Chapter 3 – The Royal Decree

  Diyuan and Yunya continued to weave through the labyrinth hallways in silence. It was strangely novel for him, the feeling he got when she walked by his side. Not of romance, but of shared duty and conviction. It was nice. Not that he would tell her that.

  “Huh, you really did memorize this maze. Looks like we’re going the right way,” Yunya said.

  Diyuan turned to look at her and saw that she had taken out a compass. He recognized it right away as a rune device—a forged item that had some runes or markings that gave it a single effect that can be used by anyone. No blood attunement required like with a spirit artifact.

  “You had a compass that can guide you to the exit?” Diyuan asked.

  “Yep. It traces back my steps for up to 10 hours. Don’t take it from me though; it’ll reset if you do.” She was peering at the compass, watching the needle move as they turned down the hallway. The blood from her self-inflicted wounds still seeped a little. He’ll give her a healing pill once they were near the exit.

  “So that was why you didn’t memorize the labyrinth’s path when I asked you earlier,” Diyuan said. “And here I thought you were just stumbling about.”

  Her eyes flickered and she smiled sheepishly. “Uh…yup!”

  Not long after, they reached the final hallway where the portal rift out of the pocket world resided. It shimmered and hummed a gentle tone. They couldn’t see outside and the outside world couldn’t see within.

  “Let’s pause here,” Diyuan said as he gave her a healing pill. “Absorb this, Yun Yun.” He also took out another silencer talisman, which created a space around them where sound couldn’t leak.

  Yunya sat lotus style after swallowing the pill. “So, what happens now?”

  “We can’t let them get even a glimpse of the heavenly jade tablet. I’ll probably call for Ancestor to come—er, the patriarch; that’s the safest thing to do right out of the gate.”

  “The patriarch!?” She was taken aback. “How in the world will you do that? Is that something you can do?”

  “I’ll use my Royal Decree,” he said casually. “You might have heard about it.”

  “Of course I’ve heard about it.” She kept her posture as she continued to absorb the pill within, but she looked like she wanted to throw her hands up. “When you asked me what you were famous for…to be honest, this is the reason you’re actually famous, but I knew it wasn’t the answer you were looking for. Atmosphere and all that. When people heard the patriarch gave you a Royal Decree, everyone started talking about who they would kill if they had one too.”

  “Kill? What? What do you think the Royal Decree does?”

  “Isn’t it the ability to break any law and get away with it?” She asked innocently.

  “Well, that’s a vast underselling of the highest authority in the clan if I’ve ever heard one,” Diyuan said. “Though, it can do that.”

  She nodded. “Yeah, I picked this girl from a rival family. Completely annoying.” Yunya paused for a moment. “As a joke, of course.”

  Diyuan sighed. He started thinking about the things that needed to happen when they stepped outside. He also needed to Yunya to play her part, or one lack thereof, without causing issues. Which meant he needed to fill her on the plan he was making.

  “The Royal Decree lets me make any command at the highest level. It’s something that even Ancestor needs to obey. I’ll ask Old Man Yifan to call him over. The public perception I’m going to give is me being a young and prideful youth that got insulted while I was in here. I’ll argue that the other clans won’t give us face so I refuse to follow the treaty. Ancestor is my big backup to show the greatest of faces, which will show everyone that I’m being immature and used the Royal Decree unwisely.” He thought it through for a bit and nodded. “As for you, try to stay silent the entire time. In fact, from this point on, don’t talk about the events that happened here unless I’m with you.”

  “Got it,” she said. “But I have to ask—since you were the one that said it, not me—but you’re right that you’re…I don’t know…you know, we’re both 16 years old… Why does a 16-year-old have something as important as a Royal Decree?” She met his eyes. She knew that he got it from executing his brother, but that alone wasn’t a good enough reason to obtain something like the Royal Decree.

  “If you think that’s bad, wait until you put it into a cultivator’s context.” Diyuan smiled. “A normal non-cultivator lives up to around 100 years max, yeah? A cultivator at level 5 Dharma can live up to 1,000 years old. So if we translate a cultivator’s lifespan to a non-cultivator, by simple division of 10, we’re both essentially one and a half years old.”

  Her face scrunched in deep thought. “So. My mother was 3 years old when she had me.” She gave Diyuan a serious look. “Who do I report this to?”

  They both shared a brief laugh. Diyuan ruffled his hair with his hand. If he was being honest, he didn’t know why the Zhengyi patriarch gave it to him. Yeah sure, he earned it after executing his brother, but it wasn’t just once or twice Diyuan overheard people talking about how he shouldn’t have received such a reward. He told himself it’s because his ancestor thought he was trustworthy with it, but that didn’t sound right no matter how much he wanted to spin it.

  Silence covered them as she continued to heal her wounds.

  “This is slower than it should be,” Yunya commented. “Probably because of my internal injuries.”

  Diyuan asked her to provide him an update on her internal injury, and she explained how she was essentially just a normal human for the time being for now. She can call forth a cultivator’s power in bursts, but it wasn’t something she could sustain until she recovered fully.

  When she was done, she stood up and the both of them faced the portal rift, ready to step through.

  “I wish it was you who picked up the tablet,” Yunya said softly.

  “Heavenly Fairy Stance… You couldn’t pay me to use an arte with the word fairy in it,” Diyuan said.

