I didn't know what was the reinforcement they had summoned, but one thing was certain. It was not a mere Nascent Soul force.

"The chips are down," I muttered even as I triggered the formation to send a message to the agents I had sent around every capital, giving them the signal to kill the imprisoned Everdawn nobles under the capital.

Was I confident it would work? Definitely not, but I found myself in a weird situation where I had lost any semblance of control, and it was time to push the situation.

And, push it it.

The results had been immediate. The skies darkened at once, and for a moment, the world had stopped. Then, I saw a huge wave of Providence appear all around the domain. It was pure and invigorating, but also intense.

If killing the demonic cultivators earned a glass of water, it felt like an endless lake. The said lake split into two, with half hitting near the misty mountain, where the Symbol for Burning Ice was, which then disappeared toward the depths.

Where the volcano had been standing.

"No!" the three remaining Nascent Soul cultivators had shouted at once. Two of them had evaporated under Qi blasts just like their unlucky coworker, and the leader would have probably ended the same way if it wasn't for a giant hand appearing from the gap in the sky, wrapping around him to protect him from the blast, before pulling him back.

"You will pay!" he shouted even as the hand pulled back, before the skies had transformed. Just in time, as a blast of blizzard hit just where they had been moments ago, probably the courtesy of Elsana, but it was far stronger than what I had seen earlier.

It looked like the sudden burst of Providence helped them more than enough.

I would have appreciated it, but the other half hit the giant tree, which suddenly started to grow even more, its already unbelievable size reaching an unbelievable size, bypassing my concealment formation easily.

I wanted to many things, but I could do nothing but crouch down as the tree pulled me toward it, and soon ended up sitting underneath it, lost in the moment of its increasing power, feeling the connection between me and the tree getting stronger.

It was wild, instinctual, in a way that I couldn't truly understand. All I could understand was that my powers had not only reached the display Mrinta had displayed in his moment of recklessness, but actually surpassed it.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

I crossed my legs, doing my best not to burn out. I hoped that the cultivators would stay away for a while.

If not … well, I doubted that I should be afraid of the cultivators anymore. At least, as long as I stayed in the mortal domain…

As for the future…

/*\*/*\

Tanpitana Tnak, Outer Elder of Kartpa Valley, master of the merciless fist, was not a happy man. It was bad enough that he had been punished for something that wasn't his fault for a year, but even his punishment had been interrupted.

Now, he was being dragged like a mere mortal.

It would have been enough for him to explode in anger, but not when the two cultivators that were dragging him through gold and marble corridors were also Golden cores, and unlike him, they were Inner Sect elders.

Unlike the last time, he wasn't ordered to kowtow, but his head was pressed to the ground by the elders. With his cultivation already sealed, he could do nothing.

He was about to apologize to his young master, only to freeze when he noticed his expression. The young master was furious.

Suddenly, Tanpitana had a feeling that his life was over. He had never seen the young master furious before, but his mild annoyance had ended up with him imprisoned. "Tell me whether you're a traitor, or merely incompetent, you lowly worm," he started, his voice crackling with a dangerous darkness that revealed the true nature of his demonic cultivation.

"I'm not a traitor, my lord," he said, even though he knew that he could feel that he was signing his death. He had seen people get executed for less. But maybe, just maybe, he could get a clean death.

"Just incompetence then?" he said. "Do you think that you can explain all with incompetence?" He stayed silent. "Answer me!"

"I … I don't know, master. I was in isolation," he admitted.

The young master waved his hand, and suddenly, a letter flew toward him, one that had been explaining everything that had happened during his imprisonment. A mystical land, discovery of a spirit vein that was at least third grade, a mysterious tree, the loss of a Heavenly Treasure Pavilion ship…

And, most importantly, the appearance of another true inheritor with the bloodline of the founder, one that came from the same mystic land that he failed to discover…

Tanpitana bowed his head in surrender. A moment later, darkness…

/*\*/*\

I didn't know how long I had stayed underneath the tree, trying to control the unrestricted power without killing myself, but one night, I had a dream.

In that dream, I saw Pearyin, standing in front of me even as I tried to control the wild essence of the tree without killing myself. It was a dream … yet it was not.

"I miss you, master," she whispered wistfully as she leaned forward, pressing her lips against me in a gentle kiss. As she kissed me, I felt the power that had been wreaking havoc to calm down.

…

When I opened my eyes, my martial arts had finally reached its peak, but there was no Pearyin. There was no Dao Gate either. I recognized what it was. A goodbye forever.

"Well, I disagree," I muttered even as I stood up. Her despair indicated that she faced problems that would crush me. At least, she believed so.

Maybe they were.

Luckily, I can always cheat.