《The First Great Sect [An Epic Cultivation Story]》


 Chapter 1: Liao Hua

    ¡®Fuck the Great Three, it¡¯s just Great Liao.¡¯


    ¡ªXiao Jiu, the Lady Liao, on the War of Three Clans.


    The world broke on the first day of the week with no warning that any diviner could claim to have noticed. It broke with no regard to those who lived upon it, and it broke in such a way that no mortal hands could ever piece it back together. Liao Hua did not know that the war in heaven would shatter her life so profoundly.


    The day the world broke, Liao Hua found herself at the clan training grounds in the early hours of the morning. Before the sun dared rise above the horizon to nourish the fields of wheat growing in the far distance and dispel the mist that hugged the steep hills, Hua was preparing for training. Hard-packed earth made up the largest of the training grounds. This was the one used for general practice and where most of her Clan spent their training time.


    If they woke up as early as Hua did.


    Training wasn¡¯t a thing Hua merely did, it was something she loved. Start early and end late. Anything else was just laziness.


    Besides, if Hua got in all her training early, she could visit the city. Visit Qing who was sleeping soundly right now and see her the moment she woke up. Have the whole day together. After being gone for so many weeks, Hua couldn¡¯t wait to see her.


    Today would be a good training day, she decided, her anticipation mounting as she thought of Qing. She chose to begin by bowing to the ten cardinal directions as defined by their Cultivation Scripture. The eight mortal directions and finally the journey between Earth and Heaven. Hua greeted the Four Kings of the main cardinals and offered her respect to the Thunder Agency that governed the Heaven above.


    As she rose from her bow, a great lance of lightning cleaved the clear sky in half. She stared at it in awe, feeling such vast Qi that it could only surely mean the Heavens had seen her dedication and blessed her training. The roar of thunder that followed shook the trees and made the ground tremble.


    One day, my lightning will make the world tremble, she promised.


    Hua ran through the stances of the Liao Clan¡¯s martial art with ease, paying special attention to her movements despite how engrained they were. Throwing a punch without knowing why wasn¡¯t a good way to improve. If Hua needed to break someone¡¯s face in the future, it might save a family member. If she kicked just right, she might blow out an enemy¡¯s kneecap before they could turn on her Clan. If her blocks and parries were done correctly then she could be a wall against Zhao and Yu whenever they became enemies again.


    For those simple reasons of loyalty and duty, she fully focused on the raw, full-contact method of combat that their Clan used. Closed fists, sharp elbows, and a few throws baked into it. Everything superfluous to the goal of inflicting maximum violence had been stripped away. Her only modification had been palm strikes to compliment her personal techniques.


    Her limbs were warm and limber once she had worked through two full cycles. She moved onto a set of stretches as the first of the Clan entered the training field. A damp girl half Hua¡¯s age who waved with the resignation of someone sent to fetch water early in the morning. Then a boy with too much exuberance followed behind her, taking the stairs down two at a time. Others slowly trickled in, though Hua was given a wide pocket of space. Some with the same silver hair she had, those who were part of the inner clan. Those with the more common black were from the branch families. She knew them all, though she couldn¡¯t call many friends.


    When she had given the late risers enough time to warm up, she rose and took up her sword. The familiar sound of steel singing sent shivers down the spines of her kin. You would think that after years of this ritual, they would be prepared for this.


    ¡°Cousin Weiang, would you spar with me?¡±


    She had never seen a look of such complete despair as that moment.


    ¡°You just got back,¡± he muttered. ¡°Not even one day of peace.¡±


    He was older than her by a few years. His dark green eyes darted around, finding everyone near him suddenly giving him a wide berth. Liao Hua never understood why everyone in her clan was this dramatic. Especially the main clan.


    Finally, realising he had no choice, and that Hua was already pointing her sword at him, he unsheathed his own. It had only been two years ago that people started carrying live steel on the training grounds once people realised Hua wasn¡¯t going to be using a training sword.


    ¡°This humble Weiang thanks the Young Mistress for trading pointers with him,¡± he said without a shred of sincerity. ¡°May she be quick with her teachings.¡±


    ¡°Block high,¡± she warned, and then charged forward, sword held in her off-hand.


    Weiang was decent with a sword but so were most people of the Wei Generation. If only because Hua trained daily and she wouldn¡¯t let her sparring partners get worse. He had the same solid stance the Patriarch favoured, one that employed raw strength and worked well for those as tall as those in the main clan. Strike once, strike fast, and never strike again, were his wise words. Hua liked to think of it as being like lightning. Bring forth the overwhelming power of the heavens and let nothing remain.


    Hua¡¯s footwork was just as firm, just as solid. Meeting him blow for blow, refusing to yield even an inch. He cursed her out as she pushed him back. She struck him in the diaphragm with a palm for making the mistake of thinking he could talk while they sparred. His hacking breaths followed his desperate retreat from her unrelenting blade. It took two, three, then four engagements for him to get back into his stance.


    She nodded happily once he did. A year ago, he wouldn¡¯t have managed that feat at all. She smiled when he didn¡¯t lower his guard.


    ¡°That was good. You¡¯ve gotten better. But the rest of you, I¡¯ll be back in the evening to train with you. Understood.¡±


    ¡°Humour this old lady first.¡±


    She did not love those five words. It seems I¡¯m next. Hua slowly turned to see her grandmother watching from the stairs leading up to a tall woman with silver hair held by a kingfisher pin and lips painted red. She wore lotus shoes. Wrinkles lined the corner of her eyes. She was thin in the way of all old people who meant to outlive their descendants. She had a wooden practice sword in her hand. That was the only relieving thing about her presence.


    Hua greeted her grandmother with a martial salute, right first meeting her left palm. It was awkward with a sword still in hand, but she managed it without pointing the blade at her greatest teacher.


    Those who could made very hasty exits. She memorised which of her relatives she would be tormenting for the next few weeks. Weiang was going to suffer the most, she decided.


    ¡°Cowards,¡± she muttered. ¡°You know, grandmother, I have places to be so maybe we can do this tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°If you want to visit your friend, you¡¯ll have to impress me,¡± Grandmother said mercilessly. ¡°Otherwise, you¡¯ll stay on this mountain receiving a beating. Come, I do not have so many years remaining that I can wait on you.¡±


    Hua smiled with false sincerity as her cowardly relatives made their way to the top of the stairs to watch from safety.


    ¡°Grandmother, don¡¯t say that. I know you¡¯re too spiteful to let anyone outlive you. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be punching my grandchildren into the ground a century from now, especially if you constantly eat pills.¡±


    ¡°Oh ho, the child has a mouth on her today. I suppose I can discipline you as well.¡±


    Grandmother was kind enough to give her a moment to prepare. She placed her live steel sword¡ªone of the better ones the clan purchased¡ªin her left hand, her main hand, and settled into a ready stance.


    Impress her grandmother. That was possible. For Qing, Hua would manage the impossible.


    If it meant visiting Qing, Hua would kill a god. Grandmother wasn¡¯t quite so far beyond her.


    It was the inverse of her spar with Weiang. Like lightning, Grandmother attacked, and like lightning, one only saw the afterimage of the flash in their memory.


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    Hua desperately turned to meet the blow, acting purely on instinct. The strength of it still left her arm numb. Her steel blade didn¡¯t so much as dig into the wooden practice sword, the Qi infused along its edge too potent to pierce.


    Hua managed to force the wooden sword up and away. Her blade descended in turn to cut Grandmother from shoulder to waist. Grandmother parried the swing with the back of her hand, pushing away Hua¡¯s arm and turning her body to the side to neatly avoid even the sleeves of her robe being damaged. The next engagement led to Hua getting slapped across the face and the one after that sent her stumbling back.


    There was a gulf between them and it showed. There had never been a chance of landing a blow. Still, Hua tried. Even if her sword missed, that was only one hand. With the other, she thrust it forward with no regard for subtlety, palm exposed.


    Lightning crackled on the back of her hand, dancing between her fingers as she focused on splitting her Qi into yin and yang. She thrust her palm forward as her Qi rejoined. At the moment her palm struck her grandmother, a shockwave was formed.


    Grandmother was faster. It could only be called a guiding hand, the way Grandmother raised Hua¡¯s arm. A contemptuous guide that forced Hua¡¯s hand to the sky just as the technique formed. It was the power of a thunderclap that filled the air around them, the rumble and force that followed lightning to announce the heavens had sent down their judgement.


    Grandmother stepped forward, well into Hua¡¯s guard. She felt a heel strike her own, destabilising her already weak stance. She was thrown and unable to do anything.


    ¡°Enjoy your rotation, fool.¡±


    At the apex of the throw, Grandmother backhanded her chest with such force that Hua was spun halfway again, hands opening instinctively and dropping her sword. Instead of her back hitting the ground, it was her front.


    She caught herself on her hands, bending her wrists and firming her core.


    The moment she had any sort of control, she kicked as hard as she could. There was never a chance of hitting her grandmother, but it still forced her foe to jump over the blow. Gave Hua the space she needed to use the momentum to roll to the side, rising into a crouch as she reached for her discarded blade.


    By then, Grandmother was firmly on the ground again as though she had never moved. At least her long hair was ruffled, the long braid still swaying. Proof that Hua had done something, even if that something was barely worth mentioning.


    What was she to brag about? I made Grandmother dodge once? Her hair even moved. Anything short of drawing blood was worthless.


    ¡°An acceptable reason to drop your sword. At least you aren¡¯t dropping it each time you got hit like you used to.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not twelve anymore.¡±


    ¡°You babes all look the same to me. You¡¯re failing to impress me, girl. Now get up and try again.¡±


    With Qing in her mind, Hua rose and drew on her Qi to empower her. She dashed forward and matched her strength against her grandmother¡¯s aged power. They met again, Hua¡¯s sword shrieking at the abuse it was enduring. Grandmother¡¯s wooden blade was absolutely silent, barely deforming.


    She saw an opportunity. Hua thrust her blade forward. With a step, a flourish and a half-turn, Grandmother manoeuvred around Hua and slammed her wooden blade against Hua¡¯s ankles. She yelped, skittering back.


    ¡°Your footwork is still sloppy. Don¡¯t cross your feet like that unless you want swollen ankles.¡±


    After the third blow to her ankles, Hua decided that maybe trying to match her grandmother¡¯s strength was a mistake. There was no winning. Not in strength, reach, or speed.


    ¡°Slightly better but still unimpressive. Remember, you might have the height, but you don¡¯t have the muscle mass to bully others as much.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re the tallest people in the province,¡± she grumbled.


    That earned her a whack on the wrist. Her bones twanged painfully even through the numbness she was experiencing. Hua did not drop her sword.


    ¡°That might not always be the case. And even if it is, most male Cultivators will have far superior bodily Cultivation. Our techniques draw on more yin than yang to form them. It doesn¡¯t help that you¡¯re a Spiritual Cultivator.¡±


    As if she wasn¡¯t throwing around Weiang just minutes ago. He was just as tall and far broader.


    ¡°You¡¯re at a higher Cultivation stage than him,¡± Grandmother said condescendingly, reading her perfectly. Gods above, she hated the woman. Sometimes. ¡°If you were at equivalent stages, he¡¯d throw you across the field like a training dummy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m still better than him.¡±


    ¡°Doubtful.¡±


    I¡¯ll show you. In five years, I¡¯ll surpass you completely. That¡¯s my promise to the Heavens.


    They resumed their training session. This time, Hua kept her footing lighter. Dust clouds kicked up as she went with the force of Grandmother¡¯s blows instead of fighting them, pivoting to avoid contact, and ceding ground wherever possible. She struck in the spaces between, blade slashing out as she retreated. When their blades locked, she turned hers slightly so it slid down the length of Grandmother¡¯s, questing for her fingers.


    It never worked, of course. Grandmother was still more skilled, only allowing her to get that close for the sake of practice.


    Grandmother disarmed her with their next engagement. Locked Hua¡¯s sword arm with ease. Hua let it go and leapt away.


    Grandmother had already closed half the distance between them before Hua landed, an explosion of dust framing her. Her fist was drawn back as obvious as the first overhead blow she sent at her cousin earlier. And just like that one, there was no way to avoid it. The difference in speed was just too great. By the time she landed, Grandmother would be on her.


    The punch would break her in half. It had before. Left her with the healers for a month. Grandmother was a firm believer in the school of broken bones.


    Hua braced herself with the split second she had, her five unlocked Meridians flaring bright as she forced Qi to reinforce her bones. It was hasty work, her Qi sluggish to do this. Grandmother was right, Hua was a spiritual Cultivator. Her Qi didn¡¯t respond well in strengthening her body the same way it did in creating her Clan techniques.


    Still, she endured. One hand over the other, she caught the punch in her palms. They were pushed back till her knuckles touched her chest, bones howling. She was pushed back, boots leaving furrows in the hard earth of the training field.


    Just to be spiteful, she formed the Thunder Trigram again. Forcing Qi to become the force of a thunderclap.


    Grandmother neutralised the attack with one of her own. Thunder Palm and Thunder Fist met with such force that the ground around them splintered. The stronger thunderclap sent Hua flying.


    She landed on her back. Everything ached. Back bruised. Wrists felt like they might be broken. Maybe her ribs as well. Still, she rolled to the side and rose to a defensive crouch. To her relief, Grandmother hadn¡¯t attacked her at all.


    Which meant training was finally over.


    Hua didn¡¯t drop her guard for a moment.


    ¡°Decently done to attack even when you were being pushed back. And your sword skills have improved slightly. Maybe in ten years you might land a clean hit.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°That was no compliment. When I was your age, I was far better. I was the best of the best. And I had no reason to talk back to my grandparents. Remember, child, the sword is a weapon I¡¯m passable with at best. If you can¡¯t defeat me, you¡¯ll never so much as touch any of the Yu Clan¡¯s Cultivators. Maybe not even their mortals. At this point, you might as well be trained as an assassin and save us all of trouble of wrapping up your body the moment you get into a duel. Not that you have a subtle bone in your body.¡±


    Hua rose cautiously, never dropping her guard. Grandmother scoffed before lobbing Hua¡¯s sword.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let an opponent just take that without fighting back. Infuse it with lightning. Make it explode. Kick them the knee or crotch or whatever vital you can get to. There¡¯s no such thing as an honourable fight, not even the training grounds.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Grandmother. I¡¯ll remember that.¡±


    ¡°No, you won¡¯t. You have always been too hardheaded to remember anything without a beating.¡±


    ¡°I think you mistake me for twins.¡±


    ¡°You babies are all the same stubborn person.¡±


    ¡°Well, maybe we inherited it from someone. I wonder who it could be.¡±


    ¡°Your father,¡± Grandmother said with a flicker of a smile. ¡°And he inherited it from his father. Your entire generation thinks having principles and standards is stubbornness. You lot wouldn¡¯t have survived a day in the Yellow Cap War.¡±


    Grandmother ranted for a few minutes longer about the failings of Hua¡¯s generation. Hua nodded where it was appropriate even if she wasn¡¯t listening. One learnt to figure out when an elder was done dispensing advice and was now ranting for the sake of hearing their voice.


    When her grandmother was done ranting and turned to leave, Hua infused the blade with a flicker of Qi to reinforce it. Then, she threw the sword at her grandmother¡¯s exposed back. After all, there was no honour in a battle, not even on the training grounds.


    It was so fast she almost missed it.


    Grandmother turned on the spot as she brought her hand to her hair and plucked out the phoenix pin holding it in place. Qi flared, static on her skin, the smell just before the heavy storms brought with them lightning and thunder, and within that storm was the certainty of an exposed blade at Hua¡¯s neck. For a moment, when Grandmother¡¯s hand was at its highest point, there was a screech as though all the blades in the world clashed at once but at the height of that battle, they found a violent harmony. A union of shrill noises that became the sound of hummingbirds filled their air, almost as though the kingfisher hairpin would learn to fly.


    That smooth movement continued as she brought her singing hairpin down before the blade could reach her. The moment the tip of the pin made contact, the blade shattered as surely as a dropped mirror would break. Shards of metal flying every which way.


    Grandmother dodged most with ease. Most.


    It was worth it because there was the tiniest line of red across the back of Grandmother¡¯s hand.


    ¡°All that for a drop of blood. How Impressive,¡± Grandmother pronounced and Hua sagged in relief. Grandmother gave her a dragon¡¯s smile. ¡°Don¡¯t miss an opportunity to harm an enemy. Never let them walk away from you without cost. Most certainly never miss a chance to stab them in the back. If you can¡¯t win, then make them bleed. If you can avoid the fight and kill them before they have a chance to react, do so.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Grandmother.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t sound so put out. It¡¯s quite the feat to make me bleed. Don¡¯t mistake me, your father managed it when he was a year younger than you are now. But it is an impressive enough feat that I¡¯ll let you play in the city.¡±


    ¡°Grandmother, that doesn¡¯t make me feel better.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want you to get a big head,¡± her grandmother said, intentionally missing the point.


    ¡°One can¡¯t develop arrogance if they don¡¯t have anything to be proud about.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. You barely do anything worthy of my pride.¡±


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t my point.¡±


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t it? A grandchild worthy of my pride wouldn¡¯t have had their sword destroyed during practice. No, a grandchild of mine would have managed to infuse enough Qi into that sword that I was cut in half. Anything less, well, that¡¯s not worth having pride over.¡±


    ¡°You know what, this was my win and I¡¯m done listening to you. I¡¯m leaving for the city.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t come back before sunset. Maybe by then, I¡¯ll have forgotten my disappointment.¡±


    By sunset, it would already be too late.

 Chapter 2: Qing, the First

    It was not yet noon on the day the world broke when the first inklings of the devastation to come were felt.


    Liao Hua had barely entered the main compound when the earth trembled. Wood panels almost seemed to shiver, hanging gold adornments jangling unpleasantly. The poled holding the Clan¡¯s blue banners shook with the ground. Hua¡¯s stomach lurched as well, stabilising herself with a spark of Qi to her legs. The tremor faded quickly.


    She sniffed, scenting out for any smoke. None yet. They would need to keep candles and torches unlit in case another tremor came. Hua looked for a servant and found a few scrambling in the hallway, juggling the weight of a large jade carving. With a sigh, Hua helped them place it back before it dropped and jade shards landed everywhere. That done, she left a warning to keep the torches unlit for a few hours more.


    A lightning strike on a clear day and a tremor. Someone must have infuriated the gods today. Committed so heinous a crime that the Earth had to know their judgement was being exacted.