  Diyuan paused at the rift’s edge, its shimmer reflecting in his dark eyes. Beyond it lay the plains, and the elders. The two looked at each one last time, then they stepped through the portal rift, feeling the sensation of a cold baptism.

  ***

  It was known that the outside world was destroyed thousands of years ago. The connection to the upper world was cutoff. The heavens silent. The livable area was only a tenth of one percent of the whole world. A flying cultivator could traverse all that in just a half-day.

  That reality of an apocalypse wasn’t really felt, however. The portal’s hum faded behind them, replaced by the soft sounds of life; winds weaved through the endless green grass. Diyuan squinted against the sudden brightness, the sky a blue and white expanse that made the labyrinth’s gloom a distant thing. The air carried the faint sweetness of wildflowers. The paradise was only broken by the blood still drying on his torn sleeves. Beside him, Yunya steeled herself, clenching her fist.

  They were back outside, into the beautiful world that denied the known destruction that existed some distance away.

  Their arrival was untimed and unexpected. Five elders waited outside, as per custom. The Honglie elder’s crimson robes flowed as she sat cross-legged, meditating. Nearby, the Celing and Lianhua elders hunched over a gambit board, eyes shifting over to Diyuan in interest. The Gu elder, eyes closed and face unpleasant, stood a distance from the rest. Old Man Yifan also stood alone, with a book in hand, his white beard swaying as he turned to them. When he saw the two of them, the book vanished into his storage ring.

  Old Man Yifan was one of the oldest people in the world. He was over 800 years old and was a level 5 Dharma cultivator. To regular people he may have looked just like any other grandfather: white hair, long beard, and a kind face. But his posture was strong, not slouched. Not to mention Old Man Yifan wasn’t just any regular old man, he was one of the Three Pillars: three Grand Elders who counseled over all of Zhengyi, which made his presence here unusual. From what Diyuan understood, Old Man Yifan was a friend of Yunya’s great great great grandfather, or something to that effect. The Grand Elder found out that a descendant of his long-passed friend wanted to enter a pocket world, so he had it set up that Diyuan would be the one to guard her.

  Diyuan and Yunya reached Old Man Yifan and greeted him with a fist-in-palm salute and a lotus salute respectively. The other elders glanced their way, examining their torn and bloodied wardrobe.

  [Goodness, what do we have here?] Old Man Yifan’s sound transmission murmured in Diyuan’s mind, a voice no other could hear. [The Administrator’s Archive is a gentle place, free of traps or nasty creatures, yet you and little Yunya look as if you’ve had quite the adventure. Tell me, is there something I ought to know?] A note of curious surprise tinged the words.

  Diyuan, still in his fist-in-palm posture, nodded. “Yes, Grand Elder.”

  As much as he wanted to respond back with his own sound transmission, he needed to be level 1 Spiritweave at minimum for that to be possible. This meant any response he gave to Old Man Yifan would require some form of double-speak to avoid being caught by the other clans, who were no doubt paying attention. A talisman to block out sound would have worked wonders here, but per the treaty, the only talismans that were allowed to be used was limited to just messages.

  Old Man Yifan stroked his long thin beard and glanced at Yunya, who also had her own wounds. [Quite the puzzle this is. Did someone give little Yunya a hard time?]

  “The cook burnt their own finger making the sausage, Grand Elder.”

  Old Man Yifan smiled at his words. [I do like food metaphors, though puzzled slightly at yours. I assume you’re saying she harmed herself? I hope she isn’t doubting her appearance as young girls tend to do.]

  “Uh…yes and no, mostly no. But the yes is important.”

  Yunya, who was still in her lotus salute, looked at Diyuan confused. She must have been left out of the sound transmission conversation.

  “Oh, my little Yunya,” Old Man Yifan gently patted her shoulder. “You don’t need to stand at attention for me. Just think of me as your grandpa.”

  “Sure, grandpa!” She smiled and took his arm into her hands and began to swing it back and forth, causing him to chuckle.

  He placed a hand on hers, though Diyuan didn’t miss how two fingers landed below her wrist. A flicker of surprise flashed on Old Man Yifan’s face. “Now, little Yunya, here are some pills to set you right,” Old Man Yifan said, pressing them into her hand with a kindly smile. “Grandpa will stand guard, rest easy and heal up for me.”

  [Internal injuries.] His tone was more serious now. [Quite an unusual sight for someone still finding their feet in the Foundation realm. Was the treaty violated?]

  Diyuan nodded.

  [An adventure indeed. And by whose hand?]

  “It was done by me,” Diyuan said.

  Old Man Yifan thought for a moment. [So that’s the way of it. You’ll have to part with those rings, I suppose. Let’s hope there’s nothing too precious tucked away.]

  “We cannot, Grand Elder.” Diyuan increased the intensity of his own eyes, trying to emphasize that this was the important topic.

  Old Man Yifan seemed to understand Diyuan’s intent, but didn’t look sold on the idea. Which was understandable, and that was the reason why Diyuan needed to use the Royal Decree.

  [A violation of that treaty could close off a good many pocket worlds, my dear boy. Our Zhengyi clan would feel it dearly. Do you see where this might lead?]

