The world was filled with the color of blue. It was peaceful, calm, and relaxing. Small, little specks of lights filled the horizon wherever one looked. There were millions of them if not trillions. All of them represented one soul waiting to be born into the world. They may be freshly formed souls or 'veterans,' ready to live once again. Amongst them, a fresh arrival was floating along, bobbing up and down like a leaf on the surface of a river. It was none other than Leinor's soul, wrapped up in Ren's like a little newborn. By now, he was asleep… dreaming. Thanks to Ren's blanket, his memories, which should have been gone, were still there, being protected and reinforced as he was living through their childhood once again. As he floated around, his soul was slowly regenerating by the effects of the peaceful reincarnation cycle. It may take thousands of years to recover fully, but it would be done. Meanwhile, he was living a happy and carefree dream, which was suddenly disturbed. His consciousness started to return as he instinctively felt that an invisible hand reached for him, grabbing onto his soul and dragging him out of the reincarnation cycle.
"Oh? How weird! Hey! Alfina!" The voice laughed.
"Mhm…? What?" A moan of hers came as an answer, clearly just woken up by Oynega's voice.
"Check this out! I found a weird soul! It seems as if it is fused with another! Hah!" He laughed, showing it to her.
"Mhm… yeah. And?" She groaned. What of it?"
"It reminds me of us~ We are also sharing one~" He giggled. "I'm going to keep it! Maybe it will grow into something interesting!"
What the twin Gods didn't realize was that by then, Leinor was fully conscious. He heard their words and knew who they were.
"Heh, it should take a long time to gestate something weird like that!" Alfina shrugged. "We don't really have time to work on only one soul! Well… whatever, throw it in! Our own cycle still needs more souls; the damage it suffered when that jerk tore open the Sky is still not fixed!"
"Worry not~" Oynega laughed, placing Leinor's soul into their own reincarnation cycle. "We just need more wars and grab the strong souls when those idiots die. Use them to fix the damage! Just incite Skoorn's followers to wage more wars. When it's ready, we can start planning how to harvest his~ I'm still pissed off that we couldn't collect the old fogey's back then… well… we can go back for him after it's finished…"
Leinor could hear no more of their words as he was drifting away in a new place. It was still blue but much lighter, almost turning white in some places. He could 'see' many other souls surrounding him. Not all of them were complete or intact. Some were damaged beyond repair, never to regain their true form. They were drifting along like rotten pieces of wood after a flood.
“This… this is not good…” He thought, anxious. He was now completely conscious, and as his mind was racing, thinking about Ren, he bumped into one of the broken-off pieces of a soul. As soon as it stuck to him, he felt that he was absorbing it, feeling that he was getting stronger. Livelier. He didn't hesitate, and after he had completely absorbed it, he turned towards the millions of little specks of lights. He was hesitating, but he felt something else at that moment. This was nothing like the natural reincarnation cycle. He couldn't fall asleep here, couldn't recover naturally. This was… not a complete system. This was not a true reincarnation cycle. Even if he would wait, he wouldn't be able to be reborn, not until the twins decided to rebirth him. That was unacceptable. His next choice came immediately as he drifted forward, finding another broken piece, slowly absorbing it…
…
….
…..
"How are you feeling?" Ariana asked, serving up a cup of coffee to her Master, who slept for more than a whole day after sending Leinor's soul into reincarnation.
"Good." She smiled at her as the morning sun's warm, yellow light bathed the room in a golden beauty. "But you can feel it, no?"
"Um." Ariana nodded with a happy expression because, just as Ren said, she felt her feelings becoming balanced, calm, and free of dark thoughts. "But…" She added, sitting down next to her. "I don't really understand what happened."
"It is in the name, Ariana." Ren started to explain with a kind voice, lecturing her disciple. "Harmony. I told you about what happened when I reached the 2nd stage. Talking with Kai, I now have an ever deeper understanding of it. The lighting came down because I was forceful. It was not a tribulation but a punishment. When one wants to control nature, he is going to receive its wrath. No wonder nobody who went that route ever reached the 3rd stage of Harmony. In the end, Nature obliterated them."
"But Heaven's Gate Sect Master… and now you… you did!"
"By finding the correct way once again. For me, it was coming to terms that I needed to let him go." Ren said, taking Ariana's hand and gently caressing it. "I had to find my harmony once again, and now I did. It not only propelled me to the 3rd stage, but it set me back in the correct way. The same happened to Zelig. But we can't know how or what, but he came to terms with whatever troubled him. The cultivators who took the forceful approach were already compromised; they never had a chance to find their way again, and they perished."
"I see." Ariana nodded in the end, thinking it through for a long time. "I am glad that you are fine, Master!" She smiled happily, her face almost sparkling in the light of the morning sun.
"Do you have a plan on how to heal your soul?" Kai walked in suddenly with a question, almost making Ariana jump from the scare that his deeper voice gave her.
