Chapter 803 (Patreon)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1N_XxKGu6STZMnXoSDjNiZGawCYElM9yw_xl3JtCri4Q/edit?usp=sharing

Author’s note: No time for proper edits besides cursory spelling/grammar stuff. Stuff WILL change in release as there are details I intend to add, but no idea how much. Wait if that’s an issue, but otherwise, this is more or less the broad strokes.

The death of his Commander General laid this Sovereign’s immediate ambitions to rest, but not every trial and tribulation was meant to be overcome.

The foundation of civilization was built upon a bedrock of failure, a truth he understood well enough, but even a Sovereign as discerning as he was discouraged by so egregious a setback. Centuries of planning and preparation all gone to waste largely due to the efforts and actions of a single infuriating boy, one barely even two decades old and unpredictable to the extreme. Fury and hatred welled up from within, emotions he had long since learned how to keep in check, but what aggravated him the most was seeing the boy’s unmitigated delight. There he lay upon the battlements of Shi Bei, a wounded fledgling so feeble and fragile it would take little more than a thought to end his wretched existence, except the cost of doing so was more than what this Sovereign was willing to bear.

Vague and precarious though it might be, maintaining the Treaty proved more boon than burden to this Sovereign’s end goal, for he was not yet strong enough to directly contend with the Emperor outright, to say nothing of the various monstrous existences hiding in the shadows of the Supreme Families. An admission of weakness which brought him no shame or discontent, for the Imperial Clan came into existence several millennia ago and had been building its strength ever since. The only reason they cared not to deal with this Sovereign outright was because they found his efforts entertaining, the same game played on a new board with exotic and unfamiliar pieces. That and the fact that his allies saw to it that their enemies made no direct action against him, but this setback in Shi Bei might well turn his supporters against him. There were no eternal friends, only eternal interests, and the fact that this Sovereign was unable to ravage the outer provinces as promised meant his allies within the Supreme families were already re-evaluating his worth.

No matter though, for even if the Imperial Clan united against him, he was more than confident of evading death and capture so long as the Emperor himself did not deign to act. He wouldn’t, because to do so would present the Supreme Families with a chance to overthrow him themselves, meaning this Sovereign was safe from reprisal so long as he kept his wits about him.

All this and more flashed through his mind in the blink of an eye as he readied his plans for the immediate and distant future both, laying out the steps he intended to take over the next century and beyond. Though the battle in Shi Bei itself was not yet lost, there was no longer anything or anyone of value worth salvaging from this ruinous defeat. Bai Qi had been the most promising sapling of the bunch, and while there were a handful of other seedlings who might one day ascend to Divinity, this Sovereign no longer possessed the desire to nurture them. What use was there in saving a handful of pawns when the whole board was about to be overturned, for there was a benefit to be had in this most disastrous of defeats, one which would have wide-reaching consequences to be sure. It would take time to untangle the truths uncovered these last two years, but this Sovereign was in no short supply of time, and the benefits gleaned would more than outweigh the cost of failure here today.

And yet, even knowing all this and more, this Sovereign was still sorely tempted to throw caution to the wind and eliminate Falling Rain here and now, and not solely due to the boy’s latent potential.

It all started just over two years ago, when this promising young seedling foiled this Sovereign’s plot to annex the city of Sanshu and destabilize the North. Had his plans gone to fruition, then the city would have emerged ‘victorious’ against Butcher Bay’s Yo Ling with this Sovereign’s puppet in firm control, affording the Golden Highland’s Coalition the opportunity to deal a death blow to their competitors within the merchant council. Alas, all this was not meant to be as the actions of a single fledgling Warrant Officer forced Yo Ling to accelerate his plans and rush headlong into a disastrous death and defeat, while laying bare the corruption within the Merchant Council itself and leaving the city in control of the once impotent Magistrate who proved far more formidable than expected.

A most frustrating setback all things considered, especially in light of the Cloud Divinity’s interference preventing the savage tribal foreigners from breaking through the Northern Wall. This left him no choice but to abandon his plans to conquer the North and focus all his efforts on the West instead, where the Mataram Clan had all but seized control of the province long before his savages stepped foot beyond the Western Wall. As for the South, even centuries of planning were not enough to eke out a foothold in that most united of provinces, for their custom of venerating Spiritual Beasts made it all but impossible for this Sovereign’s puppets to rise to any position of high standing.