  At that moment, the movement from the Gu elder caught Diyuan’s attention. The Gu elder, wearing their trademark multi-layered muted grey and green robes, flashed his arm up. A talisman appeared and glowed for a moment—then it flew up into the sky and travelled towards the Gu clan territory. A message talisman.

  The elders from the different clans looked at each other and then looked at Old Man Yifan. It seemed that their next actions would depend on what Old Man Yifan did next.

  The Gu elder met Old Man Yifan’s eyes. “All this talk of cooking has made me hungry. A simple message asking for lunch, Elder Yifan,” he said with boredom.

  “No need to explain me, Elder Guan. Might there be room for one more plate, I wonder?” Old Man Yifan said, a faint twinkle in his eye. “It’s been a rather long stretch since my last meal—seven months, I’m afraid, and my stomach’s begun to notice!” While he said that, a separate sound transmission hummed in Diyuan’s mind. [Do you suppose we ought to call a few extra hands ourselves?]

  “Grand Elder,” Diyuan started, “if you wanted a meal, I could invite you and those of the highest position to come.”

  [You mean to have me invite the other Grand Elders?]

  Diyuan needed to suggest an even higher level of authority. “We have a group of chefs, but you deserve one of even greater talent. The greatest, even.”

  [So, you’d have me summon the patriarch, would you?] A statement of fact, yet a heavy seriousness filled the words. [Now, I’ll ask this just once, and I’d like a straight answer. If we put it on a scale, how grave is this matter?]

  Diyuan’s breathing rate increased. “If a hundred people tried his cooking, all hundred would find it agreeable.”

  “Ho ho, perhaps a visit to the Yuhan family is in order after all,” Old Man Yifan said, a merry twinkle in his voice. “Let’s see about arranging that now.”

  A paper talisman appeared in his hand. It glowed and hovered high into the air, then it flew off to the direction of the Zhengyi clan. Diyuan was surprised that he didn’t need to use the Royal Decree to make it happen. It was a level of trust that he wouldn’t have given to someone else so young.

  Almost instantly the other clan elders did the same. A message talisman all went out to their own respective clans. They might not have known what the double speak was about, but they also didn’t want to be caught unprepared. The Gu elder, Gu Guan, didn’t send another message, meaning he might be confident enough in the contents of the first one.

  A tinge of worry crept up Diyuan’s body. Old Man Yifan was the strongest out of all the other elders here. In fact, with the exception of Gu Guan, the rest were simply in the Spiritweave realm. A beginner friendly pocket world didn’t usually have Dharma level cultivators guarding outside. But who could predict what might come next?

  Yunya was still meditating and absorbing the pill that Old Man Yifan gave her. The other clan elders continued to act nonchalant, but the atmosphere now was getting heavier. A small amount of time passed when the portal rift had some activity.

  The rift pulsed again, spitting Gu Mugong into the daylight first, his appearance pristine enough to go to a wedding. His fan flicked open, catching the sun as he met his elder’s gaze—silent words no doubt started to pass between the two, as Mugong could communicate using sound transmission since he was in the Spiritweave realm. The others came out now, two from each clan, quick to go to the safety of their guardian. A murmur rippled through them, too low to catch without purposely increasing the hearing sense, but Gu Guan’s lips tightened.

  The other elders were having their own reaction. Nothing too dramatic; a simple confused look or just a nod.

  “Elder Yifan,” Gu Guan slowly turned to them. “I find it strange that your people can have casual conversations about food after killing one of my members in cold blood.”

  It was now time to play the role of an immature cultivator. Diyuan stepped forward, taking point on this play.

  Diyuan thrust an accusing finger at Mugong. “How about you tell everyone what really happened—about how everyone teamed up against the Zhengyi and how there’s a plot to ruin us in every pocket world going forward!”

  Mugong smiled, his fan swaying lazily as he savored the moment. He was sure of victory, since he had the treaty on his side. “How delightfully convenient. It seems you believe every witness who dared to cross you would have found their proper place bowed at my side, obeying my every whim. I do not fault you; I am rather charismatic.”

  Diyuan flung his arms wide, his torn robes flowing with the breeze. They might wonder how a Fel’s clothes were so ruined. “You tell me, when trying to learn if Mugong’s partner tried to commit suicide by another’s blade, Mugong himself offered thousands of spirit stones if they could fabricate a tale that supported his claims. Seeing how quickly everyone accepted, I find it hard to believe this isn’t a conspiracy!”

  The Honglie elder’s energy flared, red aura crackling around her, and she stomped her foot into the earth. The ground split with a sharp crack, a burst of hot air rippling outward.

  “You can eat what you want but you cannot say what you want, little Zhengyi cub,” the Honglie elder said fiercely, her voice a growl. “Elder Yifan, it would be good if you reigned in your young.”

  “I daresay the earth felt that one,” Old Man Yifan said as he stroked his beard calmly. “Young Honglie, I’ll thank you for the advice, though I find these young ones often teach us as much as we teach them, even in their youthful naivety. Let’s not rush to action over a few spirited words—there’s time yet to sort this tangle.”

  “Hmph!” The Honglie elder threw her arms back, her red aura flaring brighter for a moment before simmering down, her glare fixed on Diyuan.

