Wang Kai sat in silence, the hiss of Gu around him the only sound that bothered him. He’d meditated whether this was the best time to break through or not, and it was arguable whether it was a good decision but now he’d done it. He gathered his Gu and slammed it on the wall—the bottleneck—around him. This had to be it. It was now or never. Part of him dared hope it would be enough, yet part of him argued that it was dangerous and he should wait a little longer.

However, he couldn’t wait. He’d had an eye-opener recently, a wake-up call, an epiphany.

He was weak.

And he needed to become stronger. Chasing strength came with risks and he was more than willing to take them. Thus he’d slammed his Gu, daring to break through and stand against the heavens.

Furthermore, stand with his brothers and sisters, and with his master, so someone could rely on Kai for once, instead of him relying on others.

Kai imagined himself inside a bottle of sorts, surrounded by glass, one that could shatter. He gulped, and licked his dry lips, turning on his heel. The bottle was empty, and he spotted nothing, no Gu, or any sort of energy. It was strange, the way he’d imagined his Eclipse Heart as a… bottle. But the way his master had always mentioned a breakthrough as piercing a bottleneck, he’d somehow ended up imagining his Eclipse Heart as a bottle.

Kai shook his head, eyes wandering around in looks of Gu.

However, he found none.

‘Strange.’

He squinted his eyes, and upon further inspection, his eyes widened as a realization dawned on him.

Gu was all around him.

He was the one blind.

The Gu was just vague, and extremely alien. So much that it had left his eyes. All this Gu was concentrated on the bottleneck above, struggling to push the cork out. It was way too difficult, from what he could see. So, he pushed, and pushed once more—however, the result remained the same.

He got pushed back, and his Gu scattered back inside the bottle. He sat down, wondering what to do next. Outside, he sat in silence, but inside he was in turmoil. He knew he was so near a breakthrough, but…

‘Fuck it.’

He grinned. It wasn’t the time to worry about danger.

Even though he’d been pushed back again and again, Kai gathered his Gu and forced it to take the form of a spear. A big, pointy, and sharp spear—one that should be enough to pierce through the cork and let him out into what appeared to be a bigger bottle.

Kai took a deep breath. “Let’s do this.”

His body jerked into motion and he yanked his arm, twisting himself to try and shoot the spear with as much power as he could. The spear of Gu whipped up to the cork in an instant, stabbing into it. He felt a whiplash slam back right into him, and his feet dug into the sand.

Sand?

He looked down and instead of what he thought would be glass he saw sand, his feet half inside it. Weird, could this place change? It appeared to be the likely possibility given his feet had felt something that could be nothing other than glass just a while ago, so it had to have changed.

Despite the weird change, Kai kept his focus on the Gu, it had pierced the cork but hadn’t broken it. He tried to push it out but that was when pain from outside assaulted him. His consciousness flickered in and out of the bottle and the real world. He first wondered whether someone had attacked him but that was crossed the moment his senses returned. Sharp pain exploded inside of him and he knew he’d fucked up somehow.

He felt the metallic taste of blood on his tongue but didn’t stop his Gu even as he fell to the ground almost losing his focus for once. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t let his focus falter. His blood would spill, but that could be recovered. He’d been injured, so what? He could just heal. He could not afford to waste this opportunity, so he gritted his teeth and forced shut his eyes, slipping inside his Eclipse Heart again, and this time, he pushed the cork with even more force.

He ground his teeth and growled, veins popping up on his neck and his face turning redder than it ever had. Kai didn’t stop. He felt someone outside, and he saw a slip of an image through his consciousness—his brother Li Renji, and sister Bis Ke were leaving along with Nu Di Se probably. He knew why almost instantly. Had he crossed the threshold? Was he unstable outside?

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

That had to be dangerous territory he was treading, he had to be careful but he also couldn’t afford to stay passive. He had to breakthrough. If he didn’t… wouldn’t brother Renji leave him in the dust? Wouldn’t he get ahead? He refused that. He declined that with a passion!

Kai considered Renji as his brother—furthermore, no one could be a better rival than Renji, and he would be damned if he let that bastard go ahead without him.