"Master?" Ariana asked, with a bit of a tremble in her voice.
"No idea." Ren grinned. "It will come to me eventually anyway!"
"Is it a serious injury?" Ariana raised her voice, her head swishing from and to between the two.
"Depends," Kai said as he crossed his arms. "Not really. Not right now. It would only be bad in the Demigod realm, but she has time to fix it until then. It would hinder her only at that stage, slowing down her advancement to a crawl. It is not an irreparable injury."
"I will worry about it when I arrive at that hurdle!" Ren chuckled. "My immediate focus is on my dear great-great-grandfather and to find him~," She said, sticking out her tongue as if she was just planning a prank and not her revenge.
"I will help with whatever I can, Master!" Ariana nodded with a cold voice, hearing her Master's words.
"Ahaha, you are cute when you are angry!" Ren laughed, grabbing onto her arm, pulling Ariana into her lap, stroking her hair gently, turning Ariana's face into a deep shade of red, yet she was really enjoying the attention.
"It is going to be interesting to watch." Kai smiled as he poured coffee for himself, enjoying the new taste he had never even known about before.
"You won't help Master?" Ariana blinked her eyes, surprised.
"I could, but why should I?" Kai asked back while tilting his head to the right side.
"But my Master helped you!"
"Yes, and I help her with my knowledge and experience. Just ask her yourself." He said calmly, not bothered by Ariana's look.
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"He is right, Ariana," Ren said, soothing her like a child. "Why should he fight my battles? Just as I wouldn't step in your fights, even if I worry about you! It does not mean I wouldn't help you, of course! If you would be at death's door, you can bet that I'd swoop in!" She laughed, hugging her from behind even stronger. "It is the same with him! He would not fight my enemies because then how am I going to improve? Plus, he is an old God with another old God's body. Using his powers would alert the living Gods. Twice at that. Best if he stays out of things!"
"Ahaha, that is also true!" Kai laughed. "I'm already excited to go back to that Sect of yours! Immortal Wonders… such an ambitious name! I'd be happy to teach some younger generations or curate your library. My best role now would be acting as a scholar and an advisor to you all. Or a historian. Those are soothing jobs; I like the sound of those roles!"
"I am completely on board with that notion." Ren nodded multiple times as someone knocked on their door. It was Niji who came in.
"Oh? Good morning!" Ren called out to him with a happy smile.
"It is good to see you are okay! That was… a show you gave us that night! A lot of demons started to call you the Thunder God already."
"Stop. Make sure I won't be called that!" She raised her hands immediately.
"You could use the power of faith. It is not a bad idea." Kai said, surprising everybody in the room.
"The power of faith?" Ren asked, furrowing her brows.
"Yes. It is a type of cultivation that is independent of anything else, and it is universal." He started to explain after a little bit of silence, thinking through his memories. "There are different kinds of faiths, but the usage and accumulation of them are the same. Beings who worship others generate faith. It is a power that a cultivator, the one who is being worshiped, can use. It is a kind of mental or spiritual energy related to the soul. It is present in every cultivation world I know of. Usually, it is not truly focused on and only a supplement, a tool to be used. There are very few who solely rely on it to get stronger, and they are never really fighters but sages. Faith is not a weapon, but a tool." He said while, by now, all of them were sitting at the table, listening to his speech. "Most sects and cultivators use it to coordinate, regulate, and govern big masses of mortals. It is a great tool for governance and for raising future disciples who were brought up from the masses and completely loyal to the sect. A tried and true formula."
"Is it brainwashing?" Ren asked seriously.
"Mmm… yes and no. Forcefully putting faith in people won't have results. It won't generate true faith. Only if the individuals start to believe in it themselves. Only then can it be successful. Forcing it is futile. Of course, if a strong faith gets established, it is really, really hard to abolish or change it. Consecutive generations are born into it and would believe in it. Is it still brainwashing or not? It is a very hard question to answer."
"Did you ever believe in someone?" Niji asked suddenly.
"No, I did not," Kai answered honestly. "The land of my old Starlight Sect based their strength on the night sky. On the stars' light and movement and their strengths. Not on individual worship. Some of our high elders had some shrines amongst the mortals, but we never paid too much attention to it." He sighed softly, remembering old faces, friends, and places.
"Yet you called yourself a God?" Ariana raised her eyebrows questioningly.
"Yes," Kai answered with a soft smile. "Do you know how old this realm is?" He suddenly asked a question that Ariana answered by shaking her head. "Only around 50 million years old. In the great scheme of things, it is nothing. Do you know if a realm is not accelerated by an outside force in its creation, how long does it take to form naturally and spawn intelligent life? Billions of years. Mine was naturally formed. The powers before us established a lot of things, and our cultivation levels were named after them. It became customary, and everyone knew everyone had the potential to one day call themselves a God."
"So in the big picture, our home is still considered young…" Ren whispered, leaning backward on her chair.