  Diyuan seized the pause, his voice rising again as he paced before the elders. “First, the Zhengyi clan is denied access to what could very well be millions of spirit stones, for a reason that would be accepted nowhere else, and yet was accepted easily by the other clans.” Of course that was a lie. He would have used the same excuse as Mugong if their roles were reversed. However, being believable was not the goal. He just needed to state his case. “Second, they sent an outcasted Gu clan member to purposely die by our hands—if it wasn’t him dying, then it would be us! Why, you might ask? I am a Fel. To ruin me is a win for everyone else. I tried with all my might to prevent his death, but after harming us deeply, my hand was forced. Third, Mugong offered a sum of spirit stones to anyone who would rally behind him. And now, to finish it off, they will no doubt want our storage rings so they can laugh about how my Zhengyi clan has fallen!”

  Gu Guan narrowed his eyes. “Who are you to claim Lingxu is ostracized by my clan? He was an up-and-coming talented youth, so it’s no surprise Zhengyi would kill him. Even if Elder Yifan is here, I will have an explanation.”

  Diyuan, undeterred, leaned toward Mugong. “His real name is Lingxu? Then what was all that garbage about Lushen or Lusho? If he was so valuable, why did no one seem to know his name? Or will the other clans defend Mugong again? I recommend accepting half a million spirit stones minimum for that. We can’t let Mugong forget his own clan members in the future, after all.”

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  The Celing elder looked insulted by that. “A compelling picture, perhaps, but a hasty sketch at best,” he said. He adjusted the high collar of his robe. “Young Diyuan, you fling accusations like stones, yet offer no parchment to prove them. Our clan accepts no bribe. We weigh the evidence, as scholars do, and found it tipped against you.” He eyed Mugong, then Old Man Yifan. “Elder Yifan, your youth’s tale might charm the naive, but it bends under scrutiny.”

  The two Lianhua members were whispering something to their elder. She simply shook her head, not wanting to participate in the ongoing debate.

  The conversations continued. Old Man Yifan giving his sagely responses, but never outright threatening, while the Celing clan wouldn’t stop until apparently everyone agreed with their logical conclusion. As things seemed to hit a stalemate, it looked like Diyuan would get what he wanted.

  Gu Guan raised his hand, silencing the murmurs among the gathered clans. “To keep your rings is to forfeit your allocated spots to several pocket worlds for a period. Since all those allocated spots will go to us, you can keep whatever face you think you have.”

  A sense of relief softened Diyuan’s stance. He had won. The load on his shoulders lightened. The need to summon his ancestor seemed to fade. The lost allocated spots would be negotiated, though the other clans may twist it harshly against Zhengyi out of spite, but his accusations of collusion might soften the blow a bit. More importantly, the heavenly jade tablet would remain a hidden factor, and his secret victory.

  Mugong’s fan snapped open, his eyes locked on Diyuan. “A moment, if I may,” he said. He tilted his head; he had seen Diyuan relax. “I’ve shared many a thrilling escapades with our dear Diyuan—oh I’ve witnessed first why he is called Fel Diyuan. And so, I find myself rather enchanted by a thought: Fel Diyuan losing composure, for the sake of saving face? I think he clings so dearly to those rings quite unnaturally, so I suggest we take them instead of the pocket world spots.”

  Gu Guan frowned. His brow furrowed as a silent sound transmission happened between him and Mugong. After a moment, the Gu elder’s chest heaved with a deep, reluctant sigh.

  “I will reverse my stance,” Gu Guan said. “We will take the rings.”

  The satisfaction on Mugong’s face glowed when he saw Diyuan stiffen. The Gu elder’s words hung in the air. Diyuan’s jaw tightened, his fingers brushing the ring. He had no intention of giving them up.

  Old Man Yifan let out a soft chuckle. “Oh my, what a curious turn we’ve taken,” he said. “I must say, Elder Guan, you’ve surprised me—spurning all those pocket world spots for a handful of trinkets? Well, if Diyuan’s rings are what you fancy, I suppose we’ll not begrudge you the choice. Though, I can’t help but wonder, lad,” he added, casting Diyuan a sidelong glance, his eyes twinkling faintly, “if they’ve just handed us the better end of this bargain. Let’s hope their spite doesn’t leave them counting empty pockets later.”

  Gu Guan tapped his finger in hesitation. Even Mugong paused doubting himself. Diyuan played his part and put up his own smug smile. A silent sound transmission exchange flickered between the two Gu clansmen, likely to see if they’ve calculated incorrectly.

  Then a voice erupted from the heavens, directionless yet omnipresent. “No need to debate further. We will take both the rings and the spots.”

  Heads snapped upward in unison. Even Yunya, cross-legged and silent through everything, craned her neck up. High above, a figure loomed against the blue and white sky. Another Gu elder. His presence changed the situation.

  Diyuan’s pulse quickened; though he had never seen this man before, his name was known to everyone: Gu Guoxiong. While he was not the Gu clan’s patriarch, those that knew his name in the Zhengyi clan practically considered him to be it. Level 5 Dharma, but said to be the greater when matched with others at the same level.

  Runic energy flared behind him, twin wings—not feathers, but jagged shapes that formed the picture of wings. Gu Guoxiong descended; his white hair flowed behind him. His eyebrows arched long and wild. Hands clasped behind his back; he halted his descent just beyond reach. He looked down on everyone like it was their proper place to be below him.