If this Sovereign were to do it all over again, he would raze Sanshu to the ground and annex Shen Mu instead, but how was he to know a single brat lacking hair on his chin would ruin all of his best laid plans? Sanshu was the far more valuable prize, the rice bowl of the North from which this Sovereign could destabilize the entire province and even affect portions of Central as well, whereas Shen Mu was merely a gateway to the Northern Wall and therefore the second line of defense to overcome. When choosing a city to test the weapon crafted by the Caston Trading Group, Shen Mu had been the obvious choice, yet history proved that this Sovereign’s path to victory would have been laid bare had he chosen to obliterate Sanshu instead.

For then Falling Rain would have undoubtedly died in the ensuing chaos before ever familiarizing himself with his Elemental Spirit, and taking the outer provinces would have been as easy as plucking over-ripe apples from a branch.

There was still fortune to be found in disaster yet, as this Sovereign had found Insight and Inspiration in studying the boy’s most recent advancements, to say nothing of the ideas and innovations he championed as Legate of the Outer Provinces. The weapons of war alone would keep the Imperial Clan occupied for at least another century or two, for if left unchecked, the crossbows, catapults, and cannons would lead to rebellion and revolutions as the masses rose up in revolt against their overbearing overlords. To make matters worse, the rediscovery of poured stone meant building new fortresses was merely a matter of weeks, rather than years, which was the very reason why knowledge of it had been suppressed in the first place. Granted, widespread cannons would soon render traditional fortress walls moot and ineffective, which would further serve this Sovereign well in the years to come, for civil unrest and bloody insurrection were breeding grounds for Spectres and Demons alike. The so-called Defiled were of limited use, but gather enough droplets of water and a river would form, and the collective peasants of the Empire were an ocean of potential just waiting to be exploited.

Already, this Sovereign had the working outlines of countless tests to conduct, ones which would continue to destabilize the outer provinces and further his understanding of his most recent discoveries. No matter how dreary or tedious arranging the tests might be, the mere prospect of uncovering new information filled him with anticipation and longing, rare sensations to be savoured and relished given his extensive experience. The boy called him an eight-hundred-year-old monster, but this Sovereign’s lifespan was better measured in millennia than centuries, a secret known only to one other entity in existence and a secret he would keep for so long as he lived. This Sovereign had done more than bear witness to the rise of the Azure Empire, and he would have a hand in its fall as well, a dream which had been delayed thanks to Falling Rain’s insufferable interference, but not by long for reasons much the same.

No matter though. Two steps forward and one step back was still progress in the end, and this Sovereign was nothing if not patient. Eager too, for Falling Rain’s Path enabled him to carry out feats once previously believed to require the attainment of half-step Divinity at the bare minimum, meaning that the very foundation of the Dao as the Empire understood it was considerably flawed at best. Even the so-called Sword King Ryo Dae Jung had only just touched upon the secrets of Sword Intent, yet young Falling Rain had already successfully merged it within his Manifested Domain to strike down Surkithry’s prized First Blade. Though admittedly a failure who had reached the pinnacle of his potential, the half-beast Junta had formed a bond with the Transcendent Spirit residing within his armour which brought him to the forefront of his peers in terms of defensive strength. Even a Peak Expert with the potential to reach Half-Step Divinity within a handful of years like Du Min Gyu had been unable to kill him, yet Falling Rain cut Junta down in an instant from three-hundred paces away, dealing a blow that neither half-beast nor Transcendent Spirit could sense or defend against.

So imagine what this Sovereign could do with only a hundred Falling Rains, true Cultivators of the Dao who wielded the power of Divinities without the restrictions set upon them by the Heavens above. A goal which would be all too easy to accomplish if he had the boy in hand, for the boy’s soul possessed the unique ability to meld flawlessly with another’s and form a connection to the Dao itself. Bestowing Blessings was but the least of what one could accomplish with Falling Rain in hand, for his soul could guide this Sovereign steps along the Path to find the true pinnacle of mortal strength, and perhaps even carry him further beyond.

