The qi in the air shuddered as it was grasped and sucked into the seated man's nose, traveling through his exquisitely shaped meridians, where it rested in his inner core. The seated man let out the now qi-less air with a sigh of frustration. He glanced around at his ornately decorated cultivation room with its golden dragons coiling around each pillar, ascending to a depiction of heaven. This mimicked the plight of cultivators—those who wished to break the shackles of mortality and ascend to the realm of the gods.
He tilted his head up, following one of the dragons closest to where he was seated in the middle of the hall. He lazily stared upon the beautiful artwork painted and inlaid with golden flecks, using only the highest quality qi stone on the ceiling of his cultivation hall. He let out another strangled sigh. It was all a lie; the heavens' doors are forever closed. It is a realm not meant for mortals; only those who pass on from this world in death are allowed the choice of moving on and crossing the last threshold.
He couldn't help but let out a light chuckle at the irony of the situation. Cultivators' ultimate goal was defying the heavens, striving for immortality, and yet the heavens, it seems, had yet one card left to play. The worst part is that he only came to the realization too late when he stepped through his last bottleneck of reaching the heavenly realm somewhat 200 years ago. Only then did he find out that he was barred from the heavens.
He, Ryuha Huang, young master of the Frozen Edge Sect, one of the 10 great Sects, who conquered the frost to become one of only 4 heavenly cultivators at the peak of power, was left without a goal, something to strive for, something to hunger over. Thus, he found himself in his current situation; in his 600-year-long life, he was completely and utterly bored. He harumphed as he kicked his legs straight from under his lotus position, splaying his arms back as if he were lying on the beach without a care. To be honest, he didn't care. There was nothing challenging anymore.
He couldn't exactly go and annihilate the mystic beast population, as that would leave nothing for the younger generation. He neither could start a war with one of the rival sects, as ever since he stepped through and became one of the big 4, no one dared to start anything, worrying they would incur his ire. Maybe he should try his hand at farming or brewing; he always did like his wine. He smiled at himself; it would be amusing to see the elders' faces as he left decorum to the wind and went to plow some field somewhere. Another heartier chuckle left him as he could imagine seeing the old crones cough blood, observing him wearing nothing but rags and frolicking with the common folk. Still, he had an image to maintain as one of the big four.
He rolled his eyes as he pondered the moronic naming sense. I mean, seriously, could no one come up with a better name, like the Heaven Celestials or Earthbound Immortals or something? But no, as is the course for cultivator life, it gets chosen by some old fogey proclaimed to be a grand elder of something or other. He then decides on a name which, to Ryuha, is moronic. But he was now a part of the big 4, rolling his eyes even harder at that.
He looked up and squinted at the ceiling, thinking about how he should tell Shin Lee about hiring the artisan who did his ceiling; it was superbly made. As if answering his question, a knock at the entrance door to his cultivation hall rang out, followed by a melodic yet stern female voice, "Young Master, my apologies for interrupting your cultivation, but there has been another problem at this year’s Winterforge trial. Some initiate hopefuls seem to have wandered into the glacial Yeti territory-"
Ryuha sighed as he straightened himself and his robes, answering his assistant, "Come in, Shin Lee. I finished my cultivation just moments ago, so you have not interrupted me in the slightest. Please come in." In response, the gigantic doors of his hall cracked open, and a slight woman with hair as pitch as night on a moonless night bowed in respect and started making her way over to Ryuha.
As is true to Shin Lee, she stopped a few steps away from Ryuha and gave another complimentary bow of respect as she continued, “Thank you, young master, for allowing me to come in.” Ryuha waved the thanks goodbye. “No need, Shin Lee. Now, as you were saying something about Glacial Yetis.”
Without missing a beat, Shin Lee responded, “Yes, young master. It seems some of the new initiate hopefuls have unknowingly stumbled into the Glacial Yeti territory. It appears one of the routes up the mountain has collapsed.” Ryuha frowned. A collapsed route was nothing too serious; it happens all the time, one of the unfortunate outcomes of living in perpetual snowstorms. Paths get destroyed and remade every year. What was troubling was why no one had appeared to steer these young people back to where they needed to be going.