    She cleaned herself quickly, throwing on a more casual blouse and dress. The dress was cinched high and loosely pleated in a way that made it look like it was always billowing about. Hua liked it because it afforded her the most freedom of motion. The Clan grounds were on varying levels of the hill overlooking the city, hidden by great cypress trees and oaks that had seen centuries. They were towering things that provided shade in the summer and cover during the wet months. Now, she saw them as a wildfire, each yellow or red leaf that fell an ember that coloured the dark stones and green grasses.


    It was very easy to go from a courtyard to a well-kept garden to a stone path winding down the hillside. Sometimes, Hua still got lost.


    The resonant sounds of a bamboo flute were familiar. She followed it, padding along on silent feet. Underneath a tree, she saw a man in the middle of practice, dizi held to his lips.


    ¡°Cousin Ji, is that you?¡±


    He jumped out of his skin in fright, blue robes fluttering about. They were made of a tougher, cheaper material than the usual silk. Still adorned with the kingfisher that was the heraldry of the main lineage because nothing short of a headwrap or a weimao was hiding that distinctive white hair.


    ¡°Don¡¯t scare me like that right after weird things happen.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll make sure to scare you only after normal things from now on. I think normalcy happens more regularly.¡± His green eyes narrowed in irritation. They were much darker than Hua¡¯s set. ¡°Where are you heading out to with all those coins?¡±


    ¡°I can go to the city when I want,¡± he said, biting his lip nervously. ¡°I just want to buy some Cultivation aids.¡±


    ¡°Is that what we¡¯re calling going to see that baker girl you¡¯re fucking?¡± she asked, switching to a more informal register.


    ¡°Hua! You can¡¯t just say that. What if the Elders were around? Then we¡¯d both get caned.¡±


    ¡°I think you, the person trying to learn the mythical arts of dual cultivation with a mortal, would get the caning. I am just the innocent maiden shocked that my cousin is an immoral beast who hungers for mortal loins.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re innocent then I¡¯m an enlightened Cultivator who found the Golden Core. How do you even know about that? I didn¡¯t tell anyone.¡±


    ¡°My brother mentioned it.¡±


    ¡°Fuck Weijiang,¡± Cousin Ji said, giving up on the fiction of politeness. ¡°Even when he¡¯s not here he tries to ruin my life and reputation. Is he going to be doing this when he¡¯s the Patriarch? Damn it. I¡¯d call him an annoying bastard of seven fathers, but I wouldn¡¯t insult the memory of your Lady mother. And anyway, look, I just want to go to town and buy a few things. That¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°Just keep things to playing songs on your flute and don¡¯t buy her a betrothal gift. The Elders wouldn¡¯t let you get married to her. Especially not your grandfather.¡±


    ¡°What he doesn¡¯t know won¡¯t hurt him. Not like he doesn¡¯t still have three¡­ You heard nothing from me.¡±


    ¡°Oh no, he has three what? I want to hear.¡±


    ¡°My lips are sealed.¡±


    ¡°You know, I realise I didn¡¯t see you at the training grounds today,¡± she said slowly, letting her smile grow wide enough to show teeth. ¡°Maybe you could tell me there.¡±


    Her cousin paled, whatever blood he had vanishing. She wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he coughed it out. ¡°Come on Hua, don¡¯t do this today.¡±


    ¡°Do what?¡± she asked, leaning forward.


    ¡°That thing where you act like a bored leopard instead of a person.¡±


    ¡°And what do I get if I leave you alone?¡±


    ¡°I know where the Clan bakers are hiding the mooncakes. I¡¯ll get you some, I promise.¡±


    She let her wide smile linger, watching as he shuffled nervously. Right as sweat broke out on his forehead, she let it fade to something sweeter. ¡°This is why you¡¯re my favourite cousin. I¡¯ll hold you to that.¡±


    Weiji shuddered, deflating. ¡°I think I¡¯m going to run away now.¡±


    ¡°You do that.¡±


    ***


    The journey to the city wasn¡¯t that far from the Clan grounds. They held the hills overlooking the bustling city. It wasn¡¯t the largest in the province, that distinction belonged to the Zhao Clan¡¯s capital. But it had the great benefit of being alongside the Liao River¡ªfrom which they took their name¡ªthat eventually led to a sea and then the open ocean. They may not have had the largest city, the most productive mines, or the biggest dockyard, but the Province in one way or another flowed through Liao territory.


    She walked down the grand staircase built at great expense a century ago, when her father was still young. The hardest part of leaving was getting signed out at the Entrance Gate if she didn¡¯t want to be hassled on the way back. The system was archaic, annoying, and existed to serve the dual purpose of discouraging clansmen from moving freely and to sometimes awe guests with a panoply of armoured soldiers.


    The road to the more commercial districts was well-maintained, kept clean and orderly under threat of an irritable Liao strangling you for littering. Hua had only done that three times, but the reputation for people with silver hair and green eyes had been cemented long before she was born. So, it was no surprise that people cleared their way and bowed to her as was her due. She slowed to buy an almond cake from a merchant who looked deathly afraid the entire time, his Jurchen accent deepening as he spoke.


    A shame. She wasn¡¯t going to hurt someone who made her desserts.


    ¡°Hua, lift me!¡±


    She had but a moment to turn before someone bumped into her with the force of an uncoordinated bull that got into the wine supply with a burning log lashed to its horns. Hua absorbed the impact easily, turning around with the sudden momentum as she got her arms around the girl¡¯s thighs.


    Qing, the Jade Carver¡¯s daughter, smiled so bright it outshone the sun. At least, Hua felt that it did, her heart dancing to an eager beat. Her dark eyes were alight with joy, highlighting the vim and vigour that infused every aspect of her. There was a certain feeling just before lightning struck, when the air was charged, the earth prepped, and the heavens ready to unleash their power. Holding Qing was like that, Earth and Lightning Qi intermingling without restraint. And a warmth she could not explain where her arms held Qing. Every point of contact like static.


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    ¡°I can¡¯t keep catching you every time you jump without looking,¡± she said, indifferent to the rest of the world. Couldn¡¯t even say where she was at this moment for all that her thoughts had been washed away by the landslide called Qing.


    ¡°I can jump because I know you¡¯ll always be there to catch me. Besides, if I wasn¡¯t around, who¡¯d put up with you all the time? Your cousins?¡±


    Hua couldn¡¯t resist the smile creeping across her face. A Cultivator held superb muscular control. Qing made her feel as in control as a child taking their first steps. Maybe if she was being generous, she might be a toddler picking up a sword for the first time.


    ¡°They like me.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how you can¡¯t tell the difference between affection and fear but I think it¡¯s because you stuffy clan folks don¡¯t spend time around us normal folks.¡±


    ¡°Normal, says my hypocritical Daoist.¡±


    When Qing squirmed, Hua set her down and wasn¡¯t at all surprised when her hand was taken. She was more than a head taller than Qing, but Qing was as solid in body and dependable in spirit as the Earth Qi she cultivated. If she held her ground, Hua might be able to resist Qing leading her wherever she pleased. Maybe. It wouldn¡¯t matter. If Qing wanted to go into the heart of Yu territory, Hua would protect her from their rival clan.


    ¡°I¡¯m very normal,¡± Qing said, leading them down the path of her whims. Down the main markets and past narrow roads with beggars, it made no difference to Qing. ¡°No one ever says otherwise. How would you even know what normal looks like what with all your legends and lineages. Normal people don¡¯t have heroes for their fathers. Normal people don¡¯t have secret Clan Scriptures that you can¡¯t read on pain of death or marriage. Marriage! Who in their right mind wants to get married just to look at some prayers? Do I look like I¡¯d make a good wife to some boring elder? I would not suit black teeth at all. Nope. Not me.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re just too stubborn for everyone else to argue with. Easier to convince the Yellow River not to flood than to win an argument with you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re ridiculous. I don¡¯t know why I even missed you while you were gone.¡±


    Hua¡¯s smile widened and she hid it by looking at the retaining wall they walked beside, nobly holding up the weight of a house that loomed over them. It was one in a series that rose ever higher on the hilly slope.


    ¡°I was only gone two weeks,¡± Hua said. ¡°Maybe next time, you can come with me. We could spend the time together. Just the two of us.¡±


    Qing shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯d enjoy all the fighting you get up to. I like living the way I do.¡±


    ¡°You could live a greater life.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m happy just the way I am. Maybe you should stay with me instead,¡± Qing suggested lightly, fading into the shade cast by the retaining wall, speaking with the ease of someone repeating an old argument. ¡°Your closest friend isn¡¯t just supposed to leave you all the time.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to fight you.¡±


    ¡°Liao Hua, begging for peace. Never thought I¡¯d see the day.¡±


    I¡¯d only ever ask you for peace, she thought but could not say. Even mocking and slightly cruel, Qing was captivating, a study in light and shadow.


    ¡°You know I have a duty to my clan.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, duty, that worthless thing. Is there anything you¡¯d throw it away for?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t ask me questions I can¡¯t answer. Are we really going to have an argument? Is it worth it?¡±


    ¡°Maybe it is.¡±


    ¡°Sometimes, I¡¯d rather deal with the Yellow River than you. At least it doesn¡¯t get upset just because you talk to it.¡±


    Qing stomped her foot on Hua¡¯s toes, tough earth cracking. Hua¡¯s smile tightened, but she refused to show any pain.


    ¡°Hua, if you call me worse than a national emergency, I will kick you in the face.¡±


    Hua blinked slowly, catlike, at Qing¡¯s frown. ¡°How do you plan on reaching that high?¡±


    ¡°Like this.¡±


    With a deep breath and bent knees, Qing jumped high as she could, up and to the left. Leaving the shadow of the retaining wall to land upon it, exposed to sunlight and warmth. She stumbled, tittered, nearly fell over. But she just about managed to balance on the retaining wall.


    She sent Hua an impish smile and sent out a quick kick. Hua was ready to catch her just as she caught Qing¡¯s ankle before the foot could hit her. She could tug Qing back and make her fall again. But there was a flicker of genuine fear in Qing¡¯s eyes that had Hua letting go. Not everyone enjoyed heights.


    She tensed her muscles, bent her knees, and launched herself forward. Forced her body to rotate and for a moment, a single moment, she was level with Qing.


    Upside down like this, Qing¡¯s frown was a delightful smile.


    She landed in a handstand on a wall parallel to the Qing¡¯s. She pushed off the wall and flipped back down to Qing, landing right in front of her friend, and tilting her head down in an exaggerated manner. Qing was forced to lift her chin and reveal the column of her throat. There were three black marks running vertically along the left side of her neck. Hua resisted the urge to press her fingers against them. Forced herself to focus on Qing¡¯s glare which was a mistake. The sun fell upon them, brightening and revealing even more of her warm brown eyes.


    ¡°Show off.¡±


    ¡°You could do the same if you bothered trying more. You¡¯ve already entered Qi condensation.¡±


    Qing dropped down and Hua followed helplessly half a moment later. There was no point to her following except to remind Qing who was taller. And, to stay close.


    ¡°Just because I can doesn¡¯t mean I want to be jumping everywhere, dear Hua. I swear, you Clan babies don¡¯t understand how odd you are.¡±


    Qing patted her cheek, once, then twice. Almost a slap. Maybe it was for someone weaker. Hua caught her hand and kept it there, memorising the impression of callouses against her cheek. It sometimes felt impossible to behave around Qing, to keep her treacherous heart at bay. There were words that she could never say, not as a daughter let alone the daughter of the Liao Patriarch. She hated it sometimes. Hated it viscerally. Hated time, hated circumstance, hated fate for it made a mockery of her heart, dangling something she could never have.


    ¡°You could join my household. I¡¯d show you we aren¡¯t that odd.¡±


    ¡°Not all of us can spend our days with empty heads punching at walls. Some of us have to earn a living. Do more than meditate all day and call it doing my duty.¡±


    Well maybe if you joined me more you would reach the Foundation in a few years, she thought but did not say. The old argument wasn¡¯t worth rehashing. Qing was talented, too talented to remain a jade carver''s daughter the rest of her life. Had the Liao Scripture been compatible with Qing¡¯s natural elemental inclination, then she would have been adopted immediately. Tempering her body through carving jade¡ªand running everywhere to keep up with Hua¡ªwas a great talent. But better she work in service of this city than be married off to a rival with a more compatible Scripture.


    ¡°Maybe you could be my dance partner. I hear the dancers in the capital drown in gold. Practise your steps longer and you might be good enough.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve always hated dancing. I just indulge you.¡±


    ¡°I could hire you as my personal maidservant.¡±


    ¡°You know I¡¯d kill you in your sleep. Actually, that¡¯s not such a bad plan now that I think of it. I could kill you and run off with whatever fancy jewels you keep. Then I¡¯d never have to listen to you talking about your Dao of Nonsense.¡±


    ¡°Fool, the Dao of Nonsense is the great Dao itself, the only Way that brings one to enlightenment. You would dare disparage this Young Mistress¡¯s efforts?¡±


    ¡°Oh no, forgive this humble fool of a servant. She knew not what she was speaking.¡±


    ¡°Bow a hundred times before this Young Mistress or face my wrath.¡±


    ¡°As you wish.¡±


    Qing slammed her head forward as she brought Hua¡¯s face down, striking Hua¡¯s nose square on. The suddenness of it shocked Hua dumb.


    A person in the first star of Qi condensation should not have been able to hurt Hua. She was halfway through the major realm and a trained practitioner of the war arts. Trained and tempered to endure pain.


    It still hurt worse than getting stabbed. And she¡¯d been stabbed before. A few times.


    ¡°Your head is harder than fucking steel! I¡¯ll get you back for that.¡±


    ¡°That was a bow!¡±


    Qing laughed and for once it didn¡¯t sound like starlight. Maybe Hua¡¯s anger was so bright a flare that the light of the stars was lost in it. It mattered little because she gave chase after Qing who darted down the street, sliding beneath a cabbage cart. Hua nearly decided to barrel through it but her pride was already stung, no reason to wound it further. She leapt gracefully, making certain to twirl so that her skirt fluttered about like a spinning wheel.


    The tremor from earlier had overturned a few of the merchant racks. At least Qing didn¡¯t add to it.


    She landed on a roof and gave chase. With her enhanced senses, she could hear what people thought of their antics. Some amusement, some bemusement, but mostly resignation. Hua was Hua and Ching was Ching and they¡¯d been Hua-and-Ching since they could toddle about. People got used to their antics or very quickly remembered what happened to mortals who embarrassed a Cultivator.


    ¡°There¡¯s ninety-nine of those waiting for you if you catch me,¡± Qing called out, unable to see or sense Hua.


    You¡¯re gonna have ninety-nine problems by the time I¡¯m done if you.


    She stalked Qing carefully, letting her run along, and when she was ready, she pounced. Qing shrieked as Hua slammed into her and they tumbled down a grass slope. Qing managed to rise to her feet and would have run if not for Hua holding her by the wrist. Her hardest tug didn¡¯t make a difference as Hua was as solid as the world.


    ¡°Hua, you know I didn¡¯t mean it,¡± Qing said nervously.


    ¡°Do I really?¡±


    ¡°Young Misteress, won¡¯t you forgive me?¡± she murmured. The title was a delight when it came from Qing. She wished to hear them again and again.


    Qing ran her fingers through Hua¡¯s silver hair, twirling it around her calloused finger. Few saw her hair and simply saw a friend. It made most stop and stare, afraid of even getting near her.


    Unfortunately for Qing, Hua was a spiteful person.


    She grabbed Qing by her arms and began turning. Qing¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Don¡¯t you¡ª"


    Far too late as Hua flung her into a pile of hay.


    ¡°Hua!¡±


    She laughed, unable to help it.


    The horizon glistened gold, amber far as the eye could see across the river. Theirs was the Amber Sea Province because it was said once the Yellow Emperor beheld the region and mistook their endless wheat fields for a great sea.


    Qing dragged herself out of the haystack.


    The world was this beautiful, perfect thing for just one moment longer. One moment she could never have known to savour or adore. Had she a talent for divination, she would have known to engrave Qing¡¯s furious expression in her memory. The flush on her face, the straw in her hair, a vital presence backdropped by blue river and amber fields.


    The moment of perfection ended as lightning struck and the world broke.

 Chapter 3: The Trigram Zhen

    When the heavens passed judgement upon the wicked and faithless, they did so with the immaculate radiance of lightning.


    No matter where one was, no matter how quickly they ran, lightning would always find its target. Flee as you might, hide as you desired, the gods were always watching, and the world was always telling the tale of your acts. The winds would carry your deeds to the Four Cardinal Kings who would record your valour and failings with the Thunder Agency.


    This was a truth of the world, a part of the laws that governed everything beneath the canopy of stars. So said Scripture. Liao Hua had known this since she was old enough to read the Clan Scripture and she had learnt it again and again as she became a Cultivator. The Thunder Agency would always know your sins and they would always account for them.


    But, if one dared, one could wield an imitation of heaven¡¯s judgement. The fire of an Alchemist¡¯s Cauldron was a greater flame than that which lit the hearth or spread relentlessly across a plain. Just the same, sparks of lightning born from Qi were not as great as Heaven¡¯s retribution, but they were distant kin, and there was power in that relation. A certain kind of sympathetic resonance.


    There are eight Trigrams that represent the foundational condition of our world, laid down by Sovereign Fuxi who observed the rhythms and flows of the place humans inhabited. To us with the name Liao, one Trigram reigns supreme above all others. Know it by the true name:


    Zhen.


    Thunder, that which shakes the world after the Heavens lay down their judgement. The Trigram Zhen is formed when two parts yin and one part yang are rejoined together into a singular whole. Control the precise speed and time in which they are joined, and one can do great things. A correctly formed Trigram will reveal the true form of our elemental Qi. It will no longer be like lightning; it will be lightning itself. The form of the thing and not merely its nature. Wield it well and slaughter our enemies.


    Those were her grandmother¡¯s words, taught to Hua through her honoured father, who sat her down in the great prayer room where the Liao Clan¡¯s Scripture resided. They were words Hua would tell her own children one day. She had learnt those words so well that they were a part of her very being.


    And so, on the day the world broke and a bolt of celestial lightning fell from the heavens, aimed at Qing, Hua was ready.


    Before she consciously understood it, Hua was forming the trigram. Meridians lighting up like stars, dantian glowing bright in her mind¡¯s eye. She had only unlocked five of twelve. Against celestial lightning, it was less than an illusion of a thing. Nothing close to the legends of immortals. Hua would force it to be enough.


    True lightning was pure yang. The earth was pure yin. In the path between Heaven and Earth was Qing. There were many things that Liao Hua, daughter of lightning would allow, and she would never let Qing be harmed by lightning, no matter the source. She could not be struck by lightning, heavenly or otherwise. Hua would not let it happen.


