex lines and some of them were glowing, some of them weren¡¯t. However in the middle of the giant array of lines, was a small orb. It was as white as first snow and it seemed to be glowing but at the same time, no light emitted from it.


    As Jack checked out this peculiar room, Men Shi¡¯s voice echoed out, ¡°This is the [Prison]. The most important and most dangerous place in the entire Plane.¡± He paused for a second before adding, ¡°Even the Celestial Palace where the Heavenly Emperor lives isn¡¯t as important or dangerous as this place.¡± Jack raised an eyebrow in astonishment as he looked towards Men Shi, waiting for an explanation. Men Shi turned around to look at Jack with a dead serious expression as he said in a grave tone, ¡°Here we imprison all the Invaders from other Planes and the most heinous criminals of our Plane. This place has two purposes.¡±


    He raised on finger and continued, ¡°First, to imprison all those people we can¡¯t kill for some reason, either due to an invulnerable form or due to some other circumstances.¡± Jack slowly nodded his head as he understood the point of number one. Seeing the nod, Men Shi raised another finger, holding up two now. He said gravely, ¡°The second is to harvest their energies to circulate around the Plane.¡± Jack tilted his head with a weird expression, he understood what he said and at this point, he wasn¡¯t even surprised that there was some giant formation to encompass the entire Plane.


    However, he couldn¡¯t understand why, what was the purpose of this. Just to raise the quality of energy in the air? No, to go through all the trouble to create a Plane wide formation just to raise the quality of the energy in the Heaven and Earth was a bit of an overkill in his opinion. Men Shi saw the weird expression on Jack¡¯s face but he didn¡¯t explain any more but rather beckoned his hand for Jack to follow. Jack followed Men Shi through a door that led down into a room far bigger than the one they were in.


    In the middle of the room, there was a white ball that was like the one in the room above. Jack¡¯s eyes opened wide as he stammered, ¡°This is...¡± Men Shi sighed deeply as he confirmed, ¡°This is the Original Energy Core of our Plane.¡± Jack looked at the ball, it was vastly different from the one upstairs. At some spots, the pure whiteness was tinted with greyness or other colours and also, the ball was missing bits and pieces here and there. It was obvious with only a glance that it was severely damaged. Jack looked towards Men Shi waiting for an explanation.


    Men Shi turned towards Jack again as he continued explaining, ¡°During the countless wars with invaders and native troublemakers, the Core got damaged severely. It needs a long time to recover and repair itself but if we keep drawing Qi from the Core, it will never be able to repair itself, in fact, it will only get more and more damaged until the day it breaks.¡±


    Jack gulped as he asked, ¡°What happens when it breaks?¡± Men Shi stayed silent for a moment before he gravely said, ¡°When it breaks¡­. All Energies will dissipate from our Plane. With about a billion years, there will be no more Energies of Heaven and Earth. With no way to replenish our Qi, we would also grow weaker and weaker with each fight or with anything that consumes our Qi.¡± Jack¡¯s eyes opened wide as he gulped heavily.


    Men Shi didn¡¯t need to explain further what would happen if the Energy¡¯s disappeared. With each fight, they would grow weaker and weaker until there would no longer be anyone to defend the Plane from outside threats. When that happened¡­. Anyone could just come and claim their Plane as their own. Kill anyone who opposes and mould the Plane to worship them. When there were no more risk factors, then they could implement some sort of similar system that was upstairs.


    Suddenly, something clicked inside Jack¡¯s head as he asked, ¡°This is what they are after?¡± Men Shi nodded his head and said seriously, ¡°Their goal is to destroy our Energy Core to make us all powerless. When we have no way to replenish our Qi, we will quickly fall. Then take over and apply a similar formation that¡¯s upstairs. This is the safest and most sure fire way to take over a Plane.¡± Jack gulped. If this was true, then this means that they had nearly succeeded once. But where did the formation upstairs come from?