"Is there a reason none of the trial overseers haven’t steered them back? Also, how did you come to know of this information?" Ryuha inquired, not even blinking. Shin Lee answered, “The Frozen Lilly Clan's young mistress is partaking in this year’s trial.” She paused, looking at him expectantly. Ryuha snorted but asked anyway, “Why is she partaking in the trial? She has already been accepted as an inner disciple, I believe, under one of my sisters’ ilk?”
"That’s correct, young master. She is scheduled to be accepted into the sect at the end of this year, but she wished to partake in the trial to solidify her most recent breakthrough," Shin Lee answered, and Ryuha nodded. "I see. So, to ensure that nothing happens to the young mistress, the trial overseers have been lax in their other duties." Shin Lee gave a curt nod. Ryuha clicked his tongue in annoyance. This was why he strived for the heavens—to be rid of the politicking, the secret maneuverings, and backstabs just to show up another family or clan. Ryuha hated it, but even more, he hated that he could not escape it.
"It seems that I should have a chat with the outer sect Elder. It seems he too has been lax in his duties." Shin Lee's body shivered uncontrollably. Ryuha noted the response, but he couldn’t exactly blame her. She has seen me "discipline" Elders before. He continued, "Shin Lee, if you please, could you give me the exact area where these wayward sect hopefuls are?" She smiled as she took a look at her slate and read its contents out loud. "They are about 100 Li to the Northeast, close to the glacial peaks. They should be right at the entrance."
Without any more prompting, Ryuha flexed his qi, coalescing it at the tips of his fingers, writing out the rune for protection on cerulean blue qi. The air around it froze, turning from cerulean blue to a dark navy blue as he poured more qi into the rune. With a flick of his wrist and a pulse of blue qi, it was sent into the air. "That should keep the bigger Yetis out but let the younger ones get through. Can't make the trial too easy now. Also, send one of the outer disciples to ensure nothing untoward happens and to fix the collapsed pass."
As was her form, Shin Lee did not even blink at the awe-inspiring sight of his qi. She answered flatly, "As you wish, young master." She coalesced her qi into a small hummingbird made of silver and ice. Speaking to the construct in a hushed voice, she sent it on its way, no doubt to fulfill Ryuha’s order.
"Now that, that is out of the way, anything else?" he said as he lazily rested his chin on his fist, looking towards his balcony door that overlooked the majestic Ice Shard Mountains. Even though there was a never-ceasing winter wind that carried ice and frost with it, he couldn’t deny it was quite the sight. Getting lost in his thoughts on how tedious his life had become, he considered riling some of the smaller sects into some sort of conflict, or perhaps he should go see the ever-beautiful Lady Seraphina Mistbloom. She had always ignored his advances, but who could resist him with his cerulean blue eyes and his snow-white hair with hints of blue shining through his perfectly chiseled body— not too bulky, not too lean, just perfect. With his high cheekbones, slight complexion, and soft hands, nobody would be able to resist him. Smirking to himself, he dove further into his fantasies, but a slight cough snapped him out of his musings so quickly you would have thought he traveled faster than light. He cleared his throat.
"Mgh agh … Shin Lee, you are still here. Is there something else that you needed from me?" Giving her a sidelong glance and not lifting his chin off of his fist, Shin Lee, as always the pinnacle of decorum, bowed once more and answered, "Apologies again, young master, but there was something..." She stopped, leaning into the last words, cocking her right eyebrow at him. Intrigued, he saw the gesture and continued, "It does not have anything to do with the sect..." Again, she leaned into the last couple of words as she fidgeted with her slate and her black hair. Now, this got Ryuha’s attention. In all the time Shin Lee had been anything but professional, not just professional but fearless in some cases. Heck, he saw her once stare down one of the big four.
It was quite the sight, an amusing one more than anything, that heavenly cultivator, the peak of existence, being stared down by a 2nd stage body cultivator. Ryuha thought he could see veritable steam coming out of the Shadeweaver Supreme's ears as he was barred from seeing him. Now, it wasn’t that Ryuha didn’t want to see his fellow big 4; it was just that he was particularly annoyed that day for some reason or another. He had told Shin Lee to make sure no one disturbed him, and with that simple command, she did her job, even standing up to a master. Now, for her to be this nervous, it got him interested—very interested.