  With a casual flick of his wrist, he stretched out a hand and snapped it downward. A tidal wave of pressure crashed onto the plains, an invisible fist that slammed Diyuan to his hands and knees, his palms grinding into the dirt. The air sucked out of him so he couldn’t even make a noise. He pushed up with all his might, his arms straining as he fought to keep his face from planting the earth. Grass flattened. Pebbles disintegrating into dust under the force.

  A heat rose up. Fire and flame swirled above them as Old Man Yifan conjured his own power. The weight vanished as swiftly as it struck. The flames disappeared, but in its place was a translucent barrier that surrounded them like a dome. Diyuan sucked in air. He glanced over to Yunya, seeing her lift her face off the ground. A thin trickle of blood seeping from her nose. Her chest heaved as she coughed weakly.

  Diyuan looked around. The pressure from Gu Guoxiong had not stopped trying to press them, but when it hit the barrier, it pulsed out uselessly, creating gusts of wind that the other clansmen needed to raise a hand to protect their faces from.

  Just as casually he started the attack, Gu Guoxiong stopped it and resumed his hands-behind-back posture. Old Man Yifan’s barrier disappeared shortly after.

  Old Man Yifan’s faint smile faded, his eyes narrowing. “Well, now, Gu Guoxiong, you’ve made quite the entrance. I’ve always admired a grand gesture, but harming little Foundation cultivators crosses a line I’d hoped you’d not tread. What say you, old friend—shall we keep this civil, or must I remind you why I am called a Grand Elder?”

  Gu Guoxiong was not bothered. “If your strength remains unchanged as it did a century past, your words are but dust,” he said. “Negotiations are for those who have strength. The rings will be ours. The spots will be ours.”

  “A patient tiger keeps its claws sharp, Gu Guoxiong,” Old Man Yifan said. “Ah, but it looks like I’ll need not act. You’ve forgotten: our Zhengyi clan still has someone.”

  As if in response to Old Man Yifan’s words, all sound ceased to exist. Though the only noise that Diyuan thought he heard was the conversation between the elders, he realized true silence meant something different. The wind that had graced his face was silenced. The ruffles of the grass were quieted. The buzzing of creatures hidden in the ground was gone.

  The only thing Diyuan heard was his own breathing. He saw one of the Lianhua youth mouth something and point to the sky, but his words had no sound. Everyone found themselves looking up, however, and saw the source of the unnatural disturbance.

  A shadowed figure loamed in the sky. The appearance of this cultivator was similar to Gu Guoxiong’s, but he didn’t descend. In front of him was a large mass of golden unformed energy, twisting and turning, waiting to be used. He raised a single hand and held it forward.

  “Cloud Rend Palm.” His voice cut through the silence, omnipresent. The mass of energy formed into a translucent solid slab of energy. If Diyuan hadn’t heard the words to call this arte a palm strike, he wouldn’t have noticed the ridges and bumps—a titanic golden hand appeared, as if it belonged to the judge of heavens.

  Despite the silence still reigning, a deafening crack was heard as the power split the sky. The nearest clouds shredded into wisps that spiraled outward, into a circular form. The clouds further away were also pushed out, rolling away like water waves. A clear path for the sunlight hit the giant palm, warping the light and blinding those below. Then the sheer power pushed downward.

  “Children, to me!” Old Man Yifan shouted, though it sounded muffled, as if they were in the water.

  Diyuan watched as the Grand Elder moved quickly to Yunya and started doing some hand movement. Diyuan tried to move towards him but found the task to be difficult. The pressure from above had made it feel like he was walking through water as a non-cultivator. He kept pushing forward, but it got harder and harder the closer the giant palm came. The ground began to rumble.

  Old Man Yifan noticed and flicked a finger. A force pushed Diyuan forward, landing him next to Yunya. The Grand Elder created a new barrier, thick enough to make the one he made against Gu Guoxiong look like a piece of paper.

  On the other side, the Celing elder put his hand on the ground, causing lines to appear and glow around him. A formation. The others nearby ran to him. The Lianhua elder pulled out paper talisman to add additional defenses.

  Mugong, however, was near Elder Gu Guan and Gu Guoxiong. Unlike the others, Mugong was unable to move at all. If what Diyuan felt was like being underwater, then Mugong seemed to be experiencing solid concrete all around him. Elder Gu Guan noticed and picked Mugong up using some spirit control force. He looked once at the Celing formation and then at Old Man Yifan’s barrier. With another flick, Mugong flew like a ragdoll towards Old Man Yifan.

  Not checking if he landed safely, Elder Gu Guan created his own runic wings and flew up to Gu Guoxiong, who held up both hands and made something shimmer between them.

  Old Man Yifan flicked his hand, which caught Mugong and pulled him into their barrier. Mugong and Diyuan made a brief awkward eye contact before looking up again at the towering palm strike. Elder Gu Guan created a golden door, which opened and shot out a big sword; the sword, big though it was, still looked tiny compared to the incoming palm strike. The sword hit the palm but immediately cracked and broke. Elder Gu Guan stumbled back and spat out blood.

  Just before the palm crashed into the two Gu members, Diyuan noticed that Gu Guoxiong had a face that was full of glee. A primal, twisted joy.