    Jack¡¯s eyebrows furrowed as he thought about that and as if Men Shi could read his mind, he said, ¡°That formation that is upstairs and acting as a replacement until our Core itself repairs itself is our most valuable spoil of war. We accidentally salvaged it from the belongings of an invader and that was also when we understood, what they were after.¡± Jack nodded his head to the explanation. He didn¡¯t want to downplay their own Plane but from what Jack had seen amongst these people and all he had learned, that Formation was several levels out of their understanding.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    Men Shi then walked towards the damaged Energy Core and said, ¡°This is only known to the Warden and the Heavenly Emperor. No one else even knows that this place exists or that our Plane has an Energy Core. More specifically, they do not know it is damaged.¡± He then looked directly at Jack as he said seriously, ¡°The Nether Prison was founded when the Core was damaged and the First Warden set up the giant formation to take place for the Core. I am the 98 Warden, so now do you see how long this Core has been recovering for?¡±


    Jack¡¯s eyes opened wide as Men Shi continued, ¡°Each Warden stands guard over the Plane for a Quadrillion years. During this time, the Core has managed to repair only about 20% of itself. For the Core to completely repair itself, it would take at least another 98 or 99 Wardens to guard it.¡± Men Shi¡¯s eyes fell down as he sat down on the ground and produced a flask and a few cups for wine. Jack then fell into thought as he asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t it possible to link up the formation upstairs to the Core to speed up the recovery rate of the Core?¡±


    Men Shi looked at Jack with praise in his eyes but then sighed, ¡°There have been several Wardens that have had the same idea but none of them could raise their understanding of Formations to high enough level to accomplish it.¡± Men Shi then offered Jack a sip of wine from the flask as he gestured for him to sit down as well. Jack sighed as he sat down as well.


    Men Shi then continued, ¡°All of this is something I should have told you way in the future but seeing as you were, I decided that it was better to lay all the cards on the table now.¡± Jack took a sip from the wine he was offered as he kept his silence. Men Shi continued, ¡°I observed you for several years and I know that you have exceptional adaptability and also, you have a knack for being able to see everything from a new angle.¡±


    Men Shi then took a big gulp from the wine cup he had taken out and continued, ¡°The problem with cultivators is that they are always inside their little box of understanding and progress is very slow.¡± Men Shi sighed as Jack raised an eyebrow. Men Shi continued, ¡°They are all always stuck in their old traditions and their old legacies. When someone starts exploring an area outside the box, they are quickly shut down. Another thing is¡­. They are all way too greedy.¡±


    Men Shi sighed deeply at this. He then continued with sorrow in his tone, ¡°They turn everything into a competition and without any merit, they wont move. The only exception to them is the Five Primordial Beast Clans. They are our biggest allies and with them you know, if you contact that you need help, then they will show up in full force and won¡¯t pursue benefits for themselves. However, with most of the renown Schools, Sects and Clans¡­. Unless you offer them rewards for their help, they won¡¯t help at all.¡± His mood turned sourer and sourer as he continued talking. Jack was flabbergasted at this.


    He asked with astonishment, ¡°Doesn¡¯t this concern the survival of the Plane? Who the hell do they think will spare them when outsiders take over the Plane?¡± Men Shi shook his head and raised his shoulders in confusion as well, ¡°I have no idea but they somehow think that when we fall, they can intimidate the invaders with their influence. However, they fail to realise, that our influence and strength is enough to destroy several of them, at the same time, with no effort. If we fall, what chance do they have?¡± Jack stayed quiet as he tried to wrap his head around the mindset of the big schools and clans.


    ¡°Arghhh!¡± after a few minutes of silence, Jack grabbed his head as he rustled his hair. Men Shi was startled from the unexpected cry and looked at Jack with big eyes. Before he could ask what happened, Jack looked at Men Shi seriously and asked, ¡°Did those idiots fall on their head repeatedly when they were small or have they been hit in the head far too many times? What do they expect to happen when the last defence line for the Plane falls? When the Core breaks, they have no way to replenish their Qi, with no way to replenish their Qi, what do they expect to happen? No matter how tough their Sect Guarding Formations and stuff are, they will run out of Energy fast. Once that happens, they are only lambs for slaughter.¡± Men Shi thought about it this way and understood what Jack meant.


    He had observed Jack for long enough to know that he was a logical person to a perverse degree. If he couldn¡¯t find any logical reason to do something, then he saw no reason to do so. Currently, he just couldn¡¯t understand what the big Sects and Clans were relying on. There was no logical reason to act the way they were. Jack then sighed deeply as he said, ¡°Unless they had already made some agreement with the Outsiders that are trying to invade, I see no logical reason to act the way they are acting.¡±


    Men Shi¡¯s hand froze mid sip. He slowly lowered the cup as he said seriously, ¡°Say that again and explain.¡± Jack looked at Men Shi as if he was blind, ¡°It is obvious as day that they have reached some sort of agreement with the Outsiders¡­. Like, there is no reason for them to give up the Plane to some outsider if they hadn¡¯t reached some sort of agreement, that their Clan, Sect or whatever would be untouched when they take over.¡±