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"Speak freely, Shin Lee. Whatever it is, it's fine," he said soothingly as he turned to fully look at her. She looked at him, biting her tongue. Whatever it is, it must be pretty serious or personal, Ryuha thought. Either way, whatever it was, it seemed that Shin Lee came to a decision as she started to speak, "Again, my apologies, young master." Ryuha waved the apology aside with a hand as she continued, "Its… Ah, it’s about my son."
Realization came to Ryuha, and a bit of disappointment. He really hoped it was some sect conspiracy that Shin Lee was involved in. He drooped his shoulders just that tiny bit but plastered a smile on his face as he answered, "Aaah yes, how is the young whipper-snapper? He is turning four years old this coming summer?" he asked.
Ryuha still thought that her having a child so early in her cultivation was foolish, but who was he to determine someone’s path? Besides, what she lacked in cultivation level, she more than made up for with her keen mind for mathematics and formulae. A lot of her research in monetary policies and accounting is being used in the bigger mortal kingdoms, and to great success, he heard.
Shin Lee answered, dragging Ryuha out of his musings, “Actually, he will be turning eight this coming summer, young master.” Ryuha opened his eyes just a bit wider at that as he answered, “It’s been so long already. Well, then I should see if I can get him a gift for his birthday.” Smiling at her warmly, he added, “And it will be interesting to see how far along he is in the foundation stage. But knowing you, he probably is almost ready for a breakthrough.” He chuckled lightly at the thought of Shin Lee’s arduous tutoring. He glanced at her; she glanced down, shifting from one side to the other as she must have contemplated her answer. She stopped, looked back at him, took a deep breath, and continued, “Actually, young master, that is what I wanted to talk about—my son.”
She paused, taking another deep breath even bigger than the first as she continued, “He has not been able to sense qi in his surroundings.” Ryuha frowned, “You mean nothing at all? Nothing?” Looking at her, all his jovialness vanished like morning being vaporized by the sun. “Nothing, young master. I have been keeping him busy with his other lessons in math and the like, but I am worried.” She didn’t finish, as Ryuha knew what she was implying. Mortals, although industrious and with a chance for greatness, inevitably face death. A mortal's life is but a blip on the radar for even the worst of cultivators. He sighed, and she continued, “So I was hoping I could bring him by for you to have a look, just to make sure he is not one of them.” Her voice cracked ever so slightly. Ryuha’s expression deepened, almost forming a scowl. He knew what made her worry so much.
“I am sure it is nothing but a proficiency in sensing Qi. You know, the first elder had the same problem when he was younger. It just means a few extra resources, but I am sure that there isn’t anything to worry about. To be sure, I will make an appearance on his birthday and see to it,” he reassured her. The relief on Shin Lee’s face was palpable, even more so when he added, “Personally.”
Shin Lee bowed deep, almost going further than ninety degrees, as she thanked him. "Thank you so very much. I just was not sure what, what..." She stopped, showing more emotion than Ryuha had ever seen from the woman in all their time working together. He knew why—the child was her only family, and the boy's father, well, that was a matter for another day. "No thanks needed, Shin Lee. It is something I choose to do, and you know how I get when I choose to do something," he said, giving her a sly grin.
He wasn't too sure how he knew, but he was sure she rolled his eyes at him. He couldn’t see it, of course, with her face still showing to the tiles in her bow. "Come now, Shin Lee. You have already given me your thanks; you can raise your head," he said with a light chuckle at how quickly she raised her head to go ramrod straight, some pink flecking her pearlescent cheeks. He continued, "If that is all, I think I would like to go and take a stroll to see these new initiates. Maybe one of them sticks out. How many participants this year in the Winterforge trial?" Without missing a beat, Shin Lee answered, "This year's figures are slightly higher than last, with eight thousand participants. The first five hundred have already given up, and with a new record, only five fatalities." She took a breath. "So far, this year’s trial is becoming quite the success, it seems." Ryuha had to agree; with only five deaths, this would make it one of the most successful to date. Maybe he should rethink punishing the outer sect elder; it seemed he is doing a fine job.
