[MA] 400. A Song (Patreon)

Previous Chapter — Table of Contents — Next Chapter

[A/N: Four hundred chapters! \o/

How about a Q&A to celebrate? Ask anything you want to know in the comments section of this or the next chapter. I'll pick some questions and answer them later this week.

I'll obviously avoid spoilers, but this is a great time to ask about that thing that has been bothering you for a while.

Chapters this week: 5/6 (3 of which are late chapters)

Late chapters: 1

Next chapter: In a few minutes]

‎ ‎ 

Shen glanced at E'livia, but she only had eyes for her father. The scene scratched something in his mind, but he couldn't tell why. He only knew that the lack of memories of his family suddenly greatly bothered him.

He turned to E'forion and said, "First and foremost, I need a weapon." He raised his broken piece of wood. "A spear. C+ tier with at least one of my Laws, if possible."

E'forion smiled weakly and awkwardly. "The Gardener Sect only sells raw resources to those who don't belong—"

"Direct him to the local Armory," E'lemer interrupted. "I'll send them a message to treat the Outsider like a sect member. I won't have anyone claim I'm making things unfair for the one I asked an Honor Duel from."

Shen would be lying if he said he didn't appreciate E'lemer's uprightness. Even if the man wanted Shen away from his daughter, Shen was thankful for him. E'lemer had stopped Shen from killing someone who tried to kill him first, then conscripted Shen, but it was all within the boundaries of the Gardener Sect's rules. Sure, the high-purity crystals for E'livia's attack were also part of the rules, but being this helpful for the "favor" of Shen forgiving the girl was all on E'lemer.

"You're a good man, Senior E'lemer," Shen said, cupping his fists before himself and bowing deeply. "This junior hopes you survive."

The strong were owed general respect, but there was also the respect one earned for who they were and what they did. E'lemer had just entered Shen's list of people he personally respected.

E'lemer nodded back and promptly ignored Shen, returning to reassuring his daughter he would be okay.

"This way," E'forion said and flew ahead.

Shen followed. The young holin's soul had already been erratic from the moment he started crying, and it only got more confused when his father told him to bring Shen to the Armory. This was evidently a special privilege rarely given to non-sect members.

In fact, the "patheon" comparison made a lot of sense. These people behaved as if they were some sort of divine caste to whom the world owed everything. Only E'lemer had been reasonable until now.

E'forion and Shen went to one of the "simplest" doorframes, but it was impressive in its own way. It was made of a B+ alloy that looked like silver but had been shaped as if by a guy who didn't care for doing it. It was vaguely rectangular and merely the size of a large door despite occupying a large aisle. As with all frames, flower roots had grown at one side and mixed at the top to write the portal's destination in the local language.

E'forion landed before it and went through. Crossing the doorframe's threshold was like going through an invisible wall. He disappeared, and Shen followed.

He felt nothing as his body touched the doorframe. The portal seamlessly allowed him to access the other side as if it wasn't twisting spacetime.

Shen arrived at a vast circular platform floating on an endless blue sky. He was on the edge and could see nothing below or above. This might be another world or just an enchanted place. His Law Vision and senses weren't enough to pierce through the location's truth.

E'forion was nowhere to be found.

A single female holin sat crosslegged in the air in the middle of the platform. Her eyes were closed, and her Path and qi were hidden from Shen, but only an idiot wouldn't recognize her for what she was: an A-rank. She settled differently in the world. She seemed to bleed into it, or be embraced by it, or something. It was unlike anyone else Shen recalled having ever seen.

She was also the most unique holin he had seen. Her head was shaved and her clothes weren't superimposed pieces of cloth, but a blue robe that fluttered in the non-existent wind. Her face didn't hold a candle to E'livia, which either meant the latter was that breathtaking or this A-rank didn't care about looks. It wasn't that he looked to be in her late forties, but the lack of "etherealness" to her. She had no enamel pin, but unless an A-rank could infiltrate the Gardener Sect, she should be a high-level member.

She opened her deep green eyes almost as soon as Shen looked at her. Their gazes met each other.

It felt like a wall slamming on his soul.

Then, the Heavenly Lightning awoke and covered his whole existence, protecting him. The holin raised a platinum-colored eyebrow but didn't look offended.

"Do my eyes misguide me, or do I spot one of those after so long?" Her voice was beautiful without being ethereal. "Approach, child, and be forged." She uncrossed her legs and stood up.

Now, Shen didn't find her nearly as attractive as E'livia. He also greatly disliked being so much weaker than the A-rank. Yet, her rawness called to him in a way E'livia's physical perfection couldn't. This older woman felt real and solid in a way the younger holin would take ages to maybe accomplish.

She chuckled as soon as he had that thought. "Foolish child. Adore not the battle others won, but the kinship formed through the bond of communal war." She paused, then smiled kindly. "Speaking to the current age's sensibilities doesn't come easy to me." The woman had mistaken Shen's embarrassment for confusion. "Let me rephrase my attempt at imparting wisdom. You're young; therefore, elope with another youngling. The relationship you shall form through facing the world together matters much more than finding anyone who might perfectly fit your tastes."

Shen's embarrassment only grew. He didn't even know why, but being caught in the act and reprimanded like that made him feel the weight of his youth and foolishness.

She chuckled again. "Come, now, before E'forion's anxiety leads him to seek E'lumer. My son is wise, but his love for my granddaughter blinds him to the truth presently trying to slap him on his face. I shall assist you."

Shen finally got his bearings together, cupped his hands, and bowed deeply to the A-rank. "Junior Shen pays respect to Exalted Senior," he said.