    She flared the spiritual aspect of her Qi, suppressing the physical, and became a great beacon of yin Qi. Yin was stillness and so Hua became still. Yin was space and so she became the space between Heaven and Earth. For a moment, she felt that she was all the yin in the world.


    It was enough, just barely, to slot herself between yang and yin, lightning and earth, and form a Trigram of herself and the world.


    Zhen, that which Shakes, she declared, and Zhen she formed.


    Earth. Hua. Lightning.


    Yin. Yin. Yang.


    There was light unending. Power unyielding. Judgement passed upon her soul, her body, all that she was in this life and the next and all those that came before. A moment where she saw as the Heavens saw, the wheel of karma revealed to her, the true nature of the dharma.


    It took seconds, years, and lifetimes for the revelation to pass. And when it did, when Hua returned to her body and became one with mortal senses, she knew that all the pains of her life had been as ash on snow and mist before dawn, immaterial and transient.


    Her nerves now lit up, a storm of pain that lived beneath her skin. Her spine howled in agony as her body became a conduit for lightning. Maybe she screamed as raw power made a home in her body. It was short, that much she believed, because so long as the agony ended, it would always be shorter than eternity.


    In the most distant parts of her awareness, she recognised the aftereffects of her actions.


    She could not keep this great power. Her body was a vessel too small to endure it. It needed to go somewhere else, somewhere that wasn¡¯t her blood or bones or skin or strained meridians. Anywhere but a mortal cauldron. She sent it where she could. Downward, outward.


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    The ground shattered as the full force of lightning was converted to raw force. Stone crumbling, earth breaking force. Power never wielded by a mortal, the kind that was used in the Age of Heroes. The ground shaking violently at the command of the Trigram Zhen. The displacement of air like a thousand whips cracking.


    Qing, blown away, but that was fine. Qing was tough. She could endure that which broke the earth. Hua tried to keep track of Qing, but it proved too great an effort. Before she knew it, the sky took up her vision. On the ground. She had fallen to the ground.


    What she witnessed across the vastness of the sky was horrifying. There was lightning partitioning the great span of the Heavens. Tendrils like ice growing across the surface of a pond, spreading ever outward, splintering and splintering ever onwards. Heaven has a wide net, yet though its meshes are wide, nothing slips past. This was that wide net, revealed now in lightning that folded upon itself to grow larger, wider. Past the horizon where it somehow fell upward to envelop the divine and the mundane, the sky and the earth.


    It was awesome.


    It was terrible.


    It was far too much for one person to comprehend.


    She could feel her mind cracking, A mortal vessel reflecting the magnitude of heaven. It could not endure. Hua could not endure for all that she had been born with lightning sparking in her veins.


    Qing took Hua¡¯s hand.


    The familiarity of the touch shocked her, grounded her to the present. There was a reason she had channelled heaven¡¯s wrath through her body and it was for that touch. The world that mattered held her hand and just as she grounded the divine lightning to earth, Hua grounded herself through Qing.


    With great effort, she craned her neck, tore her gaze from the heavens. Qing¡¯s brown eyes were worth more than all the heavens combined. It was in seeing Qing¡¯s fear that Hua could focus one more. Protect Qing. Whatever else, this was what she would do. Keep her safe. Worry about the heavens later.


    ¡°I have you,¡± Qing said, pretending to be brave when she was terrified.


    Hua was on the ground, she realised moments later. She¡¯d been struck by lightning and survived. Saved Qing against the cruelties of heaven. She forced herself to sit up, teeth clenched. Qing supported her and she needed it, truly needed someone else. Her nerves were still firing painfully, dantian aching like it was a bell and a thousand monks were hammering it. Her Meridians, even those she had not awakened, felt like they were conductive rods in the violent lightning storm occurring within her. Hua breathed, cycling her Qi, discharging lightning with instinct borne of a lifetime of practising.


    Qing was staring intently at Hua, meeting her gaze with wide eyes. Seeing something on Hua¡¯s face that she obviously couldn¡¯t see. Then Qing hugged her, crushed Hua to her chest. Hua returned it desperately.


    ¡°Don¡¯t ever do that again!¡±


    ¡°Sorry.


    They stayed like that for a while, just breathing. Ozone and petrichor, the two of them joined together. Lightning and earth, Qing and Hua. The steady thud of Qing¡¯s heartbeat steadied her. So long as they were together, it would be enough.


    Slowly, Hua recognised that she sat in a crater formed from the power of lightning she had directed. It stretched further than she could comfortably leap and was deeper than she was tall. The edges of the crater had an odd sheen which she recognised as glass slag eventually. She had done this, somehow. Through luck and instinct and perhaps even talent, she had done something great.


    For this great feat, one of her Meridians had opened. Liao Hua had reached the Sixth star of Qi Condensation. Halfway through the greater realm. But even more than that, those six standard Meridians felt greater than ever before. Truly felt like the stars they were called.


    ¡°Focus. Hua, I need you to focus.¡±


    She blinked slowly. Qing was shaking her. Time lost. How much, Hua had no ability to tell. Seconds hopefully, likely minutes from Qing¡¯s furrowed brows.


    ¡°I¡¯m here. I¡¯m good, I promise.¡±


    Qing helped her up, legs shaking as sparks of lightning continued discharging from Hua. She clung to her best friend, her oldest friend, drawing strength from her.


    ¡°I thought I¡¯d lose you. Do you think I could have lived with myself if you died here?¡±


    I love you, she almost said, barely biting down on the words before she betrayed herself.


    ¡°I won¡¯t. Die, I mean. I won¡¯t ever die. I¡¯ll be the first Immortal just for you.¡±


    The sky underneath Heaven¡¯s Net was yellow. The colour of pus and disease. Like something truly great was dying and the sky had absorbed its runoff.


    Below, one layer lower, was the smoke. Another gout of smoke rose like an inverted lantern ribbon, thick grey holding up the sickly sky. Fire. Her home was burning.


    Even as she turned, the number of fires never seemed to change. There was always another in the distance. She focused and slowly filtered in the sounds around her¡ªthe overwhelming boom of lightning and thunder had deafened her. Children crying. Fathers shouting orders, mothers screaming out the names of their children. The thud thud thud of crowds of people running. The clop of horses and the thump of cattle. Birds shrieking, a thousand wings flapping as they fled and realised nowhere was safe.


    The immensity of this destruction was like the stories from the Age of Heroes when gods still roamed and immortality flowed as bountifully as the Yellow River.


    ¡°Hua, what¡¯s happening?¡± Qing asked, shock stealing the blood from her face. Ashen as the smoke. ¡°Can you feel that Qi?¡±


    She was trying not to. There was Qi bubbling up from the earth. Falling from the sky like droplets. It was everywhere and nowhere at once. More Qi than Hua had ever thought possible to just float freely.


    The atmospheric Qi was a bright flare to her senses. If things weren¡¯t so maddening, she would be tempted to use the free-flowing Qi for her own Cultivation even if it wasn¡¯t attuned to Lightning.


    Could Yu Clan diviners have foreseen this and kept it to themselves? It was something those treacherous bastards would do. Leave everyone to die if it gained them even one drop of advantage.


    ¡°Hua, focus.¡±


    ¡°Sorry. Sorry, I¡¯m here. Do you trust me?¡±


    ¡°Always.¡±


    ¡°We need to get to my home. The Formations there will keep us safe. Safer,¡± she added as a building on the shore collapsed. ¡°Keep us safe from Heaven. Hide us from Heaven¡¯s Net.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? I don¡¯t see any net.¡±

 Chapter 4: The Broken City

    While the Great Net of Heaven spread across the sky, Liao Hua found herself stuck at the bottom of a crater, and not for the first time in her life. As usual, she had made it. This time, it wasn¡¯t her powers that created it. Not purely hers.


    She was exhausted in a way she didn¡¯t think possible. A bone-deep exhaustion. Spirit deep, dantian deep. Everything that could be strained was. Stretching out the dribbles of Qi she still had to heal herself didn¡¯t help. It just shifted the pain from physical to spiritual. Torn muscles screaming less, her Meridian¡¯s burning too hot for comfort.


    Hua struggled to leave the crater she had formed by wielding heaven¡¯s lightning and turning her mortal body into a conduit for that unfiltered power. Even with Qing¡¯s assistance, it was hard to escape the crater. Trembling muscles, misfiring nerves, aching spiritual channels. The consequences of reaching beyond herself.


    That her clothes were scorched was a minor concern. Her long skirt crinkled and speckled with holes edged black where they had burned. The powerful scent of ozone clung to her and, though she was familiar with it, this one somehow also smelled like ancient paper, wet ink, and sharp knives.


    What few clumps of grass that remained on the slope had turned yellow, dried up by the heat that lightning produces. Without Qing, Hua would have likely tipped back long before they made it past the slope. Probably found a way to tumble straight to the churning waters. She blinked, confused. Yes, the usually placid river really was churning as though it had become a violent thing flowing over jagged rocks, forming white water rapids that would sink any ship without remorse.


    If the river had been struck by lightning, could the great Qi from that have altered the nature of the river? If it had, was it temporary? Would they have to wait for the chaos in Heaven to subside, assuming it?


    Above, Heaven¡¯s Net continued to spread insidiously. Tendrils of lightning spreading further than the horizon. Past it and yet somehow rising above it, returning to that impossibly distant place. She wanted desperately to know but¡ª


    ¡°Focus, Hua,¡± Qing said, helping her over a mound of rubble that had once been a home. Yes, she needed to stay present, keep her gaze focused on the devastation in front of her instead of losing time.


    The house, maybe the houses, had practically disintegrated, stone broken, chipped, shattered and burnt. Wooden support beams splintered, large embers that burned even now, and flung every which way, carried upon the howling winds.


    A great scorch spread across the bedrock that had been exposed. Dark slag along the rim, the hallmark sign of true lightning.


    The bolt of lightning that struck Hua¡ªthe one meant for Qing before she injected herself between lightning and Earth¡ªhad been one of many. It explained the suddenness of the fires she could see burning across the horizon, choking the city with smoke. Hua couldn¡¯t smell it, not really. Ozone had scoured away any sensitivity she had.


    ¡°You know your hair is brown now.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°From all the dirt and dust,¡± Qing said with a weak chuckle, adjusting Hua¡¯s arm around her shoulder. Hua made the effort to support more of her own weight. ¡°You look ridiculous. More ridiculous than usual.¡±


    Qing led her down this crater with a sureness to her steps that Hua envied. She knew where the ground would remain stable better than Hua could sense an approaching storm. Well, a natural storm. This had been far too sudden. They slid down road bricks turned to sand and gravel.


    Hua nearly tripped, saved only by Qing catching her. When she turned, she saw fingers reaching lifelessly out of the mound of rubble. They were burned, dust clinging where the fat and flesh of the hand were sluiced away. That could have been anyone. The terrified person who sold her almond cakes this morning and tried so hard to be formal in their Jurchen-accented voice. The guzheng player from the teahouse she sometimes liked to visit. Any of the beggars she never paid any attention to.


    It could be her cousin Weiji¡ªno, he lives. I have to believe he¡¯s alive.


    But that forced her thoughts to the rest of her family. Her brother had been sent away a month ago, making a great journey for the survival of their clan. If this was happening everywhere, then he had likely been caught up in this. And if he died, or was captured, then their Clan would die within the decade. Had her home¡¯s formations been tested and found wanting? The twins. Grandmother. Father. Out of all those she loved and cared for, how many had died?


    Would she only know her Clan by the graves they left behind?


    ¡°Do you think my father made it?¡± Qing asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°No hesitation. I always liked that about you. No doubts, no fears. You just keep moving forward,¡± Qing said, leading them forward, up the slope, as though Hua wasn¡¯t plagued with doubts. ¡°I wish I had your bravery.¡±


    You¡¯re too honest. You let the world see all you¡¯re feeling and you aren¡¯t ashamed of it. That¡¯s strength. True bravery. I wish I had a fraction of it.


    Hua offered her a smile. Said, ¡°You¡¯re the bravest person I know. And remember, I¡¯m the one related to a hero.¡±


    Qing¡¯s laugh was like sunlight in winter. Perhaps not the searing warmth you remembered from gentle summers, but it brightened the gloom, gave limbs the energy to persevere, and the soul a reason to continue onward. Like those winter flowers in the immaculate gardens of her Clan, Hua¡¯s resolve blossomed.


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    Ahead of them, great cracks ran through much of the stone road. There was blood on stone, splattered on the ground and the walls that still stood. Quiet though it was, a sense of dread pervaded the road. They were quick to find those who it belonged to.


    Mortals. It could only be mortals. Their defining feature was their tendency to die easily.


    ¡°Maybe someone¡¯s still alive.¡±


    You¡¯re too kind for your own good.


    They checked the bodies. It was what Qing wanted.


    This one with a skull crushed, greyish flesh haloed around his head. The pool of his blood was drying. Near him was a dog who barked and chuffed at a child¡¯s body, unable to understand why it was receiving no answer. The child¡¯s neck bent at a sharp angle. Hua could count the bones of his spine from a distance, so underfed was he. With each person they examined, Hua came to realise anyone who could, had already left.


    She wished her hearing wasn¡¯t so poor right now, then she might have been able to tell where everyone was. Found them a place to shelter and rest. Found somewhere safe for Qing whilst she made a plan to get back to the Clan compound.


    It horrified her to consider this a part of her clan¡¯s history. The legacy of her descendants would be this day when Heaven¡¯s lightning found them wanting. Generations from now, her brother¡¯s descendants might ask hers why they had been judged so harshly.


    ¡°I think I can walk on my own now.¡±


    Cycling her Qi wasn¡¯t an exercise in pure agony. Though her dantian and meridians still ached, she could control her muscles properly. And she couldn¡¯t bear to make Qing support her any longer. It was too cruel.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to walk alone.¡±


    ¡°Here, I have an idea.¡±


    She made Qing tilt her head to the side. Hua plucked the hairpin from her head and threaded it between the bun she made of Qing¡¯s straight, dark hair. Against the black sheen, the silver hairpin stood out brightly. It carried with it Lightning Qi. Likely from Hua¡¯s great act of making a trigram with herself between heaven and earth.


    ¡°Now you¡¯ll always have me besides you,¡± Hua said. ¡°Even if I¡¯m not here, you¡¯ll still have me.¡±


    She laced their fingers together, smiling at the image they made. Her delicate, pale hands against Qing¡¯s vital tan.


    They fit so easily; puzzle pieces they had carved out with each moment they spent together. Even now, perhaps especially now, with the world breaking, they found a way to join a small part of the world together.


    ¡°Hua.¡±


    She looked up to see Qing¡¯s wide eyes. There was something terribly fragile in her gaze. Hua waited, watching, devouring the sight of her. Just savoured the shape of Qing¡¯s cheekbones and how smudges of dirt couldn¡¯t hide them. The red flush overtook even the usual strength of Qing¡¯s tan. Hua usually only saw that flush in winter when it was coldest and Qing was miserable to be outside.


    Even on those horridly cold days, Qing indulged Hua¡¯s whims. Be it to visit frozen ponds or search for hibernating bears to irritate.


    Qing shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Let¡¯s just¡ªdon¡¯t let go, alright. Just don¡¯t.¡±


    They held hands as they walked the ruined streets. Qing¡¯s calloused hands shook. Nervousness. Fear. Disgust. It could have been anything or something else entirely. Corpses didn¡¯t bother Hua. She had made enough of them in her short life. That was just what it meant to be the scion of a cultivation clan. But Qing was civilian-born with civilian foibles. The pragmatism that came with choosing which mortals lived and died hadn¡¯t been engrained in her yet. She still saw herself as something lesser than she truly was.


    Still, Hua would not say it as they had fought over that matter more than once. Qing too stubborn. Hua too unyielding for any compromise to be found. It would take time, Hua knew, time for Qing to see what the world truly was like. The greatest mountains could be worn down given enough time.


    It did not take them much longer to find the first signs of life. Hua felt a wave of relief in seeing with her own two eyes that others still lived. The name Liao wouldn¡¯t forever be stained by complete failure. So long as some lived, things could be rebuilt.


    People had gathered in a square. Hua could still barely sense the hundred-strong crowd milling about in their different groups with her ears and nose and spiritual senses. After the overwhelming yang of the lightning bolt, only the strongest things mattered. That, and Qing. Hua would always notice Qing.


    Someone was trying to organise things, speaking, ordering people about. Trying being the operative word. There wasn¡¯t outright chaos, but the belligerence of the collective crowd was evident.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go talk to them. You¡¯re¡­ not the best with people.¡±


    Hua nodded, letting go of Qing¡¯s hand and only slightly mourning the loss. She waited a little before making her way along the edges of the square. Head down, with dirty hair and smouldering clothes, she didn¡¯t look far removed from the mortals. Honestly, many of them looked more put together than her.


    It let her watch anonymously as Qing spoke to a woman maybe a decade older than them, holding her two toddlers close to her. The toddlers had no idea what was wrong, tugging on their mother¡¯s dress, wanting to go home. Barely understanding that there was a problem. The privilege of ignorance. Hua had never been blessed with it.


    Further to the side, there was a flinty-eyed man that she found herself focusing on. She wasn¡¯t sure what about him it was that drew her interest first. Maybe the wickedly curved knife at his belt. The way he leaned against a wall coiled like a serpent ready to strike. Could have been the friends he kept with him, equally hard-eyed, even if they failed to hide their greedy gazes with straw hats. Possibly a mix of all that.


    And his attention on Qing.


    Hua watched the man carefully. It was her bad habit, she knew. Always extending people rope and seeing how eagerly they would hang themselves and how elaborate the knot the formed. That curiosity compelled her.


    That hairpin she¡¯d given Qing was valuable, inlaid with emeralds as it was. Enough to maybe feed a poor mortal for a year if they were careful. A risk, of course, but one that might be worth it.


    He looked a moment too long and made a very foolish decision. He pushed off the wall and walked past his friends who rose with him. He possessed the casual swagger of a man who knew he was the biggest threat in the area. Knew, in the same sense that an illiterate child knew what a shop sign said because they walked by it enough to know what they sold.


    The mortal reached for Qing.


    Before Hua knew it, she had her hand around his neck, snarling with the full force of all her impotent fury suddenly converted to violence. His eyes were blown wide in surprise. Terror. The mortal choked, grabbing at her wrist. His leg lashed out and struck her on the side.


    Hua simply squeezed harder.


    Even if the mortal could have hurt her, it wouldn¡¯t compare to lightning.


    ¡°You bitch,¡± she heard from her left just before a fool signed their name in the Book of the Dead.


    She swept her arm out and struck the idiot. Slapped him with the back of her hand so hard his head twisted like a screw until it was facing the same direction as his back, where the mother and her children were watching with wide eyes. There was a scream as people finally recognised an angry Cultivator in their midst.