Decision made, Ryuha slowly stood up, straightening his blue and black robe. For what the Frozen Edge Sect was known for, Shin Lee, still standing where she was since entering his cultivation hall, moved slightly back, as was the proper custom. She spoke, “Are we going to the outer sect, young master, or are we going to go down the mountain?” Ryuha only smiled at her question as he started making for the door, “I think a stroll down the mountain will be pretty ni-.”
BOOM!!!
His words died in his mouth as his body reacted instinctively, moving towards his balcony. To her credit, Shin Lee was just slightly behind him, qi blazing, ready to face whatever trouble had befallen the sect. But to both of their astonishment, there was no rival sect finally kicking up a fuss or some new awakened spirit beast. No, it was something much more.
Bathed in the soft, golden glow of daylight, a magnificent meteor shower unfolded, transforming the azure canvas of the daytime sky into a spectacle of cosmic elegance. Each meteor, like fleeting feathers, descended gracefully, leaving trails of glistening stardust that sparkled in the sunlight. The heavens above, usually reserved for the sun's radiant reign, became a celestial theater where meteors danced and dazzled, casting a spell of enchantment upon the earthly realm beneath the boundless expanse of daylight.
In Ryuha’s long, very long life, he has seen many things—some beautiful, others showcasing the depravity of their species. But what was unfolding in front of him now was something that he knew he would not see again in his next thousand years of life.
With great effort, he peeled his eyes away from the beautiful scene in front of him to look over the rest of the sect. There, he saw more than one elder hovering over it on either flying swords or qi-empowered flying techniques. He nodded to himself, very pleased to see that even in these peaceful times, everyone, at least when it comes to the elders, is still vigilant. He turned his gaze back to the sky.
He wasn’t sure for how long he was just staring up into the sky, but he realized something: the flaming balls weren’t disintegrating as they should. It actually looked like they were falling too slow for it to be natural. He squinted, trying to push his eyes to see, but it was the upper reaches of the atmosphere, and even though his body has shed the mundanity of human capability many times over, they were still human eyes in a sense. As if sensing his inquisitiveness, the meteor that he was staring at stopped turning and made a beeline for his position..
A collective gasp came from the disciples below. Ryuha rolled his eyes; they have faced worse enemies than a flaming ball of rock. Heck, some of the inner disciples could deal with the incoming rock, but appearances must be kept up. So, with a flex of his Qi that resulted in an even bigger gasp from the disciples and even some lesser elders (it was rare for them to see him, much less witness a technique from him), he lazily flicked his hand and conjured the same Qi-filled rune for protection. But this time, he added just that little bit more, as this, beneath him as it was, was still leagues ahead of some middling ape..
The rune glowed its ethereal dark blue as Ryuha gave it another once-over before nodding and sending it into the air. It grew in size, expanding to get bigger and bigger until it was the size of a small hill. It burst with a slight plop and disappeared, but left a faint film behind that encompassed the entire sect. Pleased with himself, he looked back up where the meteor was still falling towards them, ignoring the ogling stares and Qi prodding from some of the elders trying to glean some insight into his technique. Not acknowledging any of them, he spoke to Shin Lee, “What do you think it is? A new type of mythic beast?” She shook her head, “No, I don’t think it’s a new species, young master. He is well aware of the rarity of mythic beasts, so I think it is something from outside our world.”
That made Ryuha scoff; everyone knew that the space beyond their world was so qi-devoid that it actually sucks qi from your very pores, no matter your cultivation level. It was a death sentence, and none have returned who ventured into the dark beyond. “We will see,” he said, putting his focus back on the ball of flame as it all of a sudden stopped dead, hovering in the air right where the boundaries of his qi shield ended.
He turned to Shin Lee, who was gaping at the still-burning rock that was still just hovering in the air. “See, told you, probably a new species of mythic beast.” Amused at this turn of events, he turned back to looking at the ball. He smirked, “Let's see who is correct.” Realizing too late what he meant, he flicked his arm, dismantling his qi shield, which vanished in glittering sparks floating on the wind.
There was a collective shout and scuffling sounds as disciples started running, falling over each other, trying to get away from the impending catastrophe—well, that was what they thought. But Ryuha had no intent of letting it happen either way, but it seemed as if it was not needed either, as the meteor turned ever so slightly and slowly descended towards him. As it descended, the burning flames started to disintegrate, revealing something hidden beneath.