  The colossal golden palm crashed. The energy slab was too bright for Diyuan to look at now, so he couldn’t see what the Gu clan members did, but he did feel and finally hear it slam into the ground. All the silence that had consumed the lands released. Every sound that was missing came roaring back at all once. The ground shook and his bones rattled, causing him to feel a level of nausea. He stumbled beneath the earthquake, resisting the urge to vomit.

  The bombardment of the attack finally came to an end. When the brightness of the attack disappeared, Diyuan looked around and was surprised. Not overwhelming destruction, like he was expecting, but a clean landscape change. On the ground before him was the pressed earth, where the earth was smashed down in the shape of a palm. But outside that shape, the grass was untouched. In fact, it looked rather manicured in contrast to the gaping depth below.

  Floating above the new depth were the two Gu elders, both with their runic wings out. Elder Gu Guan popped a pill into his mouth then gripped his arm. Blood came from his nose and mouth, and a gash leaked blood on his arm. Gu Guoxiong did not seem fazed nor injured at all. He was simply looking up; that primal look he had earlier was now gone.

  A fragrant smell washed over Diyuan. On the other side of the palm chasm, the Lianhua elder pulled out one of their pills and fed it to an unmoving Lianhua youth—the youngest of all of them. The elder’s hands hovered over the boy’s chest and glowed. Her face was filled with concern and fear.

  Yunya breathed out an audible sigh of relief. “Oh! He’s alive!”

  She was watching the Lianhua boy as well and noticed his chest finally move.

  “Ahem,” Mugong flicked his fan and gave Old Man Yifan a sign of his gratitude with a fist-in-palm salute, then moved away from them. He couldn’t create his own runic wings yet to join the Gu elders, who floated above the chasm, so he decided to walk the around the hole to join the group on the other side.

  The figure who attacked descended from the heavens. Ancestor Zheng Tianhou, the patriarch of the Zhengyi clan. No wings on his back, defying any logic as to how he could fly. He positioned himself to be in front of the three Zhengyi members. Diyuan felt more than he saw the ancestor turn to look at him.

  [Yuhan Diyuan, is this matter worth a fight?] The voice of Ancestor Tianhou echoed into Diyuan’s mind. It didn’t have the same touch that Old Man Yifan would add—the human tones or emotions. For Ancestor Tianhou, the voice held something different: authority. Heaven and earth. Diyuan felt that the voice could command the world to do whatever it wanted. Split the sky? Dry the sea? It was all a matter of speaking the words for the Zhengyi patriarch.

  Diyuan never felt smaller than he did now. Seeing Ancestor Tianhou’s power up close, and feeling the authority in his voice, he couldn’t help but consider the matter of the heavenly jade tablet to be insignificant. His actions weren’t an act of immaturity, it was immature. How could a tablet possibly bring salvation when they had an ancestor like him? An urge to kneel and worship Ancestor Tianhou flowed. Not only that, Diyuan couldn’t even see Ancestor Tianhou’s face even if he wanted to. It was like a light prevented direct sight. Diyuan couldn’t help but feel that he was a mortal in the truest sense at this moment.

  But it was odd, he suddenly realized. He had seen Ancestor Tianhou’s face before. Six years ago, during the trial for the heir of the Yuhan family. On that same day, when Diyuan had executed his older brother, he had also looked at Ancestor Tianhou directly in the face. While his ancestor never spoke a single word the entire time, there was a shared sentiment at that moment.

  Ancestor Tianhou didn’t want worship. Nor did he think the clan was meant to serve him. Instead, he was a servant to the Zhengyi people. And that was also true for Diyuan.

  The spell that seemed to hold Diyuan broke. Ancestor Tianhou’s face, previously hidden behind light, was now fully visible. The urge to kneel and worship also vanished. Diyuan looked directly at him, who floated slightly above them, and noticed a tug at his lips—like he wanted to smile.

  “Yuhan Diyuan greets Ancestor,” Diyuan said, placing his fist into his palm and bowing slightly. “Yes, I do believe so.”

  Old Man Yifan also adopted the same posture as Diyuan. “I also greet Patriarch Zheng Tianhou.”

  The others across the chasm did the same. The Honglie and the Celing, elders and youth both, greeted Ancestor Tianhou. Even Elder Gu Guan did, as well as Mugong, who had reached the other side.

  Those that didn’t were Guoxiong, out of defiance, and the Lianhua elder, who was more focused on the unconscious Lianhua youth.

  “For Tianhou to attack the Lianhua clan…this is a surprise,” Gu Guoxiong said, looking at the unconscious boy. He raised his hand, which made Elder Gu Guan retreat back and join the other group on the ground.

  Ancestor Tianhou had an ageless appearance. Unlike Gu Guoxiong or Old Man Yifan, Ancestor Tianhou did not appear old at all. His hair was jet black, long and free flowing, without a speck of white or grey. Wrinkles that would normally accompany those of great age were also missing. If anything, Ancestor Tianhou appeared to maybe be only 30 years of age if viewing him from a non-cultivator perspective, but more pristine.

  “That was not an attack, but a greeting,” Ancestor Tianhou said. The supernatural authority that Diyuan had felt in his voice before was gone now.