However, the next instant, he felt it. It snapped. The cork. It blew off, and Gu rushed in. Kai was blasted out of his Eclipse Heart and outside. His body felt open for the first time in his life—and all the Gu in the surroundings was rushing to him. He felt a rush. He felt as if he was at the top of the world, that one flick of his fingers could level mountains. Part of him reveled in that state yet part of him felt disgusted at the notion of getting blinded by power. And then all hell broke loose. With the high came the low, crushing down on his shoulders and slamming him down on the ground with enough force to shake his brain.

He felt fuzzy and lightheaded. Everything around him appeared to be nothing but a blur. His heart pounded in his head and he felt as if he were on fire—It burned. He was left gasping. He gulped air but he couldn’t catch his breath, it felt as if he couldn’t breathe even though he could feel the air going down his lungs, feeling as if they almost seared their way through.

Was he going to die? He couldn’t die! Why was this happening?! He’d broken through, no?

The pain was so unbearable that Kai’s eyes welled up.

***

- Wu Ryujin -

Fuck me sideways.

Why did it always have to be me?

I gruffed my lungs out as I ran through the hallways of my mansion and slipped out into the training yard. Complaining aside I needed to help the dude or I’d be fucked—death awaited. Honestly, it no longer made me concerned, but still, I wanted to live.

In the training yard, I saw dust flying and stuff whipping about all over the place. In the middle of it lay Kai, he appeared to have fallen.

I sprinted toward him, the violent Gu that seemed to want to rip him apart had yet to notice me, too preoccupied with trying to do just that to Kai. I was almost there. The Gu had started noticing me but I was faster than it, and soon enough I had reached the kid.

I yanked him away, pulling him closer, and the Gu seemed confused for a second. It didn’t know whether to come after me or not. The confusion only lasted a while, and in the next second, the Gu was coming at us. The both of us.

“Kai!” I shouted, trying to snap him out of it. Only he could reign it in.

Kai opened his eyes, and his gaze fell on me, dazed and lost. I knew he had no idea what was happening. “Wake the fuck up!” I yelled.

No response. I cursed.

It felt almost suffocating with the thick air with the scent of burning Gu - I could feel the intensity of the power that surrounded us, it was not in control. I reached out, hesitating before placing a hand on Kai's trembling shoulder.

Kai’s eyes were wide with pain, his breaths ragged gasps. "I... I can't control it," he managed to choke out.

I clenched his jaw. I had seen breakthroughs before, but this was different. Kai was being consumed by his power somehow, unable to harness it. He had lost control, I had to help him regain it; otherwise, we would both be doomed.

“Listen to me, Kai,” I said firmly. “You can do this. Focus on your breathing. Center yourself. Your Gu is a part of you, not a separate entity. You are its master.”

Kai’s eyes met mine and all I could see was desperation and pain. My grip on his shoulder tightened, and I yanked him slightly forward. The boy was in pain, but this had to be dealt with. “Focus, reign, control it. Let it flow.”

The power kept pulsing, and Kai, although wavering, nodded. He nodded. “Alright.”

He did not push me away.

Instead of doing something like that Kai inhaled and exhaled quickly, as if catching his breath and concentrating all at once. Then, Kai shut his eyes and started slowing down. He was pulling out his Gu slowly.

Gradually it worked. Kai got the reins back, bit by bit. Gradually. Until, a few seconds later, his Gu had disappeared, and Kai was taking deep shaky breaths with his eyes closed and tears leaking through his lids.

“You did it...”

My voice snapped him out of his trance, and his eyes widened as his lips curled into a grin. I could sense the excitement in him. He had just broken through, and now he was back in control. It felt surreal. I smiled.

Finally, I'd be able to get my cultivation back.

I helped him up. “Come on. Time to rest. We’ll talk in the morning.”

Without another word, the two of us exited the training yard and entered the house. After that, we returned to our rooms to get a well-needed night's sleep. I made sure he was alright. His room wasn't as nice as mine and he didn't have many personal things in there, just the bed and a shelf filled with scrolls and papers. There was also a dresser. He needed better, he deserved better. I'd neglected my disciples enough.

With me turning in for the night, I felt oddly not excited for my cultivation back. Was it back, even? I... did not care. But, but, why? Wasn't this enough to satisfy me? I...

A frown pulled my eyebrows as I sank in. Why?

I turned around. The sheets crinkled, moving along with me as I shifted in bed to lie on my left side, eyes wide open.