    ¡°Stop it, Hua, he didn¡¯t know,¡± Qing said before she crushed the man¡¯s throat, grabbing her by the wrist.


    ¡°And that makes it better? Hurting you? Ignorance isn¡¯t a shield.¡±


    ¡°Hua, don¡¯t. Please. He isn¡¯t worth it. There¡¯s been enough death without you adding to it again.¡±


    Her voice was shaking and that was enough for Hua.


    She let go.


    In the end, she couldn¡¯t deny Qing anything.

 Chapter 5: Heavenly Malice

    They holed up in a home that had seen better days if not better years.


    Those who had been living there vacated the home the moment Hua showed any interest in it. On a good day, you gave a Cultivator every courtesy you could. On a bad day, you kowtowed and prayed you were too unimportant for their fury. And today, you simply fled, because a world breaking was far, far safer than a furious Cultivator.


    She was grateful Qing did not fight her over the abrupt eviction. Either Qing was too tired to argue with her or realised that this wasn¡¯t worth fighting over. Hua led her to a bench by a table and made her sit. Hua could commend the peasants who had called this rickety building home for managing to keep it clean. It was without dust, the fabrics hanging on the walls lovingly made by hand, each successive one showing the styles of successive generations.


    Further exploration revealed some steamed buns wrapped in cloth. They had spilt off the wood shelf at some point between the minor tremor and the deluge of lightning. The one Hua tried was perhaps the worst thing she¡¯d eaten in a year, but it wasn¡¯t poisoned, that much she could be sure of. The pot of cold tea was much the same. Unpoisoned, that is. Somehow the quality of Pu-erh was worse than the buns.


    If mortals had to eat like this regularly, Hua could understand why they were so eager to commit suicide by Cultivator in all the stories.


    ¡°Eat and drink first. Talk after.¡±


    Qing not even scowling was worrying. Hua sat across from her on the bench, knees knocking together. She watched Qing chew through the first bun without complaint, grinding through the low-quality wheat to find whatever made up the meat medley in the centre. Qing chased it with the tea and followed that with the second bun.


    ¡°Why did we stop here?¡± Qing asked once she¡¯d swallowed down the third bun, setting down the cup.


    Hua took Qing¡¯s hands between her own. They were still trembling, those elegant fingers. There was strength to them, callouses that remained but would soon fade as Qing¡¯s body adapted to Qi. She waited until the trembling calmed and then let them go with regret.


    ¡°You¡¯re tired. Emotionally, yes, but also physically. Burning through your Qi. Took me a while to notice but you¡¯ve been keeping the ground stable for me. Unconsciously, I would assume, otherwise you intentionally exhausted your Qi.¡±


    ¡°I never noticed.¡±


    ¡°I know. It¡¯s my fault. I should have been paying more attention but it¡¯s¡­ the world is so loud and bright right now. Like I can see more than I should, more than just the Qi around us. It¡¯s been¡­ distracting. And your Qi is so similar to the earth, anyway, that I struggled to see it past everything else. So, sorry, I would have noticed any other day.¡±


    ¡°You were struck by lightning, Hua. Even I could tell that bolt was gonna hit me. It would have killed me, but you saved me. At least let me do something as simple as helping you walk.¡±


    Hua smiled. As if she¡¯d let something as simple as divine lightning harm Qing. ¡°Being near you is all the strength I¡¯ve ever needed.¡±


    Qing glanced away, lips pursing. Her hands dug into her thighs, scrunching up her robes. ¡°Don¡¯t say things like that if you don¡¯t mean them.¡±


    Hua reached out and laid her hands over those fists Qing made. She coaxed them free and let them rest on her palms. ¡°I¡¯ve never said a single thing I didn¡¯t mean to you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Always,¡± she said automatically, squeezing Qing¡¯s hands. ¡°For what?¡±


    ¡°For being there for me. I know it isn¡¯t in your nature to¡­ well, not care, you care about your clan a lot. But I know it¡¯s hard for you to do kindness. So, thank you for being kind to me. Putting up with me despite everything. I know I¡¯m not the type of Cultivator you approve of but¡ª¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s never mattered to me. I just needed you to be you. Qing. Who you are now is the only person I need. Even if I don¡¯t agree with everything you do or like what you think, and it would be easier if you agreed with me a lot more, I still wouldn¡¯t change any of that about you.¡±


    ¡°Hua, don¡¯t say things you can¡¯t take back.¡±


    ¡°I know you¡¯ll forgive me if I ever said something I couldn¡¯t take back. When we¡¯re old, I¡¯ll still be complaining that you¡¯re too nice to people who don¡¯t deserve it, and you¡¯ll be trying to make me behave like a mortal, but I¡¯d be happy because you¡¯re there. Everything else, we can figure out together and¡ª¡±


    Qing leaned up and pressed her lips against Hua.


    They were dry, and chapped, but so warm. Hua could do nothing, so shocked was she that her brain had broken. Her thoughts scattered away to the four winds as she processed, in the abstract realm of physical sensation and Qi intermingling, what was occurring. Her only tethers to normalcy were the hands squeezing her own, applying pressure enough to crack bones. Familiar and yet ever so strange for the context that they made.


    What am I meant to do? She asked despairingly, uselessly.


    Qing pulled back, watching Hua carefully.


    Hua felt the separation between them more keenly and wanted to pull Qing back. Find a way to merge them together until nothing at all remained separate, no gap between their selves and souls and qi. But she didn¡¯t know how. Could only settle for the hands she held and bony knees knocked against each other.


    ¡°Sorry. I¡¯ve always wanted to do that,¡± Qing said simply, as if she hadn¡¯t entirely upended Hua¡¯s worldview. The chaos in Heaven was less shocking than this.


    ¡°Since when?¡±


    ¡°Since always.¡± Qing swallowed, biting at her upper lip. Hua could not believe she had tasted those lips even if only for a moment. ¡°You always tell me Cultivators are selfish creatures. Well, I¡¯m being selfish. I don¡¯t want it to go unsaid. I know, you¡¯re going to get married to some important Cultivator and do important Cultivator things. I get that but I don¡¯t care. I¡¯d follow you wherever you went. Even if I had to swallow my heart and suffer each day watching you love someone else. I just¡­ let me be selfish for a moment.¡±


    ¡°You could never be selfish,¡± she whispered, because it was what she believed. How could you be selfish with something given freely?


    She cupped Hua¡¯s cheek tenderly, staring at her with a gentle warmth. Like lying on a rock heated by the sun, Hua melted. Her thumb pressed against Hua¡¯s lips. Those points of contact, each of them undeniable. Each of them engraved in her memory.


    The smile Qing wore was painfully bitter but carried an undeniable sweetness.


    ¡°Tell me no and I¡¯ll stop. I¡¯ll never mention this again.¡±


    ¡°I could never say no to you.¡±


    When Qing brought Hua¡¯s head down, Hua was barely ready to taste that bittersweet smile.


    Hua did not know how to give a kiss and so she pushed forward, pushed against but never away. She wanted to lick across Qing¡¯s teeth and taste every crevice. To confirm if she would taste like bad tea and cheap buns, or if there was some ineffable quality that endured. A distillation of taste that was unique to Qing alone.


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    There were fingers in her hair, stroking her silver strands. The brush of fingertips on her scalp. Shocks spread across her nape as those fingers explored. Hua¡¯s hands were drawn to Qing¡¯s waist. They had danced like that before, Hua leading her, Qing following, but now Qing could only desperately hold on against the tidal wave.


    It was lips and teeth and warmth, Qi seeping through flesh, imparting a thousand feelings and emotions. A decade they had known each other, and Hua regretted them now more than ever. She regretted the years before they met, when she was empty and unfulfilled and did not yet know it. She loathed each day they had been apart and only the memory of Qing walked with her.


    Those Dojos she challenged were worth less than this. Every lesson from her teachers, every second with her siblings, the very act of cycling Qi a waste of time because it meant one moment less with Qing.


    ¡°And no, you don¡¯t have to love me back,¡± Qing whispered against her lips. It sounded like a lie Qing said simply to endure. ¡°I know you don¡¯t understand how love works, and you¡¯d never do anything that wouldn¡¯t bring your family an advantage. That¡¯s not your fault, you¡¯re just a product of your clan. But I can only act as my heart tells me. So, don¡¯t send me away. Don¡¯t run from me.¡±


    I loved you from the moment you broke my nose and kicked me in the mud. I loved you when you shared that first mooncake you stole. I loved you again when you let me teach you how to dance. I love your smile and your laugh, your stubbornness and anger.


    I love you and I don¡¯t know how to fucking say it.


    ¡°You¡¯d stay with me if I asked? No matter how far I had to go? Even if it meant leaving our home. You¡¯d stay with me?¡±


    ¡°Always. There was nothing you could have ever done to push me away. I¡¯d be happy to make a home anywhere with you. By the sea, a small plot in a forest, in a slum or a castle, so long as you were there it would be home for me.¡±


    ¡°Qing, I¡ª"


    The world shook with such undeniable violence that it stole whatever words Hua had thought she could say. Stone grinding, earth juddering. A great upheaval so powerful, so potent, it was as though the Trigram Zhen had replaced the very bedrock as the world Shook.


    For a moment, one mad moment, she reached her Qi outward to the world, thinking foolishly that the trigram did exist, that one part yin and two parts yang now ruled the world. Because if that was so, if the Thunder Trigram Zhen reigned supreme, then surely a daughter of lightning could force the world to be still?


    The ceiling made the decision for her as it caved inwards. Stone bricks and wooden beams fell, revealing a glimpse of the heavens being torn apart by ruinous lightning.


    She shoved Qing away just as a beam would have struck them, struck her. The weight sent Hua to her hands and knees, but that was fine. Qing was safe. Hua forced herself up, shoving aside wood and stone that had fallen upon her shoulders. Across the small house, she saw Qing battling to maintain stability. So great was the destabilising force, that even Qing could not endure it fully. Hua¡¯s heart caught in her throat. Get closer, get to her, everything else could wait.


    The shaking ended abruptly. Hua tripped, unable to compensate for the sudden change from instability to sudden stillness.


    Qing reached out to her.


    Hua reached back as she always would.


    The ground beneath them sheared in half with a grinding sound so loud it deafened her surer than divine lightning. Where there had been a moment of stability, now there was a gaping emptiness that would swallow whole the table and bench and every piece of rubble. Anything that had existed above that darkness would vanish.


    Including, Qing.


    Her hair was rising as she fell. Across the gap, Qing¡¯s eyes were wide, horror and fear contorting her delicate features as she realised what was happening. The earth had betrayed her, betrayed them.


    Whatever the reason, Hua reached forward, Qi surging in her bones and muscles. Faster. She needed to be faster than the traitorous earth. To reach, that was all that mattered. Everything else could vanish so long as Qing lived.


    Their fingers just brushed. Just missed. Never close enough. Qing fell into the darkness that had emerged.


    Hua flung herself into the gaping emptiness carelessly, never hesitating for a moment. Always reaching for Qing.


    War. The eighteen Hells. A hole in the ground. Whatever it was, Hua would follow so long as Qing was on the other side. She descended into the dark after her because nothing else was acceptable. No other option could be permitted.


    It was inevitable.


    They were inevitable.


    The dark world groaned again. A slab of stone jutted out and struck Hua in the side. The pain was immediate. Bright spots bloomed in her vision as she was flung aside, further away from Qing who was vanishing into the darkness. Hua hit another wall and tumbled uncontrollably. She scrambled to get a hold of anything, any ledge or handhold. Her nails scraped stone, her finger pads were torn bloody. No matter how she reached, nothing reached back.


    The ground came far too abruptly for Hua to react.


    One great flare of pain. A flash of agony. Then, true darkness.


    She fell unconscious for a time. Hua could not tell how long it was that she swam in the murky border between waking and the emptiness of unconsciousness. It was a lifetime, it was a moment, it cared not at all for Hua¡¯s burning need to wake. There was a desire in her so strong that it woke her Qi and that in turn urged her to rise. Lightning in her veins, sparking across nerves, jolting her unconscious body into a waking state.


    When she woke with a spasm as he muscles contracted violently, the world was dark. She knew she was awake only because everything ached. Her Qi stopped prodding her with lightning and went to cycle through her body, soothing her bruised flesh and cracked bones. Only Body Tempering and Qi reinforcement kept her alive, she knew, and only because so many things had broken her fall.


    Focus. Find Qing. Do that and nothing else.


    That imperative lay in her very soul. And so, Hua rose with a groan, feeling sharp spikes of fresh agony. Unimportant. Worthless pieces of information. What did she need to know that her ribs were cracked, her flesh bruised, and her tendons strained. So long as she could stand, could force sludge-slow Qi to strengthen torn muscles and fill the cracks in her bones, the pain was just a distraction from her goal. The only one that mattered. Finding Qing.


    The darkness lifted slightly, an endless void becoming a pervasive greyness. It was a miracle at all that she could see anything at all in this murk and the thick dust choking her. They could have been in any of the myriad hells for all Hua knew. Did that matter? Could Hell stop her from reaching Qing? No, she wouldn¡¯t let it.


    Instinct made Hua lean back just as something fell in front of her. The object broke on impact, sending splinters of pain that stabbed Hua in the feet. She cursed and glared at it. It was¡­ a broken support beam? One large chunk of it had speared through a piece of fabric.


    It was one of the wall hangings in the house she had been in. She looked up and saw only the palest crack of light, one so thin but also blindingly bright.


    She was surrounded by stone walls so tall she could not tell if she imagined the crack of light above her.  It was warm to the touch, not cold as she expected by the moisture licking across the rough walls. The longer she looked, the better her eyes adjusted. Soon, she could see the patches of darkness for what they were. The undulating path forward, narrowing and contracting abruptly, dipping and rising. As her gaze drew up, she found a path of rocks jutting out, stone overhangs, and crevices born from the violent contractions that would lead her to the light above. Freedom.


    All she had to do was climb.


    Hua looked away from certain freedom and headed into the deep dark.


    ¡°Qing!¡±


    It hurt her chest to shout. Her voice echoed against the walls, bouncing in strange patterns that made no sense to Hua. She was hearing her voice coming from behind herself.


    ¡°Answer me damn you. Qing!¡±


    ¡°Hua.¡±


    The voice echoed from all directions. Hua did not let that stop her. She looked and she looked and she looked until she saw a place where dust was falling faster than the rest. She headed in that direction, leaning against the wall for support. Her feet ached with each step as splinters lodged deeper in them, her fingers leaving bloody prints on the dark walls.


    She ducked beneath a low opening and shimmied her way through the dark recess. It was too narrow to fit properly. Her body was at an odd angle, most of her weight on her left side. With one arm, she dragged herself forward. Didn¡¯t care if small stones cut her flesh and dress. Didn¡¯t care at all that the darkness ahead was all-consuming.


    Some things were more important than fear.


    ¡°I¡¯m coming,¡± she promised, hacking on dust. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be there soon.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t follow after me.¡±


    Qing¡¯s voice was strangely wet, like she¡¯d been drowning. Hua moved faster, fingers bleeding deeper and nails cracking as she dragged herself forward. There was only the tiniest of lights, a weak golden glow that might have been the sight of crack promising freedom imprinted upon her vision, tempting her with a lie.


    There was something true in the depths of darkness. So long as Hua reached for it, the world would be fine.


    ¡°I always will! Don¡¯t you dare think I won¡¯t.¡±


    It was abrupt, how quickly the crawlspace ended. Vaguely, she could see the outline of a human in the murk. Hua pushed herself forward and tumbled down a steep incline. Rocks and gravel rolled with her and she landed in a pile. She dug herself out, coughing harshly. Made her way forward until she could see Qing.


    There she was. Lying on the ground. Waiting with a small smile that was almost swallowed by the dark.


    It was here, in this hellish darkness, that Hua learned the true nature of her worst fears.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Hua. You can¡¯t follow me this time.¡±

 Chapter 6: Qing, A Lifetime Too Early

    Liao Hua was the eldest daughter of the Liao Patriarch. Hers was a great Cultivation Clan. Ask any in her Clan and they would name her a brilliant star of her generation, burning bright and promising a hopeful future for the clan. They would call her a great talent worthy of the long shadow that her heroic father cast. Great men had striven to lesser heights than she had casually achieved and then ascended beyond. One day her name would be spoken of in reverence.


    So, if she was to be a great woman of history, why could she not save one person?


    ¡°Do you hear me, Liao Hua? You can¡¯t follow after me,¡± said Qing, the dying daughter of a jade carver. ¡°Promise me you¡¯ll live.¡±


    ¡°I will,¡± said Liao Hua, the great talent of her great Clan, because she could never deny Qing anything. ¡°For you, I¡¯ll do it.¡±


    It was on this day that Liao Hua watched her world fall apart.


    Not the world that was the stars in heaven and the great Yellow River that nourished and took with equal measure. Not the thunder rumbling in the distance that had always soothed her when she was little or the sweetness of plums and the tart bite of fresh lemons. Not cold winds and freshly cut grass on the breeze. Not ash, not fire. Not distant clouds or nearby ponds. Not snow in winter or painfully cold spring melt that left teeth chattering.


    That world was nothing.  A false thing that pretended to have meaning. Immaterial and unappealing. It mattered only because Qing existed in it. No, because through Qing, this thing of thunder and rivers and stars had its true meaning revealed.


    The world Hua knew was bleeding. Red blooming across her sodden dress, turning the pattern of green leaves to an autumn colour. Hua hated it profoundly, that colour red. Hated autumn, hated blood, hated life itself because that was lifeblood leaving Qing¡¯s body.


    Qing lay impaled upon a stone spike. The very earth that defined her Qi had betrayed her. Betrayed Hua. Had punched through her abdomen and spilt precious lifeblood. Only the presence of the spike kept Qing alive, kept her going a bit longer. Removing it, moving her, that would kill her surer than slitting her throat.


    Why this? Why her? Qing has never hurt anyone!


    Hua was no healer. She wasn¡¯t born of the Zhao Clan and so their healing scriptures were not hers to wield. She cursed the circumstances of her birth: her father who fed her lightning instead of selling her off to the Zhao to learn their medicine; her grandmother who kept her close and showed her the ways of thunder. The Elders, the Clan, her brother and sisters, she cursed any and all who had stopped her from learning to heal because it meant she could not save the world.


    Most especially, she cursed the heavens for their malice. Lightning and a breaking world. It could only be intentional. They had come after Qing personally. If not for Hua defying them at every turn, Qing would be long dead.


    And still, they came. Challenging Hua¡¯s determination to save the world. Fury bloomed in her heart. She would defy the gods and keep the world alive. She had to.