  The Lianhua elder snapped her head towards them. “Patriarch Tianhou! Someone of your stature shouldn’t be harming the young ones!” Her hair, which was tied tightly into a bun, remanence of a strict school teacher, was becoming undone, flicks of hair flowing to her face.

  Ancestor Tianhou closed his eyes and responded. “If what I did was an attack, then so too was Gu Guoxiong’s greeting to my two young ones. Jia Yunya was wounded as a result.” He opened his eyes and glared at the Lianhua elder. “Since you did not speak up for them then, Elder Wu Meilan of the Lianhua clan, then I will accept Yuhan Diyuan’s claim that you are all colluding together. Do not bother healing your young, since you, along with everyone else, will be buried here today with him.”

  The Lianhua elder flinched. Diyuan was also surprised. His threat was thrown out casually, and also that he had been here for a while, listening to everything. Perhaps even before Gu Guoxiong arrived.

  “This…” The Lianhua elder looked at her unconscious ward. Safe and not in any critical condition. She nodded. “Then…I say it was only a greeting, not an attack.”

  “Since it was not an attack, the use of your mid-grade paper talisman to defend against my greeting is a violation of the treaty. I will expect a form of compensation later.”

  Gu Guoxiong laughed. “First, your member slays one of mine. Then he refuses to follow the treaty to give us his rings. Now, you will demand compensation from people who protected themselves from your attack. The Zhengyi clan is becoming too overbearing!”

  Ancestor Tianhou was unbothered. “From another perspective, we are following the treaty to its natural end. If Yuhan Diyuan refused to deliver his and his ward’s rings, then giving up our allocation spots is but a fulfillment of it. We decide if we should part with our rings; if not the rings, then we part with our allocation spots. And so, the treaty is fulfilled.”

  Gu Guoxiong spun to the other clans. “Does that make sense to all of you? The perpetrator determines what his punishment should be?” He turned back to Ancestor Tianhou, his voice a low snarl. “Tianhou—you twist the treaty to your whims, convinced your strength to be unmatched. Today, I will show the world that the crown of the strongest no longer belongs to you.”

  Ancestor Tianhou’s gaze flicked to Old Man Yifan; a single nod passed between them.

  That simple act caused a preamble of motions. Old Man Yifan’s hand rose, a flag banner unfurling from his sleeve. With a flick, he waved it, and the fabric dissolved into a swirl of smoke and mist. A cloud formed near the ground, swelling into a cushioned platform. It was large enough to carry a handful of riders.

  Across the chasm, the other clans mirrored the haste. Mugong made a palm-size disc appear in his hand, its surface expanded into a wide, metallic platform. The elders of each respective clan had their runic wings appear on their backs or pulled out their own flying spirit artifacts.

  Old Man Yifan guided Diyuan and Yunya onto the floating cloud, its surface soft yet firm beneath their feet. It was the same means of travel that they had taken to arrive here in the first place. With a gentle nudge, it surged skyward toward Zhengyi territory, wind whipping through their hair. Diyuan looked back and saw dots start appearing in the distance—the call for reinforcements from the other clan’s message talisman appearing only now.

  “Off we go, young ones, a winged flight to safety,” Old Man Yifan said. “Patriarch Tianhou will put on a fierce show and I daresay we don’t want to be around to enjoy it.”

  Yunya dropped to her knees, relief washing over her. “I didn’t know the patriarch was like that. He’s so incredible.”

  “Ho ho, yes, he is quite fierce when he wants to be.”

  They flew forward for a period of time. Old Man Yifan checked on Yunya’s internal injuries, which had mostly stabilized but would need an uninterrupted meditation to completely heal. As they were speaking, Old Man Yifan’s gaze shifted behind them. Diyuan followed, his heart sinking.

  Cultivators with runic wings trailed them, outpacing their cloud. Based on their wardrobe, many of them were from the Gu clan, which indicated that the single message the Gu elder sent out was not only for Gu Guoxiong, but for several of them. There were also additional people from the other clans. If they were giving chase even now, their intentions wouldn’t be good. It also meant they thought they could face Old Man Yifan and win.

  Beyond the new reinforcements was a flying metal disc, the same one that Mugong had summoned. It was unlikely that they could get away without a fight.

  Old Man Yifan sighed. “They’ll try to nudge me away from you both, I reckon. Those Dharma cultivators won’t tussle with you directly, but they’d happily swing wide and claim they missed me by a whisker. I’ll need to face them away from you two. I’ve also counted six young ones on that Gu lad’s platform, and I’d wager they’ve got their sights set on you, Diyuan.”

  “He won’t face them alone!” Yunya said, rising with fierce resolve.

  Diyuan’s jaw tightened. His mind whirled as he considered the situation.

  Old Man Yifan may not be able to win against the many cultivators coming his way. Even if they weren’t at the level 5 Dharma realm, their numbers could make up for that. Diyuan recalled Gu Guoxiong’s face when Ancestor Tianhou’s palm was about to hit him—a primal glee, expectant. What if Ancestor Tianhou was caught in some trap? What if Ancestor Tianhou lost because of a cunning plot that Gu Guoxiong set up? Diyuan could easily become a sinner of the Zhengyi clan if things went wrong here.

  Since it came to this, Diyuan decided he would no longer hold back.