"Very much so." Kai nodded. "It is barely a toddler. But a quickly growing one. You already have people who created a cultivation method that is based on the Cosmos's powers. Those Immortals you told me about are great prodigies and pioneers who are going to be remembered by future generations. They are not bound to this Realm so strongly anymore! One day, when they are ready, they can leave and explore the Cosmos and other Realms."
"Well… at least they don't use faith, unlike your old disciples." Ren sighed as she shook her head.
"Don't be so sure about that," Kai said, looking into Ren's eyes. "If they believe strongly in their master, called the Mad God, they may too produce faith towards him. Look… Faith depends on people's nature, and it is not inherently wrong. So, saying it is a bad thing is not true. If you hold a bucket of water, you could not only clench someone's thirst with it or nourish the land below your feet, but you could also drown someone in it and kill him."
"What kind of usage does it have?" Ren asked after thinking through his words.
"Manifesting one's thoughts into reality." He said almost immediately.
"Wait… what?!" Ren sat up, blinking, thinking about mishearing him.
"It is the power of mind." Kai tapped on his head. "You need to believe it, and your belief will manifest itself."
"Bullshit…" Ren clicked her tongue. "Then wouldn't I be omnipotent? Change reality with a whim?"
"It is not that easy!" Kai laughed loudly. "For that, you would need an immense amount of faith, never before seen anywhere! Trillions, if not sextillions, of souls who believe in the same thing. And they must have an unshakable faith! Do you think it is possible to achieve that? That is why I said it is a supplement only for almost all sects. It is the same as believing in yourself. With enough faith in your own powers and chance of success, you will succeed. Now, if a cultivator has worshippers who believe in him, this has a positive effect on him."
"I'm so lost…" Ariana moaned as she grabbed onto her own hair, with eyes rolling in circles, drawing out a laugh from both Kai and Ren. The latter hugged her close again, massaging her temples.
"Let me demonstrate it with an easy example." Kai continued. "A cultivator stands before his tribulation. To survive it, he has everything ready. He reached his maximum potential, took pills before attempting it, and had an artifact ready to help him and his friends protect him from outside forces and from his enemies. Nobody can interfere with his tribulation. Now, the chances of him succeeding are still only 70%. There is a 30% chance he dies in the process. Let's say he is famous. He has a million mortals behind him, worshiping him. Not actively, but believe him to be their protector, savior, or whatever you wish to paint him as. They produce faith in him even if he does not realize it or actively pursue it. Now, as he goes through his tribulation, he strongly believes he can do it, his followers believe he can do it, and his chance for success is not 70% anymore. It is 75%. Do you see it now? Faith is not a power used for fighting. It is a tool used for bringing things into reality."
"It is... Still… so weird…!" Ariana groaned, not really getting it at all.
"I start to see what you mean, bringing things into reality…" Ren whispered as she closed her eyes. "Do you have any idea why your disciples started to collect faith?"
"My guess is to fix the Tear in the Sky," Kai said after a minute of deep silence. "They want to boost their own powers and completely reseal the Realm. I don't know if it would work, but they are still far from it. That kind of thing would require an amount of faith; I don't know if it is possible at all to collect. Of course, they have plenty of time, and as I said, faith can't be forced."
"If Master starts to collect faith… or let the demons worship her, what would happen?" Ariana asked after thinking about it a little.
"Nothing noticeable. Look at it like this, her luck would be better. If a lot of demons believe Ren will win every coin toss she does, she would guess the correct sides more times than not. The problem starts if you establish a feedback loop with them. Starting to answer prayers and lending them power. Those who are strong in their belief can receive blessings. A kind of… power sharing. Only if it gets damaged, the individual's faith cracks; it evaporates, really, really quickly. That is why it is so insidious for cultivators to fall into the trap of faith." Kai sighed loudly, shaking his head. "They see their power grow after they start worshiping a stronger being. They may have been stuck for who knows how long, but finally, they can advance once again! But it is not their own power; it is just a borrowed, manifested strength from the one they worship. The moment their faith cracks, they are going to lose all the powers that they have. Worse, they could even die from the shock their soul receives."
"And you want me to let them worship me… after telling all this?" Ren shook her head, hearing him.
"My advice is to let them do it. My home did the same. People under us were free to believe in whatever they wished. We did not step in as long as it remained peaceful and did not cause trouble. Let them believe in you if they want. As long as you do not start building on their faith, always looking for ways to power yourself up with it, it is going to be harmless and even beneficial for both you and them." Kai smiled and sent over a voice transmission only Ren could hear. "If you wish to reopen the Sky, you would need it either way. My four disciples are going to use it to stop you. You will need people who believe in what you are doing and in your goals. It is that simple."
Ren could not say anything back to him, only closed her eyes, finally nodding a little, going over and over what they just talked about. She was sitting silently at the table, even long after Niji and Kai left, and only Ariana kept her company, nestling up to her in her lap, snuggling up against her Master's chest.