    From her body, that strange light of Qi blossomed. It was no true light for it illuminated nothing, and no true colour for it was without the nature that imparted colour. But it was the force that bridged heaven and earth. It could do everything. Summon dragons, split the world, and raise mountains.


    Surely, it could heal one girl.


    Please, please, please! Give me this one thing and I will pay your kindness back a thousand-fold. I will forgive anything and everything.


    Her Qi seeped past the flickering barrier that shielded all Cultivators, Hua¡¯s Qi known to Qing¡¯s body. They melded and meshed, joined together and found harmony. It was because of this intimacy that Hua felt the truth she had refused to see.


    Qing was dying and there was nothing she could do.


    ¡°This Liao Hua will be the most loyal servant of heaven if you give me this,¡± she bargained.


    The heavens stayed silent. Why should they answer? Their task was complete. There was no healer to save Qing. No miracle was awaiting. Hua drew upon every drop of Qi she could and tried to flood the injury. Her Qi dissipated, refusing to take. Lightning sparked and was instantly grounded, dissipating. Maybe if she had fire, she could cauterise the wound. Could stomach the idea of harming Qing to save her.


    ¡°Keep this with you,¡± the true world said, raising a shaky hand that Hua grasped tenderly. Callouses Hua knew and had loved stained in red. That deep scar on an index finger that never healed right. The weak thrum of a heartbeat felt at the fingertips. The touch of the true world upon Hua.


    ¡°You¡¯re not allowed to leave me,¡± Hua begged, the world a blurry mess. It dug into Hua¡¯s palm, the thing Qing forced into her hand. It could have left her bloody and Hua would be glad for it. ¡°You said you¡¯d follow me!¡±


    She stared at her, engraving the vision of Qing in her memory. The small nose. Long hair that Hua had braided time and time again. Wide eyes that always saw Hua with kindness and generosity. Even now, Qing smiled at her. Stayed strong for Hua.


    It wasn¡¯t fair. None of this was fair.


    ¡°We will dance again,¡± Qing promised with a weak smile. ¡°You and me, we were always meant to dance together. Even if I must take the long way, I will see you again.¡±


    Liao Hua held her hand even if she did not believe that promise. Time would not be so kind as to reunite them. But the time they had, this she could cherish. There was blood on Qing¡¯s lips. Hua leaned down and kissed away that imperfection, unable to help her tears. Earth and jade, iron warmth and gentle memory. That was what Hua tasted, those things that made Qing. Tasted them and hoped against hope.


    ¡°Qing,¡± she breathed out shakily. ¡°Qing don¡¯t leave me here. Damn you, you¡¯re not supposed to leave me. Just say it and I¡¯ll take you anywhere you ask. Tell me the flowers you love most, and I¡¯ll plant you a whole garden. Please. If you say something, I¡¯ll do it. Just please say something.¡±


    There was no answer.


    There would never be an answer from those lifeless lips turning blue. Earth Qi was seeping away from the world. No. You don¡¯t get to take that from me.


    Hua breathed in Earth Qi, surrounding herself with anything and everything that was Qing. Stone and jade, the feel of mud squelching between your toes and sand seeping through the gaps of your fingers. Laughter that was just joy, a thousand smiles beneath the sun and rain and moon. The smell of petrichor before the storm, the way ozone clung to the earth after a thunderstorm. A warmth that seeped into every crevice of her broken body, threading its way through Hua¡¯s battered spirit. Thoughts and feelings, moments never said aloud. Most importantly, that imperceptible thread that had connected them since the moment they first touched, wrapping around her core.


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    Earth Qi found a home in her bones and liver. It settled in her dantian that had only known lightning and from it, Hua built a new bedrock that would always and forever be the very essence of Qing.


    A great snap echoed through the tunnels. Like a whip cracking next to her ear but so much further away. Hua ignored it. Such an unimportant thing, the rest of this false world. Everything it did was a distraction.


    If circumstances had been kinder, and Hua braver, there were words she would have said. She hoped those words were known anyway, hoped that final bloody kiss imparted every feeling she had.


    ¡°I will bury you beneath the tallest tree on our mountain,¡± Hua promised, ¡°and visit you each day.¡±


    Beneath that tree, she would compose a song for Qing; a melody that began with I, Hua, was changed by you, and scream a lament to haunt the false world. Her words would be carried in an unbroken chain by each songbird, and found in the space between lightning¡¯s announcement and thunder''s retort. In the roar of wise dragons, and each snarl from furious tigers marking their territory, the crackling and snap of the serene phoenix¡¯s feathers turning woodland to ash, and the great turtle¡¯s ponderous steps shaking the mountain range, in them that song would be sung, and a different aspect of Qing would be remembered: fearsome, brave, determined, caring.


    It would be a song so beautiful that the gods above would quake in fear because how could you hear of such profound adoration and think yourself safe from consequence?


    There were but three words in that song and they were the most important words she had never said. An oath, a promise, and if she needed to find a way to endure a thousand years, Hua would, just so she could say¡ª


    ¡°I lo¡ª"


    A great wave of water consumed the confession she meant to make. A tidal wave crashing over her, erupting from above and behind her. Air was replaced by water and this land she thought a darkness hell became a drowned one as well.


    The gods hated her. They made it known with nothing short of ruthless cruelty. This could be nothing other than intentional malice. The world was not this cruel. It did not go out of its way to inflict suffering. Only the heavens could be so cruel.


    Damn you all to the lowest depths, she screamed futilely in the water, grabbing Qing¡¯s hand before she was swept away. The wave pushed against her so strongly it was a full-body punch. But Qing was stuck, impaled on stone. Grounded so deeply nothing could move her. Not Hua and not a tidal wave. Just let me have her body. Please.


    Though she held on desperately, the force of the wave tore her from that hand which she knew so well and adored. The wave carried her onward, through the tunnels and past crevices. At such speed she could not hold on to the walls, she was dragged by the force of water.


    The narrow passages opened up into the vastness of a great river. High above her, she saw shafts of sunlight shimmering with the turbulence of the waves. If she swam, she might reach the surface and save herself. Emerge unto the sunlight and live again.


    A great shadow stole the sun away. It drew nearer and nearer as Hua drifted helplessly. If she had anything left but shattered dreams and broken faith, she might have cared.


    The shadow revealed itself to be a boulder of such roundness it could not be natural. Geometric shapes were carved into it, forming a lotus fractal. It reminded her of the engraved ball the guardian lion in front of a temple would keep under her paw. As she realised that, it came to weigh down on her.


    Funny that a guardian should punish her. Only the male associated with yang, with heavenly Qi, carried the ball.


    Did the Heavens have to so needlessly punish her?


    Hua sank with the weight of heaven¡¯s judgement. For what? The sins of her past lives just to drag her down the riverbed. Never. Hua would not accept that weight. It could only be her failings in this life, to this world. The greatest was failing to protect Qing. The next was every second she wasted without saying the words that mattered the most. Those made up the great mass. They had to. Those she had killed were less than chaff. Whoever she hurt in life couldn¡¯t matter enough to be an impossibly heavy weight. What crime had she committed to deserve this?


    Cursing the gods? Damn them and let the boulder grow heavier.


    Saving Qing from their lightning? Fuck them and their heavens.


    She did not know how long she sank, contemplating her sin of losing the world, and she did not care. With her eyes closed and her heart cold, the embrace of dark waters was calming. On and on she was dragged by the currents. If this was one of the hells, Hua knew she could endure. In time, she could forget what had happened. If all she was, the sum of her experiences and memory, was scoured down to bedrock, then she could endure. It would mean she did not have to live a life without Qing.


    Finally, eventually, even her Qi-enhanced body could not sustain her maudlin, and she began to truly drown. It lit a fire in her, awakened the kind of fury they spoke of in legends. Her eyes snapped open. It was murky, the water. She saw debris and darting fish, lost bodies and scrolls of paper. Pick one of everything and you could decipher the lives of dozens.


    Not one of them was Qing so they did not matter. Chest burning, heart aching, Hua laid her hands on the guardian¡¯s stone sphere and channelled her Qi through it. The trigram she knew best was born in the darkness and with it, she shattered the malice of heaven.


    Unburdened, all that remained was to rise. The distorted starburst of the sun beckoned her onward, tempted her with that siren¡¯s thing called revenge, and with hate in her heart, Hua began her ascent. With lungs aching, burning, heart thumping, shaking, Hua swam and she swam and she kept swimming even as darkness encroached her vision and the smeared sun became smaller and smaller.


    A moment, a year, an eternity, that was how long it took her to swim to the surface. Hua emerged from the river, born again in hate and fury and a loss most profound.


    She choked out muddy waters, gasping, desperately reaching out to any piece of debris around. Everything hurt and it hurt more as she hacked her lungs out, vomiting whatever water had found a way into her lungs. Finally, she found something to latch onto¡ªa door, perhaps, never to seal shut the warmth and laughter and complicated arguments that was family. Hua flopped onto it and just breathed as she was carried onward and eventually, through luck or circumstance, she found land instead of being dragged to open ocean miles away.


    The banks of the Liao River welcomed her. Greeted her with mud and disregard, leaving the marks of its ill intent upon her robes. Well, fuck the earth too. It and the river could get fucked together.


    Hua was learning this false world was one she hated because it was one Qing could disappear into. The earth should mourn her. The songbirds should sing Qing¡¯s name and the sky should weep enough to flood the continent. It should not have taken away every sign of Qing and left Hua with the hollowness of memory.


    Not even blood remained on her hands. The red that had stained her lips, stolen away. Qing, wiped away so easily. She had truly vanished into this false world and left Hua behind to walk on, forever knowing the true world was missing from her side, no longer walking beside her or laughing with her.


    All Hua had left of Qing was the jade pendant she forced Hua to take.


    ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you to return. No matter how many rebirths you go through, I will wait for you, and I will find you,¡± she vowed, holding tight to the pendant. ¡°We will meet again and dance for every day we were apart.¡±


    She regretted. She loathed. Everything unsaid that could not be spoken.


    I loved you. I love you. I will always love you. I will say it in every bolt of lighting and every drop of rain. Every epic sung will be my epic. Every dream for love will be my love. I¡¯ll be every poet. I¡¯ll kill them and take their place so that I may write you into their words.


    I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t save you. If I had been faster, stronger, greater. If, if, every fucking if.


    Hua gazed up at the smoke-filled sky. It hid those who had done this from her. It hid her in turn from their gaze. And so, she made a second promise, one borne for every word of love she knew.


    ¡°I¡¯ll kill every bastard up there who took you from me! I¡¯ll murder them all until their blood fills the oceans!¡±


    No matter what, she would do it. She would Cultivate until she could break the heavens over her knees, find the fool who dared write Qing¡¯s name in the Book of the Dead, and burn the book itself.


    ¡°The gods will die for this!¡±

 Chapter 7: Scholars Squabbling Up

    A furious Cultivator journeyed through the broken streets of her hometown. The city of Liaojiangkou had been named after the Liao River upon whose banks it had been built. For three thousand years it had stood in one form or another.


    It had been razed and renamed and rebuilt many times in a cycle that continued until one day, a child simply named B¨®liao after the placid river by whose banks he had been abandoned, where later he would uncover the fallen records of the Thunder Agency, and from it, learn how to take lightning Qi and make it his own. It was this act from a nobody that birthed the Liao Clan, and it was the city he called home, the city that discarded and ignored him, that would house his descendants. They would claim the mountains as their territory and build their great compound. It was a bountiful mountain, with pines and cypresses, forests teeming with pigs and deer and dozens of birds, from pheasant to crow to hawk and all in between. They drank from sweet streams and clear ponds all of which were fed by a great basin near the peak of that mountain range. From this bastion of security and prosperity, the Liao Clan watched as their city grew and became something worthy of remembrance.


    Today, that city was devastated.


    The lower levels of the city, those that hugged the bank, were simply gone. Swallowed by the swelling of the river. The great basin that fed the mountain had cracked, and its reserve of water had cascaded down, sweeping aside homes and drowning forest like they were nothing. The volume of water had forced the river to rise, agitated it, and gave it the energy to swallow docks and warehouses and the homes of far too many mortals to count.


    Such voracious hunger had swept away Liao Hua. She would have died in the muddy waters if not for her fury. Hot rage had been the impetus to make a vow to colour heaven red with the gods that had taken from her.


    She would follow through, no matter the cost. Revenge would be hers, no matter how long it took.


    Let that be the grand arc of the Clan Liao: born from nothing by the river, and later to create a river from god¡¯s blood.


    Her goal lay above. The Great Net of Heaven had revealed itself as an endless lightning storm. Bolts rained down from the sky, igniting wooden homes they struck, vaporising anyone too close, and leaving behind craters. In the shadow of those bright flashes, Liao Hua saw a great palace so far away and yet so large as to be incomprehensible. The separation between them made her feel smaller than ever before. As humans perceived ants as insignificant, so too did ants have things they perceived as tiny. Hua felt like the ant¡¯s ant¡¯s ant compared to the Heavens so far away.


    I¡¯ll make them all bleed. Those gods in their jade palace, destroying the world with their malice, would one day know the name Liao Hua. She would burn down their palace, raze every garden and shatter each hall, and paint the great walls and balustrades a vivid crimson before she mounted their heads on the tallest peaks of Kunlun Shen.


    For now, she would fix her city.


    Hua journeyed down broken streets and shattered homes. The roofs of buildings and the debris from tipped-over walls floated in the water that had overtaken the lower levels of the city. Both humans and animals held onto wooden beams and chunks of rubble large enough to carry their weight.


    Those who could swam to shore. Those who could not called out for the help of a good person who would never arrive.


    People passed her by, bumping into her thoughtlessly. Soaking wet, dirtied and bloodied, she could not blame them for their rudeness even as she wanted to rip their throats out.


    Eventually, she found herself walking down the back roads of the market district. Away from the main streets and major squares, this area was for the more discerning customers. Under cypress trees turning orange and the occasional pines, there was shade to be found in abundance. Especially under one pair of trees pruned and shaped to form an arch shading a store painted green and white.


    That shade did not hide the bodies in the street.


    They were not the first mortal bodies Hua had seen today. Mortals had a habit of dying ignoble, meaningless deaths that went largely unremarked. These mortals were interesting only because of how they died. Cut down with blades¡ªone with a slash down the back, deep enough to sever the spine; another with a crimson smile across her neck; a third clutching his torso uselessly against a blow that went through the liver. Another two were killed without much precision, just a random assortment of slashes. If the three lying in the broken street were made by an expert, those two in front of the storefront had been killed by amateurs.


    The storefront, whatever It was, was a smoking husk. Ruined not because the earth had opened its maw and swallowed it like many homes she had seen or swept away by the water, but because of human hands. If it had been natural, would the tree not have burned as well?


    And why would there be a fight occurring?


    Three men fought against one. The three attackers wore robes of similarly poor quality dyed the yellow of wheat stalks, rice hats strapped to their necks, and wielding curved swords maintained so poorly that their hilts worn down by excessive use. One carried a much nicer spear though it too had seen better days.


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    The man they were failing to kill wore a set of much nicer robes, low-quality silk to their hemp, a leather satchel hanging from his waist.


    He was an excellent combatant, this much she would give him, as he flowed between sword swings. His footwork alone was enough to keep him alive. Light and graceful, flitting across the edge between life and death.


    He carried a wooden rod in either hand and fought with the desperation of a man who would very would like to have unbroken bones at the end of a fight. His movements vaguely reminded her of the Flying Lotus School Dojo though he lacked the same ferocity. Honestly, this is more what she expected of that school than the overwhelming barrage of blows they¡¯d sent her way when she challenged the dojo and broke it over her knee.


    Against only one opponent, he would have won. The exacting accuracy of his blows would have seen him through. The way he parried the flat of his opponent¡¯s blade was beautiful.


    Against three, he was just barely enduring.


    He jumped over a thrust from a spear, flipping back to land upon a wall. His footwork allowed him to avoid the first stab from the spear and as he landed, he stepped down on the flat of a blade questing for his feet. It shattered.


    He leaned forward, striking one of his assailants on the shoulder. They let out a yelp, shoulder blade cracking. The scholar drew his stave back, ready to swing with all his might. He might have achieved an advantage and struck an assailant unconscious if not for their ally leaping forward with a shout. The scholar dropped low to the side, catching himself with one hand on the wall. It let him miss the swing.


    He pivoted there, kicking out to push away the man he¡¯d struck as he rose to his feet in a crouched stance.


    That was the issue with fighting a group. If you couldn¡¯t reduce their numbers quickly and efficiently, they could just whittle you down. Push you into increasingly disadvantageous positions like the one he found himself in.


    An assailant on either side. One with a spear, the other with a sword. All three were still but for their ragged breathing.


    A fleck of ash landed in the scholar¡¯s eye. He blinked. His enemies struck in unison. The thrust of a spear. The sweep of a sword. Death approaching from different directions and at different angles.


    Like a dandelion spun in the hands of a child and released, he jumped and rose above the low sweep of the sword.


    He twisted in the air, bundling himself tight just as the spear would have lodged itself into his throat where he was standing.


    There was one brief moment where he was perfectly parallel with the weapons meaning to kill him. It was an inspired way to dodge. In the narrow space between a spear thrust and the arcing crescent of a curved sword, the scholar existed. Survived.


    That moment was enough.


    He flung both arms out and with them, his staves.


    Both staves struck the guts of his enemies. An expulsion of air. A grunt of pain. The fast stomp-stomp pattern of people skittering backwards from a strong blow. The staves rebounded off their bodies and the scholar caught them as he landed in a crouch.


    If the scholar carried a lethal weapon, he could have won.


    That, unfortunately, was a beginner¡¯s mistake. Chivalry, honour, nobility, those concepts only mattered to those strong enough to afford them.


    He made the smart move of leaping forward to escape. Landed on the ground with sure feet and bolted away. Would have made it had he not forgotten he was facing three people. He¡¯d shattered one blade and cracked the shoulder of the third. That didn¡¯t stop his hurt enemy from flinging his leg out and hitting the scholar in the ankle.


    The scholar tripped, landing hard on his face. He froze in shock for a moment too long. A moment that was more than enough for the man who tripped him to grab a broom and hit the scholar on the back. Time enough for the scholar¡¯s enemies to converge upon him with their weapons.


    His legs swept out, robes billowing dramatically as he defended himself from three weapons. Desperately trying to survive.


    It was a strangely undignified battle. So much flailing about. Elegant flailing, but still flailing.