    Jack then took a sip from the cup that held his wine before continuing, ¡°I have no idea what the actual agreement is but my best guess is that they were promised more lands, rewards and more influence with the new ruling regime.¡± Jack then sighed as he said, ¡°I may have read too much cultivation novels back in my world but it seems like this: These Clans and Sects all care about their own survival. Their ¡°Legacy¡± is what matters to them. So, they choose the side that will give them the better benefits. Alliances change solely based on these two facts: Who can guarantee their Clans or Sects survival better and which side can give them better benefits. The better the benefits of joining a side, the more they can grow their Clan or Sect.¡±


    Jack then nonchalantly took a sip of his wine. Men Shi looked at him with big round eyes as his mouth hung open. In his head, he went over all the past actions of the Clans and Sects and to his dismay, now that Jack had pointed it out, it truly was as obvious as day. ¡°Seems like we are far too used to complex multilayered schemes¡­. What this young friend says is most likely the case and since we are far too used to looking for a hidden or deeper meaning, we missed this obvious conclusion.¡±


    An aged voice sounded out form behind Jack and when he turned around, he was greeted by an aged man with greying hair, sturdy build. He wore grandiose golden robes and his whole demeanour made Jack feel the need to prostrate in front of the man.


    Men Shi then said, ¡°Long time no see Emperor, as you said, we truly do seem used to finding hidden meanings too much to miss this obvious thing¡­.¡±

 Chapter 4: The Core [Part 2]

    The man let out a merry laugh as he waved his hand towards Men Shi. Men Shi seemed as though he had lived this scenario out too many times to count and conjured another wine cup as the Emperor nonchalantly walked to the table at sat down. He drank the cup empty with one mouthful and then let out a deep but satisfied breath.


    He then turned towards Jack and said, ¡°Confused? The high and mighty Heavenly Emperor, the epitome of gracefulness and elegance drinking wine like a brute.¡± He smirked and Jack only then realized that he was staring at the man with wide eyes and an open mouth. Jack scratched his head sheepishly. For some reason, he only felt the gap between them only when he first saw him but at the moment, he felt as though the person was another person of equal standing to him.


    When he realized this, he felt very weird. By nature, the person sitting there was the Heavenly Emperor, the most influential person in the entire Plane. He should feel oppressed when meeting him but he didn¡¯t feel anything. The man smirked and said, ¡°I may be the Heavenly Emperor out there but here, I am equal to you and him.¡± As he said that, the looked towards Men Shi.


    Men Shi also let out a laugh and a smirk but it quickly faded as he looked at his cup and said seriously, ¡°If what Jack said is true and they have some sort of agreement between them and Outsiders, then we may have some serious problems.¡± The Emperor nodded his head grimly as well but Jack nonchalantly asked, ¡°How much power does a Heavenly Emperor have?¡±


    The two were startled for a second as they looked at each other in confusion to the question. After a brief moment, Men Shi explained, ¡°The Heavenly Emperor literally rules the Heavens. He decides the Tribulations, he can see the fate of someone from our Plane and he can banish anyone from the Plane. If he decides to banish someone, then the person can no longer gain any aid from our Energy, karmic luck or anything.¡± The Emperor smirked at the explanation but Jack looked more and more dumbfounded.


    However, the reason he felt dumbfounded was something else, ¡°If he can do all that, why the heck do you guys even let those Clans and Schools run rampant like that?¡± The two were taken aback again as Jack explained, ¡°If you can do all that, then gradually raise the difficulty of the Tribulations for anyone who has ties to the Clan or Sect.¡± Men Shi then tried to explain, ¡°If we did that, then it would be scorned for using underhanded methods-¡± Jack cut him off by saying, ¡°Those guys are colluding with Outsiders to gift away our Plane, if we start talking about underhanded methods, then I would say they started first.¡± The two could not say anything to refute what Jack said. No matter how you looked at it, by refusing to help defend against the Outsiders, the only logical explanation was that they are colluding with them. So, they are basically enemies to them, why let them flourish in peace? The two fell into deep thought and then the Emperor asked seriously, ¡°How do we explain it to all of them? Unless we have definite proof, it would seem as though we are abusing our authority and power.¡±


    Jack looked at them in astonishment as he said, ¡°You are the Heavenly Emperor for fucks sake. Since when do you have to explain yourself to anyone?¡± The two were startled as Jack said seriously, ¡°It is the duty of everyone living in the Plane to protect it from Outsiders. Not helping and requesting rewards for doing such a duty is the same as colluding with the Outsiders. If they have no moral pride to protect their Home Plane, why in the seven Hell¡¯s should they have the option to live in it?¡± The two were taken aback by Jack reasoning but for better or worse, they couldn¡¯t find a flaw in it.