These were merely the most valuable aspects of Falling Rain, to say nothing of his many seemingly miraculous discoveries of which there were almost too many to name. Honed Emotional Aura which he used to distract and dishearten, awakening Transcendent Spirits within his Spiritual Weapons which allowed them to attack and defend of their own volition, harnessing the Energy of the Heavens to guide the masses to Core Creation, the boy stumbled across answers to questions this Sovereign had once touched upon in the distant past. The foundational knowledge required to solve those problems had yet to be unearthed, so there was no sense digging aimlessly in hopes of striking gold, yet Falling Rain had done just that. This Sovereign would have counted himself lucky to have stumbled across success in any one of these areas over the last millennia, yet Falling Rain had accomplished all this and more with only a decade of practice. Without the benefit of guidance from his so-called patron no less, for contrary to what most believed, this Sovereign knew that even the Imperial Clan did not possess the answers provided by Falling Rain’s Path, meaning his progress had nothing to do with his Imperial Peerage whatsoever. No, if the Supreme Families had made such progress in his absence, then there would have been strife and chaos aplenty in the Eastern Province, but as far as this Sovereign could tell from his own sources and the schemes played out by the prospective heirs to the throne, the Imperial Clan was still bitterly embroiled in the same political infighting he'd left behind over eight-hundred years ago.

A battle against progress and innovation of all things, for those in power disliked change or any departure from the norm. As the saying went, better a bird in hand than two in the bush, so why make the effort to progress and risk being left behind? Such greed, such ignorance, to censure any and all developments which the Imperial Clan could not control, because they thought it better to wallow in mediocrity rather than aim for greater heights and risk crashing back down to the world below. They cared not for the glory of Heaven because they feared losing what they had on the earth below, like frogs sitting in a bucket and pretending it was a well because they were too afraid to venture beyond the confines of their current comfortable position.

Not this Sovereign however, but working apart from the Imperial Clan came at great cost, and not just personal. Though the true secret of his origins was known only by one other living being in existence, his methods and abilities were proof enough that his Path was part and parcel of the Imperial Clan. Rather than embark upon a new, untested, and likely inferior Path to hide his origins, he instead embraced them by hiding the truth with an all too obvious lie to keep others from looking too deeply into his persona as Zhen Shi the Uniter. To the outer provinces, he was a madman nicknamed ‘True Corpse’ who indulged in all manner of atrocities, but to the Imperial Clan, his name all but identified him as a disgraced Scion living in exile. A most useful cover, all things considered, given how the names of all banished exiles were struck from the record to hide the shame of the Imperial Clan, but it was not without its drawbacks. Even though this Sovereign was beyond the petty infighting of the Supreme Families, the ‘exiled’ Zhen Shi could hardly behave in so overbearing a manner lest it raise questions as to which of the Supreme Families was backing him and how much support they were willing to offer. In truth, even though they all suspected that he was a pawn of this family or the other, this Sovereign had no support from within the Imperial Clan. A fact one enterprising Imperial Scion discovered all too easily, leaving ‘Zhen Shi’ no choice but to make a show of fealty to his new ‘sponsor’ or throw away all pretenses and engage in a battle he was not yet ready to take.

A mummer’s farce is what it was, a show for the masses to make them truly believe the Imperial Clan was embroiled within this conflict, one which cost this Sovereign the lives of five Half-Step Divinity Wraiths. Killing Yang Jixing hardly required so valuable an assassin, one not easily replaced, and to make matters worse, this Sovereign had been unable to even see them at their full strength, for they’d been given express orders not to kill their half-step Divinity target lest the fury of the Grand Marshal and Liang Family both fall upon him. This was all after demanding his assistance in killing an Imperial Dharma Protector no less, a deed which should have left him in more than good standing with his newfangled Patron, but all he received was his new patron’s ‘magnanimous’ gratitude and a promise of support in the future should he ever wish to return to the Clan. Not as an Imperial Scion, but as an Oath-Bound slave, for they coveted his secrets and trusted him not one whit. A dilemma for which this Sovereign had no one to blame but himself, because he was still too weak to stand entirely apart from the five families and Imperial Clan, and could only be drawn into their games once more.