    There had been a time when Hua fought like this. Leveraging just the strength and agility of her body in pursuit of greater martial prowess. Before she could absorb Qi and use it to empower her limbs to something beyond human. Before she touched lightning and learnt of thunder.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to help him?¡±


    Hua slowly turned her head and saw an impossibility. Qing. Her friend was sitting on the fence beside Hua, one leg swinging to a beat only she knew, the other brought to her chest so she could use the knee pad as a support for her chin. Hua took in the vision of her, unable to help herself.


    Even if she knew it was a lie, knew her mind was playing tricks on her, it didn¡¯t change how her heart sped up.


    Hua drew in a breath, tasting ash on her tongue and smoke in her lungs. She forced Qi to seep into her bones and muscles, letting it run over her bruises. To feel the broken and hurt parts of her was to remember that she still lived, still existed in this false world that could betray her so terribly.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you get a say now that you¡¯re gone.¡±


    ¡°I always have a say when it comes to you. You follow my lead, not the other way around. I thought you wanted to be a great Cultivator one day. Aren¡¯t Cultivators meant to be righteous? Honourable and gallant heroes, saving those less fortunate than others?¡±


    ¡°The Age of Heroes died so no, none of us are heroes. And why should I be righteous when Heaven is cruel? If the gods don¡¯t care about who lives and dies, why should I concern myself over some fool who doesn¡¯t know when to run? Why should I be the better person?¡±


    ¡°Because I¡¯m asking.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re just a heart demon. You don¡¯t matter. Besides, this is entertaining.¡±


    ¡°Do something for more than your petty amusements.¡±


    She watched for a bit longer, letting herself dry in the sun. If she had to make an entrance, she would rather not be soaking wet. Pretending it had ever been a choice. It was Qing¡¯s voice, Qing¡¯s mannerisms, Qing¡¯s kindness. It could have been a true demon and Hua would be helpless but to follow.


    That was the issue with her love; it was without limit. Even ghosts could call on it.


    The man landed with a wet squelch on the muddy ground. He was too slow to avoid getting hit across the forehead by the butt of a staff and his daze left him vulnerable to taking a kick to torso.


    Hua walked with that unconscious grace she had been taught, never once being noticed, and arrived in their midst.


    ¡°Enough,¡± she said softly.

 Chapter 8: Hua Kills a Foolish Scholar

    Fifteen years had passed since lightning had found a home in a daughter of the Liao Clan. In those years, Hua had succoured on a variety of purified pills to enhance her body and quicken her towards awakening an awareness of Qi. It was a process that would have been ruinously expensive if not for the backing of a Great Clan that levied the taxes of an entire region and received tribute from their vassals.


    The fifteen years had made a powerful body to house lightning Qi and seen her learn various arts. Arts such as the quiet steps of an assassin needed to appear in a battle of warriors unnoticed until she spoke a single, simple word:


    ¡°Enough.¡±


    Hua would give some credit where it was due. The strongest of them, the man with the spear, did not so much as care to look before retaliating blindly. He pushed the but of his spear to pivot it around his guiding hand, forcing it into a wide arc that would gut her if it reached.


    That was a good instinct. Attack the threat or run. Preferably both at the same time. And he did do both, stepping forward and away from her as the spear continued with his momentum.


    It was painfully slow. Slow enough for her to stare and almost see through him. He was in the Body Tempering stage. Anyone could technically reach that stage and many did so unconsciously, altering their body to something approaching human perfection. Qing had done it partly through her natural talent, partly following the mantra of her jade-carver father, and mostly by having Liao Hua as a playmate. This man felt like the waters of the Liao River. He was a rower, someone who had spent a lifetime parting the water with a paddle. Maybe he had been a child when he first realised a paddle could be a weapon as well. A skill that translated to learning how to use a spear.


    Foolish. A double halberd or wolf club would have been a better weapon. Expensive, yes, and she recognised the poor quality of his yellow robes but¡ª


    Hua reached out and wrapped her hand around the place where wooden shaft became steel tip, abruptly stopping the spear¡¯s momentum. The force didn¡¯t even send vibrations through her arm.


    ¡ªsometimes investing in your equipment paid off. Hua snapped the head of the spear off and threw it. The point smashed into stone and embedded itself deeply. The high-pitched whine of it shaking in the wall punctuated the sudden silence that descended as fighters realised an apex predator had interfered in their battle.


    She glanced down at the man she had saved. He was handsome in a homely way, a face you wouldn¡¯t mind seeing in whatever bookstore he worked. Vaguely trustworthy and maybe even pretty if he didn¡¯t have a purple bruise blooming across his face and blood on his greying temple. He had a leather satchel attached to his waist of a quality notably greater than his decent robes.


    ¡°Have you ever considered using a halberd?¡± Hua asked, returning her intent on the man still impotently clutching his snapped spear.


    That took all four men aback.


    He dropped his mostly useless weapon. It clattered to the ground with a twang. Hua would not have done the same. A spear without a tip was just as staff and those broke necks.


    ¡°Honoured Daoist, this fool begs your forgiveness for pointing his weapon at you. He was unaware of the exalted presence that honoured him with her attention. In what way may this fool repent?¡±


    ¡°By answering the question I asked.¡±


    The man lost all colour. He became as a beam of sunlight falling on snow, yellow robes covering pale flesh.


    ¡°This Brother Di has never had the chance to be instructed in such a refined weapon, honoured Daoist.¡±


    ¡°A shame. You would have been better suited to it over a standard spear. It might have even pushed you towards Qi Condensation if you mastered it. Would you like to see what you stopped yourself from reaching?¡±


    The man paled further, somehow, clenching his jaw so tight Hua was surprised his teeth did not break. ¡°This Brother Di would be honoured.¡± Blood seeped past the seal of his lips, dribbling down his goatee as he spoke.


    Hua raised her hand and summoned the lightning she had been born to wield. Sparks crackled in the gaps between her fingers. It came to her so easily, the power of her elemental qi. Liquid lightning in her dantian, lighting up her meridians.


    Even these minor sparks were enough to remind them that one factor gave supremacy in the world. Qi. That which those blessed by heaven wielded. It felt like a curse today. What had Qi done but destroy the world Hua knew?


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    Faster than she had ever done before, like her body had become a conduit for lightning, she split Qi into its constituent parts, yin and yang, and rejoined them to form the Trigram Zhen.


    She struck with the force of thunder, her palm caving in the man¡¯s chest. He staggered back, clutching at his chest. It was a precise thing she did, focusing the force of the thunderclap without sending him flying. As he fell to his knees, she considered whether simply punching his chest until it folded inward would have been a worthy trade-off for getting blood on her hands. She had never liked the effort it took to clean dried blood.


    He gasped out a stuttered breath, a whistling whine punctuating the air.


    She stared at the men, slowly looking between them. The first turned away entirely but though he twitched to move away, his compatriot held him by the elbow. That one stared carefully at a spot on her chin, refusing to meet her eyes that fell upon the characters written on his robes. The School of Yellow Faith. Hua had never heard of it but like the mortals, it only mattered as far as it was connected to the phantasm sitting on the wall, watching her.


    It did not make her feel better. Ending this fight before further blood was shed changed nothing in a way that mattered. Qing was still gone. She could turn the oceans red with mortal blood, and it would not return Qing to her. Saving mortals would give her nothing of worth. But she needed space and time and resources to Cultivate. Pills and artefacts, teachings and Scriptures. To grow stronger, she could not spend time worrying about where her next meal would come from or when the mortals would next riot. Space and time and resources would be granted only from a from a prosperous city.


    In the distance, great clouds of smoke drew her attention. Those were the fields burning. Scorching the Amber Sea that fed the province. Already, winter¡¯s chill cut through her simple clothes. Too many would die, she realised. Far, far too many.


    She turned her gaze to the last two men in yellow. They froze in further terror when they met her leonine gaze. She waited a beat, two, before the smarter of the two dropped to his knees, dragging his companion to the ground. They did not dare look up again even as she let the silence build.


    ¡°The Liao Clan still stands. It will not stand for this behaviour. Yield or join your fellow in repentance.¡±


    ¡°Many blessings, honoured Daoist. Our brother thanks you for your instruction on the Thunder Palm. We would gladly follow your commands.¡±


    She very much doubted a dying man would thank his killer. But who really knew with peasants. Theirs were strange ways with stranger beliefs. A true Cultivator would be swearing eternal vengeance. Bridging the gap between where he knelt, and her Qi Condensation, was much simpler than bridging the gap between heaven and earth.


    Dismissing them, she walked forward. Past the corpse. Past the kneeling men.


    ¡°Young Mistress Liao,¡± the man said loudly, rudely. She graced him with her attention. He did not buckle under a Cultivator¡¯s attention. A seal adorned his dirty robes, tied at his waist. She read the characters with mild curiosity. The School of Doubting Antiquity.


    Had he been under attack because of a disagreement between scholarly schools? It seemed a silly reason to die over paper whilst the city burned and flooded in equal measure. Well, she also hadn¡¯t realised scholars also studied the martial arts.


    ¡°What does a sceptic of history wish of me?¡±


    ¡°Young Mistress Liao, this sceptic would serve you if you would have me.¡±


    ¡°In what capacity would a sceptic serve? Tell me, what need do I have for a historian? What role do you fulfil that the vassals of my Clan cannot?¡±


    ¡°This one has served as assistant, messenger, and scribe for many great lords. One does not claim to have served one of such great stature as a daughter of Liao, but one would succeed or one would take his own life. That would be my oath as a new vassal.¡±


    One of the men kneeling hissed out a curse.


    ¡°Yes? Speak.¡±


    ¡°Honoured Mistress Liao, this humble servant cannot remain silent as a charlatan attempts to draw close to you in search of false valour. That Sceptic is a scoundrel of great disrepute. It would taint the name Liao to have such a foreigner walking beside you.¡±


    She gave Liu Xin another look. Ah, he had prominent ears and his hair a bit wavier than most, tinting red in the right light. Foreign blood. Likely the Jurchen tribes. It mattered greatly to the mortals, she knew. Hua also could care less from what stock a mortal came from. That he remained undaunted, facing her without fear; such a quality was what mattered.


    ¡°What is your name?¡±


    ¡°This Scribe is honoured to be called Liu Xin.¡±


    There was no Liu Clan of any prominence in Liaojiangkou despite his inherited title. A few families with that name, some even boasting a lineage of a century, but nothing truly noteworthy. Perhaps his foreign parent or ancestor had married into them for trade reasons.


    Hua found she did not care.


    ¡°For what reason do you have to pledge yourself to this Young Mistress?¡±


    ¡°There is no higher calling than service to the Liao Clan and to the one who wields the great Thunder Palm technique,¡± he said, bowing over his hands. ¡°This one would find a life of service to you a life worth living.


    That little trick?


    ¡°Come,¡± she spoke, and set forth. ¡°Prove your worth.¡±


    It mattered little his reason for following. So long as he obeyed it would be enough. He fell in behind her, having the audacity to stand only two steps behind her. Such temerity. Only a mortal with nothing to lose would dare.


    She found herself admiring it. It was the same kind of bravery as punching someone from a Great Clan without a hint of remorse.


    Qing would have found you interesting. Maybe Hua as well could find something interesting in him.


    ¡°Do you know how fucked we are?¡± one of the two remaining scholars whispered, following at a remove from her. Mortals very often didn¡¯t grasp how advanced a Cultivator¡¯s senses could be.


    ¡°She¡¯s a Cultivator, I know.¡±


    ¡°No, you shithead, she has silver hair. We¡¯ll be fucking lucky if she kills us quick.¡±


    Rude. Hua rarely had reason to torture people. She found it boring and there were members of her Clan who were much more proficient in it than she could ever be. Leaving the experts to do their thing was advice her grandmother gave her, and it had yet to steer her wrong.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because crimson smiles follow silver hair. I¡¯d like to avoid having a slit throat.¡±

 Chapter 9: The False Priest

    Hua led a gaggle of violent scholars down the cracked road, leaving a body in her wake. This was not the first time she¡¯d left a body behind. Unlike some, she cared too little to count her kills. There were few people worth remembering in the first place, so why waste time tallying them all?


    With no destination in mind, Hua simply walked down familiar roads twisted by chaos and destruction, relying on her unconscious mind to lead. No matter how quiet things were now, she would eventually find someone, something, to focus on.


    The idea that nothing else remained but her and some scholars was too comical to consider. As she took in the sights, she realised just where she was. She squinted her eyes and considered that gaping emptiness in the skyline where a great building should have been.


    It turned out that a great ravine had swallowed whole the Taoist Temple of Winter Dragons. Hua walked to the edge and sat over it. Seeing the way it split an entire district filled her with a quiet awe. This part of the city had been flat and now it had two distinct levels, one of which was filled with a rubble-filled lake. There were bodies floating in the water, drifting as aimlessly as the peaked roofs that now lacked their bases. The great iron bell had snapped in half along its length. It floated serenely past headless guardian lions and a drowned priest. Carried within the curve of the bell was a trio of cats that meowed despairingly, trapped in a lake too great for them to swim.


    Qing sat with the cats, staring at Hua with a judgemental gaze.


    ¡°Where else would mortals gather if the temple is destroyed?¡± she asked her new servant instead of facing that deep disappointment.


    ¡°They may have gathered in the residential districts if they were relatively undamaged. This one cannot be certain as he was waylaid by assailants.¡±


    She waved away his pointed remark. They were still being followed by two of those assailants who had chosen silence as their means to survive. Hua wasn¡¯t particularly interested in intervening again in their conflict. If Liu Xin was worth anything, he would prevail. If not, it wouldn¡¯t change anything at all for Hua.


    ¡°Why not the markets? Or anywhere outside the city?¡±


    ¡°Mortals lack your ability to traverse such damaged environs. Based on the patterns of fire, the markets were consumed. With the damage to the roads, there is no guarantee people were able to leave. And if they did, what would they find outside the protection of the city walls? It might be worse outside than in here.¡±


    A quick answer. Hua appreciated that.


    ¡°Wait here a moment.¡±


    With a sigh, she leapt away from the edge and across the newly formed lake. She landed with a quiet thud on the bell, sinking it abruptly. The cats hissed at her, leaping back and landing on the curved edges of the sheared bell. With the quick efficiency of a Cultivator used to much faster opponents, she grabbed them and squished them to her chest.


    ¡°Are you fucking satisfied now?¡± Hua snarled as the cats clawed at her clothes.


    Qing didn¡¯t answer.


    She wasn¡¯t really there.


    But that was the thing with the dead. You may leave them behind, but they always follow you. No matter how far you went, they were always there. Always haunting you with their regrets and hopes and unfulfilled dreams. Sometimes, they had the gall to leave a ball of love to chain you.


    One more leap brought her back to the edge of the ravine. She dropped the ungrateful beasts and watched them bolt away in different directions. Not even loyal to their compatriots. They could have died together and yet refused to spend more than a second together.


    ¡°Lead the way to the residential districts,¡± she ordered.


    Liu Xin bowed before doing so.


    There were bodies wherever she looked. She was pleased, though, to observe they were all corpses. Not a one was unconscious. It meant someone had found those who still lived and moved them. Maybe neighbours, maybe friends, maybe the helpful stranger only found in myth and story. The bodies in the street represented those who could not be saved and, though they had died hopeless, they made hope for others from the negative space of their existence.


    It would also mean fewer people to feed. She could not let go of the image of the Amber Sea turned crimson, wildfires engulfing the wheat fields that had fed the children of this now forsaken province. So greatly numbered were those fields of wheat that they were also named the Breadbasket of Empire. Would they endure now? The early bounties and harvest, would it be enough to see them through the coming winter?


    Who will lead us? she wondered. What remains of my Clan?


    She had yet to see someone with silver hair. The branch lines with their dark hair and darker eyes were unaccounted for. The few times she had seen the heraldry of their vassals, it had been attached to a corpse.


    One person became two, and soon they became groups.


    The residential district had been coloured black and grey by a mix of ash and choking dust. Entire blocks had been burnt to cinders and it was only the disaster of the reservoir basin cracking that had stopped the unmitigated spread of fire. The city had drowned more than it had burned and that was a miracle worth rejoicing in. If those waters hadn¡¯t separated her from Qing, maybe she wouldn¡¯t disdain them so greatly.


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    Between the burnt husks of old homes, there was chaos permeating the air. It smelt of sweat and blood, fear adding a sharp tinge to the pervasive smoke. The chaos was of the human varietal, that complicated mix of greed and shortsightedness that had become so prevalent. It revealed its mundane nature without fanfare.


    There, holding a corpse in his arms, was a father. He held a boy no older than twelve in his arms. His death had been quick; staked through the throat with a piece of jagged stone. Lightning had struck here. Yang Qi was prevalent, the scorch marks spread across the ground spoke of heaven¡¯s fury.


    The grieving father was being threatened by a man with a sword. He was supported by a trio of his friends. This was so reminiscent of what she had just dealt with that she turned to make sure that her newfound servant and his enemies were behind her. They were and she made a gesture for them to stay quiet as she went to deal with the problem.


    The man threatening the father wore a priest¡¯s regalia. She¡¯d seen priests from the temples wear identical garb. Watched corpses dressed in the same regalia float in the new lake. When he had stolen it, she couldn¡¯t be certain. Probably ripped from one of the many corpses. Shameless. Utterly shameless. He must be a bandit. No, not bandits, that implied far too much organisation. These were simple thugs taking advantage of the looting.


    What was wrong with peasants? Did they have no dignity? Couldn¡¯t they see the smoke in the air or the swollen river swallowing parts of the city whole? Was this all that mattered to them? Petty gain that led nowhere.


    And worse, to dare do this without the strength to back their actions.


    Oh, yes, they thought they were strong. That was the problem. They always thought they were strong.


    ¡°You think paper is worth your son¡¯s spirit,¡± the false priest with the sword snarled, rattling his blade at the father. ¡°If you want him to see peace, stop his Po spirit wandering, you¡¯ll pay gold or you¡¯ll pay silver. Show me that worthless paper again and you can greet King Yama with the boy. Now, give me the silver, you son of a whore.¡±


    There were other mortals simply watching this. Oh, yes, they whispered furiously, but they did nothing. Pitiful.


    Hua padded forward silently, slipping past the fake priest¡¯s friends.


    She placed her hand on his neck and lifted him before he understood what was happening. Gripped his neck tight enough that he wasn¡¯t going to escape. Not that someone who hadn¡¯t even managed Body Tempering could escape her grip. All Cultivators who dreamt of touching the realm of Qi condensation needed to harden their bodies in preparation for manipulating Qi. The spirit reflected the body and vice versa. Temper the body and strengthen the spiritual vessels that would move Qi refined in the dantian to the meridians. Enough Qi would awaken the Meridians permanently, one by one, until the Cultivator glowed like a constellation.