    By not helping, the more people from the Celestial Palace and the Nether Prison die, meaning that their forces would only dwindle. Since there was more than one Plane out there eyeing this one, they fell into more and more disadvantage with every person they lost. Jack then asked them in a mysterious tone, ¡°So, why should we be the only ones to suffer. If those guys don¡¯t help protect this Plane, why should we let them live out peacefully and nonchalantly?¡±


    He then took a sip of wine and said thoughtfully, ¡°Since they find it beneath themselves to help protect this Plane and even want to offer us up on a silver platter, they can go find a new Plane to live in.¡± The two old monsters gulped as they heard Jack¡¯s words. It was obvious that he didn¡¯t hold the prestigious people from those Schools or Clans or Sects in any regard at all. Since they tried to take advantage of the Nether Prison and Celestial Palace while they were down, they were nothing more than garbage in Jacks eyes.


    Jack then rose up from his seat and walked towards the Core of the Plane. He stared at it in silence for a while before saying, ¡°The lifeline of the Plane is in as shitty of a situation as this, every resource counts at this point. Why give our enemies free resources? If they want to enjoy the Energy here and the other resources found in nature, then they should at least work for them by helping us defend this Plane.¡± He then turned around, towards the two, and Men Shi was startled by the coldness in Jack¡¯s eyes.


    Men Shi was stunned for a second before letting out a dejected laugh, ¡°You truly are ruthless. However, you are right in this regard. If they want to enjoy the benefit our Plane gives, then they should help us defend it.¡± The Heavenly Emperor also sighed as he nodded his head. The two weren¡¯t against Jack¡¯s reasoning or stance on the matter but they found it hard to take this step without disrupting the power balance that had formed among the various powers.


    The Emperor sighed as he massaged his temples, ¡°I need to think of a way to word this without seeing overbearing¡­.¡± Jack immediately rebuked, ¡°So what if you seem overbearing? You control all life in this Plane so asking these idiots to do something in response of greedily gobbling up the natural resources and the Energy of the Plane is within all reasoning. I am more amazed, that you haven¡¯t done so already to be honest¡­.¡±


    The Emperor let out a weak laugh as he stood up, took a big gulp of wine and said seriously, ¡°You are right, it is about time I made my word pay here. We all live in the Plane and it is all of our duty to protect it. If they don¡¯t like that, they can go and find a new Plane to live in.¡± With that, it seemed like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders as he resolutely walked out the door and disappeared. Men Shi, who had been silent all this time, then clapped and smiled at Jack, ¡°Thank you. He finally found the determination to put his foot down.¡±Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    Jack looked at Men Shi in puzzlement as he asked, ¡°What do you mean?¡± Men Shi then said, ¡°The seat of the Heavenly Emperor changes the same way the Wardens does. Each Quadrillion years, the Emperor passes on the throne to his or her most successful child, who will become the new Heavenly Emperor or Empress.¡± Men Shi then said, ¡°As there are different personalities of the Wardens, there are different personalities of Emperors as well. I don¡¯t mean this in a bad way but he has always been far too lenient and thinks too much of the consequences and the pride and honour of the Imperial Family.¡± As he said that, he softly shook his head but a smile was still evident on his lips. Jack gave a weak smile as he understood what Men Shi meant.


    Since he was so concerned of the Imperial Families image in the eyes of others, he had been far too lenient. Jack didn¡¯t want to dwell on the topic for much longer, so he looked towards he Core again and asked, ¡°If the core repairs itself, what will happen to the formation up above?¡± Men Shi fell into thought as well. He hadn¡¯t thought about it actually because the time needed for the Core to repair itself is so long that he may die several hundred times over in the mean time.


    He crossed his hand s on his chest as he said, ¡°I guess then the Warden needs to find a way to link it to the Core to help raise the density and purity of the Energy of the Plane.¡± Jack nodded his head as he felt that this was most probably the only use left for that formation then. Jack then fell into thought and mumbled, ¡°These two are both batteries, the seven towers are generators¡­. Hmm...¡± As he mumbled to himself Men Shi¡¯s eyes narrowed as he waited for Jack to talk first, so that he wouldn¡¯t snap him out of his thoughts and maybe lose the way to link up the two Cores to aid the repair of the Original.


