I opened my eyes, finding myself in my room. The smell of herbs was the first thing that I noticed, coming from the salves lathered upon my injuries underneath the bandages covering my right chest and arm. I tried to lift my arm, but found a sharp pain telling me not to push it. The tribulation had left a mark this time. Slowly seating myself upright, I tried to recall what I last remembered. A headache assailed me at the attempt, but the grogginess slowly washed away, and the memories came.
Right. Heavens. Chains. That was a lot.
I still did not understand what had happened. At the time, all I had been focused on was protecting the village from the heavens, everything else… it felt like a blur. Whatever it had been, it was powerful.
I looked around my room. It was nighttime, and the stars were slowly dancing across the sky as Lunar Qi… no, Lunar chi rose amidst the sky. Taizhou no longer had any Qi in it, or the presence of the Heavens above it. Standing up from my bed, I walked to the window to look out at the night sky.
I could see tribulation clouds in the distance, but the sky was clear above Taizhou, scant few clouds covered the night, with the moon bathing the world in its light. I could feel my connection to this place, stronger than ever before. The core of my spirit was connected to this land, and the things that lived within it. I looked at the grass swaying gently in front of me. I focused on my bond with the grass, and let my spirit mingle with it.
I could feel the grass, like a limb that was attached to my spirit. It was a part of me now. A new part, one I could harness if I so wished.
I tried to will the grass to sway, but it remained unmoving. I was doing this wrong, the tree in my spirit told me as much. I closed my eyes, and pictured the grass growing, focusing on every leaf, and every root. Once again, the chi did not move. Something was lacking here, and that thought stopped me.
Zhang’s aura pulled me out of my daze, and I turned to see the boy standing behind me.
“Brother Jie!” Zhang exclaimed, rushing closer. “Please sit down, you’re still injured,” the boy said, grasping my hand. I tried to tell him I felt fine, but his grip was unrelenting and I gave in, taking a seat on the bed. “Are you feeling well? Let me bring Granny Lang.”
“Zhang, don’t,” I said. “I’m alright, thank you. Don’t disturb their sleep.” I said with a smile.
“You were unconscious for three days, brother. Are you sure?” Zhang asked. His voice was filled with concern, and the sight made me smile.
“I’m sure. I feel alright, and I would rather not wake up the Granny needlessly. She may not show it, but age is catching up to her.”
Zhang frowned, before giving a quiet nod as he stepped back from the gate in acceptance.
“Three days, huh. The tribulations hit harder than I had thought.”
“We feared the worst. Granny said she could no longer sense your core,” Zhang said.
I paused. “My core? Why can’t you sense my core? It should be…” my words trailed off as I tried to reach out to my core, and found it missing from my abdomen. I froze, unsure of just what was happening. My core was missing? I reached out to Chi, and found it swirling around my fingers with no effort.
Zhang looked at me, the boy looking just as confused as I did.
“I don’t think I have a core anymore,” I told Zhang, not sure of what to make of my words. “Though I can use my Chi without any problems.”
“You walk a new Path. Perhaps this is merely another step forward,” Zhang said.
“Perhaps,” I replied.
Zhang looked at me for a long moment of silence. The boy seemed uncertain, and so I prodded him. “Do you want to say something?”
Zhang nodded. “You look troubled brother.”
“I did just defy the heavens,” I replied with a smile, trying to hide the uncertainty I felt. Zhang did not smile, and I found my facade breaking. I sighed. “I feel afraid. Things are moving fast, and there’s a lot happening that I don’t really understand. I wish I had someone to guide me, but I have to walk an entirely new Path of cultivation on my own, and figure out how it works. Then there are the people who wish to harm us, and the people of this village. And more so than ever, it is my responsibility to protect them,” I replied.
“We willingly choose to follow you, brother. Our wish is never to be a burden.”
“You’re not. But… never before in my life have my actions dictated how the lives of others will go. Never before was I responsible to secure the safety of not just one or two people, but an entire village. It is so easy to imagine myself standing bravely against danger, facing what enemy may come, but now that I truly have to, I find my resolve being tested, bending under the weight of who I must become,” I said, raising my eyes to meet Zhang’s.
“Truth be told, I’ve merely been throwing myself from one thing into the next. First alchemy, then my spirits, then the tournament, then the Lord. Even the beginning of my Path had been that; an escape, a way for me to cling to familiarity. If I was back home, I would not have made any grand changes. I would not have revolutionized the world. I walk on stolen ideals of people greater than who I pretend to be, but when the time comes, can I truly be the great person who people think I am?”
Zhang stood in silence, listening to my words. I felt pathetic, like I was moping around for nothing. I stopped, feeling my words die in my throat. Everything felt like a lie at this moment.
“Brother, do you know why I follow you?” Zhang asked.
I looked up at him for a moment, thinking of what to say, but found the truth slipping from my mouth. “Because you think you owe me. For Silverlight, and for healing your core.”
Zhang shook his head.
“I do owe you my life, and everything else. But that is not why I follow.”
“Then why?” I asked.