A game this Sovereign understood how to play better than even the Grand Marshal and Prime Minister both. The Supreme Families feared his half-step Divinity Wraiths would bring about an imbalance in power, and so they unanimously agreed to remove them from the board, for ‘Zhen Shi’s’ army could hardly be given free reign to run roughshod over the outer provinces. Had his half-step Divinity Wraiths not been discovered, this Sovereign could have used them to remove the most notable Peak Experts of the Imperial Army from the board and perhaps even a Divinity or two should they be caught unawares. The siege of Shi Bei would have played out quite differently if Chen Hongji, Situ Nian Zu, or Baatar succumbed to a Wraith’s blade soon after the first Imperial ship weighed anchor in a western harbour. Falling Rain might well have died too, though even now, this Sovereign was loathe to kill the boy outright, for his Path and actions represented a treasure trove of knowledge that would change everything regarding the Dao as the Imperial Clan saw it.

Which was why this Sovereign had risked it all by sending the Phantom to end the boy’s life.

A decision made against his better judgement, and not solely because it ended in failure, but because in the short time since, this Sovereign had already thought up a myriad of scenarios in which having the boy in hand would make his research so much easier. Alas, desire alone would not suffice for he lacked the strength to keep Falling Rain to himself, for the boy flew too high and shone too brightly. In a matter of hours, word of the boy’s exploits would reach the Emperor’s ears if they had not reached him already, for the Tian Family spies were everywhere and nothing if not his most loyal of subjects. Their obedience was born from necessity rather than actual devotion, for information was power and the Tian Family was by far the most powerful of all. The only reason the Emperor and the other four Families had yet to turn on the Tian Family was because they only ever traded in information and never acted upon it themselves, because they dared not reach beyond their demesne. The Tian Family Patriarchs of every generation fancied themselves the puppet masters of the Imperial Clan, but they were little more than grovelling dogs seeking shelter behind the boots of their master, the Emperor himself.

And now, their little birds were racing back to the Eastern Province to bring word of Falling Rain’s most recent exploits, most notably his ability to negate Heaven’s Wrath and enable a Divinity to strike with full strength without destroying their immediate surroundings and rendering it uninhabitable for centuries to come.

This Sovereign sent the Phantom to claim Falling Rain’s life in a moment of weakness. A desperate last act in hopes of killing the boy before his ability became widespread and rendered the Treaty null and void, for the fear of Heaven’s Wrath was the only thing keeping the Imperial Clan intact. Powerful though he might be, even the Emperor himself would be unable to keep the Supreme Families in check once their respective Divinities took to the field, for a being at the pinnacle of the mortal Path was capable of unleashing untold damage in the mere blink of an eye. So long as they cared not for the consequences, a single Divinity was more than enough to deal crippling damage to a Supreme Family, damage that would take decades, if not centuries to recover from. Then there were the ‘neutral’ Divinities to take into account, for though they lacked unity, they outnumbered the Divinities of the Empire by far, and might well splinter off into factions of their own to threaten the Emperor’s iron grip on the outer provinces.

Everything would soon change drastically for the worse once word of Falling Rain’s abilities spread, and to make matters worse, the boy had already taught his ability to the Old Wolf Calamity, an ancient Ancestral Beast with little to lose and strength enough to bring ruin to the entire Empire in a single night. Even this Sovereign would be reluctant to engage the Old Wolf in battle, to say nothing of the Cloud Divinity Taduk standing over Falling Rain, Healing the boy’s injuries while scanning the deserts of Shi Bei in search of this Sovereign’s location. Beneath the Medical Saint’s distracted, absent-minded façade lay a predator through and through, one who saw Falling Rain as his own flesh and blood and hungered for vengeance and retribution for what this Sovereign had done. There were five other Divinities standing alongside them, each one formidable enough in their own right, and while this Sovereign was more than capable of handling any one of them on their own, he lacked the confidence to escape unscathed once they joined hands against him.

Burning rage and bitter indignation welled up from within, and this Sovereign took a moment to allow his emotions to wash over him. Oh how he yearned to strike the boy down, or better yet, mark his loved ones for death and laugh as his wives, parents, siblings, and comrades died one by one by one. That was the key to tormenting the boy, a truth this Sovereign learned firsthand after crafting a lifetime of nightmares for him within the landscape bordering the Void and Falling Rain’s Natal Palace. Even this Sovereign dared not claim to understand the facts as they were, for he only knew that dreams and nightmares transpired within a realm that transcended the boundaries of the mind and soul both, one in which he could exert influence upon the minds of mortals without trespassing upon their Domain.