  “Grand Elder, I would like to use my Royal Decree now,” Diyuan said.

  Old Man Yifan studied him. “And what shall it be used for?”

  “Reinforcements—the fastest. Enough to make them think twice before doing something like this again,” Diyuan replied.

  And with that, Old Man Yifan held up a mid-grade talisman. He closed his eyes and then let it slip into the air. The talisman glowed and flowed off in the same manner as the normal messenger talisman, but this one, the fastest yet, would carry the news to all six Zhengyi cities.

  ***

  The beam of light that was the mid-grade talisman flew straight to its intended city. At a certain point it shivered, causing the talisman to duplicate and split into two. Then it did so again and again, until there were six. Each one split way and went towards their intended city.

  One-by-one they reached their destination, but nothing dramatic seemed to happen. The talisman would simply float in the air, high above the city, unnoticed. Strange ripples echoed through the air, which finally got people curious enough to look around. They would soon point up at the floating paper and passed on word of what they were seeing, unsure what to make of it.

  Then, all at once, a voice pierced every corner of Zhengyi’s six cities, inescapable and direct. Grand Elder Yifan’s words, magnified by the talisman’s power, thundered forth.

  “By Royal Decree, all Grand Elders—halt your tasks and march to the western plains, battle ready.”

  The omnipresent voice silenced every city. Woodcutters. Blacksmiths. Children. Gossipers. None moved nor spoke.

  But the Royal Decree wasn’t done.

  “By Royal Decree, Zhengdao Vanguard— march to the western plains, battle ready. Xuanying Watchers—march to the western plains, battle ready. Lingyun Shapers—march to the western plains, battle ready.”

  In the city of Zhengdao, crown capital for the Zhengyi clan, the elite vanguard, scattered across the city, stopped what they were doing. Some were training potential recruits. They stopped immediately and summoned forth their runic wings and took flight.

  Others were off duty, enjoying time with their spouse’s family. They, too, took flight without so much as a farewell. All over the city, figures flew straight up, grabbing the attention of the citizens.

  The Watchers, a special group directly reporting to one of the Three Pillars were known for their excellence at speed, flight, assassination techniques, and sensory scouting. They worked well undetected and in groups since they coordinate with each other quite well. The city they resided in were nearest to the western plains, so their arrival should be first. To the skies they went.

  The decrees echoed out. The paper talismans in the sky disappeared once the call for the special forces finished. Once the citizens didn’t hear the decree continue, murmuring began to start up. The people were talking to each other, knowing that this would be a topic they’d gossip about for weeks to come. Some had a hand on their dagger, as if a foe might appear in front of them. Others wondered how this would impact their daily life

  The sound of training and the smell of sweat covered the grounds of the Yuhan estates. Cultivators had paused mid-training in the stone courtyards, their swords stilled when the voice had spoken. A woman, sweat touching her brow, gripped her sword tighter.

  “Royal Decree, huh?” Ranxi muttered. The word left a bad taste in her mouth, bringing bad memories. She was the second child of the Yuhan patriarch’s direct lineage, and it just so happened to be that Diyuan—the third child and her younger brother—was someone who could wield this so-called Royal Decree, given to him by the ancestor from their maternal side.

  The three Zhengyi’s special forces were called, but the Yuhan family wasn’t, so it didn’t make a difference to her. Not that it surprised her; the Yuhan family’s power were more of an internal enforcer group, not an external one that might face enemies without. “Why the big fuss over the western plains? Isn’t that where the Administrator’s Archive pocket world is at? Not really high level…”

  A maid stumbled out of the estate, lifting her robe’s hem to keep from tripping. “My lady! My lady!” She ran forth. That maid was one who usually corrected others for a lack of decorum—probably Ma’s instructions—but now dismissed all that to rush to Ranxi. “The young master was hired by Grand Elder Yifan to protect a new cultivator. He was sent to the western plains today for it!”

  It took a moment for the information to register. Ranxi knew that the Royal Decree authority was something their clan did, but didn’t know everyone who could invoke it. Though she had known her little brother was one such person, it didn’t cross her mind that the message could have come from him. But if there was a Royal Decree at the western plains, on the same day Diyuan was there…

  She pulled out a talisman and infused her energy into it, causing it to pulse and dissipate. In its place, a column of red light shot up, a beacon with a purpose known to those of the Yuhan family.

  “Yuhan Elite, to me!” Her voice boomed, omnipresent to everyone in the area.

  One by one, cultivators made their way and landed before her, with a saluting bow. Each one of them was at least level 5 Spiritweave, the minimum requirement to create runic energy wings. Haste was their goal, so she would leave with who was here now.

  “Our mission is a search and rescue,” Ranxi commanded. “The battle at the western plains does not concern us. Our goal is to find Diyuan and bring him back safely. Unless I say otherwise, ignore any order from anyone but me until this mission is complete!”

  Her runic wings flared up and she shot to the sky, the rest following her.

  All over the Zhengyi region cultivators would fly over the people as they rushed to the western plains. Streaks of light filled the sky, directly above and in the distance. The people would sometimes feel a pressure on their bodies, which told them that a great cultivator was in the mix, before it quickly vanished. These flicks of light were numerous. There had always been rumors that the next outbreak of war could be the last one, and they hoped that this wouldn’t be it.