None of us expected the light show my breakthrough would provide, but I suppose no Expert in memory had tempered themselves as deeply and thoroughly as I had in the elements. Suddenly, my new insights on fire had coalesced with all of my training and understanding of the other elements, and my cultivation… well, it was like I awakened all over again.

Only a million times bigger.

The midnight sky was as bright as midday, with a column of light stretching out to the heavens. Qi streamed into me from everything around, and I released as much as I received. Suddenly, my qi wasn’t a part of my body so much as my body was a part of the world’s qi.

And that world was very, very sick.

I could sense the ruins of the monastery from here. Where the leylines, the planet’s meridian fractals, had merged into a nexus in that mountain valley, there was now… nothing but a hole. I’d likened it before to a festering wound, and that wasn’t far off. To add to his cultivation, the Tortoise King had stolen the power of that nexus, and redirected the leylines to his fortress.

In theory, it might have sounded like a solid idea. But qi was never meant to be hoarded, and the lack of dispersal and circulation was slowly choking out the potential for life across the world. If something wasn’t done to change things, it was very likely that all life would end.

All because of four humans who wanted to be gods.

The old rage came back full-force, and I was done hiding who and what I was. My ears grew back, my hair returned to its normal pink shade, and the gem on my head returned, now glowing with power as it became a third eye.

The light subsided, and I told the headwoman of the village that it was the signal to strike.

“Even if no one noticed that, I’m as ready as I’m going to get.”

So the message was sent, and we began our march. The children would stay in the village, and I desperately hoped they would be safe there. Having to carry one into battle was bad enough, but I found it fitting in a way.

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Pregnant, I’d nearly died at the hands of the Tortoise King. Pregnant, I would end his reign.

The walk to Rivermill took no time at all. Li was only a half-step behind me, but we’d both learned how to move with absurd speed and efficiency as we’d cultivated. Kaoru chased after us, looking so thrilled to be on the hunt I almost wanted to make a game of it. Zhong was keeping up surprisingly well, for all he was only barely an Expert himself. Apparently he’d found an affinity for the gold element, and a lot of the fastest movement techniques used a lot of gold qi to function.

When we reached Rivermill, the town was already up in arms. Clearly, a decade under Li’s older brother had made Gin no friends. And with Mistress Fu to train so much of the population in cultivation, there were now dozens of motivated Experts to fight against his forces, along with hundreds of Adepts. By my sense, every citizen of Rivermill was now at least an Initiate, and all were fighting in the streets.

Which is not to say Gin had rested on his laurels. I could sense that he’d broken through to Mastery, but his foundations were as weak as sand. I could take him easily, but Li insisted that he be the one.

“I cannot allow my family’s shame to continue.”

I’d say it was an epic challenge… but it was hardly much of a fight. Gin mocked Li, taunted him, threatened to geld him, rape me, then give us both to the Tortoise King in chains. Li didn’t respond at all, simply blocking and evading every attack Gin threw at him. Gin mocked Li further, asking him how weak was water compared to the power of gold… but that was where Li took his arm off.

“Do you remember the oracle you so enjoyed executing, older brother? She told me something surprising once. I’d asked if we were really descended from the Tortoise King, and she said we were not, though after her passing, only I and one other would ever know. It seems our esteemed grandmother, whose corpse you spat upon before it was even cold, had unknowingly been pregnant by her husband when the Tortoise King first came to power. He’d raped her shortly after killing the old king, and as a result she’d never known the child hadn’t been his.

“And I’ve traced our ancestry since. Did you know we’re the last of that particular bloodline? The last traces of the kingdom that once stood upon these very lands, some three hundred years past.”

Gin spat blood upon the ground. Truly vulgar.

“What does it matter? It’s not like we’re the fated Lost Heirs of Solomon or anything.”

“Actually, that’s exactly what we are.” And with this, Li stopped holding back, removing his brother’s head with a blade of water. “And as I said, only one other will ever know.”

He turned to me, kissed me on the lips, and the spark lit on his own breakthrough.

The king whose line was said would lead the world from ruin achieved the enlightenment of Mastery.