And despite inflicting all manner of pain and suffering upon the boy within this nightmarish landscape, this Sovereign had been unable to break him. Instead, it was the death of his loved ones which broke Falling Rain in the end, and this Sovereign yearned to see the boy suffer in reality and break down once again. How sweet it would be to take his hand and force him to flay his father’s hide, or force his comrades to take up blunt arms against one another and fight to a slow and arduous death. Though this Sovereign no longer craved the desires of flesh, he ached to see the boy’s rage and despair as he set all manner of brutes and beasts upon Falling Rain’s sister, mother, and wives, a show to be captured in memory and replayed time and time again within the boy’s mind. Once the boy’s loved ones were dead and gone, only then would this Sovereign press his blade to the boy’s flesh to show him the full breadth of ‘Zhen Shi’s’ abilities, ones which had been perfected over eight centuries of trial and error.

And when Falling Rain’s flesh could withstand no more, this Sovereign would claim his soul and store it within the golden robes of his Natal Palace, trapping it as he trapped the Spectres and tormented them without end.

Alas, all this would forever remain a dream and dream alone, for this Sovereign was no longer able to bear the price of keeping the boy alive. Killing him was also not worth it in the end, but still possible even with the Cloud Divinity standing guard. It would be as easy as turning a hand for this Sovereign so long as he was willing to pay the price, but that would entail wholly abandoning everything he’d accomplished in the last eight centuries since taking up the mantle of ‘Zhen Shi’. There was still much to be salvaged from the outer provinces, not just here in the West, but should he reveal himself to strike down the insolent whelp then he would have no choice but to flee and hide for decades, if not centuries, to escape the Cloud Divinity’s reprisal. Young though he might be, this Sovereign suspected the half-hare was capable of becoming a calamity unto himself, especially given his superb mastery of his Blessing to summon the rain and winds as he pleased. Thus far, the Cloud Divinity had only used his Blessing to passively support the Imperial Army while hindering the Defiled in an effort to skirt the Treaty, but none of that would matter if Falling Rain died by this Sovereign’s hand.

And yet, even after tallying the costs and assessing the grave risks, this Sovereign was sorely tempted to act, and would have if cold logic did not dictate otherwise. Such was his Path to Balance, to indulge emotion but act only on logic alone, the Razor’s Edge he kept to for the last eight-centuries of life, and he would not deviate from it now, not when he was so close to success. Though marred by repeated failures, this foray into the Western Province proved most fruitful for this Sovereign and well worth the cost so long as he put his remaining resources to good use. Capturing Falling Rain was impossible, and killing him a waste, for the Supreme Families and Emperor both would want the boy for themselves, meaning there was no need for this Sovereign to take direct action against him. The Liang Family would undoubtedly want to monopolize Falling Rain and had already taken several steps to do so, including introducing him to his future wife who would more firmly bind him to the Family than a mere Imperial Servant. How unfortunate for them that their investment would bear no fruit, because Falling Rain was a prize too valuable to keep to themselves. The other four Supreme Families would never stand for it, nor would the Emperor himself, though this Sovereign suspected the Emperor had other plans.

Because Falling Rain was a prize well-worth abandoning the Empire itself.

Yes, this Sovereign could already see the moves being played out on the board, as four Supreme Families joined hands with the Emperor to take down the Liangs, while the Grand Marshal gathered his best and brightest to ensure they escaped with Falling Rain in hand. So long as they were able to uncover the secrets of his strength, then the prospect of vengeance in the future would never be far from hand. From there, it would become a race against time, one in which this Sovereign wholly expected to emerge victorious, for even without the boy in hand, he already had a sizable lead, one which would only grow larger once he took the next step here in Shi Bei.

All this and more passed through this Sovereign’s mind in less time than it took to blink an eye, thousands upon thousands of threads of thoughts weaving together to form a tapestry of intent which would guide his next actions, one he witnessed from within his Natal Palace while in union with his body, mind, and soul. This was a pivotal moment within his Path, one which surpassed even his ascension to false Divinity some eight centuries ago and his unification with a Transcendent five centuries after. Both of those steps had been a mistake, this Sovereign saw this now, but after a thorough study of Falling Rain’s Path and witnessing the birth of a Transcendent Divinity in Meng Sha, he had all the answers he needed to set himself back upon the correct Path. The resources too, for the siege of Shi Bei saw the greatest gathering of Defiled forces and no small number of Imperial soldiers too, with millions upon millions of them dying in the last fifteen days. There was an energy to death, one which stood opposite to the power of life, and this Sovereign’s Transcendents had been gathering the death energies in Shi Bei, energies he would now make use of to take the next step.