    ¡°What the fuck?¡± the hapless fake priest shouted.


    One of his comrades tried striking her. Hua was ready to deal with it.


    Liu Xin slid into place beside her and parried the blow. He drew his leg back and kicked the bandit in the gut. He landed with a crash into a wall that folded over and collapsed, cheap wood and bricks cascading down.


    Saving her that effort automatically made Liu Xin one of the one hundred most useful mortals Hua had ever encountered. And whilst she couldn¡¯t name all those positions, or even think of faces for more than ten, she was sure she¡¯d found a hundred useful mortals in her lifetime. Even if most of them were Clan servants.


    The priest squirmed violently. Tried elbowing her but Hua grabbed that arm and wrenched it up against his back. Pushed and pushed until it popped out. The priest screamed.


    The father¡¯s lips curled with vicious satisfaction. Sometimes, divine retribution came just in time. She would let him revel in his glee for now.


    ¡°Please stop screaming. I can hear you perfectly fine.¡±


    ¡°You bitch. You¡¯ll be cursed for this. Let me go and you can begin repenting before it''s too late.¡±


    She bent her elbow and curled her wrist so that he could say that to her face. When he saw her, he immediately coughed out a wad of blood, eyes widening further. He was lucky it hit the floor and not her damaged clothes. Such an insult would have been more than she could forgive.


    ¡°My deepest apologies,¡± he said with blood staining his lips and teeth. ¡°This priest did not know he was graced to meet a Daoist of the Liao Clan. Surely a fellow Daoist wouldn¡¯t kill a priest? The cost of that karma is great.¡±


    ¡°Fellow? You are no more a Daoist than I am the Yongtai Emperor. My life has not extended the full fifty-seven years of his reign, so it would be comical if I claimed it, just your claim is comical.¡±


    She turned to face the crowd, swinging the false priest with her. He choked out a curse. Ah, she¡¯d squeezed too tight for a moment. Hua loosened her grip before he died. His death would happen when she decided and not a moment sooner.


    ¡°When did this city become a hive of degeneracy?¡± she asked calmly to all present. She was taller than the man so they could all see her cold gaze clearly. ¡°Have you already forgotten the name of your lord, the Liao Patriarch? Have you turned your faces away from his benevolence? Have you all forgotten that Liao stands Sentinel over the Amber Sea?¡±


    ¡°My Lady, you cannot kill a priest,¡± one of the bandits said, throwing himself to the ground. ¡°Please, forgive our injustices. We knew not what we did.¡±


    Hua blinked slowly, which the mortal took as a signal and kissed her filthy boot. Were all mortals incapable of answering her questions when she asked them? Why did they always try to waste her time?


    And why were they so fucking weird?


    ¡°You are forgiven¡±


    She lifted her leg and brought it down on the bandit¡¯s head. It splattered beneath her sole as the ground cratered. Someone, many someones, decided screaming was an appropriate course of action. Hua flickered her Qi and there was a boom of thunder that cut off their panic.


    ¡°Hear me well, mortals, and remember these words for I will say them only once. He is Lord Liao Xiaosan, the Radiant Lightning Body, and I am Young Mistress Liao Hua who speaks with his authority!¡±


    She squeezed, then, her steely fingers digging through flesh and fat. Carving through a body as easily as one cut tofu. The false priest did not even have a moment to realise his death. His head hung over his chest, barely supported by the front column of his neck. His twitching body remained standing only because she held one of his arms. In an odd way, from here, the curve where his open neck met his head reminded her of a smile.


    Maybe crimson smiles were inevitable when someone in the Liao Clan was irritated.


    At last, she let the corpse fall to the ground. It landed with a wet thud that rang in the terrified silence. Liao Hua flicked her hand free of the tacky blood on her hand and returned her gaze to those who thought to defile the order her Clan had imposed on the city. Those who had sat back and fucking watched as the name Liao was dragged through the mud in front of their eyes.


    ¡°Kneel at once or die standing.¡±


    They knelt, all of them. Even the violent scholars who were still following her. They knelt because power was authority, and Hua may as well be a god to these peasants.


    Qing would have hated this, but Qing wasn¡¯t here.


    That apparition judging her didn¡¯t count.

 Chapter 10: Headless Corpses

    There were two headless corpses in the street.


    A foot had splattered the head of the still-kneeling bandit, and a hand had squeezed the neck of a man who lied and lied and could not stop lying. There was likely some poetic justice to their deaths, but Hua had no true brain for poetry. She liked the flow of it but whenever she set her brush to write out a verse, her hand became unresponsive. Her mind gave her no answers. It was a tragedy for all the hours she had spent being taught by great tutors.


    She took the vestment the false priest had stolen and used it to wipe away the tacky blood on her hand. This is why she preferred swords over other weapons. Feeling armour snap and bones crunch beneath her fists was always gratifying, but the mess, that she could not abide by. Swords might lose out on the visceral feel of violence but at least she didn¡¯t have to deal with a mortal¡¯s blood drying beneath her nails.


    Maybe I should get gloves?


    ¡°Young Mistress, your orders?¡± Liu Xin asked. A man of great bravery, his voice didn¡¯t waver.


    Hua realised there was still a crowd of terrified mortals kneeling before her. Ah, yes, the matter of the mortals who let a false priest act as he pleased. Her annoyance suggested killing them. Her pragmatism recognised many pairs of hands attached to bodies that could be put to work.


    The cold accounting of saving a city decided for her.


    She directed them to work on searching through the rubble and sending word nearby that Young Mistress Liao Hua called all to account; any who refused her call would add their names to the Book of the Dead. There, that should be sufficiently blunt for a mortal.


    ¡°I want a full map of this district in the next six hours,¡± she added. ¡°I want to know every roadblock and burnt building. If any are standing, you had best let me know quickly. If you find anyone looting, tell them that suicide will be less painful than what I will do. You two,¡± she said to Liu Xin¡¯s former¡ªbut likely still-current¡ªenemies, ¡°You can deal with making sure that map is organised. I don¡¯t want to talk to a single mortal unless it is critically important. Understood?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Young Mistress,¡± the leader of the duo answered, shooting Liu Xin a vile glare before dragging off his friend with the cracked shoulder.


    And now, for the person who had perhaps irritated her the most in all of this. She walked to the father who held his dead son. What did one call the opposite of an orphan? If an orphan was a fatherless child, what was the childless father called? She was sure there was a word for it.


    She crouched down in front of the man and waited till he raised his gaze from his boy. It was a long wait. Now that the false priest was dead, his elation had died away and left behind an emptying and raw grief. Hua could be patient.


    And so, she waited as one minute became many. Finally, he raised his head. Startled hard at her presence, rattling the corpse.


    ¡°What is your son¡¯s soul worth to you?¡± she asked before he could say something stupid.


    ¡°Everything.¡±


    ¡°No, I think you are lying.¡±


    Fury sparked in his eyes. Ah, delightful, a sign of resistance instead of defeat. Fury was something she understood right down to the bedrock of her dantian.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care who you are, which Clan you¡¯re from, don¡¯t you dare say that again.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m simply speaking the truth. If it truly was worth everything, you¡¯d have stolen the gold from someone nearby. Traded your paper currency for their silver. Done anything at all but¡ªdon¡¯t interrupt me; I haven¡¯t finished. You did nothing to save yourself. You waited for deliverance and here I stand. Did you think it would be without cost?¡±


    His white-knuckled grip tightened further around his son¡¯s shoulders. A burial shroud would hide the damage to his corpse. If one only removed the spike lodged in his throat and wiped away the blood on his face, he might look like any normal child who took a turn towards blue.


    ¡°I¡¯ll pay.¡±


    ¡°Worry not, the cost is simple. You just have to get up and help everyone else.¡±


    ¡°My son¡ª¡±


    ¡°Is no excuse. He is dead. You are not. Others still live. You can work or you can join him in the Hells. I don¡¯t care if you strap him to your body and carry him around. Throw him in a ditch if you must, so long as you get to work.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re worse than that priest,¡± he snarled, defiance burning in his eyes.


    ¡°I will not give you the death you¡¯re angling for. If you wish to die, slit your throat and join your son in whatever Hell he found himself in. But if you have the audacity to still draw breath in my city, then you will be put to work. Now, get up and join the other mortals.¡±


    ¡°Fuck you.¡±


    She waited as the minutes breezed by. There were any number of things he could have done. Attack her. Flee. Kill himself. Anything at all. He chose no option but submission. She saw it in his eyes first, that fury quenched by grief. Tension fled his body as he gave up, backed down.


    Coward.


    ¡°Was that wise, Young Mistress?¡± Liu Xin asked after the father had risen with his son and strapped the corpse to his back with the vestments of the false priest.


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    ¡°Liu Xin, you¡¯re a mortal, so I understand why you think like them. I am a Cultivator. I do not care for the complaints of the mortals. If I stopped to worry about every mortal getting revenge, then I wouldn¡¯t be able to take a single pace forward. If they truly wanted revenge, they would Temper their bodies and learn to harness Qi. They could build a great merchant empire and hire a mercenary band to kill me. They could do any number of things, but they do not. So yes, it is wise, because it doesn¡¯t waste my time and my time matters.¡±


    ¡°How long would you have been able to keep me if you acted like this?¡± Qing asked, standing beside Liu Xin who was saying something unimportant. ¡°You know I would have hated this. It sickens me and yet you do it again and again. You behave like an animal and¡ª¡±


    ¡°Fuck. Off.¡±


    It her a moment to notice Liu Xin on his knees. Ah, she¡¯d said that out loud. Unfortunate. The apparition would cause problems if she continued reacting to it.


    She gestured the scholar up. ¡°Come, we¡¯ll see where we can help.¡±


    ***


    Hua worked for long hours assisting in the rescue of mortals, a thing she had never expected to do.


    Liu Xin continued to prove his worth by filtering out the nonsense problems the mortals had for her. The truth was that Hua was terrible at leading relief efforts. She lacked both the knowledge and the interest in the lives of those around her. She wanted the city fixed so that the servants in her clan didn¡¯t have to worry about how they would source the five grains or her favourite meats or the fresh fruit to make desserts, and if they weren¡¯t bothering her with delays, shortages, and low-quality foods, then she could Cultivate her way to heaven.


    Seeing the city repaired was also a matter of pride because it bore the name of her clan. If this city fell, it would be three millennia of history wiped out. Much of that history was in the cycle of razing and rebuilding, destruction in flame and war, and rebirth in long, bloody years of work. More of that history was in every monument they built, every district that grew and was added to the puzzle Hua knew as home.


    Hua heard a woman crying and followed it. The front fa?ade of a home had recently collapsed if the rising cloud of dust told the full story. She made her way in. There was a woman desperately trying to pull her son from beneath a fallen beam. She was covered in dust and cuts, her hands bloody from clawing at the beam. Desperation clung to her, but she didn¡¯t give up.


    Hua walked to her and lifted a great beam with ease, allowing the child to be pulled out. The boy might live. He was breathing and though his breath was stuttering, his heart was still strong. He also had a mother and that might make a difference in the days to come.


    She ignored the thanks from the mother. If someone asked, she wouldn¡¯t have been able to recall them.


    They moved on to the next people in distress and then the next and the next, as the day progressed, and the bodies piled up.


    ¡°Young Mistress, what should we do with the bodies?¡± Liu Xin asked on behalf of all the mortals who were too afraid to ask.


    ¡°Pile them in a large square and find timber. We¡¯ll need to burn them soon. Find a priest to cleanse their spirits. I¡¯ll settle for a local one if the ones from the temple are all dead.¡±


    ¡°The nearest priest is dead.¡±


    ¡°What happened to him?¡±


    ¡°The Young Mistress decorated a road with his largely decapitated corpse.¡±


    Hua took a deep breath. ¡°That was a real priest?¡±


    ¡°It seems so.¡±


    ¡°Tell me, do priests usually extort people at sword point for funerary rites?¡±


    ¡°It is¡­ not a completely uncommon occurrence, especially for priests in less regulated areas. It is certainly unexpected for a city with a Cultivator Clan and an Imperial garrison.¡±


    ¡°Fuck,¡± she sighed, glaring at the sun turned red by the ever-present haze of smoke. ¡°The Liao Clan has Daoist priests that can perform the rituals. Our daoshi might not be ordained by the major temples but they¡¯ve done the rites well enough for millennia. A problem for later. Come, I think I hear another mortal in need of salvation.¡±


    That was the work. The tedium of trying to save people and organise more. Breaking up fights, stopping looting, and pulling corpses aside. It kept going as the sun arced across the sky and the larger fires died down.


    She came to learn that Liu Xin held the strength of two men quite easily in a lithe body, muscles rippling as he pushed a retaining wall into position. Deceptive strength that made those around him show far greater respect than they had to for a supposed Liao Clan retainer. Either he was a martial expert¡ªwhich he was¡ªor he was a Cultivator capable of manipulating qi. Both often had terrible tempers.


    ¡°This is a good spot for the injured,¡± Liu Xin said later, holding open a door for her.


    They searched through the building. It was an inn of sorts. There were beds on the second floor, linen they could use for injuries, and beer for people to drink. Hua wouldn¡¯t trust the river water on a good day. Now teeming with corpses, rubble, and the runoff that a city produced, she¡¯d be staying away from it. The stench of it had dried into her clothes, she knew, turned brown and yellow what was once pristine white.


    She pointed at the mortals who had easily fallen into a role as leaders and had been organising rescue efforts. Hua knew them only because Liu Xin had pointed out their utility.


    ¡°You three are in charge here. Find anyone who knows something about medicine and get them working here. Send some runners to let people know we¡¯re setting up a place for the injured for now. If I find chaos, I will decorate the entrance with your heads. Am I understood?¡±


    Threats were often inherently a form of weakness. A true Cultivator of consequence did not have to resort to them for the world simply fell into order at their presence. But, well, most living Cultivators hadn¡¯t lived through such great destruction.


    With that done, Hua found a quiet space outside to simply sit and stop for a moment. She thought of nothing, letting her gaze loosely follow the mortals carrying injured bodies to the inn. Just existing would ensure that they remained on their best behaviour.


    A cracked bowl appeared in her vision. Liu Xin handed her a cracked cup that held cold congee and a sprinkling of chopped nuts. Precious sugar had been sprinkled atop it as though that alone would make it taste worthy.


    ¡°Even Cultivators must eat at some point.¡±


    It was sadly true. Someone in Qi condensation could fast for a few days without issue, but then so could regular humans. Supposedly, those in the Foundation could continue longer, weeks at a time with low activity. Some foods, however, possessed Qi. Tiny fragments that could be cultivated from if one had the wealth to acquire the spirit rice the Zhao Clan grew.


    Food also had the benefit of tasting nice.


    The congee she mechanically ate might have been pleasant. But truly, she tasted the spoon more than the congee. Before anyone else, she was done, handing the bowl back to Liu Xin.


    He brought her back another one.


    Had Hua the energy, she might have complained about the mothering. But, pragmatism won out as she needed the fuel. You ate what you could because the next meal might not come soon.


    She noticed the other scholars watching Liu Xin carefully. Her as well, though they didn¡¯t realise that simply paying attention to a Cultivator could draw their attention. She let them watch, curious whether she would have to kill them. Suspecting, slowly, that they were part of the price to be paid for Liu Xin¡¯s loyalty. There would be time yet to tell if that loyalty was worth acquiring.


    ¡°Liao Hua!¡±


    The voice was such a shock that she dropped her bowl and rose to her feet. Hua saw a face so familiar it made her heart unclench with relief.

 Chapter 11: Liao Weiji

    ¡°Liao Hua!¡±


    The voice startled her. The Qi signature was not another delusion haunting her. Down the shattered road was one of her kinsmen running at a dead sprint towards her. She turned with her heart in her throat. They shared the same cascading silver hair and green eyes that sparkled like gems in the light. They may even have shared the same sharp facial features if his weren¡¯t loosened in sheer relief as he closed the distance to them, loping strides making quick work of the gap. A cousin of hers descended from her father¡¯s younger brother. A cousin she had grown up beside.


    ¡°Cousin Ji,¡± she said wonderingly, still struggling to reconcile this living, breathing version of her cousin with the thoughts of his death that had plagued her. He was the last member of her clan she had seen before leaving for the city and he had been in her thoughts. His potential death had haunted her. Now she knew she would not have to wear white cloth to mourn him.


    His dizi had survived through the world breaking, even if his robes were in a similar state to her clothes. Filthy, caked with mud and soot. And blood. The white and blue threads of his clothes were lost beneath shades of brown, yellow and red.


    We match, she thought nonsensically as he drew closer.


    She worried he would hug her and give her cause to weep. He was one of the few in the Clan taller than her, so she¡¯d be utterly engulfed in a hug by him. He skidded to a stop at a respectful distance and bowed to her.


    ¡°Hua,¡± he said, savouring her name. Saying it like he was invoking a fundamental truth upon the world. ¡°You don¡¯t know how relieved I am to see you alive. I feared the worst when I couldn¡¯t find you the last two days. The moment I heard you were here, I came straight away. Please, forgive me for not finding you sooner.¡±


    ¡°You searched for me all this time?¡±


    ¡°Of course I did. Why wouldn¡¯t I? I could not do anything less.¡±


    She felt the barest stirring of warmth in her cold heart. Weiji was the sort to trip over flat ground and embarrass himself on the training field. She had mocked him relentlessly the moment she realised she could get away with it. And yet, he still looked for her when she wouldn¡¯t have been surprised to find him cowering in a dark hole. Against his own inclinations, he acted with bravery. For her. For kin and family.


    Weiji rose from his bow, startled when he saw Hua¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Your eyes¡ª¡±


    She shook her head slightly before he said anything more. She didn¡¯t want to talk about whatever he saw in her. If eyes were the portal to the soul, then Weiji would be seeing her grief and fury. Those things burning her away from the inside.


    After a moment, he tore his gaze from her eyes. Only then did he notice Liu Xin. His shocked relief morphed into a snarl, revealing sharp teeth. That right there was a familiar expression. She saw it in the mirror sometimes. Saw it on her grandmother when she was irritated and even from her brother when they trained.


    Quickly approaching, Weiji inserted himself between her and Liu Xin with no attempt at subtlety. Entirely unlike him, but then again, he didn¡¯t usually walk around in bloody robes.


    ¡°In these times we are all friends, Weiji.¡±


    ¡°Not all are friends. May I know the name of the man standing so close to you?¡±


    She almost sighed. Almost. It would take more energy to straighten her back if she loosened it now. Had Weiji¡¯s nervous disposition morphed into paranoia in the span of a few hours? Well, Hua had practice dealing with that. Give them something to focus on, something simple that required effort.