Knowing the woman was a grandmother dampened his interest in her. It took him a while to pinpoint why: her life experiences as a grandmother put an abyss between them, setting them too far apart. He didn't think he would feel that strong about someone who was only a mother, but only if she was as young as him. The old lady had spoken some sense, though he still had to think about it.

She didn't tell him to approach again. Instead, she was suddenly beside him, holding his forearm.

She said, "The Heavenly Selection shall make this more challenging, as shall your own currently fluid nature. I feel... An Anti-Law about Boundaries. Why do you hate Order so, Child of Chaos? I cannot work with that. The Heavens would take it as too much interference. Stream? Your existence is not this seamless. Gentle Breeze has been growing on you, has it not? As good a candidate as any, I suppose..."

"What are you doing?" Shen asked. Evidently, she was assessing his Path's Laws. Why, though?

Once more, she chuckled. "Oh, to be young and so full of time. Ask the right questions, child. Don't waste this opportunity. Extremity is almost removed from your Path after your latest change; it surprises me to see you still sticking to it. Shaft. Hmm. Interesting. Such a surety on yourself despite all else. A good option."

Shen understood she wouldn't talk about anything she didn't want to, so he changed his question as ordered. "Why do you call a Heavenly Tribulation a Selection?"

Her answer was a song.

The metric made no sense in any language Shen knew, yet it was absurdly incredible in the language she used. He couldn't understand a single word, yet they resonated with something in Reality, and the meaning was instinctively given to him.

"You punish the evil,

You reward the just,

I deem you unfair,

Oh, Heavens Eternal.

I seek the Supremacy

And Will my vision be True,

I perseverate my Path,

I clad myself in me.

To upheaval the Law

And remake the False,

To prove myself,

I Walk.

To be you

Shall be

To be me;

I Ascend."

She became silent for a long while after singing. Shen didn't know what was so special about those lyrics that Reality itself seemed to have imbued their meaning to his mind. The song was simple, almost silly. It was nothing more than what any cultivator knew: to cultivate was to challenge the Heavens.

The woman said, at last, "I adapted the words to your sensibilities, but it sufficed for Reality. Did you enjoy it?"

"It was... Inspiring." Shen didn't want to lie to an A-rank, but he also didn't want to tell an A-rank he didn't like what they had just sung.

She chuckled. "Not a bad way to describe it. It's a nugget of wisdom from the Age of Remembrance. We used to call it the Covenant of the False Walker. It reminds us of who we are."

"Cultivators?" Shen risked.

She shook her head. "No, Shen. You're Reality itself—simultaneously less than you seek to be and more than you understand. The Heavens, you, and I are one. Contrary to popular belief, the Heavens have no reason to stop you from growing and replacing all that is—not at the Heavens' core. You're Reality, too, and Reality is Change. One day, someone shall impose their Will upon all that is, and Reality shall bow.

"At the same time, everyone else would become very upset if they weren't the ones who changed Reality into their image. They are also Reality, are they not?

"In the clash of egos and convictions born from the multiple perceptions of what Reality is and should be, a Path was established. Shortcuts were blocked and punished. The worthy were given a way forward. Cultivation and tribulations came to be.

"Cultivation is both complex and simple; tribulations serve both multiple and a single purpose: to filter out the unworthy. The Final Selection is once more upon us, and the Collective Reality of those left behind seeks to stop the leaders... Ah, I digress. That is a talk for after you recover your memories."

Shen reflected on her words. It made some sense. Indeed, if he was also Reality, why would Reality stop him from growing? Wouldn't his eventual supremacy merely be proof that he was the superior option rather than the current model?

Only other parts of Reality would be against that: the Laws that define and confine everyone within them. Shen had been told those Axioms had birthed a sort of Sentience that everyone called the Heavens. It didn't want others to crush it.

But what if that Sentience didn't have a Will of its own—which was theoretically a requirement to form a Sentience? What if the Heavens didn't have ego or sought self-preservation like Shen always thought? What if, instead, that ego was the collective egos of every living being, each and everyone egotistically trying to stop the others from reaching a height they, themselves, believed only they deserved? What if the Heavens were an unconscious hivemind barely controlled by Reality's Will to simply be? What if the "example" it received from the Axioms, as the latter defined their Laws together, was all the logic and cause-effect that held the rules of the Heavens together?

Shen's worldview was shattered.

He had no reason to trust the woman, but her words made sense in hindsight. They explained so much. The lack of focus the Heavens seemed to have sometimes... The extreme focus it seemed to have other times...

The Path to Supremacy, which everyone wanted to walk, was regulated but kept open. What everyone, together, saw as a cheat or threat was dealt with. 

Weights and countermeasures were decided in a hidden hivemind style, and certainly, those S-ranks with ridiculously strong willpower had a lot more say in said hivemind than anyone else.

The holin gave Shen a few silent moments, then sighed and said, "I seem to have underestimated this Selection's hold over your willpower. You cannot withstand another perspective-shifting lesson and survive this Selection. As such, I shall no longer entertain your questions.

"Back to the matter at hand, I refuse to give you a weapon with Killing Weapon for its core. Weapons can also protect without killing, an understanding you shall never have if I lead you astray with such a murderous tool. Conductivity is considerably more suitable for you than Gentle Breeze, which it shall place. I'd pick Conductivity if I were you, but I've learned my lesson. You shall have your two options.

"Thus, I bind you to choose: would you rather have Conductivity or Shaft as your spear's core Law?"

‎ ‎ 

Previous Chapter — Table of Contents — Next Chapter