Whether it be the energy of life or death, neither one was wholly understood by anyone under Heaven, but if this Sovereign declared himself to be the second foremost expert on the energies of life and death, then no one would dare claim themselves the first, not even the specialists of the Di Family who toiled day and night to turn corpses into fertilizer and grow the necessary Spiritual Crops need to sustain the Martial Warriors of the Imperial Clan. It was this mastery with which he used to bond his frail mortal flesh with the timeless physique of a Transcendent, a dark, chitinous scorpion shaped creature that was full of fury and hatred. A seemingly prudent move at the time, for his flesh had reached the end of its days and starting anew in a different shell would have been tedious and time-consuming. It was always disorienting to take over a new host, and he would require care and protection for at least a decade as he grew from infant to adulthood while dedicating time to lay the foundation required to become a Divinity once more. If only it was possible to skip ahead and take over a fully grown human adult, but souls were eternal existences and not so easily overcome even when impaired by a newborn’s mind and body supporting it. Despite luring Falling Rain’s soul away from his mind and body and trapping it within this Sovereign’s Natal Palace, he’d been unable to keep the boy’s soul from escaping, and it would have been even worse if the boy challenged him for control of his Natal Throne. This Sovereign would have emerged victorious without a doubt, for a contest of Wills within his Domain was hardly fair for the challenger, but even then, victory would not have come without cost.

If only the boy’s soul had remained distracted for a little longer yet, because a soul was far less formidable without a mind and body bound to it…

Alas, there was no cure for regret, and no benefit to be found in second-guessing past decisions, so this Sovereign focused on the present and future instead. Today, here in Shi Bei, he would leave behind the trappings of mortal flesh and Transcendent graft to be reborn anew, but first he needed to prepare the energy required to do so. The Transcendent Divinity in Meng Sha had drawn upon the raw Energies of the Heavens to reshape its physical form, one which melded body, mind, and soul into a singular sublime vessel that could only be described as perfection itself. Not perfection in beauty, but perfection in utility, flawed and limited only because it had been built upon a crumbling foundation of broken faith and wild emotion. That would not be the case here, for though this Sovereign’s decisions had been guided by desperation, his actions were based in cold logic alone. This meant taking the necessary risk of forging ahead on this new Path before further study, because if he were to delay now, then it would be centuries before a second opportunity presented itself, centuries he could ill-afford to wait. Better to risk a flawed approach and commit to fixing his errors in the future so he could seize the upper hand for now. This would be his only advantage once the Imperial Clan got a hold of Falling Rain, the head start this Sovereign would need to stay ahead of the Emperor and one day topple him from his throne.

A lofty goal to hold onto, one which might well be millennia away for now, but a journey of a thousand leagues begins with but a single step, and this Sovereign was ready to take his.

Tapping into the Spirits trapped within his golden robes, this Sovereign gauged the reserves of energy gathered by his Transcendent puppets and hoped it was enough for his purposes. Without the ability to measure Energy in all its different forms, this Sovereign had been unable to determine just how much he would need to complete his transformation. What he possessed appeared to be enough considering it seemed like more than what was used in the Transcendent Divinity’s ascension, but that had been a flawed transformation in the end, meaning this Sovereign might well require more. For this reason, he continued to watch and wait as news of Bai Qi’s death spread across all of Shi Bei, a grievous blow to the morale of even the most crazed tribal or devout Chosen. It was so alarming that even this Sovereign’s first Disciple saw fit to contact him, but rather than give YuKon permission to withdraw his Clan from the fray, he commanded his Disciple to have the Mataram clansmen fight to the last, for their deaths would further his cause.