    ¡°Will you use that information to kill him behind my back?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. I¡¯d do it right in front of you. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll make sure no blood lands on you. It won¡¯t take me more than a moment.¡±


    Hua couldn¡¯t help her smile. There was a reason they were related. Ruthlessness was in their blood. Maybe more so than lightning and silver hair.


    ¡°I missed you, Cousin.¡± Weiji startled at that, looking down over his shoulder at her. A lance of disquiet went through her at his surprise. ¡°Now, Liu Xin, give us space. I would speak to my cousin privately. Make sure no one approaches. Kill any spy you see.¡±


    ¡°As you wish,¡± the man said, bowing. His expression was pinched, eyes narrowed at her cousin.


    If she allowed the man access to their Clan pills, and he ascended, would he try to kill Cousin Ji? He¡¯d fought a losing battle against four opponents for something as ridiculous as scholarship. That spoke of a man willing to do whatever it took to live. Clinging to Hua¡¯s protection, yes, but would he kill pre-emptively?


    I¡¯m going to have so much fun with this, she thought with only a little bit of malice. It wasn¡¯t that she disliked Weiji or any of her relatives, but she did have to find ways to relieve her boredom.


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    ¡°You¡¯re uninjured?¡± she asked, pushing down her plans. She looked him over again and once more found no visible injuries.


    ¡°Nothing a bit of Qi and a few pills couldn¡¯t handle. My Elder wasn¡¯t so selfish this month and that might very well have saved my life. The mortals weren¡¯t so lucky. Lightning struck and before I knew it, I was surrounded by flames. Those near me were¡­ they were less fortunate. They did not survive the blast. There was chaos as that part of the city was engulfed.¡±


    ¡°Chaos everywhere. That¡¯s the common theme today. Chaos and stupid mortals.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, so,¡± he agreed with an exhausted sigh. ¡°I don¡¯t know what caused this, but we¡¯ll endure. I know we will. We have no choice.¡±


    She agreed. They would endure. Nothing more, nothing less. She needed Clan resources to stake her blade in the heart of heaven.


    ¡°Tell me what the sky looks like to you?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡±


    ¡°The sky. Just tell me what you see. What you sense.¡±


    ¡°The sun is red from the smoke. We should be able to see stars this late in the afternoon, but they¡¯re hidden by the haze. A few smokestacks in the distance. But nothing else beyond the lightning strikes. Nothing special.¡±


    ¡°And the lightning doesn¡¯t feel odd to you?¡±


    His attention sharpened. ¡°I have decent sensory capabilities, but that lightning feels like normal lightning to me. A lot more Qi than expected, but there¡¯s a lot of Qi everywhere right now.¡±


    He couldn¡¯t perceive the Great Net of Heaven that loomed over them like lightning sewn into the sky. Qing hadn¡¯t seen it. Weij, a formally trained Cultivator, couldn¡¯t perceive it. No one else had mentioned it. So was she alone in seeing the cause of their devastation? In knowing of heaven¡¯s betrayal? Fury once more took root in her chest. No one else would understand, not as she did. But maybe that didn¡¯t matter? So long as they pointed their swords in the right direction, it could be enough. If she led them to heaven¡¯s gates, did it matter that they did not see the steps below them?


    ¡°Your eyes are different,¡± Weiji added, watching her carefully. He blinked those brilliantly green eyes that they might no longer share. ¡°Golden. Like looking at the sun through a veil. They might even be glowing. What happened to you, Cousin?¡±


    ¡°I was struck by lightning. I endured. Nothing more. Don¡¯t be hysterical about it.¡±


    ¡°You always manage to surprise,¡± he said eventually, nonsensically. Only a little hysterical. ¡°Always another miracle with you whenever we look away. You¡¯re not good for my heart, Hua.¡±


    She scoffed. ¡°I could do a lot worse if you aren¡¯t careful. Now, what news do you have?¡±


    ¡°What I suspect is the same news everywhere. Earthquakes, the ground swallowing whole buildings and streets. The mountain¡¯s water basin broke and flowed down to raise the level of the river and make sure everything was flooded. That wiped out a lot of the fires before the entire city caught alight. Dampened the wood. Future fires won¡¯t be as easy to start or spread. Unfortunately, I don¡¯t know what¡¯s become of our kin. I came down the mountain on my own, so I haven¡¯t seen any of our kin.¡±


    ¡°And the soldiers? Ours or the Imperials.¡±


    ¡°Some of the Clan soldiers were working without prompting, doing their best in rescue operations. The others, I had to beat my way through till they remembered just who it is they owe fealty to and why. I can¡¯t believe these mortals are willing to waste time and effort with base looting. Give mortals a moment of hardship and stop breathing down their necks, and watch as they naturally turn to banditry. It took a while but there¡¯s some semblance of order in the areas west of the residential district which I hope will hold.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve done well.¡±


    A smile bloomed across his sharp features. The dimples it produced weren¡¯t familiar to Hua. She had never seen them in the mirror. They were inherited, she suspected, from his out-clan mother. Or maybe Hua just didn¡¯t smile enough to ever notice.


    ¡°Things could be better. I wish I had news of the rest of the clan for you. Their absence is uncharacteristic. I know Aunty Qiang would have been here by now. Maybe even some of the Shen Elders. At the very least, someone from our vassals.¡±


    It had bothered Hua as well, that absence. Thankfully, Weiji had just volunteered himself. ¡°When did you enter Qi condensation?¡±


    ¡°I did so alongside your brother.¡± His smile strained. ¡°Though he has far surpassed me since then. May I know why you ask?¡±


    ¡°I require a favour from someone who can overcome any obstacle in their way.¡±


    ¡°I think I can manage a favour for you today of all days. The ancestors would never forgive me if I refused. My Lady mother certainly wouldn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Return to the clan compound. Let them know I live and that I organise the city in the name of our clan. Tell them we¡¯ll need to perform cleansing rituals for the dead.¡±


    ¡°And leave you alone with this Yeren?¡± He whirled on the spot to glare at Liu Xin, the supposed wild Jurchen, who was standing far enough to maintain the fiction that he was not eavesdropping. But he was keeping other eavesdroppers away and that was more important.


    ¡°I am a scholar of history and a trained scribe, born and raised in Liaojiangkou,¡± he answered calmly which was commendable. Weiji had the distinctive silver and green colouring of her Clan, even if his hair was dirtied and his eyes narrowed almost to slits. Liu Xin had seen her kill mortals without hesitation. Maintaining his composure against a Cultivator who had threatened to kill him added to the murky painting that was Liu Xin.


    ¡°Worse, a peasant who thinks that because he can read, he is worthy of standing beside those blessed by heaven. I know your tricks. I see you for what you are. At least the wandering Yeren are honest about their savagery.¡±


    ¡°This unworthy scribe can trace his lineage three centuries, Young Master. This one¡¯s descendants gave blood in defence of the Amber Sea against both Goryeo and Yellow Cap.¡±


    ¡°Any savage can make up a lineage. You will never have the name Liao no matter whose legs you try and cling to.¡±


    ¡°Liao Weiji, I am no blushing jade beauty about to be abducted to a cave. Now, will you obey my order?¡±


    For a moment, he hesitated. Warring between two different kinds of loyalty. Then he saw the many who were watching from afar, realised the image he was creating with his defiance. He bowed deeper than was necessary. There was an apology in his courtesy. Another needless thing. Weiji was a fellow Cultivator and family besides. Politeness had never been necessary.


    ¡°As you say, Young Mistress. Please, do not hesitate to use your Thunder Palm when the peasant reveals his true nature.¡±


    ¡°I will,¡± she promised with a small smile, enjoying this bloodthirst. Weiji kept it hidden but he was just as much a leopard who enjoyed eating faces as Hua. It was rare to see him bare his fangs so readily or unsheathe the knives he kept hidden away.


    ¡°Take these,¡± he insisted, pushing a medicinal pouch in her hands.


    Even leopards could love their kin.

 Chapter 12: Luck is a Landslide

    Dark eyes watched the starless sky. Sunk deep in a head too big for the thin neck that carried it, those eyes were like looking down a well on a moonless night. An endless deepness that went on and on. The only light that came from those eyes was the reflection of a fire built to combat the chill that swept in as night fell. It had come too late for this boy with massive ears and chipped teeth revealed between cracked lips that had greyed in the cold.


    The boy was propped up in a corner where the backside of two buildings and the walled street intersected oddly. Part of his body was huddled in a sinkhole that had opened, this one just large enough to fit him.


    The boy died from exposure. Sometime last night, if Liao Hua was reading the corpse correctly. She had been taught in the arts of death, both inflicting it and understanding it. If she had misinterpreted the ultimate cause of death, she would string herself up by the toes and save her grandmother the time of punishing a failed student.


    His blue fingers had been gnawed upon, revealing flesh and bird-thin bones. Dead rats gorged fat on the boy¡¯s corpse were strewn about. Hua had wasted some Qi and a knife she plucked off another corpse to deal with them. This was the first time she had bothered to handle the voracious rats, twitchy vultures or thick clouds of insects buzzing about. Far too many bodies to be feasible.


    Hua had retrieved over a hundred bodies by now and saved two or three times that number. Cultivation allowed her to be far more efficient at this than any mortal. Pragmatism ensured she never wasted more time than was necessary on any mortal.


    Which made her examination of a dead boy more curious.


    Painfully skinny like any mortal boy existing in poverty. Ribs so exposed that they could have been the bridges of a yangqin; stretch some wire across his torso and you could play him like an instrument. The sores reminded her of illustrations of a leopard, dark bruises against skin yellowed from malnutrition. A distended abdomen gave the vaguest impression that he¡¯d eaten a large meal but was more likely one of the endless mortal diseases¡ªliver disease, she expected, given how yellow his flesh was where it wasn¡¯t frostbitten blue, bruised purple, or gnawed red by the rats.


    He¡¯d died ignobly and would have remained unremarked for one curious property: There was Qi in the boy¡¯s body.


    Qi enough that he should have been snapped up. The Imperial Guard would have paid handsomely for a boy who could cultivate so quickly. Any of the merchant families would have adopted him as an heir or a second son at worst. I can name five Liao girls your age to have married you, Hua thought, bringing his hand up and sensing through his spiritual channels. So why did we never find you?


    His dantain was malformed and small, but he had a dantian. Everyone, technically, had a central receptacle in which internal alchemy might occur known as the dantian. The process by which external Essence, Jing, could be absorbed and purified, becoming the qi that infused the body. Body Tempering opened that dantian to the external world. Allowed the very act of Cultivation to occur. If it was done right.


    The process of preparing the dantian for Qi required effort, care, and great knowledge. There was a reason so many people just like Liu Xin would never manipulate Qi even if they were powerful martial artists. The techniques were guarded by the Clans and even if they weren¡¯t, one needed to Temper their body with an appropriate method for the eventual type of qi they would handle.


    The process was expensive, time-intensive, and gated by carefully guarded secrets, the kind Liao Hua would kill to protect.


    This dead boy had gone beyond that and opened a meridian. Reached a level of Cultivation that was notable. She had cousins who would barely advance past that point. Her twin sisters were older, given more resources, and they weren¡¯t going to use Qi for years yet.


    I didn¡¯t unlock a meridian this early.


    Somehow, some way, this malnourished and likely illiterate boy, had surpassed Liao Hua in cultivation. Impossible. Unthinkable. And yet, true.


    She had known there were great talents in the world and assumed she was one of the greatest, perhaps even the first amongst equals.


    It was all luck in the end. Hua could rejoice in the circumstances of her birth that placed her in a wealthy Cultivation Clan. She was lucky to be as talented as she was. Lucky to have the right tutors. Lucky to not have been overlooked for combat and sent to the priesthood. She¡¯d taken advantage of these things, worked herself to the bone, and risen to great heights, but luck couldn¡¯t be discounted.


    A flash of lightning illuminated the world and, for a moment, Hua saw the glory the boy could have achieved. As the bone-shaking rumble of lightning washed over her, she acknowledged the life that would never be.


    This boy, blessed with truly monstrous talent, had simply been unlucky to go unnoticed.


    ¡°Young Mistress.¡±


    ¡°Hm,¡± she said, looking over her shoulder to Liu Xin.


    ¡°A work team requires the assistance of a Cultivator.¡±


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    Hua shook her head. The boy was dead and his potential would remain as just that, potential. She sent a spike of Qi to his dantian and pierced it. It was easy since he didn¡¯t have any Qi actively protecting him, what with the issue of being dead. Against a living Cultivator, it was nearly impossible to do so, unless one was supremely talented.


    The boy¡¯s Qi would leak out and dissipate over the next few hours. There wouldn¡¯t be a mass of Qi for any creatures to consume and possibly awaken from.


    No Gu, no Jiangshi, no ghosts and no demons.


    Just a forgotten boy.


    ¡°Lead on,¡± she told Liu Xin.


    Liu Xin was proving himself an invaluable treasure. The simple act of filtering whatever nonsense that mortals thought was important was a great boon for Hua who would rather dunk her head in muddy water than listen. Maybe that was why she always saw wealthy merchants and nobility walking around with attendants. The clan elders certainly had someone at their beck and call all the time.


    If they hadn¡¯t been spies for the Elders, she may very well have allowed a mortal attendant for more than trivial tasks. And if nothing else, she knew with certainty the Elders didn¡¯t employ the man. Weiji¡¯s disgust at a Jurchen hadn¡¯t been feigned. Others carried the same bias. Hua, personally, couldn¡¯t be bothered to expend any energy on a mortal tribe she didn¡¯t encounter often.


    ¡°Did you guard the Doubting Antiquity School or were you a member?¡± she asked. They were being followed by the two scholars who were Liu Xin¡¯s enemies. Hua was pretty sure she¡¯d given them a task. Maybe. They tended to blend in with the other mortals.


    ¡°Both. Meetings were easier with me. Messages safer to pass along. I could go places other scribes could not.¡±


    ¡°How does one become a Doubter and how does that become a profession?¡±


    ¡°How does anyone? With a hint of curiosity and an interest in the past. Our true past. For example, not everyone can be descended from the Yellow Emperor even if many claim it. He simply didn¡¯t have that many children.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon Throne might disagree.¡±


    He smiled with all the sincerity of a wolf about to pounce. ¡°This lowly scholar would never doubt the unbroken genealogy of the great Yongtai Emperor to the Yellow Emperor who has three seemingly immortal ancestors in very recent generations, because otherwise the family line would not fit. Just as one would not find it convenient to name oneself Huangdi to remind us that all Emperors are, in truth, the Yellow Emperor. Such would be treason, and the Lady Liao would not allow such seditious thought in her vicinity.¡±


    A man unafraid to die might be useful. He might also stab her in the back the moment it became convenient. Which would be entertaining depending on the method.


    Behind her, one of the two scholars coughed violently. His partner slapped him on the back.


    ¡°Fucking smoke.¡±


    ¡°You think we can still get that Liu bastard out of the picture,¡± the dumber of the two scholars asked.


    ¡°Shut the fuck up, you bastard of three fathers,¡± he said, still coughing. ¡°Silver hair makes for crimson smiles and right now, she fucking likes him. Don¡¯t get us all killed for no reason.¡±


    ¡°But she¡¯s barely even watching him. The moment she goes back to doing fancy things, we¡¯ll be good to go.¡±


    ¡°Why are you so eager to die? A Cultivator looks at a person or a thing, and you get between them, best be prepared to die slow. No, I¡¯m leaving Liu Xin the fuck alone. He can keep all the shit he stole. The client might not even be alive at this point and even if she was, she can fuck with the Liao Clan alone. Fuck, the boss man got killed just to make a point and that¡¯s not even talking about the guy whose head she ripped off or the one she stomped.¡±


    So, her new attendant was also a thief. Historian, fighter, and thief. A strange combination.


    There was an undercurrent she was missing, a piece of context she didn¡¯t have. Two different groups of scholars literally trying to kill each other, something stolen in the middle, and genuine skill in martial arts. If the circumstances were different, she would have enjoyed watching their drama on a stage. If it was a scathing comedy, they would have had a wandering Cultivator show up and help the scoundrel Liu Xin mistaking him for someone righteous, and then walk through a series of increasingly demonic events that the Cultivator misconstrued for righteousness. Or they might go to the more classic tale of a court drama. She never really liked those, though. The simple answer always seemed to be to just punish both parties for causing problems in the first place.


    ¡°So, what do we do?¡±


    ¡°We shut the fuck up, make ourselves useful, and vanish the moment she forgets we exist.¡±


    Well, they were right about that. Hua only sometimes remembered they existed, usually when they walked in front of her, and usually only when Liu Xin made pointed remarks about them.


    She nearly forgot about them by the time Liu Xin led her to their destination.


    The areas east of the Residential District had suffered. Collapsed walls. Roads that had become trenches and buildings that had fallen into those trenches. Water had collected in the trenches. It ran thick with blood and rubble.


    She was led to the work crew and immediately understood their issue.


    A landslide had swept away the road. Well, swept away was wrong. It had simply covered the hill, the road and everything downhill with rock. That wasn¡¯t the issue. Mortals had hands. They could dig.


    The problem was the giant boulder.


    It was three, maybe four times as tall as Hua, and she was one of the tallest people in the group. It felt solid all the way through when she rapped her knuckles on it which explained why they hadn¡¯t just dragged it out of the hole it had made.


    Easy enough to solve.


    Liao Hua squared her stance and inhaled deeply. She held that breath and felt the Qi gathered in her dantian rotate. She released it and set it to flow. It was difficult as she hadn¡¯t gathered enough to fully saturate her spiritual channels, and that would only occur once all twelve meridians were unlocked. Sparks arced across the back of her hands as she focused on channelling her Qi.


    Zhen, the Thunder Trigram. Two parts yin, one party yang. The teachings of her clan and Liao Hua was a dutiful daughter.


    When her palm struck the boulder, it shook with the force of thunder. Thunder Palm, that is what some called it. Little more than a toy she¡¯d made to hopefully match her betters. Cracks radiated outward where her palm struck.


    She flowed through another step, her Qi moved by the motion of her arms and core, the way she twisted her hips, and sent her palm forward. Lightning sparking between her fingers. Thunder reverberated once more. The cracks deepened, widened. The boulder resembled a peeled orange before it was fully exposed.


    With one final assault, the third thunderous blow completely shattered what remained. Great chunks of stone were flung about. They hit the foolish mortals who hadn¡¯t thought to move away, but none of the chunks were any bigger than an arm.


    Now the road was cleared. Mortals would have to fill in the hole but luckily, they had an appropriate quantity of stone to do so.


    And as she looked at the sky, The Great Net of Heaven collapsed.