    As Jack thought about it, he suddenly said, ¡°I get it.¡± Men Shi immediately asked, ¡°What did you figure out?¡± Jack turned to him and said, ¡°The reason that the previous Wardens failed to link up the two Core was because the power sources were weak.¡± Men Shi¡¯s brows furrowed as he looked at Jack in confusion.


    Jack then explained his theory, ¡°It wasn¡¯t that the formation to link them up was wrong but rather, the upstairs Core didn¡¯t have enough Energy to spare to help repair the Core and maintain the Energy density in the Plane at the same time. So, all we need to do is put a stopper in the middle.¡±


    Men Shi still didn¡¯t understand what he meant by this so Jack explained further, ¡°Basically, what I mean is you have two devices that both consume an enormous amount of Energy, these are the Cores. However, the Generator, aka the formation which draws the Energy from the Prisoners and directs it to the Cores is far too weak to simultaneously sustain both of the Cores.¡± When Jack explained it like that, Men Shi figured something out as he asked cautiously, ¡°So the reason that their attempt failed was because the Prisoners couldn¡¯t provide enough Energy to fuel both of the Cores?¡±


    Jack looked at the man and nodded, ¡°Yes, I believe so. I am no expert on formations but to power a Formation that encompasses the entire Energy of the Plane¡­ You would need an enormous amounts of Energy for it to work. So, currently I think that the upstairs Formation isn¡¯t even working on full power because you can¡¯t produce the amount of Energy it needs to reach peak performance.¡± As he stated so matter-of-factly, Jack rejoined Men Shi at the table. Men Shi had fallen deep into thought about what Jack had just said.


    If it truly was as Jack had said, then if they could capture more of the Outsiders than kill, then they could fill up the Prisons more and more and as a result, they could power the formation to it¡¯s peak. If they can exceed the peak, then they can link the Cores and use the excess Energy to help speed up the recovery of the Original Core. When his thoughts reached to here, he suddenly looked up and at Jack as though he was a monster. He then asked, ¡°How did you reach this conclusion?¡± He couldn¡¯t understand how Jack had reached this conclusion at all. Jack had no basic knowledge of Formations or anything but this theory on why the previous link up attempts of the Cores didn¡¯t work, was the most likely the case.


    The formations themselves weren¡¯t the problem but rather, the Prisons didn¡¯t just generate enough Energy to be able to stand the consumption of both Cores. Also following this train of thought, there were at least two different possible solutions for the problem right now, one easy one and another which was way harder. Men Shi waited for Jack¡¯s answer intently and Jack answered, ¡°Doesn¡¯t this remind you of a giant machine?¡±


    Men Shi was startled as his memories of his home and technology were muddled over time. Jack then continued, ¡°All these Formations and Treasures and stuff seem like a differently built machine to me. These lines on the ground are wires, the Prison is a battery, the Core is a Computer. Like with technology itself, if you lack the sufficient Energy to power it, it wont work.¡±


    Men Shi fell into thought as he had never looked at the formations and treasures as ¡°pieces of technology¡± before. But as he remembered the things he learned way before he was brought here as a Warden, the more they did indeed seem to resemble each other. They were built with different materials and with a different design but the basic principles and goals of the things were the same. They just used different types of power and due to that, they were built around the type of power that was used.


    With modern technology, electricity was the main form of such power, so everything either carried batteries or could be plugged into a battery. However, the treasures cultivators used, needed Qi. Just like with technology that didn¡¯t work unless they had batteries to power it, these treasures were also useless unless someone injected Qi into them to make it work. The principle and basic goal was the same, the power source was different.


    Men Shi thought about it for a moment and then looked at Jack as though he was a monster. This kind of a simple comparison was easy to understand but kind of hard to make. When you dissected the problem and compared it like that, then yes, it was an easy comparison to make but to Jack, who had no basic foundation in Formation or Treasures, to make this kind of a comparison was not something he was supposed to be able to do.


    Men Shi sized up Jack again and re evaluated him a bit in his mind. ¡°I hope he decides to take up studying Formations as a hobby in the future...¡± As Men Shi thought that to himself, he couldn¡¯t help but sigh. As a Warden, they all had to follow a combat path and could dabble in things like Formations as merely a hobby.


    If their combat power suffered because of it, then there might not be a Plane left to defend after all