This Sovereign passed along the same order to every Chieftain, Champion, and Chosen Officer still standing, using his shackled Transcendents as intermediaries to avoid being discovered. His expectations were low to begin with, but even then, his ‘conquering’ army managed to disappoint him as swathes of his soldiers sought to flee the battlefield, setting off a concatenation of events that resulted in a full-blown rout. Not the worst outcome, but far from the best, and this Sovereign could only console himself with the fact that Falling Rain was a bloodthirsty young man who jumped at the opportunity to run his enemies down from behind. Credit where it was due, Hongji’s cavalry forces were mounted and readied even before the order was given, for the brilliant tactician had seen the writing on the wall and knew well what to do with it. Horses streamed out from the gates alongside a multitude of other diverse mounts, mostly rhinos and roosequins with a smattering of elephants and cattle and the odd bird, lizard, or what have you sprinkled alongside them. The death toll already numbered in the millions and continued to climb as the Imperial cavalry ran roughshod over their fleeing foes, and this Sovereign allowed himself a moment to taste the heady bloodlust and vulgar carnality which grew thick in the air. More evidence of the link between life and death, for in the process of dealing death, these Imperial Warriors were driven by their instincts to create life as well, to fornicate and procreate in order to sustain the necessary Balance required of them.

Everything came back to Balance, a verifiable truth which helped rein this Sovereign’s own desires back in. Though he’d long since divested himself of such urges, he would be lying if he claimed to not miss the indulgence. A flash of Insight accompanied this seemingly inconsequential acknowledgement, one which brought him even closer to the Truth, for an emotion unexpressed would remain rooted in body, mind, and soul, only to be expressed in another, possibly detrimental manner. Better to retain the ability to express such urges and indulge within reason, which changed so much of what he had planned regarding his next step, so he took the time to reconfigure his Intent to better match his new vision.

It took longer than he expected, but in reality, less than a handful of minutes had passed, and the battlefield of Shi Bei was looking sparse and ruined indeed. The bulk of this Sovereign’s forces were well on their way past the horizon, while the Imperial cavalry was already circling about to deal with the stragglers left behind, as well as those Defiled who were too crazed or stupid to flee. A resounding Imperial victory all things considered, and this Sovereign could only begrudgingly admit admiration for his foes. Not just the outlier and anomaly Falling Rain, but those who supported him as well, like Chen Hongji, Situ Nian Zu, Akanai, and so many others who shouldered the weight of the Heavens and bought the boy enough time to bring yet another miracle into existence.

But even as the Imperial Army raised their voices in celebration, this Sovereign’s lips parted in a smile as he committed to the next step. The Energies of the Heavens surged and kicked like a wild stallion unwilling to be mounted, but he had no use for it just yet and tapped into the vast reserves of death energy held by his army of enslaved Transcendents instead. With their souls shackled within his Natal Palace acting as a conduit, he drew upon everything they’d collected in these past fifteen days and more to fuel his impending ascension, one which would surpass the ascension of a Transcendent Divinity and bring this Sovereign to the pinnacle of mortal strength. Time was a luxury he could ill-afford, but he acted with care and deliberation before proceeding with each and every action. As he broke down his mortal flesh alongside the grafted Transcendent, he let loose a scream of agony unlike anything ever heard before, for this was a pain that went beyond the mere activation of nerves and delved into the workings of the soul itself. Body, mind, and soul came together as he wove the material and immaterial into one, doing away with everything he’d built upon his flawed foundation and reducing himself to something weaker than a babe and less than a basic commoner.

Then, and only then, did he bring down the barriers between his soul and the Void, and for the first time in untold millennia, this Sovereign knew fear as the Spectres poured into his Natal Palace and to devour everything within his Domain.

They’d been waiting there all along, hungry and eager for a taste of him, for he had kept them in check for far too long. Where the Imperial Clan and outer provinces saw the Spectres as a plague upon humanity, this Sovereign saw the potential hiding within. Disincarnate shards of severed souls, poisoned by Imbalance of emotion, the Spectres were capable of driving weak-willed mortals to madness, but poison and medicine often differed only by dosage. Alongside this poison came a connection to the Heavens themselves, and this Sovereign used that connection to forge ever forward along his Path. Even though his initial premise had been flawed, not all his subsequent conclusions were erroneous and unusable, and it was this knowledge which brought him to the cusp of his next step. Balance in all things, but this Sovereign had long since noted that Balance was kept in check by extremes. Just as a forest fire cleared out old growth to make room for the new, an excess of Imbalance could bring about a return to Balance. That was why the Defiled indulged in bouts of murderous debauchery, because they were driven to their limits by the Spectres plaguing them, so that they might find Balance in the only way they knew how. Balance through Imbalance, life found in death, dominance through submission, and surrender in true victory.