“Because you are like the sun. To me, to us, you bring light. It is not your knowledge, the Path you share, or any of those things. It is your nature, your kindness, your willingness to help those in need of help, and protect them from harm. In that, I see someone worthy of following,” Zhang said, walking closer as he put a hand on my shoulder. “I call you my brother, Lu Jie. And no matter what, I know I will stand by your side until the end.”
I stared at Zhang, before glancing down at my own hands. “I see. Thank you Zhang.”
Zhang nodded, stepping back, and I took a deep breath, before nodding. “I have something to do. Follow me.”
I made my way towards the open fields just outside the village and Zhang walked behind me silently, not asking any questions. Upon reaching a clearing that I thought was suitable, I stopped, taking a look around to make sure we were alone.
“Alright. It’s been some time since you had your breakthrough. Have you tested your new abilities?” I asked.
Zhang shook his head.
“I thought so. You’re too diligent in your work. You should spend more time being a little self-centered.”
Zhang looked at me, before bowing his head. “Brother, I’m your blade. The weapon you wield. My purpose is to protect you. With you injured, how could I rest?”
“But now I am here. So why not begin now?” I said, before pointing at a nearby boulder. “Say, could you make that float?”
Zhang looked at the boulder, frowning. A moment later, he walked closer to the boulder, and began to focus.
I watched his Chi flare. Unlike mine, his was a strange shade of purple and deep blue. A hue that shifted between the two as it surrounded him.
The pebbles and grass began to sway around him, as I saw little rocks rising up into the air. A purple aura reached outwards, as the boulder began to shift and shudder. Zhang frowned, as his Chi wavered. The boulder lifted itself slightly, rising in the air, before the Chi faded as gravity returned to normal.
“It is difficult, still,” Zhang replied, looking back at me. I gave a nod.
“When I was falling, you had jumped into the skies to catch me. How did you do that?” I asked.
Zhang paused. “I don’t know,” he replied. “I just… jumped, and I was there.”
“Then try doing it again. Imagine someone precious to you is being crushed underneath that boulder, and the only way to save them is to lift it.”
Giving me a nod, Zhang turned. Once again, Gravity Chi spread all around, and once again I saw the world stir. But unlike before, this time, the boulder didn’t stir.
“Think, Zhang. Picture it, someone trapped underneath there, perhaps Twilight got stuck and is crying for help, and only you are there to save her.”
Silently, I watched the Chi from around Zhang concentrate itself on the boulder. A breath passed, and another, before a purple aura covered the rock, and with a powerful shudder, the boulder was up in the air. Floating above the ground.
Zhang looked at the boulder, before turning towards me. “I did it.”
“You did it,” I said with a smile. “What was different this time?”
“Before, I had wanted to move the boulder, but I felt something resisting me, pulling it down. This time… all I wanted was to free whoever was stuck. And so instead of trying to pull it up, I decided to reduce what was keeping it there.”
“So you can alter gravitational fields. Fascinating,” I said. “Do you think you could do that to yourself and fly as well?” I asked.
“I can try,” Zhang replied.
Closing his eyes, the boy concentrated. I saw gravity Chi gather around him, covering him in a purple aura. Slowly, I watched Zhang rising in his step as pebbles and rocks began to flow upwards towards him. A moment later, he lifted into the sky, hovering there.
I whistled, watching Zhang hovering and losing balance as the clutches of gravity left him. “Stay focused!” I said.
“It feels… strange,” the boy said through clenched teeth.
“Yeah buddy, being weightless always does,” I replied. “Adapt to the sensation, embrace it. You are cutting your ties to the earth. And then, using that, rise into the skies.”
Zhang nodded, redoubling his efforts. The Chi around him flared as he raised further into the sky.
I watched him go higher and higher till he was a mere speck. I suspected he could touch the clouds if he wanted.
For a moment, I was worried if he would fall, but with how deftly he was moving in the skies, I suspected he would be fine.
My gaze came back down, and I looked around the world as a thought came to me. Could I fly as well? I had done it, during the tribulation. I did not truly understand how, but I had done it.
I reached out, remembering what Sheldon had taught me in my spirit core. Reaching out, I tried to raise myself into the air. A familiar sensation came, like what had happened when I had reached out to the grass. I could feel the world around me, it was there, ready to be grasped, and when I did, I would take to the skies, but every time I came close, something slipped by.
I tried to reach to my core, to draw strength from within, but found it empty like a mortal. I opened my eyes, feeling confused before I looked back up at Zhang in the skies.
“Looks fun,” I said, feeling a little frustrated at whatever changes had occurred. Unable to give up, I gave it another shot. Closing my eyes, I recalled Sheldon’s words. To sever my ties to the earth, and walk as if the air was my new ground.
Yet, when I tried to do so, nothing shifted. The whisper taunted me, telling me the answer was right there.
I opened my eyes, and sighed. The moon shone brightly in the sky. I watched Zhang flying freely like a child who’d been given wings. A smile hung on my lips and I couldn’t feel too bad about my failure at that sight.
Things were changing, but that may not be a bad thing after all.