Alas, few possessed the strength of will to remain true to themselves whilst approaching the limits of human emotion. None thus far in all of human history, in fact, save for this Sovereign himself, as he would soon prove to the world and to himself.

The deluge of death energy was accompanied by a torrent of negative emotion as countless Spectres crashed into his soul and sought to tear him apart for succor. There he sat upon his Natal Throne, clad in his flowing golden robes like an Emperor in truth as the waves of emotions crashed into his psyche and threatened to capsize him beneath their dark intents, but he held the course and emerged from each wave stronger and more determined than before. The waves hammered into him and washed away the impurities of his body, mind, and soul, for they were all linked as one and inseparable from the whole. Every blow hammered into him and moulded his existence into a singular mass of thoughts, experiences, and emotions, a blank canvas upon which he would paint perfection to mark his first step along his new Path.

And when all was said and done, only a handful of seconds had passed, but as this Sovereign opened its new eyes to gaze upon the smooth, pale flesh of its unmarred body, they let loose with a laugh that rang all across Shi Bei and far across the desert sands. This body was perfection itself, not just in appearance, but in function as well, a finely-tuned construct powerful enough to contend with a Divinity using pure muscle alone. Beauty was subjective, but this body was without flaw and its features fully symmetric, resulting in an appearance that many would find attractive. At first glance, most would find it difficult to determine if this form was male or female by appearance, for its bald head and androgenous features were appealing to both genders. Though it did not go as far as to give himself breasts, it included the sexual organs of both men and women so as to better experience all the pleasures that life had to offer, an easy enough choice on its part given how it had taken over the bodies of both genders before.

An indulgence for a different day however, a thought which this Sovereign placed aside as it rose through the sands and emerged within the city itself. Its arrival did not go unnoticed and it took great pleasure in the reactions of all who gazed upon perfection itself, with most showing signs of both revulsion and captivation both as their feeble minds struggled to comprehend what they saw before them.

For it was not beauty or attraction which drew their eyes to him so, but the unconscious acceptance of this Sovereign’s superiority. Though still falling far short of a true Divinity, this Sovereign would soon ascend beyond the limits of a mere mortal, and thus, was best described as an unearthly immortal, the very first of its kind in all history.

And as this Sovereign laid eyes upon its most hated foe, it considered its newfangled strength and re-calculated the odds in record time to discover that perhaps stealing Falling Rain away would not be so impossible a feat. As an Immortal, he not only had access to the raw Energy of the Heavens as a Divinity would, but he also discovered that there was even more to the world than he previously understood, a higher power that went beyond even the Energy of the Heavens. This was Immortal Energy, something this Sovereign could only just barely perceive and lacked the ability to control, yet knowing it was there was more than enough. A vast reservoir of untouched potential, that’s what this Immortal Energy represented, the same energies which Falling Rain used to turn shards of his severed soul into an elixir for others.

An ability this Sovereign could eventually replicate, but why pay the cost when it could use Falling Rain’s soul instead? Who could stop him? No Treaty could constrain an Immortal, and in time, this Sovereign was confident of bringing even the Emperor himself to his knees, all in a matter of centuries, or perhaps even decades given how much improved this Sovereign’s mind and soul had become. The decision made, this Sovereign reached out to take Falling Rain in hand, only to draw back on instinct to catch a sword in mid-flight. Mere millimetres more and it would have driven itself into this Sovereign’s eye, an area of weakness even this Immortal body could not avoid, and it was curious if the boy had specifically chosen this target based on logic or instinct.

No matter though. Following on the heels of the boy’s attack was none other than the Old Wolf Calamity himself, and this Sovereign was eager to see how this newfangled body would hold up. So what if one of them lost control and brought Heaven’s Wrath down upon them? Much like the Old Wolf, this Sovereign no longer had anything to lose, and so much to gain from a conflict now that its forces were scattered to the winds. After today, this Sovereign would no longer be constrained by the red dust of the mortal world, for its sights were set far beyond.

Life and Death were only the beginning, and this Sovereign was eager to see what came next, just as soon as the Imperial Divinities in Shi Bei were dealt with and Falling Rain secured in hand.

Chapter Meme

Author’s note: Will probably get rid of the male and female sex organ bit. I felt like it overshadows the Uniter as a character, because that’s really all anything people will remember. Just didn’t have time to actually, yanno… write it.